IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SOWING CORN AND OTHER SEED
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
FULLER, of Beacham Well, in the County of Norfolk, Farmer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fifth day of March, in the ninth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
Fuller, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said John Fuller, my exors, admors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Fuller, my exors, admors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR SOWING CORN AND OTHER SEED;" in which said Letters Patent.
is contained a proviso that I, the said John Fuller, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Fuller, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had

page_text: to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of improvements in apparatus to be held in the hand
for dropping corn or other seed when dibbling, in place of using the fingers for
such purpose.
And in order that my Invention may be understood, I will
proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed, in the various Figures of
which the same letters are used to indicate similar parts.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side view of an apparatus, constructed according to my
Invention, for dropping seed, the right hand end being removed to show the
working of some of the parts; Figure 2 is another side view with the left hand
end removed; and Figure 3 is a section of the apparatus taken through the
cylinder and at right angles to its axis.. The apparatus is so arranged as to be
held in the hand by the handle a, and the apparatus shewn is formed of sheet
tin, but other suitable material may be used, and it has a compartment 6 into
which the corn or seed is to be placed, near the bottom of which compartment
is placed a cylinder which prevents the seed falling through, and in this
cylinder is formed a recess c, which being filled with seed will," when it' is
turned partly round, deliver the quantity of seed desired; the recess c being of
a proper size to deliver the proper quantity, as is well understood, and as is
practised in similar rollers used in other machines. d, d, are two brushes
fixed at the bottom of the compartment b, as shown; and I would remark that
the cylinder may have two or more holes or recesses c, of different sizes, to
allow of the same cylinder being used for different seeds, in which case' only
one recess will be in a position to act at one time, the others being brought
into position; an apparatus or arm which moves the cylinder will be connected
at different parts when either of the other recesses is to be brought into action.
e is the hopper or spout into which the seed is delivered by the cylinder, and
from which it is dropped into the holes formed in the ground. The arrange-
ment of the roller, so far as the cylinder is concerned, is similar to what has
before been made. And my improvements relate to the mode of applying the
handle and apparatus for giving motion to the cylinder, whereby the handle, being
held in the hand of the person using the apparatus, the instrument for giving
motion to the cylinder may be readily acted on by the thumb of the same hand.
f is an arm affixed to the cylinder, which is weighted to bring the cylinder and
apparatus back after being acted on, or in place of its being weighted it may
be brought back by a spring. g is a connecting rod or link which connects
the arm f with the lever h by pin joints, as shown.

page_text: I will now describe another arrangement of apparatus for performing a like
object, but in this case the cylinder is caused to rotate in place of vibrate;
but the arrangements for holding the apparatus by a handle, and acting on the
instrument which gives motion to the cylinder, are very similar to that above
described. Figure 4 shows a front section, and Figure 5 a transverse section
of the second apparatus. a is the handle; b is the compartment into which
the corn or seed is to be placed; c, c, are the receivers in the cylinder; dis a
brush; e is the hopper or spout; h is a sliding instrument which is constantly
pressed upwards by a spring i, and it is by acting by the thumb on the upper
end of the sliding instrument that motion is communicated to the cylinder,
there being pins or projections j against which the lower end of the sliding
instrument h successively comes, as the same is successively pressed down;
k, k, are friction plates which press against the ends of the cylinder, and
prevent it turning unless force be used.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I would remark, that I do not confine myself to
the details shewn, so long as the peculiar character of my Invention be
retained. But what I claim is the arrangement of the instruments h in
respect to the handle a, so as to be in a position to be acted on, and give
proper motion to the cylinder when the handle a of the apparatus is held in
the hand, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Fuller, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of August, in the year of our
(L.8.)
ULLER.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirty-first day of August, in
the year of our Lord 1846, the aforesaid John Fuller came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-six.