IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS AND OTHER IMPLEMENTS FOR CULTIVATING LAND
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS AND OTHER IMPLEMENTS FOR CULTIVATING
LAND." A communication from abroad by Samuel Godfrey
Reynolds, of Bristol, Rhode Island, United States of America.
Sealed the 10th November 1868, and dated the 26th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 26th May 1868.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
5 No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS AND OTHER IMPLEMENTS FOR
CULTIVATING LAND," a communication, to be as follows:-

page_text: My Invention consists in the application to a plough or other
agricultural implement required to turn over the soil of an apparatus
which I term a rotary mould board, and which may be substituted for
or combined with the well known stationary mould board in such im-
plements of husbandry. The purpose of this improved mould board is
to more perfectly turn over and break up the earth turned up by the
ploughshare and to lighten the draught of the plough. To a plough
which may be constructed in the well known way so far as its beam,
ploughshare, land side, and handles are concerned, I attach at its tail
in rear of the ploughshare at any convenient point a disc plate of
cast iron or other suitable material, the diameter of which may be
from twelve to thirty inches according to the size of the plough. This
disc is mounted on an axle and is set so as to revolve in a plane
which stands at an angle with the line of the beam of from five to
twenty degrees more or less according to the judgement of the con-
structor. The rim of this disc plate treads in the bottom of the furrow
and acts like a travelling wheel to support the rear end of the plough
Its outer face may be a plane or may be made concave or convex
as preferred. As the plough is dragged through the soil this disc
plate will revolve like a wheel, and will not only assist the draught
but will incidentally act in place of the stationary mould board, or in
combination with the said mould board if one be used to turn over and
pulverize the soil. I deem it advisable to employ two of these revolving
mould boards, and in such case they are set at an angle with each
other, the apex being toward the ploughshare, and if two are used
they should be geared together so that when the plough is canted over
toward the land side of the ploughman in consequence of obstacles
in the way, the outer mould board, although raised above the bottom
of the furrow, will nevertheless revolve by a movement communicated
to it from the inner disc, which is in this position of the plough
bearing hard upon the soil.
These improvements are also especially adapted for all purposes where
gangs of ploughs are to be employed in connection with steam power,
and in such case it will be well to communicate the power directly
to the disc plates so as to convert them into 'driving wheels. This can
be done by a crank connection in a well understood way.
For cultivating purposes generally my improvements will be found
of great value in all cases where the earth is to be turned over upon

page_text: each side, as, for example, in covering seed which has been previously
deposited in rows and requires to be covered with earth according to
the method practiced in planting potato fields. In such cases the
two mould boards should be arranged so as to stand at an angle
with each other, which will cause the earth to be turned over upon
each side of the furrow.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 24th November 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, South-
ampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Con-
sulting Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in
the thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her
special licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Robert Lake, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS AND OTHER IMPLEMENTS FOR CULTIVATING LAND,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert
Lake, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings forming a part of this Specification :-
My Invention consists in the application to a plough or like
agricultural implement for turning over the soil of an apparatus which
I term a rotary mould board, and which may be substituted for or
combined with the well-known stationary mould board in such imple-
ments of husbandry. The purpose of this improved mould board is
to more perfectly turn over and break up the earth turned up by the
ploughshare and to lighten the draught of the plough.

page_text: I deem it advisable to employ two of these revolving mould boards
as represented in the Drawings, in which case they should be set at an
angle with each other, the apex being toward the ploughshare. They
should also be geared together, so that when the plough is canted over
toward the land side by the ploughman in consequence of obstacles in
the way, the outer mould board, although raised thereby above the
furrow, will nevertheless be revolved by a movement communicated to
it from the inner disc, which will (in this position of the plough) bear
hard upon the soil. It will be well also to furnish the edge of the inner
disc with radial points which will sink into the soil and thereby ensure
the disc's rotations, and instead of giving to the inner board the form
of a plate it may be made up of arms radiating from a central hub.
For the purpose of counteracting any liability of the outer revolving
mould board to become sprung I arrange, as seen at Figures 1 and 3, a
stay roller b; this roller being attached to an axle c mounted in a
strong frame which projects from the handles or beam will enable the
mould board to sustain a lateral pressure from the outside. If two
revolving discs are used a stay roller may be arranged for each as shown
in the Drawing,
A plough with these improvements is also especially adapted for all
purposes where gangs of ploughs are to be employed in connection with
steam power, and in such case it will be well to communicate the power
directly to the disc plates so as to convert them into driving wheels.
This can be done by a crank connection in a well understood way.
3 For cultivating purposes generally these improvements will be found
to be of great value in all cases where the earth is to be turned over
upon each side, as, for example, in covering seed which has been
previously deposited in rows and requires to be covered with earth,
according to the method practised in planting potato fields. In such
case the two mould boards being arranged to stand at an angle with
each other the earth will be turned over upon each side of the furrow.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I claim, the application to a plough
or like agricultural implement of a revolving mould board A or a pair
5 of the same A, A', (either instead of or in combination with the
ordinary stationary mould board), arranged and operating as described

page_text: for the purpose of aiding the draught of the plough and for better
laying over and breaking the soil.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)
Witness,
THO. N. PALMER,
Clerk to Messrs, Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
8, Southampton Buildings,
W.C.