CERTAIN IM- PROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
HAMMOND BENTALL, of Heybridge, in the County of Essex, Ironfounder and
Agricultural Implement Maker, 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 Tenth day of June, in the fourth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Edward
Hammond Bentall, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Edward Hammond Bentall, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said Edward Hammond Bentall, my execu-
tors, administrators, 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 mentioned,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,.
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IM-
PROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso,
obliging me, the said Edward Hammond Bentall, by an instrument in writing.
under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to
cause the same to be inrolled in Her 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 there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Edward Hammond Bentall, do hereby declare that the nature of my said

page_text: Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My improvements in ploughs consist, in-the-first instance, in the peculiar
construction and mode of adapting an adjustable lever to the frame of a plough,
such adjustment being for the purpose of changing the inclination of the share
which is attached to the end or nose of the lever, so that the point of the
share may stand at any required angle below or above the level of the sole,
slade, or ground of the plough, and thereby be made to take a greater or less
depth in the soil, which would be understood by farmers to be rendering the
share more or less free.
Secondly, in the peculiar forms of the shares and modes of attaching them
to such adjustable levers.
Thirdly, in the mode of affixing the breast or mould board to the plough, in
order that it may rise and fall with the adjustable lever and share:
And, fourthly, in the means of contracting and expanding the breasts of a
double-breast plough when such double, breast is cast or formed in one piece.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1. represents in elevation the frame
a, a, a, of one of my improved-ploughs (the breast being removed in order to
shew the parts behind); in which, b, b, is the adjustable lever whereto. the
share c is attached, and d is the sole; slade, or ground of the plough. Fig. 2
represents the form of the under part of the sole, slade, or ground d; and of
the share c when attached, the shape of the under side of the frame a and of
the nose of the lever 6 being represented by dots. Fig. 3 shews the form
of the under side of the lever 6 near its nose, and Fig. 4, that of the frame a..
Fig. 5 is a section, upon an enlarged scale, taken vertically through the fore
part of the frame a and through the fore part of the lever b, 'shewing the
manner in which the lever and the frame are connected together at bottom by.
a loose bolt g; Fig. 6 is a similar section of the same part of the lever b
detached; and Fig. 7, of the fore part of the frame a.
.By these three last-mentioned Figures, the forms of the connecting parts of
the lever and frame will be clearly seen, and also the means by which they are
attached. The lever b has a transverse groove e cut in its under part, which,.
when applied to the frame, as seen in Fig. 5, bears upon a ridge f, and thereby
allows the lever to vibrate in a small degree upon the frame, the ridge f being
its joint or fulcrum. The lever and frame are held together at this part by a
loose pin, or bolt g, having a dovetailed head, which pin is. passed through

page_text: corresponding holes in the frame and in the lever, as seen in Fig. 5, a
countersunk recess in the under part of the frame receiving the head of the
bolt, and a nut h screwed on to the reverse end of the bolt, keeping the lever
and frame in. connection. The upper part of the lever-b, shewn in Fig. 1,
is connected to the frame by a bolt i, fixed in the end of the lever, and passed
through a hole in the ear k, having two nuts screwed on to the bolt at opposite
sides of the ear. The share c is slidden on to the nose of the lever b, and is
fastened thereto by a bolt 7 (see Figs. 1 and 2), which is passed through a hole
in the lever, shewn by dots in Fig. 6. The lever and the share being thus
attached to the frame of the plough, if I wish to lower the point of the share
deeper into the ground than the level of the sole, I effect that object by turning
the nuts further on to the screw of the bolt i, which brings the upper end of
the lever nearer to the ear k, and consequently depresses the nose of the lever
and the share, as shewn by dots in Fig. 1, 'the' lever turning upon the ridge f
as a joint or fulcrum, the loose connecting bolt g admitting of that slight move-
ment; and if I wish to raise the point of the share, I turn the nuts upon the
screw i in the opposite direction, so as to force the upper end of the lever back
from the ear. Fig. 8 represents another modification of the adjustable lever
and mode of attaching the share thereto. In this instance there is a slight
but unimportant variation in the form of the fore part of the frame a, and
the lever 6 is made with two chaps at its end which hold the share. This
lever moves upon a fulcrum pin instead of the ridge 'f, formerly described, but
is adjusted by nuts on a screw i working against an ear k, as before explained.
Fig. 9 represents the last-mentioned lever detached, and partly in perspective;
Fig. 10 is a similar representation of the upper chap; Fig. 11 is the pad
or fore shoe to be appended to the under part of the nose of the lever; and
Fig. 12 is the share, of a peculiar form, suited to this modification.
In putting the parts of this plough together, I first attach the lever b to the
frame a, by passing a pin or bolt m through an aperture in the frame and
through the circular hole in the lever, and insert the screw i into the ear k;
I then place the chap n upon the nose of the lever b, and pass the bolt m
through the eye in the hinder part of the chap, and, by means of a screw
nut put upon the end of the bolt m, make the frame, the lever, and the chap
fast together; I now insert the back edge o of the share c between the chap'n
and..the nose of. lever. b, and, by 'a bolt and nut p screwed up tight,.confine
the share.securely between them. The pad.or fore shoe q is then to be attached
and made fast to the lever by a bolt and screw nut r. The shoe or slade d
may be bolted on to the under part of the frame; in the ordinary way. Now,

page_text: in order to give any required dip or elevation to the point of the share the
nuts on the screw i must be moved, as before described.
Having explained the manner by which I vary the position of the point of
the share by an adjustable lever and screw, I would add, that should it be
thought desirable to make this adjustment whilst the plough is progressing, that
may be done by means of a longitudinal screw shaft extending from the front
to the back of the plough, the forward end being passed through a swivelled
eye or socket at the top of the lever, the reverse end of the shaft being sup-
ported in a bearing fixed into the back part of the plough, and the shaft
turned when required by a winch or other apparatus within convenient reach
of the ploughman. As it will be necessary that the front part of the breast of
the plough should rise and fall with the elevation or depression of the share, I
secure the fore part of the breast to the lever 6 in one instance, or to the chap
n of the lever b in the other instance, by means of a pin or bolt passed through
a hole t in the lever or chap, making it fast at the under side by a screw
nut, the back or hinder part of the breast being attached to the frame by
means of a contrivance commonly called a way pin, or way bar, in the ordinary
way. When the breast has been thus connected to my improved plough, its
front part will rise and fall with the movements of the share by the means
already explained.
And I would further remark, that I find great advantage in case-hardening
the inner surface of the front part of the breast of the plough instead of the
outside, as that will tend to render it less liable to wear through. Fig. 13 is
a horizontal representation of a double-breast plough as it would appear if seen
from above; and Fig. 14 is an elevation of the back part of the same. The
double breast is cast in one piece, and is fastened to the front part of the frame
in the ordinary way, but the back parts of the breasts are attached to the way
bar u, u, by means of screw pins and nuts v, v. The way bar is firmly affixed
to the frame of the plough by a bolt and nut w, and the screw pins v, v, are
bolted to the inner surfaces of the breasts at their hinder parts near the top
edges. When it is required to expand or contract the width of the hinder parts
of the breasts, the nuts of the screw pins v, v, are turned so as to draw those
parts of the breasts inward or force them outward, the elasticity of the metal
allowing of this contraction or expansion.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Hammond Bentall, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-one.
EDWARD HAMMOND (L.s.) BENTALL.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Tenth day of December,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Edward Hammond Bentall came
before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Tenth day of December, in the year above written.