A NEW MACHINE POR TILLING LAND
Year: 1855

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Théodor Baron von Gilgen-
heimb at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 24th May 1855, pursuant to the 9th Section of
the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THEODOR
Baron von GILGENHEIMB, of Weidenau, Silesia, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "A NEW MACHINE POR
TILLING LAND," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and
have made solemn declaration that I verily believe myself to be the first and
true Inventor thereof:
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Theodor Baron von Gilgenheimb, do
hereby declare that the following complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:-

page_text: After many essays and experiments I have at last succeeded in inventing
and constructing a machine for tilling the ground or land. In this machine
I have adopted a system entirely novel. I make the spades or shovels worked
by my machine enter the soil lengthwise with their cutting edges or sides,
throw it up and cast it into the next furrow, while a polygonic plate connected
with an excentric wheel of cast iron gives motion to these shovels, by means
of which combination the firmness and power of the spades or shovels is
increased. The friction and breaking of the cogged or toothed wheels cannot
occur, and the operation of furrowing and ploughing the ground is rendered
easy and regular. The second essential part of the machine is its frame, which
is also of novel construction, and by means of which the husbandman sitting
on the machine is enabled to direct its course with his own hands to make it
perform its work, to change the depth of the furrows intended to be made,
and till the ground either forward or backward at his will, without being
compelled for this latter purpose to turn the whole machine.
Figure 1 represents, in profile, a polyginal plate of cast iron, which I call the
The shovels
"laborator;" Figure 2 represents a vertical section of the same.
g, of wrought iron, are fixed, inserted, or stuck in the holes made in the poly-
gonic plate to receive them, by means of curved handles or helves h and two
round trunions s. These helves or handles are the levers, which in conjunction
with the shovels rise the ground. They are welded to the shovels if theso be
of wrought iron, but if of cast iron they are fixed with screws, or otherwise
securely attached; they are curved in such manner that their withdrawal is
made easy by taking off the iron hoop f which encircles them. The flat iron
ring u encircling the "laborator" covers and protects it against dust and mud.
Figure 3 shows the design of an excentric wheel, upon the nave of which n
the "laborator" with its shovels is placed and revolves. This wheel is pro-
vided with its excentric b, c, g, and in its centre is a square hole, into which
the square axletree of the machine is placed, as at m, Figures 2 and 6.
When the machine is put into motion, either by ordinary draft or steam, the
"laborator" turns and the excentric wheel stands still; the helves of the
shovels glide between these two plates, secure from deviation, as if in a channel,
and thus they will cut into the soil in a perpendicular position by means of
the natural weight of the machine; but as soon as the helves are on an equal
height with the excentric, as at point b, Figures 1 and 3, they turn downwards
by means of their trunions, and the shovels turn upwards; the result of this
motion is, that the earth is thrown into the next furrow. The helves of the
shovels are afterwards returned at point z by the upper curvature c back to
their ordinary or bit.

page_text: Figure 4 represents (natural size) a bearer of cast iron for the axletree of
the machine, to enable the husbandman to plough forwards and backwards
without being obliged to turn the machine round, which arrangement is indis-
pensable when steam is used. To this effect, two bearers are fixed in the
middle of the frame, Figure 6, 8, s, as soon as the machine is put into motion
in the direction off to g, Figure 4. The square axletree m, with its cog a, b, c,
turns at the same time as the laborator, but not farther than point a, where
the projection a, b, stops, and the motion both of the excentric wheel and the
axletree is suspended, so that the excentric, Figure 3, b, c, z, places it under
the dial a, b, and the helves of the shovels are compelled to perform their
respective functions in the inverse motion of the machine, Figure 4, from g
to f; the projection a, b, stops at point c, and the shovels then take under a, b,
a vertical position in cutting into the soil, and the tillage effected by the
excentric beneath b, c. The consequence of this arrangement is, that the
ploughman has only to lead his horse in an opposite direction, taking care
beforehand to fix the shafts to the machine in order to plough backwards.
By this combination the shovels move easily, get over every ruggedness or
inequality o ne soil, such as heavy stones or roots.
Figure 5 represents the profile of a complete machine with a single "labo-
rator," intended to plough one furrow at a time.
Figure 6 shows an horizontal section of my machine, having two "labo-
rators," and intended to plough or draw two furrows. On these two designs
are represented; a, the "laborator;" 9, g, the spades or shovels; c, the
excentric wheel, by means of which the shovels cut the ground at the point ;
h, h, show the auxiliary wheels; 6 puts in motion the machine. The levers t
are pushed from point k to v, and consequently the axle of the machine will
rise to such a height that the shovels of the "laborator" will be at least 8
inches from the ground. Afterwards in working the machine it is only neces
sary to lower the axle by means of the aforesaid levers, which levers are to be
fixed by hooks at a height proportionate to the depth of the furrows it is
desired to obtain. The depth inch by inch will be indicated by the regulator,
or Figure v, r, r. When ploughing steep acclivities, one of the auxiliary
wheels is to be placed lower than the other, and the same is done when it is
desired to follow up with regularity a newly drawn furrow. When it is
intended to enter deep into the soil or to dig a trench, two "laborators"
should be placed in position, one behind the other, while ploughing the same.
furrow. The shovels of one laborator can be placed breadthwise. When the
operator or workman is desirous of shaking the lower layer of the soil, e serves
to rise the shafts, ", and turn the soil over to the opposite side. The little

page_text: fore wheel n sustains the equilibrium of the machine, giving it a proper direc-
tion, and marks the breadth of the furrows. The seat b is for the ploughman,
his weight adding to the inert force of the machine. The box p is for the
reception of sundry utensils belonging to the machine, such as a turnscrew,
extra shovels, for reserve, and others.
Figure 7 shews a Drawing of an apparatus for crushing the earth and
breaking the clods during the working of the machine. This apparatus is
fixed either behind or at the side of the "laborator;" a cogged or toothed
wheel a, fixed at the nave of the "laborator," communicates by means of
an auxiliary wheel motion to a cylinder B. This cylinder is furnished with
iron spikes whose rotation is nearly tripled; the earth is thrown up by the
shovels, and the spiked cylinder performs its operation of crushing or tearing.
The pressure plate D, on which is attached a weight X, squeezes the clods
against the cylinder, and also rises when largo stones happen to come up by
means of the point 9. The cylinder as well as the pressure plate are fixed to
the axletree of the "laborator" by means of bolts, screws, or other secure
fastenings, as seen in the Drawings.
"
When steam is employed, labarators are used constructed according to the
plan described. In Figure 1, plan 1 is used; but when it is desired to plough
very deeply into the soil or dig trenches, the position of the spades or shovels
should be altered, and they should be placed breadthwise. The motion of their
helves and trunions is then produced by the plates fixed at the axle of the
"laborator, see Figures 8 and 9, while those trunions, as the coggs of the
gearing wheels, press against the iron rods b, the spades or shovels make a half
turn, then return or turn back, and are maintained by the adjacent plates in a
fixed position. These plates and the paddles cover and protect the interior of
the laborator against dust and mud; therefore to put into motion a machine
with 4 laborators, that is to say, to dig 4 furrows at once, it will be necessary
to employ an ordinary locomotive engine of 4 or 6 horse power; but in order
to give those "laborators" a sufficiently slow rotation, say, to compass about 150
feet per minute, without slackening the force of the steam, it will be necessary
to put to the toothed wheels, see Figures 10 and 11, m, iu communication with
the arms of the locomotive engine n and the "laborator" f; by combining
thus the toothed wheels, the motion between the wheels of the locomotive
engine and the laborators" will be in a proportion of 10 to 1. In digging
the soil the fore wheels occupy a narrower space than the hind wheels, in order
to enable the ploughman to draw four furrows at once in a breadth of 3 feet.
To guide the locomotive, there is a gearing combination, see Figures 11, 0,
which by means of a lever k produces an easy motion, communicated by

page_text: the aid of the axle to the machine. The dimensions of the different parts
belonging to my machine are to be taken according to the nature of the
soil and the force of the draught or steam power used; medium dimensions
have been given in these annexed Drawings, and are shewn in Figures 1,
2, 3, 8, and 9, in the proportion of 1 to 8; in Figure 4, of 1 to 1; and in
Figures 5, 6, 10, 11, and 12, which is the real size of the machine. In making
use of these "laborators," the husbandman economises at least half the labor
expended in using the ordinary means of ploughing with cattle; a great
advantage, without mentioning the superior cultivation of the soil obtained
by the spade.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the means by which
I carry it into practical effect, I desire it to be distinctly understood that I lay
no claim to the exclusive use of any of the parts used in constructing my
machine for tilling land, such as shovels or wheels, when such shovels or wheels
are taken and considered as parts, and not put together or in combination, as
for the purposes of my Invention; which I declare to be, and I claim, the
exclusive use of the combination of mechanical parts herein-before described,
and illustrated in the annexed Drawings, forming when so combined a "New
Machine for Tilling Land."
In witness whereof, I, the said Théodor Baron von Gilgenheimb, have
hereunto affixed my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of May, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
THEODOR B. V. GILGENHEIMB. (LS.)
Witness,
H. BIEBUYCK,
Rue du Commerce,
Bruxelles.