AN IMPROVED PLOUGH AND PULVERIZER
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Harkes, of Lostock Gralam, in the County
of Chester, Agricultural Implement Maker, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED PLOUGH AND PULVERIZER."
Sealed the 1st March 1859, and dated the 3rd September 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Harkes at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd September 1858.
I, WILLIAM HARKES, of Lostock Gralam, in the County of Chester,
Agricultural Implement Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED PLOUGH AND PULVERIZER," to be as follows:-
The improvement consists in arranging or placing a series of cutters
supported in a circular frame directly behind the ploughshare, and at right
angles to it, so that as the soil leaves the ploughshare, it is delivered on to
the knives or cutters, which are caused to revolve rapidly by means of suitable
gearing in connection with the supporting wheels of the plough, so that as
the plough progresses, the knives rotate and cut or pulverize the earth as
required. The apparatus may also be employed for digging up potatoes, &c.,
for which purpose a series of forks may be substituted for the knives..

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Harkes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd March 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HARKES, of Lostock Gralam, in the County of Chester, Agricultural Imple-
ment Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Harkes, Her special license that I, the said William Harkes, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Harkes, 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 " AN IMPROVED PLOUGH AND
PULVERIZER," upon the condition; amongst others, that I, the said William
Harkes, by an instrument in writing under my band and seal, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is 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 'Pateiít.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Harkes, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-
The improvement consists in arranging or placing a series of cutters
supported in a circular frame directly behind the ploughshare, and at right
angles to it, so that as the soil leaves the ploughshare, it is delivered on to the
knives, cutters, or pulverizers, which are caused to revolve rapidly by means
of suitable gearing in connection with the supporting wheels of the plough, so
that as the plough progresses, the knives rotate, and cut or pulverize the earth
as required. The apparatus may also be employed for digging up potatoes, &c.,
for which purpose a series of forks may be substituted for the knives.
In order that the Invention may be better understood, I have hereunto
annexed a Sheet of Drawings illustrative of the same, and made upon a scale
of about two inches to a foot.

page_text: Fig. 1 is a side view of the improved plough, shewing the position of the
pulverizer immediately behind the ploughshare; and Fig. 2 is a detached front
view of the series of knives in a circular frame forming the pulverizer.
In Fig. 1, a, a, is the frame of the plough; b, the ploughshare, and c, the
colter; d, d, are the knives contained in the framing e, every alternate knife
being double or fork-like, and all supplied with cutting edges, for cutting,
breaking up, or pulverising the soil as it is turned up and leaves the plough-
share; the framing carrying the knives is mounted upon a shaft, upon which
is a bevel wheel f, gearing into the bevel wheel f', by which means motion is
communicated to the knives from the bearing or driving wheels g, g, which
support the central portion of the plough; h is an extra wheel placed on the
left-hand side of the plough to assist in turning it. The ploughshare f is
furnished with hinges, so that when required a "mould board" may be
attached, and the plough may be used without the pulverizer, and as a plough
only.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with the
manner of performing the same, I wish it to be understood, that I claim as my
Invention, the novel employment, application, and use of a series of knives,
forks, beaters, or other equivalent placed behind the ploughshare, for the
purpose of "cutting or breaking up, or pulverizing the soil as it leaves the
ploughshare, together with the general arrangement and construction of the
improved plough and pulverizer, as herein-before described, set forth, and fully
exhibited in the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Harkes, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
WILLIAM HARKES. (L.S.)