Improvements in or connected with the Tines or Coulters of Cultivators, Seed Drills, and the like
Year: 1897

page_text: "Improvements in or connected with the Tines or Coulters of
Cultivators, Seed Drills, and the like."
We, LEONARD RANDOLPH KNAPP and THOMAS EDWARD KNAPP, both of Thames
Valley Ironworks, Faringdon, in the county of Berks, Engineers, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the tines or coulters, of cultivators, seed drills and the
like of the kind wherein the coulters are kept into their work by means of springs
and wherein the said coulters are also adapted to yield when they come into contact
with a rock or other obstruction which would bend or break them if provision was
not made to permit of their yielding.
Hitherto independent ineans have been employed for keeping the coulters into
their work and for permitting of their yielding.
Now the object of our invention is to provide that a single spring in conjunction
with each coulter shall serve for the double purpose.
A suitable arrangement of parts is as follows:-
The coulter lever or drag bar which has the coulter pivoted upon it is provided
with a hinged arın one end of which is adapted to lie beneath an adjustable press bar.
The other end projects below the lever and has a connecting rod from the coulter
passing through it. On the end of this connecting rod, is placed a spiral spring
compressed against the protruding part of the arm by means of nuts or cotter keys
or other ordinary means of adjustment. By adjusting these nuts or keys, the
flexibility of the coulter is determined when meeting an obstruction, the spring
allowing the coulter to be forced back and as soon as the obstruction is passed returning
the coulter to its initial position. The pressure exerted on the other end of the arm
by the press bar forces the coulter to the required depth, the same spring giving the
flexibility at this end.
The arm may also be a spring in itself thereby rendering unnecessary the spiral
spring and the required pressure may also be determined by the above method of
adjustment. When the drill or cultivator is at work the arm is depressed by the
usual means giving the operator perfect control over the coulters and allowing him
to press them to the depth required.
I sometimes place on the lever or drag bar a crank one end of which is attached
to the coulter by means of a connecting rod, whilst on the other end is hinged a rod
actuated by a press bar between which and the crank is placed a spiral spring. The
pressure and flexibility of the coulter when meeting an obstruction are controlled by
the compression of this spring by the press bar.
ELL Joof Wohnung 1007

page_text: "Improvements in or connected with the Tines or Coulters of
Cultivators, Seed Drills, and the like."
We, LEONARD RANDOLPH KNAPP, and THOMAS EDWARD KNAPP, both of Thames
Valley Ironworks, Faringdon, in the county of Berks, Engineers, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is tobe performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to the tines or coulters, of cultivators, seed drills and the like
of the kind wherein the coulters are kept into their work by means of springs and
wherein the said coulters are also adapted to yield when they come into contact with
a rock or other obstruction which would bend or break them if provision was not
made to permit of their yielding.
Hitherto independent means have been employed for keeping the coulters into their
work and for permitting of their yielding.
Now the object of our invention is to provide that a single spring in conjunction
with each coulter shall serve for the double purpose.
A suitable arrangement of parts is as follows:-The coulter lever or drag bar which
has the coulter pivoted upon it is provided with a hinged arm one end of which is
adapted to lie beneath an adjustable press bar. The other end projects below the
lever and has a connecting rod from the coulter passing through it. On the end of
this connecting rod, is placed a spiral spring compressed against the protruding
part of the arm by means of nuts or cotter keys or other ordinary means of
adjustment.
To enable our invention to be fully understood we will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawing, in which :-
Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation illustrating the application of our improvements
to a seed drill; and,
Figure 2 is a view illustrating a modification.
a is the frame of the machine and 6 is one of the drag bars the said bar, at its front
end being pivoted to the frame a and at its rear end having pivoted to it the
coulter c.
d is a chain which at one end is connected to the drag bar and at the other end to
a bare of the drill frame and which serves for suspending the said drag bar at a
point corresponding to the depth at which the coulters are to work.
f is the press bar carried between two levers g mounted upon the axle h. one of the
said levers having an extension i provided with a catch , which serves for operating
the said adjustable press bar. This press bar has the chains d of the several coulters
passed over it in such a manner that when by means of the lever i the press bar is
raised or lowered the drag bars with their coulters will be correspondingly moved.
j is the arm hinged or pivoted to the drag bar at k and having one end arranged
beneath the press bar f, the other end m of the hinged bar being formed with an eye
through which the connecting rod n, pivoted at one end to an arm of the coulter c,
slides.
o is a spiral spring arranged between the end m of the hinged arm j and an
adjusting nut p. The compression of the springo is so adjusted that normally it will
retain the coulter c in the position shewn by the full lines in figure 1, should,
however, the said coulter meet with an obstruction which moves it, for instance to
the position indicated by the dotted lines in figure 1, then the spring o will yield to
the desired extent to allow of this movement, the reaction of the spring returning the
coulter to its normal position after the obstruction is passed. As the said spring o is
constantly pressing against the end m of the hinged arm ; it will be obvious that the

page_text: end-of-the-said-arm-j will always be pressed into contact with the press bar f,
whatever may be the position of the latter, whereby the drag bar b will be held down
with a yielding pressure.
In some cases the arm j may be made as a spring arm so that it will permit of a
certain amount of spring pressure being applied to the drag bar independently of the
spring o.
We sometimes modify the arrangement herein before described in the manner
shewn in figure 2 by placing on the drag bar ba bell-cranked lever q one arm of.
which is attached to the coulter by means of a connecting rod r whilst the other arm
has attached to it a rod s sliding through the press bar f and surrounded by a
spring tone end of which bears against the press bar and the other against the
lever 9.
With this arrangement it will be understood that the movement of the press bar
allows of the corresponding movement of the drag bar whilst at the same time the
spring is free to be compressed under any abnormal movement of the coulter
hereinbefore described.
Although we have described our invention as applied to a seed drill it is obvious
that it is equally applicable to a cultivator, hoe or like implement in which the tines
are carried by pivoted drag bars.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:-
1. In a cultivator, seed drill or like implement the combination with each tine or
coulter pivoted to a hinged drag bar, of a spring adapted to press the said tine or
coulter into the ground and at the same time to allow of such tine or coulter yielding
to pass over an obstruction, substantially as described.
2. In a cultivator, seed drill or the like, the combination of a hinged drag bar to
the free end of which a tine or coulter is pivoted, an arm (such as ;) hinged to the
said coulter and bearing at one end against an adjustable press bar and at the other
end provided with an eye, a rod attached to the pivoted coulter and sliding through
the said eye and a spring arranged around the said rod, substantially as hereinbefore
described by reference to figure 1 of the accompanying drawing.
3. The modified arrangement for applying spring pressure to tines or coulters and
allowing of the yielding of the same when passing an obstruction, substantially as
described by reference to figure 2 of the accompanying drawing.
Dated this 5th day of November 1807
G. F. REDFERN & Co
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.