IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR GIVING MOTION TO AGRICULTURAL AND OTHER MACHINERY
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
HAWKINS NICHOLLS, of Pimlico, in the County of Middlesex, 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 Twenty-fourth day of April, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-one, and in the fourteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her
heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Robert Hawkins
Nicholls, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, Her especial license, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said Robert Hawkins Nicholls, my exors,
adiñors, or assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Hawkins Nicholls,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term of years therein expressed, should and law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England and Wales and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alder-
ney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations
abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR GIVING MOTION
TO AGRICULTURAL AND OTHER MACHINERY;" in which said Letters Patent there is
contained a proviso obliging me, the said Robert Hawkins Nicholls, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to particularly 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 enrolled in Her said 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, refe-
rence being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Robert Hawkins Nicholls, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed and carried
into practical effect, are fully described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the illustrative Drawings here-
unto annexed and forming part of this my Specification, and to the numeral
figures and letters of reference marked thereon, that is to say :-
The first part of my said Invention consists in certain improved mechanical
arrangements and combinations of parts as applied to dibbling machines, and
the nature of this part of my said Invention consists in so arranging and
disposing the said mechanism as that, by turning round a winch handle or
handles, the machine may be advanced a given distance at certain intervals of
time, in regular succession, and remain quiescent during the time necessary for
effecting the operation of dibbling and sowing.
The second part of my said Invention consists in certain improved nechanical
arrangements and combinations of parts as applied to hand dibbles, and
consists in so arranging and disposing the said mechanism as to produce what
I term a walking movement.
And in order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I will
proceed to describe the means whereby I am enabled to carry the same into
practical effect.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING MARKED SHEET 1.
Figure 1 exhibits a side elevation of a mechanical arrangement for
imparting motion to machinery. Figure 2 an end elevation of Figure 1 at A.
Figure 3 a transverse and vertical section of the above as it would appear if
divided through the line A, B, at Figure 2. At each of these Figures
similar letters of reference are employed to denote corresponding parts, in so
far as such parts appear or can be seen at each of the Figures respectively.
A, A, mark running wheels; B, a guide wheel said wheels are connected to
and support the side framings C, C, to which are connected the following
parts D marks a wrought iron cranked spindle, mounted in suitable bearings
in the framings C, C; E, a toothed wheel fixed upon the cranked spindle D;
the wheel E takes or gears into a corresponding wheel F, fixed upon a
spindle G, which works in suitable bearings; H, H, mark winch handles
fitting upon the square ends of the spindle G; I, I, cranks securely fixed upon
the ends of the cranked spindle D; K, K, connecting rods, the upper ends
whereof are attached to the cranks I, I, (as shewn at Figure 2), and the
lower ends of the said connecting rods are attached to the cross bar L, to

page_text: which bar the dibble rods M are affixed; N, a cross bar for supporting the
lower end of the dibbles, which are securely fixed thereto; O marks a short
connecting rod, one end of which is attached to the cranked part a of the
spindle D; the other and opposite end of the rod O is formed slotted for the
purpose of connecting and adjusting the said rod to the bell crank lever bar P,
by means of the key b and holes, e, formed in the bar, P; the lower end of
the bar P is formed forked (as exhibited at Figure 2) for the purpose of
attaching it to the side framings C, C, and the tail parts c of the lever bar P
rest upon the axis d of the running wheels A, A, for the purpose hereafter
mentioned; Qmark a connecting bar, one end whereof is adjusted and
connected to the lever bar P, and the other and opposite end is adjusted and
connected to the bar R; the lower end of said bar is passed loosely over the
axis d of the running wheels A, A. It will be seen, upon referring to
Figure 3, that the lower end of the bar R is formed with a lug or projection,
to which part one end of a pall S is connected by a pin e, the other and
opposite end of the pall S bites against the inner periphery of the recessed
casting T, said casting being firmly keyed or fixed upon the axis d of the
running wheels A, A. The modus operandi of the above-mentioned me-
chanical arrangement and combination of parts is as follows:-Assuming the
several parts of the machine, when in use, to be in the position exhibited at
Figure 1, whereby the dibbles will be inserted into the earth to their full
extent of action, through the agency of the parts D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, the
said dibbles may be raised and withdrawn from the earth, and the running
wheels A, A, advanced in the following manner:-The operator, by turning
round the winch handles H, H, imparts motion to the wheels E and F, and
cranked spindle D, whereby the dibbles are raised, and simultaneously with
such movement, the slotted ends of the side framings C, C, are raised (the
fulcrum being upon the pin 2) so as to allow the dibbles to pass clear of the
surface of the earth as the machine is advanced forwards, which is effected in
the following manner:-As the cranked part a of the spindle D. rotates (in
the direction denoted by the arrow's flight), the short connecting rod O will be
pushed forwards, and the tail parts c, c, of the bell crank levers P, P, taking
their abutment upon the axis d of the running wheels A, A, will cause those
parts of the lever P, which are connected to the side framings C, C, by the
bolts 1, 1, to be raised together with the side framings as the upper end of the
lever P is forced outwards, and the bar Q, moving therewith, will cause the
pall S to bite firmly against the inner periphery of the casting T, and thereby
impart circular motion to the casting T, axis d, and the running wheels A, A,
fixed thereon; and in this manner the machine will be advanced forwards the
extent to which it is moved; as also the height to which the framings C, C, and

page_text: dibbles are raised, may be increased or diminished by adjusting the parts
O, Q, R, higher or lower in the holes in the said parts, as occasion may
require; and as the cranked spindle D continues to rotate, the pall S will cease
to bite the casting T, and the wheels will be quiescent during the time that
the parts O, P, Q, R, are being drawn inwards, which movement will effect the
lower of the side framings C, C, as also the depression of the dibbles, after
which the dibbles may be again raised, and the running wheels A, A, advanced
in the manner before stated. V marks a ratchet wheel fixed upon the axis d
(shewn at Figure 2); said wheel is furnished with a pall attached to one of:
the side framings C, to prevent the machine moving backwards except at the
will of the operator.
I will now proceed to describe another mechanical arrangement for im-
parting motion to agricultural implements, and would remark that I have
exhibited such said arrangement as applied to a dibbling machine, which I
designate a "walking dibble," the construction and arrangement of which is

page_text: connected to the lever bar G, G, by pins or bolts 4; the levers G, G, have their
fulcra upon pins or bolts 5 attached to the lever legs C. K marks a counter-
balance weight attached to one end of the bent levers G, G; to the opposite
end of these levers links L, M, are connected for imparting motion to the
dibbles. N, O, marks a counterbalance weight attached to the upper cross.
bar I. The modus operandi of this mechanical arrangement is as follows:-
Assuming the machine, when in use, to be in ther position exhibited at
Sheet 2, Figure 4, in order to advance. the machine forwards, the operator
first raises the handles B', B', upon the fulcrum 7, until the feet D' are clear of
the ground; he then pushes down the handles, and thereby imparts to the
levers D, D, a vibratory and forward' movement, after which he raises the
handles B', and thereby inserts or forces the dibbles into the earth, and at the
same time causes the legs C, C, to move forwards, and in this manner the
operations of dibbling and advancing the machine are successively carried on.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed and carried into practical effect, I desire
it to be distinctly understood that I do not claim the exclusive use of any of
the separate parts above mentioned and referred to, except in so far as the same
may be employed in combination and for the purposes of my said Invention.
But what I claim is, the mechanical arrangements and combinations of parts
herein-before particularly described, set forth, and represented by the illustra-
tive Drawings hereunto annexed, as constituting Improvements in Machinery
for giving Motion to Agricultural and other Machinery. And I would remark
that although I have exhibited such said mechanical arrangements and
combinations of parts as applied to dibbles only, I do not intend to limit or
confine myself to this precise application, but have only given them as examples
of the means whereby my Invention may be carried into practical effect, as it
must appear manifest to any intelligent workman that the said arrangements
and combinations, with trifling modifications, are susceptible of being advan-
tageously employed for giving motion to other machinery. Neither do I
intend to limit or confine myself to the precise details herein set forth,
described, and represented, so long as the peculiar character of my Invention
be retained, but reserve to myself such immaterial variations of form and
construction of the parts as experience may suggest.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Hawkins Nicholls, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of October, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
ROBERT HAWKINS (L.S.) NICHOLLS.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-fourth day of October,
in the year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid Robert Hawkins Nicholls came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-fourth day of October,
in the year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid Robert Hawkins Nicholls came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord.
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.