A NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINE FOR HOEING AND THINNING TURNIPS AND FOR CLEANING DRILLS
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Picken, of Mochrum, in the County of Wigton,
North Britain, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINE FOR
HOEING AND THINNING TURNIPS AND FOR CLEANING DRILLS."
Sealed the 21st August 1877, and dated the 15th March 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Picken at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th March 1877.
" A NEW
JAMES PICKEN, of Mochrum, in the County of Wigton, North Britain.
OR IMPROVED MACHINE FOR HOEING AND THINNING TURNIPS AND FOR CLEANING
DRILLS."
This Invention, which relates to a new or improved machine for thinning turnips,
and which may also be employed for weeding and otherwise cleaning the sides of
drills wherein turnips and other plants are sown, consists of a frame supported on
a pair of carrying wheels placed at the sides and on a trailing wheel situate at the
rearward end of the frame, the latter wheel being adjustable so as to he rigid
relatively with the other wheels or to be rendered capable of swivelling in its
bearings on the frame. On the shaft or axis of the side carrying wheels bevel
wheels are placed, and geared with pinions situate on the forward ends of shafts
lying parallel with the length of the frame, and on whose rearward extremities a
hoeing instrument resembling a marine screw propeller is placed. Two such shafts
are provided for each drill, and the hoe is so arranged on each of them that its
circle of rotation intersects the circle of rotation of the other. The shafts carrying
the hoes are attached to a lever or levers which is or are capable of being moved
in a vertical plane, so as to raise the hoes from or to depress them into the drills
to any required depth. The hoes are also capable of moving upwards and down-
wards when they come in contact with a stone or other obstruction, and in so
moving the shafts swing on bearings or blocks at their forward ends, whereby they
are caused to rise and fall simultaneously, being connected together by a cross piece
or tail. The pinions on the forward ends of the hoe shafts are of such a size as to
cause the blades of the hoes to penetrate into the drill and thin the turnips to any
desired distance apart, such distance being regulated by the size of the pinions.
Under a modification of the machine, and which is more especially adapted for
bard or stiff land or land of uneven depth, bevelled rollers running on the sides of
CH

page_text: the drill may be used to support the hoe shafts, which are in such case made with
universal joints to enable them to swing horizontally as well as vertically. For
soft land the machine may be provided with a roller running on the top of the
drills to compress the earth or soil, these rollers also acting as carrying and driving
wheels.
In using the machine for weeding or cleaning the sides of the drills smaller hoes
are or may be employed, so that in rotating the said hoes shall not penetrate
through the drill but merely act on the sides thereof.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said James Picken in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th September
1877.
JAMES PICKEN, of Mochrum, in the County of Wigton, North Britain.
"A NEW
OR IMPROVED MACHINE FOR HOEING AND THINNING TURNIPS AND FOR CLEANING
DRILLS."
My Invention relates to new or improved machinery, for thinning turnips, and
which may also be employed for weeding and otherwise cleaning the sides of drills
wherein turnips or other plants are sown.
In order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I now proceed
more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner in or under which the
same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, reference being bad to the
annexed Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:-
Figur 1 on the annexed Sheet of Drawings is a plan of the machine, constructed
according to my said Invention, to operate upon two drills of turnips, and Figure 2
is a vertical section thereof taken on the line a, b, Figure 1.
The main framing A of the machine is supported by two side carrying wheels B,
and a trailing wheel D situated at the rearward end of the frame, the carrying
arm E of which trailing wheel turns freely in the socket F fixed to the framing A.
The side wheels B are mounted upon the main shaft C, and are provided with
clutches o, by which the motion of the wheels B may be imparted to the said main
shaft or disconnected therefrom, as desired; these clutches are operated through
the forked arms or levers d, centered at d¹ to the framing A, and connected by the
rods to the handle or lever e which is centered at e' to the framing A. The rods f
are attached to the lever e, one below and one above the centre e, upon which it
turns, so that both clutches are simultaneously brought into or thrown out of gear
with the wheels B. The distance of the wheels B the one from the other can be
adjusted to suit the width of drills by the interposition of collars or rings g between
the said wheels and the framing; the shaft C has keyed to it four bevilled
wheels L, having long naves n, which wheels drive the bevilled pinions M keyed
on the shafts H, turning in bearings in the frames I, and carrying the revolving
hoes J. These frames I are each formed in two parts, which are fixed together by
bolts passing through slots m in each part of the frame I, in order to allow of the
hoes being set at different distances from each other. By the insertion of filling
pieces between the two parts of the frame I the said parts, and consequently the
hoes carried by them, may be set further from or nearer to each other so as to suit
various widths of drills. The wheels L being caused to turn with the shaft C by the
feathers o on the said shaft sliding in grooves in the collars n, the said wheels being
fixed in the position to which the insertion of the filling pieces may have brought
them by the set nuts at r; each collar n is provided with a flanch at p, forming
necks to which the forward ends of the parts of the frame I are attached by the
straps which are bolted thereto, the frame I being free to turn upon the said
necks; the shafts H carry on their forward ends the toothed bevel wheels M, and
.

page_text: on their rear ends the hoes J. The shafts H are arranged in pairs, two shafts to
each drill, and the hoes of each pair are at such a distance apart that their circles
of rotation intercept each other. To the rear ends of the frames I are attached
levers N for adjusting the depth of the penetration of the hoes and for keeping
them above the ground when not in use, the said levers being retained in any
position to which they may have been brought by the pins p¹, passing through holes
in the guide bars O.
I have shewn in Figure 3 one of the hoes J in transverse section; it consists of
a boss h carrying two blades i, i, the said blades being twisted after the manner
of the blades of a screw propeller, and these are attached to the said boss by the
brackets j, the stems of which are rounded so that the blades may be turned to any
suitable angle, being fixed in that position by set nuts, wedges, or other suitable
contrivance; the hoes are fixed to the shafts H so that they revolve therewith.
In certain cases, such as with stiff or uneven soil, conical rollers, marked K, may
be carried in slotted brackets J at the rear ends of the frames I, in which brackets
they are adjustable; these rollers run along the sides of the drills, supporting the
frames I, and assist in keeping the hoes at their proper depth of penetration. The
machine is provided with guiding handles R at its rear and with shafts or attach-
ments for horses at its front part, as indicated at P.
The action of the machine is as follows:-The hoes of each pair are set at the
requisite distance apart, corresponding to the drills, by placing, if necessary, filling
pieces between the two parts of the frame I, and at the requisite relative depth by
inclining one of the parts of the frame I to the other part, and both parts are fixed
together in their adjusted position by the nuts l. The clutches c are put into gear
with the wheels B, and on the machine being drawn over the drills the bevel
wheels Lactuate the bevel pinions M on the shafts H and cause the hoes J to
rotate. The frames I are then lowered at their rear ends by the levers N until the
hoes J penetrate into the drills, or, when the rollers K are used, until those rollers
bear upon the sides of the drills, the hoes being in each case adjusted to insure
the proper degree of penetration. As the machine is drawn along the hoes have a
continuous rotatory motion imparted to them, and by reason of the twisted form
of their blades they thin out the turnips to a distance regulated by the angle of the
blades of the hoes, and by the rate of revolution of the hoes in proportion to the
rate of the machine's travel, it being obvious that by altering the sizes of the
wheels and pinions L and M, these relative rates inay be adjusted to any desired
proportion.
In using the machine for weeding or cleaning the sides of the drills-smaller hoes
are or may be employed, so that in rotating the said hoes shall not penetrate
through the drills but merely act on the sides thereof.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the system, mode, or manner in or under which the same is or may
be used or practically carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I
consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the berein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The general construction, arrangement, and combination of parts con-
stituting the improved machine herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. The application and use to and with machines for hoeing and thinning
turnips or for weeding or cleaning drills of the revolving hoes, operated substantially
as herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Picken, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Tenth day of September, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
BAYAN