IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN STEAM CULTIVATION
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Howard, Agricultural Engineer, and Edward
Tenney Bousfield, Engineer, both of Bedford, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN STEAM CULTIVATION."
Sealed the 19th July 1861, and dated the 14th May 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Howard and Edwardi
Tenney Bousfield at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with.
their Petition, on the 14th May 1861.
We, JAMES HOWARD, Agricultural Engineer, and EDWARD TENNEY BOUSfield,
Engineer, both of Bedford, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention-
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED. IN STEAM CULTIVATION," to bo
as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to increase the efficiency of apparatus em-
ployed in steam cultivation when wire ropes are used as the medium of
propulsion for the ploughs or cultivators.
Our first improvement relates to the means employed for transmitting rotary
motion from the steam engine to the windlass, and consists in securing the
coupling rod to the engine shaft, and the pinion shaft of the windlass, by means
of flexible couplings, which will permit of that rod adjusting itself to any

page_text: required angle. These flexible couplings may be constructed in either of the
following ways:-Thus a coupling may be formed by means of a flexible tube
of compound rubber or other suitable material, into the opposite ends of which
the ends of the shafts and rod to be coupled are inserted. When thus inserted
they are to be secured by ring clamps; or, a flexible disc attached to each
shaft by disc clamps at the centre and to the coupling rod by flat rings or
flanges may be used as the medium of connection; or the object of this part
of our Invention may be attained by attaching to the ends of the coupling rod
and the shafts to be coupled a flexible steel cruciform plate, and connecting
the ends of the adjacent plates together at their extremities. To allow of a
slight irregularity of distance between the engine and windlass we propose to
make the coupling rod telescopic.
Our second improvement relates to a mode of reducing the vibration of the
drawing shafts of windlasses when in use. These shafts are commonly used to
secure, by means of tines or anchors at their extremities, the windlass in
position in the field. It is now proposed to stiffen each shaft by trussing them,
after the manner of a trussed girder, and to give them a bearing on the ground
intermediate of their length.
Our third improvement relates to the construction and use of the snatch
block which is employed for guiding the wire rope along the field. To obtain
a more durable centre for snatch blocks, and also to prevent the necessity for
constant lubrication, we bolt on to a bed-plate frame or slab of wood a hollow
chilled cast-iron block or a solid wood centre, which centre is to receive the
grooved guiding pulley, round which the wire passes. Over this centre we
bolt a cap, having a receptacle for lubricating material, and thus secure the
pulley on its centre. To prevent the rope from slipping out of the groove of
the pulley we apply guards near the periphery of the pulley, and so form them
that they will project into the groove when the rope is in place. To allow
for the removal of the rope we make these guards turn on a centre, and
present a smaller radius to the pulley, thus giving space for the rope to pass
out of the groove of the pulley. To provide for the traverse of the snatch
block along the headlands we propose to strain a chain or wire rope between
holdfasts set in the ground at suitable distances apart. This chain or rope we
make taut by means of cramps or tightening screws, and to it we attach the
snatch block, so that it may move, as required, from end to end thereof, an
adjustable stop being applied to the chain or rope to limit the movement of
the snatch block along the chain during each traverse of the plough or other
implement. Another mode of applying the snatch block at the headland is to
plough out a furrow along each headland, and then to let into this furrow

page_text: two wheels of a four-wheel carriage, on which carriage the metal block is
mounted. The better to secure a good hold of the ground this carriage may
be weighted.
Our fourth improvement relates to a mode of facilitating the working of
Norwegian harrows, rollers, and clod crushers by steam power. To this end the
frame in which the rollers, rowels, or working parts are mounted we crank
vertically, and apply thereto supporting and steering wheels (provided with
cutting edges) at opposite ends of such frame. The draught ropes we attach
to the opposite ends of this cranked frame, and we rely on the draught to
bring down the front wheels and elevate the hinder ones, as required,
according to the direction of traverse of the implement. The wheels are
steered alternately, as described in our Provisional Specification, bearing date
February 25th, 1861, (No. 484.)
Our last improvement relates to double-ridge ploughs for ridging up land
by steam power. To prevent the necessity for turning this implement at the
land's end, we propose to apply double bodies to a framework similar to that
used in our improved cultivator described in our Provisional Specification
above referred to. The shares of these double bodies point in opposite
directions, and the implement can therefore be moved indifferently in opposite
directions. The breasts of the double bodies we propose to form in one
piece.