IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PLOUGHS
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
HAMMOND BENTALL, of Heybridge, in the County of Essex, Ironfounder, 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-fifth day of March, in the fifteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Edward Hammond Bentall, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Edward Hammond Bentall, my exors, adñors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said Edward Hammond Bentall, my exors,
admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time, and at all times during the term years therein mentioned,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PLOUGHS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso obliging me, the said Edward Hammond Bentall, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to 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 inrolled in Her 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, reference 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
Edward Hammond Bentall, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, refer-
ence being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon (that is to say):
:-
My Invention of improvements in the construction of ploughs relates,-
Firstly, to an improved mode of constructing the beams of ploughs, the
object being to obtain lightness as well as strength, and to effect an economy
in the manufacture. Instead of making the beam of wood and of a solid
section, I form it of two bars of iron, either straight or curved, to their proper
form, which bars are bolted together, and form a kind of hollow framework.
Between these bars the coulters may be fixed, instead of making sockets or
employing the usual attachments for them.
The second part of my Invention relates to an improved mode of con-
structing turn-wrest. ploughs or double ploughs, by means of which the
operation of ploughing, both up and down the field, may be performed with
the same facility. Attached to opposite sides of the beam, which I prefer to
construct according to the first part of my Invention, is a complete plough,
and the handles of the plough are made capable of moving on a fulcrum pin,
whereby they are attached to the hinder end of the beam. At the lower end
of the handles is a segmental T piece, at or near the extremities of which are
two holes, one at each end, and into which a pin is inserted for the purpose of
holding the handles in an elevated position. While the operation of ploughing.
is proceeding, the handles are retained as before stated in a fixed elevated
position by means of the pin which is passed through one of the holes at the
lower end and through an eye on the plough beam. On the plough arriving
at the end of the field it is turned on to its side, and the pin which holds the
handles in their elevated position is withdrawn, and the handles are depressed.
The horses will then, in turning round, cause the plough to roll over, and the
share, breast, and coulter, which were before in an elevated position (standing
upward from the top side of the beam), will be made to take up a working
position. The handles are now raised to their former elevation, and they
are secured by the pin being inserted into the eye at the opposite side of
the T piece.
The third part of my Invention relates to an improved method of securing
or fastening the shares of ploughs on to the spit.
Having explained in general terms the nature and object of the Invention,
I will now proceed to describe more in detail the mode in. which I propose to

page_text: carry my improvements into effect, as shewn in the accompanying Drawings:
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are sectional views of various forms of bar iron
which I propose to use to carry out the first part of my Invention. Fig. 1
represents sections of two bars of iron, with projecting flanges at the upper
and lower edges. Fig. 2 represents a similar view of two bars of iron, with
ribs formed on one side in place of the flanges shewn in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a
modification of Fig. 2, the only difference being that there is but one rib
instead of two on the side of the bar. Fig. 4 is a modification of Fig. 1, its
section being somewhat similar to that of the double T rail used for railways.
The advantage of all these forms of, rail is, that the flanges or projections
greatly add to the strength and rigidity of the bar without considerably
augmenting the weight. A variety of other forms might be given, having ribs,
flanges, or projections made on the side to obtain the same effect. I do not
therefore intend to confine myself to the forms of bars herein shewn. I also
propose to employ bars having a curved section, as shewn in Fig. 5, as very
great strength may be obtained by employing this form of bar.
In order to make the beams of ploughs of bar iron of either of the shapes
above described, I first roll the bar iron in convenient lengths of the required
form, and having cut off from a long bar two pieces the length required, I
bend or fashion these pieces by means of a bending machine into the proper
shape without heating them. The two pieces are then firmly connected
together by bolts or screws, a space of about an inch in width being left
between them. The two pieces are then firmly connected together by bolts or
screws, a space of about an inch in width being left between them to admit of
their receiving the coulter and the frame for the share and breast or turn
furrow. By thus bending or fashioning the beams of a plough, as above
described, from bars previously prepared by rolling, I am enabled to economise
both time and labor, and by employing for this purpose bars of the form shewn,
or others of a similar nature, great strength and rigidity are obtained. Fig. 6
is a side elevation, and Fig. 7 an end view of a double or turn-wrest plough
constructed on my improved plan, and with the second part of my Invention
also adapted thereto. The flanged iron beam is shewn at a, a; in this:
instance it must of course be made straight, but when the flanged iron is
employed for forming the beams of single or ordinary ploughs, it should be
made of the proper curve. The handles are shewn at b, and are connected to
the beam by a fulcrum pin c. At the lower end of the handles is the
segmental T piece d, at each end of which is a hole to receive the pin e,
whereby the handles are maintained in the position shewn in the Drawing
until the pin is removed. The frame passes between the two bars which

page_text: form the beam, and is firmly secured thereto by screw bolts or otherwise. It
carries two separate and distinct ploughs, which are further connected together
by a curved strap piece g, which supports the plough while it is being turned
over. The coulters h, h; are secured between the bars of the beam by wedges.
The guide wheels i, i, (of which either two or four may be used,) are secured
to horizontal bars or arms j, j, which are attached to the front part of the
beam.
My improved method of fastening the shares of ploughs on to the spit is
shewn in Fig. 8, which represents a ploughshare detached. This improve-
ment simply consists in making an oblong or rectangular slot in the top of the
share, instead of a simple round hole, as is usual. A corresponding slot or
hole is made in the spit, and I adapt to these slots a metal wedge, which,
when driven in to the slots in the share and spit, will wedge up the back of
the share firm and tight upon the spit. As in making the shares the holes
and wedges may not always be of exactly the same size, it will be found
convenient in practice to insert in the slot a wooden wedge first, and then
forcibly drive in the iron or metal wedge, which may therefore be made rather
smaller than would otherwise be necessary.
Having now described my several improvements, and the best means with
which I am acquainted for carrying the same into effect; I would observe, in
conclusion, that I do not mean or intend to confine myself rigidly to the
precise arrangement and construction of parts herein shewn and described, as
they may doubtless be varied without departing from the nature and object of
my Invention; nor do I mean or intend to claim, in reference to the first head
of my Invention, the exclusive right to make plough beams of two plain bars of
wrought iron connected together by bolts or otherwise. But that which I
consider to be new, and therefore wish to claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, constructing the beams of ploughs of bars of iron, furnished with
projecting flanges or ribs at the sides for the purpose of strengthening the
same. I also claim the use of curved bars, such as those shewn at Fig. 5, or any
mere modification thereof when applied to the above purpose.
In relation to the second head of my Invention, I claim the method herein
shewn and described for constructing double or turn-wrest ploughs, or any
mere modification thereof, in which the frame or frames which carry the
ploughs is or are firmly fixed, by bolts, rivets, or otherwise, direct to the beam,
which, therefore, must be turned over or upside down when the uppermost
plough is required to be brought into operation.