IMPROVEMENTS IN TILLING IM- PLEMENTS
Year: 1872

page_text: E
LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Draughtsman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TILLING IM-
PLEMENTS." -A communication from abroad by Samuel Thorne, of
the City of New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 24th December 1872, and dated the 1st July 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 1st July 1872.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Ohancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby.
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TILLING
IMPLEMENTS," to be as follows:-
•

page_text: It may be convenient to describe the Invention as applied to a
reversible plough in which the various improvements constituting the
Invention are combined.
The standard of the reversible plough is fitted on one side with an
angular bracket piece which is cast with lugs to receive a pin, which 5
which
secures to it as by a hinged joint a double ended mould board,
is fitted at its opposite ends with a ploughshare.
The mould board is hinged at about an angle of 45° to the standard,
and it is held in a working position by knuckle-jointed struts or their
equivalent at opposite sides of the hinge, and connecting the mould 1
board and standard together.
The tipping of the mould board to throw the plough out of work
or to reverse the plough, is effected by bending these knuckle-jointed
struts, and when one or other of them is straightened the depressed
share will be held firmly in position.
The standard is cast with a flange which forms a foot for the plough
and facilitates its sliding over the ground when the shares are out of
action. This standard is also cast with a horizontal disc-shaped piece
at its upper end to receive a turn plate which is made fast to the under
side of the plough beam. A centre bolt passed through the turn plate 1
and disc serves to connect the beam and standard, but to prevent the
strain of the draught being thrown on this pin, lips or flanges are cast
on the standard in the line of the draught so as to embrace the turn
plate and take the lateral pressure thereof.
In order to lock the draught beam in position the standard is provided:
with a double set of bolt holes, into which a spring bolt fitted to the
beam (operated by a rod at the plough handles) is free to drop, and
thereby lock the beam in a line with or at any desired angle with respect
to the face of the standard. When the plough has arrived at the end
of the furrow, the position of the mould board is to be reversed, and the
locking bolt being withdrawn the draught beam is free to be swivelled
round on its centre pin to reverse the direction of the draught without
turning the plough.
=
The improved mode of mounting the mould board applies also to non-
11
"

page_text: By reducing the reversible mould board to a suitable size it may be
adapted to cultivators and other implements used for turning furrows
and stirring the soil.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st January 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special
licence that. I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TILLING IMPLEMENTS," being a communication to
me from abroad by Samuel Thorne, of the City of New York, United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters.
Patent.

page_text: Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the improved plough showing the
double-pointed reversible mould board and method of bracing to the
land side.
Fig. 4 is a sectional view shewing one method of securing the swivel
plough beam in proper position.
And Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the standard and pivot disc shewing
the method of adjusting the beam with relation to the angle of the
mould board,
A represents the standard so constructed as to form a double-pointed
land side with share-shaped edges at either end. The under surface of
the standard or land side is turned outward from the mould board so as
to form a foot or runner B, on which the plough readily slides along
the ground when the forward point of the mould board is elevated. To
the side of the standard A, and at right angles thereto is secured a
bracket, provided with rounded projecting lugs c, c, which form
hinged pivots for the mould board D. This mould board is so con-
structed and arranged in connection with the standard to which it is
hinged as to form a double-pointed reversible plough which can be
worked back and forth as a right or left hand plough by turning the
mould board on its hinge and thereby raising and lowering either point
in succession.
The hinging of the mould board to the standard is accomplished by
passing the pivot pin c¹ of bracket 0 through loops or eyes d', d³, formed
on the back of the mould board.
The Invention is not confined to the use of this double-pointed
reversible mould board, as any form of mould board may be hinged
or otherwise socured or attached to the standard or land side in the
manner described so as to permit of the point being raised from the
ground, and the plough left free to travel on the land side alone when
being moved from place to place, nor is the use of the herein described
hinged double-pointed reversible mould board limited in its application
to single ploughs, as it may obviously be used with like facility and
effect in the gangs of steam and other gang ploughs which are made to
travel back and forth. without turning at the end of the furrow, and also
by reducing the reversible mould board to proper size; it may be used in
cultivators and other implements used for turning furrows and stirring
the soil.

page_text: E represents a hinged brace or knuckle-jointed support for bracing
the mould board and land side or standard A; it consists of two rods e, e¹,
the inner ends of which are united by a hinge F, the outer ends
being loosely connected with or shackled one to the mould board the
other to the land side. When the reversible mould board is used each i
end is provided with these hinged braces, as shewn by Fig. 3 of the
Drawing.
The operation of these particular hinged braces and the peculiar
advantages arising from their use will be more fully set forth herein-
after. Their function, however, of supporting the mould board can be:
performed by a variety of equivalent devices; as by chains or linked
rods passing from the rear end of the beam to the mould board, or
between the land side and mould board, or by a sliding bolt attached to
the interior or inner side of the land side to be driven by operation of
the foot into a groove or socket formed on the under side of the share
or point of the mould board, and in other ways which will readily
suggest themselves to the skilled mechanic. I do not therefore limit
myself to the particular hinged brace shewn by the Drawing, but prefer
its use to that of any other construction.
G is the plough beam having handles 9, 9, secured to its rear end.
H. is a pivot disc formed with an annular shoulder h. This disc is
secured to the under side of the beam, and rests on a corresponding
disc I formed on the upper portion of the standard A.
A bolt passes through these disos and the beam, the part passing
through the beam and disc H being rigidly secured thereto, while the
part passing through the disc I forms the pivot on which the plough
beam revolves. The head of the bolt is beneath the disc I, and a nut ♬ª¹
secures the bolt to the upper side of the beam.
To relieve this pivot bolt of the strain of the draft which would
otherwise come mainly upon it and thereby tend to impair its effective-
ness as a pivot, the upper portion of the standard which forms the bed
plate J for the support of the beam, has in addition to the disc I two
projecting lips k, k, which fit on to the shoulders h of the disc H, and
thereby relieve the pivot bolt of all strain.
The plough beam shewn in the Drawing is made of wood, but metal
beams may be used if desired, in which case it is obvious that the beam

page_text: and disc H may be cast in one piece, and with or without the pivot, as
desired.
The bed plate J is also provided at both ends with arc-shaped grooves K,
pierced with one or more bolt holes, as shewn in Fig. 5, for the purpose
of locking or securing the beam in the desired position by means of a
bolt L, which passes through the rear end of the beam and one or other
of the holes in the bed plate, as shewn in Fig. 4. In this way the
bolt L secures the beam in the desired position, the bolt being held by
means of a spring M secured to the upper side of the beam.
When it is desired to adjust or turn the beam around, the bolt L is
withdrawn by means of a connecting rod N, which passes up to the
plough handles through staples secured to the rounds, as shewn in Fig. 1.
This is found to be a very convenient method of locking the swivel
beam; but I do not limit myself to the use of this device, as the same
result can be produced by a number of equivalent devices, for instance,
by bolts or other locking device passing through the discs of the pivot,
or by ratchet and pawl operating on the edges of the discs, and by other
means which will readily occur to those skilled in the art.
By means of this locking device or its equivalent operating in con-
nection with the pivoted plough beam, the plough can be readily
adjusted so as to turn a wider or narrower furrow by simply locking
the rear end of the beam in such position as that its forward end will
be to the right or left of the plough point, as clearly indicated by the
dotted lines of Fig. 5.
Having thus set forth the nature and object of the improvements in
ploughs, and minutely described the details of the same, I will now
proceed to describe the operation of the double-pointed reversible
plough.
The plough when in the position shewn at Fig. 1 is ready for operation
as a left-hand plough. At the completion of a furrow the ploughman,
by means of the rod N, withdraws the locking bolt L, and with his foot
presses on the hinge F so as to double up the hinged brace E, and raise
the opposite point of the hinged mould board; he then directs the draft
animal to, the right or left, as most convenient, and in turning the
plough beam revolves until the bolt L engages with the opposite

page_text: groove K, and slipping into the hole formed for its reception, secures
the beam in proper position for operation as a right-hand plough, the
mould board having been reversed by the ploughman's foot drawing
back the hinged brace on that side until the ends or knuckles of the
rods e, e', come into contact to support the mould board. It will thus
be observed that the whole operation of reversing the mould board is
accomplished through the agency of the driver's foot and the hinged.
braces E, and that in turning the beam it is only necessary to with-
draw the bolt L and turn the draft animal around, the beam locking
itself when it comes into proper position, unless it is desired to adjust
the beam laterally with relation to the point of the mould board, in
which case the driver can guide the locking device so as to secure the
beam in the desired position with his hand.
4
When it becomes necessary to transport the plough from one place to
another on the farm, or from field to field, instead of turning it on to
the edge of the mould-board-or-land-side-so-as-to-keep-the-point-out-of-
the ground when being dragged along (as customary and necessary with
ordinary ploughs), and thereby wearing and destroying the cutting edges,
it is only necessary for the ploughman to press on and double up the
knuckle-jointed brace and tilt the mould board backward, when as is
obvious, the plough can be dragged along in an erect position, travelling
on the flat under side or runner B of the land side, without impairing
the efficiency of the cutting edges of either mould board or land side,
and with greater ease to both the ploughman and draught animal.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of " Improvements
in Tilling Implements," as communicated to me by my foreign corre-
spondent, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent, I claim,―
First. Hinging the mould board to the side of the standard or land
side of tilling implements, so that it can be tipped backward and
forwards in the manner and for the purpose, substantially as set forth.
Secondly. The double-pointed reversible mould board D, constructed
and operated in the manner substantially as and for the purpose set
forth.
Thirdly. The moveable brace E or its equivalent for supporting the
hinged mould board, in manner substantially as set forth.

page_text: Fourthly. The combination of land side or standard A, hinged mould
board D, and knuckle-jointed braces E, when constructed as described,
and operated in the manner and for the purposes substantially as set
forth.
Lastly. The pivot discs H, I, and adjusting plates K, operating in
combination with locking bolt L or equivalent device, for the purpose
of adjusting and securing the plough beam, in manner substantially as
set forth.
-
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the First day of January in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.