IM- PROVEMENTS IN SEED DEPOSITORS OR DRILLS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer & Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN SEED DEPOSITORS OR DRILLS."-A communication from
abroad by Louis Achille Pruneau formerly Notary, of Paris.
Sealed the 13th October 1859, and dated the 5th May 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th May 1859.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer & Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEED DEPOSITORS OR DRILLS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of an improved portable drill for all kinds of seeds,
& which may be adapted to all kinds of ploughs. The seed distributor of this
improved drill acts by means of a maintaining power & train of wheels, the
movement of which regulates the fall of the grain into the ground, which
constitutes the improvement on the drills employed at the present time.
Fig. 1 of the Drawing annexed shows an elevation of the apparatus;
Fig. 2, a vertical section of the same; while Fig. 3 shows the apparatus
applied to a plough. a, wooden box, containing the parts for regulating the
supply of the seed; b, wheel placed at the lower part of the hopper c, serving to
measure & distribute the seed; c, hopper, for containing the seed, placed

page_text: above the distributing wheel b, fixed to the box a by means of set screws,
which thus permits of its being raised or lowered at will; d, conduct pipe,
fixed below wheel b, one part of which is of india-rubber, so that it may give
way to any obstruction it may meet with, & also admit of being doubled up
when the operation is completed; e is a slide serving for the passage of the
seed; h, escape valve; i, the share or instrument for covering in the grain
when sown; k is the heel of the ploughshare.
The action of the apparatus will be easily understood. At the moment of
starting, motion is given by the train of wheels to the wheel b, which allows
the grain to fall into the tube d, whence it is deposited in the furrow prepared
for its reception & immediately covered by the share i.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office, on the 2nd
November 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said
William Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at
all times thereafter 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 Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SEED DEPOSITORS OR DRILLS," a communication from abroad
by Louis Achille Pruneau, formerly Notary, of Paris; upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Clark, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Clark, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
This Invention relates to a new kind of drill, which may be adapted and
applied as a portable drill to all kinds of implements, such as ploughs, harrows,
or other agricultural implements for turning over, ploughing, or drilling the
ground. This improved drill is applicable for the deposit of all kinds of seeds
in any required quantity in a given space.
The particular feature of this Invention consists in this, that the tractive
force is not made use of in distributing the seed. For this purpose, a special
apparatus having a separate motion, is adapted to the implement, consisting of
a spring and train which imparts a rotary movement to a distributor, depositing
a certain quantity of seed in the ground, supplied from a hopper or seed
reservoir.
It will be thus understood that the seed depositor is completely independent
of the implement acting on the ground; it may be applied to ploughs with
one or several shares, to harrows, or other implements of culture with any
number of coulters or tines.
In the annexed Drawing is represented an arrangement of hand drill, and
also a drill applied to a plough. Fig. 1 shows an elevation of a hand drill;
Fig. 2, a central vertical section of the same; while Fig. 3 shows an apparatus
applied to a plough. a, case of wood, enclosing the train movement, which is
wound up & put in motion by a spring, barrel, or otherwise, and placed in
any suitable position; b, wheel, having cavities, forming the distributor
properly so called. The wheel b has a continuous rotary motion imparted to
it; it recieves the seed from a hopper placed above, and allows it to pass into
a lower funnel, to be conducted into the ground. c, hopper or reservoir for
containing the seed placed above the distributing wheel, screwed to box a,
& so as to allow of its position being altered as required; d, conducting pipe,
fixed below the distributing wheel b. One part of this pipe is flexible, being
made of india-rubber, for example, so that it may adapt itself to the inequalities
of the ground when the apparatus is in motion, and may be folded up when
not in use. e, slide for guiding the seed in its passage from the reservoir
to the distributor; h, exit valve; i, hinder share (Fig. 3), for covering over
with earth the seed which has been deposited; j, front share (Fig. 3), forming
the furrow into which the seed is to be deposited. Several shares may be
arranged abreast so as to form a compound drill for sowing several rows at

page_text: one time. In this manner, the improved drill may be applied to all kinds of
apparatus for tilling the ground.
For the purpose of increasing or diminishing the quantity of seed deposited
at one time, the speed of the spring and train movement putting in motion
the distributing wheel b, may be regulated at will. It will be understood that
various sizes of distributing apparatus are adapted to the implement, according
to the kind of seeds to be deposited.
Having described the nature of the Invention and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that I do not claim any particular train movement, which
may be constructed in any suitable manner, but that what I claim as the
Invention to be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent
is, the application of the seed distributor b, put in motion by a wheel train,
having movement independent of the tractive force exerted on the implement.
I also claim the application of this seed depositor, mechanically actuated, to all
kinds of apparatus for tilling the ground.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
W. G. E. SWINNOCK,
53, Chancery Lane.
W. CLARK. (L.S.)