OERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS OF AGRICULTURAL PLOUGHS
Year: 1823

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
CLYMER, of Finsbury Street, Finsbury Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Mechanic, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did,
by His Letters Patent under the. Great Seal of His United Kingdom,
bearing date at Westminster, the Fifth day of July, 1828, in the fourth
year of His reign, give and. grant. unto me,. the said George Clymer, my
exors, admors, and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said George Clymer, my exors, admors, and assigns,
during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England; Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, and also in all. His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my
Invention of "OERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS OF AGRICULTURAL PLOUGHS;" in which
said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that if I, the said George
Clymer, shall not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instruy
ment in writing under my hand 'and 'seal, and; cause the same to be inrolled
in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the
said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever, thereby
granted shall utterly cease, determine, and become void, as in and by the
same, relation being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
'NOW KNOW YE; that in compliance with the said proviso, I,. the said
George Clymer, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof (that is to say) :-
My Improvements on Agricultural Ploughs consist, first, in forming the breasts
or mould-boards of ploughs in particular manners applicable to different soils,
the carved surfaces of which breasts or mould-boards are produced or generated
by certain mathematical rules, the objects of which are to reduce friction and
the resistance of the ground in a greater degree than has been heretofore effected
by any of the ploughs in use; second, in the construction of a peculiarly
formed beam, with its modes of adjustment, by means of which different
widths as well as depths of furrow may be cut, and the plough drawn by a
single or double team. These improvements are more particularly set forth
and explained in and by the Drawings and description following, that is.
to say :-
Figures 1 and 2 are perspective representations of complete ploughs, as
seen on the breast side. The method by which I form the pattern of a mould-
board of the kind shewn at Fig. 1 is as follows:-I take a rectangular block
of wood, say thirty-six inches long, eighteen inches wide, and twelve inches
deep; this block may be supposed to be represented at Fig. 8. a, b, c, d, is
the top surface from the angle a to 6. About two inches from the angle c I
draw a diagonal line a, e, which line represents the ultimate top edge of the
mould-board from the colter at e to the tail at a, and b, e, is the land side. On
the under surface of the block I now draw a line f, g, shewn by dots,
parrallel to the land side, at nine inches distance from b, c, which is to form the
width of the furrow. I now cut out of the side of the block the prism a, h, i,
and then by cutting in the line g, h, parrallel to the land side, severe the
oblong block h, g, i, d. I now cut a section in the line h, e, perpendicularly,
but descending from the point h on the top surface of the block to the point e
near the bottom surface of the block. I now cut another section from the
point h at the top surface of the block, through the point c at the bottom of
the block, which cut will incline about twenty-five degrees from the horizontal
or top surface, and continue this cut until it reaches the line h, e. The part
of the block which is to form the share must now be rounded from the line h, g,
to the point c, in an easy curve. Fig 4 represents the block as it would
appear in perspective, after being cut into the above-described form. I now
graduate the oblique line h, e, by any scale of equal parts, and then draw the
faint lines from such graduations (by means of a square) upon the oblique
surface, and also upon the curved side from each graduation as 10, 20, 30, 40,
&c. 1 now cut right lines (shewn by dots) to the corresponding graduations,

page_text: 10, 20, 80, 40, &c. on the curved edge; when this is done, the portions of wood
between each are carefully removed by a chisel, so as to preserve the line of
each cut. The surface is then smoothly planed, and a gradually curved inclination
of the breast will be produced, rising from the horizontal commencement of the
sheave at c to the perpendicular part of the mould-board at h. The hinder
part of the mould-board is framed by laying down similar graduations and
lines upon the upper and under surface of the block upon the line h, f, and
then cutting the block from the graduated points at the top in the line a, e,
to the points of the corresponding graduations on the under surface of the
block in the line f, h. Thus the model of a mould-board or breast of a plough,,
constructed upon mathematical principles, will be produced, which is calculated
to operate in very hard ground with less resistance and more effect than any
other construction of plough heretofore adopted. For very wet and stiff
ground I propose to employ another construction of mould-board, as shewn in
the perspective view of the plough, Fig. 2, the model of which I should form
in the following manner:-Take a rectangular block of wood, say of the same
dimensions as before, thirty-six inches long, eighteen inches wide, and twelve
inches deep, of which Fig. 5 represents the top surface, a, b, c,,d, the corners.
At about ten inches from the angle c mark the point e, and draw the diagonal
line e, a, across the top surface of the block; then graduate the line b, c, into
equal parts, and draw at right angles the faint lines to the edge of the dia-
gonal a, e, and down the lined side from e to c. Now, on the bottom surface
of the block drawn the line f, g, shewn by dots parrallel to the land side, and
at about nine inches from it, rounding the part which forms the share by a
gentle curve towards the point c; now graduate this line f, g, on the under
side of the block into equal parts, and then cut right lines from the gradua-
tions of the line f, g, to the graduations of the line a, e, on the top surface,
which cuts may form angles of about forty-five degrees with the base line, as
shewn in the side view of the block Figure 6, and continue these cuts parallel,
descending to the point. The portions of wood between each cut must now
be removed by a chisel as before, and when the surface is rendered smooth
it will have assumed the form of the breast or mould-board of the plough,
shewn at Fig. 2. The inclination of every part of the surfaces of these
breasts or mould-boards rises so uniformly progressive from the commence-
ment of cutting the horizontal furrow, to the raising of the clud into a perpen-
dicular position and ultimately turning it over, that the least possible resistance
is opposed to the progress of the plough, the force exerted in pressing, cutting,
and lifting the clod being equally divided throughout.
Having thus described the mode of forming the breast or mould-board of

page_text: my improved ploughs, I proceed to explain my improved beam, and the
manner by which I regulate the draft, which will be seen in Fig. 1, the
plough with all the parts complete. a is the breast; b, the beam; c, the
'colter; d, the colter point; e, the share; f, so much of the land side of
'the plough as can be seen in this view. Figs. 7 and 8 are the beam detached
and shewn in two positions. Fig. 9 is the land side of the plough, or the
reverse of Fig. 1. g is the sole attached by bolts and nuts. Fig. 10 repre-
sents the inner part of the land side of the plough. Fig. 11 is the coulter
'detached. Fig. 12, the under side of the colter point, and Fig 13 a front view
of the head of the land side, shewing the rest on which, the beam b, b, is
supported, the same letters referring to the same parts respectively in the six
last-mentioned Figures, and in Figure I. In putting the parts of the plough
together, bolts are passed through the holes and k, and screwed fast by nuts;
an iron strap with nuts secures the back part of the mould-board and the
land side together. The colter, Fig. 11, which in the plough shewn at
Fig. 1 is attached to the breast, slips in between the mould-board and the
land side, and is made fast by a bolt. The share e is attached to the breast
much in the usual manner by bolts, and the colter point d is held by the
bolt m, thus the parts of the plough are connected. The beam 6 rests upon
'the cross piece n, n, extending from the head of the land side, and is secured
by a bolt passing through at o, as seen in Fig. 1; the hinder part of the beam
is secured by a pin passing through it and one of the holes in the land side at p.
Thus it will be seen, that while the fulcrum point at o is fixed, the hinder
part of the beam may be raised or lowered by shifting the pin p to either of
the holes, consequently the line of draft will form a greater or less angle with
'the horizon according to this adjustment, and will thereby plough a deeper
or shallower furrow. The adjustment in a latteral direction is effected by
placing several rings upon the bolt o, between the sides of the beam and the
head of the land side, as shewn by the front view of that part at Fig. 13. By
shifting these rings, the direction of the beam will form a greater or less
angle with the land side, and will consequently cut a narrower or broader
furrow, and by this means also the plough may be adjusted to suit a single
or double team. The general construction of the plough, Figure 2, and the
"mode by which its parts are put together, are nearly similar to that last described,
with the exception of the mould-board, the formation of which has been par-
ticularly explained above. To this plough, however, I find it advantageous
in wet ground to employ a colter of the old kind, which I attach to the plough
by means of an elongation of the head extending from the land side, as shewn
at Fig 14. By a similar contrivance, a colter of the old kind may be

page_text: employed to a plough having the mould-board first described, but in dry hard
land I have not found it necessary; also a colter attached to the breast, as
before described, may be adapted to the breast of the plough, Fig. 2, but I
have generally found that unnecessary. In the plough shewn at Fig. 2, the
share and the colter point are in one piece, as seen at Fig. 15. When this
is thought to be desirable, the share is held by the bolt m, as described
in Fig. 10.
Having thus explained the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
making the improved part of the same, it remains only for me to say,
that as
many parts have necessarily been described herein which are not new, that I
confine my claim to the peculiar manner of generating the breasts or mould-
boards of my improved ploughs as above described, and also in the peculiar
construction of beam as above described, by which I can adjust the draft of
the plough to suit any required depth and width of furrow; and also in
the parts and appendages by which I effect this adjustment; and, lastly,
in the peculiar manner in which I affix the colters to the colter point, and
the share to my improved ploughs.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifth
day of January, One thousand eight hundred and twenty-four.
GEORGE (L.B.) CLYMER.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifth day of January, in the
year of our Lord 1824, the aforesaid George Clymer came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Fifth day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and twenty-four.