IMPROVE- .MENTS IN IMPLEMENTS FOR DIGGING AND BREAKING UP THE SOIL
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
.MENTS IN IMPLEMENTS FOR DIGGING AND BREAKING UP THE SOIL."-A com-
munication from abroad by Donald Mann of New York.
Sealed the 27th March 1861, and dated the 10th December 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald
Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 10th December 1860.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN IMPLEMENTS FOR DIGGING AND BREAKING UP THE SOIL," (com-
municated to me from abroad by Donald Mann, of New York,) to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in implements for cultivating
the earth, having for its object the digging or spading up of the soil, and
pulverizing it at one and the same operation.
The principle consists in supporting upon a suitable carriage an endless
chain or chains forming a belt of any desirable width, and upon which are
rows of spikes or teeth, which are made to penetrate and leave the ground as

page_text: the carriage is drawn along, the chain being so extended over rollers or drums
in a movable frame that it will be inclined to the surface of the ground.
Thus the teeth will descend as it were along an inclined plane, gradually
penetrating the earth, so that when arrived at the lowest roller, which will be
near the ground, they will have sunk to their full depth, and turning short
about the last roller, the teeth are made quickly to change from a vertical or
nearly vertical to a horizontal position in leaving the ground. The earth is
upheaved thereby, and falls back in finely broken pieces.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 10th June 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her. heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 ex-
pressed, 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 IMPLEMENTS FOR DIGGING
AND BREAKING UP THE SOIL," (communicated to me from abroad by Donald
Mann, of New York,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 Inven-
tion, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the.

page_text: same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to improvements in implements for cultivating the
earth, having for its object the digging or spading up of the soil, and
pulverizing it at one and the same operation.
The principle consists in supporting upon a suitable carriage an endless
chain or chains forming a belt of any desirable width, and upon which are rows
of spikes or teeth, which are made to penetrate and leave the ground as the
carriage is drawn along, the chain being so extended over rollers or drums in
a movable frame that it will be inclined to the surface of the ground. Thus
the teeth will descend as it were along an inclined plane, gradually penetrating
the earth, so that when arrived at the lowest roller, which will be near the
ground, they will have sunk to their full depth, and turning short about the
last roller, the teeth are made quickly to change from a vertical or nearly
vertical to a horizontal position in leaving the ground. The earth is upheaved
thereby, and falls back in finely broken pieces.
The accompanying Drawing shows in side elevation an implement coa-
structed according to this Invention.
At a, a, are represented two drums of equal size, or nearly so, and a third
of smaller diameter at 6, supported in a quadrant-shaped frame c, which frame
is hung to the carriage by a hinge joint at A. The are of the quadrant bas
teeth cut upon it, and a pinion B to operate the raising and lowering of the
lower end to and from the ground, whereby the depth of penetration for the
teeth can be regulated, or the lifting of them entirely out of the ground can
be performed. The endless band is shewn at d, with the digging teeth at e.
This chain band is composed of links of iron, so shaped as to enable it to
bend in going over the rollers, but to be rigid in the other direction. In
passing over the larger drums a the teeth descend toward the ground at a
certain incline, as shown, until they pass under the lowest one; from this to
the small roller b the angle is changed to a horizontal one, or nearly so. The
roller is for the purpose of thus guiding it, and it is also made small, in
order to cause the teeth to take a short turn in rising out of the ground,
thereby lifting the soil, and completely turning it up. The operations of the
chains and teetli are effected by simply drawing the carriage over the field to
be dug up in parallel rows. As the teeth have all been raised to clear the
road while transporting the machine from place to place, it is at first necessary
to lower the quadrant frame, in order that the lowest teeth may be forced into
the ground; this is done by turning the pinion B, so as to drive down the

page_text: frame c. The carriage is then drawn along, and the revolution of the chain
is caused by the action produced by the teeth in the ground, which thus act
upon the former as if it were a rack. When the implement arrives at the
end of the field or place at which it is intended to turn, the teeth are lifted
clear of the ground until the carriage is brought upon the return track, when
the teeth are again made to enter as at first. To keep the frame c in position,
any suitable catch or clutch may be used.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the construction
of implements for digging and breaking up the soil, substantially in manner
berein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of June, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-one.
R. A. BROOMAN. (L.S.)