IMPROVE- MENTS IN PLOUGHS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Gray, of Uddingston, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PLOUGHS."
Sealed the 18th October 1870, and dated the 22nd April 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Gray at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd April 1870.
I, JOHN GRAY, of Uddingston, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention. for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention comprises improvements having generally for their
objects increased efficiency and convenience in the use of various kinds
of ploughs. In a double-furrow drill plough embodying some of the
improvements which are also applicable to other ploughs the two
plough bodies are arranged so that they can be placed at different
distances apart, and so that either may be set in advance in order that
when the implement is reversed at the end of a pair of furrows the

page_text: plough in advance may always be the one nearest the last made furrow.
In a convenient construction for attaining both objects the plough bodies
are connected to the middle frame or beam by two or more horizontal
levers forming with the plough bodies a jointed parallelogram or parallel
notion, the levers having in connection with them appliances for
adjusting and fixing them as required. The ploughs are made without
soles, being supported by a wheel at each side and by one or two wheels
in front, all of which wheels are adjustable for supporting the implement
with the ploughs entirely out of the ground or for holding it at any
required depth. The side wheels are upon the ends of levers, by means
of which they are adjusted as to height, one generally running in a
previously made furrow, and the other on the unploughed land, and the
levers are mounted on transverse horizontal bars which are adjustable
in the frame of the implement to suit different widths of furrow. The
same arrangement is applicable to drill or other ploughs constructed for
making three or more furrows.
The Invention further comprises a number of improved contrivances
for controlling in various ways the action of the forward wheel in
a double-furrow plough. This wheel is upon an inclined axle pin
formed or fixed on the bottom end of a vertical or nearly vertical
spindle passed up through an eye in the front end of a lever mounted
on a horizontai or nearly horizontal fulcrum pin situated somewhat
behind the wheel. The lever extends back to the rear of the implement
to be actuated by the ploughman, and its fulcrum pin is held by a forked
swivelling piece turning about a vertical or nearly vertical axis and
carried in a bracket fixed to the plough beam. The bracket has formed
on or fixed to it a slotted or perforated set plate, and on this there rests
an adjustable plate turning on the same centre as the swivelling piece
and having on its upper side a notch to receive the under side of the
lever. The adjustable plate can be fixed in a position such as that when
the lever is in the notch the wheel will be held at a predetermined
distance laterally from the line of the forward plough, but by raising the
back end of the lever the ploughman can free the lever from the notch
and adjust the wheel as he finds desirable when working in order to
correct inequalities or for other purposes. A rod jointed to the top of
the vertical spindle of the wheel extends back to the rear of the imple-
ment, and resting on a serrated rail or catch can if necessary be moved
by the ploughman for adjusting the angular position of the wheel in the

page_text: horizontal plane or for correcting the angular action of the lever in
moving the wheel out or in. For adjusting the position vertically of
the wheel a rod is carried along the under side of the lever and has a
wedge formed on its front end, which wedge the ploughman can move
backwards or forwards by means of the rod, and which by bearing
on the catch plate determines the position of the lever in the vertical
planc.
The Invention also comprises an improved arrangement of subsoiling
details which may be attached to the frame of a single-furrow or to that
of a double-furrow plough, being in the latter case used instead of the
forward plough. In this arrangement one or more tines or subsoilers
are fixed to a bar which is connected to the plough beam either by a
single joint placed forward of the tines, or as is preferred by a pair of
lever arms forming a parallel motion, the levers lying towards the rear
from their points of connection to the beam, and one of them having
formed in the same piece with or fixed to it a long lever extending back
for the ploughman's control. When the tines meet with an obstruction
they relieve themselves on the lever catch being unfastened, which allows
them to move backwards and upwards.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Gray in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st October 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GRAY, of Uddingston, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Gray, Her special licence, that I,
the said John Gray, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Gray, 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

page_text: :
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Gray, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Gray, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying
*Drawings, that is to say :-
My said Invention comprises improvements having generally for their
objects increased efficiency and convenience in the use of various kinds
of ploughs.
And in order that my said Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, may be properly understood, I have hereunto appended two
Sheets of explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and re-
presenting examples of the application of my improvements. In these
Drawings the same reference numerals are used to mark the same or
like parts wherever they are repeated.
Figures 1 and 2 on Sheet 1 of the Drawings are a plan and a side
clevation of a double-furrow drill plough embodying some of my
"improvements, which are also applicable to other ploughs. In this
implement the two plough bodies 1, 2, are arranged so that they can be
placed at different distances apart, and so that either of them may be
"set in advance in order that when the implement is reversed at the end
of a pair of furrows the plough in advance may always be the one
nearest to the last made furrow. The plough bodies 1, 2, are connected
to the middle frame or beam 3 by two (or it might be more) horizontal
levers 4, 5, which are jointed at their ends to the plough bodies and
with them form a jointed parallelogram or parallel motion. For the
purpose of adjusting and fixing the levers 4, 5, in any required position
an annular plate 6 is fixed to the beam 3 below one of them, and is
formed with a series of holes to receive a bolt or pin 7 which is entered
down through the lever 4. The ploughs 1, 2, are made without soles,

page_text: being supported by two wheels 8, 9, one at each side, and by one or two
wheels 10 in front, all of which wheels are adjustable for supporting the
implement with the ploughs entirely out of the ground or for holding
it with the ploughs at any required depth. The side wheels 8, 9, are
upon the ends of levers 11, 12, by means of which they are adjusted as
to height, one 8 generally running in a previously made furrow, and
the other 9 on the unploughed land, and the levers 11, 12, are mounted
on transverse horizontal bars 13, 14, which are adjustable transversely
in the frame of the implement to suit different widths of furrow, being
capable of sliding upon each other through sockets in the frame, and
being held by a strap and pinching screw 15 and by screw pins applied
at the frame sockets. For adjusting each lever 11, 12, when its wheel
8 or 9 runs in the furrow there is in each case a hand wheel screw 16
tapped through a bracket 17 fixed to the transverse bar 13, 14, and for
adjusting the position of either wheel when running on the unploughed
land there is a wedge 18 formed on the inner end of a rod underneath
the lever 11, 12; the upper end of the rod embracing the lever and
engaging upon a series of holding notches, and the wedge enters in
between a flange at the bottom of the fixed bracket 17 and the under
side of the lever. The appliances for raising or lowering the frame
relatively to the front wheels 10 will be understood from the Drawing,
and are not new.
The improvements described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 are
obviously applicable to drill or other ploughs constructed for making
3 three or more furrows.
My Invention further comprises a number of improved contrivances
for controlling in various ways the action of the forward wheel in a
double-furrow plough, and these improved contrivances are shown in
Figures 3 and 4 on Sheet 2 of the accompanying Drawings, these
Figures being respectively a plan and a side elevation of a double-furrow
plough. The forward wheel 21 is upon an inclined axle pin 22 formed
or fixed on the bottom end of a vertical or nearly vertical spindle 23
passed up through an eye 24 in the front end of a lever 25 mounted
on a horizontal or nearly horizontal fulcrum pin 26 situated somewhat
behind the wheel 21. The lever 25 extends back to the rear of the
implement to be actuated by the ploughman, and its fulcrum pin 26
is held by a forked swivelling piece 27 turning about a vertical or nearly
vertical axis, and carried in a bracket 28 fixed to the plough beam 3.

page_text: The bracket 28 has formed on (or fixed to) it a slotted or perforated
set plate or quadrant 29, and on this there rests an adjustable plate
or quadrant 30 turning on the same centre as the swivelling piece 27,
and having on its upper side a notch to receive the under side of the
lever 25. The adjustable plate or quadrant 30 can be fixed by a screw in
such a position on the stationary quadrant 29 as that when the lever 25
is in the notch the wheel 21 will be held at a predetermined distance
laterally from the line of the forward plough, but by raising the back end
of the lever 25 the ploughman can free the lever from the notch and
adjust the wheel as he finds desirable when working in order to correct
inequalities or for other purposes. A rod or lever 31 jointed to the top of
the vertical spindle 23 of the wheel 21 extends back to the rear of the
implement, and resting on a serrated rail or catch plate 32 can if
necessary be moved by the ploughman for adjusting the angular position
of the wheel 21 in the horizontal plane or for correcting the angular
action of the lever 25 in moving the wheel out or in. For adjusting the
position vertically of the wheel 21 a rod 33 is carried along the under
side of the lever 25 and has a wedge 18 formed on its front end, which
wedge the ploughman can move backwards or forwards by means of the
rod 33, and which by bearing on the catch plate or quadrant 30, being
in fact the part entering the notch in that piece, determines the position
of the lever 25 in the vertical plane. Figures 5, 6, and 7 are views at
right angles to each other of a slightly modified and simplified form of
the bracket 28 and accompanying parts, but as the parts are marked
with the same reference numerals as the corresponding parts in Figures 3
and 4 a repetition of the description is not required.
My Invention also comprises an improved arrangement of subsoiling
details which may be attached to the frame of a single-furrow or to that
of a double-furrow plough, being in the latter case used instead of the
forward plough. In this arrangement, of which different modifications
are shown in side elevation in Figures 8 and 9, one or more tines or
subsoilers 34 arc fixed to a bar 35 which is connected to the plough
beam or to a bar 36 to be fixed thereto either by a single joint placed
forward of the tines, as shown in Figure 8, or as I prefer and show in
Figure 9 by a pair of levers 37 forming a parallel motion, the levers lying
towards the rear from their points of connection to the beam or bar 36,
and one of them having formed with or fixed to it a long lever 38
extending back for the ploughman's control. A catch plate 39 and

page_text: spring lever 40 with pin are provided for engaging the parts with the
tines 34 at different depths, and when the tines meet with an obstruction
they relieve themselves on the lever 40 being unfastened, as from their
improved arrangement as described they are then free to move backwards
and upwards.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I have to state that I do not
restrict myself to the precise details herein described or delineated; but
that what I believe to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1. The arranging and combining together of the parts of ploughs for
two or more furrows in the improved modes substantially as herein-
before described.
2. The combining of two or more ploughs with levers admitting of
their parallel adjustment as herein-before described with reference to
Figures 1 and 2 on Sheet 1 of the accompanying Drawings.
3. The arranging and combining together of the parts controlling
the forward wheel of two-furrow ploughs substantially as herein-before
described with reference to Figures 3 to 7 on Sheet 2 of the accompanying
Drawings.
4. The connecting of subsoiling tines to the plough framing by joints
forward of the tines, so that they can move backwards and upwards
when disengaged substantially as herein-before described with reference
to Figures 8 and 9 on Sheet 2 of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Gray, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
JOHN GRAY. (L.S.)