CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING AND DRILLING LAND AND FOR DEPOSITING SEEDS OR MANURE THEREIN
Year: 1840

page_text: EDMUNDS' SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
EDMUNDS, of Banbury, in the County of Oxford, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, béaring date at
Westminster, the Twenty-second day of October, in the fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Richard Edmunds, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Richard Edmunds, my. executors, administrators,
and assigns, and such others as I, the said Richard Edmunds, my executors,
administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, fromi
time to time and at all times 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, my Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING AND DRILLING LAND
AND FOR DEPOSITING SEEDS OR MANURE THEREIN;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said Richard Edmunds, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain
the nature of my said.Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-.
formed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of.
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will. more fully and at large appear..

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Richard Edmunds, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon,
(that is to say :)-
My Invention of Certain Improvements in Machines or Apparatus for Pre-
paring and Drilling Land and for Depositing Seeds or Manure therein, apply
in the first instance, to that class or description of machines or agricultural
implements called "pressers," or those which produce long angular furrows or
indentations in the land (by means of wheels having angular shaped peripheries),
after it has been ploughed, harrowed, or otherwise prepared for sowing, and
which description of implements are used either for broadcast or "drill sowing;"
the angular sides of the indentation made in. the land produced by the shape
of the wheels allowing the seeds, when sown "broad-cast," to fall into the
bottom of the groove, and when covered over by slight harrows or other means,
and have sprung up, the plant appears above the ground in regular rows, as if
it had been drill-sowed. This description of implement is also used to prepare
the land for the after operation of the drilling machines, by which the seed or
manure, one or both, is deposited immediately. into the grooves by means of
guides or conductors.
:
:
My improvements in this instance consisting in mounting or placing the
presser wheels separately upon different axles turning in bearings in the ends
of levers having their fulcrums in a cross bar or other part of the framework
of the machine, (that is to say,) each presser wheel has its own separate axle
and levers, by which means or arrangement, they will be enabled to. rise or fall
independantly of each other, according to the resistance they have to overcome
on the ground; and at the same time my improvements under this head give
an opportunity or facility of weighting the presser wheels or rollers to any
required degree, according to the nature of state of the soil or depth it is
desired to form the grooves or indentations in the land.
And my improvements under this head also apply to that description of
presser or roller which are constituted of separate cylindrical "pressers" or
"rollers," and consisting of a series of wheels with plain peripheries revolving
separately, which, acting upon the land, or rolling over it, compresses the same
to a certain degree, and produces a more advantageous result than one-solid
roller or cylinder would do.
And, in the second place, my improvements consist in improved arrange:
ments or constructions of apparatus or mechanism for regulating the feed or

page_text: supply of corn or seeds of any description, or manure (such as bone dust, ground
bones, coal ashes saturated with blubber or fish oil, or any other such kind
or description of manure used in farming), to the conductors or depositors of
"drilling or drilling sowing machines," and by which improvements I am
enabled at once to regulate with ease and expedition the quantity of seed
or manure given to the whole set of the depositors contained in the machine.
And my improvements under this head also apply to the construction of what
may be termed "hand-drilling machines," or those which are worked by hand
labour without the aid of horse power, as in my improved machines I dispense
with the labour of the boy, or the placing of sticks which are required in
ordinary machines of this kind as guides for the man in working across
the field.
-
My improved drilling apparatus may be used either in conjunction with my
improved construction of presser or with the ordinary "presser" machine, or be
applied in conjunction with an ordinary drilling machine, having a coulter
going before the depositors to produce the necessary indentations or grooves in
the land to receive the seed, which in either instance is covered over with the
surrounding earth by means of a double-winged share or coulter, or by scrapers,
rollers, or any other means well known in all agricultural implements of this
nature or description.
Fig. 1 in the accompanying Drawings represents a side view of my improved
presser; Fig. 2 is a back view, and Fig. 3 is a plan, or birds-eye view of the
machine. The same letters of reference denote corresponding parts in all
these Figures.
The framework and shafts is shewn at a, a, a, a, and the running wheels, or
those wheels which support the machine, at b, b. The axles of these wheels are
formed on the end of a bar c, c, made of metal or of other suitable material, and
seen best in Figs. 2 and 3. The pressing wheels or pressers d, d, d, d, have
angular-shaped peripheries, and are each separately mounted in bearings at
the end of forked levers e, e, e, e, which are jointed to the horizontal bar c, c, at .
ffff. Metal scrapers 9, 9, 9, 9, are fixed on to the forked levers e, e, for
the purpose of clearing or scraping off anything which the pressing rollers
might otherwise carry round with them. Fig. 4 is a side view of another
machine constructed on the same principle, the only difference being that
the running wheels are mounted on axles by the side of and in a line with
the pressing rollers, and if thought desirable the pressing rollers may be
weighted, as shewn for instance, at Fig. 4*. Fig. 5 is an end view, and
Fig. 6 a plan view, of a hand-drilling machine for sowing grain. h, h, is
hopper, box, or other receptacle for containing the grain to be deposited

page_text: in the earth; and i, i, i, i, i, i, are openings or apertures through which
the seed or grain escapes. The size of these apertures, and consequently
the quantity of grain that passes through them, is regulated by means of a
metal plate jjj, j, having holes made in it to correspond to the apertures
i, i, of the hopper or seed receptacle. This metal plate slides in grooves
formed by studs or projections k, k, which are attached to the hopper, and
to one end of the metal plate is connected a screw m, passing through an
ear or lug, and secured by a collar. This screw turns in a female screw
n fixed to the hopper h, h, and when this scrow is turned, by means of a
wrench or other instrument, the metal plate j, j, is moved either back-
ward or forward, and all the apertures through which the seed escapes
are increased or diminished in size simultaneously. The plan view of this
machine, Fig. 6; shews the manner in which a man is enabled to guide
it without the assistance of sticks placed at convenient distances, as is the
ordinary course pursued, when machines of this description are employed
for sowing grain, &c. o, p, are rods by means of which the apparatus is
propelled forward, and by connecting one of these rods to one end of the
machine just behind the wheel, and at right angles to the axle thereof, and
the other rod at the other end of the machine about the angle of 45 degrees
to the first, the driver is enabled to propel the machine, and guide it in its
proper course by looking at the wheel that is before him and keeping it in the
furrow. The rods o, p, are jointed to the framework of the machine, and may
consequently be moved into the position shewn by dots in the Drawing by
taking out the pin q, and attaching the handler to
when such alteration may be considered necessary.
view of my improved machine for drilling grain.
view of the same; the hopper is shewn at h, h. The seed passes out through
an aperture i, i, made in the hopper, see Fig. 8, and is taken up in small
quantities by the ratchet wheels, which as it revolves drops the seed into the
funnels t, t, through which it descends to the earth. The quantity of seed that
is taken up by the notched wheels is by my improvement regulated by means
of moveable sile pieces u, u, see Fig. 9, which is a horizontal section of this
part of the machine. These moveable side pieces u, u, are connected to a
sliding bar u, v, v, v, see Fig. 7, which is moved backwards and forwards by
means of a screw in the same manner as the metal plate in Figure 5. x, x,
are fixed side pieces against which the notched wheels, s, revolves. By
referring to Figure 9 it will be seen that as the moveable side pieces u, u, are
advanced by turning the screw at the end of the sliding bar v, v, the apertures
i, i, through which the seed passes from the hopper, will become contracted,
the end of the lever p
Fig. 7 represents a back
Fig. 8 is a cross sectional

page_text: and therefore lessen the quantity of grain deposited. The notched wheels s
are mounted on a common spindle w, having at its end a small pinion y,
which takes into gear with a driving wheel, on the axle of the running
wheels. In order to avoid confusion in the Drawings and description, I have
shewn and described the several machines separately, but, either of my improved
drilling machines may be connected to the presser if required, or either may
be used separately.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not intend to confine myself
to the precise arrangement and construction of parts herein shewn, as they
may be varied without departing from the principle of my Invention; but
I claim,
Firstly, a machine for pressing and preparing land for receiving corn, grain,
seeds, or manure in which a number of pressing rollers are employed, each
roller being mounted on separate axles, so that they may yield to any inequality
in the surface of the ground, as above described.
And, secondly, I claim the use of a long bar or plate, as shewn in Fig. 5,
for the purpose of simultaneously regulating the escape of grain in drilling
machines from all the apertures, and the method above described of propelling
and guiding the machines.
And, lastly, I claim the improved constructions of drilling machines, shewn
in Figs. 7, 8, and 9, and the manner of regulating the supply of grain through
all the apertures sinultaneously, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Edmunds, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-one.
RICHARD (L.S.) EDMUNDS.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Twenty-first day of April,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Richard Edmunds came before
o our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the Twenty-second day of April, in the year above written