A NEW AND IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR SPREADING OR DISTRIBUTING MANURE OR OTHER SUBSTANCES OVER THE GRound.
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Willacy, of Penwortham Priory, near
Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Land Agent, for the Invention
of "A NEW AND IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR SPREADING OR
DISTRIBUTING MANURE OR OTHER SUBSTANCES OVER THE GRound.'
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Willacy at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th June 1873.
I, ROBERT WILLACY, of Penwortham Priory, near Preston, in the
County of Lancaster, Land Agent, do hereby declare the nature of my
said Invention for "A NEW AND IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR
SPREADING OR DISTRIBUTING MANURE OR OTHER SUBSTANCES OVER THE GROUND," to
be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar self-acting apparatus to be fitted
into an ordinary cart or wagon for spreading or distributing manure,
stones, or other substances over the surface of land or roads, and consists

page_text: essentially of a frame, in which are fitted carrying rollers, round or over
which an endless web revolves, and by the revolving of this web the
manure or other substance or substances is or are discharged in a regular
and uniform manner from the rear of the cart or wagon as it is drawn
along by the horse or horses.
Motion is imparted to the endless web situate within and at the bottom
of the cart by two chain wheels, one being fixed upon the nave of one of
the cart wheels, and the other upon a separate shaft or axle. These are
connected by an endless chain. Upon the same axle or shaft there is
fitted a spur pinion, which gears into and drives a spur wheel fixed on
one of the rollers carrying the endless web, and thus transmits motion
thereto from one of the running wheels of the cart or wagon. On the
opposite end of the before-mentioned axle or shaft, and at the off side of
the frame, there is also fixed another spur wheel, which gears into and
drives a pinion fixed upon a second axle or shaft below the first one
referred to. Upon this latter axle or shaft and upon the first-mentioned
one are spikes, which are rotated by the travelling motion of the cart or
wagon.
When the endless web is set in motion the manure or other sub-
stances is or are brought slowly to the tail of the cart or wagon, where
they are dealt with by the before-mentioned revolving spikes, and are
delivered to another set of spikes revolving at a proper speed for the duc
spreading of the manure or other substances as the cart moves along.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Willacy in the Great Scal Patent Office on 2
the 23rd December 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
WILLACY, of Penwortham Priory, near Preston, in the County of Lan-
caster, Land Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 3
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
37th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
1

page_text: give and grant unto me, the said Robert Willacy, Her special license
that I, the said Robert Willacy, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Willaoy, my executors,
administrators, or 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 "A NEW AND IMPROVED MODE
OF AND APPARATUS FOR SPREADING OR DISTRIBUTION MANURE OR OTHER SUBSTANCES
OVER THE GROUND," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Robert Willacy, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 Robert Willacy, do hereby declaro
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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked' thercon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to a peculiar self-acting apparatus to be
fitted into an ordinary cart or wagon for spreading or distributing
manure, seeds, stones, sand, gravel, or other substances over the surface
of land or roads, and consists essentially of a frame, which is fitted when
required for use in the bottom of a cart or wagon, in which frame are
fitted carrying rollers, round or over which an endless web revolves, and
by the revolving of this web the manure or other substance or sub-:
stances is or are discharged in a regular and uniform manner from tho:
rear of the cart or wagon as it is drawn along by the horse or horses.
"
,
1
Motion is imparted to the endless web situate within and at the bottom'
of the cart or wagon by any suitable arrangement of gearing, but I'
prefer to use two chain wheels, one being fixed upon the nave of one of
the cart wheels, and the other upon a separate shaft or axle in the said
frame. These are connected by an endless pitch chain, so that the said
shaft will be rotated as soon as the cart or wagon commences to travel:*
Upon the said axle or shaft there is fitted a spur pinion, which gears
and drives a spur wheel fixed on the axis of one of the rollers carrying the
into

page_text: endless web, and thus transmits motion thereto from one of the running
wheels of the cart or wagon. On the opposite end of the before-men-
tioned axle or shaft there is also fixed another spur wheel, which gears
into and drives a pinion fixed upon a second transverse axle or shaft,
carried in two separate moveable brackets fitted to and upon the before-
named frame of the web in a vertical or nearly vertical position, upon
which second shaft are spikes, rotated by the travelling motion of the
cart or wagon.
One or more other transverse shafts, disposed above the one last men-
tioned, and also carrying spikes, may be arranged in the said vertical
frame, the several spiked shafts being geared together by toothed wheels
and pinions.
When the endless web is set in motion the manure or other sub-
stances is or are brought slowly to the tail of the cart or wagon, where
they are dealt with by the before-mentioned revolving spikes (if the
latter are used), and are delivered and spread at a proper rate as the cart
moves along.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that
purpose shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of
Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts
in both Figures.
Figure 1 of my Drawings represents a longitudinal vertical section of
an ordinary two-wheeled cart fitted with my spreading or distributing
apparatus; Figure 2 is a corresponding plan of the same.
A is the body of the cart, and B, B, the two running wheels, on the
nave of one or other, as may be most desired, of which wheels there is
secured a chain wheel a of about fifteen inches diameter, but I do not
confine myself to any particular dimensions of gearing. Round this
wheel and driven thereby is an endless pitch chain b, which drives a 3
chain wheel c, also about fifteen inches diameter, keyed upon one end of
the transverse shaft d. This shaft is carried in brackets bolted to the
frame e, which is secured for the time being in the bottom of the cart.
The frame e may consist simply of two side bars, connected together by
cross tie rods, and it carries (one at each end) the two rollers f,ƒ³, over 3
which the endless web 9 is stretched, other intermediate rollers h, h,
being also carried in the said frame if desired for the purpose of sup-

page_text: porting the web as it travels along. On the opposite end of the
transverse shaft d there is fitted so as to be easily removed a small spur
pinion i, which gears into a spur wheel k, of about fifteen inches dia-
meter, mounted on the end of the axis of the outer carrying roller f', so
as to impart a rotatory motion to that roller and cause the endless web g
to travel in the direction of the arrow.
The
arrangement so far described constitutes the essential feature of my
said Invention, the object of which is to cause the contents of the cart or
wagon which rests upon the endless travelling web or its equivalent to
O be gradually moved towards and discharged from the tail or rear end of
such cart or wagon by the motion imparted to the said endless web or its
equivalent from one or other of the running wheels of the said cart or
wagon.
Other appliances situate at the rear end of the cart or wagon may be
combined with the said endless travelling web or its equivalent for. dis-
tributing or spreading manure or litter in an even and regular manner
on to the ground as the cart or wagon travels along, or for other
purposes, as herein-after described, one of such appliances adapted for
the spreading of manure being illustrated in my Drawings, and which I
shall now proceed to describe.
1, 1, is a second moveable frame, which is placed vertically or nearly
so at the tail end of the cart or wagon, and is bolted to the frame e, this
frame carrying one or more transverse shafts (three being shewn in my
Drawings) m, m³, m", each shaft being provided with spikes or arms, and
all geared together by wheels and pinions, as herein-after described, on
the outside of the cart. The lowest of these shafts m is rotated in the
direction of the arrow by a spur wheel n about fifteen inches diameter
on the shaft d, gearing into a pinion o of about three inches diameter
on the said spike shaft m. This shaft m carries also a spur wheel p about
fifteen inches diameter, which gears into and drives at a higher speed the
pinion q about three inches diameter, mounted on the spike shaft m¹.
This pinion gears into and drives a spur wheel on the spike shaft m"
of the same size as the wheel p on the spike shaft m.
When the cart or wagon is hauled along, the endless web g will by its
travelling motion draw the manure towards the rear end of the cart,
where it will be caught by the revolving spikes on the shafts m and m",
and by their action will be thrown out of the cart, falling thence on to

page_text: the ground. The intermediate set of spikes on the shaft m¹, and which
revolve at a higher speed, serves as cleaners for removing any straw or
other matter from between the spikes on the shafts m, m', thereby pre-
venting the clogging of the same.
It is necessary that the speed of travel of the endless web g and the
rotatory motion of the spikes on the shafts m, m", should be properly
timed to each other, to facilitate which the well-known system of change
wheels may be adopted, the pinion i and wheel % for driving the web
and the wheel n and pinion o for actuating the rotatory spikes being
made capable of being replaced by other wheels and pinions of different
sizes, as is well understood.
The before-mentioned rotatory spikes may be made to revolve in the
reverse direction, if desired, so as to deliver the manure downwards in
place of carrying it upwards over the top of the revolving spikes m
and m¹¹.
Or in lieu of revolving spikes a second endless web with teeth or
spikes on its surface may be placed to work in a vertical or nearly
vertical direction at the rear end of the cart or wagon, such second web
being mounted on two rollers, and driven from the endless web roller in
the bottom of the cart. The said second web may be made to travel in a
direction so as to deliver the manure over the top of the said web, or to
deliver it downwards between the second web and the rear end of the
first web, as found most convenient in practice.
Or in lieu of this second web two sets of vertically reciprocating
spiked slides may be used, worked by separate cranks on the shaft d, one
set of slides moving downwards and carrying with them the manure,
whilst the other set working between them are moving upwards to tako
a fresh hold, the spikes on the said slides being inclined downwards, so
that on rising they will clear themselves, but on descending will seize
hold of the manure and draw it down with them, discharging the same
at the rear end of the cart or wagon.
Or in cases where artificial manures, or seeds are to be distributed a
distributing hopper may be fitted to the tail of the cart, into which
hopper the said artificial manure or seeds are delivered or fed by the
endless travelling web, the distributing roller or other well-known
appliance inside the said hopper being driven or rotated in any con

page_text: venient manner by gearing from the shaft d, or from one of the running
wheels of the cart or wagon direct. Or the said hopper may be fitted
with any well-known cutting apparatus for cutting turnips or other
roots, which are fed from the cart into the hopper by the endless
travelling web, the said cutting apparatus being driven, as above
described, by gearing from the shaft d, or direct from the nave of one of
the running wheels of the cart.
The endless travelling web g may be composed of cocoa-nut matting,
stout canvas, or other suitable flexible material, or it may consist of a
number of laths or pieces of wood or metal hinged together, so as to
travel casily round the rollers f, f¹, and these rollers may, if desired, be
provided with studs taking into holes in the endless web to prevent
slipping, or may carry two or more chain pulleys to receive endless
chains, secured along the edges and centre of the said web.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The application and use to and in the bottoms of carts, wagons,
and other vehicles of an endless travelling surface, consisting of an
endless web or its equivalent mounted on rollers, and supporting the
contents of the said vehicle, substantially as and for the purposes herein-
before described.
Second. The combination with the said endless travelling web or its
equivalent of revolving spiked shafts or rollers or their equivalent, for
the purpose of spreading and distributing manure and similar substances,
the whole being driven or actuated from one of the running wheels of
the vehicle, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whercof, I, the said Robert Willacy, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, the Twentieth day of December
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.