IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF STEAM TO CULTIVATION
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Chandos Wren IIoskyns, of Wroxhall, in
the County of Warwick, Esquire, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF STEAM TO CULTIVATION."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Chandos Wren
Hoskyns at the Office of the Commissioners, of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 13th August 1853.
I, CHANDOS WREN HOSKYNS, of Wroxhall, in the County of Warwick,
do. hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF STEAM TO CULTIVATION." to be as fol-
lows:-
-This Invention consists of a machine for the cultivation of the soil,
more especially clay soils, by steam power applied in such manner
as to accomplish at one process the due preparation of the soil for a
seed bed.
This result is obtained by a machine, which, instead of lifting in
mass the stratum of earth under cultivation, like the plough or spade, is
S

page_text: so applied to the soil as to reduce it by abrasion to the required tilth
or fineness.
This abrasion is performed by a series of discs or wheels fixed on a
rotating axis actuated by steam power, the periphery of which discs
are furnished with radiating points or cutters. The rotatory motion of
the discs is communicated from the steam engine, from which also the
progressive motion of the machine is derived. The two motions are
independant of each other, and so arranged that a rapid motion may
be given to the cutters while. the progressive motion is slow, or sus-
pended altogether, as at commencing. The geering is such that the
respective speeds can be varied at pleasure to suit the nature of the
soil. The cutters by their rotary action first enter the soil, making a
semicircular trench, which during the progress of the machine is
constantly preserved at the required depth, and the soil abraded and
cut down as the machine advances is thrown off tangentially behind,
and deposited in a comminuted, inverted, and aerated condition.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Chandos Wren- Hoskyns in the Great Seal
Patent Office, on the 13th February 1854..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COMÉ, I,
CHANDOS WREN HOSKYNS, of Wroxhall, in the County of Warwick,
Esq, send greeting.
..WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her:
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three,-in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did; for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said Chandos Wren Hoskyns, Her
special licence that I, the said, Chandos Wren Hoskyns, my, executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Chandos
Wren Hoskyns, my exccutors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and. no others, from time to time and at all times

page_text: 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF STEAM TO CULTIVATION,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Chandos Wren
Hoskyns, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Scal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Chandos Wren Hoskyns, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same i to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
two Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thercon (that is to say):
My Invention of improvements in the application of steam to culti-
vation consists in so applying power to machinery herein-after described
as to accomplish at one uniform process the due preparation of the
soil for a seed bed.
.
I obtain this result by the action of a rotating cutter or series of
cutters to which rapid motion is given while a slow progressive. motion
is communicated to the whole machine, the motion of progression
being regulated, according to the nature of the soil to be operated
upon, but when so adjusted is maintained at uniform speed relative
to that of the rotation of the cutters.
By the operation of my machine, the soil is not lifted in mass, or
simply torn up by forks or prongs rolling over and entering the ground;
such methods not being attended with the proper inversion or commi
nution of the soil necessary to cultivation..
According to my Invention the tilling instrument produces and
maintains a trench of a given depth, in which it works and cuts down
or abrades the soil on the advance or land side, and deposits it behind
in an inverted, comminuted, and acrated condition.

page_text: Figure 1, Sheet A, represents a side elevation of a machine con-
structed and arranged according to my Invention; and, Fig. 2, a plan
of the same.
.
The steam engine gives motion to the tilling instrument, and by it
the whole is rendered self-locomotive. Self-locomotion forms one of
the conditions of this mode of cultivation, as the motion of progres-
sion must bear a strict relation to that of the cutters or tiller operating
upon the soil. The notion of progression in the machine is at the
same time arranged to be entirely independent of the action of the
tiller, having a separate communication with the driving power. A, A, A;
are the principals of the framework, which for strength and lightness I
prefer to form of plate iron. Suitable bearings B, B, are provided to
receive axles of driving wheels C, C, and leading wheels D, D. E, is the
steam boiler, multi-tubular or otherwise, whereby the greatest steam
generating powers may be ensured with the least possible weight. The
arrangement for stoking is represented as being on the platform in front;
but this may be conducted on the ground at the side; the progressive
motion of the machine being so slow as not to interfere with that
operation. F, F, are the steam cylinders, mounted on a bed plate G+;
fixed on frames A, A', A. H, is the crank shaft, which, with the
other parts of the engine, are of ordinary construction, and will
not require particular description.
On either end of the main or crank shaft is placed a chain wheel I;
(one of which is removed in the elevation to show more clearly the
other parts of the machine), which wheels I, I, communicate motion
to the tilling instruments. K, K, is the tiller, consisting of a number
of rings or wheels a, a, mounted in close proximity to the shaft L.
The bearings of shaft L, arc fitted in guides M, M, in the side
frames, in which they are free to traverse up and down, in order to
regulate the depth of the cut, or to lift the tiller altogether above the
ground. To elicet this I affix two screws b, b, to the bearings of
shaft L; these screws fit into corresponding_threads in the screw
wheels.c, c, which sustain the weight of the tiller. Two endless screws
d, d, take into the screw wheels c, c, which receive motion simul-

page_text: tancously from the shaft e, c, actuated by the winch handle f. By
this means the parallelism of the tiller K, is maintained, and the
depth of cut readily adjusted.
At Fig. 8, Sheet B, one of the cutter rings is shown separately in
side view; and at Fig. 4, two such rings are shewn in edge view with
their cutting points or instruments attached. On each ring a, a,
I affix two cutters g, g, diametrically opposite to each other, and so
fitted that they can be projected more or less beyond the periphery
of a, or extended as they wear out. The cutter wheels or discs al, llg
are so arranged on the shaft that the whole breadth of cutters do not
take effect on the soil simultaneously, but that they may do so in suc
cession, and thus prevent any excessive impact. Endless chains V, V,
communicate motion from wheels I, I, to wheels W, W, on the tiller
shaft L. Instead of rings or wheels on which to fix the cutters g, g,
inclined rims may be adapted, which follow the spiral arrangement of
the cutters; this, although not so strong and able to resist concussion,
will lighten the weight of the tilling instrument.
As the weight of the machine will be considerable, the wheels
are made as broad as possible, and, as will be seen, extend over:
the full space to be operated on by the tiller K. To ensure the:
bite of the driving wheels C, C, they may be provided with ribs K, K,
upon the surface of the tyres. The progressive motion is commu-
nicated from the main shaft H, of the engine, by an endless screw N,
fixed thereon, which gears into a strong screw wheel P, fixed on-
the inclined shaft R; on the lower end of shaft R, a level pinion S,
is fixed, which geers into a bevil wheel T, mounted on the driving.
axle U, of the machine. Thus a slow uniform rotatory motion
is imparted to the driving wheels while a rapid revolution of the
tiller is being maintained. In order to regulate the relative speeds of
the tiller K, with the progressive motion of the machine, it is simply
necessary that a change of chain wheels I, I, and W, W, be provided of
various diameters, whereby an increased or diminished speed may be
communicated to the tilling instrument; or it may be so arranged as to
provide a change in the reducing geer which transmits motion to the
drawing axle. The rate of motion in the engine may also be varied for

page_text: the purpose of quicker or slower progression of the machine. To ensure
sufficient stability in the driving geer bearings are provided on the
central frame A', for-the-shaft-Hand-driving-axle-U, which_frame_
is suitably supported by stays under the cylinder at one end, aud: to
the boiler at the other.
I provide for the revolutions of the tiller being maintained while
the progressive motion of the machine is suspended by placing the
bevil wheel T, loose on axle U, and throwing it in and out the geer by
a clutch lever h, acting on a clutch i, better seen at Figure 5. The
clutch i, slides freely on tho axle U, and is furnished with two
pins a, a, or other projections, which take into two corresponding
openings in the boss of wheel T. The clutch i, always remains in
driving contact with the boss of driving wheel C, which is fixed
to the axle U. Thus, when clutch i, is thrown into geer with
wheel T, progressive motion will be imparted to the machine;" and
when withdrawn it will remain at rest, although the wheel T, continues
in motion.
The action of the machinic is as follows:-Supposing the engine to
make sixty strokes per minute, the geering is arranged that the tiller
shall revolve at about one hundred and twenty revolutions, while the
driving wheels only make one revolutions in the same time. Supposing
the driving wheels to be one hundred and twenty inches in circumfer-
ence, then an advance of one inch will be made at cach revolution of
the tiller; and the tiller having two tillers at opposite diameters, two
cuts-of half an inch will occur at each revolution, making in all two
hundred and forty cuts per minute, equal to about two hundred yards
per hour. The pace of the machine will, of course, be regulated by:
the nature of the soil, and may be increased by increasing the cut,
or by a greater velocity of the tilling instrument. In taking the
machine to its work the tiller is necessarily in an elevated position.
The machine on: commencing remains stationary; the tiller H, is
made to revolve, and is gradually lowered into the ground by turning
the winch handle f, and by this means the trencli is formed in which
the cultivation takes place.
Having thus adjusted the tiller, the progressive motion is now com-

page_text: municated by throwing the clutch i, into geer with wheel T, as:
described. The machine now advances across the field, cutting or.
abrading down the soil on the land side of the trench, and throwing
it up behind reduced and comminuted by the teeth of the tiller, as
exemplified in the Drawing, Fig. 1. t, is a tail board mounted on a
shaft m, which is adjusted and fixed by a hand lever p, in order
to regulate the fall of the soil and 'the equalization of the tilled.
surface...
. It is important to observe that the teeth or cutters by which the
abrasion is effected are of such width respectively, and so disposed
relatively with each other in lateral order, as to lap, that no inter-
space of soil is.allowed to escape unsevered from the land side or un-
transferred to the back of the trench i, which is thus kept clear by the
action of the instrument. This adaptation of the motion of progression
to the velocity and capabilities of the tilling instruments forms a pro-
minent feature of my Invention, and without it a proper degree of.
cultivation cannot be effected.
8, 8, and
To facilitate the turning of the machine at the headlands I mount
the axle of the fore wheels with a central "bearing, best seen in the
longitudinal and transverse sections, Figs. 6; and 7, Sheet B, which
bearing is free to turn on a pipe, as a centre. The guards of outer
bearings are fitted to slide on a 'curved part of the framing described
from e, as a centre, and are free to slide thereon. Racks
pinions t, t, are provided, and actuated by winch handles u, u, by
turning which the bearings are slid round so as to incline the axle
to the carriage, causing it to move out of the direct line. To assist
in turning the carriage round, in addition to thus inclining the fore
axle, I furnish the driving wheel axle with two clutches and levers,
as described with reference to Fig. 3, one to each wheel, when they
may be either thrown separately or together out of or into geer with
the bevil wheel T, which will cause the machine to turn in a less
space than would be effected by the ordinary propulsion.
It is scarcely necessary to remark that the tiller K, must be raised
out of the ground at each time of turning, and again lowered, as before,
on commencing. By mechanical appliances, such as before described,

page_text: it is obvious that the motion of the 'tiller may be suspended on turning
round, and a quicker progressive motion imparted, so as to save
time.
Having-described-the-nature_of_my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I do not confine myself to the precise
detail, so long as the péculiar mode of operation upon the soil be
retained; and what I claim is the application of steam power to cul-
tivation by the cutting down or abrasion of the soil on the land side of
a trench by means of a rotatory tilling instrument having a slow pro-
gressive motion, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Chandos Wren Hoskyns, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of February,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-four.
CHANDOS WREN HOSKYN. (L.S.).
Witness, W. CLARK,
Patent Agent,
53, Chancery Lane, London.