IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PLOUGHING OR CULTIVATING LAND
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Perkins, of Hitchin, in the County of
Hertford, Agricultural Implement Maker, for the Invention of.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PLOUGHING OR CULTIVATING LAND."
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Sealed the 2nd August 1870, and dated the 13th May 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said. Thomas Perkins at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 13th May 1870.
I, THOMAS PERKINS, of Hitchin, in the County of Hertford;
5 Agricultural Implement Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PLOUGHING OR CUL-
TIVATING LAND," to be as follows:-
This Invention has mainly for its object to improve that class of
ploughs which are supported on wheels, substantially in the manner
O described in the Specification of a Patent granted to Thomas Pirie on
the 16th day of July 1867 (No. 2088)..

page_text: My first improvement consists in carrying the land wheel of the
implement in such a manner that when the land wheel is forced down-
wards to lift the ploughs out of the ground it shall be free to swivel
round as a castor wheel, and so facilitate the turning of the implement
at a headland, but when the implement is at work it shall be locked
and prevented from swivelling round; this I prefer to effect by carrying
the pin or axle of the land wheel on a stem, which is supported in
bearings carried at the end of a horizontal axis. When the ploughs
are in the land this stem is in an inclined position, and is prevented
from turning in its bearings by one of its ends, which is made with flat
sides, being embraced by a fork, the two prongs of the fork coming one
on one side of the stem and the other on the other side of the stem.
When in order to lift the ploughs out of work the horizontal axis is
turned in such a way as to bring the stem into a vertical position, or
nearly so, the stem is moved out from the fork, and is then free to turn:
and allow the land wheel to swivel round. In place of a portion of the
stein being made with flat sides it may have an arm or projection fixed
to it to enter the fork; the horizontal axis before mentioned is by pre-
ference turned by means of a long lever handle attached to it, and I
prefer also that the stem carrying the axle of the land wheel should
incline backwards towards the rear end of the plough when the im-
plement is at work, so that when it is required to bring the stem into
a vertical position the horizontal axis may be turned by the drawing
downwards of the long lever handle attached to it.
Other arrangements may be adopted for locking the land wheel when 2
at work and setting it free when it is desired to turn the implement.
In some cases in place of lifting the ploughs out of work by forcing
down the land wheel to tilt the implement I lift the ploughs out of work
by forcing down both the land wheel and the leading wheel. This I
effect by placing across the machine a horizontal axis, as is described in a
the Specification of a Patent granted to me on the 8th day of November
1869 (No. 3217), and this axis I employ to raise and lower the land
wheel, by preference as above described, or as is described in my before-
mentioned Patent, and I also couple up the axis with the vertical stem,
by which the leading wheel is carried either by an arc on the axis :
and a chain led over guide pulleys to the stem, or by lever arms' and
connecting rods in such a manner that when the horizontal axis is
turned to force down the land wheel the leading wheel shall be forced

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Perkins in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 11th November 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
PERKINS, of Hitchin, in the County of Hertford, Agricultural Imple
ment Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of May, 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 Thomas Perkins, Her special licence that I,
the said Thomas Perkins, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Thomas Perkins, my executors, adminiş-
trators, 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 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS. IN APPARATUS
FOR PLOUGHING OR CULTIVATING LAND," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Thomas Perkins, 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 Thomas Perkins, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say:—
This Invention has mainly for its object to improve that class of
ploughs which are supported on wheels substantially in the manner

page_text: described in the Specification of a Patent granted to Thomas Pirie on
the 16th day of July 1867 (No. 2088).
My first improvement consists in carrying the land wheel of the
implement in such a manner that when the land wheel is forced down-
wards to lift the ploughs out of the ground it shall be free to swivel
round as a castor wheel and so facilitate the turning of the implement
at a headland, but when the implement is at work it shall be locked and
prevented from swivelling round; this I prefer to effect by carrying the
pin or axle of the land wheel on a stem which is supported in bearings
carried at the end of a horizontal axis. When the ploughs are in the 1
land this stem is in an inclined position and is prevented from turning
in its bearings by one of its ends, which is made with flat sides, being
embraced by a fork, the two prongs of the fork coming one on one side
of the stem and the other on the other side of the stem.
When in order to lift the ploughs out of work the horizontal axis 1
is turned in such a way as to bring the stem into a vertical position,
or nearly so, the stem is moved out from the fork and is then free to turn
and allow the land wheel to swivel round. In place of a portion of the
stem being made with flat sides it may have an arm or projection fixed
to it to enter the fork. The horizontal axis before mentioned is by a
preference turned by means of a long lever handle attached to it, and I
prefer also that the stem carrying the axle of the land wheel should
incline backwards towards the rear end of the plough when the implement
is at work, so that when it is required to bring the stem into a vertical
position the horizontal axis may be turned by the drawing downwards :
of the long lever handle attached to it.
Other arrangements may be adopted for locking the land wheel when
at work, and setting it free when it is desired to turn the implement.
In some cases in place of lifting the ploughs out of work by forcing
down the land wheel to tilt the implement sufficiently to raise the 3
ploughs out of the ground I lift the ploughs out of work by forcing
down both the land wheel and the leading wheel. This I effect by placing
across the machine a horizontal axis, as is described in the Specification
of a Patent granted to me on the 8th day of November 1869 (No. 3217),
and this axis I employ to raise and lower the land wheel by preference,
as above described, or, as is described in my before-mentioned Patent, and
I also couple up the axis with the vertical stem by which the leading
wheel is carried either by an are on the axis and a chain led over guide

page_text: pulleys to the stem, or by levers, arms, and connecting rods in such a
manner that when the horizontal axis is turned to force down the land
wheel the leading wheel shall be forced down likewise. The trailing
wheel also may simultaneously be forced down, if desired, by similarly
coupling a vertical stem by which its axle is carried to the horizontal
axis before mentioned.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
At Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed, I have shown a side
view of a plough having my improvements applied to it, and Figure 2
is a plan view of the front portion of the same.
1
In these Figures a is the land wheel, carried by a bent fork b¹ from tho
lower end of an axis b, which is capable of turning in bearings carried
at the end of an axis c; on this axis is a lever handlo c¹ leading back to
the rear end of the plough, and by this handle the axis c is turned as
heretofore, or a short lever arm on the axis might be linked to a lever;
handle at the rear end of the plough in the manner shown by the
diagram view Figure 1*. The axis 6 projects above the bearings in
which it turns, and the sides of this upper portion of the axis are made
flat, as shown. When the ploughs are in the land, and the axis 6 is in
the inclined position shown by the side view, Figure 3, its upper portion
enters a fork d, which is carried by an arm bolted to the framing of the
implement, the flattened portion of the axis being thus embraced by the
fork is locked and prevented from turning in its bearings. When the
lever handle c' is depressed, and the axis 6 brought into a vertical
position as shown at Figure 1 the upper end of the axis leaves the fork,
and the axis is then free to turn in its bearings, and the wheel a can
swivel as a castor wheel.
At Figure 4 is shown a side view of a plough in which another
arrangement for locking and unlocking the axis 6 is adopted. In this
arrangement the axis in place of being carried by the axis c is
mounted in bearings fixed to the framing of the implement, and always
remains in a vertical position; the axis is free both to turn and also to
move upwards and downwards in its bearings. When the ploughs are
to be raised out of the land, the axis c is turned by the lever handle c'
upon it, curved arms & projecting from the axis & then act upon a

page_text: collar on the axis b, and force downwards this axis, and the wheel a
carried by it. The upper end of the axis b is, as in the arrangement
before described, formed with flat sides when the ploughs are in the land,
the outer ends of the curved arms c³ come against the flat sides of the
axis b, and prevent its turning in its bearings. When however the
axis 6 has been depressed by the curved arms c³, the axis b will be free to
turn, as the parts of the arms c², between which it then lies, are further
apart from one another than the outer ends of the arms, as is seen in the
plan view, Figure 5.
Another arrangement by which the locking and unlocking of the
axis 6 may be accomplished is shown at Figure 6.; in this arrangement
the axis 6 is placed vertically on the plough frame as in the arrangement
shown at Figure 4, and is locked by a spring clutch. Projecting up
from the plough frame is an arm s serving as a fulcrum for a lever t, one
end of which takes into the clutch, whilst the other end which is aboxe
and parallel with the axis c is connected with this axis either by a pro-
jection u from it and a connecting rod v, or the lever t may be depressed
by its tail, and being bent down so that the lever handle c¹ would act
upon it when pulled down to raise the plough out of work, or a chain
might pass from the tail end of the levert to the axis c, and be wound
round it, in either case the clutch would be raised by the forked end of
the lever t, and the land wheel unlocked. When the lever c was
released the land wheel would lock itself when it camë in a line parallel
with the length of the plough. In the plough shown at Figures 1 and 2.
in addition to the land wheel a being forced down to raise the ploughs.
out of the ground the furrow wheel g is also depressed; this is effected:
by a curved arm c³ on the axis cacting against one end of the connecting:
lever rod h, whilst the opposite end of this rod bears against a collar k¹
on the vertical stem k, by which the furrow wheel is carried. When the
ploughs are in the ground the arm c³, as shewn by the dotted lines, is away
from the lever h, so that the axis c may be free to turn in its bearings
without depressing the furrow wheel. By this arrangement not only can the
furrow side and land side of a plough be both raised by the movement
of one lever handle, but in addition the land wheel can to some extent be
raised or lowered for the purpose of adjusting the depth of furrow whilst
the plough is at work without raising or lowering the leading furrow wheel,
and when the ploughs are to be thrown out of the land at the headland
the land wheel may be first somewhat depressed to tilt the plough frame

page_text: and ploughs carried by it before commencing to depress the furrow
wheel; the apparatus might also if desired be so adjusted that the furrow.
wheel and the land wheel should be acted on simultaneously, I, however,
prefer to arrange the apparatus in the manner above described.
The arrangement of apparatus shown at Figure 4 for raising and
lowering the furrow wheel is similar to that shown at Figure 1. I
would however state that other arrangements than that shown for
depressing the leading wheel on the furrow side of the plough at the
same time that the land wheel is also depressed may be adopted, as, for
example, the axis c may be placed in front of the two leading wheels,
the wheel stems in this case may be acted on by simple lever arms
projecting from the axis, or the axis may be placed in rear of them; in
this case two cams or projections on the axis and two connecting lever
rods would be required to depress the wheel stems, or the axis may be
placed between the two as shown at Figure 4; in this case a simple
lover arm is required to act on the stem of the land wheel whilst a cam
and connecting lever are required to act on the stem of the furrow
wheel. When the leading wheel and land wheel are both depressed to
raise the ploughs out of the ground, the stem of the land wheel may
also be locked and unlocked in the manner herein-before described,
or the stem of the land wheel may be coupled with the stem of the
|leading wheel in the manner shown by the red lines in the plan view,
Figure 2; or the stems may be otherwise geared together so that when
one is turned to steer the implement, the other is turned likewise; or
the land wheel might, as described in Pirie's Specification, be, arranged
to be simply raised and lowered without being capable of swivelling or
being steered.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim as
my improvements in apparatus for ploughing or cultivating land is,—
First. The mounting the land wheel of a plough in such manner
that when the wheel is forced down to raise the plough out of work
the wheel shall be able to swivel round as a castor wheel, but when the
ploughs are in the land the wheel shall be prevented from swivelling
round.
Second. The depressing both the land wheel of a plough and also a
vertical stem carrying the leading furrow wheel to raise the ploughs out
of the ground, substantially as herein described.

page_text: -
Third. The depressing a stem carrying the leading furrow wheel of a
plough substantially as herein described by an arc or projection on an
axis which passes across the implement and which on the land side-
carries or is suitably connected with the land wheel to depress it when-
the axis is turned.
Fourth. The combined arrangement herein described for raising and
lowering a wheel on the furrow side and on the land side of a plough,,
whereby by the movement of one lever the wheel on the land side may
be first somewhat depressed before depressing both the land wheel and
furrow wheel.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Perkins, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.