CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON PLOUGHS
Year: 1816

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
RANSOME, of Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk, Ironfounder, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the First day of June, in the fifty-sixth year of His reign, did give and
grant unto me, the said James Ransome, my exors, admors, and assigns,. His
special licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said James
Ransome, my eñors, adiñors, and assigns, during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all His
Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS ON PLOUGHS;" in which Letters Patent there is contained a
proviso obliging me, the said James Ransome, under my hand and seal, to
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same (relation being
thereunto had) may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Ransome, do hereby declare that my said Invention consists of an
improved ploughshare and plough ground head or bottom piece, which are, to
be affixed to each other in manner and form to be hereafter described; but.in
order to render the objects and advantages of my said Invention more obvious,

page_text: I shall, before describing it, point out the manner in which ploughshares have
hitherto been generally used and affixed.
The plough, generally considered, consists of the stock or body of the plough,
its shaft, handles, breastplate, and coulter, together with the ground or bottom
piece, with its slade, and the share, blade, wing, or point, as it is sometimes
called.
My Invention applies only to these two last parts, which, for the sake of
simplicity, I shall merely call the ground and the share. All the other parts of
the plough may be constructed in the usual and customary manner in which
ploughs of cast iron or other materials are made. The ground of a plough is
the bottom piece or case upon which it stands or works, and which is either
protected from wear by being covered with a moveable piece called a slade, or
not. The share is that part which cuts the soil horizontally, and throws it
upon the breastplate after it has been vertically divided by the coulter. Now,
in the usual practice of making ploughs, it has been customary to attach or
fix the share to the front end of the ground, or that which lays next to the
horses in work, either by making a socket or mouth in the ground to receive
the fang or shank of the share, or else by placing the socket or mouth upon
the share while the point or nose of the ground is made with a shank or
tapered end to fix into it, and in either of these methods the share is fixed on
by mere fitting, or tightened either with a wedge or by applying thin slips of
wood, or packings of paper, or other soft substance, if necessary, but can at any
time be taken off to be renewed whenever it happens to be broken or worn
out. The consequence of this construction is, that when the cast share is worn
out, in some cases more than two thirds of its thirds of its original quantity in
weight becomes useless on account of the metal which is required to form the
shank or socket, and which is of no other use, unless so formed as to receive a
new cutting edge, which may be fastened by means of rivits, screws, or dove-
tails, and the wrought iron share must be relaid, new forged, or steeled, all
which operations are attended with considerable expense, and (what is
frequently of more consequence) loss of time.
My Invention goes to remove these inconveniences, and is described in the
ollowing manner (viz³) :-
I make my share of such form and shape as to its cutting edge, and of cast
or wrought iron or steel, or such other materials as may best suit the nature
of the soil in which it is to act, but which need not be here described, inasmuch
as it is well known and may be varied to the wish of the cnsumer; and my
share does not in these respects differ from those which are already in use, but
the back or thick part of the share is so made, either in a curved or straight

page_text: form, as to enter between two chaps for the purpose of fixing it, which I shall
next describe.
These chaps consist of two pieces of metal, one passing above that part of
the share intended to be held by them, and the other below it, in such manner
that when they are forcibly drawn together they may confine and hold the
share in the manner of a vice. One of these chaps may either be a part of
the plough frame or ground, and made with it, or made seperate and fastened
thereto, which the other is moveable, nor is it material whether the top or
bottom chap is made to move, all that is necessary being, that they should
answer the purpose of nipping or confining the share steadily, and that their
form and dimensions should be such as not to impede the passage of the plough
through the soil, but the particulars of such form cannot be so well described
by words as by the Drawings and descriptions hereunto annexed, and which are
referred to for such particulars. In all cases I make use of loops with counter-
sunk heads and wedges (which, however, I do not claim as my Invention) to
draw and hold these moveable pieces or chaps together to confine the share;
for, although screw bolts may be used for this purpose, they are less simple and
convenient.
The loops and wedges, with their applications and situations, as well as
those of the several parts, and the names by which I distinguish them, will
also be distinctly seen in the Drawings annexed.
REFERENCES TO THE DRAWINGS.
No. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 represent top views of my share in some of its forms.
No. 6, 6, 6, are sections equally applicable to the shares No. 1, 2, or 3, and
No. 7, a section of 4 and 5, all taken through the line A, B.
The parts
coloured blue in all the seven Figures represent that part of the share which is
held or pinched between the upper and lower chaps; in No. 1, 2, and 3,
this part is sunk down so as to form a rebate with dovetailed ends, as in
1 and 2, or without dovetailed ends as in 3, to receive the end of the
upper chap, which is by that means protected from wearing away so fast
as it otherwise would, although the share may be held without such dove-
tail and rebate, as shewn in 4, 5, and 7. The part coloured red in No. 8
represents a top view of the upper chap when made in one piece, when
made with the ground, its front end a being the part which fits into or on
the part coloured blue in the shares; b a rebate to receive the nose or end of
the breastplate; o, the hole through which the loop or bolt passes to draw and
confine the upper and lower chaps together. The dotted lines d, d, shew the
direction of the hole through which the wedge may pass to tighten the loop

page_text: bolt. No. 9 is a landside view of No. 8, to which the same colours and
letters refer. The dotted line c, c, shew the direction of the hole for the loop
bolt, while the hole for the wedge is open at d. The uncoloured parts of 8 and
9 represent the remainder of the ground with its bolt holes and mortices as
commonly used. For the under chap, see Nos. 12, 13, and 14. The under chaps
differ from each other only in the curve part g, which should be made to
correspond in form with the upper chap it is intended to go with. No. 10 is
a top view of the upper chap, as it may be made to fix on to the iron frame or
ground of a plough; and No. 11, a side view of the same, in which the dotted
lines shew a section of the thickness of the metal, together with the holes e and
f. through which it may be fastened to the plough ground or frame. a, b, c, d,
refer to the same parts as in Figures 8 and 9. No. 12 is the landside view of
the lower chap, the whole of which is colored yellow, and may be made of
such shape as to correspond with the upper chap, as in the Drawing, or be
carried higher, where additional strength is required. g is the end which goes
under that part of the share coloured blue, for the purpose of holding or
pinching it; h, a hole through which a wedge passes into the loop or bolt by
which the chaps are drawn or held together. No. 13, a cross section at the
hole h of No. 12. h is the wedge hole and I the countersunk hole for the head
of the bolt or loop. No. 14 is a top view of No. 12, to which the same letters
refer. No. 15 is a landside view of the ground where the lower chap is made
in one piece with it, and the upper chap is moveable. No. 16 is a top view of
No. 15. In No. 15 and 16 the uncoloured parts, as in 8 and 9, shew the
ground as generally used, and which parts are consequently not included in this
Patent. No. 17 is a top view, and 18 a landside view of the upper chap when
made moveable. The letters of reference in 15, 16, 17, and 18 refer to the
same parts for which the same letters are used in the other Figures. No. 19
is a top view of the lower chap when made to be fixed to the ground or plough
frame; the application may be seen by comparison with No. 16, as the part
marked k is to extend underneath the ground or plough frame, to which it is
to be bolted through the holes l, l. No. 20 is a handside of 19; the dotted lines
shew a longitudinal and virtual section through the middle of 19. The move-
able upper chap 17, 18, applies equally well to 19, 20, as to 15 and 16.
No. 21 is another form of a moveable top chap to be applied in the same
manner as 17 and 18, the part which holds the share being made straight to
suit shares formed in the back parts like No. 2 or 5). No. 22 is a top view of
the upper and lower chap, with the share between them, as when put together
ready for work. No. 23 is a general longitudinal and virtual section through
the middle of 22 at the line C, D, shewing the manner in which the share is

page_text: placed between the chaps to be held by the loop (the direction of which is
represented by dotted lines C, C,) and wedge, the hole for which is seen in
the top chap at d. The dotted lines at m represent the continuation of the
plough frame or ground, to which the top chap is supposed to be fastened,
either by loops and wedges or the bolts n, n. The dotted lines at o shew the
position of the nose of the breastplate. No. 24 is a vertual cross section of the
above at the place where the wedge passes through the loop or bolt. No. 25
is a similar section of the chaps 16 and 17, in which the lower chap is sup-
posed to be made with or affixed to the ground or plough frame, while the
upper one is moveable for the purpose of replacing shares. No. 26 is a sketch
of the loop bolt and wedge used for the purpose of drawing the upper and
lower chaps together in order to confine the shares. No. 27 is the scale of
feet and inches to which the several parts are drawn; but I do not by this
confine myself to those particular sizes, different soils and places requiring
the parts to be of various dimensions, and the scale of measure here used is
given only as a general guide to the comparison of the several parts. Those
parts of the Drawings which appear in outlines only I claim no exclusive right
of Patent for, they being introduced only to shew in what manner those parts
for which I do claim such Patent right may be affixed, and which are all
coloured in the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Ransome, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of November, in the year of our