IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SOWING SEED
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Bosworth Holbech, of Thurlaston Lodge,
Leicestershire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
SOWING SEED."
Sealed the 19th November 1861, and dated the 27th May 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Bosworth Holbech
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th May 1861.
I, WILLIAM BOSWORTH HOLBECH, of Thurlaston Lodge, Leicestershire, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR SOWING SEED," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for sowing
seed. In apparatus for sowing seed at present in use it is a common arrange:
ment to place in the seed box of the apparatus a number of cups mounted on
an axis which revolves when the apparatus is at work, causing the cups to
take up measured quantities of seed and drop it into funnels or pipes, which
lead it to the land at several points at distances apart, and immediately
behind the coulters or pressers of the implement, which ordinarily, in order
that they may rise and fall, following the irregularities of the surface of the
land, are mounted on levers centred at one end. to the frame of the implement.

page_text: In such implements, in consequence of the funnels or pipes being of con-
siderable length, it results that the seed which is dropped in at the top of the
funnels or pipes at intervals, escapes at their lower ends in a stream practically
continuous. Now it is often required that the seed should be delivered on to
the land at intervals so that it may fall in bunches, and seed-sowing apparatus
has heretofore in some cases been constructed to drop the sced in this
manner.
My Invention consists in constructing apparatus for this purpose in the
following manner:-I cause the seed to be lifted as heretofore out of the seed
box, and to be dropped in measured quantities down funnels or pipes; each
set of these pipes leads the seed at once to a chamber into which a wheel or
short cylinder is fitted loosely; the wheel or cylinder is capable of turning
freely in tho chamber, and is driven by an endless chain passing around a
chain wheel on its axis, and also around another chain wheel which by gearing
is driven from the carrying wheels of the implement. In the periphery of
the wheel or cylinder recesses of suitable size are formed, and the seed
supplied by the pipes or funnels to the upper part of the chamber of the wheel
or cylinder enters these recesses, and by the motion of the apparatus it is
carried down through the chamber, and the seed falls from the recesses in the
wheel or cylinder without again coming in contact with any part of the
apparatus, immediately into the groove formed by the presser or instrument
which prepares the surface of the land to receive the seed; the distance
through which the seed has to fall is made as short as possible. As before
mentioned the wheel or cylinder fits its chamber but loosely, this is necessary
in order to avoid the shearing or grinding of the seed; therefore in order to
prevent any seed passing down with the wheel or cylinder except that which
is in the recesses, metal scrapers are applied to the surface of the wheel or
cylinder where the seed enters the case; these scrapers are hinged, and kept
down only by their own weight, so that they will yield readily, otherwise they
might cut the seed. At the point of delivery from the wheel or cylinder a
spring presses against its surface so as to allow no seed to pass except that
which is in one or other of the recesses; thus if any seed gets loose within the
chamber after passing the scrapers, the spring obliges it to get into one of the
recesses before it escapes. I prefer that each of the wheels or cylinders and its
chamber, together with the corresponding presser or instrument to prepare the
surface of the land should all be mounted in the same manner as the presser
has heretofore commonly been mounted, that is to say, on a lever jointed at
one end to the frame of the implement, so as to be able to rise and fall as the
inequality of the land may render necessary. In order to prevent the pressers

page_text: penetrating too deeply when the implement is at work on light soils, I place a
horizontal bar at the back of the implement immediately under the ends of
the levers, and this serves to stop the levers when they descend on to it; the
horizontal bar is carried by small wheels, so that it always remains at the
distance to which it may be set from the land. In place of these wheels a
roller is sometimes employed, which then also serves to cover and press the
soil over the sced.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Bosworth Holbech in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th November 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BOSWORTH HOLBECH, of Thurlaston Lodge, Leicestershire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Bosworth Holbech, Her special licence that I, the said William
Bosworth Holbech, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Bosworth Holbech, my executors, administrators, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SOWING SEED," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Bosworth Holbech, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 William Bosworth Holbech, 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 thercof, that is to say:
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for sowing
seed. In apparatus for sewing seed at present in use, it is a common arrange-

page_text: ment to place in the seed box of the apparatus a number of cups mounted on
an axis, which revolves when the apparatus is at work, causing the cups to take
up measured quantities of seed and drop it into funnels or pipes, which lead it
to the land at several points at distances apart, and immediately behind the
coulters or pressers of the implement, which ordinarily (in order that they may
rise and fall, following the irregularities of the surface of the land) are
mounted on levers centred at one end to the frame of the implement. In
such implements, in consequence of the funnels or pipes being of considerable
length, it results that the seed which is dropped in at the top of the funnels or
pipes at intervals escapes at their lower ends in a stream practically con-
tinuous. Now, it is often required that the seed should be delivered on to the
land at intervals, so that it may fall in bunches; and seed-sowing apparatus
has heretofore in some cases been constructed to drop the seed in this
manner.
My Invention consists in constructing apparatus for this purpose in the
following manner:-I cause the seed to be lifted, as heretofore, out of the
sced box, and to be dropped in measured quantities down funnels or pipes ;
each set of these pipes leads the seed at once to a chamber into which a wheel
or short cylinder is fitted loosely; the wheel or cylinder is capable of turning
freely in the chamber, and is driven by an endless chain passing around a
chain wheel on its axis, and also around another chain wheel, which, by.
gearing is driven from the carrying wheels of the implement. In the
periphery of the wheel or cylinder recesses of suitable size are formed, and
the seed supplied by the pipes or funnels to the upper part of the chamber of
the wheel or cylinder enters these recesses, and by the motion of the apparatus
it is carried down through the chamber, and the seed falls from the recesses in
the wheel or cylinder without again coming in contact with any part of the
apparatus immediately into the groove formed by the presser or instrument
which prepares the surface of the land to receive the seed; the distance
through which the seed has to fall is made as short as possible. As before
mentioned, the wheel or cylinder fits its chamber but loosely; this is necessary
in order to avoid the shearing or grinding of the seed; therefore, in order to
prevent any seed passing down with the wheel or cylinder except that which is
in the recesses, scrapers, or, as I prefer, brushes, are applied to the surfaces of
the wheel or cylinder where the seed enters the case. At the point of delivery
from the wheel or cylinder a spring presses against its surface, and, by
preference, this spring is caused to pass a considerable distance round the
wheel or cylinder, coming in contact with it near the point where the seed
enters the recesses, and embracing it round to the point of delivery, so as to

page_text: I
allow no seed to pass except that which is in one or other of the recesses.
prefer that each of the wheels or cylinders and its chamber, together with the
corresponding presser or instrument to prepare the surface of the land, should
all be mounted in the same manner as the presser has heretofore commonly
been mounted, that is to say, on a lever jointed at one end to the frame of the
implement, so as to be able to rise and fall as the inequality of the land may
render necessary. In order to prevent the -pressers penetrating too deeply
when the implement is at work on light soils, I place a horizontal bar at the
back of the implement immediately under the ends of the levers, and this
serves to stop the levers when they descend on to it; the horizontal bar is
carried by small wheels, so that it always remains at the distance to which it
may be set from the land. In place of these wheels a roller is sometimes
employed, which then also serves to cover and press the soil over the seed.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood, and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto

page_text: or lowered as required, the said arm turning on the centre k'; it is secured in
position by suitable bolts. The axis of the intermediate wheel is adjustable in
position to suit the size of the change wheel employed, or the intermediate
wheel may be removed, the other wheels in place of gearing into it gearing
together directly; thus the user of the implement has the power of causing the
axis to revolve (as the implement travels forward) at any required speed, and
in either direction. is one of a series of levers centred to the frame at A,
and carrying a coulter or presser 1, and a chamber P, containing apparatus
for dropping the seed in clumps; all these parts are more clearly shewn at
Figure 2. In this Figure 1 is the lever to which is bolted or fixed the concave
piece 2; this piece is further secured by the stay 3, and it has fixed to it the
coulter or presser 4. On each side of the parts 1 and 2, side plates 5, 5, are
fixed by screws; 6 is another concave piece secured to the side plates, so that
these two concave pieces together with the side plates form a chamber, and' in
this is enclosed the wheel or short cylinder 7, of which the axis is carried in
bearings in the side plates. In the periphery of the wheel or cylinder are
recesses 7*, and on its axis exterior of the chamber is a chain wheel 8, and
a chain 9 passes round this wheel, and also another chain wheel on the
axis j, there being a number of chain wheels on this axis, one corresponding
with each lever 7. 10 is a tail piece fixed to the pieces 5, 5, and 6, and 11 a
stay for further securing this piece; 12 is a funnel fixed to one of the side
plates 5, and furnished with brushes 13, extending across the chamber from
one side plate to another, so that the seed which is dropped into the funnel 12
can only escape from it under the brushes by getting into the recesses 7*.
The covering pieces 14 are for the purpose of excluding wet and dirt from
the
spaces between the pieces 1 and 10 and the funnel 13; this piece 14 can
be removed to allow the person using the machine to see if the seed is
passing as it should; 15 is a spring attached at one end to the piece 10, and
which embraces a considerable portion of the circumference of the wheel or
cylinder 7; 15* are additional springs to aid the spring 15, and press it firmly
up to the surface of the wheel or cylinder.
Returning to Figuro 1, m is a seed box supported on the axis n, and
adjustable in position so as to keep the seed (whatever be the quantity in the
box) at a suitable level at the point where the lifting cups take it up by the
hand screw and nut o. The lifting cups are mounted on the axis n; tliis axis
by gear is driven at a suitable speed, and the cups take up the seed and drop it
down the funnels or jointed tubes p. All this is done as heretofore except
that the funnels or tubes p, in place of taking the seed down directly behind
the coulters or pressers supply it on to the cylinders or wheel 7. It will be

page_text: seen that the seed after it is measured descends to the wheels or cylinders 7,
and that these collect it into their recesses and drop it in definite patches on to
the land. As the apparatus is shewn in the Drawing the wheels or cylinders 7
may be driven in either direction for wheat and other seed which is neither
very small or very large. It works very well when the direction of rotation
is such that the seed passes down by the concave piece 2, but for other seeds
which would be ground if so treated, the wheels or cylinders 7 are driven in the
opposite direction; the rigid surfaces between which the seed passes are then
at such a distance apart that grinding is impossible, and the yielding springs 15
effectually retain the seed in the recesses. It is by no means essential that the
wheels or cylinders 7 should be capable of working in either direction, as the
spring side thereof may in all cases be employed, and this more especially if
the springs are put on the opposite side of the wheel or cylinder to that on
which they are shewn, so that the speed of the seed at the time of delivery from
them may be reduced as much as possible, otherwise there is some tendency to
scatter on striking the ground. The distance between the patches of seed
may be adjusted as may be required by regulating the speed of the wheels or
cylinders 7. The size of the recesses in these wheels or cylinders it should be
remarked have nothing to do with the measurement of the seed as they are
made sufficiently large to take down readily the maximum quantity which can
ever be required. 9 is one of a pair of bars placed one on each side of the
implement and mounted on centres q'; the further ends of these bars are
secured by lock screws and nuts to the standards r, r, which carry the axes of
the roller s, and the standards are slotted so that the bars q may be attached to
them at any desired distance from the axes of the roller. In order to keep
the standards r upright or sufficiently nearly so, their lower ends are also con-
nected to the bars 7 by the links t, jointed both to the standards r and bars q.
The two bars 9 are connected together by the horizontal rod v; this rod
serves to stop the levers and prevent the coulters entering too deeply into the
land should it be so light as otherwise to permit of their doing so. w are arms
jointed to the bars q, and carrying a scraper resting on the surface of the roller;
x, x, are chains attached to the bars q, and proceeding to a lever arm y, on the
axis of which is a handle, to be employed when required to lift the roller s,
the levers 7, and parts connected therewith, off the land; the same handle also
throws the axis n out of gear to stop the seed cups, and consequently the descent
of seed. In place of the roller sa pair of wheels may be employed.
The shafts of the implement are marked A, they are attached to the frame
by an axis B and chains C, so that (as is required when the work is not
straight) the implement can turn partially independently of the shafts, and D

page_text: is a handle by which the implement is then guided. When the work is
straight the shafts may be rendered fast by dropping in a pin E.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Bosworth Holbech, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
WILLIAM BOSWORTH HOLBECH. (L.B.)