IMPROVEMENTS IN ACTUATING MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CULTIVATING LAND
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Marlborough Robert Pryor of Weston Manor Stevening
in the County of Herts Esquire for an invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ACTUATING MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CULTIVATING LAND"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Marlborough Robert Pryor
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th April 1882.
MARLBOROUGH ROBERT PRYOR of Weston Manor Stevening in the County of
Herts Esquire "IMPROVEMENTS IN ACTUATING MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
CULTIVATING LAND"
My Invention has for its principal object to transmit power to a digger or other
like cultivating apparatus operating by the rotation or reciprocating motion of its
parts such as the Proctor or Darby digger or cultivator whereby the machine from
which the power is obtained is separate from the cultivator itself and is situate
at a distance therefrom and whereby the cultivator is much lightened and rendered
capable of more ready and rapid action and is especially advantageous upon heavy
lands.
According to my said Invention the power requisite for the operation of the
cultivator is transmitted from a generator of electricity such as a dynamo electrical
machine separate from the cultivator, conducting wires being lead from the said
dynamo machine or generator of electricity to the cultivator which is provided
with any known means of causing the Electrical current to give the necessary
alternating motion or motion of rotation to the cultivator and to the carrying
wheels and drum for the Conducting Cable.
The Conducting Cable will be carried on a drum mounted on the Digger frame
and provided with guides and pullies before and behind and so arranged that the
Conducting Cable will shift from the hinder pulley to the anterior one when the
cable ceases to be paid out and requires to be wound in and vice versa under the
control and with the aid of the driver. The portion of the Conductor not required

page_text: to be paid out and wound in by the digger in the course of each bout may
advantageously be carried on a separate Carriage and may have the Conductor
of greater Section.
The generator of electricity may be driven by any ordinary traction or other
engine such for instance as are used for thrashing Machines the dynamo machine
or other generator of Electricity being either attached to the Engine or carried
upon a separate carriage admitting of being connected thereto.
In some cases it may be found convenient to substitute Accumulators for a
generator of electricity which accumulators may be carried on the digger itself
thereby rendering the conducting cable unnecessary.
An advantage resulting from this arrangement is that the cultivator is owing to
the lightness thereof capable of operating upon heavy lands at times when even
with horses such operation would be impossible.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Marlborough Robert Pryor in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th October 1882.
MARLBOROUGH ROBERT PRYOR of Weston Manor Stevenage in the County of
Herts Esquire
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ACTUATING MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
CULTIVATING LAND.
"
"J
My said Invention has for its principal object to transmit power to a digger
or other like Agricultural cultivating apparatus operating by the rotation or
reciprocating motion of its parts such as the Proctor or Darby "digger or
cultivator whereby the Machine from which the power is obtained is separate
from the cultivator itself, and is situate at a distance therefrom and whereby the
cultivator is much lightened and rendered capable of more ready and rapid action,
so especially advantageous upon heavy lands.
According to my said Invention the power requisite for the operation of the
cultivator is transmitted from a generator of electricity such as a dynamo-electrical
machine separate from the cultivator, conducting wires being lead from the said
dynamo machine or generator of Electricity to the cultivator which is provided
with any known means of causing the Electrical current to be converted into
rotary motion for the purpose of giving the necessary motion to the cultivator and
to the carrying wheels and drum for the conducting cable.
The portion of the conducting cable or cables connected with the digging
apparatus is or are carried on a drum or drums mounted on the digger frame
and provided with guides and pulleys so arranged that the conducting cable or
cables may be caused to be paid out or wound in as required by mechanism under
the control of the driver, the said cable or cables thus being capable of being paid
out or wound up without liability of being injured by being dragged along the
ground as the digging progresses. The portion of the conductor or conductors not
required to be paid out and wound in by the digger in the course of each "bout "
may advantageously be carried on a separate carriage between the source of power
and the digger and this portion of the said conductor or conductors may be of
greater section or capacity.
The generator of electricity may be driven by any ordinary traction or other
engine such for instance as are used for thrashing machines the dynamo machine
or other generator of Electricity being either attached to the Engine or carried
upon a separate carriage admitting of being conveniently connected thereto.
An advantage resulting from the herein before described arrangement of appa-
ratus is that the cultivator, owing to the lightness thereof is capable of operating
upon heavy lands at times when even with horses such operation would be
impossible.
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 all the figures.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents a sectional elevation of the
aforesaid apparatus for operating the cultivating mechanism, carrying wheels, and
for operating the winding drums in accordance with my said Invention.
A A' are the drums for carrying the Electric cable the said drums being fixed
upon the vertical spindle B mounted in a footstep bearing b and supported by the
bracket framing the said drums being insulated therefrom by the non conducting
or dia-electric material a inserted within the hollow hubs as shewn at A¹ but it is

page_text: obvious that any other convenient means of effecting the required insulation may
be adopted. Upon the drums A A¹ the electric lead and return or circuit cables
a' a' are carried which cables at one end are either in direct communication with
the Stationary electric generator located at a convenient distance or indirectly
through the intervention of an auxiliary cable or carrier before referred to and as
shewn in Figure 2. The opposite terminations of the cables are taken through
grooves or recesses as formed in the vertical shaft B carrying the aforesaid drums
upon the cultivating Machine These latter terminations are connected with the
insulated conducting collars or discs C. C¹ encircling the said shaft at a convenient
position from which the Electric current is communicated by the spring contact
brushes c c to the electric motor D of any convenient known type through the
usual circuit wires d¹ or equivalent connections.
It will be readily understood that the proper insulation of the necessary parts is
of vital importance that is, the cables a a¹ must be efficiently insulated from the
ground over which they pass or any local contacts as likewise from each other or
any metallic portions of the machine not serving as the necessary conductors to the
Electric motor, otherwise it is obvious that short or return circuiting would result
_without the necessary operation of the moving parts of the machine:
The electro-motor D receiving its electric-energy_in_the_umuner above described
is attached to the main framing E of the machine-or--implement and from the
armature shaft c of the said motor the prime source of motion for the cultivator is
derived and this motion is so reduced as to drive or operate the diggers and
travelling wheels at the requisite speeds. As the various functions of these parts
-are-of-a-very-different character considerable differences of relative speeds for
each requirement will necessarily have to be provided-in-the-trains_of_gearing_
employed.
Assuming the armature shaft e of the electro motor to make from 800 to 1000
revolutions per minute, then the motiou obtained therefrom would have to be
suitably reduced through the intervention of the spur wheel and pinion e², e¹ and
auxiliary gearing e³, et in order to impart a suitable relative motion to the road or
traction wheels F of the machine or in other words to communicate to the entire
machine a speed of locomotion not exceeding one mile per hour.
A reduction of speed is also requisite for operating the diggers or cultivators G
which may be driven by cranks or eccentrics and controlled by links or other
means similar for example to those employed in the Proctor or Darby Machines.
The crank shaft g operating the said cultivators should be arranged to revolve once
for about every 8 or 10 inches of progress made by the entire Machine over the
land. Any other convenient means or arrangement of gearing may be employed
for deriving the necessary various speeds of motion while additional means or
devices may be employed for varying their relative velocities to suit different soils
or purposes of cultivation:
For the purpose of driving the drum shaft or spindle B a comical driving
pulley H may be employed mounted loosely upon the said shaft or spindle but
capable of being moved into gear or out of gear with a fixed driving clutch h so
that the said pulley may be caused either to run idly upon the shaft or to drive
the latter, by the movement of a lever I or similar device Motion is imparted to
the said pulley H by a strap or band h¹ passing round a similar speed or conical
pulley H¹ situated on an intermediate spindle driven by the Electric Motor.
A proper standard speed of driving may be derived by first determining the
necessary relative proportions of the gearing while any further compensation or
variation of speed may be effected by shifting the belt h¹ up or down upon the
conical pulleys H H¹ which may be effected by means of a forked lever J under
the control of the driver in charge but it is obvious that other means of obtaining
variable velocities might be employed.
Thus it will be understood that when it is desired to wind up the conducting
cables the operator simply moves the loose pulley H and the driving clutch / into
gear whereupon the shaft B and drums A A¹ are caused to revolve therewith thus

page_text: effecting the purpose above specified When it is desired to pay out the conducting
cable the running pulley H and the clutch are thrown out of gear thereby leaving
the spindle with its drums free to revolve according to the strain or tension brought
upon the cables. In order to prevent any undue racing or unwinding of the
machine any known convenient arrangement of brake might be employed-as for
instance a friction clutch or device in connection with the pulley H which would
also serve to prevent overwinding so that if any undue strain were suddenly
brought upon the cables the resisting friction of the clutch or device would be
overcome and the surfaces thereof would slip thus rendering overwinding impossible
the amount of friction being controllable by the driver.
Further in order to hold and conduct the Electric cables a' a² clear of the various
parts of the machine and also to allow the most direct draught and communication
with the winding drums a swinging frame L carrying a guide pulley or pulleys
is provided and so mounted as to be capable of turning in any direction about the
shaft B. In this manner the line or direction of the conducting cables may lie in
any positions relatively to the Machine which is of considerable importance in
avoiding or reducing any dragging of the said cables over the land. The upper
limb of the frame L may be mounted upon the summit of the spindle B, in any
suitable manner while the lower limb may terminate with a fork carrying a friction
roller or pulley N capable of running in a suitably formed gallory n extending
round the vertical spindle B and conveniently supported by transverse framing.
The pulley or pulleys situated at the end of the said framo L for receiving the
conducting cables should be suitably insulated so as to avoid any possibility of
diversion of the current.
It will be roadily understood that one instead of two drums may be employed
for carrying the conducting cables, in which case the two cables would be properly
insulated and bound together so as to form practically one cable.
Further the winding drums may be conveniently arranged with their axes
horizontal instead of vertical on an axle at right angles to the shaft B. and driven
independently of it. The shaft B is in this case rigidly connected with the
framing L L (tho gallery n being dispensed with) but the said shaft B is free to
turn with the frame L L so as to adjust its position and that of the drums to the
direction of the conductors relatively to the machine as diagrammatically represented
at Figure 3 of the Drawings-In place of driving the drums by gearing from the
main electro-motor a small auxiliary or additional notor T (Figure 3) may be
arranged to operate the drums by means of a spur or worn wheel motion t and be
driven by a branch circuit from the main circuit such branch circuit being provided
with variable electrical resistances to enable the driver to regulate the speed of the
said winding drums at will. It will be readily understood that the above described
ineans of driving the drums or drum-shaft are equally applicable, whether the said
drums or shafts be arranged in vertical or horizontal planes. If it be required
electric communication may be established directly with the drums by means of
spring contacts or brushes in lieu of being provided on the shaft.
At Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings is shewn a diagrammatic plan of a
field being cultivated by a cultivator worked according to my Invention. P repre-
sents the above described machine at work upon the field, the working of the
diggers G, the winding up of the cables a¹ a³ and also the traversing of the
cultivator being effected by an electro-motor receiving its supply of electric energy
from a distant source S stationary during work.
The conductors may be led direct from the Dynamo-Electric Machine or other
generator S but it will generally be found more convenient to carry on the
implement only sufficient cable to connect with a separate auxiliary conductor-
carrier moveable by man Animal or Electric power and which should be
stationed, either on the headland or preferably on the uncultivated portion of the
field and about opposite the middle of the "bout" undergoing cultivation as shewn
in the drawing cultivation being preferably commenced in the part of the field
furthest from the source of power and the separate conductor carrier Q being

page_text: moved back away from the implement or machine occasionally as cultivation
proceeds.
This separate carrier if it is to be moved by a horse or other animal should be
fitted with very long shafts so that the animal can be harnessed facing the travelling
axle and draw and move the carrier in the direction of the conductors to be picked
up without treading on them. The carrier may be provided with separate
conductors of large sectional area or capacity and the said conductors be wound.
on their druins by any of the arrangements in use in field telegraphic apparatus
for the like purpose.
The conductors of the auxiliary carrier are connected with the terminals of the 1
Dynamo Electric Machine directly or with fixed conductors, in the case of a supply
of Electricity being derived from a fixed source
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the 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 1
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part
recited Letters Patent is:-
First Driving a cultivating machine operating upon the land-by-the-motion-of-
its own parts.such-for-example as is commonly known as a "Digger-by-means of
_an_electro-motor-in-such a manner that the conductors shall be supported paid out 2
and wound up so as not to be subjected to material injury by being dragged along
the ground by the machine in the course of cultivation substantially as hereinbefore
described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Secondly: The construction and arrangement_of-apparatus-for-paying out and
winding-up-the-conducting cables substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore. 2
described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In witness whereof I the said Marlborough Robert Pryor have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal this nineteenth day of October One
thousand eight hundred and eighty two
D DDVOD