IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF HORSE PLOUGHS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Angel Bowhay, of Modbury, in the
County of Devon, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF HORSE PLOUGHS."
Sealed the 28th April 1868, and dated the 30th October 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Angel
Bowhay at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 30th October 1867.
I, WILLIAM HENRY ANGEL BOWHAY, of Modbury. in the County of Devon,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF HORSE PLOUGHS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements which are applicable to
what are known as "turn-wrest" and "one-way " ploughs, and also to single
ploughs, the object thereof being to lighten the draught of the plough, and
also to render it more steady and easy of management, whilst great strength
is attained combined with lightness.
In applying this Invention to turn-wrest and one-way ploughs one, two, or
more wheel or wheels is or are placed near the centre of the plough for the
same to run on (instead of being drawn on a chip or ground piece). The
wheel or wheels is or are capable of being so set as to keep the hinder share
several inches off the ground, the pitch or inclination of the ploughshare
being varied as may be desired. The wheel or wheels is or are attached to a
standard which is supported from the bolt passing through the longitudinal

page_text: centre of the main beam and through a slot connected with the body or
bodies of the plough in such a manner that as the handles at the ends are
changed or reversed and the horses reverse their course the course of the wheel
or wheels is reversed and the same caused to recede some distance from the
centre of the plough. The object of this change is to prevent the balance
which is obtained in some wheel ploughs now in use, and thus to throw a
greater weight on the front or working part, thereby rendering the plough
easy of management and steadier, and consequently much lighter in draught.
A further part of this Invention consists in employing two single bodies of
an opposite or reverse order, the one right hand and the other left, the same
being respectively provided with their mould boards or turnfurrows and
shares. The two bodies are fixed to one main longitudinal, beam so that the
mould boards shall nearly meet in the centre where a roller is placed between
them for the purpose of giving the last pressure to the furrow, thus making it
a double or one-way plough. Reversible handles are provided, the same
being connected by a bolt to the longitudinal centre of the beam and made to
lock at each end in position by a spring catch or other suitable contrivance.
A part of this Iuvention is also applicable to the old turn-wrest plough
with one body, namely, the attachment of a standard with a wheel or wheels
so as to reverse their position at the ends in order to destroy the balance, and
also the application of rollers at the ends of the mould boards. In single
ploughs one or more wheel or wheels may be placed in the body of the plough
for the same to run on, and so attached as to allow the pitch of the share to
be varied with ease, and the roller at the end of the mould board or turn-
furrow may also be applied to such ploughs.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Angel Bowhay in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 30th April 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY ANGEL BOWHAY, of Modbury, in the County of Devon, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Henry Angel Bowhay, Her special licence that I, the said
William Henry Angel Bowhay, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or

page_text: such others as I, the said William Henry Angel Bowhay, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF HORSE PLOUGHS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William. Henry Ángel
Bowhay, 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 William Henry Angel Bowhay, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the annexed Drawings,
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
"
My said Invention relates to certain improvements which are applicable to
what are known as "turn-wrest or "one-way" ploughs, and also to single
ploughs, the object thereof being to lighten the draught of the plough, and also
to render it more steady and easy of management, whilst great strength is
attained combined with lightness.
In applying my said Invention to "turn-wrest" and "one-way" ploughs
one, two, or more wheel,or wheels is or are placed near the centre of the plough
for the same to run on instead of being drawn on a "chip" or ground piece.
The wheel or wheels is or are capable of being so set as to keep the hinder
share several inches off the ground, the pitch or inclination of the plough-
share being varied as may be desired. The wheel or wheels is or are attached
to a standard which is supported from the bolt which passes through the
longitudinal centre of the main beam and through a slot connected with the
body or bodies of the plough in such a manner that as the handles at the ends
are changed or reversed and the horses reverse their course the course of the
wheel or wheels is reversed and the same caused to recede some distance
from the centre of the plough. The object of this change is to prevent the
balance which is obtained in some wheel ploughs now in use, and thus to
throw a greater weight on the front or working part, thereby rendering the
plough easy of management and steadier, and consequently much lighter in
draught.

page_text: Another method of producing the same effect is as follows:-Instead of
employing one standard with a wheel or wheels shifting from side to side, and
thus destroying the balance of the plough and causing the hinder share to
rise from the ground, I arrange a fixed standard with a joint on which acts the
cross bar with the wheels at each end. Two loose standards are placed loose
on the axle and pass up through mortices in the beam. Set screws are placed
at the top for the purpose of giving the necessary pitch, so that at each end
when the handles turn over the standard is pressed down and causes the share
to rise and turns the binder wheel just the same distance as in the case of the
before-mentioned reversible wheel.
My said Invention further consists in employing two single bodies of an
opposite or reverse order, the one right hand and the other left hand, the
same being respectively provided with their mould boards or turnfurrows and
shares. The two bodies are fixed to one longitudinal beam so that the mould
boards shall nearly meet in the centre, where a roller is placed between them
for the purpose of giving the last pressure to the furrow, thus making it a
double or one-way plough. Reversible handles are provided, the same being
connected by a bolt to the longitudinal centre of the beam and made to lock
at each end in position by a spring catch or other analogous and suitable
contrivance.
A further part of my said Invention is also applicable to the old turn-wrest
plough with one body, and consists in the attachment of a standard with a
wheel or wheels so as to reverse their position at the ends in order to destroy
the balance, and also in the application of rollers at the ends of the mould
boards. In single ploughs one or more wheel or wheels may be placed in the
body of the plough for the same to run on, and so attached as to allow the
pitch of the share to be varied with ease, and the roller at the end of the
mould board or turn furrow may also be applied to such ploughs.
1 will now proceed to refer to the annexed Drawings, from which the
nature of my said Invention will be more clearly understood.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of an improved turn-wrest or "one-way"
plough constructed in accordance with my said Invention.
A, A, are the mould boards, the one right hand and the other left hand,
with their corresponding shares B, B; C, C, are the coulters employed in
parting the surface soil; D is the main longitudinal beam having two single
bodies fixed to it, the one right hand and the other left hand, each being
fitted with mould boards and shares; E, E, are the front guide wheels which
regulate the depth; F, F, are the reversible handles, connected by a bolt
which passes through the centre of the main longitudinal beam, and locked in

page_text: position at K by a spring catch or other contrivance; G is a straight rod on
which traverses the crook from end to end, to which the horses are attached;
H, H, are the wheels within the body or bodies for the purpose of taking the
weight of the plough instead of employing the old method of dragging the
same on a "chip" or ground piece. The wheels are fixed to a standard I.
which works or takes its action in a mortice in the centre of the beam, and
through which standard the bolt of the reversible handles passes. The standard
has a reversible action on the bolt as well as the handles, so that at each end
the handles and the running wheels change, such change being for the pur-.
pose of destroying the balance of the plough and throwing a greater weight
on the fore or working part, by which means the plough is made steady in its.
work. The standard I has a series of holes in the top part thereof, so that it
can be shifted up and down, the pitch or inclination of the fore share being
given, and the hinder share kept from the ground.
Figure 2 is a plan view of the before described arrangement of a double-
bodied plough, shewing how the same if separated would form two complete
single ploughs; Figure 3 represents in dotted lines the reversing action of
the wheel; Figure 4 shews one of the bodies of the plough with wheel and
standard; Figure 5 is the internal part of the breast plates shewing the hinge
for the purpose of keeping them firm; Figure 6 is a part of a breast plate
shewing the wheel scrape at the bottom, with set screw and standard, and
Jong slot for setting it up and down in the beam just behind the fore spill;
Figure 7 is an end view of the wheel and standard and a pair of wheels on
one axle used in very steep inclines.
Figure 8 shews the construction of a plough with three standards, as before
mentioned. No. 1 is the fixed standard, the same being bolted firmly with a
hinge at a, the cross bar with the wheels at each being shewn at 6; Nos. 2, 2,
are loose standards on the axle passing up through mortices in the beam,
with set screws above for giving the necessary pitch or inclination to the
shares.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which it is to be performed, I would observe in
conclusion that I do not limit or restrict myself to the precise details herein-
before described, as variations may be made therein without departing from
the principles or main features of my said Invention; but what I consider
novel and original, and therefore claim as constituting the Invention secured
to me by the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, are,-
First. The placing a wheel or wheels within the body of double or one-way
ploughs so as to destroy the balance of the plough and keep the hinder share

page_text: free from the ground by means of the combination and arrangement of parts
and mechanism, substantially as herein-before set forth and described, or any
mere modifications thereof.
Secondly. The construction and arrangement of two simple bodies within
one main longitudinal beam, the one right hand and the other left hand, sub-
stantially as herein-before set forth and described, or any mere modifications
thereof.
And, thirdly. The use of a wheel in the construction of single ploughs for
the purpose of lightening the draught, and for varying the pitch or inclination
of the share, substantially as herein-before set forth and described, or any
mere modifications thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Angel Bowhay, have
hereunto set my band and seal, this. Twenty-ninth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
WILLIAM HENRY ANGEL BOWHAY. (L.S.)