AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF HORSE HOE
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Horton, of Ashburton, in the County of Devon,
Smith, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF HORSE HOE."
Sealed the 25th June 1858, and dated the 24th April 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Horton at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th April
1858.
J, JOHN HORTON, of Ashburton, in the County of Devon, Smith, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF
HORSE HOE," to be as follows:-
The Invention relates to an improved construction of implement, by the
use of which a row of turnips may be simultaneously thinned and hoed on
both sides. For this purpose I combine rotating knives with fixed knives, in
such a manner that they will both be completely under the command of the
attendant when the hoe is in use, and may be thrown out of action with the
greatest facility. The fixed knives (which are intended to hoe at the side of
the row of turnips) I mount on a transverse rock shaft near the front of the.
implement, and I operate this rock shaft by a hand lever, which extends back-
wards within convenient reach of the attendant. This lever I connect by
means of a slotted bar with a rocking frame, which has for its fulcrum the
axle of the running wheels, and carries the axle of the rotating knives.
Rotary motion is communicated to tbese knives by a bevil wheel on the axle.

page_text: of the running wheels gearing into a bevil wheel on the rotary knife axle, and
thus an intermittent action of the rotary knives is obtained, governed by the
progressive movement of the implement. A hand lever is attached to the
rocking frame for lifting the rotary knives out of action without interfering
with the fixed knives. The drop of the knives, or the depth they shall cut
into the ground, is determined by an adjustable stop-piece attached to one of
the steering. handles. The hand lever on the rock shaft is made capable of
raising both the fixed and rotating knives out of the ground. The draught of
the implement may be adjusted by the attendant while the hoeing is proceed-
ing, his duty being simply to pull a rod, which lifts the spring bolt that
connects the draught lever with the brake. This draught lever is cranked,
and a rod being attached to the short arm, will, when pulled, rock the lever
laterally into the required position; the bolt being then allowed to fall, will
secure it in the position it has just assumed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Horton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 23rd
October 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HORTON, of Ashburton, in the County of Devon, Smith, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Horton, Her special license that I, the said John Horton,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Horton, 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
terin 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 "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF
HORSE HOE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Horton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: be done by depressing the hand leverf on the rock shaft e into the dotted
position of Fig. 1. This will directly lift up the knives d, while at the same
time the upper end of the slot in the bar g, which forms the connection
between the lever f and frame h, will press upon the bolt that makes good
that connection, and thereby rock the frame h into the dotted position, and
raise the knives / clear of the ground. The draught of the implement may be
readily adjusted by the attendant while the hoeing is proceeding, his duty
being simply to pull a rod q which is connected to a rock lever r, that carries
the bolt for connecting the draught levers with the hake t. This movement
of the rod will rock the lever 2, and raise the bolt clear of
draught lever, which is cranked, as shewn in the plan view, is then free to be
rocked by pulling a rod u attached to its short arm, and when rocked laterally
into the required position, the bolt is allowed to fall and secure it in the
position which it has just assumed.
the hake. The
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "An Improved Con-
struction of Horse Hoe," and explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent I claim, the combination in the same implement of rotary knives and
fixed or stationary knives in the manner above described, whereby a row of
turnips may be simultaneously thinned and hoed on both sides, and when
required, the rotary knives may be thrown out of action without interfering
with the action of the fixed knives.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Horton, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Twenty-second day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
JOHN HORION. (L.S.)

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Horton, 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 state-
ment, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):—
This Invention relates to "An Improved Construction of Horse Hoe," by the
use of which a row of turnips may be simultaneously thinned and hoed on both
sides. For this purpose, I combine in the same implement rotating knives
with fixed or stationary knives, in such a manner that they will both be
completely under the command of the attendant when the hoe is in use, and
may one or both of them be thrown out of action with the greatest facility.
In the accompanying Drawing, the improved implement is shewn in side
elevation at Fig. 1, in plan view at Fig. 2, and in end elevation at Fig. 3.
a, a, is the main framing, fitted with guide handles b, b, and a draught
head c, and mounted on running wheels as usual. The fixed knives, which
are intended to hoe at the side of the row of turnips) are shewn at d, d.
These knives I mount in adjustable sockets on a transverse rock shaft e, which
has its bearings in the sides of the frame a near the front of the implement.
Attached to this rock shaft is a hand lever f, which extends backwards within
convenient reach of the attendant, and is for the purpose of operating the rock
shaft when required. This lever f I connect by means of a slotted bar g with
a rocking frame h, which has for its fulcrum the axle i of the running wheels.
Mounted upon this rocking frame, and central with the framing a, is a shaft k,
which forms the axle for the rotating knives 7. The inner end of this axle is
fitted with a bevil pinion m, which gears into a bevil wheel n on the axle of
the running wheels. The knives are attached radially by bolts to a disc or
plate *, which is keyed or otherwise secured to the axle k. As, therefore, the
implement is drawn forward, the running wheels will impart rotary motion to
their axle i, which, through the gearing m, n, will give rotary motion to the
knife axle, and thus an intermittent action of the rotary knives will be
obtained, governed by the progressive movement of the implement. A hand.
lever o is attached to the rocking frame h, for the purpose of lifting the rotary
knives out of action when required without interfering with the fixed knives d.
The drop of the knives 1, or the depth they shall cut into the ground, is
determined by an adjustable stop-piece p attached to one of the steering
handles. This stop-piece forms a rest for the hand lever, which, by its rigid
connection with the rotary knife frame, keeps that frame, and consequently
the rotary knife axle k, at any required angle of elevation. When it is
desired to raise both the fixed and rotating knives out of the ground, this may