Improvements in Ploughs.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Nov., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 19th Sept., 1894-Accepted, 20th Oct., 1894
TRUVIDIONAL DIBITIVA
Improvements in Ploughs.
We, WILLIAM HENRY SLEEP and ROBERT HENRY SLEEP, both of The
Excelsior Plough Works, Plymouth, in the County of Devon, Agricultural
Engineers and Implement Makers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to improvements in that class of plougbs called turnwrest
ploughs which, whether going fron or to the starting end of the field, turn the
furrow slices in the same direction.
In carrying out our invention we provide one set of wheels to answer for both
the right and left set of ploughs and we provide a locking arrangement which will
lock or unlock automatically as may be required when turning at headlands. The
wheels may be fixed abreast of each other on one or two axles or one in advance of
the other, or we may use two wheels in the furrow, one running close to the land
and the other against the last turned furrow so as to press the same, or we may use
two wheels in the furrow and one on the land. The wheels may be made of any
shape we may consider most adaptable.
For locking or unlocking the halls or handles as may be required for the purpose
of arranging them in the right or left ploughing tools we use a lock so arranged as
to strengthen the said halls or handles by making them more rigid and requiring no
This lock consists
holes for the lock (which weaken them) as is usually the case.
of a metal block slotted at the sides so as to slide on the handles or halls and
operated by a suitable rod.
The coulters may have either flat or round shafts and in order that the end or
shaft of one coulter cannot come down in the way of the other coulters, which is
generally the cause of ploughs choking when ploughing dirty, weedy or stubbly
land, we fix the coulters by using a bracket which is clamped to the beam of the
plough and so shaped that it can be adjusted on the said beam as may be required
to suit the various kinds of work.
Dated the 20th day of November 1893.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Ploughs.
We, WILLIAM HENRY SLEEP and ROBERT HENRY SLEEP, both of The
Excelsior Plough Works, Plymouth, in the County of Devon, Agricultural
Engineers and Implement Makers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Our invention relates to improvements in that class of ploughs called turnwrest
ploughs which, whether going from or to the starting end of the field, turn the
furrow slices in the same direction.
In carrying out our invention we provide one set of wheels to answer for both
the right and left set of ploughs and we provide a locking arrangement which will
lock or unlock automatically as may be required when turning at headlands.

page_text: For locking or unlocking the halls or handles as may be required for the purpose
of arranging them for the right or left ploughing tools we use a lock so arranged
as to strengthen the said halls or handles by making them more rigid and requiring
no holes for the lock (which weaken them) as is usually the case. The lock consists
of a metal block slotted at the sides so as to slide on the handles or halls and
operated by a suitable rod.
To enable our invention to be fully understood we will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
:-
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a turnwrest plough constructed according to our
invention, the shares, mould boards and coulters being removed :
Figure 2 is a plan of the same:
Figure 3 is a sectional elevation of the front end of the plough the section being
taken on the line 3-3 Figure 2:
Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 Figure 3:
Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 Figure 4:
Figure 6 is a central longitudinal section of the block for locking the
handles; and,
Figure 7 is a section on the line 7-7 Figure 6.
a is the plough beam having fixed to it the double frame b to which the two sets of
mould boards and other parts of the plough bodies are fixed in the usual manner.
c, c are the hall or handle bars which are pivotted to the beam at d so as to
permit of being fixed in the working position whichever side of the beam is
uppermost.
e, fare the land and furrow wheels respectively, the spills or standards of which
are fixed to a shaft g capable of rotating in bearings or bosses h, i formed upon the
beam a and a bracket rivetted thereto respectively as shewn most clearly in
Figure 2; is the draught bar fixed to the beam and to the front end of the said
bracket j.
1, are two lugs formed at the end of a plate m which latter is attached to or
formed in one piece with a sleeve n fixed to the shaft g so as to move therewith,
and o is a stop plate formed upon the bracket ; and against which one or the other
of the lugs, always bears, when the plough is at work, to retain the shaft g in
such a position that the wheel spills or standards shall be in a vertical position,
as shewn most clearly in Figures 1 and 2, the lug being in contact with the
plate o, as shewn by the full lines in Figure 4, when the plough is going in one
direction and the lug in contact with the said plate o, as indicated by the
dotted lines in Figure 4, when the plough is moving in the reverse direction.
P is a pendulous catch fixed to a shaft q carried in bearings in the bracket j and
the plate o and adapted, by reason of its weight, to automatically take a position
in front of whichever of the lugs or is against the plate o, in order to retain
the said lug in position and consequently also the wheel standards. The said
lugs, are bevelled upon their top sides as shewn most clearly in Figure 5,
so that when the plough is turned upon its side in the manner hereinafter
described, the said catch p, by retaining a vertical position owing to its weight,
shall readily release the lugs, and so that the said catch shall be moved laterally
at the required time by the lug to be engaged, so as not to hang between the
latter and the plate o and so prevent the wheel standards from assuming a vertical
position.
r is an arm fixed to the plough beam and carrying at its end a bowl or dish
wheels for facilitating the turning over of the plough as hereinafter described.
is the block slotted at the sides, as shewn most clearly in Figure 7, so as
to slide upon and between and under and above the handle bars c, e in such a
manner as to render the formation of any holes in the handle bars unnecessary,
the said block being preferably made hollow and adapted to engage with the
end of the plough beam, as shewn most clearly in Figure 1, one edge of the 5
said block engaging with the plough beam when the plough is moving in one direction
and the other edge when it is moving in the opposite direction as indicated by

page_text: the full and dotted lines respectively in Figure 1. Stops t¹, t' upon the plough
frame or in any other convenient position limit the extent of movement of the
handles in either direction.
The movement of the block t, to disengage it from the beam, is effected by
means of a cam-lever u through the medium of a rod v, a spring w serving to
move the block into engagement with the beam when the cam-lever u releases it.
The operation of the parts, when turning over the plough to bring the
uppermost plough body into work, is as follows:-
Assume the parts to be in the position shewn in Figures 1 and 2, and the plough
to have just run out of the work at the headland. The ploughman first turns the
plough on its side so that the bowl or dish wheels comes into contact with the
ground, the result of which movement is that the pendulous catch p by hanging in
a vertical position moves out of the path of the lug l, whereby the shaft 9 being
unlocked, the wheels of the plough will, owing to the weight of the beam and to the
power exerted by the ploughman on the beam, move away from beneath the latter
in the direction of the arrow 1 Figure 1, until the wheel standards lie practically
parallel with the beam, then as the plough is turned still further over by the
ploughman the furrow wheel is lifted from the ground and brought over to the
opposite side of the plough. Pressure is now applied to the halls to lift the front
of the beam whereby the wheels, owing to their weight, will turn the shaft still
in the direction of the arrow 1 until the standards are in a vertical position. During
the time that the front of the beam is being thus lifted the inclined surface of the
lug acts against the pendulous catch p, as shewn in Figures 4 and 4B, and moves
the same laterally sufficient to allow the said lug to come into contact with the
plate o by which time the said lug has passed the catch p so that the latter is free
to drop behind the lug and again lock the wheels.
g
Each time the plough is turned over the handles are moved from one position to
the other, that is to say, from the position shewn in full lines to that shewn in
dotted lines in Figure 1 or vice versa, it being understood that the handles may be
moved at any time during the turning of the plough considered most suitable, for
instance at the time when the plough is half turned over, that is to say, when the
arm is in practically a vertical position and the furrow wheelf in the air above
the half turned over beam.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In a turnwrest plough attaching the wheel standards to a shaft capable of
rotating so as to allow of the same pair of wheels being used the said wheels being
held in either working position by means of a lock which is automatically disengaged
from and engaged with the said shaft as the plough is turned over, substantially as
described.
2. In a turnwrest plough having the front wheels arranged in the manner referred
to in the preceding claiming clause, a pendulous catch working in combination with
inclined lugs, substantially as, and for the purposes, described.
3. In a turnwrest plough having the halls or handles pivotted to the beam, a
locking block arranged to slide on and between the said halls or handles and to
engage with the beam, substantially as, and for the purposes, described.
4. The manufacture and use of the improved plough hereinbefore described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.