IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Howard, of Bedford, in the County of
Bedford, Agricultural Engineer, and Thomas Phillips, of the same
Place, Foreman Smith, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PLOUGHS."
Sealed the 20th December 1870, and dated the 3rd November 1870..
r
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Howard and
Thomas Phillips at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 3rd November 1870.
We, JAMES HOWARD, of Bedford, in the County of Bedford, Agri-
cultural Engineer, and THOMAS PHILLIPS, of the same Place, Foreman
Smith, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PLOUGHS," to be as follows:-
The chief object of this Invention is to provide an improved means
for regulating the depth of furrow while the ploughs are at work, and
for raising and lowering the ploughs at the land's end. The Invention
applies to ploughs taking one or more furrows.

page_text: In carrying out the above object in the construction, say, of doublé
furrow ploughs we propose in place of using rigid beams, as heretofore,
to give flexure in a vertical direction to the main beams; this flexure
we obtain by dividing the beams into two parts and connecting together
the parts composing the beam by a hinged joint. To the hinder part of
the beams we attach the plough bodies, and to the fore part we connect
the leading wheels, and we provide a means of raising and lowering the
joint of the beams, and thereby regulate the depth of furrow. Various
mechanical contrivances may be adopted for throwing the beams out of
a straight line, and thus regulating the depth of furrow or raising and
lowering the ploughs at the land's end. Thus the handles of the plough
may be used as levers for raising and lowering the joints, or the thrust
of a screw carried by the beams and worked by hand may be used for
the like object. A similar effect may be produced by connecting the
wheel carriage to the plough beams by a swivel joint. The steering
handle connected with the carriage being in this case used not only to
steer the wheels but also to raise and depress the beams, and thus to
throw the bodies out of and into work.
.
.
In constructing the jointed beams we propose to form the hinder part
thereof of channelled iron, say of a section somewhat resembling an
inverted U. The hollow of this beam will serve to embrace the upper
end of the frame or body of the plough, and will facilitate the fixing
of the same, and it will also provide a facile means of forming the hinge
joint.
We propose to adopt this channelled iron in the construction of other
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Howard and Thomas Phillips in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 3rd May 1871.
'
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wė, JAMES
HOWARD, of Bedford, in the County of Bedford, Agricultural Engineer,
and THOMAS PHILLIPS, of the same Place, Foreman Smith, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of November, in the year

page_text: of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said James Howard and Thomas. Phillips, Her
special licence that we, the said James Howard and Thomas Phillips, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
James Howard and Thomas Phillips, our 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 Ircland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said James Howard and Thomas Phillips, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our,
or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 James Howard, on behalf of myself
and of the said Thomas Phillips, do hereby declare the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters.
and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
This Invention relates to improvements in ploughs (whether taking
two or more furrows) by the use of which the regulation of the depth
of furrow while the ploughs are at work, and the raising or lowering of
the ploughs at the land's end may be facilitated.
In the accompanying Drawings we have illustrated our Invention as
applied to double furrow ploughs, the beams constituting the framing
of these ploughs instead of being rigid (as commonly constructed) are
shewn as jointed to allow of a vertical adjustment being given to the
ploughs while their rigidity laterally is preserved.
The hinder part of these jointed beams we form of channeled iron,
the section of which somewhat resembles an inverted U, the object of
which will be presently understood.
In Sheet I. Fig. 1 shews in side elevation, and Fig. 2 in plan view an
arrangement of a two-furrow plough constructed according to our

page_text: Invention, in which the raising and lowering of the ploughs is effected
by a lever provided for the purpose, the steering of the plough being
effected by a second lever.
A, A1, A2, are the beams formed partly of channeled iron, the
sectional form of which is shewn on an enlarged scale at Fig. 3. The
parts A✶ of the beams are formed of solid iron, and are secured to the
channeled pieces so as to make hinged joints by transverse pins a;
B, B, are the plough bodies, the upper ends of which fit into the
channel of the hollow beams, and they are secured in position by screw
bolts and nuts. By this means a facile and very secure connection is
effected between the beams and the plough bodies. To the rear end of
the beam A the plough handles are made fast by welding, and a notched
segment bar C slotted from end to end rises at or near the junction of
the handles with the beam A, and forms a vertical guide for a bent
lever D, which is intended to regulate the depth of furrow and to raise
the ploughs out of work and hold them clear of the ground while
turning at the land's end. The portions A* of the beams are braced
together by a cross bar at the segment shaped head a², and this forward
part of the plough frame is supported by the leading or steering wheels;
b, b, are lugs which form bearings for the wheel stalks b'. To this fore
part of the frame is fitted as usual the draught appliances, and it is also
provided with a transverse rod c which forms the fulcrum for the lever D.
The beam A which carries the handles of the plough instead of ex-
tending to the head of the plough terminates in a solid piece at or near
the line of the hinged joints, and at its extremity it is loosely connected
with the lever D; E, E³, are transverse coupling rods which serve
to connect the bars together and to allow of their lateral adjust-
ment with respect to each other, these rods are threaded to receive
clamping nuts. The rod E passes through the three beams A, A¹, A³,
and it thus serves to support in position the beam A², which is virtually
a continuation or jointed portion of the beam A. The wheel stalks b¹
are each fitted with a crank arm 6, and these are connected together
by a cross bar 63 to insure their moving simultaneously. This cross
.bar b³ is fitted with a pin b*, which serves to connect the steering lever F
with the cross bar. This steering lever at its rear end is supported and
held fast when required by a horizontal notched bar C¹ carried by the
slotted segment bar C, and to provide for the disengagement of the lever
from the notched bar it is jointed at F¹. The forward end of the steering

page_text: lever works upon a fulcrum pin on the cross bar a¹ of the fore part of
the frame: Fitted on the lever D is a spring bolt d, which is attached
to and worked by a thumb piece d, and is intended to take into the
notches on the segment bar C: Supposing now that the plough has
reached the land's end, and it is desired to raise the shares clear of
the ground in order to turn the plough, the ploughman will draw back
the spring bolt d clear of the notched bar, and will raise the rear end of
the lever D: This motion of the lever D by reason of its connection
with the beam A, as above explained, will raise the joints of the plough
frame to the position shewn at Fig: 1, and the shares being now clear of
the ground he will let go the bolt d, which engaging with a notch in
the segment bar C will retain the shares in their elevated position;
then by means of the steering handle F he will direct the course of the
leading wheels as usual, and bring round the plough (with the aid of
the draught horses) into position for the next bout. When the plough
has taken up its new position, the ploughman will again draw back the
bolt d, and lowering the lever D will bring down the shares and cause
them to enter the ground and renew their work: To ensure the proper
depth of furrow he will lock the lever D by means of the bolt d in the
position to which it was originally adjusted:
In Sheet II. of the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 represents in side
elevation, and Fig. 2 in plan view, another arrangement of our improved
plough in which the plough handles are used as levers for raising and
depressing the ploughs.
In these Figures A, A, are the jointed beams formed for a considerablo
portion of their length of channeled iron. The beams are jointed at a,
as already described, and they are connected together transversely in the
ordinary way of two-furrow ploughs, so as to allow of the adjustment of
the ploughs to the desired distance apart of the furrows; B, B, are the
plough bodies, the upper ends of which are secured within the hollow
beams by bolts and nuts, as before described. The parts A* of the
beams are braced together and form the forward part of the plough
frame.
Upon a horizontal fulcrum pin a' carried by a bracket on the adjusting
screwed transverse bar E, which connects the two bars A, A, together
near the centre, the plough handles D are mounted. These handles are
constructed of two bars braced together, at several points of their length

page_text: and slotted at their forward ends to receive a transverse pin a³ carried
by a bracket piece on the fore part of the plough frame, and by this
connection of the handles with the plough frame in advance and rear of
the joints a, the ploughman is enabled while the plough is at work to
give any degree of flexure to the beams and to retain them in their
relatively adjusted position. The cross bar to which the stalks of the
leading wheels are connected is clamped to a vertical spindle b, which is
mounted in lugs cast on a transverse bracing piece of the fore part of
the framing. Keyed to the upper end of this spindle is a crank arm b²,
which carries a pin 6 that enters an eye in the steering lever F. The
forward end of this lever is slotted that it may drop over the fulcrum
pin bs carried by a transverse bracing piece of the framing. This steering
lever F is fitted to drop into a notched bar fcarried by the handles, that
when lifted clear of this bar it is free to move on its fulcrum pin. By
moving this lever to the right or left it will cause the vertical spindle
to rock in its bearings, and thereby move the steering wheels into the
position for turning or otherwise. Jointed to and pendent from the
bars D is a notched bar d which takes on to a fixed catch d¹ secured to
a cross bar of the plough frame. This pendent notched bar is connected
by a chain d³ with a bell crank lever d' pivotted to a bracket projection :
on one of the handles. By the rocking of this bell crank lever the
ploughman will disengage the notched bar from its catch and leave the
handles free to be raised or lowered. When the handles are raised
the shares will be lifted out of work, as in the first described arrange-
ment, and the notched bar being allowed to fall forwards will engage
with the fixed catch, and thus the shares will be held clear of the
ground.
To assist the ploughman in lifting the plough to the position shown
in Fig. 1, the strong spring G is employed, which made fast to a cross
bar of the framing is caused to bear against the under side of the
.braced bars D. When the ploughman desires to resume work he releases
the notched bar from the catch, as described, depresses the handles to
their originally adjusted position, and on slackening the chain d³ the
notched bar d will engage with the catch d', and secure the plough in
its original adjustment.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "Improvements

page_text: we wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent we claim, constructing ploughs with jointed beams which will
allow of the shares being thrown in and out of action, and their depth
of cut regulated in the manner and by the means above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Howard, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.