IMPROVED MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR GUIDING PLOUGHS, AND ALSO FOR REGULATING THE DEPTH OF WORKING OF THE SAME
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Woofe, of Bedford, Agricultural
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS AND APPARATUS
FOR GUIDING PLOUGHS, AND ALSO FOR REGULATING THE DEPTH OF WORKING
OF THE SAME.
Sealed the 3rd June 1870, and dated the 18th March 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Woofe at the..
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the..
18th March 1870.
I, WILLIAM WOOFE, of Bedford, Agricultural Engineer, do hereby..
declare the nature of the said Invention for.." IMPROVED MEANS AND
APPARATUS FOR GUIDING PLOUGHS, AND ALSO FOR. REGULATING, THE DEPTH OF:
WORKING OF THE SAME," to be as follows:-
My improvements relate to a means and apparatus for guiding and
turning ploughs at the headlands and elsewhere of land under cultivation,
for raising the shares clear of the furrows when such turning is required:
or otherwise, and also to regulate the depth of cut in passing through.
hillocks or ridges.

page_text: I fit the bar or stem of one of the leading and guiding wheels in a
socket or other support on one side of the fore part of the frame, and
I connect the stem by a ball and socket or other joint to the ordinary
locking or guiding apparatus. A lever or rod, alone or in combination
with others leads from the joint end or side towards the back part of the
frame, so as to be within reach of the attendant to enable him to lift
or depress the land wheel to regulate the depth of cut, and also to raise
the shares clear of the ground when required. The land wheel moves
about the ball and socket or other similar joint as on a centre, so that
it can be lowered to the bottom of the furrow or be raised to run upon
the land as found necessary. The wheel and stem has also an inde-
pendent movement to turn or guide it by means of the lever or rod
being shifted over to one or other side of the frame and there retained
by any suitable appliance. The lever or rod may be actuated by a
threaded nut or bracket, or it may be drawn to and fro in any convenient
manner.
When working ploughs on uneven land I propose to fit an adjustable
wheel on the side of the frame close to the body. This wheel always
runs upon the ground and determines the depth the shares shall descend
or cut when the other wheels are off the ground, as is often the caso
when the plough is passing through a slight rise or hillock.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Woofe in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 15th August 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM 2
WOOFE, of Bedford, Agricultural Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and 3
grant unto me, the said William Woofe, Her special licence that I,
the said William Woofe, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Woofe, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time

page_text: 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 "IMPROVED MEANS AND Apparatus for
GUIDING PLOUGHS, AND ALSO FOR REGULATING THE DEPTH OF WORKING OF THE
SAME," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Woofe, 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 Scal 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 Woofe, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
My improvements relate to a means and apparatus for guiding and
turning ploughs at the headlands and elsewhere of land under cultivation
for raising the shares clear of the furrows when such turning is required
or otherwise, and also to regulate the depth of cut in passing through
hillocks or ridges.
I fit the bar or stem of one of the leading and guiding wheels in a
socket or other support on one side of the fore part of the frame, and
I connect the stem by a ball and socket or other joint to the plough
frame. A lever or rod, alone or in connection with others, Icads from
the joint end or side towards the back part of the frame so as to be
within reach of the attendant to enable him to lift or depress the land
wheel to regulate the depth of cut, and also to raise the shares clear of
the ground when required. The land wheel moves about the ball and
socket or other joint, so that it can be lowered to the bottom of the
furrow or be raised to run upon the land as found necessary. The wheel
and stem may also have an independent movement to turn or guide
it by means of the ordinary guide lever or rod being shifted over to
one or other side of the frame and there retained by any suitable
appliance. The lever or rod may be actuated by a threaded nut or
bracket, or it may be drawn to and fro in any convenient manner.

page_text: The Invention will be well understood by referring to the accom-
panying Drawings and to the following detailed description thereof :-
.
Figure 1 is a side view of a plough frame A, having two shares B, C,
fitting to it, for cutting two furrows at the same time. The frame is
composed of two beams, both of which are rigidly fixed by transverse
bars D, D. The transverse bars may in some cases be slotted, or have
sliding pieces fitted to them to enable the intermediate bar F, which
carries the share C, to be shifted nearer to or farther from the side beam
which carries the share B, and so regulate the width of furrow. The
fore part of the frame A has the ordinary guide wheel F fitted in the
usual manner, so that the plough can be turned at the headlands. The
stem of the guide wheel carries a collar a on one end of a lever b,
the opposite end of which is connected by a link c to the free end of a
lever a centred upon the stem e of an additional or land wheel G, so
that when the guide handle or lever H is moved over to one side or
the other the plough will move in the required direction, both of the
wheels E and G taking the movement together. The stem of the
wheel G in this Figure is pivotted at f to the side frame by a ball and
socket joint, so that when its upper end is drawn towards the rear
of the plough by the lever h the wheel G is lifted clear of the ground
and held in that position by the handle taking under or into a notch in
the strap i. This movement does not in any way affect the wheel E, as
the short levers b and d admit of it being raised or depressed in any

page_text: the shares will be raised out of the furrows and the plough-brought
upon the land when it can be turned about in any direction. The
placing of the wheel G in the position shown in Figures 3 and 4 so
balances the plough that all labour to the ploughman is avoided while
he is turning it. Of course the additional wheel when placed in the
last-mentioned position can be connected with the ordinary guide wheel
if it should be found necessary.
I have in the first part of my Specification referred to the additional
or land wheel as being placed at the fore part of the plough frame, and
in thus describing it I intend that it should be at any part of the frame
in advance of the balancing line, so that the plough body can be lifted
by it in an easy manner whether the plough is at work in the field or
is being moved from one place to another. When the wheel G is placed
as in Figures 3 and 4 it can be arranged for regulating the depth of
furrow, as the stem can be retained at any angle to cause the wheel to
run upon the land, and thus determine the depth to which the shares
will penetrate.
I do not in any way confine myself to the use of levers and arms
or any other appliance for raising or depressing the land wheel for the
purposes before explained.
:
In Figure 5 I have shewn a method of forcing the wheel G down by
a wire rope which leads from the top of the stem to any ordinary pull
over lever. The lever is pulled towards the plough handles until its
The
spring locks itself in one of the notches of the quadrant plate m.
upper part of the stem is provided with a cap, which is passed over a
guide socket n to protect a spring with which it is fitted from the
action of rain and atmospheric influences. The rope passes under pulleys,
one on each side of the beam, whereby the cap and stem are drawn
down in an even manner to depress the wheel G. When the pull over
lever is released the spring within the cap causes the stem and wheel
to rise and the rope pulls the lever towards the front of the machine,
as shown in dotted lines. This method admits of the wheel and stem
working up and down in a perpendicular manner instead of being swung
upon a pit as in the previous described Figures. This mode of raising
and lowering is very essential on some lands, as the difficulty of getting
the swing wheel to bite with sufficient power when it moves about a
centre will be entirely overcome, the periphery of the wheel may be
ribbed or filleted for the purpose of getting a grip, or studs, may be

page_text: arranged on the axle or in any other convenient manner to. ensure the
perfect action of the wheel when the plough requires lifting. The lower
part of the stem of the plough shown in Figure 5 is hollow for the
reception of the stem of the wheel G, which stem is pinned in the hollow
in such a manner that.it, can be raised and lowered with the cap, and also
have an independent motion for guiding when it is acted upon by the
stem of the wheel E, the action being transmitted through the levers
and link as in the first-described plough or in any other convenient
way. In raising and lowering the land wheel its lever is free to ride
up and down the rods x, x. In this Figure I have shewn a spring on
the head of the socket, but in many cases the spring can be dispensed
with, as the wheel G does no harm in running idle upon the land.
At M, Figure 3, I have shewn a method of lowering the point of the
share as it becomes worn away. The frame N is pivotted at p, and is
provided with set screws at 9 and r. In first setting the share in the
beam the fore part or point is tilted, and as the cutting edge of the
share becomes worn the set screws are loosened and the point allowed
to drop, when a fresh cutting edge is brought into work. By this
arrangement the shares can be kept in use a much longer time than
at present. Wedges or other appliances would however effect the
same object, therefore I do not confine myself to the above described
method.
Having now described the nature of the first part of my Invention,
I wish it to be understood that in the foregoing description and in the
annexed Drawings, I have shown what I consider to be the most
practical way of carrying it into effect, but I do not limit myself thereto,
as there are other mechanical appliances by which the same can be effected,
for instance, the beer pull motion or a locomotive link motion can
be adopted for the purpose; what I claim under this part of my
Invention is, raising and lowering one of the leading and guiding wheels
of double or treble furrow ploughs by mechanical power for the
purpose of lifting the shares clear of the ground and for regulating
the depth of cut substantially in the manner herein-before described
and shown.
Secondly. The employment of such wheel as one of the guiding
wheels and the parts connected for actuating it when used for guiding
purposes, as herein-before described and shown.
Thirdly. I claim the employment of a wheel at the fore part of the

page_text: frame of double and treble ploughs for the purpose of raising the
shares clear of the furrows substantially as described and shown whether
the stem of such wheel be swung upon a centre or moved
perpendicularly.
Figure 6 shown the land and lift wheel upon one centre acted upon.
by one lever to bring either of them into action as required, which plan
I also claim.
When working ploughs on uneven land I propose to fit an adjustable
wheel on the side of the frame close to the share body. This wheel
always runs upon the ground and determines the depth the shares shall
descend or cut when the other wheels are off the ground, as is often
the case when the plough is passing through a slight rise or hillock.
This will be clearly understood by referring to Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4,
where I have shown the adjustable wheel K fitted just in advance of
tho hinder share point. This may, however, be fitted at any other part
of the frame near the share body to ensure the proper action of the
plough when working on uneven land. The wheel is available for
all kinds of ploughs and serves to steady them in their work; of
course it can be adjusted in any suitable manner and at any distance
from the frame.
Under this head of my Invention I claim the employment of an
adjustable wheel or a plough for determining the depth of cut sub-
stantially as described and shewn, whether such wheel be used on a
plough fitted with the first herein-before described wheel and marked G
or not.