IMPROVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL DRILLS
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Leonard Willson Gatward
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 6th November 1880.
"
LEONARD WILLSON GATWARD, of Hitchin, in the County of Hertford.
IMPROVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL DRILLS."
This Invention relates to improvements in the construction of drills for
agricultural purposes, the object of the improvements being to simplify the
construction of the frame, whereby its weight and draught are decreased, to effect
the steerage of the fore carriage from behind, to provide a simple means for raising
or lowering the coulters in or out of work, and for throwing the seed barrel in or
out of gear.
In carrying out my improvements I dispense with the usual heavy frame, and
employ in place thereof a simple beam placed at right angles to and connected
with the main and fore axle beds.
For steering the fore carriage from the hinder part of the drill, I provide chains
or ropes, one end of such chains being attached to the fore carriage, while the other
ends wind upon a roller or its equivalent, which roller is regulated by bevil wheels
fixed on either end of the chain roller spindle, and which gear into bevil wheels
fixed upon spindles which carry at their other ends a hand wheel or its equivalent;
or instead of chains or ropes, I may employ rods which would be operated by the
roller.
For raising and lowering the coulters in or out of their work, the lever bed is
made so that it can turn on its centre in suitable bearings or brackets fixed to the
drill; upon this lever bed are fixed at any required distance apart levers made of
steel, iron, or wood.
When such levers are made of spring steel, each is preferably attached to an iron
head fastened to the lever bed.

page_text: The seed tins or pipes, together with the cheeks, coulters, and coulter legs, are
fastened to the said lever, so that when the bed is turned the coulters are either
raised or lowered as required for work or travelling upon the road.
The position of the coulters is regulated by means of a regulating lever, which is
made adjustable to any required position, and may be placed in any position along
the lever bed.
When the regulating lever is fixed in the required position, the working levers
by means of the said spring lever have free liberty to rise or fall to the uneven
ground.
If the working lever be made of iron or wood, a suitable spring is provided to
press the lever, and thereby the coulter, into the ground.
Or instead of springs I may employ weights. A press iron may also be arranged
regulated by the regulating lever to assist the springs or weights in pressing the
coulters into the ground.
For throwing the seed barrel in or out of gear, I provide a small crank fixed to
the lever bed, and so arranged that when required it acts upon a lever which
raises or lowers the seed box, and with it a cog wheel operated from the travelling
wheel.
The said gearing lever, connecting rod, and crank, are so arranged that the
coulters may, if required, be raised by revolving the bed without throwing the seed
barrel out of gear, which enables the coulters to be freed from dirt or the like when
at work without checking the flow of seed down the tubes or spouts.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Leonard Willson Gatward in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 6th May 1881..
•
LEONARD WILLSON GATWARD, of Hitchin, in the County of Hertford.
IMPROVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL DRILLS."
This Invention relates to improvements in the construction of drills for
agricultural purposes, the object of the improvements being to simplify the con-
struction of the frame, whereby its weight and draught are decreased; to provide
improved means for effecting the steerage of the fore carriage from behind, to
provide a simplo means for raising or lowering and pressing the coulters in or out
of work, and for throwing the seed barrel in or out of gear.
In carrying out my improvements I dispense with the usual frame, and employ
in place thereof a simple beam placed at right angles to and connected with the
main and fore axle beds.
For steering the fore carriago from the hinder part of the drill, I provide chains
or ropes, one end of such chains being attached to the fore carriage, while the other
ends wind upon a roller or its equivalent, which roller is regulated by bevil wheels
fixed on either end of the chain roller spindle, and which gear into bevil wheels
fixed upon spindles which carry at their other ends a hand wheel or its equivalent;
or instead of chains or ropes, I may employ rods which would be operated by the
roller spindle or its equivalent.
For raising and lowering the coulters in or out of their work, the lever bed or
bar is made so that it can turn on its centre in suitable bearings or arms fixed to
the drill; upon this lever bed are fixed at any required distanco apart coulter
levers made of steel, iron, or wood.
When such levers are made of spring steel, cach is preferably attached to an iron
head fastened to the lever bed.
The seed tins or pipes, together with the cheeks, shares, and coulter legs, aro
fastened to the said lever, so that when the bed is turned the coulters are either
raised or lowered and pressed into the ground as required for travelling from place
to place or for work.
The position of the coulters is regulated by means of a regulating lover which is
made adjustable to any required position, and may be placed in any position along
the lever bed.
When the regulating lever is fixed in the required position for work, the spring
coulters are pressed downwards and have free liberty to rise or fall to the uneven
ground.
If the coulter lever bo made of iron or wood, a suitable spring is provided to
press the coulter into the ground..
Or instead of springs I may employ weights. A press iron may also be arranged
regulated by the regulating lever to assist the springs or weights in pressing the
coulters into the ground.
For throwing the seed barrel in or out of gear I provide a small crank or its
equivalent fixed to the lever bed, and so arranged that when required it acts by
means of a connecting rod or its equivalent upon a lever which raises or lowers the
seed box and with it a cog wheel operated from the travelling wheel at the same
time that tho coulters are raised or lowered.
•
The said gearing lever, connecting rod, and crank are so arranged that the
coulters may if required be raised by revolving the bed without throwing the seed'
barrel out of gear, which enables the coulters to be freed from dirt or the like.
when at work without checking the flow of seed down the tubes or spouts.
But to make my Invention better understood I will now proceed to describe- the:

page_text: same by reference to the accompanying Drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side
elevation, and Figure 2 a part plan of an agricultural drill constructed according
to my improvements. Similar letters in both Figures being used to represent
similar parts.
A is the beam which I employ in place of the usual frame, the said beam A
being connected at one end to the main axle bed B, and at the other end to the
fore carriago Z
a, a, are the chains or ropes, one end of such chains being attached to the fore
carriage Z, the other ends winding upon a roller or drum b; upon each end of the
spindle c of the chain drum b is a bevil wheel d, each of such bevil wheels gearing
into a bevil wheel c upon the spindle f, provided at its outer end with a hand
wheel or its equivalent; the drum spindle c is supported and turns in suitable
brackets h.
By this arrangement it will be seen that the turning of the hand wheels g will
effect the steering of the drill by means of the chains a being wound or unwound
on the chain drum b, according to the direction in which the hand wheels g are
turned.
Figure 3 is a detached view, shewing a modification of the steering arrangement
I prefer to employ when only one front wheel is used, the only difference being
that a chain a is employed, passing over a chain pulley i on the fore carriage.
Instead of the chains passing over a drum b, as hereinbefore described, I may
employ chains or rods attached at one end to levers fixed on the spindle c, the
other ends of the chain or rods being connected to the fore carriage or to levers on
the fore carringe pin; by this arrangement the turning of the steering handle will
operate the rods so as to effect the steering.
;
j, j, is the lever bed or bar which can revolve in bearings or arms k fixed to the
main axle bed B; 1, l, are the iron lever heads fastened onto the bed or bar j by
means of bolts or cotters, so as to allow of their being fixed at any required position
along the bed. One of these lever heads is shewn in detached enlarged view at
Figure 4. To each of the heads is jointed an iron or steel coulter lever m, on
which presses one end of a spring n, as shewn at o, Figure 1, the other end of the
spring being connected to the lever head I, as shewn in Figure 4, the screw 9 in
the projecting pieco r of the head 7 serving to press the spring n upon the lever m
p is a projection on the lever head for raising the lever m when the bed or bar j
is turned for raising the coulters, as hereinafter described; or, instead of the flat
spring n, I may employ a helical spring, as shewn in Figure 5. In some cases in
place of a lever and spring, as hereinbefore described, I find it convenient to employ
a spring steel coulter lever m, as shewn in Figure 6. The outer end of each spring
lever m is fitted as usual with the ordinary hopper 8, cheeks t, and share u; vis
the regulating handle fixed to the bed or bar j, and susceptible, like the heads 1, of
being adjusted to any required position on the bed or barj; w is a curved rack for
holding the regulating lever or handle v in any required position. In place of the
regulating hand lever v I sometimes employ a worm and worm wheel v¹ and v¹¹,
as shewn in the detailed view at Figure 3, the said worm and worm wheel being
operated by means of a hand wheel v³; x is the small crank fixed at one end of
the lever bed or bar j, the said crank x being connected by the connecting rod y
to the bent lever, pivotting on a suitable bracket at z'. The seed barrel spindle
revolves in a bearing a¹, which also serves as a pivot upon which the seed box a³
turns; the outer end of the lever passes under the said bearing a¹, for the purpose
hereinafter described; b' is the usual rack and pinion for holding the box a² in
any required position.
The operation of the improved drill is as follows:-The parts of the drill being
in the position shewn at Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawing, it will be seen that the
springs operating on the levers m will press the coulters at u into the ground,
the distance which they penetrate being regulated by the handle v, as hereinbefore
described; to raise the coulters from the ground the handle is raised so as to
revolve the lever bed or bar j, and with it the lever heads 7, which in moving raiso

page_text: the levers m by means of the projections p; at the same time the lever bed or jar j,
by means of the crank x, connecting rod 3, and levers, will raise the seed box a
by the end of the lever operating against the bearing a¹, thereby throwing the
seed barrel cog wheel out of gear and arresting the flow of seed.
machine again at work the operation is reversed.
To put the
A modification of the hereinbefore described arrangement for raising or lowering
the coulters from or into their work is shewn by Figures 7 and 8, similar letters
referring to similar parts.
a" are iron arms on either side of the spindle 611, and capable of revolving in the
said spindle 61. The said spindle 61 is capable of being revolved in suitable
bearings cll by the worm dl and worm wheel f". The worm d' is fixed upon a
spindle c, and at the other end of the said spindle c" is fixed the hand wheel h¹¹
or its equivalent. The worm wheel f" is fixed to the spindle 6".
The arms all
The mode of operation is as follows, the parts of the machine being in the
position shewn by the full lines in Figure 7:
carry wheels g
To raise the coulters from the ground the ends of the arms all are lowered by
means of the hand wheel h", worm d, and worm wheel f", and being forced into
the ground by the onward motion of the drill assume a position somewhat similar
to that shown by the dotted lines, Figure 7, thereby raising the lever v, or its
equivalent, and with it the coulters. The arms being capable of revolving in the
ends of the spindle 6" allow of the drill being turned at the headlands or elsewhere.
To lower the coulters again into work the arms all are revolved about the centre
61 of the spindle b" in the direction shewn by arrows and are placed in position
for again raising the coulters.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention and the best means with
which I am acquainted for carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood
that I do not confino myself to the preciso details hercin laid down, as the same
may be varied without departing from the peculiar character of my Invention, but
wlint I do claim is,―
Firstly. The general arrangement and construction of drills for agricultural
purposes, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described and
represented in the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly. The improved means of effecting the steerage of the fore carriage of an
agricultural drill from behind, substantially as hereinbefore described and
represented in the accompanying Drawing.
Thirdly. The method and arrangement for raising or lowering the coulters from
or into work and pressing them into the ground, substantially as heroinbefore
described and represented in the accompanying Drawing.
Fourthly. The means for throwing the seed barrel in or out of gear, substantially
as hereinbefore described and represented in the accompanying Drawing.
Fifthly. The modification of the arrangement for raising or lowering the coulters
from or into work as hereinbefore described and represented in the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Leonard Willson Gatward, have hereto set
my hand and seal, this Fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one