AN IMPROVED SOWING AND HARROW- ING MACHINE
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Andrew Gower, of Market Drayton, in the County
of Shropshire, and Benjamin Smyth Gower, of the same Place, Agricul-
tural Engineers, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED SOWING AND HARROW-
ING MACHINE."
Sealed the 17th December 1863, and dated the 6th July 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Andrew Gower and
Benjamin Smyth Gower at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 6th July 1868.
We, ANDREW GOWER, of Market Drayton, in the County of Shropshire, and
BENJAMIN SMYTH GOWER, of the same Place, Agricultural Engineers, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED SOWING AND HAR-
ROWING MACHINE," to be as follows:-
This improved sowing and harrowing machine, which may be used for
drilling or sowing broadcast either with horse or manual power, consists of a
suitable frame mounted on travelling wheels, in front of which is placed the
distributing box. Upon the axle of the travelling wheels is keyed a bevil
wheel taking into and driving a pinion on a longitudinal shaft, which gives
motion to an adjustable eccentric that works a vibrating slide, the traverse of
which regulates the quantity of seed that is to be sown in a given space.. At the
hinder part of the frame there is a beam and chains that draw the harrows, so
as to complete the sowing and harrowing at one operation.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Andrew Gower and Benjamin Smyth Gower in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 5th January 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ANDREW
GOWER, of Market Drayton, in the County of Shropshire, and BENJAMIN
SMYTH GOWER, of the same Place, Agricultural Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date. the Sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Andrew Gower and Benjamin Smyth Gower, Her special licence
that we, the said Andrew Gower and Benjamin Smyth Gower, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Andrew Gower and
Benjamin Smyth Gower, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "AN IMPROVED
SOWING AND HARROWING MACHINE," upon the condition (amongst others) that
we, the said Andrew Gower and Benjamin Smyth Gower, our executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their hands and
seals, or under the hands and seals of one of us or them, 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 Andrew Gower, on behalf of myself
and the said Benjamin Smyth Gower, do hereby declare the nature of the
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 thereof,
that is to say:-
This improved sowing and harrowing machine, which may be used for
drilling or sowing broadcast, consists of a suitable frame mounted on
travelling wheels, in front of which is placed the distributing box. Upon
the axle of the travelling wheels is keyed a bevil wheel taking into and
driving a pinion on a longitudinal shaft, which gives motion to an adjustable
excentric that works a vibrating slide, the traverse of which regulates the
quantity of seed that is to be sown in a given space. At the hinder part

page_text: •
of the frame in the larger machines there is a beam and .chains. that draw
a set of harrows after the sowing apparatus, so as to complete the sowing and
harrowing by the combined machine at one operation.
And in order that the manner of performing this our said Invention may.
be more fully understood, reference is had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the following description thereof, in which the same letters refer to
similar parts of the machine.
Figure 1 is a side elevation and Figure 2 a plan view of a combined
sowing and harrowing machine constructed agreeably to our said improve-
ments; Figures 3 and 4 are enlarged views of the excentric, shown detached
from the machine.
A, A, is the frame of the machine; B, B, the travelling wheels; C, C, the
leading wheels; and D, the drag hook; E is a seat for the driver; F is the
distributing box, made of any required length and capacity, and divided into
compartments by a series of solid partitioning blocks or guards f, f, f, imme-
diately under which are square (or other shaped) openings, as shewn by the
dotted lines at e, e, which openings can be closed by a slide underneath when
the machine is not in action. A thick wood or metal distributing plate G
slides to and fro beneath the partitioning blocks f, f, and over the openings e, e;
and is formed into a series of oblong (or other shaped) holes or cells g, g.
Upon the axle of the travelling wheels B there is keyed a bevil wheel H,
which takes into and drives another bevil wheel I on the shaft J; at the other
end of the shaft J there is an adjustable eccentric K, from which proceeds á
connecting rod L, the end of which is bent at right angles and takes into a
couple of projecting lugs on the bottom of the distributing plate G. When
the machine is in motion the revolution of the travelling wheels B, B, by means
of the bevil gearing H and I and the eccentric K; gives a reciprocating move-
ment to the cellular distributing plate G, when the corn or seeds contained in
the compartments or cells 9, 9, will be swept through the holes e, and fall to
the ground; the quantity so discharged being more or less in proportion to
the traverse of the distributing plate, the movement of which is regulated by
the pitch of the eccentric. The construction of this eccentric is shown by
Figures 3 and 4. Upon the end of the shaft J there is fitted eccentrically a
circular conical boss j, which fits into and revolves in a conical aperture in the
body of the eccentric M, but is set fast at pleasure by means of a finger
plate mand screw nut. n. When the nut n is loosened the body of the
eccentric can be turned by the handle o, and set at any required amount of
eccentricity to the shaft J, as shown by the index; or the centres of the
shaft and eccentric may be brought to coincide, when no reciprocating motion

page_text: will be given to the rod L. By this adjustment the quantity of corn or.seeds
deposited within a given space can be regulated. with great nicety. Within
the hopper of the distributing box F there is a slide a, for checking the admis-
sion of and regulating the pressure of the corn and seeds upon the distributing
plate G.. At the hinder part of the machine there are vertical standards Q
which carry a sliding horizontal bar P, to which is attached a beam R for
drawing the harrows S, S. In order to adjust the line of draught of the
harrows, the sliding bar P can be moved backward or forward by a lever T, the
handle of which is within reach of the driver.
The sowing apparatus herein-before described is suitable for grass and other
small seeds as well as for grain, for drilling as well as for sowing broadcast. The
apparatus may be of any required size for use by hand or to be drawn by horses.
When horses are employed it is preferred to use the harrows combined,.so as
to complete the sowing and harrowing at one operation.
And having now ascertained and described the nature of our said Invention
of an improved sowing and harrowing machine, we desire it to be understood
that what we claim is,-
Firstly, the construction of sowing machines in the manner and for the
purpose herein-before described, and shown in the accompanying Drawings.
. Secondly, the construction and arrangement of an adjustable eccentric for
giving motion to sowing machines, as herein-before described and shown.
Finally, we claim the use of harrows combined with sowing machines, as
herein-before described and shown, whereby the process of sowing and
barrowing is effected by the combined machine at one operation.
In witness whereof, I, the said Andrew Gower, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of January, in the year One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
W. BADDELEY,
Patent Agent,
Islington.
ANDREW GOWER. (L.S.)