IMPROVED APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO STEAM CULTIVATION
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Bulstrode, of Mount Farm, Cookham
Dean, Berkshire, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS APPLICABLE
TO STEAM CULTIVATION."
Sealed the 19th September 1865, and dated the 4th April 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Bulstrode at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 4th
April 1865.
I, WILLIAM BULSTRODE, of Mount Farm, Cookham Dean, Berkshire, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS
APPLICABLE TO STEAM CULTIVATION," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to expedite the operation of steam cultivation
by lessening the loss of time incurred by shifting the snatch-block at the end
of each journey of the plough or other cultivating implement employed on the
indirect.or" roundabout" system of steam cultivation. This object I propose
to attain by enabling, the anchorman to transfer the snatch-block from one
anchor to the next during the departure of the implement from him, instead
of while the implement is stopping. To this end I attach to the draught

page_text: point of common claw or other anchors two distinct links or other connections,
either or both of which can at pleasure be connected with the snatch-block or
with any part of a rod or bar (laid transverse of the line of work) in such a
manner that they can without difficulty be detached as required. The snatch-
block to be worked in connection with these anchors is mounted on a con-
venient sledge to allow it to swing round into its position or travel with
facility by intermittent movements along the headland. A rod or bar, the
length of which is equal to the greatest width of one "bout" of the implement,
is furnished with a fixed and an adjustable coupling which admit of the rod
being attached to or detached from either of the link couplings of the
anchors. These couplings will be adjusted to suit the width of "bout," which
depends on the construction of the cultivator used. The snatch-block
coupling, which, like those on the rod can be attached to or detached from
either of the link couplings on the anchors, is fitted with a strap which
embraces the rod and slides over it, it being provided with a small antifriction
pulley to facilitate its traverse along the rod as required. When the apparatus
is in work the rod is laid at a certain angle with the headland to allow for
the advance of the second anchor when subjected to the strain of the tight
rope, and it is coupled to each anchor, but the snatch-block is attached to
the first anchor only. When the cultivating implement is moving away from
the snatch-block this block is detached from the first anchor, and by reason of
the diagonal pull of the slack rope the snatch-block will be slung or slidden
along the rod as far as the second anchor, to which the anchorman is then to
attach it. The rod being now released it may be placed in the position where
it will next be required when the implement is ready to commence its next
away" journey. The rod must on no account be allowed to receive the
pull of the tight rope, which is always to be sustained by one or other of the
anchors.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Bulstrode in the Great Seal Patent Offico on the
4th October 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I WILLIAM
BULSTRODE, of Mount Farm, Cookham Dean, Berkshire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord 3
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Bulstrode, Her special licence that I, the said William Bulstrode,
my, executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Bulstrode, my 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
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED
APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO STEAM CULTIVATION," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Bulstrode, 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 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 William Bulstrode, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
The object of this Invention is to expedite the operation and thereby to
reduce the cost of steam cultivation by lessening the loss of time incurred in
shifting the snatch-block at the ond of each journey of the plough or other
cultivating implement employed in working on the indirect or "roundabout"
system of steam cultivation. This object I propose to attain by enabling the
anchorman to detach the snatch-block from one anchor and connect it to the
anchor next in advance while the implement is leaving the headland where he
is stationed, instead of effecting the change during the stoppage of the imple-
ment. To this end I attach to the draught point of common claw or other
anchors which I employ, two distinct links or other connections, one of which
I connect with the snatch-block, and the other with a rod or bar (laid
transverse of the line of work) and which forms a guide for leading the
snatch-block when detached from the anchor which has just received the strain
of the implement up to the next in advance, to which it is then to be in like
manner temporarily attached.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 shews in plan view a snatch-block
connected to one of a pair of anchors arranged. according to my Invention
for facilitating the transfer of the snatch-block from one to the other; Fig. 2

page_text: shews the double link coupling with which each anchor is provided; and
Fig. 3 shews in edge view the strap and pulley with which the snatch-block is
provided to allow of its being guided by the transverse guide bar. A, A¹, are
the anchors, to which are connected 'two links a, b, a, b; into the links a, a,
the hooks of chains c, c, catch, their other ends being provided with straps
which are secured to the guide bar B. The chain c is permanently connected
to one end of the bar B, but the strap of the chain c¹ is adjustable thereon,
and is fixed in position by means of a binding screw. C is the snatch-block
which is to be worked in connection with the anchors A, A¹; it consists of a
grooved pulley mounted on a frame shaped on its under side like a sledge to
allow it to swing round into position or to travel with facility by intermittent
movements along the headland, it being guided in its course by the bar B.
The length of this guide bar B must be equal to the greatest width of one
"bout" of the implement, and the adjustment of the chain coupling c¹ on
the bar will be determined by the width of the "bout," which will of course
depend on the construction of the cultivator used. Connected with the axle
of the snatch-block pulley is a strap d, to which is connected by a swivel joint
a strap e, which embraces the rod B, and slides over it; 'this strap 'is fitted
with a small antifriction pulley f to facilitate its traverse along the bar B as
required. A chain attached to the strap e, and fitted with a hook, takes into
the link 6 of either anchor, and is readily detached therefrom when the tension
of the cultivator is off the snatch-block. When the apparatus is in work the
rod or bar B is laid at an angle with the headland, as shewn in the Drawing,
to allow for a slight advance of 'the second anchor, due to the strain to which
it is subjected the drag of the tight rope, and it is coupled to each anchor
by the links and chains a, c, c¹, but the snatch-block is attached to the first
anchor only. When the cultivating implement is moving away from the
snatch-block in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 1, the block is detached from
-the anchor A, and by reason of the diagonal pull of the slack rope the snatch-
block will be slidden along the bar B as far as the anchor A', to which the
anchorman is then to attach it. The rod or bar being now released from 'the
drag of the snatch-block may be disengaged from the anchors and placed in
the position where it will be required to guide the snatch-block opposite the
next "bout," when the implement is ready to commence its next "
journey. The anchor A is then to be shifted ahead of the anchor A³, and the
bar is to be secured as before to the anchors at the headland. It must,
however, be borne in mind that the bar B must on no account be allowed to
receive the pull of the tight rope, which pull is always to be sustained
by one or other of the anchors with which the bar is for the time connected.
away
31

page_text: Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improved Apparatus
Applicable to Steam Cultivation," I claim the means above described for
shifting the snatch-block from anchor to anchor as the operation of steam
cultivation proceeds.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Bulstrode, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Third day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
WILLIAM BULSTRODE. (L.S.)