IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF MOULD BOARDS FOR PLOUGHS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF MOULD BOARDS FOR
PLOUGHS." A communication from abroad by Leman Philander Rider,
of Munson, in the State of Ohio, United States of America.
Sealed the 31st December 1867, and dated the 25th July 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 25th July 1867.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF MOULD BOARDS
FOR PLOUGHS," to be as follows: -
This Invention consists in making the mould boards of ploughs of such a
shape that the grade of the board will be a true inclined plane from the point
to the extreme end of the wing where the greatest height of the plane
terminates at a point from the ground equal to the width of the plough,
which may be supposed to be one foot. If the vertical line which is at right
angles with the bottom or sole of the plough be carried along toward the
point of the plough with the upper end all the time following the grade of the
inclined line it will be found to strike the face of the board along the entire
length of the line; or should the back of a square be placed against the base

page_text: line and the tongue be allowed to reach the top of the board and thus moved
along it will be found to strike the entire face of the mould board, and will
describe a curve along the upper edge of the board; another curve will indicate
the coulter edge also; should a straight edge be laid upon the inclined line it
will strike the board the entire length of the line, or from the extreme end of
the wing to the point; thus the lifting power of the plough will be a true and
uniform grade or inclined plane from point to point. The shape of the
mould board is thus governed by the straight line of a central inclined plane.
By this means a large reduction of friction on the land side, also at the heel of
the mould board, is effected. The beam is nearly in a straight line with the
land side, hence the draught of the plough will be more direct, thereby
avoiding the side draught common to many ploughs. By the application of
this rule of lines a plough can be constructed to suit any kind of soil, giving
to the edge of the plough a position for shaving or scraping, as the nature of
the ground may require. It also raises the furrow to its edge without any
abrupt changes of direction over a uniform and direct inclined plane, thereby
preventing any unnecessary twisting or turning or breaking. The lifting of
the furrow is by the upper curve of the mould board, so that the purchase or
leverage is applied to the land side of the furrow, and is thereby more easily
raised or turned from a horizontal to a vertical position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 23rd January 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Her special licence that 1, the said William
Edward Newton, my exécutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Edward Newton, 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

page_text: of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF MOULD BOARDS FOR PLOUGHS,"
being a communication to me from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, William Edward Newton,
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 Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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) :-
This Invention consists in making the mould boards of ploughs of such a
shape that the grade of the board will be a true inclined plane from the point
to the extreme end of the wing where the greatest height of the plane.
terminates at a point from the ground equal to the width of this plough which,
may be supposed to be one foot.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is an outside view of the mould:
board; Fig. 2 is a top view of the same; Fig. 3 is a front end view of the
mould board; Fig. 4 is an inside view of the same; Fig. 5 is an end view;;
Fig. 6 is a diagram.
The inclined plane above referred to is indicated by the dotted line A,
Fig. 1, and the greatest height by the dotted line B. If the vertical line
which is at right angles with the bottom or sole of the plough, or rather with
the dotted line C, be carried along toward the point of the plough with the
upper end all the time following the grade of the inclined line A it will be
found to strike the face of the board along the entire length of the line; or
should the back of a square be placed against the base line C, and the tongue.
of the square be allowed to reach the top of the board (and thus moved along).
it will be found to strike the entire face of the mould board and will describe.
a curve D, Fig. 2, which will form the upper edge of the board. Another
curve E will form the coulter edge, Fig. 1, which will be indicated by laying
a straight edge upon the inclined line A. The straight edge will touch the
board the entire length of the line, or from the extreme end of the wing at the
point a to the point b; thus the lifting power of the plough will be a true and
uniform grade or inclined plane from the point 6 to the point a, a being the
extreme height of the plane. It will be seen by this that the shape of the mould

page_text: board is thus governed by the straight line A of a central inclined plane. This
will be illustrated by the Diagram, Fig. 6, which is supposed to be a block of
wood of the width of the plough, and the edge of which is of the shape of
The parallel lines of the
the Figure enclosed by the dotted lines in Fig. 1.
Diagram F, F, represent the sides of the plough, the line F corresponding
From the
to the dotted line C in Fig. 1, and F1, the line of the land side.
point b of the Diagram, which is the top of the share, and when measured
from that point across is the true width of the plough, is drawn the line H,
and from some point on this line is described the arc I; the curve of this
arc is determined by the length of the diagonal line J, which experience bas
shewn should exceed in length the width of the plough about one-fourth. For
ordinary ploughing in hard stiff soils a larger curve is required, hence the
diagonal must be lengthened, therefore it will intersect the line F farther from
the line H. Whatever the length may be K is always taken as the point from
which to describe the arc, which is drawn from some point on the line H,
striking from the point K to the point G also; K is always taken as the point
from which to draw the line L, which line corresponds with the dotted line A,
in Fig. 1, the central grade line.
tl
-0
Having thus established the rule of lines by which the shape of the mould
board is obtained the application of the same is as follows:-First, the corner
of the block M is cut down to the line I; this gives the curve of the board
at N, Fig. 2; then all the wood is cut away between the lines L and I, and
line F downward to the lower side of the block, or to an edge carefully
prese. the line L, as it is the central grade line, and by which the shape
of the mould board is governed. If this cutting has been properly done the
back of a square, if placed on the line F (let the line H be supposed to be
such square), will if moved along in either direction toward the point and
following the dotted line it will be found to strike both lines L and I, and at
the same time touch all the board between them; or, in other words, the
tongue of the square will rest on the face of the board from line to line, and
if the square be moved in the opposite direction (still retaining the back of
the square against the line F) it will be found to strike the line L, and all the
board between the lines at the point where the line L intersects the line F the
square comes to a perpendicular to the base line of the plough; from this
point onward the direction of the curve is changed and is now outward from
the plough, forming the wing or throw of the mould board. By this it will
be seen that the curving of the board is governed by straight lines (the lines
Land F), the line F being the ruling line, all the board between the point
and the point K being the lifting grade of the plough, as shewn at O, Fig. 2,

page_text: (0, Fig. 4, being the opposite side of O), and all the board beyond the point a
being the wing or throw of the plough shewn at P, Fig. 4, the opposite side
of which is shewn at P', Fig. 2. The distance the wing or throw of the board
curves beyond the width of the plough is governed by the depth of the furrow.
Should the plough be calculated for ploughing in eight inches deep the throw
of the wing is set off at ten inches, allowing two inches for throwing the
furrow beyond its vertical position; thus far has been described only the
section embraced below line A, Fig. 1; the upper section is governed by the
same rule of lines by which the lower section has been formed; apply the
square as before (allowing it to extend above the line A), and it will be found
that the tongue of the square will describe the curve E, Fig. 1, and the curve
of the wing D, Fig. 2, (that is to say,) if the back of the square be placed
against the dotted line C, Fig. 1, and the tongue allowed to fall on the mould
board it will follow the curves E and D, at the same time touch the board at
all points between them, as above stated. By this shaped board the lifting of
the furrow is on an inclined plane, which is uniform in grade from the point
to the end of the wing. The mould board thus described is adapted to the
ploughing of stiff hard soils requiring sharp and thin ploughs. Mould boards
for lighter soils are constructed on the same general principle of a central
grade, but slightly modified.
In order to illustrate the application of the rule to this kind of ploughs
reference will again be had to the Diagram.
In light soils it is necessary to shorten the plough in order to obtain a
shorter curving of the mould board; to do this we change the governing
line L, which as above said corresponds with the line A in Fig. 1, from a
straight into a curved line S, Fig. 6, by setting off at the point of the chamber
f, h, of such length as may be judged the nearest right, and then by an easy
geometrical construction the centre is found, from which a circular arc can
be stretched through the three points K, h, i. The construction of the mould
board then proceeds as before, carefully preserving the curved line S until
the same result is produced, viz., that discovered by the use of the square as
applied to the base line C, Fig. 1, or as applied to the line F of the Diagram;
it will be found to conform to the line of central grade, the grade being in
this case more abrupt and shorter, which is the object desired, hence by this
means can be obtained any length of mould board, and of any desired grade
according to the nature of the soil, at the same time preserving the general
principle of the central grade line. Of the many advantages derived from
this peculiar mould board may be instanced the following:-A large reduction
of friction on the land side, also at the heel of the mould board; the beam is

page_text: nearly in a straight line with the land side, hence the draught of the plough
will be more direct, thereby avoiding the side draught common to many
ploughs. By the application of this rule of lines a plough can be constructed
to suit any kind of soil, giving to the edge of the plough a position for shaving
or scraping, as the nature of the ground may require. It also raises the furrow
to its edge without any abrupt changes of direction over a uniform and direct
inclined plane, thereby preventing any unnecessary twisting, or turning, or
breaking. The lifting of the furrow is effected by the upper curve of the mould
board, so that the purchase or leverage is applied to the land side of the
furrow, and is thereby more easily raised or turned from a horizontal to a
vertical position.
Another improvement consists in the application of a gauge corresponding
in thickness to the depth of furrow required, such gauge being moved on a
certain base line at the bottom of a vertical plane, which is parallel with the
land side of the plough, and touches the rear end of the mould board so that
a blade attached to the gauge and in contact with the face of the mould board
will as the gauge is moved along and reaches a central point a*, Fig. 7, cause
the latter to turn or move outward on its outer edge, the gauge previous to.
reaching such point turning on its inner edge, and being in a vertical position
when it reaches the point a*. The pattern for the mould board if made from
this movement of the gauge will cause the mould board in practice to turn a
furrow corresponding precisely to the turning movement of the gauge, and of
a depth corresponding to the thickness of the same, which may be varied or
changed for different ploughs, as circumstances may require.
Fig. 7 is a plan or top view of the mould board; Fig. 8 is a front view of
the same. A is the mould board, and B a base line parallel with the land
side of the plough, and at the bottom of a vertical plane which just touches the
extreme rear of the mould board, as indicated at 6*, or is set off from the mould
board a distance equal to the thickness of furrow required. C is a gauge,
the thickness of which is made to correspond with the desired depth of furrow
designed to be turned by the mould board; this gauge has a blade D attached
to it at right angles with the bottom or base of the gauge. This gauge is
moved along with the outer edge of its base in contact with the base line B,
and the mould board is or must be of such a form that its blade D will be in
contact with its whole width or depth, that is to say, every part of the inner
edge of the blade will be in contact with the mould board from the lever to
the upper edge thereof. At the commencement of the movement of the gauge
which is from the point of the share the gauge rests upon the inner edge of
the same, and in the progress of its movement it gradually assumes a vertical

page_text: position, which is attained at the central point a*, and from this point the
gauge turns outward on the outer edge of the base. The pattern being made
in such a manner that the conditions of the movement of the gauge as described
will be fulfilled a mould board may be obtained to plough a furrow of any
required depth.
Having now described the Invention of "Improvements in the Construc-
tion of Mould Boards for Ploughs," which has been communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, and having explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as
aforesaid, the mode herein set forth of constructing and arranging the mould
boards of ploughs for the purposes above mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-first day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (LS.)