IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CULTIVATING LAND
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CULTIVATING LAND."
-A communication.
Sealed the 9th June 1857, and dated the 8th April 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 8th April 1857.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR
CULTIVATING LAND," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the cultivation of land by spades operated by
locomotive power. The machine is propelled in the field in any direction
required, and turned at the will of the attendant, and the same power which
does this operates a series of spades, which enter the land each in succession,
cut into it in the arc of a circle, and after cutting down to the required depth
suddenly throw up the cut slice against a shield plate, so as to reverse it, and
at the same time break it up, so that when it falls down it will be thoroughly
disintegrated, the forward movement of the machine determining the thickness
of the slices to be cut by the spades.
The frame of the machine is mounted on running wheels, the foremost one

page_text: of which is a guide wheel, and is provided with spur projections to take a good
hold of the ground. Rotary motion is communicated to this wheel from the
main driving shaft by an arrangement of gearing that will permit of its being
turned in the plane of its axis to guide the machine without interfering with
the driving of the wheel. Oscillating or other steam cylinders, mounted on the
frame, may be used to give motion to the main shaft, and this motion is com-
municated by gearing to an adjacent excentric shaft. Around the excentrics
of this shaft (corresponding in number to the number of spades employed)
are excentric straps, which are severally jointed to spring levers. These levers
at their outer ends are attached to rocking levers, supported on a cross shaft
carried by an auxiliary frame; this frame rocks on the cam shaft, and carries
at its forward end the spades, which are set abreast of each other, and are
severally jointed to arms mounted loosely on a shaft, having its bearings in the
forward end of the auxiliary frame.. These arms are operated by connecting
rods pendent from the extremities of the rocking levers, and jointed to the
arms, and by this arrangement the depression and lift of the spades is effected.
But in order to give the spades the irregular or tripping action required for
lifting and turning over the earth loosened by the spade, tripping levers are
employed, which are pressed into contact with the cams on the cam shaft, and
at their lower ends by bent rods with the head of the spades; the rotation of
these cams, therefore, will rock the trip levers, and so cause the spades to rock
on their fulcrums. As the slices of earth are carried up by the spades they
are thrown against a shield plate, attached to the cross piece of the auxiliary
frame, and by that means broken up or turned over. The spades follow each
other in their action to equalize the power expended, and a yielding pressure is
put upon them to prevent injury to the machinery.
In order to lift all the spades from the ground simultaneously when the
machine is to be thrown out of action studs are fixed on the sides of the
auxiliary frame, and a pair of cams mounted on the main frame is made
to act on these pins and lift the rocking frame which carries the spades.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 8th October 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the 3
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred
or such others-
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
as I, the said Alfred Vincent 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 of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CULTIVATING LAND," being a communication
from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 Alfred Vincent 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 Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention, of "Improved Machinery for Cultivating Land," relates to
the cultivation of land by spades operated by locomotive power as the machine
progresses in the field; the machine will also more thoroughly break up,
disintegrate, and turn over the sward than can be done by ploughs.
The entire machine is propelled in the field in any direction required, and
turned at the will of the attendant, and the same power which does this
operates a series of spades, which enter the land each in succession and cut
into it in the arc of a circle, and after cutting down to the required depth
suddenly throw up the cut slice against a shield plate, so as to reverse it and
at the same time break it up, so that when it falls down it will be thoroughly
disintegrated, the forward movement of the machine determining the thickness
o of the slices to be cut by the spades.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the machine;
Fig. 2 is an elevation of the rear end; Fig. 3, a longitudinal vertical section ;
and Fig. 4, a cross vertical section, taken at the line A, a, of Figure 3. a
represents a frame adapted to the purpose; and b, b, two running or sustain-

page_text: ing wheels, which turn freely on an axle c in the rear part of the frame. The
axle c extends through and is so mounted in the frame that it may be rotated
by a crank handle d at one end, and the said axle carries on each end a cam e
for the purpose of elevating the spades above the surface of the land when
the machine is required to be moved from place to place, and to regulate the
depth to which the spades shall cut. The forward end of the machine is
sustained on a broad driving wheel f, the face of which is provided with spurs
to take hold of the land, so as to draw the machine forward at the required
speed. This wheel is secured firmly to its shaft g, which has its bearings in a
horizontal ring h, fitted to turn in another ring i of the frame, so that the ring h
may be turned to put the plane of the driving wheel at any desired angle
to determine the line of motion of the machine. The ring h has a flanch above
and below to embrace the ring i of the frame, the latter of which flanches is
secured to the under part of the ring h, and the upper flanch is provided with
a handle j, by which it can be turned when it is desired to change the line of
direction of the machine; but if desired this flanch may be cogged, so as to
admit of turning the ring by a pinion with a crank handle, or the ring can be
turned in any other suitable manner. The middle of the thickness, of the
driving wheel is in the plane of the axis of the ring h, and on one face of this
wheel there is a bevel cog wheel k, which is engaged by a pinion on a vertical
shaft m (shewn by dotted lines in Fig. 1), mounted in a bracket piece n,
attached to the ring h, so as to turn therewith; and on the upper end of the
shaft m there is a cog wheel o, deriving motion from a pinion p (see Fig. 3)
on another vertical shaft q, mounted in the main frame, and having its axis in
the line of the axis of the ring h, so that the cog wheel o will always be in
gear with the pinion p, however the ring h may be turned to guide the
machine. The shaft q derives motion by a bevel wheel and pinion r, s, from a
horizontal shaft t, mounted in the main frame, and this shaft in turn receives
motion by a belt u from the main driving shaft v, which is provided with two
cranks at right angles, and operated by two oscillating steam engines w, w,
mounted between the standards a, a, a, of the frame, which are hollow to
form steam exhaust pipes, the steam being supplied to the steam pipes from
the boiler in any suitable manner. But instead of oscillating engines, steam
engines of any other suitable construction or any other motor may be
employed.
From the foregoing it will be seen that when the main shaft is rotated by
the steam engine or engines, or other motor, motion will be imparted to the
driving wheel by the train of wheels above described, and that the relative
motions of the main shaft and the driving wheel will depend upon the pro-

page_text: portions of the intermediate gearing, which proportions may be varied at
the discretion of the constructor.
The motion of the driving wheel must be such, however, that it will impel
the machine at a velocity suited to the action of the spades, to be presently
described, and so that they will cut the required thickness of slice. I wish
it to be understood, however, that I do not limit myself to the special arrange-
ment above described for imparting motion to the driving wheel, as other and
equivalent arrangements may be substituted.
On the main driving shaft v there is a spur wheel z, which engages a cor-
responding spur wheel a' on a cam shaft b', which said shaft is parallel with
the main driving shaft, and all the motions for operating the spades are derived
from cams and excentrics on this shaft.
An auxilliary frame c', composed of two side and one end piece at the rear
end, sustains the spades and their appendages, and the forward end of the side
pieces of this frame are hung on the ends of the cam shaft U', where the ends
project outside of the main frame, so that this auxiliary frame can vibrate on
the cam shaft as an axis, the side pieces being provided with projecting pins d',
which rest on the periphery of the cams e, e, on the ends of the axle c of the
running wheels b, b, before described, so that by turning this axle with its
cams, the rear end of the auxiliary frame c¹ with the spades can be elevated
or depressed at pleasure, either to determine the depth to which the spades
shall cut, or to make them clear the surface of the land when moving the
machine to any place desired.
At the rear end of the auxiliary frame c¹ there is a rod f¹, which passes
through the eye of and forms an axle for a series of vibrating arms g', equal
in number to the required number of spades, which in this instance are five.
This series of arms g¹ are connected by joint links g² with the rear end of a
corresponding series of levers h', which vibrate on a fulcrum rod i, attached
to the standards j³, j, on the sides of the auxiliary frame c¹. Each of the
levers his provided with a spring bar ke', attached at the rear end to the
under surface of the lever, and extending forward beyond the forward end,
where it is linked to the strap l, of an excentric m¹ on the cam shaft b', so
that the rotation of the series of excentrics will vibrate the series of levers,
and the arms g¹ linked to them, as above described. In front of the fulcrum
cach lever h¹ is provided with a set screw k², the end of which bears on the
top of the spring bar for the purpose of adjustment, and as the bar is only
attached to the lever at the rear end, and rests against the end of the set
screw, the whole of its length from the point of attachment to the set screw,
and from the set screw to the point of attachment with the strap of the

page_text: excentric, will act as a spring to yield, and prevent breaking whenever the
spade which is operated by this arrangement (as will be seen hereafter) meets
with some impediment. The position of the set screw may be changed, and
if desired more than one such screw may be used on each lever. The spades
are each attached to the lower end of short lever n', connected by a fulcrum
pin to the inner end of one of the series of arms g¹, there being one spade
and one such lever for each arm g', and the upper end of the levers n¹ are
connected by connecting rods o' with the lower end of an equal number of
levers p, which are termed the tripping levers, the said levers being hung on
a fulcrum rod g¹, passing through the whole of them and attached to the main
frame. The upper end of these tripping levers is forced forward by a series
of springs, for the purpose of drawing back the spades as soon as they are
liberated. These tripping levers, like the levers, before described, are made.
in two parts, attached together at the lower end, so that the forward part s',
which is acted upon by cams, may have a springing action, in case there should
be any impediment to the motion of the spades, and thereby prevent them from
breaking. The spring part s¹ of these levers is bent forward at the upper
end, and is acted upon by a series of cams t¹ on the cam shaft, for the purpose
of throwing up or tripping the spades after they have been forced in to make
the required cut in the earth.
The form of the cams, and their relations to the excentrics, as represented in.
Fig. 3, is such that the excentrics in rising force down the spades, which by
reason of being hung to the vibrating arms 9', enter the ground in the arc of
a circle, of which the distance from the cutting edge to the centre of the rod
fis the radius, and so soon as the spades have reached the extent of their
downward motion, which occurs as the excentrics reach the upper dead point,
the part of the cams from 1 to 2 (see Fig. 3) act on the tripping levers p¹ and
force them back, the effect of which is to give the spades a sudden tilting
motion backwards and upwards, vibrating on the axis of the levers n'; and as
the cams rotate from the point 2 to 3 (see Fig. 3) they recede so as to permit
the spades to be vibrated forward by by the tension of the springs, which
takes place by the time the excentrics have elevated the spades preparatory to
another operation. The object of the tripping or tilting of the spades by a
sudden motion is to throw up and turn the eath over, and at the same time
to disintegrate it, which operation is greatly aided by a shield plate u', attached
to the cross piece of the auxilliary frame c', the said plate extending downward
and being curved forward so as to extend over the spades as they are tilted or
thrown back, and in consequence the slice of carth cut by cach spade is
thrown up against the face of this shield plate in such manner that what was

page_text: the lower end of the slice is carried up higher than what was the upper end,
and as it is thus turned over and thrown up against the shield plate the spade
returns, and the slice being no longer sustained by the spade falls to the place
from whence it was cut, but upside down, and in falling breaks up, the pro-
cess of disintegration having been commenced by the action of the spade in
cutting and throwing it up against the plate. The spades are curved in the
segment of a circle, of which the arm g' is about the radius, and as the spade
projects from the lower end of the lever n¹ the cutting edge describes the are
of a circle of greater radius than the curve of the face of the spade, so that
the said curved surface of the spade clears the face of the ground from which
the slice is cut and during the cutting action. This is necessary on account
of the constant forward motion of the machine, for it will be seen that if the
spade was of the same curvature as the line of cut the forward motion of
the machine would force the face of the spade against the solid earth and
strain the machine. All the spades have the same motion, but instead of
moving simultaneous the cams and excentrics are so arranged as to operate
them in succession. The number of spades and their length and breadth can
be varied at the pleasure of the constructor. Instead of a cam by the sile
of each excentric for giving the tilting or tripping motion to each spade,
the same thing may be effected by other and equivalent means, as for instance,
by a projecting lug on the excentric strap and acting on the spring part of
the tripping lever.
Having described the mode of constructing the machine, I would observe
that I wish it to be understood that I do not limit my claim of Invention to
the mode of application herein shewn and described, as other and equivalent
modes of construction may be substituted; nor do I wish to be understood as
limiting myself to the use of the precise combination of parts shewn and
described, as some of them may be used in connection with substitutes for
the others.
What I claim as new in the above-described machine, and desire to secure
by Letters Patent, is, the mode of operating the spades by which they are
made to perform the operations of cutting the slices from the land, throwing
them up, and returning to repeat the operation, as set forth.
I also claim the mechanism for tilting the spades, or any mere modification
thereof, in combination with the mechanism for giving the cutting action to
the said spades, as described.
I also claim in combination with the spades the use and application of the
shield plate for aiding in disintegrating and reversing the slices as they are
thrown up by the spade, as set forth.

page_text: I also claim in combination with the spades the yielding or springing part
of the levers for imparting the digging or cutting action to the spades, and the
yielding or spinging part of the tilting levers, as set forth, and for the purpose
of preventing the mechanism from being broken when the spades meet with
any obstruction, such as stones.
And I also claim in combination with the spades the driving and guiding
wheel.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Third day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFatt,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)