IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR APPLYING POWER TO THE CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Collinson Hall, of Navestock, in the County of
Essex, Esquire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
APPLYING POWER TO THE CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL."
Sealed the 28th January 1859, and dated the 25th September 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Collinson Hall at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th September 1858.
I, COLLINSON HALL, of Navestock, in the County of Essex, Esquire, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR APPLYING POWER TO THE CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL," to be as
follows:-
Heretofore in applying power to the cultivation of the soil by means of
ropes, bands, or chains passing around drums or pulleys, the adhesion between
the said ropes, bands, or chains and the drums or pulleys has in the ordinary
arrangements of apparatus been found too small, and has in some cases been
increased by additional contrivances.
And my Invention consists, first, of a new arrangement of drums or pulleys,
which obviates this objection. I employ a single drum or pulley upon one
axle, and two drums or pulleys upon another; and the rope, band, or chain is

page_text: so passed round these three drums or pulleys that the two which are upon the
same axle turn in opposite directions when the rope, band, or chain is put in
motion. The number of turns which the rope, band, or chain is made to
take round the drums or pulleys will vary with the amount of power to be
applied, the one increasing with the other. The arrangement described is
that which I prefer, but I reserve to myself the employment of any and every
equivalent arrangement, whereby essentially the same action may be obtained.
Secondly, in turning ploughs and other implements at the headlands, one
wheel (usually the off wheel) runs round, and the near or opposite wheel
remains at rest (in relation to its axis), or nearly so, and consequently
obstructs the turning of the implement by encountering and displacing the
soil. In order to remedy this evil, and thus facilitate the turning of the
implement, I provide a small pivoted sole piece or turntable, upon which the
near wheel runs on reaching the headland, and then is supported by it, and
turns upon it.
Thirdly, in ploughing and otherwise cultivating by power, it is with ordinary
apparatus necessary for an attendant to signal to the engine driver (by means
of flags or otherwise) when the implement reaches the headlands, that the
engine may be stopped at a proper time. This signalling is often difficult
and liable to failure, owing to certain states of weather, &c., and accidents to
the apparatus sometimes result. To prevent this, I connect with the imple-
ment a self-acting contrivance for loosening the rope from the implement at
the required time. This contrivance may consist of an eccentric or a quick
screw connected with a lever, and caused to jam the rope ordinarily, and to be
withdrawn from the rope by a fixed bar acting upon the lever; but any other
equivalent contrivance may be employed for the purpose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Collinson Hall in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th March 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, COLLINSON
HALL, of Navestock, in the County of Essex, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto

page_text: me, the said Collinson Hall, Her special licence that I, the said Collinson
Hall, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Collinson Hall, my 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR APPLYING POWER TO THE CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Collinson Hall, 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 Collinson Hall, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:--
Heretofore in applying power to the cultivation of the soil by means of
ropes, bands, or chains passing around drums or pulleys, the adhesion between
the said ropes, bands, or chains, and the drums or pulleys, has in the ordinary
arrangements of apparatus been found too small, and has in some cases been
increased by additional contrivances.
And my Invention consists, first, of a new arrangement of drums or
pulleys which obviates this objection. I employ a single drum or pulley upon
one axle, and two or more drums or pulleys upon another. The rope, band,
or chain is so passed round the drums or pulleys that one of the two or more
which are upon the same axle turns in a direction opposite to that of the
others when the rope, band, or chain is put in motion. The number of turns
which the rope, band, or chain is made to take round the drums or pulleys
will vary with the amount of power to be applied, the one increasing with the
other. The arrangement described is that which I prefer, but I reserve to
myself the employment of any and every equivalent arrangement, whereby
essentially the same action may be obtained.
Secondly, in turning ploughs and other implements at the headlands, one
wheel (usually the off-wheel) runs round, and the near or opposite, wheel

page_text: remains at rest (in relation to its axis), or nearly so, and consequently obstructs
the turning of the implement by encountering and displacing the soil. In
order to remedy this evil, and thus facilitate the turning of the implement, I
provide a small sole piece or turntable, upon which the near wheel runs on
reaching the headland, and then is supported by it, and turns upon it.
Thirdly, in ploughing and otherwise cultivating by power, it is with ordinary
apparatus necessary for an attendant to signal to the engine driver, by means
of flags or otherwise, when the implement reaches the headlands, that the
engine may be stopped at a proper time; this signalling is often difficult and
liable to failure, owing to certain states of weather, &c., and accidents to the
apparatus sometimes result. To prevent this, I connect with the implement a
self-acting contrivance for loosening the rope from the implement at the
required time. This contrivance may consist of an eccentric or a quick screw
connected with a lever, and caused to jam the rope ordinarily, and to be with-
drawn from the rope by a fixed bar acting upon the lever; but any other
equivalent contrivance may be employed for the purpose.
In Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the Drawings hereunto annexed, I have illustrated
the manner in which I carry the first part of my Invention into effect.
Figure 1 is a plan of the under side of a portable steam engine with my im-
proved arrangement of drum and pulleys attached thereto; Figure 2 is a side
elevation of the said arrangement of drum and pulleys; Figure 3 is a detached
section of the set of separate pulleys on the same axle. The drum and sets of
pulleys are suspended from the boiler by means of the cotters a, a¹, which are
passed through the castings A, A', and the spindles of the drum and pulleys
respectively. The castings A and A³ are bolted permanently to the under side
of the boiler, but the drum and pulleys may at any time be detached by
removing the cotters a, a¹. The lower ends of the drum and pulley and spindles
are connected by a rigid bar of iron B, fixed by nuts screwed upon the threaded
ends of the spindles. This bar gives perfect rigidity and all necessary support
to the system of drum and pulleys, without any other species of framework.
C is the single drum upon the one axle, and D, E, F, G, are the separate
pulleys upon the other axle. The rope is wound about the drum and pulleys
by preference, after the fashion of a figure 8, as shewn in Figure 1, in order
to get the best possible action. This arrangement renders it necessary that
either the upper pulley D, or the lower pulley G, as the case may be, shall
turn in a direction opposite to that of the remainder of the set. The whole
system is driven by means of the cogged wheel H, into which gears a pinion
driven by an upright shaft set in motion by gearing from the first driving shaft;

page_text: I, I, are guide pulleys fitted in the simple manner shown for guiding the rope
on to or off from the drum and pulleys; and J, J', are other guide pulleys
carried by independent arms similarly fitted for keeping the rope in its proper
grooves.
The second part of my Invention needs no illustrative Drawings, inasmuch
as any simple flat or concave sole piece, either working loosely within another
so as to turn upon it, or simply remaining at rest itself, and allowing the wheel
to turn upon or within it, is sufficient for the purpose set forth.
The manner in which I prefer to carry the third part of my Invention into
effect is illustrated in Figure 4 of the Drawings hereunto annexed. K is the
ploughing rope, which is supposed to be advancing in the direction of the
arrow; L is, a frame carrying a fixed block M and a moveable block N. The
two blocks clasp the rope, when the block N is pressed upon by the toe of the
double lever 0, 0, whichever way the implement is travelling. The blocks M
and N may be faced with copper to prevent injury to the rope; they may
likewise be threaded to correspond with the rope, for the purpose of giving a
better grip thereto. P is a flat plate of steel passed through the sides of the
framing and across and into a recess cut in the upper block N to receive the
toe; this flat piece of steel is free to rise in the slot Q when the apparatus has
arrived at the headland, or at the engine by the lever O or 0¹ coming in
contact with a ring of metal R fixed in front of the guide pulleys I, 1'; by this
ring of metal the lever is released, and the rope thereby allowed to run free.
When it is required to pass the toe of the lever from one side to the other,
in order to reverse the action of the disengaging apparatus, it is only necessary
to draw out the plate P, depress the opposite side of the lever, and replace the
plate P. S, S', are opposite ends of a chain which passes round the draught
hook of the implement, or is connected to the implement in any other suitable
manner. The end S of this chain is fastened permanently to the frame L,
and the other end S¹ is hooked to one or other of the eyes of the double
link T, according to the direction in which the implement is to move.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the employment of an arrangement of a single drum and a set of
pulleys constructed, fitted to the engine, and operated essentially as herein-
before described, and illustrated in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Secondly, the employment of a small sole piece or turntable, for facilitating
the turning of the plough or other implement, in the manner berein-before
described.

page_text: Thirdly, the employment of a self-acting contrivance for loosening the rope
from the implement, constructed and operating in the manner herein-before
described and illustrated in the Drawings hereunto annexed, or in any equi-
valent manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said Collinson Hall, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-nine.
COLLINSON HALL. (L.S.)