IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR TILLING LAND BY STEAM, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Oram, of No. 4, Kempson Road, Walham
Green, in the County of Middlesex, S.W., for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR TILLING LAND BY STEAM,
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Oram at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd November 1870.
I, SAMUEL ORAM, of No. 4, Kempson Road, Walham Green, in the
County of Middlesex, S.W., do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR TILLING LAND
BY STEAM, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
1st. By a combination of known mechanical contrivances and arrange.
ments with others of new form or application, I construct and actuate
a tilling implement which I call "the cultor," to distinguish it from other
agricultural implements.

page_text: 2nd. My Invention consists of a combination of two chief parts,
which together are necessary to effect a thorough tillage of land, that is
to say, 1st, the apparatus which operates in the soil; and 2ndly, the
steam engine or cultor locomotor which carries, or draws, and actuates
it and is self-propelled, and within the boiler of such engine I insert
certain tubes which facilitate the rapid evolvement of steam, and produce
constant active circulation of the water in the boiler, and prevent
incrustation on the fire tubes which pass through the boiler.
3. The cultor or tilling apparatus. which operates in the soil rotates
horizontally, and in form and mode of operation is somewhat similar
to the trepan or cylindrical bone saw used in surgery, but instead of
having only a single ring of serrations or teeth on its lower and cutting
edge, the cultor is armed with separate and equidistant pendent skims,
tines, shares, blades, or cutters of various forms, placed in one or more
rows or concentric circles around its axis of rotation, penetrating to
different depths as required, the lateral edges and ends of such instru-
ments being their acting points; and when the cultor is moved over the
land and at the same time rotated rapidly, such dependent instruments
penetrate, cut, crush, and move laterally through the soil in continuous
lines or tracks, which traverse the path of the cultor's progress, and
intersect each other in a series of successional, circular, and nearly
concentric lines at regulated distances apart, and thereby saw and cut
through, divide and mince, the moved soil to the requisite depth and
state of comminution, disentegration, and pulverization, and fit it for
the immediate reception of seeds or plants.
4th. The operative parts of the cultor are carried either by a separate
carriage or platform, or are attached to or suspended from or borne by
or from some part of the platform or carriage or framework which
carries the steam engine or prime mover, and they may be either fixed
in position thereon or they may be capable of being projected laterally
behind the machine and beyond the outer edges of the tracks of the
carrying wheels of the cultor locomotor, and the operative apparatus and
instruments of the cultor are effectually screened or covered. Wheels
or sledges or both wheels and sledges are used to render the cultor's
progress over the land sufficiently parallel to its surface to give equal
depth of tillage.
5th. The cultor locomotor is propelled by a steam engine, and is
carried on three or four wheels having contrivances for preventing

page_text: slipping and lateral sliding and to enable it to move freely over the
land to be tilled and on ordinary roads, and it is constructed so lightly
as to avoid any injurious compression of the soil it travels over when
tilling the land, and it has arrangements for applying power to effect the
usual operations performed by the portable engine on the land or in the
homestead.
6th. The number and sise of the apparatus to be used and the number,
character, and position of the different instruments and acting points, are
governed by the breadth of land to be tilled and on its condition, and by
the depth and tillage required.
7th. When the tilling apparatus is attached to or fixed upon the loco-
motor, it is operated either by direct action, or connecting rod, or spur,
or bevel, or frictional, or other gearing, or by band, rope, or chain. And
when it is drawn by the locomotor separately power is transmitted from
the engine to the operating apparatus by some or one of the above-
mentioned modes or means, or by certain pulleys which I call accumu-
lating pulleys, as their number admits of increase and thereby carrying
of more power to the rotating shaft or spindle.
8th. The locomotor is geared so as to permit its progressing over the
land, at a rate which allows the cultor to rotate freely. And the cultor
can be put into operation or quickly thrown out of its work, whether
the locomotor moves in any direction or is at rest.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel Oram in the Great Seal Patent Office ou
the 3rd May 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
ORAM, of No. 4, Kempson Road, Walham Green, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Samuel Oram, Her special licence
that I, the said Samuel Oram, my executors, administrators, and

page_text: assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel Oram, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
AND APPARATUS FOR TILLING LAND BY STEAM, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Samuel Oram, my exccu-
tors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under mine, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and 1
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 Scal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Oram, 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 and accompanying two Sheets of Drawings.
By a combination of known mechanical contrivances and arrange-
ments with others of a new form or application I construct and actuate?
a tilling implement, which I call the cultor, to distinguish it from
other agricultural implements.
My Invention consists of a combination of two chief parts which
together are necessary to effect a thorough tillage of land, that is to
say, 1st, the apparatus which operates in the soil; and, 2ndly, the steam
engine or locomotor which carries or draws and actuates it, and which
is self-propelled, and within the boiler of such engine I insert certain
tubes which facilitate the rapid evolvement of steam, and produce
constant active circulation of the water in the boiler, and prevent in-
crustation on the tubes passing through the boiler. The tubes which
I insert within the boiler or generator to make steam and give active
circulation to the water therein, and thereby prevent incrustation on the
fire tubes are the subject of a separate Patent, No. 1183, dated the Third
day of May, in the year One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one,
and to which I refer for their full description.
The cultor or tilling apparatus which operates in the soil rotates
horizontally, and is in its form and mode of operation somewhat similar
to the trepan or cylindrical bone saw used in surgery, but instead of

page_text: having only a single continuous ring of serrations or teeth on its lower
and cutting end the cultor is armed with separate and equidistant
pendant skims, tincs, shares, blades, or cutters of various forms placed
in one or more rows or concentric circles around the axis of its rotation,
and which penetrate to different depths as required, the lateral edges and
ends of such instruments being the acting points. And when the
cultor is moved over the land, and at the same time caused to rotate
rapidly, such dependent instruments penetrate, cut, crush, and move.
laterally through the soil in continuous lines or tracks which traverse
the path of the cultor's progress, and intersect each other in a series of
successional circular and nearly concentric lines at regulated distances
apart, and thereby saw or cut through, divide, and mince the moved
soil to the requisite depth and state of comminution, disentegration,
and pulverization, and fit it for the immediate reception of seeds or
plants.
The operative parts of the cultor are carried either by a separate
carriage or platform, or are attached to or suspended from or borne by
or from some part of the platform or carriage or framework which
carrics the steam engine or prime mover, and they may be either fixed
in position thereon, or they may be capable of being projected laterally
behind the machine and beyond the outer edges of the tracks of the
carrying wheels of the cultor locomotor, and the operative apparatus
and instruments of the cultor are efficiently screened or covered. Wheels
or sledges, or both wheels and sledges, are used to render the cultor's
progress over the land sufficiently parallel to its surface to give equal.
depth of tillage.
The cultor locomotor is propelled by a steam engine, and is carried on
3 or 4 wheels having contrivances for preventing, slipping and lateral
sliding and to enable it to move freely over the land to be tilled and on
ordinary roads, and it has arrangements for applying power to effect the
usual operations performed by the portable engine on the land or in the
homestead.
The locomotor should be as light as possible consistent with the
proper performance of its duty so as to compress the land as little as
may be.
The number and size of the apparatus to be used, and the number
and character and position of the different instruments and acting

page_text: points, are governed by the breadth of the land to be tilled, and on its
condition, and the depth and tillage required.
When the tilling apparatus is attached to or fixed upon the locomotor
it is operated either by direct action or connecting rod, or spur, or
bevel, or frictional, or other gearing, or by band, rope, or chain, or other
suitable arrangement; and when it is drawn by the locomotor separately
power is transmitted from the engine to the operating apparatus by
means of some or one of the above-mentioned modes or means, or by
certain pullies, which I call accumulating pullies, as their number
admits of increase, and thereby carrying more power to the rotating
shaft or spindle.
The locomotor is arranged so as to permit its progressing over the
land at the rate which allows the cultor to rotate freely. And the
cultor can be put into operation or quickly thrown out of its work
whether the locomotor is moving in any direction or is at rest. And in
order to avoid any slipping or movement sideways, moveable segments
or portions of circles of metal or other suitable material may be attached
to the driving wheels so as to present an enlarged surface to act in the
ground, and thus resist lateral slip.
The cultor may be adapted to effect intertillage between rows of
growing crops, or two or more cultors driven and propelled by the same
prime mover may be used, so as to cover a large breadth of land when
required.
I also arrange the same principles to form a cultor mounted on a
separate travelling carriage which admits of pivoting the entire cultor
so as to enable it to operate when drawn to and fro by any fixed or
stationary engine which actuates a rope to drag or haul ploughs or
other tilling lincal acting implements.
The trailing cultor may be driven by a simple endless hempen or wire
rope or chain coated with hide, or a compound rope made up of .three
separate ropes and covered with hide, vulcanised india-rubber, gutta
percha, or any suitable material. The compound rope is made by placing
together in a parallel direction a sufficient quantity of small rope either
in three turns or loops, the two ends being fastened together so as to
make up one endless rope or in three separate endless ropes of equal
length placed parallel to each other, and of such size as when com-
pleted will fit the grooves in the sheaves or pullies properly, and be long
enough to go round the sheaves or pullies it is to work to drive the

page_text: cultor, a separate endless rope or connection being used on each driving
pulley to transmit the power. The separate lengths or smaller end-
less ropes are bound together or sewed over with cord, spun yarn, india-
rubber, hide, or other suitable material, so as to form when completed
a rope of a triangular section, or as nearly so as the material will admit,
and so as when in use to fit well against the flat portions of the grooves
or pullies around which it passes. The said rope may be of hide, hemp,
or any other fibre, or of metal, or both combined, or any suitable
material, and an endless chain may be formed in a similar manner for
a similar purpose. The number of the pullics or sheaves may be varied

page_text: ,
portion carrying the cutters or parts e, e, which act in the soil; c, the
spindle attached to the portion 6, and on which the pullies or sheaves g
for giving rotating motion to the same are placed, which is arranged so
as to be raised out of or lowered into its working position by means of
lever d; e, e, the cutters or parts which act in the soil inside the
screen the two wheels which carry or sustain the weight of the
cultor and between and over which the cultor may be moved laterally;
9, 9, the pullies or sheaves by means of which the power of the steam
is caused to give movement by means of the endless chain or rope h, h,
passing round the same to the to the portion b, to which the cutters e, e,
are attached; i, i, the stirrup attached to the locomotor into which the
foremost end of the trough of the cultor enters so as to sustain it and
to allow of its being moved freely in a lateral direction; k, one of two
links or attachments by means of which the axle of the wheels fis
connected to that of the driving wheels of the locomotor, and so enables
it to be drawn; q, q, the grooved pullies or sheaves g, g, actuating the
rotating portion 6 carrying the cutters e, e, may be made of wood, metal,
or other suitable material, or faced in the grooves with wood or such
suitable material as may be found convenient. When more than one
pulley or sheave is used they are locked together so as to form one
picce by a bolt or bolts or other convenient mode of attachment.
Sheet 2, Figure 3, shows an edge view of one of the inner row of
cutters e, e, and mode of attachment to its haft or carrier m, which is
inserted into the rotating part b, Figs. 2B, in Sheets 1 and 2. The
cutters e, e, shown in the Drawings are formed with two parallel
bevelled cutting edges and forked ends as shown, by which means
when one end is reduced by wear the changing the top to the bottom
gives fresh cutting edges.
Fig. 4 is a front view of Figure 3. 5 shows a front view of one of
the outer cutters attached to the rotating part b; the outer edge or
surface on which these cutters are attached is formed with grooves or
recesses into which they fit and are retained by a bolt, screw, or other
convenient means; Fig. 6 shows a section across one of the cutters e.
To complete the operation of making the ground fit for the immediate
reception of seed or plant at one operation I drag behind and from
some part of the locomotor or cultor an apparatus formed of square bars

page_text: of wood or metal or other suitable material, so shaped and with pointed
ends and placed parallel to each other at convenient distances apart
and attached to a cross framing or platform in such a manner that two
of the surfaces of each bar or similar contrivance may come into
contact with the soil beneath them, and when the apparatus is moved
over the land these bars indent the desired breadth of the surface of
land with grooved. furrows of a V section, thus completing the whole
process of preparation for seeds or plants. This apparatus, which I call
a serrator, may be borne wholly or partly on wheels or sledges or both
combined.
Plans of Figures 1A, and 2B, are shown in Sheet 2 by the same
letters and figures.
Having thus described some of the modes, means, or ways of using
or combining for use the various contrivances aforesaid for effecting
the purposes and objects of my Invention, I desire to observe that the
accompanying Drawings are only intended to illustrate some of such
modes, manners, or ways, by which the parts, combinations, and
principles of my Invention may be carried into effect, and I do not
limit myself to the exact arrangements or combinations shown therein
as such parts and combinations are susceptible of modification without
departing from the principles of my Invention, but what I claim as my
Invention is,―
1stly. The adaptation, combination, and arrangement of the means,
modes, manners, and ways, herein-before described or explained or
indicated to be used or employed in the construction of the cultor and
locomotor for tilling land, in the manner and for the objects and purposes
mentioned, substantially as herein-before described.
2ndly. The grooved accumulating pullies or sheaves for transmitting
power, cach being actuated by its own endless rope or other means as
described, which afford a convenient mode of readily increasing or
diminishing the same when used in combination and fixed together in
any number.
3rdly. The construction of the compound rope and chain and the
hempen or metal rope covered with hide or coated as described, for the
purpose of actuating the accumulating pullies.
4thly. The serrator or seed furrow former as herein-before described.

page_text: 5thly. The cutters as formed, edged, and affixed to the cultor or
rotating apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Oram, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Third day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Witness,
CHAB F. T. YOUNG, C.E.,
Consulting Engineer for Patents,
'Adelphi,
London.
SAMUEL ORAM. (L.S.)