IMPROVEMENTS IN SEED DRILLS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lanc,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SEED DRILLS."-A communication from abroad by
William Alexander McClintock, of Pittsfield, in the County of
Pike, and State of Illinois, United States of America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Alexander Melville
Clark at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition and Declaration, on the 15th September 1875, pursuant
to the 9th Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS
IN SEED DRILLS," and have petitioned. Her Majesty to grant unto me,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent
for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that it has been

page_text: '
communicated to me from abroad by William Alexander M'Clintock,
of Pittsfield, in the County of Pike, and State of Illinois, United States
of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, do
hereby declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand
and seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature-of-the-said In-
vention, and in what manner-the-same is to be performed, in and by
-the-following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:-
The design of this Invention is to increase the efficiency and ease of
operation of seed drils, to which end it consists in the employment of
a frame or sash adjustable in guides, and operated by a lever for holding
the drills down to a uniform depth within the ground, substantially as
and for the purpose hereafter specified.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a plan view of the upper
side of the improved machine; Figure 2 is a like. view of the lower side
of the same; Figure 3 is a vertical section upon line x, x, of Figures
1 and.2; and Figure 4 is a like view. upon line Z, Z, of same Figures.
'
Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in each of the Figures.
A, A, represent the side rails, and B, B, the cross rails that compose
the frame of the machine, which frame rests upon an axlo C that has
journaled upon its ends two ground wheels D, D. A pole E is secured
to the front end and transverso centre of said frame, while a scries of
drills F, F, are connected to or with one of the four cross bars B by 1
means of pivoted rods G and G. Suitable chains H, H, are attached to
the rear sides of the drills F; F, and from thence pass upward over a
roller H, and enable said drills to be raised or lowered, the machine thus
constructed being of usual form.
In practice-it-is-found-impracticable to keep the drills down to a
uniform depth in consequence of obstructions, hard spots in the soil, &c.,
and that, as a result, the grain is imperfectly covered in some places,
while in others it may be planted too deeply in the ground. To obviate
this difficulty I place within suitable vertical guides I, I, that are
attached at corresponding points to or upon the inner sides of the side a
rails A, a sash or frame K, the lower edge of which is horizontal and

page_text: parallel with the axle, said frame being capable of easy vertical adjust-
ment within said guides.
To the upper edge and transverse centre of the frame K. is pivoted a
lever L, one end of which is pivoted within a suitable post M, that is, ;
secured to and extends upward from the pole E, while its opposite end
projects rearward beyond the hopper N within convenient reach of the
operator's hand. By depressing the free end of the lever L, the frame K
will be moved downward and caused to bear upon the drill rods G, G,
the result being that said rods and their drills will be pressed downward
to a uniform distance below the main frame and prevented from rising,
except as said gate is raised. The gate or sash K. is locked in position,
either elevated or depressed, by means of a pawl 7, which engages with
one of a series of teeth that, are formed within a quadrant O, which
quadrant is attached to the main frame and extends upward beside said
lever. A suitable L shaped hand lever
lever L, and connected with the pawl
be released from engagement at will.
pivoted upon the free end of the
by a wire 7", enables the latter to
While the construction shown of the holding down frame or gate is
preferably employed, it will be seen that the same may be varied in some
respects without departure from the spirit of the Invention.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would observe that I do not claim broadly a
vertically adjustable bar placed transversely over the drag bars of a gang
of hoes to hold them down to a uniform depth within the ground, as
this is not new, but what I do claim as new, and desire to securo
by Letters Patent is, the combination of the hoes F, drag bars G,
guides I, I, sash K, and lever L, substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-