Improvements in or relating to Ploughs.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Jan., 1892-Accepted, 5th Mar., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Ploughs.
I, AGUSTIN MANUEL CHAVEZ, of 95 Boulevard Beaumarchais, Paris in the
Republic of France, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to an improved plough which it is intended to designate by
the name of the "triplex. " plough and which differs from similar implements used
hitherto in the peculiar arrangement of the beam, cleris and forward carriage. It
is in the special shape and construction of these three parts that the novelty of the
invention resides.
From Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings it will be seen that the beam is bent
above the plough-share and then extends forward with a downward inclination.
Owing to this inclined form the beam serves for adjusting the depth of the furrow.
On it is arranged to slide longitudinally a regulating yoke or clevis R so that it
may be raised or lowered vertically according as the clevis is moved nearer to or
farther away from the sock. The resulting advantage is that the point on which is
exerted the power of the draught is situated the nearer to the main body of the
plough (ie. to the centre of resistance) the greater the power required for drawing
the plough.
The width of the furrow is adjusted by means of the horizontal cross-piece of the
clevis R in which a number of apertures are provided for the insertion of the hook
of the draught.
In all adjustable ploughs hitherto devised the pulling strain of the draught was
chiefly exercised upon the head of the beam, in other words, although the point to
which the harness was attached might be shifted more or less either in the horizontal
or vertical direction, the distance between the point of the sock or share and the
point where the pulling strain was applied, remained practically the same,
irrespective of the desired depth or width of the furrow which alone could be
adjusted by such displacement of the point of connection.
This want of means of adjusting the strains and resistances at the same time as
the size of the furrow has been a drawback greatly interfering with the satisfactory
operation of ploughs. This difficulty is now overcome by my system of adjustment
in which a third most important yet hitherto unnoticed factor is taken into account
viz. the relation between the point of application of the drawing strain and the point
of resistance. It will indeed be seen that by simply displacing the yoke in the
direction of the length of the beam not only is the point of application of the
drawing power raised or lowered as the case may be, but at the same time
this point is brought nearer to or carried farther away from the point in which
the resultant of all the resistances which the plough is intended to overcome,
manifests itself. In other words the deeper the furrow to be cut, the nearer
to the ploughshare must be the point where the drawing power or pulling strain
is exercised. By taking into account these different simultaneous movements or
strains a most effective means of controlling the operation of the plough and
the size of the furrows is provided the required adjustments within very wide
limits being feasible by shifting the yoke or clevis but a very short distance in
either direction.
The eminent astronomer M. Grand voinnet has laid down the following desiderata

page_text: as being those which the regulating device of a plough should be capable of
fulfilling,
(1) As regards the application or exercise of power it should allow a sufficient
though not too great margin of displacement in either direction.
(2) It should allow very minute and precise adjustments.
(3) It should enable the depth of the furrow to be adjusted independently of its
width and vice versa.
(4) It should ensure stability, i.e. enable every part to remain in the exact position
to which it has been brought by the labourer, and
(5) It should be sufficiently simple to be easily comprehended by every labourer
and require no special training to be properly operated.
All these requirements my improved regulator or clevis fully provides for besides
offering the peculiar advantages set forth above.
In regard more especially to the forward carriage the improved arrangement I
have devised for its connection to the plough, illustrated by Figs. 2, 3 and 4.
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the clevis R. it will be seen that this is the same
piece which has been described above, with only this distinction that its horizontal
cross-piece is at one end provided with a preferably square hole, or socket into
which a rod A is adapted to fit, and within which such rod may be adjusted to the
desired level by means of a set-screw. This rod as shown in Fig. 3 is connected
with a small wheel B and may through the medium of a yoke m (Fig. 4) be fitted
to a bracket C D to which is secured the large wheel which is to travel in the
furrow. These, as well as all the other parts of the plough should preferably be
made of steel.
From the foregoing it will be seen that in this plough the fore-carriage no matter
whether it has one or two wheels, forms part of or operates jointly with the
regulating device. This feature in which my improved plough differs from ploughs
of the old construction, offers very considerable advantages besides the great
simplicity of construction of the forward carriage which advantages mainly reside
in the connection or correlation existing between any displacement of the said
carriage and the shifting of the clevis or regulator. If for example it be desired
to cut a deep furrow and if the clevis be for this purpose moved farther away from
the head of the beam the forward carriage will naturally follow the clevis to which
it is attached and with it approach the sock thereby diminishing the distance
between the operative parts of the plough and the fore-carriage. The consequence
is that the surface or area comprised between the various points of contact and
therefore also the pulling strain will be correspondingly decreased a result which
it has been impossible to obtain in the ploughs hitherto used in which as before
stated the distance between the regulating device and the forward carriage is
constant.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is―
1. In a plough the employment of a downwardly extending beam substantially as
described and illustrated in Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings.
2. The method of adjusting the depth of the furrow by the employment in com-
bination with an adjustable yoke or clevis such as R of a downwardly extending
beam substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
3. In a plough having a downwardly extending beam a regulating device or
clevis such as R consisting of a yoke provided with a horizontal cross-piece and
adapted to slide longitudinally upon the beam substantially as described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
4. In a plough having a downwardly bent beam mechanism enabling a one-
wheeled forward carriage to be converted at will into one with two wheels substan-
tially as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

page_text: 5. In a plough having a downwardly extending beam the combination of the
clevis and forward carriage with a view to joint operation they being adapted
simultaneously to approach or recede from the beam of the plough substantially as
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 6th day of January 1892.
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents for the Applicant.