AN IMPROVED ROLLING, DIBBLING, SOWING, AND HARROWING MACHINE FOR WHEAT AND OTHER AGRI- CULTURAL PRODUCE
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Raywood, Engineer, of Wentworth, in the
County of Yorkshire, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED ROLLING,
DIBBLING, SOWING, AND HARROWING MACHINE FOR WHEAT AND OTHER AGRI-
CULTURAL PRODUCE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Raywood at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th
November 1855.
I, JOHN RAYWOOD, Engineer, of Wentworth, in the County of Yorkshire,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED ROLLING,
DIBBLING, SOWING, & HARROWING MACHINE FOR WHEAT & OTHER AGRICULTURAL
PRODUCE," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in being able to place holes, or as they are technically
called dibbles, at a distance from each other, to deposit the sced in the same,
and to harrow and roll the land, for the purpose of facilitating the operation
of sowing wheat and other agricultural produce, the same to be performed or
accomplished by horse, steam, or hand power, reserving to myself the right to
introduce such details as I consider necessary, for the completing of the
above objects of rolling, dibbling, sowing, and harrowing for agricultural
purposes.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Raywood in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd May 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
RAYWOOD, Engineer, of Wentworth, in the County of Yorkshire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight. hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Raywood, Her special licence that I, the said John Raywood,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Raywood, 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 "AN IMPROVED ROLLING, DIBBLING,
SOWING, AND HARROWING MACHINE FOR WHEAT AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Raywood, 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 per-
formed, 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 John Raywood, 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:-
My Invention consists in the application of certain apparatus and appliances,
herein-after described and shewn by the accompanying Drawings, and is what
I term or designate an improved rolling, crushing or pressing, dibbling,
sowing, and harrowing machine for wheat and other agricultural and garden
produce, and for general and particular purposes, the same to be worked by
steam or horse power, or by manual labour, or otherwise; and I propose
carrying out my Invention in the following manner:-A1 and A 2, Fig. 1, are
two wheels of any suitable size, shape, or material, working in a frame B, B,
and at a distance from each other, on which wheels I place a pulley or gear
wheel to connect with the seed depositor F and the wheel N by strap or

page_text: otherwise; round the wheels A1 and A 2, I pass what may be technically
called an endless chain of wood or metallic links D, D, D, upon which links
are placed the dibbles E, E, E. The links are attached or fastened to each other
by having one or more grooves or hollows through the middle of each, and in
which is inserted a strap of leather, gutta percha, india-rubber, or any other
flexible material, or a metallic substance, or the same may be connected by
joints or hinges, or may be put together in any convenient or practible manner.
I also insert a steel elastic spring with the leather or other strap to prevent
its stretching, and outside round the whole of the links I place one or more
elastic steel bands or straps, having holes to receive the dibble points, and
which band being slack has a constant tendency to force itself from the links,
thereby clearing off any earth sticking to them, a part of which band is shewn
in Fig. 8. F is the seed depositor, consisting of one or more wheels, on the
edge or edges of which are recesses at proper distances from each other and
of the necessary sizes, as the same may be required for wheat, barley, rye,
oats, peas, beans, potatoes, or other agricultural produce.
What I particularly claim in this part of my Invention is, the regulating
the revolution and arrangement of the seed depositor by strap or gearing, so
that it shall rotate in conformity with the dibbles and pressers, and cause the
seed to drop at any required distance and in any necessary quantity.
G is a case or cover in which the seed depositor revolves, having an opening
at the top under the hopper H, and another opening at the bottom I, when
the machine is in motion. As the recesses come to the hopper H, each recess
will receive a certain quantity of seed, and the case or edge of covering G
will strickle or prevent more than is requisite from leaving the hopper, and
retain it in the recess untill it gets to the dibble hole, where it is at once
deposited through the opening I, instead of having to run through a pipe or
tube as in the ordinary drilling process, which scatters the seed at irregular
distances and in uncertain quantities. L are the hoes and harrows, and consist
of one or more parts fastened together or seperate.
M, Fig. 4, represents an end view of link, with form of clearers to remove
clay or earth from the dibbles, to be placed where convenient. N, Fig. 1,
is a receptacle of any form or size for lime, dry ashes, sand, or other dry
material, as guano, tillage manure, &c., the same to be deposited in suit-
able quantities, and which is to be spread upon the land where required to
prevent the dibbles cloging or sticking in the holes, and may be constructed
on a similar principle to the seed depositor F. O is a guide wheel, or wheels
if necessary. Q is a metallic framing similar to those used on railway engines
or carriages, in which the axle S of the wheel R works, having a case or

page_text: housing for a spring or springs, as seperately shewn in Fig. 2, as follows:-S is
an end view of axle; B, brasses or necks; C, the buffer or spring rod, working
in housing D; E is a spiral spring; F, F, two or more curved or bent springs,
of suitable length and thickness, fitting in plate G, and encircled by spiral
spring H, and which resistance or buffer spring is intended to counteract any
shock or collission arising from any inequality of the road or otherwise; T, in
Fig. 1, is a similar frame or housing, having a lighter spring or atmospheric
buffer, and which is an application of the whole or any part of that part of my
Patent marked H, granted to me June 28th, 1855, No. 1472, and entitled, an
improved method of stopping or retarding railway trains. Fig. 3 is a form
of loose dibble, having a screw action and spring, so that when pressed into
the ground a rotary motion is produced, causing the iron to enter and leave
freely; Fig. 4, end view of link; Fig. 5, wheel for crushing, and spike roller
link; Fig. 6, hoes and harrows, with springs to regulate the same, so that they
can be raised and lowered at pleasure, thus making them act as light or heavy
ones; Fig. 7, side view of link, represented about half size, for wheat, &c.;
Fig. 8, steel elastic band, fitting outside dibbles to clear them.
The ground being properly prepared, the weight of the wheel A 1 presses in
the dibbles; and the wheel A 2 lifts them out; the seed will be deposited from F,
and the harrows cover in the same without disturbing it. I purpose placing the
hoes a little in advance of the rakes or harrows, to throw up the soil into the dibblo
holes, and also reserve to myself the option of placing them with the harrows
at the side of the machine if necessary, thereby giving an opportunity of seeing
the work properly done before harrowing. But I wish it to be distinctly
understood, that I do not confine myself to use the whole of this Invention,
apparatus, or improvements at one and the 'same time on all occasions, as in
some instances and on some soils dibbling may not be practible or preferred,
and pressing may be adopted with the use of seed depositor, &c. &c.; neither
do I confine myself to the precise or exact mode or method of fixing, placing,
or fastening any parts together, or separate, or to any particular or exact form,
length, strength, or number of dibble points, spikes, or harrows on the links or
framing or other part of the machine, but shall be regulated by circumstances
of necessity, utility, or convenience.
What I claim is, the right to use or adapt at any time the whole or
any part of these appliances or apparatus in any way desirable or con-
venient, as the same may be attached to any cart, roller, harrow, carriage,
dray, plough, or implement, to be used in transit or conveyance, farming
operations, or otherwise. And some of the advantages which I believe to
be derived are, that by the construction of the chain of links passing over

page_text: ono or more wheels, I form what may be termed a continuous railroad, enabling
a greater weight to be drawn when brought to bear upon the pressers, dibbles,
&c., by which also I am enabled to lift out the dibbles in an almost perpendicular
direction, and as before stated great regularity in sowing is secured, with con-
siderable facility for what is termed horse hoeing afterwards. And it is also
intended that the working wheels of the machine shall rise and fall in order
to allow the machine to travel on an ordinary road, in its transit from place to
place, without the pressers or dibbles touching the ground; the bearings of the
said wheels working in springs, and which are to be elevated or lowered by
the application of a screw or screws, lever, or otherwise.
And having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or
restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had
occasion to describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom
without deviating from the principles of my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Raywood, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this second day of May, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-six.