A NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINE TO BE USED FOR CULTIVATING LAND, AND WHICH MAY BE MADE APPLICABLE AS A HOE, A SKIM, A TURF OR PEAT CUTTER, AND A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF ACTUATING THE SAID MACHINE AND OTHER MACHINES USED FOR LIKE OPERATIONS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Samuel Dawes, of Smethwick House, near
Birmingham, Gentleman, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
MACHINE TO BE USED FOR CULTIVATING LAND, AND WHICH MAY BE MADE
APPLICABLE AS A HOE, A SKIM, A TURF OR PEAT CUTTER, AND A NEW OR
IMPROVED METHOD OF ACTUATING THE SAID MACHINE AND OTHER MACHINES
USED FOR LIKE OPERATIONS."
Sealed the 19th April 1859, and dated the 9th November 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Samuel Dawes at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th November 1858.
I, JOHN SAMUEL DAWES, of Smethwick House, near Birmingham, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED
MACHINE TO BE USED FOR CULTIVATING LAND, AND WHICH MAY BE MADE APPLICABLE
AS A HOE, A SKIM, A TURF OR PEAT CUTTER, AND A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF
ACTUATING THE SAID MACHINE AND OTHER MACHINES USED FOR LIKE OPERATIONS," to
be as follows:-
The said machine for cultivating land consists of one or more rows of teeth,
tines, prongs, or cutters, fixed in an oblong or other suitably shaped frame,
made of wood or iron. The said frame is made to work freely within a second
strong frame, made either of wood or iron. The machinery by which the
inner frame carrying the teeth is driven is fixed on the outer frame. The
cultivator or inner moveable framework of teeth has such a motion given to it
Die 81

page_text: as herein-after explained, that the teeth enter the ground with a back move-
ment, the driving carriage at the same time progressing slowly forward. The
rows of teeth at every revolution of the wheels driving them, are caused to
strike and enter the ground at a point in advance of that at which the former
stroke commenced. By a suitable arrangement of the depth and number of
teeth in each row the land may be properly prepared by this one operation for
the reception of the seed; the motion of the teeth is cycloidal or nearly
cycloidal, and is obtained in the following manner :—The frame carrying the
teeth is supported and moved by four cranks attached to spur wheels connected
with the driving power. Two of the said cranks work in journals on each side
of the frame carrying the teeth, which sides of the frame answer the purpose
of connecting rods between each pair of cranks, exactly as the driving wheels
of a luggage locomotive are generally coupled together. The motion of the
frame carrying the teeth resembles the motion of the connecting rods of the
wheels of a luggage locomotive. By varying the form, length, and number
of the teeth or prongs, or substituting cutters in place of the teeth or prongs,
the machine described may be used as a hoe, or a skim, or for cutting turf
or peat.
My new or improved method of actuating the machine herein-before
described, and other machines used for like operations, consists in the use
of condensed air, which said condensed air I use in place of steam. I con-
dense air in portable reservoirs, which can readily be transported from the
place where the condensation is effected to the machine to be actuated, and
the reservoirs being suitably coupled or connected with the machine, the
condensed air-is allowed to act on the machine in a manner essentially
similar to the action of steam.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Samuel Dawes in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 6th May 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SAMUEL DAWES, of Smethwick House, near Birmingham, Gentleman, 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-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 John Samuel Dawes, Her special licence that I, the said
John Samuel Dawes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Samuel Dawes, 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINE TO BE USED FOR CULTIVATING
LAND, AND WHICH MAY BE MADE APPLICABLE AS A HOE, A SKIM, A TURF OR PEAT
CUTTER, AND A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF ACTUATING THE SAID MACHINE
AND OTHER MACHINES USED FOR LIKE OPERATIONS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Samuel Dawes, my executors or admini-
strators, 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 John Samuel Dawes, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say: - .
My Invention consists, firstly, of the machine for cultivating land herein-
after particularly described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing,
which said machine may also be made applicable as a hoe or a skim, or a turf
or peat cutter.
Figure 1 is a plan of the upper side of the said machine; Figure 2 is a side
elevation of the same; Figure 3 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same;
Figure 4 is a plan of the upper side of a modification of my Invention; and
Figure 5 is an end clevation of the said modification, the framework being in
section; Figure 5* illustrates a second modification of my machine; Figure 6
is a side elevation of an agricultural engine with my new or improved machine
attached thereto; Figure 7 is a perspective sketch of one of the cranked shafts
and portions of the frames of teeth. The same letters indicate the same parts
in the several Figures. The machine is constructed and works as follows:-
A series of teeth or fork tines, prongs, cutting teeth, or diggers, marked a, are
arranged in one, two, or more rows, the said rows of teeth being carried by
an oblong or other suitably shaped frame, or two or more frames b. The
teeth a may be made of iron or steel, or of steeled iron, and the frame may
be made of wood or iron. The frame or frames b work freely within another

page_text: strong frame of wood or iron c, which said frame c either forms part of the
traction carriage by which the machine is drawn along, or is attached under-
neath or thereto. The frames 6 carrying the rows of teeth a are carried by
cranked shafts or axles d, d, which said cranked shafts or axles work in
journals or bearings in, on, or under the frame c. The cranked shafts or
axles d, d, are coupled together on the outer sides of the machine as will be
understood by an examination of Figures 1 and 2. It will also be sen by
reference to the several Figures, that the cranks e on one side of the machine
are at right angles to the cranks on the other side of the said machine.
The cranks e, e, and t,f, are connected by rods or otherwise, with the motive
power or traction engine by which the machine is actuated. I prefer to con-
struct the frame carrying the teeth a in two parts, the said parts having an
alternating motion which is readily effected by giving the axles d the form_
represented in Figure 1. The outer frame c may carry a support across its
middle, marked 9, in Figures 4 and 5, for the purpose of supporting the
cranked axles at their middle, or the middle supports may be carried from
above, or there may be two supports as seen in Figure 5 A. The size .or
throw of the cranks will depend upon the depth to which it is desired to culti
vate the land. A length of from seven inches to a foot in the throw of the
cranks is sufficient for general purposes. As the machine is moved over the
land to be cultivated, and motion given to the cranked axles by which the series
or frames of teeth or tines are carried, the said teeth or tines enter the ground
and on rising again out of it throw the soil outwards. As the traction car-
riage by which the machine is drawn over the land progresses slowly forward,
the teeth or prongs a, after leaving the ground, are caused to re-enter it at a
short distance in advance of the point at which they previously entered. By
different arrangements of the rows of teeth or tines, and by varying the length
and form of the said teeth or tines, prongs or diggers, according to the nature
of the soil to be operated upon, and the depth to which it may be desirable for
the teeth or tines to penetrate the soil, almost any description of land may be
completely prepared for the reception of seed by one operation of the machine.
Figure 8 represents separately some of the forms of teeth which I prefer to
use. A drill may be conveniently attached to the machine preceded by a
revolving harrow, and followed by a light roll if desired. The direction in
which the machine moves, and also the direction in which motion is given
to the cranked axles d, d, are indicated by arrows in Figures 2, 3, and 6.
The motion of the teeth being compounded of the progressive motion of
the machine, and the motion of the cranked axles d, d, is of a cycloidal
nature. The manner in which the machine is connected with the loco-

page_text: motive power by which it is drawn over the land, and by which motion is
given to the cranked shafts or axles d, d, is illustrated in Figure 6, which said
Figure represents in side elevation an agricultural compressed air or traction
engine with my new or improved machine connected therewith. The piston
rod of the engine passes through the bottom as well as through the top of the
cylinder h. The upper ends of the piston rods operate upon the pinions i, and
through them and the gearing k, or through chain gearing communicate
motion to the driving or traction wheels 2 of the engine, causing the said
engine to move slowly over the land. The lower ends of the piston rods are
connected with the cranks e, f, of the cranked axles d, d, as represented, and
communicate motion thereto. The machine may be somewhat wider than the
engine, so as to act upon a width of land rather broader than that over which
the engine passes. At the after part of the machine a piston, to be acted upon
by steam or condensed air, or any other convenient apparatus may be applied
for raising the machine or cultivator out of the ground, but as the construction
of such apparatus, and also the requisite appliances for turning the machine at
the headlands are well understood, and form no part of my Invention, it is not
requisite further to describe or allude to them. By varying the form and
arrangement of the teeth or fork tines, cutting teeth, or diggers, the machine
may be used for various operations on the farm, such as hoeing or skimming
the surface, forking up switch or potatoes, digging out turves or peat. In
the latter operations, and when broad cutters or diggers are required, it is
convenient to turn such cutters or diggers on leaving the ground, which is
readily effected by the crank motion, as shown in Figure 9. And also
where such turves are required to be cut, it will be requisite that a row of
fixed coulters, arranged according to the breadth of the turves to be cut,
should precede the machine. Although I have represented the machine
actuated by a traction engine, yet the said machine may be worked by any
other means that may be found suitable.
My Invention consists, secondly, of the following method of working the
machine herein-before described, and other agricultural machines, by the use
of condensed air, which method of working is well suited for the purpose, and
more especially is it desirable in the numerous cases where a stream of water
can be employed to pump the air into receivers or reservoirs at little or no cost.
In carrying this part of my Invention into effect, I employ a water wheel
or other hydraulic motive-power engine, actuated by a stream of water, or I
employ any other motive-power engine, and by means of the said hydraulic or
other motive-power engine, I work a condensing pump or pumps, with which
I compress or condense air into strong metallic tubular or other receivers,

page_text: the said condensed air being readily transferred from the reservoir, where
condensation has been effected, to the agricultural engine or machine to be
actuated, the condensed air being used in place of steam. I do not think
it necessary further to describe or represent the mechanism employed to
carry this part of my Invention into effect, as the condensing pumps and
other parts of the necessary apparatus are of the construction ordinarily
employed for analogous purposes.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same may
be varied without departing from the nature of my lnvention; but I claim as
my Invention, firstly, the new or improved machine for cultivating land, and
for other agricultural operations, herein-before described and represented in
the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, a machine consisting of a series of
teeth, tines, forks, prongs, cutting blades, or diggers supported upon frames,
the said frames being carried by cranked axies, by.the motion of which, as the
machine is drawn over the land, the said teeth, tines, prongs, or cutters are
made to enter and rise again from the land by a nearly cycloidal motion.
Secondly, actuating my new or improved agricultural machine, and other
agricultural machines, by means of condensed air, the condensation of which is
effected in convenient reservoirs, filled at any suitable source of power, the
same being transferred as required to the agricultural machine to be actuated.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Samuel Dawes, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of May, in the year of our
Lord Oue thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JOHN SAMUEL DAWES. (L.S.) ·