Improvements in Cane Planters.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Jan., 1894-Accepted, 3ri Mar., 1894
WOMP DELE
Improvements in Cane Planters.
I EDUARDO MANUEL ACEVEDO, of 4 Mercaderes, Havana, Cuba, Commission
Merchant 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 :-
My invention relates to improvements in cane planters and it has for its object
to provide a machine of simple construction, which will be capable of cutting
the cane in suitable lengths for planting as fast as the cane can be fed to the
cutters, and of depositing the cut cane in furrows prepared to receive it while
the machine is advancing.
A further object of the machine is to provide a marker capable of being
carried to the one side or the other of the machine, a covering device whereby
the furrow after it receives the cane will be closed, and also a means for operating
the cutters and planting cylinders automatically while the machine is travelling
over the ground.
The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several
parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth and pointed out in the claims.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this
Specification, in which similar figures and letters of reference indicate corresponding
parts in all the views.
Figure 1 is a plan view of the machine. Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof,
the plough and a portion of the frame adjacent thereto being in section and
Figure 3 is a transverse section taken practically on line 3. 3 of Figure 1.
In carrying out the invention a body frame A is provided of any desired
length and width. Ordinarily this frame is of rectangular construction, com-
prising side beams, front and rear beams and intermediate cross beams,
together with two longitudinal yet spaced central beams 10 and 11, extending
from the rear end of the main frame beyond the forward end and provided at
the forward end with a caster wheel 12. In addition to the caster wheel 12 the
frame is supported upon a pair of wheels 14 mounted upon an axle 13 located
near the rear portion of the frame. Over that portion of the frame above the
axle, or more properly speaking, at the rear portion of the frame, a platform 15
is erected, upon which the cane to be cut and planted, is placed; and at one
side of the machine adjacent to the platform a seat 16 is securely attached to the
frame.
The planter B is located above the central beams 10 and 11 in advance of
the seat 16 and platform 15. The planter is of peculiar construction and is of
cylindrical shape, as shown in the cross section in Figure 3×; but at its rear end
the planter is conical, as shown at 17 in Figures 1 and 2. Thus the device
may be properly termed the planting cylinder or cylinder planter. The cylinder
has produced in its exterior surface any desired number of longitudinal pockets 18.
Ordinarily, however, three pockets are employed, as shown in Figure 3, and
the pockets are somewhat V-shaped in cross section and extend entirely through
the conical end of the cylinder, but not through its forward or squared end. The
pockets are made only of sufficient length to receive a joint of cane and a
sufficient length at each side of the joint to constitute a seed.
The planting cylinder is provided with trunnions 19, mounted in suitable
bearings 20 and 21 located upon the frame, and the cylinder is preferably
revolved by placing upon its rear trunnion a gear wheel 22, meshing with a
gear wheel 23, journalled upon a hanger 24, extending downward from the frame;

page_text: and meshing with a gear wheel 25, fast upon a longitudinal shaft 26, located
beneath the frame, one end being journalled in the hanger 24 and the other in
a box 27, located beneath the frame in front of the axle 13. The shaft 26
receives motion from the axle, through a bevel pinion 28 keyed thereon which
meshes with a like pinion. 29, fast upon the rear end of the shaft.
The planting cylinder is enclosed upon one side, preferably the left-hand side,
by a semi-circular casing or shell 30, supported upon the frame, while the frame
beneath the cylinder is open, as shown in Figure 3, so that when a pocket is
brought to a lowermost position the contents thereof will be dropped therefrom.
The shell or casing 30, serves to hold the contents of the pocket in place while
the cylinder is being revolved to carry the pocket from an upper to a lower
position. When a pocket reaches its lowest position its contents are dropped in a
furrow 31, formed immediately beneath the pocket by means of a plough C. The
plough is of somewhat peculiar construction, and comprises a share 32, provided
with a wing or mould-board 33, at each side, and as the plough advances the seed
cane dropping from the cylinder B enters the furrow between the wings 33 of the
plough as shown in Figure 2. The plough is provided with an upwardly-extending
arm 34, pivotally attached to the upper central portion of its share, and this arm is
carried upward above the frame and in front of the planting cylinder, and is
adjustably attached to a lever 35, preferably of the elbow pattern, fulcrumed upon
a support 36, located upon the frame preferably over the central beams 10 and 11;
and the support has ordinarily formed upon its upper end a rack 37, to be engaged
by a thumb latch 38, or the equivalent thereof, and by this means the plough is
raised or lowered as occasion may demand. The plough is held in connection with
the frame by means of bracket arms 39, attached at the rear portion of its wings,
the said bracket arms being carried upward and pivotally connected with the central
beams 10 and 11 of the frame, as shown in Figure 2.
At the rear of the frame a furrow covering device D, is located. The covering
device comprises two beams 40 and 41, which are pivotally attached at their upper
ends to the outer faces of the central beams 10 and 11 of the frame. The covering
beam 40, is at the right of the machine and the beam 41 at the left. The right-
hand beam extends further rearward than the left-hand one, and the two beams at
their outer ends are bent inward toward each other, so much so that the left-hand
beam extends practically at a right angle to the right-hand one, but leaving an
intervening space between the two. Each of the cover beams 40 and 41, at their
outer portions, or those portions extending beyond the rear of the frame, are
provided with downwardly-extending cover boards, fenders or plates 42, arranged
at suitable distances apart, and the two cover beams are connected by a link 43,
attached at its central portion to a crank arm 44, projecting from a shaft 45,
journalled transversely beneath the rear portion of the frame. Through the medium
of this shaft the cover beams are raised and lowered as occasion may demand, and
the shaft is manipulated by connecting with it a lever 46, which lever is preferably
carried along the left-hand side of the frame to a point adjacent to the driver's seat,
and is provided with a suitable rack, as shown in Figure 2.
It is often necessary or desirable that the next row to be planted should be
marked out on the ground while the first is being planted, and to that end a
marker E, is connected with the machine, the said marker consisting of a bar 47,
hinged or pivotally attached preferably to the central rear portion of the main
frame, the bar being of sufficient length to extend outward beyond the sides of the
frame, so that it may be carried either to the right or to the left according to the
side upon which the marker is to be employed. The marker proper consists of a
wheel 48, Figures 1 and 2, which turns upon the end of the bar 47. The wheel
itself does not come in engagement with the ground, but the ground is pressed by a
series of marking fingers 49, arranged around the periphery of the wheel.
The cane, when placed upon the platform 15 is in lengths too long to be planted,
and it is cut up into suitable lengths when it is introduced into the pockets 18 of
the planting cylinder by means of a knife 50, which is preferably securely fastened

page_text: to the top of the box in which the inner journal of the planting cylinder turns, as
shown in Figures 1 and 2, the knife being so shaped as to closely hug the conical
portion 17 of the planting cylinder, and the cutting edge being preferably made to
face the left, at which side the operator is seated.
Thus, in operation, as the machine is drawn forward a furrow is made and the
planting cylinder is revolved. The operator takes from the platform a length of
cane and passes one end into the uppermost pocket of the planting cylinder until a
joint is about centrally located within the pocket, and as the cylinder is revolved at
that time the cane is carried in contact with the cutting end of the knife and
separated between the joints, thus leaving the cane in condition to be introduced
into the next pocket which comes uppermost, and this operation is repeated as long
as the planting is to be continued. After the pockets of the cylinder have received
seed, the filled pockets are carried downward along the side of the shell or casing 30,.
and after the said shell or casing has been passed and a pocket reaches practically
its lowermost position, the seed drops from the pocket and falls between the
fenders 33 of the plough and into the furrow, as shown in Figure 2. The furrow
is closed by the covering devices D, almost immediately after the seed has been
dropped therein, while the marking wheel indicates either at the left or at the
right of the machine the path to be taken by the plough in making the next
furrow.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inveu
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is,
1. A cane planter, substantially as shown and described.
2. In a planter, a revolving seed box provided with a series of pockets adapted
to receive cane, and a knife held stationary at one end of the box, whereby cane
placed in the box will be cut automatically in suitable lengths, as and for the
purpose set forth.
3. In a cane planter, a planting cylinder, and means for revolving the same, said
cylinder being provided with pockets to receive the cane and held to revolve in
close proximity to a knife, as and for the purpose set forth.
4. In a cane planter, the combination, with a revolving cylinder provided with
pockets to receive cane, of a shield or fender located at one side of the cylinder,
and a stationary knife located in close proximity to one end of the cylinder, as and
for the purpose specified.
5. In a cane planter, the combination, with a revolving seed box provided with
a series of pockets in its exterior surface, one end of the box being conical or
bevelled, of a shield located opposite one side of the box, and a stationary knife
extending over the conical or tapering end of the box, as and for the purpose set
forth.
6. In a cane planter, the combination, with a revolving seed box having a tapering
or bevelled surface at one end and provided with pockets produced longitudinally
and exteriorly therein, the said pockets extending through the conical end, of a
shield located at one side of the box, and a stationary knife extending over the
tapering end of the box, whereby the pockets, as the box is revolved, are brought
beneath the knife, as and for the purpose specified.
7. In a cane planter, the combination, with a revolving cylinder having exterior
pockets, and a shield located adjacent to one side of the cylinder, of a knife held
stationary and extending over the pockets of the cylinder as the latter is revolved,
and a plough located beneath the cylinder, the said plough being provided with
side fenders extending rearwardly from the share, as and for the purpose set forth.
8. In a cane planter, the combination, with a revolving seed box having exterior
pockets produced therein, a shield located at one side of the box, and a stationary
knife extending over the pockets as the box is revolved, of a plough located beneath
the cylinder, comprising a share and fenders projected rearwardly from each side of
the share, the pockets in the seed box being adapted to drop their contents

page_text: between the fenders of the plough, and a covering device located at the rear of the
seed box and following the path of the plough, as and for the purpose specified.
9. In a planter, a covering device, the same consisting of two beams having their
inner ends connected with a planter and their outer ends carried one in advance of
the other, the outer ends of the beams being also at angles to each other, and
covering boards connected with the beams, as and for the purpose set forth.
10. In a planter, the combination, with the frame of the planter, of two covering
beams pivotally connected with the frame, the opposite ends of the beams being
carried one in advance of the other and one at an angle to the other, and means,
substantially as shown and described, for raising or lowering the covering beams,
as and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 27th day of January 1894.
E. M. ACEVEDO,
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.