IMPROVEMENTS IN CULTIVATORS, PLOUGHS, AND APPARATUS USED THEREWITH WHEN CULTIVATING AND TILLING LAND
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Smith, of Little Woolston, in the. County
of Buckingham, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CULTIVATORS,
PLOUGHS, AND APPARATUS USED THEREWITH WHEN CULTIVATING AND TILLING
LAND."
Sealed the 5th September 1861, and dated the 13th May 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Smith at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 13th
May 1861.
I, WILLIAM SMITH, of Little Woolston, in the County of Buckingham, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CUL-.
TIVATORS, PLOUGHS, AND APPARATUS USED THEREWITH WHEN CULTIVATING AND
TILLING LAND," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in implements and apparatus
used when cultivating and tilling land. For these purposes, in order that seed
drills may be employed with more advantage when cultivating land. by steam
or other power, each drill is, according to part of my Invention, arranged to
work with cultivating tines, one to each seed tube. A seed drill, when
arranged to work according to my Invention, is constructed in a similar
manner to the horse seed drills now used, but in place of the coulters now
employed to make the grooves or furrows in tilled land, I mount cultivating
tines on suitable bars or beams, which at their forward ends are attached to

page_text: a bar or axis in such manner that their after ends may rise and fall freely,
At the after end of each bar or beam is applied one or a pair of wheels to run
on the land, such wheels being capable of adjustment, in order to regulate the
depth of working of the tines. It is preferred that each drill should have
three sets of cultivating tines, each set consisting of three tines, and carried at
the after end of one of the beams or bars, but these numbers may be varied.
And it is also preferred that the tines should not be set in the same line
across the machine, but that in the two outer sets two tines should precede
the third, and in the middle set that one tine should precede the other two, so
that the tines will work in two lines across the machine, and they will work
in parallel lines equidistant from each other. The end of each beam or bar
will carry as many seed tubes as tines, and such tubes will be supplied in like
manner to what has heretofore been practised in horse seed drills. When
desired, the seed drills may be arranged to carry manure as well as seed. The
cultivators and seed tubes may be followed by a suitable harrow or rake
attached to the seed drill, and, if desired, a roller may follow the harrow.
In constructing ploughs suitable for tilling land by steam or other power
two ploughs are mounted on a short beam, one at each end thereof, in such
manner that one of the ploughs will be in use and below the beam, whilst
the other plough will be above the beam and out of action. One plough is
arranged to act when the beam is drawn in one direction, and the other plough
is arranged to act when the beam is drawn in the other direction. The two
ploughs are of the ordinary construction. At each end of the beam is applied
a guide wheel or a pair of wheels. The vertical axis which carries such
wheel or pair of wheels is arranged to receive a lever bar or handle in such
manner that a ploughman walking by the side of the plough may turn such
axis by means of the lever bar or handle. The guide wheel or wheels at, onc
end of the beam will be out of action and above the beam when the other
wheel or wheels are on the land and under the other end of the beam. When
the combined ploughs come to a headland, or otherwise to the end of a bout,
the plough beam will be forced on to its side, which will bring the plough
which has been in action to the surface of the land, and the other plough will
rest on the land, so that when the beam is drawn in the opposite direction it
will be caused to enter the land, and be raised by the ploughman into the
proper position, whilst the plough which has gone out of action will be above
the beam.
In order more conveniently to carry the rope used when tilling and cul-
tivating land where apparatus is anchored at a headland or other spot, in
place of employing a single grooved pulley as heretofore, I employ three

page_text: grooved pulleys or guiding rollers, which are of comparatively small diameter-
as compared with the bend desired to be given to the rope, and the axis of
such grooved pullies or rollers are set equidistant from each other in a curve,
by these means the use of a large grooved pulley in the anchored apparatus
is rendered unnecessary, and the working of the rope improved. The apparatus
used for supporting the rope intermediate of the anchored apparatus, and the
engine or drum which gives motion thereto, is as follows:-Two curved bearers
are employed in constructing what may be called a sledge; they are connected
together parallel to but at a distance from each other by transverse bars or
framings. One end of each of four rods is fixed to the two bearers, and the
other ends come together to support the axis of a grooved pulley or roller on
which the rope rests, hence should the sledge or stand not be correctly under
the rope, the action of the rope on the walls or flanges of the pulley or roller
will readily move the sledge into position by reason of its being capable of
rocking and sliding on the land.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th November 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SMITH, of Little Woolston, in the County of Buckingham, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her 'heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Smith, Her special licence that I, the said William
Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Smith, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CULTIVATORS, PLOUGHS, AND APPARATUS USED THEREWITH WHEN
CULTIVATING AND TILLING LAND," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Smith, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what

page_text: 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 William Smith, 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 fol-
lowing statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in cultivators, ploughs, and
apparatus used therewith when, cultivating and tilling land. For these pur-
poses, in order that seed drills may be employed with more advantage when
cultivating land by steam or other power, each drill is, according to part of my
Invention, arranged to work with cultivating tines, one to each seed tube. A
seed drill when arranged to work according to my Invention is constructed in a
similar manner to the horse seed drills now used, but in place of the coulters
now employed to make the grooves or furrows in tilled land, I mount culti-
vating tines on suitable bars or beams, which at their forward ends are attached
to a bar or axis in such manner that their after ends may rise and fall freely.
At the after end of each bar or beam is applied one or a pair of wheels to run
on the land, such wheels being capable of adjustment, in order to regulate the
depth of working of the tines. It is preferred that each drill should have
three sets of cultivating tines, each set consisting of three tines, and carried at
the after end of one of the beams or bars, but these numbers may be varied.
And it is also preferred that the tines should not be set in the same line across
the machine, but that in the two outer sets two tines should precede the third,
and in the middle set that one tine should precede the other two (or this
arrangement may be reversed), so that the tines will work in two lines across
the machine, 'and they will work in parallel lines equidistant from each other.
The end of each beam or bar will carry as many seed tubes as tines, and such
tubes will be supplied in like manner to what has heretofore been practised in
horse seed drills. When desired the seed drills may be arranged to carry
manure as well as seed. The cultivators and seed tubes may be followed by a
suitable harrow or rake attached to the seed drill, and if desired a roller may
follow the harrow.
Figure 1 is a side view, and Figure 2 a portion of a plan of a seed drill
arranged according to my Invention. a, a, is the frame of the implement; it
is carried at the back by two wheels b, b, and at the front it is furnished with
a socket a', through which the axis c descends; this axis is secured so as to
prevent it sliding lengthways in the socket, by means of the loop d through
eyes, in which the axis passes, and to which it is fixed by keys or pins e, e

page_text: f and fare chains attached to the loop d; they are connected with the
traction ropes, one of which is shewn at g. At the lower end of the axis a
horizontal bar or axle c¹ is fixed; this carries the two wheels h, h, which
sustain the fore part of the frame. On the upper end of the axis ca chain
wheel is keyed round it; a chain ; passes to another chain wheel k on the
vertical axis 7, carried by standards a³, a², of the frame; m is a hand wheel,
also fixed on the vertical axis 1, and by turning this wheel, as will readily be
seen, the implement may be steered; n is a bracket mounted on the axle c¹,
so that its outer end can be raised and lowered as required; the bracket also
moves towards one side or the other when the axis c turns in its socket;
between the two side plates of this bracket, and also between the two bolts
n', n', which connect them the one to the other, the chains f, f', pass; o is a
link adjustable in length, by means of which the outer end of the bracket n
may be set at any required elevation; it will be seen that if the bracket is
raised the traction chain will press down on the lower bolt of the bracket, thus
putting more weight on the fore wheels, and if the bracket is set low down the
traction chains will bear against the upper bolt of the bracket, so reducing the
weight on the fore wheels, and by this means the guiding power of the fore
wheels can be regulated; also, when the implement arrives at a headland, and
the chain f becomes the traction chain, the first strain upon it turns the
bracket n partly round, and this carries the wheels h, h, and puts them in a
suitable position to allow the head of the implement to come round, so that it
may return over the land; p is a horizontal axle or spindle ied by the
frame; it passes through the eyes q', q', formed at the ends of the levers, beams,
or bars q, q, so that these levers can turn on the axle p, their hinder ends rising
and falling as the indulation of the land over which the implement passes may
require; r, r, are washers which serve to keep the eyes q', q', at suitable distances
apart on the axle p. The hinder ends of the levers are, whilst the implement is
at work, kept constantly at the same distance above the land by the wheels s, s;
these wheels are mounted on vertical stems s¹, s¹, which pass through sockets
on the levers 9, 9, and are secured by set screws or otherwise so that the
distance of the hinder ends of the levers q above the land may be adjusted to
suit the work required; t, t, are tines secured to beams or bars 9 by keys, as
the Drawings clearly shew, or they may be otherwise held; these tines are
shewn in connection with each lever q; u, u, are pressers fixed behind each
tine and immediately in advance of the seed tubes v, v; the pressers are similar
to those now used in seed drills, but although they are shewn in the Drawings
it is by no means essential that such pressers should be employed. The seed
is supplied to the seed tubes from a seed box mounted on the frame in the

page_text: ⋅
usual manner; w, w, is a harrow, connected by chains to the hinder part of
the implement, and capable of being raised when required by winding up the
chains on to the roller w². Apparatus for dropping manure may be added to
the implement if desired. It will be remarked, that the tines t, t, stir the land
under the seed, whereas the pressers or coulters ordinarily employed in com-
bination with rising and falling levers only remove or press down the soil to
form a channel for the seed.
In constructing ploughs suitable for tilling land by steam or other power,
two ploughs are mounted on a short beam, one at each end thereof, in such
manner that one of the ploughs will be in use and below the beam, whilst the
other plough will be above the beam and out of action; one plough is arranged
to act when the beam is drawn in one direction, and the other plough is
arranged to act when the beam is drawn in the other direction. The two
ploughs are of the ordinary construction.. At each end of the beam is applied
a guide wheel or a pair of wheels. The vertical axis which carries such wheel
or pair of wheels is arranged to receive a lever bar or handle in such manner
that a ploughman walking by the side of the plough may turn such axis by
means of the lever bar or handle. The guide wheel or wheels at one end of
the beam will be out of action and above the beam when the other wheel or
wheels are on the land; and under the other end of the beam; when the com-
bined ploughs come to a headland or otherwise to the end of a bout the plougli
beam will be forced on to its side, which will bring the plough, which has
been in action, to the surface of the land, and the other plough will rest on
.the land, so that when the beam is drawn in the opposite direction it will be
caused to enter the land and be raised by the ploughman into the proper
position, whilst the plough which has gone out of action will be above the
beam.
Figure 3 is a side view of an implement thus arranged, and which is more
especially applicable for very deep ploughing. a is a beam, it may be either
of metal or wood, it has fixed to it, one at each end, two plough bodies b, b,
each provided with a mould board and share, in the usual manner;. c, c, are
two coulters corresponding with the two plough bodies, and also fixed to the
beam a, thus there is a complete set of tilling tools, consisting of a mould
board, a share, and a coulter on each side of the beam, and when one set is
at work the other set is above the beam. At each end of the beam there is
also placed a wheel d, the axis of which is carried by the upright stem e, and
these stems pass through sockets formed for them on the beam, these wheels d
alternately support the fore part of the beam and also the weight of the set of
tilling tools which is for the time being out of action; they also regulate the depth

page_text: of the work, their distance from the beam being capable of adjustment, as is well
understood, such wheels being commonly used in single ploughs. The head
of each of the stems e is made square to fit into a corresponding socket at the
end of the bent steering handle f, by means of which a man walking by the
side of the implement can guide it. At each end of the beam a a socket a¹ is
formed to receive a hand lever, which the ploughman, when the implement
comes to the headland, places therein, and by means of it he throws the
implement on its side and so extrecates it from the land; he then shifts the
hand lever to the socket at the other end of the beam, and by means of it so
places the implement that as soon as it commences to move on its return the
other set of tilling tools, or those which were before out of action) may pene-
trate the soil; be also moves the steering handle from the square head of one
of the stems e to that of the other; 9, 9, are hooks, one at each end of the
beam; they are for the purpose of attaching the traction ropes, the implement
being intended to be drawn to and fro by tackle actuated by steam power.
In order more conveniently to carry the rope used when tilling and
cultivating land where apparatus is anchored at a headland or other spot in
place of employing a single-groove pulley as heretofore, I employ three-
groove pullies or guiding rollers which are of comparatively small diameter
as compared with the bend desired to be given to the rope, and the axes of
such grooved pullies or rollers are set equidistant from each other in a curve;
by these means the use of a large grooved pulley in the anchored apparatus
is rendered unnecessary and the working of the rope improved.
A plan of this apparatus is shewn at Figure 4. a is a T-shaped piece of
wood or iron with a suitable loop attached to it to receive a chain by which
it may be attached to an anchor or post to secure it in any desired position;
c, c, c, are three stud axes fixed in the piece a, and having mounted on them
the three grooved pulleys d, d; this apparatus is placed at a point usually on
the headland where it may be desired to change the direction of the hauling
ropes, and is employed in place of a frame with one larger pulley heretofore
made use of, the rope passing round the three pulleys d, d, as shewn at e,
it is easy to see that in order to give so easy a bend to the rope by taking
it round a single pulley an apparatus of much larger size would be required,
hence the advantage of the arrangement described.
The apparatus used by me for supporting the rope intermediate of the
anchored apparatus, and the engine or drum which gives motion thereto is as
follows-Two curved bearers are employed, forming what may be called a
sledge; they are connected together parallel to but at a distance from each
other by transverse bars or framings; one end of each of four rods is fixed to

page_text: the two bearers, and the other ends come together to support the axis of a
grooved pulley or roller on which the rope rests, hence should the sledge or
stand not be correctly. under the rope, the action of the rope on the walls or
flanges of the pulley or roller will readily move the sledge into position by
reason of its being capable of rocking and sliding on the land. . A view of
this apparatus is shewn at Figure 5; a, a, are two curved pieces of wood or
rockers connected together by cross pieces b, b; these carry an-iron iframe c
supporting the pulley d on which the rope rests and it is kept in its place
by a small roller e which is put in after the rope is laid on the pulley, the
pin on which the roller turns being moveable. This instrument, it will be
seen, will support the rope so as to prevent it rubbing on the land and will
still allow it freely to take any direction towards which it tends, the rocker
frame sliding with facility over the land..
In witness whereof, I, the said William Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
WILLIAM SMITH. (L.S.)