IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Edward Ransome, of Ipswich, in the
County of Suffolk, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PLOUGHS."
Sealed the 3rd October 1878, and dated the 8th August 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Edward Ransome
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 8th August 1873.
I, JAMES EDWARD RANSOME, of Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in ploughs.
1st. Part. The first part of my Invention consists of a simple and
economical method of firmly attaching the bodies of double furrow and
3. furrow ploughs so as to admit of lateral adjustment. For this purpose,
and to obtain the requisite stiffness, I employ either a single wood beam
or one made of wrought iron of a tubular section.
•
In double furrow ploughs I attach the hind body rigidly to the hind
part of the beam at a suitable distance in advance of the hind body, and.

page_text: to the right-hand side of the beam I attach rigidly a bracket, the front
face of which stands at right angles to the beam. This bracket I make
of cast iron of a hollow section to obtain the greatest amount of rigidity,
or in some cases I use a suitable form of wrought iron. The top of the
front body is formed with a flange at right angles to the direction of
motion (at right angles to the beam). This flange fits the front face of
the bracket attached to the beam, and by means of bolts working in
slots or in separate holes, or by means of clamps the front body is
rigidly fixed to the bracket at any desired distance from the beam. In
this manner at whatever distance from the beam the body may be fixed
it will always stand parallel to the beam, while the strain of the work
done by the share and breast is carried through the bracket to the
beam.
| For convenience of attaching the coulter and skim coulter to the
forward or adjustable plough body I rivet or otherwise attach a plain :
wrought-iron bar thereto, and to ensure the lateral stiffness of the bar I
clamp the forward end to the wrought-iron bracket, which projects from
the side of the wood beam and carries the front furrow wheel. The
coulter and skim coulter are attached to the bar by any of the usual
methods.
I construct a simple three furrow plough on the above plan by
attaching the hinder plough body to a similar bracket on the left-hand
side of the beam, the middle plough body direct to the beam at about
the middle of its length, and the forward body to a bracket on the right-
hand side of the beam, as above described.
2nd. Part. The second part of my Invention consists of novel
mechanical arrangements for effecting a parallel and lateral movement
of the leading furrow wheel of double and multiple furrow ploughs.
For this purpose the ordinary upright (or nearly upright) wheel shank
has a transverse horizontal socket on its lower end; the bar which carries
the wheel is made to slide horizontally in this socket, and is moved at
pleasure by the attendant by means of a lever, which is centered on a
pivot projecting from and attached to the lower end of the upright
wheel shank, and which lever reaches back to the plough handles. A
notched bar is placed in a convenient position to retain the lever and so
fix the furrow wheel as required.
3rd. Part. The third part of my Invention consists of an improvement
in the means of adjustment of those double and multiple furrow ploughs

page_text: which have two or more beams running parallel to each other. It has
been usual to adjust such beams to the various widths of furrow by
means of two screwed studs rivetted into the fixed beam, and passing
through holes in the adjustable beam, this beam being held in its place
by means of a couple of nuts screwed up tight on either side of the
beam on each of the said studs. Unless great care is taken in securing
the nuts to the same distance from the fixed beam at each end of the
beam the adjustable beam is not kept parallel to the fixed beam, and
the working of the plough is seriously interfered with from one plough
body running in one direction whilst the other has a tendency to run in
another direction, and causing extra draught and inferior ploughing. To
remedy this and to ensure the beams being always moved parallel to
each other I couple together two of the nuts, one on each stud, by
preference the two inside ones, so that one nut cannot be turned without
the other, and the nuts being once placed on the studs at equal distances
from the fixed beam they must always remain at equal distances,
however much they may be either screwed in or out without any care
on the part of the ploughman, who has only to force the adjustable
beam against the coupled nuts by screwing the uncoupled nuts tight,
and the adjustable beam will be fixed parallel to the fixed beam.
To couple the pair of nuts together I make the nuts larger than
usual in outside diameter, and form a pitch chain wheel on their
peripheries. By passing a continuous pitch chain round the two nuts
any motion given to one nut is communicated to the other, so that they
work together.
When more than two studs are employed I couple one nut on each
stud with the nut on the next stud in the same way as above described,

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said James Edward Ransome, Her special license,
that I, the said James Edward Ransome, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Edward Ransome,
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 PLOUGHS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said James Edward Ransome, 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 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 James Edward Ransome, 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 :—
This Invention has for its object improvements in ploughs.
The first part of my Invention consists of a simple and economical
method of firmly attaching the bodies of double furrow and 3 furrow
ploughs, so as to admit of lateral adjustment. For this purpose, and to
obtain the requisite stiffness, I employ either a single wood beam or one
made of wrought iron of a tubular section.
In double furrow ploughs I attach the hind body rigidly to the hind
part of the beam. At a suitable distance in advance of the hind body,
and to the right-hand side of the beam, I attach rigidly a bracket, the
front face of which stands at right angles to the beam. This bracket I
make of cast iron of a hollow section to obtain the greatest amount of
rigidity, or in some cases I use a suitable form of wrought iron. The
top of the front body is formed with a flange at right angles to the

page_text: direction of motion (at right angles to the beam). This flange fits the
front face of the bracket attached to the beam, and by means of bolts
working in slots or in separato holes, or by means of clamps, the front
body is rigidly fixed to the bracket at any desired distance from the
beam. In this manner at whatever distance from the beam the body
may be fixed, it will always stand parallel to the beam, while the strain
of the work done by the share and breast is carried through the bracket
to the beam.
For convenience of attaching the coulter and skim coulter to the
forward or adjustable plough body, I rivet or otherwise attach a plain
wrought-iron bar thereto, and to ensure the lateral stiffness of the bar I
clamp the forward end to the wrought-iron bracket, which projects from
the side of the wood beam, and carries the front furrow wheel. The
coulter and skim coulter are attached to the bar by any of the usual
methods.
I construct a simple three furrow plough on the above plan by
attaching the hinder plough body to a similar bracket on the left-
hand side of the beam, the middle plough body direct to the beam at
about the middle of its length, and the forward body to a bracket on the
right-hand side of the beam, as above described.
The second part of my Invention consists of novel mechanical arrange-
ments for effecting a parallel and lateral movement of the leading furrow
wheel of double and multiple furrow ploughs. For this purpose the
ordinary upright (or nearly upright) wheel shank has a transverse hori-
zontal socket on its lower end. The bar which carries the wheel is made
to slide horizontally in this socket, and is moved at pleasure by the
attendant by means of a lever, which is centered on a pivot projecting
from and attached to the lower end of the upright wheel shank, and
which lever reaches back to the plough handles. A notched bar is
placed in a convenient position to retain the lever, and so fix the furrow.
wheel as required.
The third part of my Invention consists of an improvement in the
means of adjustment of those double and multiple furrow ploughs which
have two or more beams running parallel to each other. It has been
usual to adjust such beams to the various widths of furrow by means of
two screwed studs riveted into the fixed beam and passing througn
holes in the adjustable beam, this beam being held in its place by means

page_text: same.
On Sheet 2 Figure 8 shews another form of bracket made of wrought
iron for carrying the front body, which is shewn bolted to it; Figure 9 a
side elevation of the same; Figure 10, an end elevation,
Figures 11 and 12 shew a different arrangement for attaching the
bracket to a tubular beam,
Figures 18 and 14 shew the same bracket attached to a wrought beam
of a double T section.
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Figures 1 and 2 are double furrow ploughs. A, B, is a single beam, in
this instance made of wood, to which the two bodies O and D of the
double furrow ploughs are attached. The hind or fixed body with its
breast and share O is bolted directly on to the beam. The front or
adjustable body D is bolted on to a bracket E, standing at right angles
with the beam A, B. This bracket is made, by preference, of cast iron
or steel of a tubular section, having a flange at its base, and is rigidly
bolted to the beam. The top of the plough body or skife D is made to
fit the front face, and the under side of the tubular bracket and bolts
passing through the body and through the bracket hold the body firmly
) in its place. There are slots provided in the bracket to allow of the body
being moved closer to or further from the beam, as required to suit the
various widths of ploughing.
The coulter F is attached to a bar running from the front skife to the
bracket which carries the leading or furrow wheel, and is consequently
5 moved further from or nearer to the plough beam whenever the front
body is moved.
Figure 8 is a plan of a three-furrow plough constructed on the same
principle as Figures 1 and 2, the front body being carried on a bracket J
attached to the right-hand side of the beam, the fixed body to the beam
Ditself, and the hind adjustable body to a bracket K on the left-hand side
of the beam at the rear. The single beam to which the bodies are attached
is of wrought iron of a tubular section, shewn at L.
Figures 4, 5, 6, and 7, shew enlarged views of the bracket E, the
body D, with the means of adjustment, and the method of attaching the
5 bar which carries the coulter.

page_text: rigidly bolted to the beam, which has a front face N, O, standing at
right angles to the beam, and on which the front body can be moved at
right angles to the beam, and bolted at any convenient distance there-
from.
In Figures 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 a tubular beam is shewn. In
Figures 8, 9, and 10 there are distance pieces inscrted inside the beam,
to keep it from drawing in when the bolts are tightened. In Figures 11
and 12 a plate is placed outside the beam to effect the same object.
5
Figures 13 and 14 shew a similar bracket attached to a beam of double 1
T section.
Sheet 3 contains Drawings of the method adopted for effecting the
parallel and lateral motions of the leading furrow wheel of double and
multiple furrow ploughs.
Figure 1 is an elevation, and Figure 2 a plan of a double furrow 1
plough with the apparatus attached, and on a larger scalo; Figure 3
shews a side elevation; Figure 4 an end elevation; and Figure 5 a plan
of the same apparatus.
Figures 6 and 7 shew sectional details in elevation and plan of the
connection between the lever and the horizontal sliding bar, together 2
with the horizontal socket and the stalk supporting the same.
In Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 A is the furrow wheel of a double furrow
plough mounted on a horizontal axle B, C. This axle is carried by the
upright wheel shank D, at the lower end of which a transverse horizontal
socket E is fixed through which the horizontal bar B, C, can be made to 2
slide transversely, so as to bring the furrow wheel A nearer to or further
from the plough. The lever F, G, which is centred on the fore end of a
pivot G projecting from and attached to the lower end of the upright
wheel shank D, reaches back to the handles at F and is there operated
upon by the ploughman. This lever is connected with the horizontal 3
axle by an adjustable block H which slides on the horizontal axle B, C,
and is fixed in any desired position on the axle by the set screw I. The
details of this adjustable block will be seen in Figures 6 and 7, and are
herein-after more fully described.
Attached at a convenient distance along the beam is a notched bar K, 3
•

page_text: When the lever F, G, is moved from F to F it works on the pivot G,
carries with it by means of the block H, the horizontal axle B, O,
causing it to slide in the horizontal socket E, and thereby moves the
furrow wheel A further from the plough body.
In Figures 6 and 7 B, C, is the horizontal axle; D, the vertical stalk;
E, the transverse horizontal socket; G, the pivot projecting from and
attached to the lower end of the wheel shank D, on which the lever F, G,
turns when operated upon by the ploughman; H is the adjustable socket
sliding on the axle B, C, and retained in its position by the set screw I.
In Figure 6 M is a notched collar working on the set screw I which
keeps the lever F, G, from being lifted off the pivot. This arrangement
enables the furrow wheel of a double or multiple plough to be brought
nearer to or further from the plough body by the ploughman when at
work without stopping the plough, and causes a wider or narrower
furrow to be cut so that any irregularity in the line of the furrow may
be corrected at pleasure.
On Sheet 4 Figure 1 shews a plan of the beams of a double furrow
plough in which the beams are placed parallel to each other. The
beams A, B, C, D, are retained at the right distances apart by means of
two or more studs E rivetted into the fixed beam A, B, and passing
through holes in the adjustable beam C, D. The adjustable beam is
held in its position by means of a couple of nuts F, F, being screwed up
tight on either side of the beam on each of the said studs. If great care
is taken it is possible by this method to move the beams parallel to each
other when the width of the furrow requires to be altered as shewn
at O¹, D¹; but unless great care is taken, which is not usual on the part
of the ploughman, the beams are often set wider at one end than the
other, as shown by the second dotted line 0°, D¹, in which case the
correct working of the plough is very seriously interfered with and extra
draught as well as bad ploughing is caused.
In Figures 2 and 3 are shewn Drawings of a new method to ensure
the parallel adjustment of the beams.
Figure 2 is a plan, and Figure 3 an elevation of the parallel beams of
a double furrow plough in which the general arrangement for connecting
the 2 beams is preserved. Instead however of 2 ordinary nuts being
placed on either stud on the inner side of the beam there are 2

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beam and the bracket.
In Figures 8 and 9 the nuts L and L' have worm wheel teeth formed
on their peripheries; into these teeth a pair of worms U and U' work;
5 these worms are mounted on one shaft R which is carried in brackets V
and V¹ attached to the adjustable beam O, D.
When motion is imparted to the shaft R the worms U and U¹ move
simultaneously, and the nuts L and L' are turned an equal number of
revolutions.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that what I
claim is,-
1st. The use of brackets, substantially such as herein-before described,
fixed at right angles to the beam of double and multiple furrow ploughs,
5 and having faces against which the adjustable bodies of such ploughs
are rigidly bolted for the purpose of carrying the bodies.
2nd. The general arrangement for constructing double and multiple
furrow ploughs, substantially as herein-before described.
3rd. The method of effecting a parallel and lateral movement of the
O furrow wheel of double and multiple furrow ploughs, substantially as
herein-before described.
4th. The employment of coupled nuts for insuring the parallek
adjustment of the beams of double and multiple furrow ploughs, sub-
stantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Edward Ransome, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of February, in
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