AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SOWING AND PLANTING
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles de Fever, of No. 10, Ruc de la Fidélité,
Paris, in the Republic of France, Civil Engineer, for the Invention
of "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SOWING AND PLANTING."
Sealed the 10th July 1874, and dated the 16th January 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles de Fever at.
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 16th January 1874.
I, CHARLES DE FEVER, of No. 10, Rue de la Fidélité, Paris, in the
Republic of France, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SOWING AND PLANTING,”
to be as follows, that is to say:—
This Invention consists in the construction of an improved machine
for sowing like the ordinary drills, and also and more particularly for
planting, that is to say, for dropping on to the land either one at a time.
or in packets or groups at certain predetermined distances apart as
required for Indian corn, beans, beetroot, cotton, and the like.

page_text: This improved machine consists of the principal parts of an ordinary
drill. I add thereto on the nave of one of the wheels a cog wheel
giving motion (by means of a pinion which may be put out of
gear) to a second pinion mounted on a shaft provided for the purpose.
This shaft is provided with as many disks or pullies as there are
furrows to be sowed. On the periphery of these disks are receivers or
wells for receiving the seed or seeds. The disks turn under a hopper full
of seed, and the receivers in turning with the disks pass along a spring
blade retaining the seed until it reaches the lower part of the circum-
ference, where the spring no longer protrudes, and the seed slides into
the ordinary furrow tube of the drill.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Charles de Fever in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th July 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
DE FEVER, of No. 10, Rue de la Fidélité, Paris, in the Republic of
France, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Charles de Fever, Her special licence
that I, the said Charles de Fever, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles de Fever, 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

page_text: vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
MACHINE FOR SOWING AND PLANTING," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Charles de Fever, 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 Charles de Fever, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereto
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to
say:―
This Invention consists in the construction of an improved machine
or drill for sowing like the ordinary drills, and also and more particularly
for planting, that is to say, for dropping on to the land either one at a
time or in packets or groups, at certain predetermined distances apart
as required, seed for Indian corn, beans, beetroot, cotton, and the like.
This improved machine consists of the principal parts of an ordinary
drill. I add thereto on the nave of one of the wheels a toothed
wheel giving motion (by means of a pinion which may be put out of
gear) to a second pinion mounted on a shaft provided for the purpose.
This shaft is provided with as many discs as there are furrows to be
sowed. On the periphery of these discs are receivers for receiving the
seed or seeds. The discs turn under a hopper full of seed, and the
receivers in turning with the discs pass along a spring blade retaining
the seed until it reaches the lower part of the circumference where the
spring no longer protrudes, and the seed slides into the ordinary furrow
tube of the drill.
By combining the speed of the wheel with that of the disc with the

page_text: Two kinds of grain may be sowed at the same time by putting two
discs in communication with the same furrow tube.
To make.my Invention better understood I will proceed to describe the
same by reference to the accompanying Drawing, in which Figure 1 is a
side elevation and Figure 2 a back view of my improved machine.
A: is the frame of the machine the axle of which carries two driving
wheels C as usual. On the nave of one of these wheels is fixed a toothed-
wheel J communicating motion to a pinion K (provided with an
ungearing lever L), and thence to a pinion M keyed on the shaft N.
Two parallel cross bars D sliding at each end from top to bottom enter
two grooves or slides F, of iron or other suitable material, and support
the furrowers E, the number and distances apart of which vary
according to the nature of the land and the seed to be planted .or
sown.
The height of the cross bars can be varied by means of the lever H,::
which supports them through the rod G, which is kept in place by means
of a hook or other suitable contrivance.
Above the furrowers are placed the tubes I, carrying funnels at the
top, which receive the seed from the distributing discs. These dis-
tributing discs are keyed on the shaft N, and each is constructed of a 2
pulley sheave, having recesses or receivers a on its circumference, which
serve to receive the quantity of seed to be planted at one time and at a
given point. I combine the size of the wheels and the pinions with the
diameter of the discs in such a manner that the speed at the circum-.
ference of the discs shall be the same as that of the driving wheels C in 2
order that the seed may be deposited at distances apart cqual to the dis-
tance between the receivers a on the discs P. The discs may be so keyed
on the shaft N that the receivers may be arranged in such a manner that
the seed of one series of discs shall fall in a line perpendicular to the:
direction of the machine, or so that the planting on one point of a furrow
shall be at any required distance in advance or behind that of the
following or next furrow.
The same furrower may be put in communication with the bottom of
two or more discs so as to deposit or sow various kinds of seed at one

page_text: In a similar manner manure may be distributed at the same time as
the seed. The same result is obtained by employing a double hopper
supplying the same disc.
When seed mixed with down such as cotton or other like seed is to be
planted its fall is facilitated by means of an auxiliary shaft (Figure 4)
provided with teeth entering the bottom of the hoppers and assisting the
fall of the seed. This shaft is driven by the pinion N or otherwise.
The seed from the hoppers O falls on the discs P, each of which is
placed in a hollow piece of wood Z, Figure 3. At d is a small plank of
hard wood inclined towards the centre of the disc and placed in grooves
or channels without rubbing on the disc c is another piece of wood or
sheet iron, less inclined than the piece d, and leaving a play of about
one-twelfth of an inch on the disc; at f is a steel blade fixed to the
spring and slightly inclined so as to shave the seed; the plate e holds
the seed in the hopper so that it shall not be cut by the spring blade f;
6 is a triple steel spring fixed at g. One part of this spring, which is in
the form of a spring blade, sits against the surface of the disc so that
the seed entering the receivers at the upper part cannot fall out before
the receivers arrive at m.
Instead of this arrangement of the disc I can employ the arrangement
shewn in Figure 5. P is the disc made of cast iron, in which are placed
metal pieces m¹ cut with a dovetail, and which can be drawn sideways
by sliding them. These pieces, to the number of two, three, or more,
are each provided with a recess n' for receiving the seed similarly to the
recesses a, Figure 3. I can replace the spring by a continuous metallic
casing 6 perforated at the top for communicating with the hopper d, e,
and at the bottom to allow of the escape of the grain. This casing is
provided with a foot or stand S, T, provided with screw nuts for fixing it
on the base plate X, Y.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and the best
means I am acquainted with for carrying the same into effect, what I
claim is,
-
Firstly. The general arrangement and construction of an improved
machine or drill for sowing or planting seed, as herein-before described
and represented in the accompanying Drawing.

page_text: Secondly. The employment of distributing discs provided with
receivers covered by a spring blade or by a continuous casing regu-
lating the time of fall of the seed, the motion of such discs being
combined with the motion of the driving wheels of the machine so as to
deposit the seed at certain predetermined distances apart.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles de Fever, have hereto
my hand and seal, this Eighth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
set