IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SOWING GRAIN
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Thomas Iughes, of the firm of Hughes &
Son, Patent Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
SOWING GRAIN." A communication from Auguste Alexandre Scabell,
resident at Nienhagen, in the Kingdom of Prussia.
Sealed the 1st November 1858, and dated the 9th June 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Thomas Hughes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 9th June 1858.
I, EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES, of the firm of Hughes & Son, Patent Agents,
123, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
SOWING GRAIN," as communicated to me by Auguste Alexandre Seabell, of
Nienhagen, in the Kingdom of Prussia, to be as follows:-
I construct a carriage on two wheels, and fix on it a cylinder made of tin
or any suitable metal or material, which rests on a tressel, and has a sowing
pipe passing through it, projecting a few inches over and under the cylinder.
I have also a sucker or piston extending to the bottom of the cylinder, which
serves to regulate the discharge of the seed, and a kind of window in it to
enable the attendant to ascertain the quantity of seed left in the cylinder. At
the top of the carriage I fix a marker, which digs a furrow where the seed is
spread, when the earth is covered over it by a rake and beaten down by a metal:

page_text: conical wheel or drum, so that when the carriage is put in motion the furrows
are made; the seed falls into it, and is spread in regular quantities; it is also
covered and the earth beaten down at the same time.
I regulate the wheels of the carriage on the axis by means of two screws,
which press more or less closely, according to the quantity of seed intended to
be spread, and the quantity of seed is regulated by a door or valve, which is
caused to open and close at any required distance.
The said machine or apparatus may be made either single or compound,
according as it is intended to be worked by man or horse; if the latter,
several cylinders with their concomitant adjuncts, as already described, may be
used.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Thomas Hughes in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 9th December 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
THOMAS HUONES, of the firm of Hughes and Son, Patent Agents, 123, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing dato the Ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, Her special licenco, that I,
the said Edward Thomas Hughes, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, 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, excrcise, and vend, within
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
SOWING GRAIN," a communication from Augusto Alexandre Scabell, resident
at Nienhagen, in the Kingdom of Prussia; upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, tho said Edward Thomas Hughes, my executors or admi-
nistrators, 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

page_text: six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, as communicated to me by the said Auguste Alexandre
Scabell, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
The said Invention consists of an improved sowing machine for agricultural
purposes, to be worked either by man or cattle, which will be clearly understood
by reference to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, with the figures and
Jetters of reference thereon; in which Fig. 1 is a side view of the machine,
to be worked by man; Fig. 2, a plan of the same, looking at the top; Fig. 3, a
plan thereof, looking at the bottom. Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, views of some
of the parts detached; and Figs. 10, 11, & 12, views of a modification of the
same. Fig. 13 is a plan of the machine to be worked by cattle; Fig. 14, an
end view thereof; Fig. 15, a side view of the same; and Fig. 16, a detached
section of the hopper and cylinder and the parts connected with it, drawn to
an enlarged scale.
In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, a represents a cylinder, made of any suitable metal or
material; b, a sowing pipe projecting above and below the said cylinder; c, a
piston passing through the sowing pipe to the bottom of the cylinder; d, a
plate of glass forming a window in the cylinder to enable the person in charge
to see the quantity of seeds in the interior. At the bottom of the carriage is
a share or cutter c, which enters the ground, and forms a furrow to receive the
seed as it issues from the sowing pipe, tho seed in the furrow being then
covered by means of the rake f. The frame y is for the purpose of holding
the sowing pipe in its place; h is an aperture, through which the seed is
conveyed to the cylinder, which aperture may be covered with any suitablo
material. The wheels of the carriage are fixed on the axle & by the screws i,
as seen in Figs. 2 & 3; the wheels beeing set at a greater or less distanco
asunder, according to the desired distance of one furrow from another. lis a
fork-shaped horizontal support made of wood, metal, or other material; m, a
toothed wheel fixed to the axle k, and geared to the toothed wheel n, so that
when the carriage is set in motion, the axle & turns the toothed wheels m and
n, and the seed pipe b. The metal balls is fixed to the axle k, and guides the
seed as it falls through the pipe. Fig. 4 is a detached view of the seed
pipe b, near the bottom of which is a hole p, through which the seed is passed
or driven, and then spread on the earth through the opening y; the said
opening p can be made to any required width by the piston c, Fig. 5, accord-

page_text: ing to the size of the seeds, by which also the precise quantity of seed required
for any given quantity of land can be regulated. Fig. 6 is a moveable shell,
surrounding the seed pipe b, so set that the holes of the shell and the pipe shall
form one and the same hole; the use of this shell in connection with the
piston is to form small or large square openings by being turned to the right or
to the left, the shell having for that purpose a number of divisions at the top
of it. is a sector, forming a door-shaped angle of about 45 degrees, covering
partially the hole in the shell and that in the pipe, and is for the purpose
of preventing the pipe being stopped by the seed. Fig. 7 shews the cylinder
with the sowing pipe attached. Fig. 8 is a detached view of the forked
support 7, shewn in Fig. 1, 2, and 3. Fig. 9 shews another construction of
the feed pipe, where the opening p is dispensed with; the pipe b being cut off
at the bottom of the cylinder, with the exception of a small part c, where the
peg d is fixed in it to facilitate the entrance of the seed into the pipe. In
this Fig. e represents the piston which is fixed in the pipe f, having at the
bottom a moveable disc g; h is a hoop furnished with a box to hold the pipe f
tight. Fig. 10 shows another modified construction of this apparatus by
having instead of the peg d, as shown in Fig. 9, a spherical cup or shell
screwed to the sowing pipe, and on the inner surface of the said cup or shell
are four spiral shaped ribs a, which conduct the seed into the sowing pipe, the
interstice between the bottom of the seed drum or cylinder and the said cup
or shell being closed by a ring made of metal, leather, or other suitable
material, and screwed fast to the hoop h. Figs. 11 and 12 are horizontal and
vertical sections of the cup or shell. The arrangements shown in Figs. 9
& 10 will be found the most useful for sowing different kinds of seeds, and
to arrange the machine for that purpose the piston must be raised a little to
allow some of the seeds to fall through the pipe to the ground, by which
process the proper quantity of seed to be sown will frequently be formed; but
to be certain, the best plan is to move the machine a few yards to ascertain
if you are correct, and if the seed does not pass in sufficient quantity raise the
piston a little more, and vice versa. In Figs. 13, 14, and 15, representing
the drill or sowing machine to be worked by cattle, a is the main body or
framing of the machine; b, the shafts; c, the wheels; d, the axle ; and e, the
feed pipes, passing through the hoppers or cylinders f. On the axle is placed
the bevil wheels 7, geared into other bevil wheels h, giving motion to the
chain drums i, which turn the feed pipes e by means of the chain & and drums
or pullies. The shares or cutters are shewn at m, and the rakes for covering
the seed with earth at n.
Having thus fully described the nature of the said Invention, and the

page_text: manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be distinctly under-
stood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein set forth, as
such may be varied or modified without departing from the principle thereof;
but I claim:
Firstly, the arrangement and construction of a machine or apparatus for
sowing seed, to be worked by man.
And, secondly, the arrangement and construction of a machine or apparatus
for sowing seed, to be worked by cattle, as herein described and illustrated in
the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of December, One thousand
cight hundred and fifty-cight.
EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named Edward Thomas Hughes, in pre-
sence of
G. A. GRÜNENWALD,
Clerk to Messrs. Hughes & Son.