AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR PLOUGHING AND SIMILAR AGRICULTURAL PUR- POSES
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Bickerton Greenwood, of 31, Monmouth Road,
<
Bayswater, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR PLOUGHING AND SIMILAR AGRICULTURAL PUR-
POSES."
A communication from abroad by Thomas Bond, of the City and
State of New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 3rd May 1878, and dated the 8th November 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Bickerton Greenwood
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th November 1877.
HENRY BICKERTON GREENWOOD, of 31, Monmouth Road, Bayswater, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman. "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR PLOUHING AND
SIMILAR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES." [A communication from abroad by Thomas
Bond, of the City and State of New York, United States of America.]
This Invention relates to a machine provided with a ploughshare, or furrowing,
or similar implement, and consists chiefly in the combination with the said plough-
share or other implement of apparatus whereby any person can manage a team
and do better work than the most skilful ploughman can perform without such
apparatus.
The said improved machine comprises the following parts, that is to say: It has.
a bar which extends across the machine, and at one side of the same is attached to
the ploughshare or other implement, and at its other side is supported by a suitable
bearing wheel.
When the said machine is constructed or adapted for use as a plough, the said
bar is rigidly secured by screw bolts and nuts or other convenient means to the
beam of a plough, and connected with a large regulating or bearing wheel by a
crank axle. Fastened to and supported by the said bar is the driver's seat.
I wish it understood that the said Invention comprises, not only the construction
of an entirely new machine for ploughing or other purposes, but is chiefly designed
to utilize existing ordinary ploughs and other agricultural implements by attaching
them to the novel driving attachment herein described.
.

page_text: Attached to the said bar by a hinge or other convenient means and at right
angles to it, is an arm furnished with a caster wheel and fitted with a curved rack
or toothed quadrant near the hinge. To each end of the said bar are secured.
toothed or notched quadrants.
The toothed quadrant at the end of the bar or side of the machine next to the
plough beam has in combination with it a hand lever, fulcrumed on a pin or stud
fixed in and projecting from the side of the said quadrant, and the part of the
said lever near its fulcrum or joint is formed with teeth which engage with the
said curved rack on the arm of the caster wheel. The said hand lever has a spring
bolt which engages with the teeth or notches of the quadrant on the said bar. By
means of this lever and bolt, the said caster wheel can be very readily raised and
lowered, as required, for regulating the plane of the said caster wheel.
At the other end of the said bar and firmly attached to the crank axle is another
lever and spring bolt or catch, working in conjunction with the quadrant affixed to
this end of the bar, by which means the said bar can be raised or depressed at will
to vary the angle of the plough or other implement, according to the condition of
the ground.
The parts of the said machine may be constructed of iron, steel, or other suitable
material; the said large or bearing wheel may be of wood, when found convenient.
With a machine constructed as above described, the driver, without leaving his
seat, can not only change the depth of the furrow and put the plough or other
implement in any desirable position, but can also cause the same to incline or lean
to. either side. Moreover the said machines, having only one bearing wheel, the
weight of the driver will reduce the friction on the land side of the machine,
and will diminish the draught.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Henry Bickerton Greenwood in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th May 1878.
HENRY BICKERTON GREENWOOD, of 31, Monmouth Road, Bayswater, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman. "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR PLOUGHING AND
SIMILAR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES." A communication from abroad by Thomas
Bond, of the City and State of New York, United States of America.
This Invention relates to a machine provided with a ploughshare, or furrowing,
or similar implement, and consists chiefly in the combination with the said plough-
share or other implement of apparatus whereby any person can ride and manage
a team and do better work than the most skilful ploughman can perform with-
Lout it
.
Figures 1 and 2 are side elevations; Figure 3 is a plan of the machine,
Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the Drawing.
The same machine is represented on each Figure.
The improved machine comprises the following parts, that is to say :-It has a
bar B which extends across the machine and is firmly attached at one end to the
ploughshare or other implement, or to the plough beam A, and is supported at the
other end by a bearing wheel C to which the said bar B is attached by a crank
axle O. Fastened to and supported by the said bar B is the driver's seat D.
This Invention comprises not only the construction of a machine for ploughing
or similar purposes, but is chiefly designed to utilize and improve existing ordinary
ploughs and such agricultural implements by attaching to them the novel riding
attachment herein described.
Attached to the said bar B by a hinge or other convenient means G and at right
angles to it, is an arm E furnished with a castor wheel F, and fitted with a curved
rack and toothed quadrant H near the hinge G. To each end of the said bar B
are screwed toothed or notched quadrants K. and L.
The toothed quadrants L at the end of the said bar B or side of the machine
next to the plough beam A, has in combination with it a hand lever M, and working
on a pin or stud M' fixed in and projecting from the side of the said quadrant L,
and the part of the said lever M near the fulcrum or joint is formed with teeth
which engage with the said curved rack H on the arm E of the caster wheel F.
The said hand lever M has a spring bolt m which engages with the teeth or notches
of the quadrant L on the said bar B. By means of this lever M and bolt m, the
said castor wheel can be very readily raised and lowered, as required, for regulating
the plane of the castor wheel, and thus governing the depth of the furrow.
At the other end of the said bar B and firmly attached to the crank axle O, is
another lever N and spring bolt or catch n working in conjunction with the toothed
or notched quadrant K. affixed to this end of the said bar B, by which means that
end of the said bar B can be raised or depressed at will to vary the angle of the
plough, so as to throw the weight of the driver on or off the supporting or bearing
wheel.
The attachment is fastened to the plough beam A by two clamps a, a, and may
be placed forward or backward, according to the nature of the soil.
The parts of the said machine may be constructed of iron, steel, or other suitable
material; the said large supporting or bearing wheel C may be of wood when
found convenient.
With a machine constructed as above described, the driver, without leaving his
seat, can not only perfectly regulate the depth of the furrow and put the plough in
any desirable position, according to the nature of the ground, but the said machine
having only one bearing wheel and the castor wheel being in a line with the point

page_text: of the plough, the depth of the furrow is not changed; if the large wheel runs over
a ridge or hollow, the plough will be inclined a little to one side or the other, but
the share will always run to the depth to which it is set. Further, the greater
part of the driver's weight resting on the wheel which takes the friction from the
land side of the plough, the draft is actually reduced.
The machine can be manufactured for either right or left handed ploughs.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, and shewn how the same may be
manufactured and used, I wish it to be understood that I claim,-
1st. The Invention of a machine for ploughing and other similar purposes, which
may be furnished with a ploughshare or other similar implement, or may be
attached to an ordinary plough and having one bearing or supporting wheel only.
2nd. The bar B rigidly secured to the ploughshare or to the plough beam A in
combination with the wheel C and crank axle O on lever N, substantially as and
for the purposes set forth.
3rd. The bar B rigidly secured to the ploughshare or similar implement or plough
beam A and supporting the driver's seat D, in combination with a wheel C or
equivalent device for keeping the plough in the desired position, for the purposes
set forth.
4th. The arm E, attached to or near the bar B, in combination with the castor
wheel F, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
5th. The lever M and arm E, attached to or near the bar B, in combination
with cog segments H and L, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
6th. The bar B, rigidly attached to the ploughshare or similar implement or to
the plough beam A, in combination with the wheel C, lever N, spring catch or
equivalent, and notched quadrant or rack K, substantially as and for the purposes
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Bickerton Greenwood, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.