IMPROVEMENTS IN CULTIVATING IMPLEMENTS
Year: 1859

page_text: Sealed the 27th October 1859, and dated the 29th April 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Smith at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th April 1859.
I, THOMAS SMITH, of Bredfield, in the County of Suffolk, do hereby declare
the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CULTIVATING IMPLEMENTS,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in cultivating implements.
For these purposes an implement may consist of one or more sets of tines or
teeth, and the forms of the ends or points of the teeth or tines may be varied
according to the class of work they are intended to perform, and such ends or
points may be moveable so that one implement may at different times work
with different forms of points or ends to the tines. The tines are bent, the
forward edges being concave and the hinder edges convex. When having a
single set or row of tines or teeth across an implement, the upper end of each
tine is fixed to a bar, either permanently or moveably, so as to admit of their
distances apart being varied. The bar to which a set or row of teeth or tines
is applied is connected by means of links or a connecting rod to a lever, which

page_text: has its axis at or near the front of the implement. The tines or teeth move
on axes which pass through the whole of them, and the' parts are so arranged
that by depressing the hinder end of the lever the points or lower ends of the
tines or teeth are lifted out of the land, and the parts are so arranged that they
are in equilibrium, or nearly so, in order that it may not require much effort
to lift the tines or teeth. The implement is mounted on wheels, one on each
side, and one or two in front, provision being made for setting the teeth or
tines to work at any desired depth into the land. When using two or more
sets of teeth or tines to an implement, the teeth of each set are fixed to a bar,
either absolutely or so as to admit of being varied in respect to their distances
apart. The bar for each set of teeth or tines has arms formed or fixed thereon,
which are mounted on an axis, and the arms or other parts may be weighted
and arranged in such manner that the tines or teeth and the bar to which
they are applied may be kept in equilibrium. The bars of the two, three, or
more sets of teeth have each arms, and they are connected together by links
or connecting rods, so that when one is acted on by a lever handle, they will
all be similarly moved; and one of the bars, by preference the most forward
one, is connected by links or connecting rods to a framed lever handle, which
turns on axes at its forward end in such manner that when the back end of
the lever is depressed the whole of the tines or teeth will be raised out of
the land.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th October 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
SMITH, of Bredfield, in the County of Suffolk, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Thomas Smith, Her special licence that I, the said
Thomas Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Thomas 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

page_text: Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CULTIVATING IMPLEMENTS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Smith, 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 Thomas Smith, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, 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 cultivating implements.
For these purposes an implement may consist of one or more sets of tines or
teeth, and the forms of the ends or points of the teeth or tines may be varied.
according to the class of work they are intended to perform, and such ends or
points may be moveable, so that one implement may at different times work
with different forms of points or ends to the tines. The tines are bent, the
forward edges being concave and the hinder edges convex. When having a
single set or row of tines or teeth across an implement, the upper end of each
tine is fixed to a bar, either permanently or moveably, so as to admit of their.
distances apart being varied. The bar to which a set or row of teeth or tines
is applied is connected by means of links or a connecting rod to a lever, which
has its axis at or near the front of the implement. The tines or teeth move
on an axis which passes through the whole of them, and the parts are so
arranged that by depressing the hinder end of the lever the points or lower
ends of the tines or teeth are lifted out of the land, and the parts are 'so
arranged that they are in equilibrium, or nearly so, in order that it may not
require much effort to lift the tines or teeth. The implement is mounted on
wheels, one on each side, and one or two in the front, provision being made for
setting the teeth or tines to work at any desired depth into the land. When
using two or more sets of teeth or tines to an implement, the teeth of each set
are fixed to a bar, either absolutely or so as to admit of being varied in
respect to their distances apart. The bar for each set of teeth or tines is
mounted on an axis, and has arms formed or fixed thereon, and the arms or
other parts may be weighted and arranged in such manner that the tines or
teeth and the bar to which they are applied may be kept in equilibrium. The
bars of the two, three, or, more sets of teeth have each arms, and they are

page_text: f,
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section; Figure 2, a side view; Figure 3, a back
view; and Figure 4, a plan of a cultivator, scarifier, or drag harrow having
two sets of teeth or tines. a, a, is the frame of the machine, the hinder end
of which is supported by two wheels b, b, each being capable of adjustment, so
that the teeth or tines may work at any desired depth into the land by means
of side levers c, c, working on centres d, d, in the quadrants e, e, and secured
in any position by the pins f. f. The fore end of the frame a, a, is bolted to
the head piece g, at the end of which is a double socket h; i is a vertical
spindle sliding through this socket, and capable of adjustment by means of the
hand-wheel and screw k. Attached to the spindle i is a short axle carrying
a pair of fore wheels l, l. The tines m, m, are attached to the lifting bars n, n¹,
the ends of which turn on centres in the frame a; to the front bar n is
attached an arm q, which is connected by the link p to the lever o, so that by
depressing the lever o the front bar n will be turned on its axis, and so lift the
tines or teeth attached to it out of the ground. The weight of the lever o and
of the link p, together with the arm q, is arranged to counterbalance the
weight of all the tines and shares, so that a very small amount of force on the
handle of the lever o will be necessary to cause the tines m, m, to relieve
themselves from work. On to the bars n, n¹, two arms r, r', are attached, the
upper ends of which are connected by a horizontal rod s, so that when the
bar n is turned on its axis, the other bar n¹ is turned also to the same extent,
by which both sets of tines will be lifted simultaneously out of the ground.
The red lines shew the position of all the parts when the lever o has been
depressed and has lifted the tines from the soil. In order to prevent the
bars n, n', from turning when the machine is at work, there are two catches
t, t, working on centres u, u, fixed to the frame a, a, which take into notches
in discs on the bar n', by which both the bars n and n' will be prevented from
turning. These catches are acted upon by the lever v, which is connected to

page_text: the catches by the rods w, w. The method of attaching the tines m, m, to
the lifting bars is shewn in detail in Figure 5, a bolt having in its end a
square mortice, through which the tine is slipped, passes through the lifting
bar n. This plan of attachment renders it easy to shift the tines along the
lifting bars, or to replace them if required. It is sometimes found desirable
to attach the lifting bars to arms n*, having counterbalance arms 92, as shewn
at Figure 6, the arms n* turning on centres distant from the bars, as shewn,
by which means bending the tines is avoided. Figure 7 is a side view of the
counterbalancing arm q, also shewing its position reversed in the red lines
when it is found desirable to reverse its action.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood, that although I have
only shewn an implement having two sets of teeth or tines, implements having
only one or with more sets may in a similar manner be constructed, so that
the bars to which the teeth or tines are attached are counterbalanced, the
weight of the lever o, the link p, and the arm q counterbalancing the weight
of the tines.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
THOMAS SMITH. (L.S.)