IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Stephen Lewin, of Poole, in the County of
Dorset, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Stephen Lewin at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th June 1872.
I, STEPHEN LEWIN, of Poole, in the County of Dorset, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to a construction and arrangement of ploughs
whereby the draught is relieved of weight, the depth of furrow can be
readily adjusted, and several furrows can be ploughed simultaneously.
For this purpose I mount a framing on two pairs of broad tyred wheels,
the front pair of which are on a turning frame. From the axle of the
hind wheels arms project downwards, and to each of these arms is
jointed a vertical plate which forms the back frame of a plough,

page_text: several of which are arranged side by side. Shares and breasts of
ordinary form are attached to these back frames. Each of the vertical
arms (which can turn on the axle) is provided with a lever arm projecting
upwards and working along a quadrant, or are at various points of which
it can be fixed either by the insertion of a pin or by a spring catch, so
that the several ploughs to which these arms are connected can be raised
or lowered for the purpose of regulating the depth of the several furrows.
I also attach to each plough frame a rod which slides through a guide
in the front part of the carriage frame. This rod can be secured in
various positions in its guide by means of a setting screw or a pin passed
through holes in it and the guide, and being thus secured it holds the
plough to which it belongs steady in the desired position.
The several ploughs being mounted on the axle of the hind wheels
can be adjusted at various positions thereon by collars with set screws
so as to regulate the widths between their respective furrows. Also by
lengthening and sloping more or less the arms by which they are hung
from the axle some of the ploughs can be set in front of the others.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Stephen Lewin in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th December 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, STEPHEN
LEWIN, of Poole, in the County of Dorset, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Stephen Lewin, Her special license that I,
the said Stephen Lewin, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Stephen Lewin, 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

page_text: 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 Stephen Lewin, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
-
My Invention relates to a construction and arrangement of ploughs
whereby the draught is relieved of weight, the depth of furrow can be
readily adjusted, and several furrows can be ploughed simultaneously.
For this purpose I mount a framing on two pairs of broad tyred wheels,
the front pair of which are on a turning frame. From the axle of the
hind wheels arms project downwards, and to cach of these arms is
jointed a vertical plate which forms the back frame of a plough, several
of which are arranged side by side. Shares and breasts of ordinary
form are attached to these back frames. Each of the vertical arms
(which can turn on the axle) is provided with a lever arm projecting
upwards and working along a quadrant or arc, at various points of which
it can be fixed either by the insertion of a pin or by a spring catch, so
that the several ploughs to which these arms are connected can be raised
or lowered for the purpose of regulating the depth of the several furrows.
I also attach to each plough frame a rod which slides through a guide in
the front part of the carriage frame. This rod can be secured in various
positions in its guide by means of a setting screw or a pin passed
through holes in it and the guide, and being thus secured it holds the
plough to which it belongs steady in the desired position.
The several ploughs being mounted on the axle of the hind wheels
can be adjusted at various positions thereon by collars with set screws,
so as to regulate the widths between their respective furrows. Also by
lengthening and sloping more or less the arms by which they are hung
from the axle some of the ploughs can be set in front of the others.

page_text: Fig. 1 represents a side view of ploughing apparatus constructed
according to my Invention; and Fig. 2 represents a plan of the same.
A is the framing mounted on a pair of hind wheels B, B, and on front
wheels C, C, which are on a turning carriage; D, D, are arms mounted
on and projecting down from the axle E of the hind wheels, to each of
which arms is jointed a vertical plate F forming the back of a plough,
to which shares and breasts of ordinary form are attached. Each of the
arms D is continued upwards so as to form a lever arm D', working
along a quadrant or arc G, with holes, so that the arm can be fixed in
any desired position by the insertion of a pin. Or instead of employing
a pin the lever arm might be held by a spring catch entering notches in
the quadrant G, or by other equivalent means. His a rod attached to
cach of the plates F, which rod passes through a turning guide / on the
front part of the framing, where it can be secured in any desired position
by a setting screw, or by a pin passed through holes in the guide and
the rod. When the lever arm D¹ is raised so as to turn the arm D
downwards the plough attached to that arm is depressed into the soil
and is held securely in position by the rod H, as shown in Fig. 1. But
by moving the lever arm D' downwards, as to the position indicated by
the dotted lines D³, the plough is raised, as indicated by the dotted
lines F', so as to be clear of the ground. And by fixing the arm D' and
the rod H in any intermediate position the plough can be made to enter
the soil to more or less depth, and can be more or less inclined.
Although the arm D in Fig. 1 is shewn in an upright position, when
the plough belonging to it is immersed in the soil it may be readily
understood that some of the arms D could be lengthened and placed in
an inclined position when their ploughs are immersed, and thus one or
more of the ploughs could be made to act in advance of the others.
Fig. 3 represents a side view of two of the ploughs arranged in this
manner, the one plough F having its arm D vertical, and the other
plough fhaving its arm & longer and inclined, so that the two ploughs F
and fare at the same depth in the soil, but the one f is in advance of
the other F.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I claim the construction of
ploughing apparatus wherein several ploughs are suspended by arms from
the axle of travelling wheels, these arms being provided with levers and
the ploughs with rods, whereby the ploughs can bo raised or lowered
and their inclination can be adjusted, substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Stephen Lewin, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.