IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS
Year: 1870

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Thomas Corbett at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th June
1870.
I, THOMAS CORBETT, of Shrewsbury, in the County of Salop, Agri-
cultural Implement Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, firstly, of the combination or arrangement of
parts herein-after described for simultaneously raising the back and front
ends of ploughs for facilitating the turning of the plough when it arrives
at the headland. The front wheels of the plough are carried by a cross
piece or bar, which is provided with a vertical bar or upright, square or
angular, in cross section. Near the front end of the beam of the plough
is a cylindrical eye in which the upright of the wheels is placed; the
front of the beam is thereby capable of a rising and falling motion on the
said upright. The upright passes through a square opening in a socket
working in the eye of the beam, so that the said socket may be turned
in the eye and the wheels placed at any desired angle with respect to
the beam without moving the said beam. The beam is supported at

page_text: back by a single wheel (or wheels), the said wheel being carried by a
crank lever, the horizontal arm of which lever works between the parallel
parts of the beam. One end of the horizontal arm of the lever carries a
handle, so that the cranked arm carrying the wheel may either be placed
in a vertical position or in an inclined position. When in the former
position the back end of the plough is raised, and when in the latter
position the plough is depressed for work. A chain or rope from the
front end of the beam passes over a pulley on the top of the upright of
the front wheels, and under a second pulley on the beam, and the said
chain or rope is connected to the horizontal part of the cranked lever of
the back wheel. When it is wished to raise the plough on its arrival
at the headland the handle of the crank lever is depressed. The front
of the plough is thereby raised above the level of the land by the sliding
of the eye of the beam on the upright of the front wheels, and by the
changed position of the cranked lever of the back wheel. The back end
of the plough is simultaneously raised. After the plough has been
turned the lever is raised, when the plough is depressed for working.
My Invention consists, secondly, of the following arrangement of
parts for connecting the front wheels of ploughs to the beam, whereby
the adjusting of the working depth of the plough and the distance of
the wheels from each other is effected with rapidity and ease.
This part
of my Invention may be used in combination with the first part of my
Invention or separately. I connect to the beam of the plough (or to the
upright herein-before described) a horizontal cross bar, the said bar
having loops or slots at its ends. The wheels are carried by vertical
bars or uprights, also provided with loops. By means of screw bolts
passed through the loops of the cross bar and the loops of the uprights
the height of the beam of the plough from the land and the distance
between the two wheels may be adjusted, and by screwing home screw
nuts on the said screw bolts the parts are fixed in their adjusted position.
My Invention consists, thirdly, of the following arrangement of parts
for connecting the front wheels of ploughs to the beam:-To the side of
the beam where the wheel is to be placed I weld a bracket or plate, and
in the said bracket I make a hole capable of receiving the horizontal bar
carrying the wheel. A similar hole is also made in the beam opposite
that in the bracket. Upon the square horizontal bar of the wheel a
square box or tubular piece is placed, the said box or tubular piecé
being provided with a stem screwed at top. After the horizontal bar

page_text: has been placed in the holes in the bracket and beam an angular
covering plate is placed upon the bracket, and by means of a nut screwed
on the screwed end of the stem of the box described the horizontal bar
of the wheel is lifted and held firmly against the tops of the holes in the
bracket, and beam, and the covering plate at the same time held down.
My Invention consists, fourthly, of the following arrangement of parts
of double or treble furrow ploughs for adjusting the width of the plough
bodies from each other. I will describe this part of my Invention with
reference to a double furrow plough. I attach one of the plough bodies
to one side of the straight beam in the ordinary way, and the other of
the said plough bodies I attach to the beam in the following manner :---
Instead of making the two beams parallel as usual I make a break in
one beam where the second plough body is to be attached, the parts of
the beam at the said break being bent at right angles and secured to
the straight beam. Between the bent parts of the beam an adjustable
bracket or plate with bent ends is placed, the said adjustable bracket
carrying the plough body and coulter. When the said bracket is placed
in the opening in the beam its bent parts and the bent parts of the beam
are parallel, and may be fixed together by screw bolts and nuts. A
series of holes is made in each of the bent parts of the beam and also in
the bent parts of the bracket. By this means the adjustable bracket
may be moved nearer to or further from the straight beam carrying the
first plough body and coulter, and fixed by the screw bolts and nuts, so
as to adjust the second plough body and coulter the proper width from
the first plough body and coulter on the straight beam.