IMPROVEMENTS IN SEED DRILLS.
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund James Hollings, of Swindon, in the
County of Wilts, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEED DRILLS.'
-Partly a communication from abroad by Alfred Ernest Hollings.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund James Hollings
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 19th June 1874.
I, EDMUND JAMES HOLLINGS, of Swindon, in the County of Wilts,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SEED DRILLS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in seed drills. For
this
purpose each of the coulters of the drill is formed of a conical tube
of cast iron. The larger diameter of the tube is uppermost, and is
formed with an arm projecting forwards from it, and by this arm it is
connected to a brace or lever jointed to a bar at the front of the machine..

page_text: Each brace is composed of two iron bars rivetted together. The arm
projecting from the tube is received between the ends of the two bars
and a bolt is passed horizontally-through them, and upon this bolt the
tube and arm are free to turn. In the end of the arm are other holes,
through one or other of which is passed a wooden peg, which when the
lower end of the coulter is in the ground is drawn down against the top
of the two bars forming the brace and regulates the angle of the coulter,
and consequently the distance to which it enters the ground. This pin
also serves to prevent the coulters or other part of the machinery being
broken should the coulters come against any solid obstruction, as the pin
then breaks and sets the coulter free. At the top of each tubular
coulter is also an eye opposite to the arm above mentioned, to which the
lifting chain is attached. The lower end of cach tubular coulter is
slightly curved forwards (in the same direction as the lever arm at its
upper end), and in front of it is fixed a pointed plate of steel which is
correspondingly curved. The point projects below the lower end of the
cast tube, and when in use the point rests on and draws itself into the
ground to the depth required, and this is regulated by the angle at which
the coulter is set as above explained. The steel plate is formed with a
point at both ends, so that when one point has become worn the plate
may be turned end for end to bring the other point into wear. The
bottom of the tube is cut away at the back in rear of the steel plate to
allow the earth to fall back freely into the furrow after the seed has been
deposited therein through the tube. The seed is delivered into the top
of the tubular coulter by jointed tubes or pipes passing from the
measurers as usual.
In order that the coulters may be set at any desired distance apart,
according to the distance apart at which the several rows of seed are
desired to be sown, the braces by which the coulters are carried are cach
at their ends jointed to a casting, which is secured to the front bar by
means of a clip. The castings may thus be slid along the bar and
secured to it in any desired position.
The forward end of the implement is as heretofore supported upon an
axle, which at its centre is jointed to the frame of the implement, and
carries a wheel at each end; and in order that the implement may be
guided by a man in rear of it there is mounted at the back of the imple-
ment and on each side of it a lever having jointed to it a rod, which is
led to the forward part of the implement. This rod at its forward end

page_text: has jointed to it another rod, formed at its end with a fork, which can
be dropped over a bar fixed horizontally above the top of the steerage
axle, or can be lifted by a chain passing to the back of the implement,
so that when the steerage gear is in use on one side of the machine it
may be thrown out of action on the opposite side.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edmund James Hollings in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th December 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDMUND
JAMES HOLLINGS, of Swindon, in the County of Wilts, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the Nineteenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her. heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Edmund James Hollings,
Her special license that I, the said Edmund James Hollings, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Edmund James Hollings, 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 SEED DRILLS," the result
partly of communication from abroad made to me by Alfred Ernest
Hollings, of Hamilton, Ontario, in the Dominion of Canada, and partly
of Invention and discovery made by myself, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Edmund James Hollings, 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

page_text: HUAV ww
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edmund James Hollings, 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, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in seed drills. For
this purpose each of the. coulters of the drill is formed of a conical tube
of cast iron. The larger diameter of the tube is uppermost, and is
formed with an arm projecting forwards from it, and by this arm it is
connected to a brace or lever jointed to a bar at the front of the machine.
Each brace is composed of two iron bars rivetted together. The arm
projecting from the tube is received between the ends of the two bars,
and a bolt is passed horizontally through them, and upon this bolt the
tube and arm are free to turn. In the end of the arm are other holes,
through one or other of which is passed a wooden peg, which when the
lower end of the coulter is in the ground is drawn down against the top
of the two bars forming the brace and regulates the angle of the coulter,
and consequently the distance to which it enters the ground. This pin
also serves to prevent the coulters or other part of the machinery being
broken should the coulters come against any solid obstruction, as the pin
then breaks and sets the coulter free. At the top of each tubular
coulter is also an eye opposite to the arm above mentioned, to which the
lifting chain is attached. The lower end of each tubular coulter is
slightly curved forwards (in the same direction as the lever arm at its
upper end), and in front of it is fixed a pointed plate of steel, which is
correspondingly.curved. The point projects below the lower end of the cast
tube, and when in use the point rests on and draws itself into the ground
to the depth required, and this is regulated by the angle at which the
coulter is set, as above explained. The steel plate is formed with a point
at both ends, so that when one point has become worn the plate may be
turned end for end to bring the other point into wear. The bottom of the
tube is cut away at the back in rear of the steel plate to allow the earth
to fall back freely into the furrow after the seed has been deposited therein
through the tube. The seed is delivered into the top of the tubular
coulter by jointed tubes or pipes passing from the measurers
usual.
as

page_text: I
The lever which carries the coulters is, as shewn at Figure 3, formed
of two bars held together and jointed at one end to the casting hand
at their other end receiving between them the arm c of the coulter. The
casting / rests upon the bar k, which passes across from one side of the
machine to the other, and is held to it by clip pieces and nuts 1, as shewn
at Figure 3. m is a bolt passing through holes in the bars g and through
the hole & formed through the arm c projecting forwards from the coulter,
and upon this pin the coulter is supported as above explained.
By connecting the levers which carry the coulters to the bark by clips.
as above explained the coulters can be set at any desired distance apart,
according to the distance apart at which the several rows of seed are
desired to be sown.
I will now proceed to describe more fully the arrangement of the
steering gear. n is the axle of the forward pair of wheels, which axle
at its centre is jointed by a vertical pivot to the framing of the imple-
ment; o, o, are sliding bars, one on either side of the implement; which at
their forward ends are formed to clip over the ends of the axle, which pro-
ject beyond the wheels as shewn at Figure 5. Each of the bars is jointed
at o', so that either or both of the forward ends of the bars may be
raised away from the axle by chains p. These chains are led through
eyes or over pulleys at p*, and may if desired be led down and con-
nected to the roller to which the chains for lifting the coulters are
connected, so that whenever the coulters are lifted at the end of a field,
and when the implement has to be turned round both of the bars o may
be at the same time lifted clear of the front axle and leave it free to be
turned by the horses. A pawl may also be placed at p* to hold up the
chains and bars o, so that when the implement has been turned and the
coulters again lowered on to the ground the man will have to release one
or other of these pawls and allow one of the bars o to clip over the axle
according to whichever side of the implement he requires to steer from,
whilst the other bar o will be held up to be out of action.
The steering bars o at their rear ends are connected to racks », into
which gear quadrants s turning on centres at t. The quadrants have
lever arms a affixed to them by which they may be turned, and the
steering rods o thereby drawn backwards or forwards to incline the
forward axle to the extent desired; v is a catch formed with notches to
hook over a projection on the lever and hold it in any desired position.

page_text: EDMUND JAMES HOLLINGS. (L.S.)