CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS
Year: 1840

page_text: WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eleventh day of July, in the fourth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Palmer, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said William Palmer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such
others as I, the said William Palmer, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England and Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS;
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said
William Palmer, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Palmer, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
These
My improvements in ploughs are designed to reduce the friction of draft
to enable the plough to accomodate itself to any required depth of cutting,
and to afford a more certain and accurate means of directing its course.
objects are effected by dispensing with the sole or slade, and causing the
hinder part of the plough to be supported by and run upon a wheel behind
the breast, which wheel is mounted in adjustable bearings, so that by its
position the share may be made to cut into the earth to a greater or lesser
depth, as circumstances or the nature of the ground may require. The draft
of the plough is also capable of regulation by the adjustment of the drag chain
attached to a peculiar construction of "hake" at the head of the beam, and
the coulter is so connected to the beam that it may be readily set to any depth
or angle, according the required work and direction.
In the accompanying Drawing my improved construction of plough is
shewn in several positions, Fig. 1 representing the breast side, Fig. 3 the
land side, and Fig. 2 the top, as it would appear when looking down upon it.
The general construction of my improved plough does not materially differ
from those already in use, (that is to say) it consists of a beam, bearings, and
frame, a breast attached to the frame, with a share affixed thereto, handles
for guiding a coulter for directing, and a "hake" for attaching the draft
chain. The peculiar features of novelty I will therefore point out by reference
to the Drawing, in which similar letters indicate the same parts in all the
Figures. A running wheel a, of about eighteen inches diameter, is attached
by a pin or axle to a saddle iron b, from the upper part of which saddle iron a
perpendicular pin extends, having a worm or screw thread cut round it.
A bridge d, d, affixed to the beam and to the handles, has an aperture through
which the pin c passes, and the pin, with the saddle iron and wheel, is held
up by a screw nut e above. The bracing is a plate of iron about half an inch
thick, having three arms f,f.f, the upper two of which arms are securely
fixed to the beam and to the handles by bolts, and the lower arm has a
long slot in it through which the axle of the wheel a passes. It will be
perceived that the situation of the breast or mould board of the plough is
immediately before the wheel and the frame behind it, and that the wheel
by moving in the furrow, keeps the under part of the breast and of the frame
from coming in contact with the ground, and, therefore, a sole or slade, as in
other ploughs, is in my improved plough unnecessary. According to the

page_text: depth to which I wish the share to cut into the ground so I raise or depress
the running wheel a by turning the screw nut at top of the pin. The "hake"
g, at the end of the beam is formed by a frame which carries two perpendicular
pins h and i, the one pin, h, being smooth, the other, i, having a worm or
screw thread cut round it, and k is a socket piece having an eye to which the
draft chain is attached. Through this socket piece both the pins pass,
and it slides freely upon the pin h, whilst the screw pin i holds it in its position.
In order, therefore, to raise or depress the drag chain the screw pin i must be
turned round, which will regulate the position of the draft. The coulter m
has a wedge-shaped cutting blade at the lower part, and is cylindrical above,
which is inserted into a cylindrical socket on the side of the beam. This
socket forms the end of a bolt passed through the beam and through two
disc plates, and at its reverse end there is a winch nut n, which, being turned,
draws the coulter and the discs tight against the beam. This mode of fixing
the coulter allows it to be placed at any desired depth. The inner disc plate
p is loose upon the pin, and is capable of being turned round. It is made
thicker on one side than on the other; that is, its sides are not parallel, but of
a wedge form; hence, by turning the inner disc plate p round, the direction of
the cutting part of the coulter may be varied so as to suit the angle of direction
required.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Palmer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of January, in the year of our Lord
WILLIAM (L.s.) PALMER.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighth day of January, in the
fourth year of the reign of Her present Majesty Queen Victoria, the said
William Palmer came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and
acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the
fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.