IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUTING ARTIFICIAL MANURES; ALSO APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Jacob, of Maryborough, Queen's County,
Ireland, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUTING ARTIFICIAL MANURES; ALSO APPLICABLE FOR
OTHER PURPOSES."
Sealed the 30th July 1875, and dated the 26th February 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Jacob at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th February 1875.
I, DAVID JACOB, of Maryborough, Queen's County, Ireland, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUTING ARTIFICIAL MANURES; ALSO APPLICABLE FOR
OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
1
My Invention consists in the construction and employment of
machinery or apparatus as hereafter described for distributing artificial
manures and other dressings on land, whether in grass or in tillage.
For this purpose I employ a mechanical contrivance having a horizontal
trough with perforated bottom for containing the artificial manure or
'

page_text: other material. The said trough is used as a sieve or riddle, and is
caused to oscillate laterally through gearing, motion being communi-
cated thereto by crank and levers or other equivalent means.
The riddles and outlet for the manure or other material are varied in
size according to the quantity to be applied. The manure is supplied to
the trough by a hopper and feed regulator.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said David Jacob in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 24th August 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DAVID
JACOB, of Maryborough, Queen's County, Ireland, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said David Jacob, Her special
licence that I, the said David Jacob, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said David Jacob, 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 MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUTING ARTIFICIAL MANURES; ALSO
APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that:
I, the said David Jacob, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 David Jacob, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the

page_text: following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters of reference marked thereon, that is to say :-
1
My said Invention, which relates to an improved arrangement and
construction of machinery or apparatus for distributing artificial manures
and other dressings on pasture or arable land, consists of a trough having
one or more perforated bottoms or screens, and into which the artificial
manure or other material is fed from a hopper overhead, the said hopper
being provided with a suitable agitator to prevent the manure or other
material from settling or becoming "packed" therein.
The lower trough is suspended from the framework of the mechanism
by means of ropes or chains, and is caused to oscillate by a crank or cam
and connecting rod or other suitable means, an arrangement being also
provided whereby it may be kept in a horizontal plane however much
the land over which the machine is being drawn may deviate there-
from.
And for the better elucidation of my said Invention I have hereunto
appended a Sheet of Drawings, which I will now proceed to describe,
similar letters referring to similar parts in the different views, of which
Figure 1 is a vertical section of the apparatus at the line marked a, b,
Figure 2, the latter, being a back view of the same.
As shewn by these Drawings the mechanism is carried upon a frame-
work A similar in construction to that of an ordinary cart frame, and
supported upon a pair of wheels B. The feed hopper C is fixed to the
frame A by the cross beams D and stays E. Beneath the hopper C and
suspended by chains F is situated the riddling or distributing trough G,
which is caused to oscilate in a lateral direction by means of the crank
on the upright crank shaft H and connecting rod I, the end of the
connecting rod I being attached to the trough G either by an universal
joint or (as shewn on the Drawings at Figure 2) by a double jaw and stud,
provision being thus made for the raising and lowering of each end of
the trough G by the chains F without straining or breaking the con-
necting rod or joint.
In order to impart motion to the aforesaid crank shaft H and its
attachments a spur bevel wheel J is fixed to the nave or boss of one of
the wheels B, and gears with a bevel pinion upon the crank shaft H,
which is thereby actuated. The lower end of the crank shaft is carried

page_text: in a bearing formed in the hanger bracket K, and a clutch arrangement,
consisting of the forked lever W and clutch X, is provided in order to
throw the bevel pinion in and out of gear with the shaft H, while the
other end is supported from the framework A, and the said upper end
may be caused to project and carry a chain pulley, cam, or other means
for imparting motion to an agitator in the feed hopper C; or instead
thereof, and preferably, the agitator may be actuated from the spur
bevel J, the said agitator being of any suitable form, but preferably
that applied to the manure distributing machine known as
"Cam-
bridge's," but as the said agitator forms no part of the present Invention
(though applied thereto) I have not thought it necessary to describe or
insert the same in the Drawings.
The bottom of the trough G is composed of one of more sheets or
layers L of perforated sheet metal or wire cloth, through which the
manure is shaken by the oscillatory movement of the trough G; and in
order still further to dissipate the particles of the manure or dressing,
and cause the same to be more evenly spread over the land, an additional
bottom or screen M is provided hinged to the trough G and held at an
angle by chains N. To regulate the delivery through the trough Ga
lip or cover o is provided, and held in any required position by thumb
screws P, which pass through a slot in the trough.
As it is desirable and necessary to the proper working of my Invention
that the distributing trough G be always maintained in a horizontal
plane, no matter how irregular the ground may be over which the
machine passes, I have provided an arrangement whereby this is
obtained, and which consists in passing the suspending chains F over
pulleys Q situate in the framing A, and thence one or more turns
around chain barrels R fixed to a shaft S, which shaft S is oarried in
brackets T secured to the ends of the hopper C.
It is to be noted however that, as shewn at Figure 2, the chains F are
not coiled from the same but from different sides of the chain barrels R,
so that when the shaft S is turned by means of the lever U. one of the
barrels R will coil on chain, while the other will pay it off, this having
the desired effect of lowering one end and hoisting the other of the
trough G, and thus the operator is enabled to preserve the trough in a
horizontal position.

page_text: A ratchet and pawl V, quadrant and spring catch, or other arrange-
ment is provided to maintain the shaft S in any position in which it may
have been placed.
In operating my Invention the artificial manure or other material is
placed in the feed hopper C, where it is stirred by the herein-before
referred to agitator or stirrer, and from whence controlled by suitable
slides or regulators it falls into the trough G, by the oscillating motion
of which it is shaken through the perforated or wire gauze screens L
and M, whereby it is thoroughly distributed upon the land over which
the machine is drawn.
In order to sift the manure and sort the same into quantities, the
particles of which shall be of such a size as to pass through the meshes
or perforations in the bottom or bottoms of the trough G, I employ an
auxiliary and separate riddle or sifter, which, as shewn at Figure 3, con-
sists simply of an oblong box or receptacle suspended by chains g, the
bottom being composed of sheets or a sheet of perforated metal or wire
cloth.
The manure or other material is placed in the riddle e, which may be
shaken by hand or otherwise until all the particles sufficiently small
have fallen through the meshes or perforations, the coarser remaining
particles being removed and pulverized or triturated until sufficiently
fine.
When wrought by hand two operators may be kept constantly
employed, one throwing in the manure or other material, and the other
shaking the box or receptacle.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be carried into effect, I would observe
in conclusion that without restricting myself to the exact details of
mechanism herein-before set forth, what I do claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the
general arrangement and construction of machinery or apparatus for
spreading or distributing artificial manures or other materials over
arable or pasture land, and consisting mainly of an oscillating trough
fed from a hopper overhead, and provided with a bottom consisting of
one or more screens of perforated sheet metal or wire cloth, and cover
for regulating the amount to be delivered in combination with the
arrangement for suspending the said trough upon rollers, whereby the

page_text: operator is enabled to maintain it in a horizontal lateral position
irrespective of the irregularities of the ground being traversed, sub-
stantially as herein-before described and shewn.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Jacob, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
DAVID JACOB. (L.S.)