A NEW POTATOE DRILL
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Lewis Wright, of Hannah, in the County of
Lincoln, Farmer, for the Invention of "A NEW POTATOE DRILL."
Scaled the 7th September 1871, and dated the 14th March 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Lewis Wright at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th March 1871.
I, LEWIS WRIGHT, of Hannah, in the County of Lincoln, Farmer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW POTATOE
DRILL," to be as follows:-
The object of these improvements is to do away with the necessity of
hand labor in "setting" potatoes, and so to regulate the fall or drop
of the potatoe that it may be regular and that the potatoes may when
on the ground be as nearly as possible equidistant the one from the
other.
The improvements consist in constructing a machine with a frame on
which it is intended to attach suitable receiving and feeding boxes for

page_text: after described.
The improvements may be carried into effect by affixing on to the
frame a receiving box into which the potatoes are intended to be placed,
and which has a false or moving bottom having a backward and forward
or oscillating movement frequently now in use, and which causes the
potatoes to pass freely into the feeding boxes, preferably two, one on
each side of the receiving box. From the feeding boxes the potatoes
fall into small cups or buckets forming an endless band by means of
their connections. The said connections are so formed that they shall
fit into the notched wheels over which it is intended that the endless
band should pass. The said buckets or cups are preferably somewhat
hollowed out at one end and somewhat pointed at the other, and so
constructed as to hold only one potatoe at a time, and if by accident or
otherwise other potatoes should find their way there or fall off at the
knee or highest part of the trough in which works the endless band they
would fall off into another trough or troughs, and by means of an
ordinary elevator conveniently placed between the two feed boxes be
conducted back into the receiving or feed boxes. The potatoes are
prevented from falling on to each side of the endless chain or band by
means of guard pieces forming a species of trough. The endless band
preferably passes over three notched wheels, but in some cases it is
expedient to furnish another plain or flanged wheel for it to pass over,
and so prevent it from getting slack or sagging. The potatoe after
being carried in its cup or bucket is conducted by a coulter attached to
the frame and the bottom end of which is close to the ground into a
small furrow or line made in the ground by another small coulter in
front of it and also attached to the frame. The motion is given to the
endless band by means of a cog wheel on the main wheel and inter-
mediate wheel on the axle of the wheel carrying the endless band, so as
to give the opposite direction to the endless band to that of the main
wheels. Attached to the frame are the ridging breasts or ridgers for
making preferably two furrows, and so ridging up the potatoes, that is
to say, making two furrows and ridging up the ground over, and thus

page_text: covering the potatoes after they are dropped and placed in such a
manner on the frame as to immediately or nearly so follow the coulter
or guide which conducts the potatoes to the ground, and as regards the
main wheels of the machine so placed that they may travel each in its
respective furrow, and thus a certain amount of firmness and evenness
may be obtained. These ridging breasts or ridgers are capable of being
put out of gear or adjusted for regulating the depth of the cut by means
of a lever having its centre conveniently situated under the feeding
boxes, the ridging breasts forming one end of the lever and a handle
at the back of the frame the other. The handle is connected to the
centre of the lever preferably by two arms passing outside the frame.
When the ridgers are out of gear they are intended to be kept in their
place by a ratchet on the frame and a catch on the arm of the lever, or
vice versa. It is intended that the sides of the frame should be capable
of being adjusted to any required width by means of cross pieces con-
necting the two sides, and which move or slide in holes or slots in the
said side pieces, and which can be kept tight and in the required position
by means of pins or screws. In some cases it is also intended that
a box carrying manure, artificial or otherwise, and commonly called a
management box, should be placed on the framic in such a position that
the manure should drop between the small coulter that makes the small
furrow and the second coulter or guide that conducts the potatoc. The
two front or guide wheels to the axle of which the shafts or pole are
attached are made capable of having a double motion given to them,
the one rotary and the other vertical or elevating and depressing, so as
to allow each wheel to be elevated or depressed according as to whether
it has to run in the furrow or on the top of the land. The vertical
motion is obtained by each wheel being attached to a different axle,
cach axle having attached to it a vertical rod working in a box held
between two circular wings one above the other. To each upright are
attached two tongues which clutch and hold a separate ring, so that
when it is desired that a particular wheel should be elevated the necessary
ring is elevated by means of a lever from the back of the machine, and
which in elevating the ring by means of the clutch or tongues raises
the upright to which the axle of the wheel is attached. The said lever
may be kept in its place by means of guides placed immediately over
the rings, and it is intended to be supported from the frame in any
suitable way. The rotary motion is obtained by a rod attached to the
upper part of the box between the rings working in a socket.

page_text: It is to be understood that the method of obtaining an equal and
regular fall of the potatoe by means of the endless chain and buckets
or cups may be applied to any kind of videor
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Lewis Wright in the Great Scal Patent Office on
the 14th September 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME I, LEWIS
WRIGHT, of Hannah, in the County of Lincoln, Farmer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Lewis Wright, Her special licence
that I, the said Lewis Wright, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Lewis Wright, my exccutors,
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 "A NEW POTATOE DRILL," upon
tho condition (amongst others) that I, the said Lewis Wright, 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 Scal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after.
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Lewis Wright, 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 following statement:-
The object of these improvements is to do away with the necessity
of hand labor in setting potatoes, and so to regulate the fall or drop of

page_text: the potatoe that it may be regular, and that the potatoes may when
on the ground be as nearly as possible equidistant the one from the
other.
The improvements consist in constructing a machine with a frame on
which it is intended to attach suitable receiving and feeding boxes for
allowing the potatoe to pass into a feeding trough, through and in which
works an endless chain or band carrying small buckets or cups for
carrying the potatoes and allowing them to fall at regular intervals on
to the ground and be afterwards covered over and the ground ridged by
a ridger or ridgers attached to the frame for that purpose and herein-after
described.
The improvements may be carried into effect by affixing on to the
frame a receiving box into which the potatoes are intended to be placed,
and which has a false or moving bottom having a backward and forward
or oscillating oscillating movement, worked by an eccentric frequently
now in use, which causes the potatoes to pass freely into the feeding boxes,
preferably two, one on each side of the receiving box. From the feeding
boxes the potatoes fall into small cups or buckets forming an endless
band by means of their connections, the said connections are so formed
that they shall fit into the notched wheels, over which it is intended that
the endless band should pass, the said buckets or cups may be made
somewhat hollowed out at one end, and somewhat pointed at the other, or
preferably both ends may be hollowed, the front end for the purpose
of carrying the potatoes up, and the back end to convey them downwards
to the ground, and so constructed as to hold only one potatoe at a time;
and if by accident or otherwise other potatoes should find their way
there or fall off at the knee or highest part of the trough in which works
the endless band, they would fall off into another trough or troughs, and
by means of an ordinary elevator conveniently placed between the two
feed boxes be conducted back into the receiving or feed boxes; or they
may fall into a spout or spouts which will convey them into a box con-
veniently placed behind to receive them, which may be drawn out by
hand and emptied into the receiving box.. The potatoes are prevented
from falling, on to. each side of the endless chain or band by means of
guard pieces forming a species of trough. The endless band preferably
passes over three notched wheels,, but in some cases it is expedient to
furnish another plain or flanged wheel for it to pass over and so prevent
it from getting slack, or sagging. The potatoe after being carried in its

page_text: cup or bucket is conducted by à coulter attached to the frame, and the
bottom end of which is close to the ground, into a small furrow or line
made in the ground by small ridging breasts in front of it and also
attached to the frame; the motion is given to the endless band by means
of a cog wheel on the axle of the main wheel and intermediate wheel on
the axle of the wheel carrying the endless band, so as to give the opposite
direction to the endless band to that of the main wheels. Attached to
the frame are the ridging breasts or ridgers for making, preferably, two
furrows for the purpose of receiving the potatoes when dropped; behind
each of these ridgers are attached a pair of closing breasts. so placed as
to be immediately or nearly so behind the coulter which drops them for
the purpose of closing or covering the ground over the potatoes; these
ridging breasts or ridgers are capable of being put out of gear or adjusted
for regulating the depth of the cut by means of a lever, or any other
convenient arrangement, having its centre conveniently situated on the
frame. The ridgers are intended to be kept in their place by a ratchet
on the frame and a catch on the arm of the lever or vice versa..
In some cases the sides of the frame should be capable of being
adjusted to any required width by means of cross pieces connecting the
two sides, and which move or slide in holes or slots in the said side piece,
and which can be kept tight and in the required position by means of
pins or screws.
It is also intended that a box carrying manure, artificial or otherwise,
and commonly called a management box shall be placed on the frame
in such a position that the manure should drop between the ridging
breasts that make the furrow and the closing breasts which close the
furrow, so as to ensure well mixing of the manure with the soil over.
the potatoes.
It is to be understood that the method of obtaining an equal and
regular fall of the potatoe by means of the endless chain and buckets or
cups may be applied to any kind of ridger. The different parts of the
machine may be made of metal, wood, or metal and wood combined as.
desired.
The accompanying Sheet of Drawings will serve to shew an illustration
of my
Invention in which Figures 1 and 2 are side elevation and end
elevation respectively of the potatoe drill, and Figure 3 an enlarged view
of the endless band for carrying the potatoes.

page_text: the
The following description taken with the Drawings will explain the
different parts of the machine; the same letters indicate the same parts
in the different Figures. The primary moving power is transmitted for
purpose of working the machine by the main wheel A which has on
its axle and at one side of the machine a cog wheel B, which by means
of the pinion C gives motion to the shaft D, at one end of which is
a toothed wheel E, which by means of the endless chain F turns the
shaft G. On the shaft D are fixed two wheels H, H, shewn in dotted
lines, this illustration shewing a machine made for two furrows and
consequently with two endless chains constructed with slots cut out of
their rim to receive flanges in the endless chain. Figure 3 shews the
said endless chain on a larger scale; K are the cups or buckets shewn in
this Drawing hollowed out at both ends, equidistant or as nearly as
possible so from one another; J are the connections, these connections J
are furnished with raised pieces or flanges L which fit into and grip
upon the slots cut in the wheels H as described above, the endless chain
passes over the wheels H (see Figure 1), and the other wheels M, M,
(also furnished with slots for the projections in the endless chain to fit
into) and is kept in a triangular form. When these wheels revolve they
carry the endless chain with them and the wheels being furnished with
flanges the chain is kept in its position.
I will now describe the manner in which the machine is intended to.
be employed. The potatoes are placed in the hopper or feeding box N
(see Figs. 1 and 2), which is furnished with a door O, capable of being
opened by a handle Ox.. The box N is furnished with a false or
moveable bottom P, which has a backward and forward motion imparted
to it by means of an eccentric arrangement Q fastened to the shaft D,.
the backward and forward or oscillating movement facilitating the
carrying forward the potatoes to feed the endless chain. The door O
being opened the potatoes drop or pass into the guide box R, which is
so constructed as to keep the potatoes on (or as much as possible on).
the endless chain, which is being carried forward by the wheels H and
the wheels M, M. When the potatoes carried on by the endless chain
come to the point or knee S by the shape of the chain, the surplus
potatoes are thrown or allowed to drop on either side into the shoots T,
and are conveyed or roll down into the box U placed at the back of the
machine to receive them,, which box may at any time be emptied by
hand into the feeding box. The potatoes having been carried by the

page_text: endless chain as far as the point S (and the surplus, should there be
any, thrown or allowed to roll off) they are carried over the wheel M and
drop on to the back of the proceeding bucket, and are thus carried
downwards until they drop into the furrow made by the ridging
breasts V, the potatoes being thus dropped (as nearly as possible at
equal distances) on to the ground, the soil is closed over them by means
of the closing breasts W. The machine in this Drawing is shewn (as.
generally intended) with a management or manure box A', which
is intended to throw the manure over the potatoes before being closed
up by the closing breasts. This management box is worked by means
of a toothed wheel E fixed on the shaft S. On the wheel E is fixed a
chain which connects a similar toothed wheel E', which turns or causes
to revolve the shaft G. On this shaft G are a series of toothed wheels G¹,
which being furnished with a kind of tooth or claw take or pull the
manure out of the door G² of the management box A³, and distribute
it over the potatoes. Suitable guides or shoots are attached to allow the
manure to drop at the proper place. This Drawing also shews machine
furnished with an arrangement of levers for raising or depressing the
ridging breasts in order to regulate the depth of the cut. This is
effected by pulling the handle X (Fig. 1), which being fixed to a
shaft Y lifts the lever Z, thereby pulling up the chain Z', and thus
raising the ridging breast V. A ratchet Z2 is fixed on to the frame
of the machine so as to hold it in any desired position.
Figure 1 also shews an arrangement to avoid any difficulty that might
arise when ascending or descending inclines; for instance, when
descending the potatoes get to one end of the feeding box, and thus
would not pass out of the door. To avoid this an arrangement is attached,
by which one end of the feeding box is lowered or raised as desired;
this motion is obtained by means of a vertical shaft B', having a cog
wheel B' at one end, and screwed at the other. In connection with
another toothed wheel B' is a horizontal shaft B*, which being turned
by the handle B³ raises or depresses by means of its screwed end B' the
feeding and management boxes as desired.
As I do not now attach any importance to that part of my Provisional
Specification which related to the double-motion, rotary and vertical,
which could be given to the guide wheel, I have not shewn any Drawing
of it or described it in my Complete Specification; but I wish it to be
understood that the machine may be worked either by horses in shafts,

page_text: or by means of any description of steering gear at present in use;
and I also wish it to be understood that the accompanying Drawings,
of which I have given a description, only shew an illustration of the
manner in which my Invention is intended to be carried into effect, and
that I do not limit myself to the precise details thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Lewis Wright, have hercunto sct
my hand and scal, this Twelfth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-onc.