IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS AND OTHER TILLING IMPLEMENTS
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Howard, of Bedford, in the County of Bedford,
Agricultural Engineer, and Edward Tenney Bousfield, of the same Place,
Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS AND OTHER
TILLING IMPLEMENTS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Howard and Edward
Tenney Bousfield at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 29th
November 1880.
JAMES HOWARD, of Bedford, in the County of Bedford, Agricultural Engineer,
and EDWARD TENNEY BOUSFIELD, of the same Place, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PLOUGHS AND OTHER TILLING IMPLEMENTS."
Our improvements in ploughs and other tilling implements relate to novel
means for raising them out of work and increasing the efficiency of their action.
Our improved lifting appliances for ploughs and tilling implements admit of
several modifications according to the kind of implement to which such appliances
are attached.
As a rule we employ a cranked axle carrying a pair of travelling wheels
provided with friction surfaces to receive the pressure of a strap brake or its
equivalent. The friction for retarding the brake ring or friction surface is applied
by means of a foot or hand lever, according as the one or the other is more convenient
operate.
We construct our improved plough, on which the attendant ordinarily rides, and
which may be adapted for one or any desired number of furrows, in the following
manner: Connected to the crank axle by means of a strap or straps is the main
beam or frame carrying one or more plough bodies. The depth of furrow will be
regulated by the angle the cranks make with the ground. The pole for guiding the
implement we apply in a novel manner. Instead of being rigidly attached it is
pivotted on a cradle to the plough beam or frame, and its rear end we connect by
means of a link to a lever keyed to the crank axle. The action of this pole, when
the crank axle is partially rotated, is to tilt the forward end of the main frame of
the plough as the ploughs are being lifted off the ground. The shares of the
[Price 1071

page_text: ploughs are thereby made to assume the best angle for re-entering the ground when
the ploughs are again lowered, and thus the full depth of work is quickly
attained.
The draught link to which the horses are attached at the head of the plough is
capable of ready adjustment by means of a transverse screw, which at one 5
operation both slides and fixes the draught link piece in the desired position.
To effect the lifting of the plough out of work we connect the brake by means
of a chain with the main beam or frame in such manner that the forward motion
of the travelling wheel while the brake is in action will serve to lift the frame, and
cause it by its connection with the crank shaft partially to turn that shaft in the
hub of the travelling wheel. The result of this will be to lift the plough, and also
to bring the pole into action and cause it to tip the forward end of the frame as
already explained.
Mounted loosely on one crank of the crank shaft is a vertical lever, from the side
of which projects a short rod for carrying a sleeve, to which a treadle frame is
fitted. Projecting radially from this sleeve is an arm which connects with one end
of the adjacent brake strap, the other end being connected to the front of the
vertical lever. To the back of this lever the lifting chain, before mentioned as
connected to the plough frame, is attached. When therefore the attendant riding
upon the implement presses upon the treadle frame, the lever will be rocked and
the brake strap caused to tighten upon the friction surface of the wheel. The
further progress of the implement, while the brakes are in action, will serve to raise
the plough frame in the manner described.
'
The ploughs are held up out of work simply by the cranks being thrown beyond
the vertical line, where a stop is provided to prevent the further advance of the
cranks.
In applying our improved lifting appliance to potato ploughs we place it in the
rear of the rotating forked wheel or stirrer, the friction to secure the operation of
lifting being applied by the hand of the attendant as he walks behind the
implement.
The forked wheel for throwing out the potatoes or stirring the soil rotates upon
a central rigid beam, to one extremity of which is attached the adjustable draught
head and the axle of the driving wheels. To the hinder extremity of the beam and
in rear of the forked wheel the stems or standards for carrying the share are fixed,
the share itself being so attached to the steins as to pass under the rotating forks
and in advance of them.
Our lifting appliance in this case will consist of a single friction ring and band
placed centrally behind the stems that carry the share.
On the cross axle which carries the driving wheels two bevil wheels are keyed,
into one or other of which the bevil pinion of the rotating forked wheel is made to
gear according to the direction in which it is required to rotate, so as to throw out
the potatoes on either side as may be desired.
In constructing a oneway or turnwrest plough with our improved lifting
appliances we form it with a central beam, which carries the adjustable wheel
carriage at one extremity and the handles for the ploughman at the other. The
right and left handed ploughs are connected together, the whole being swivelled on
the beam, suitable screw stop adjustments being provided to give the frames their
proper positions when in work. Each of the swinging plough frames or bodies has
a separate curved beam, the two being united together in front by a socket, and in
rear by a similar socket, which sockets are fitted to rotate easily on the central
beam. The plough is lifted out of work by a similar friction arrangement and
wheel to that last described.
To render cultivators or tilling implements self lifting according to our Invention
we mount the friction rings loosely upon the crank axle and cast them with
internal cogs, which take into pinions cast on the bosses of the travelling
wheels.

page_text: The bands for gripping the friction rings are connected with the frame of the
implement, and brought into action by the attendant as before described.
When the implement is moving forward in the ordinary way the pinions simply
rotate the friction rings, but when the friction rings are retarded by the pressure of
the friction bands on their outer surfaces or otherwise, the effect is to raise the
implement through the pinions on the hubs of the wheels as it were into fixed racks
for that purpose. Immediately however the friction bands are slackened the
implement is free to fall into work. The same effect may be produced by gearing
the pinions with an arc or segment rack affixed to the frame of the implement.
In this case the pinions will be loose on the cranks, and connected to the
travelling wheels by clutches or their equivalent.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said James Howard and Edward Tenney Bousfield in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 28th May 1881.
JAMES HOWARD, of Bedford, in the County of Bedford, Agricultural Engineer,
and EDWARD TENNEY BOUSFIELD, of the same Place, Engineer.
"IMPROVEMENTS
IN PLOUGHS AND OTHER TILLING IMPLEMENTS."
Our improvements in ploughs and other tilling implements relate to novel means
for raising them out of work and increasing the efficiency of their action.
The improved lifting appliances which we have adapted to ploughs and tilling
implements, it will be seen, vary somewhat in construction to suit the kind of
implement to which such appliances are attached. In general we employ a cranked
axle carrying a pair of travelling wheels, which wheels are provided with friction
surfaces to receive the pressure of a strap brake or its equivalent, by means of
which the wheels as they move forward" are caused to lift the frame of the
implement and raise the tilling implements clear of the ground.
Where brake blocks are used in place of bands or straps, the periphery of the
wheels may constitute the friction surfaces. The friction for retarding the brake
ring or friction surface is applied by means of a foot or hand lever, according as
the one or other is more convenient to operate.
In Sheet I. of the Drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation, Fig. 2 a plan view, and
Fig. 3 a longitudinal section of a two-furrow self-lifting plough (on which the
attendant ordinarily rides) constructed according to our Invention.
In these Figures A, A, are the land and furrow wheels, which are made adjustable
as usual. These wheels are mounted on a crank axle B, which is capable of rocking
in bearings carried by the plough beams C, C, which constitute the plough frame.
These beams are braced at their front ends by a cross tie rod C¹, and they are
fitted with plough bodies D, D.
The tie rod C forms a fulcrum for a rocking frame E, to which the draught
pole E is bolted. To the hub of one of the running wheels A a friction brake
wheel A' is keyed to receive a metal band or strap F, which is drawn to tension
by the action of a short rock shaft F. This rock shaft passes through a cast
frame mounted upon the crank of the axle B, and to it are attached the opposite
ends of the brake strap, the one end being attached directly to the rock shaft, and
the other to a stud carried by an arm Fa keyed to the rock shaft.
Made fast to the rock shaft F is a treadle F3, by means of which the attendant
seated on the implement at G applies the brake by the pressure of his foot. When
the brake is applied, the further traverse of the implement will cause the brake
wheel to rock the crank shaft B in its bearings and lift the ploughs out of work,
as shewn at Fig. 3. A check chain is employed, as shewn at Fig. 2, to connect
the frame which carries the rock shaft with the adjacent plough beam, and
thereby ensure the return of this frame with its shaft to its normal position when
the brake is released.
This chain also serves to increase the lifting power of the brake wheel by reason
of its attachment to the outer end of the frame F*.
To provide for the plough shares entering the ground at a proper inclination,
provision is made for tipping the plough frame preparatory to their descent from
their raised position. For this purpose we attach to the rear end of the draught
pole a screwed eye E³, from which depends a link Es connected at its lower end to
an arm B¹ keyed to the crank axle B.
As therefore this crank axle is rocked in its bearings, it will, through its
connection with the draught pole, rock that pole on its fulcrum, and simultaneously

page_text: tip the plough frame, so as to bring the plough shares into the best position for
entering the ground.
B2 is a hand lever keyed to the shaft B and slotted to move over a sector B³
attached to the cross tie rod C¹. Collars are fitted to this sector to form stops for
limiting the motion of the lever, and consequently of the shaft B in its bearings.
It will be understood that the ploughs may be held up out of work simply by
the cranks being thrown beyond the vertical line, the weight of the ploughs at
that time assisting to retain them in their raised position.
To lower the ploughs into action the attendant pulls over the lever B³, and the
ploughs will then descend by their own weight, their downward movement being
checked or controlled by the attendant through the hand lever which, coming
into contact with the fixed stop on the sector, limits the descent of the implement.
Sheet II. shews a modification of our improved lifting arrangement applied to a
three-furrow plough. In this case the brake operates when lifting the plough
out of work on both the carrying wheels. Fig. 4 is a side elevation, Fig. 5, a
plan view, and Fig. 6 a longitudinal section of this modified form of plough.
In these Figures, as in the Figures in Sheet I., A, A, are the travelling wheels
mounted loosely on stud axles, carried by crank arms attached to a hollow cross
shaft B. This shaft is free to turn in bearings carried by the plough frame C, to
the inclined cross bar of which the ploughs D, D, D, are attached.
The side beams of the plough frame are connected together in front by a cross
tie rod C', which serves also as the fulcrum for the rocking frame E, to which the
draught pole E' is secured as before explained.
The hollow shaft B is fitted with a rod F which projects through its opposite
ends, and is intended to have attached to it the elastic metallic friction bands
F¹, F.
To receive these bands, grooved friction wheels A¹, A¹, are provided on the hubs
of the travelling wheels A; keyed to one end of the rod F is an arm F2, which
carries a stud pin to receive one end of the friction band F¹, the other end of the
friction band is similarly attached to the extremity of the rod F.
The friction band on the other side of the machine is similarly connected at its
opposite ends to the rod F.
For lightening the friction bands upon their wheels a treadle lever F³ is
employed.
This lever has for its fulcrum a pin or rod at the front of the framing, and by
means of a link F, which is jointed to a short arm F, keyed to the rod F, axial
motion is imparted to the rod F, when the attendant presses, his foot against the
treadle lever, and the bands are thereby caused to grip their respective wheels.
G is the seat for the driver, suitably situate with respect to the treadle lever F³,
to enable him to act upon it when he desires to lift the implements out of the
ground. By thus tightening the friction bands on the wheels A¹, the attendant
causes the travelling wheels in their forward progress to lift the frame C, and
at the same time give the hollow shaft B a quarter-turn, or thereabouts, in its
bearings.
This axial motion of the shaft B we utilize as in the first described arrangement
for the purpose of bringing the implements into the best position for re-entering
the ground.
The draught pole E¹ is extended rearwards to carry an overhanging bracket E¹,
from which depends a chain E³, that is attached to an arm B¹, keyed to the hollow
shaft B. When therefore this shaft is rocked in its bearings on the application of
the brakes, as above explained, the arm B' will be caused to pull upon the chain E³,
draw down the rear end of the draught pole, and with it the front of the frame C,
thereby slightly tipping the frame so as to bring the tilling implements to the
desired position for entering the ground.
The means for locking the plough frame in the raised position and for lowering
it are similar to those already described.

page_text: Sheet III. shews another modification of our improved lifting arrangements
applied to a three-furrow plough where the attendant walks, Fig. 7 being a side
The reference letters used illustrate
elevation and Fig. 8 a plan view of the same.
the same parts as in the previous Figures. In this case the pole for the horses is
not required. The crank axle B is connected to the plough frame C, as in the
preceding examples. A leading wheel A* runs in the bottom of the furrow; one
of the travelling wheels A is also in the furrow, but it does not necessarily touch
the bottom of it but may run clear above it. The landwheel is mainly relied on
for lifting the plough out of work, and in ordinary ploughing the brake on one
wheel would give sufficient bite. The brakes F¹ are brought into action by means
of the band lever F³, which lever is mounted on the side of a hand lever F4, having
for its fulcrum the rod F which passes through the hollow shaft B.
F2 are a pair of arms keyed to the rod F, and serving to carry the brakes F¹.
An extension of one of these arms, as at F5, connects with a link F6, which is
pivotted to the hand lever F³. By moving this hand lever the catch is first
released from the notched sector, and the brakes F¹ are then caused to press upon
the periphery of the travelling wheels A, A, and thereby effect the lifting of the
ploughs out of the ground.
Pendent from the hand lever F3 is a link F7, which is connected with a block
that slides upon the lever F, and carries a tooth which engages with the notched
sector B. By the depression of the hand lever F³ to take off the brakes the tooth
of the sliding block is caused to take into the notched sector, and thus the plough
is locked in its raised position. The hand lever F* enables the attendant to lower
the plough from its raised position to the ground, the disengagement of the catch
from the sector being first effected by the raising of the hand lever F³.
In applying our improved lifting appliance to potato ploughs we place it in the
rear of the rotating forked wheel or stirrer, the friction to secure the operation of
lifting being applied by the hand of the attendant as he walks behind the
implement.
This arrangement is illustrated in Sheet IV., where Fig. 9 is a side elevation
partly in section of the potato plough, and Fig. 10 is a partial plan view of the
same. In these Figures A, A, are the travelling wheels, the axle of which is
capable of a slight endway motion in its bearing to permit of the bevil wheels
H, H, on the bosses of the wheels A being thrown into gear with a central
pinion H cast on a sleeve shaft that carries a forked wheel H2. This sleeve shaft
is supported by the rounded end of the central beam C, on the forward extremity
of which beam a hollow T piece is fitted to receive the axle of the running
wheels A; to this T-piece is attached the draught head.
The forked wheel H2 serves to throw out the potatoes as they are raised by the
broad share I. To the hinder extremity of the beam C, and in rear of the forked
wheel H2, the stems or standards for carrying the share I are fixed, the share itself
being so attached to the stems as to pass under the rotating forks and project
slightly in advance of them.
Our lifting appliance in this case consists of a single friction ring A¹ carried by
a central wheel A*, which is mounted on a crank that is free to turn in its bearings
at the rear end of the beam C. Acting upon the friction ring A¹ is a metal band
or strap F¹, the ends of which are attached the one to a hand crank lever F³,
pivotted on the arm of the crank shaft B, and the other to the pivot of the crank
lever. By lifting this hand lever the brake strap will be put into action, and the
share will by the turning of the crank shaft B be raised clear of the ground.
For shifting the bevil wheels H in or out of gear with the pinion H' a lever H³
is provided. This lever is pivotted to lugs on the T-piece of the beam, and is
provided with a nose which enters a slot in the T-piece, where it connects with a
bush in which turns the axle of the wheels A. When it is desired to reverse the
direction of rotation of the forked wheel H2 the lever is rocked, and the position of
the gear wheels H with respect to the pinion which they drive is reversed; thus the

page_text: forked wheel as the potatoes are raised by the advancing share will separate them
from the mould and throw them out to the right or left of the plough, as may be
desired.
Sheet V. shews the mode of constructing a one-way or turnwrest plough with
our improved lifting appliance, Fig. 11 being a side elevation of the plough, and
Fig. 12 a transverse section on line 1, 2, of Fig. 11.
C is a central beam, which carries the adjustable wheel carriage at one extremity
and the handles for the ploughman at the other. The right and left handed
ploughs D are connected together, the whole being swivelled on the beam, suitable
screw stop adjustments being provided to give the frames their proper positions
when in work. The plough bodies are connected to opposite sides of a sleeve,
which is free to turn on the beam C. The plough is lifted out of the work by a
similar friction arrangement and wheel to that last described, the letters of reference
for the like parts being the same in both arrangements.
To make self-lifting the tilling implements, which are fitted with tines or with
double breasted or ridging plough bodies, and are worked by steam or horse power,
so as to ensure deep penetration of the ground, we mount the friction rings loosely
upon the crank axle and cast them with internal teeth, which take into pinions
cast on the bosses of the travelling wheels.
The bands for gripping the friction rings are connected with the frame of the
implement, and brought into action by the attendant after the manner above
described.
In Sheet VI., Fig. 13 shews in side elevation and Fig. 14 in plan view this
modified form of implement, where A, A, are the travelling wheels, on the hubs of
which spur pinions A* are cast, and A¹ are the friction or brake wheels mounted
loosely on the crank shaft B and carrying internal teeth in gear with the
pinion A*.
The implement is provided with a pair of leading or steering wheels for guiding
it in its course.
The friction bands F¹ are caused to bind upon the brake wheels A¹ by means
of a foot lever Fs, and when the tines or other cultivating implements are lifted
clear of the ground the frame is secured in its raised position by means of a
pawle on a hand lever C³, locking into a notch formed on an arm Fe keyed to the
shaft B.
It will now be understood that when the implement is at work the pinions A*
simply rotate the friction wheels A¹; but when the friction wheels are retarded by
the pressure of the friction bands on their outer surfaces the effect will be to raise
the implement through the pinions A*, taking as it were into fixed racks for that
purpose. Immediately however that the friction bands are slackened and the
locking catch is disengaged the implement is free to fall into work.
When it is desired to apply this arrangement to cultivators in which the tines
are pivotted to the frame of the implement, a cross axle receiving motion from
the running wheels is connected by a crank and rod to each tine separately.
When therefore the brake is put into operation the tines are lifted out of the
ground.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "Improvements in Ploughs
and other Tilling Implements," and explained the manner of carrying the same
nto effect, we would have it understood that we do not claim as our Invention
the employment of the draught power as a lifting force in cultivators however
applied, but what we claim under the above in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The means described with reference to Sheets I., II, and III. of the
Drawings for transmitting the motion derived from one or both of the travelling
wheels to the crank axle, for the purpose of rocking it in bearings and thereby
lifting the frame or beams of the implement, so that the shares or other cultivating
instruments attached thereto will be raised clear of the ground.
Second. In ploughs and other cultivators fitted with brakes for raising the
implements clear of the ground, the rocking frame E, or its equivalent for

page_text: connecting the draught pole E' with the cranked axle, as described with reference to
Sheets I. and II. of the Drawings for adjusting the position of the implements for
entering the ground.
Third. The arrangement described with reference to Sheet IV. of the Drawings
for raising the share of the potato plough out of work; we claim also supporting
the share in rear of the rotating forked wheel, whereby the share standards are
kept clear of the crop.
Fourth. The arrangement described with reference to Sheet V. of the Drawings
for raising the turnwrest plough out of work; we also claim swivelling the plough
bodies upon a central beam, substantially as shewn and described.
Fifth. The modified arrangement of friction gear, as described with reference to
Sheet VI. of the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Howard, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Twenty eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
JAMES HOWARD. (L.S.)