Certain Improvements in and connected with Cultivators.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Jan., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 21st Oct., 1896-Accepted, 5th Dec., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Certain Improvements in and connected with Cultivators.
I, JOSEPH BAMFORD, of Market Street, Lichfield, Staffordshire, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention consists of the herein described, improvements in and connected
with cultivators (including harrows, horse hoes and the like) which are provided
with spring teeth or rigid tines.
The first part of this invention has reference to those cultivators having
independent sections which are hinged to the frame of the cultivator and are
depressed by means of pressure arms the said hinged sections are jointed at each
side of the section in any convenient part so as to make the said section flexible
for the purpose of allowing the said jointed part of the section to rise and fall with
the spring teeth or tines, or the section may be made rigid by locking the said
jointed parts by means of bolts or in any other suitable manner.
The second part of this invention consists in forming a tooth or chain gearing
actuated by a foot or hand lever of any convenient form in combination with a
pressure arm or cam fitted on an axle for the purpose of applying pressure to the
section or frame of a cultivator. On an axle of the cultivator I fix a tooth wheel
or segment and gearing into a pinion or segment formed a little above on a separate
shaft, and from which shaft is carried the said foot or hand lever, and carried
upon the axle is a lever arm or cam for the purpose of applying pressure upon the
said frame or section of the cultivator.
Instead of the tooth gearing I may use open linked chain and connect sprocket
pinions together for the same purpose.
The third part of this invention consists of an improved method of fastening
the shares to the spring teeth of cultivators, and consists in making a separate
loose plate with its side or edges turned up forming a channel section plate. The
said plate is laid across the spring tooth, and the share is laid between the sides
of the said plate and a bolt passed through the plate, spring tooth, and share
for holding the same tightly together. Or I may form the spring tooth with its
edge or edges partly turned up to form a channel for the share to lie in and
fastened together by a bolt passing through them.
Another part of my invention consists of an improved spring tooth for cultivators
which is made of spring steel or rigid metal and the said tooth may be of the
ordinary shape. The improved tooth consists of two or more parts the upper and
lower parts of the said tooth being jointed and act together by means of a spiral
or flat spring for the purpose of making the spring tooth flexible for resisting the
heavy strain on the tooth when the cultivator is at work. Or I may make the said
tooth of one or more pieces of metal and hinge it to the section or frame of
a cultivator and apply a spring to act upon it for the purpose of making it flexible.
I make another improved tooth from steel wire, or other suitable metal, the wire
being bent to the ordinary shape and two or more thicknesses of the wire are
placed close together and not a short distance apart as hitherto. The ends of the
wires forming the lower ends of the spring tooth may be turned back a short
distance so as to act as weed lifters.
This invention also provides improved means for applying pressure upon the
sections of the cultivator through the pressure arm or spring and consists firstly of

page_text: a suitable cam fixed upon an axle which cam is made to move to bear on a pressure
arm or spring one end of which arm is fixed to the frame of the cultivator or to
any other convenient part, and by means of a suitable foot or hand lever the
pressure that is required can be supplied to the sections of the cultivator.
Another part of this invention consists in attaching the cross bars carrying the
teeth of a cultivator to one or more springs fixed at one or both sides of the frame
for the purpose of resisting the heavy strain to which the teeth may be subjected
when the cultivator is in use.
Certain Improvements in and connected with Cultivators.
I, JOSEPH BAMFORD, of Market Street, Lichfield, Staffordshire, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
This invention consists of the herein described improvements in and connected
with cultivators (including harrows, horse hoes and the like) which are provided
with spring teeth or with rigid tines.
I will describe my invention by referring to the accompanying three sheets of
drawings on which
Fig. 1 is a plan of a part of a cultivator with my invention applied; Fig. 2 is a
sectional elevation of the same;
Fig. 3 is a plan and Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation of a part of a cultivator
illustrating other parts of my invention;
Fig. 5 is a side and back elevation and details of one of the spring tines and
loose shares and fixing devices constructed according to another part of my
invention;
Fig. 6 illustrates another arrangement of spring tine in accordance with this
invention;
Fig. 7 shews how I may arrange to apply pressure to the sections carrying
the spring tines; Fig. 8 shews another method of applying pressure to the said
sections; and
Fig. 9 illustrates another part of my invention.
The first part of this invention has reference to those cultivators which have
independent sections which are hinged to the frame of the cultivator and are
depressed by means of pressure arms. In Figs. 1 and 2 these sections are
marked A A and they are hinged as at a¹ to the frame B of the cultivator and
are depressed by means of the pressure arms C and C. According to this part
of my invention the said hinged sections when used in combination with the pressure
arins are jointed in themselves as at a so as to make the said section flexible for
the purpose of allowing the jointed part of the section to rise or fall when the
cultivator is at work. In Fig. 1 part of the angle iron of the section is shewn as
broken away to indicate a method of applying the hinged joint as at a². The
jointed section may be made rigid when required by locking the said jointed parts
by means of bolts or in any other suitable manner.
The second part of this invention consists in forming a tooth or chain gearing
actuated by a foot or hand lever of any convenient form in combination with a
pressure arm or arms or cam fitted on an axle for the purpose of applying pressure

page_text: and elevating the section frame of a cultivator. This is carried out as follows:
On an axle D of the cultivator (Figs. 1 and 2) I fix a tooth wheel or segment E
gearing by means of cogs placed radially on its side face into the cogs of a
pinion F carried upon the separate shaft ending in the handle. Carried
upon the axle D are the arms C C, Figs. 1 and 2, or cam W Fig. 7, for applying
pressure to the sections A. A. In some cases the said pressure arms or cam may
be used for elevating the sections as well as depressing. But when this is not so
a separate ordinary lifting arm is used as marked G in Fig. 2. The segment E
has on its periphery a series of notches or cogs engaged by the clutch pin H
(Figs. 1 and 2) which latter is raised means of the short arm carrying the
foot lever I a longer arın h³ carrying the foot plate and both arms forming one
piece having a hinge working on the pin . The short arm of the foot
lever may be carried through an aperture made in the upper portion of the
clutch-pin H in which it may work freely. The clutch-pin H is depressed by
means of a spiral spring encircling the said pin and fixed in the clutch-box K.
The said clutch box preferably forms a part of a casting M. This casting being
secured to one side of the augle-bar L which forms part of the cultivator frame,
by the screws, as shewn particularly in Fig. 1. On the upper portion of the
casting M and forming a part of the same is a triangular arm m' holding the
upper portion of the pinion shaft f¹. A lower triangular arm m³ seen principally
in Fig. 2 holds the lower portion of the said shaft. The same casting M is carried
over the other side of the angle bar L and bears the ears of the hinge m³ of the
foot plate lever A and is fastened by a single screw as shewn in Fig. 1. Another
arm of the casting M is carried past the plain face of the segment E and is
formed into a collar m encircling the axle D in such a manner that the axle
may freely revolve within such collar. In place of the pinion F as shewn in
Figs. 1 and 2 I sometimes apply a worm F as shewn in Fig. 4 to the shaft f
which is brought into the position shown in order that the worm F may engage
with the teeth of the worm wheel segment E as shewn in Figs. 3 and 4. In this
case I dispense with the foot lever and clutch box mentioned above and to carry
the shaft there is applied an upper bearing M carried by forked ends to the
angle bar L where it is fastened by the bolts as seen in Fig. 3. Forming
a part of this bearing and on the side nearest the driver's seat there is an arm in¹
extending to a collar encircling the axle the same arm being further extended
in such a manner that this extended end may form a pivot block m³ for the worm
shaft. The axle here described need not necessarily be the road wheel axle but
may form an independent shaft. I am aware that a pinion and worm has been
used in cultivators of this class previously but in a somewhat different manner.
In my case I only claim it when used in connection with an arm or arms fixed upon
one shaft or axle for the purpose of elevating and depressing the sections of the
cultivator.
The third part of this invention consists of the following improved method of
fastening the shares to the spring tines of the cultivator.
For this purpose
I construct a loose plate with its sides or edges turned up as N Fig. 5. This
plate is placed at the rear of the spring tine and the share P is placed on the
frout of the spring tine between the projecting sides of the plate N, and a bolt n
is passed through the share P the tine O and the plate N as seen in Fig. 5
thus securing the share P to the spring tine O. Or I may form the spring tine O
with its sides or edges partly turned up to form a channel for the share P and,
fasten them together by a bolt n' as shewn in Fig. 6.
Another part of this invention consists of an improved spring tine for cultivators
(made of spring steel or rigid metal and of the ordinary shape) which is formed
of two or more parts and its construction as shewn in different forms in Figs. 5.
and 6. In Fig. 5 the tine is hinge jointed at Q to its upper portion of which is
fastened to the cross bar R of the section bearing the tines by the clamp S a
there is an inner flat spring T carried by the same clamp which projects beyond
the hinge joint Q of the tine O and is there formed into a hooked end t' which

page_text: passes through a stirrup t. This stirrup is passed around the hinged tine O as
shewn, for the purpose of raising the tine out of the ground. The tine is forced
into the ground by the hooked end of the spring T when the section is lowered but
acts in such a manner that on meeting with any undue obstruction excess of
rigidity is avoided by the play afforded through the hinge joint and the flat
spring T.
I may in some cases hinge the tine to the cross bar R of the section to
the clip S upon the section as will readily be understood.
In Fig. 6 the tine O is shewn in a modified form. It is hinge jointed at Q the
upper portion of being fastened to the cross bar R of the section bearing the tines
by the clamp S by a non-resilient section o¹. This section o' bears at the lower
end a fork o having double ears on each branch the upper pair preferably
serving to carry the spiral spring T by means of the pin t' the lower pair carrying
the hinged tine O by a similar pin. The spring T is placed transversely to the
tine O and one end of this spring rests upon the lower square branch of the
section of the other end 3 impinging upon the tine O somewhat to the rear of
the hinge Q. The end is formed into a booked shape to carry the stirrup or
loop which in this figure is shewn in sectional side elevation in its appointed
place.
Another part of this invention provides improved means for applying pressure
upon the aforesaid sections of the cultivator through the pressure arms herein-
hefore described and illustrated in the several figures. In Fig. 7 I place a cam W
on a shaft as at D of this figure this cam being so fixed as to adjust the pressure
on the arm C the said arm being fixed at one end to the frame of the cultivator,
in this case it is fixed to the angle bar L in such manner that when the hand
lever is depressed the cam W presses upon the arm C and thus by depressing
the section A of the cultivator the tines carried by such section are forced into.
the ground.
In Fig. 8 I shew another of my improved means for applying pressure upon the
sections through the pressure arm. In this case the cam W is made in the form of
a bent or upright arm as shewn fixed to the shaft D and is jointed to the pressure
arm C at the free end of such arm resting upon the section carrying the tines.
On each side of this hinge joint c' is an upright arm and c³, the arm & forming
a part of the lower and free portion of the arm C the arm ca forming a portion of
the shorter and fixed end of the pressure arm C. The upper end of the arm c³ is
hinged to a pin c which pin is carried through a slot in the upper end of the arm c
in which slot it may work freely. On the portion of the pin c which intervenes
between the upright arms and c is fixed a spiral pushing spring c. In the
normal state the arin e being fixed to and moving with the shaft D when pressure
is applied by the band lever arm f¹ which is partly shewn in the figure the spring c
is compressed and the requisite pressure is brought to bear upon the free portion of
the arm C for depressing the section A carrying the tines.
Another part of this invention consists in attaching the cross bars carrying the
tines of a cultivator to one or more springs fixed at one or both sides of the frame
of the section carrying the tines for the purpose of relieving the heavy strain to
which the tines may be subjected when the cultivator is in use. Fig. 9 gives two
elevations and one plan of the method of effecting this attachment. The cross
bar (to which the tines not shewn upon my drawings are attached) is pivotted
to the side frames of the section Y and has affixed to it a short upright arm or
two such arms as shewn in the figure. On the frame Y in a forward convenient
position is fixed a block Z to which is biuged a pin 22 the free end of which passes
freely through a double tapered slot constructed in the upper portion of the short
arm. The spiral pushing spring is placed around the pin and impinges
respectively upon the ears of the block Z and the upright arm and thus
keeps the tines in contact with the ground and relieves any excessive strain on
the same.
In making various portions of this invention I may apply the same principles of
operation by modified details of construction for effecting the purposes required.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. In a cultivator of the kind herein referred to the employment of one or more
hinge jointed sections in combination with a pressure arm or arms bearing upon
such section substantially as herein before described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2-
of the accompanying drawings.
2. In a cultivator of the kind herein referred to the employment of a toothed
wheel or segment geared to a pinion and arranged to be actuated by a foot or hand
lever together with a pressure arm or cam all movable and in combination with a.
common shaft or axle for the purpose of applying an adjustable pressure to the
section or sections carrying the tines of the cultivator substantially as hereiabefore.
described with reference to Figs. 1, 2 and 7 of the accompanying drawings.
3. In a cultivator of the kind herein referred to the employment of a toothed
wheel or segment geared to a pinion or worm such pinion or worm being actuated
by a hand lever and in combination with mechanism fitted upon a common shaft or
axle for the purpose of depressing and elevating the sections of the cultivator
substantially as described with reference to Figs. 2, 4 and 7 of the accompanying.
drawings.
4. The combination with a cultivator tine and share of the loose plate having its.
sides or edges turned in such a manner as to hold the share in its proper position
upon the spring tine when bolted thereto substantially as described and illustrated
in Fig. 5.
5. A spring tine for cultivators made with its sides or edges turned in such a
manner as to hold the share in its proper position upon the said tine when bolted
thereto substantially as described and illustrated in Fig. 6.
6. A jointed cultivator tine having a spring or springs to act upon it
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
7. In a cultivator of the kind herein referred to the employment of a pressure
arm combined with a spring and being jointed to or acted upon by a cam or
equivalent device for the purpose and substantially as described with reference to
Figs. 7 and 8.
8. In a cultivator of the kind herein referred to the employment of a cam fixed
upon an axle or bar the said cam bearing upon an arm or spring for the purpose of
adjusting the pressure upon the sections carrying the tines of the cultivator
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
9. In a cultivator of the kind herein referred to the employment of a pivotted
cross bar carrying the tines of the cultivator and attached to the section and
arranged to be acted upon by a spring or springs to relieve the pressure on the
tines substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Fig. 9 of the-
accompanying drawings.
Dated this 20th day of October 1896.
CHARLES BOSWORTH KETLEY,
Agent for the Applicant.