IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUTING WATER AND LIQUID MANURE
Year: 1866

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Russ. and Thomas
William Wedlake at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 8th March 1866.
We, WILLIAM Russ, of Brentwood, in the County of Essex, Engineer,
and THOMAS WILLIAM WEDLAKE, of Hornchurch, in the same County,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUTING WATER AND LIQUID MANURE,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements on the Patent granted to the within-
named William Russ, bearing date January 12th, 1865, No. 100, for
Improved Apparatus for Distributing Liquid Manure." In order to keep
the openings clear in the distributing pipe of this apparatus, and thereby to
ensure a continuous and regular discharge from that pipe, we adopt the
following contrivance:-Throughout the whole length of the distributing pipe,
and at regular intervals, we cut slits in the direction of the pipe's length, in
which we insert brass tongues which are carried by a sliding bar operated by
a crank, cam, or excentric. By this means the tongues are caused to traverse
continually from end to end of the slots and keep them clear and open.
Instead of slots the discharge pipe may be pierced with round holes as in an
ordinary street watering cart, and opposite each hole pins carried by a
longitudinal rocking bar may be used to enter the several holes at certain
intervals of time and push out any substance that may have clogged up the

page_text: holes.
As an improvement in the means of introducing into the liquid to be
distributed solid manures, as guano or superphosphates at any convenient
part of the pipe through which the liquid to be distributed passes au air-tight
tank or hopper is fixed to contain the solid mauure, in which is caused to
revolve a feed roller of peculiar form, the action of which is that as the feed
roller revolves the solid manure is carried down into the liquid and is dis-
charged through the delivery pipe, the fresh liquid having free access to the
tank equalizes the pressure and allows the manure to descend by gravitation.
The feed roller is provided on its periphery with a corrugated flange, the
corrugations of which form the cups or receptacles for the manure.
Thus as
the roller rotates the manure is discharged in measured quantities from the
hopper.
.
.
Another improvement consists in fitting the outer travelling whe-l which
is opposite to that side on which the horse walks with a long axletree, so that
the wheel can be set to any desired width; the object of this arrangement is
to adapt the machine to any width of growing crop. We also propose instead
of using shafts, as in the original apparatus, to extend the side framing in
length so as to form a pole at each end, the object of this is to allow the
horse to turn in a smaller space, the horse to draw by a chain and to be
attached to the poles alternately. We have also found it highly desirable to
use steam instead of horse power in traversing the manure or liquid distributor,
for when in action the apparatus requires the application of an increased
amount of power at the finishing of the "stretch." Such an increase is of no
consequence wheu steam power is used, as the extra power required may be
readily stored in the boiler, but where horse power is employed the extra
strain is very severe. In adapting steam to traverse the drum which
carries the hose pipe and the distributing pipe to and from the source of
supply we employ a vertical boiler and attach thereto the steam cylinder.
This boiler we mount on a pair of carrying wheels, to one of which rotary
motion is communicated through a spur wheel which it carries, being geared
into by a pinion which is driven by a crank connected with the piston rod
of the steam cylinder. The boiler is fitted below with a centre piu which
enters a bearing in a rigid fraine made secure to the frame which carries the
hose pipe drum. The boiler is further steadieil by tie rods which connect it
at its upper part with the drum frame, but so that it will be free to turn on
its centre pin together with the wheels which carry it; bolted to the boiler is
a frame which is fitted with a segment rack, and into this rack gears a worm
which is actuated by a worm wheel for the purpose of turning the boller on
its centre pin, and thus bringing the driven or off wheel of the boiler into a

page_text: line with the steering wheel, to be presently more particularly referred to.
The axle of the other carrying wheel is elongated to allow of the lateral
adjustment of that wheel to suit the varying widths of "stetches." The.
steering wheel is mounted centrally or nearly so of the framing, and from it
motion is communicated through gearing to the drum, the axle of which is
fitted with a chain or other pulley to receive a belt from a side pulley
set in action by the steering wheel, that wheel being dependent for its
motion on friction of contact with the ground. The hose pipe is connected
with the hollow axle of the drum, and from the axle depends a pipe which
conducts the liquid to the distributing pipe. When employing the apparatus
for watering streets we use a narrow coiling drum of large diameter, the
object being to lay the hose in a straight line in the gutter or on the pavement ;
this is done by passing the hose through two guide rollers which are free to
move round their axes but in no other direction; the coiling is done by any
approved method named before, with this difference, the travelling guide
rollers will have a reversing motion, the result of which is that the hose is
coiled in layers one over the other. To compensate for the differing
diameters of the coiling drum produced by the last action named the coiling
drum is driven by friction wheels, that mode being preferred in which the
axes of the spindles lie at right angles to each other, and the driving wheels
or discs so disposed that the position of one may be altered by shifting it
along its spindle so as to enable it to act at different diameters on the face
of the other; this end may be also attained by special cog wheels adapted in
their diameters to the increase of each coil, the discharging pipe will be
made to slide in or out as a telescope, or hinged on a joint to allow vehicles
to pass over the roads. We also propose to distribute the liquid by jets by
the aid of the steam-power irrigator. A pump. centrifugal, or of the ordinary
kind, is attached to the main frame of the machine, and the liquid is delivered
into the suction pipe of the pump, thus while the machine is traversing the
land the jet could be delivered at right angles in a horizontal direction, the
object of this mode is to water high standing crops when the machine could
not work in the usual way. A small drill, either with or without coulters,
may be attached to the frame of the machine so as to deposit small seeds,
as turnips or clover, and to sow and irrigate at the same time.