US177504A - Improvement in potato-diggers - Google Patents

Description

' c. HARRIS,

. I OTATO-DIGGER. BIL-177,504. Patented May 16, 1876 UNITED STATES CHRISTOPHER HARRIS, or MARTVILLE, NEW YORK,

IMPROVEMENT IN PQTATO-DIGGERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 177,504, dated May 16, 1876; application filed January 3, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHRISTOPHER HARRIS, of Martville, in the county of Cayuga, and in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Potato-Diggers; and do hereby declare that the followin g is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being .had to the accompanying drawing, making a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of my machine as arranged for use; and Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, the dotted lines showing the positions of parts when the plowstandard and the rear endof the sled are locked together.

Letters of like name and kind refer to like parts in each of the figures.

The object sought by my invention is to increasethe speed and to lessen the labor required for removing potatoes from the ground and it consists, principally, in the peculiar construction of the shovel, substantially as and for the purpose hereinafter specified. It consists, further, in the construction and combination of the shovel and sled, substantially as and for the purpose hereinaftershown. lt

' consists, finally, in the means employed for locking together the shovel-standard and the rear end of the sled, substantially as and for the purpose hereinafter set forth.

In the annexed drawing, A and A represent two runners, secured together at their front ends by means of a cross-bar, B, and near their rear ends by a bolster, 0, and provided with a tongue or pole, D, which is hinged to or upon said cross-bar, the whole forming a sled for supporting my digging mechanism. Pivoted between two nuts, 6 and 6, upon a vertical bolt, E, which is secured within the up per side at the longitudinal center of the crossbar B, is a beam, F, that from thence extends rearward to the bolster G, and has secured to its rear end a plow-standard, G, said standard being inclined downward and forward at the usual angle, and having attached to its lower end a shovel-plow, H, and to its upper end a cross-bar or handle, I. Within the upper and front sides of the bolster O is formed a recess, 0, which corresponds to and receives the rear side of the standard G, and holds the same firmly in lateral position.

A hook, K, pivoted at one end to or upon the rear side, near the upper end of said standard, engages, when desired, with an eye, 70, that is secured within the rear face of said bolster, and locks said parts firmly together, by which means the entire rear portion of the machine may be raised by the handle I whenever it becomes necessary to pass obstructions. Theshovel H has a peculiar form, being curved transversely, substantially straight from its point to its upper end, its upper central portion being provided with an opening or space, It, while within each side, midway from said point to its heel, is formed an angular space, h, which has its greatest vertical dimensions at its front end, and from thence rearward decreases regularly in size. From the space It to the point of. said plow its lower edge inclines forward and downward, and at said point is upon a line horizontally with the lower edge of the heels. 1

In use the front portion of the shovel passes beneath the hills of potatoes and loosens and raises the same, while the wings of said plow turn the principal portion of the soil to each side, and the potatoes pass upward and rearward and fall through the opening h. A portion of the soil passes beneath the shovel through the openings h and h.

It is intended that the runners A and A shall follow the furrows upon the sides of a row of hills, while the shovel may be swung to either side, if necessary, to bring it beneath each hill.

By raising or lowering the nuts 0 and 6 upon 7 the bolt E the front end of the beam F will be correspondingly raised or lowered, and the depth of the shovel within the ground in a like degree varied.

Having thus fully set forth the nature and merits of my invention, what I claim as new 1sl. The shovel H, havingits front upper portion convex, its wings extended outward and rearward, with their lower edges upon a line horizontally with the point, provided with the space it at its rear upper central portion, and having a triangular space, h, within each side at its lower end, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The sled A, A, B, and C, the bolt Eeythe In testimony that I claim the foregoing I beam F, the standard G, and the plow H,con-' have hereunto set my hand this 25th day of strueted and combined in the manner and for August, 1875. a the purpose substantially as shown.

3. In combination with the bolster 0, pro- CHRISTOPHER HARRIS. vided with the recess cvand eye 70, the shovelstandard G, having pivoted upon its rear side Witnesses: the hook K, substantially as and for the pur- DANIEL BIRD, pose set forth. ALICE Bm-D.

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