US240377A - Cultivator - Google Patents

Description

(NdModeL) W. P. BROWN.

Cultivator.

No. 240,377. Patented April 19,1881.

WITNESSES INVENTOR t AT1I'ORNEYS NPEIERS. FNOTO-LITMDGRAPHER. WASHINGLON. o c

UNITED STATES PATENT ""FFEE WILLIAM P. BROWN, OF ZANESVILLE, OHIO.

CU LTIVATO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 240,377, dated April 19, 1881.

Application filed February 12, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM PATTERSON BROWN, a citizen of the United States, resident at Zanesville, in the State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cultivators andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a plan view. Fig. 2 is a side view.

This invention has relation to wheel'cultivators; and it consists, mainly, in devices whereby the front portion of the plow is provided with resilient flexibility, in combining the draft-connections therewith, in the spring lifting devices, and in the combination, with spring lifting devices and a draft attachment connected to a common portion of the frame, of a plow having its front portion or conneotion flexible, all as hereinafter specified.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a plow-beam with an automatic springing or compensating motion, whereby the plows are relieved from a rigid dependence upon the axle or other portion of the cultivator-frame to which the beam may be connected.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated the plow-beam as connected to the hearing or upon the axle A but it can be connected to a hanger or other portion of the frame, to which the draft is attached. The bearing a is provided at one end with a sheave or lever projection, B, to which the draft 0 is attached, provision being made for the variation of the point of attachment of the draft by means of a series of holes, I). At the other end of the bearing a is formed an arm, 0, extending forward and provided with adjusting devices, and designed for the attachment of the lower end of the spring lifting device D, which consists in the construction shown of an adjustable toggle, E, a spring, F, and a Lie, 6, connecting the joint of the toggle to the spring, the relative length and position of the parts being such that when the plow is lifted sufliciently the toggle will be drawn forward by the spring past the center, taking a reversed position and forming a lock, assisting materially in carrying the plow when the shovels are not in operation; and when the beam is down and the shovels in use the lifting attachment serves to lighten the weight for the operator at the handle G, enabling him to guide and regulate the shovels with facility. The front portion of the plow-beam is made flexible, usually by forming ajoint atf, so that the rear portion, H, of the beam carrying the shovel bars or standards I I is flexible with relation to the front portion, K, which is coupled to a projection or projections, g, on the bearing a by means of a key, and suitable lug-s formed on said forward portion. On the rear and front portions, HK, of the beam are provided projections or lugs h, between which a spring, S, is introduced, this spring being usually seated upon a guide, k, and being capable of adjustment upon said guide, so as to increase or lessen its tension, according to the requirement of the soil. The joint f is also designed to be made adjustable by providing series of holes through the arm or arms of one or both portions, H and K, for the passage of the pivot-bolt p. In order that the flexure of the beam at the joint, when the shovels are operating in hard ground under strong draft, may not be too great, a stop, 8, is provided, which is usually made adjustable, and serves to limit the movement of the joint. A stop is also provided to limit the upward flexure, so that the beam will have, when not working, a straightjoint.

It is apparent that the flexible joint in the forward portion of the beam relieves it from a rigid dependence on the axle sleeve or attachment, so that theshovels can act within certain limits automatically, adapting themselves to their work in the soil. The resilience at the joint, resulting from the action of the spring or weight, serves to press the rear shovel into the ground, and, when desired, to effect a straightening of the joint.

It is designed by this invention to overcome the tendency which shovels have, when one is placed farther to the rear than another, to penetrate the ground to unequal depths, which results from the rigidity of the beam and the inequality in the leverage of the shovels, causing the longer or rear shovel to govgrp the forward one. The flexibility of the beam allows the shovels to adjust themselves automatically to the proper depth in the soil, and assists materially in preventing clogging, which occurs when the plows swing to one side of the line of draft. Therefore I am enabled to set one shovel of the gang much farther in advance of the other than the usual mode, and thereby avoid the possibility of clogging, and enabling the plowman to plow nearer the ends of cornrows. This construction also avoids extra cost of material, as the forward shovels are provided with bars much shorter than usual. The employment of a short bar also adds steadiness and strength to the beam, there being less springing action. As the flexible beams are made to operate in combination with a coupling having projecting portions, which cooperate with the draft of the team and springs, an effect is produced upon the plows, either against or with the draft of the team, tending to either lift or depress them; and when hard ground threatens to force the plows out the flexure of the beams provides for the depression of their points, causing them to hug the soilan effect which is still more obvious when the front beam is arranged well in advance of the rear one, as above described.

Spring drag-bars have been employed in cultivators, and jointed arms controlling slipteeth in cultivators are also known. Therefore these constructions are not claimed herein.

Having described this invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A plow-beam having in its front portion a resilient flexible joint, substantially as specifled.

2. A plow-beam having its front portions flexibly jointed, and carrying an interacting spring between projections on the portions of the jointed plow-beam, substantially as specified.

3. The combination, with the couplin g-sleeve and its draft sheave or projection, of the resilient fiexiblejoiuted plow-beam, substantially as specified.

4'. The combination, with a plow-beam and its coupling-sleeve, having a draft sheave or projection, and a forward arm, 0, of the liftingspring, toggle, and tie, substantially as specifled.

5. The combination, with a flexible plowbeam, of a coupling-sleeve having a draft-projection at one end and spring lifting devices at the other end operating in antagonism to the draft, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

W. 1?. BROWN.

Witnesses:

PHILIP G. MASI, H. G. MEGREW.

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