US9754A - Improvement in cultivators - Google Patents

Description

P. H. KEGK.

Cultivator.

No. 9,764. Patented May 3L 1 853 MW \lvvvvv UNITED STATES PATENT OrErcE.

PHILIP H. KEOK, OF MORGANTOWN, VIRGINIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN CULTIVATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 9,75% dated May 31, 1853.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHILIP H. KECK, of Morgantown, in the county of Monongalia and State ofVirginia, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Cultivators; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to annexed drawings, forming part of this specification, in which the several parts are represented as follows:

Figure l is top view of the cultivator. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation.

Similar letters in the several figures refer to the same parts of the machine.

The nature of my invention consists in constructing a cultivator which shall be a combination of the harrow, the roller, and the plow, so arranged as to assist each other when used to getl1er,and at the same time so constructed as to be used separately, should occasion require it; also,in attaching to the implement a balancing-pivot for the purpose of facilitating the turning of the cultivator when the extremity of the field is reached.

In the drawings, A represents the barrow, constructed in the usual manner, with the exception of the bow-piece B, which projects upward, and through which are the holes 60,1391- mitting the clevis to be raised or lowered, thus regulating the depth which the barrow-teeth sink in the soil.

0 G are the handles, supported in the rear by the uprights D D, between which is the shaft E,working on thejournals b 1). Through this shaft E passes the lever F, armed at its anterior extremity with the bill-hook c, and movable about the journals b b. This system forms what I term the balancing-pivot, the use of which I will presently describe.

To the rear of the harrow are the arms G G, carrying the two shovel-plows H H and the upright guide-pieces K K,in which are grooves d d, containing the slidesff, to which the roller B is fastened. By means of the grooves (Z and slidesf the roller R can be raised or lowered at pleasure for the purpose of regulating the sinking of the harrow-teeth. The roller is main tained in position by the screws h, passing through the uprights K and the slidesf.

The roller in a full sized machine is about twelve inches in diameter, and is constructed of hard wood, so as to give it sufficient weight and solidity.

The machine is operated as follows: The ground having been well plowed in the ordinary mauner, my improved cultivator drawn either by one or two horses, according to the depth I wish the harrow-teeth to sink, is put upon the field. The lumps and clods are broken to some extent by the teeth of the harrow and then come under the roller,which reduces them completely and renders the soil mellow and compact, and thus better capable of nourishing the seed than when left loose. The shovelplows following after make two furrows. In the one on the field side the dropper deposits the corn, which is covered by the outside furrow made by the return of the cultivator. hen the cultivator arrives at the extremity of the field the lever F (which during the travel of the machine has been kept in the horizontal position seenin Fig. 2 by the pin m in the top of the rear arm of the lever pressing against the face of the latch a) is allowed to fall by raising the latch a. This position is shown by the red lines in the figure. The sharp bill-hook c then enters the ground, and by the forward motion of the cultivator the whole machine is raised from the ground and supported by the balancin gpivonabout which it is then revolved by the operator, the horse slightly backed until the machine is brought to the ground, the lever F raised into a horizontal position by a slight pressure upon its rear arm, the latch a lowered, and the cultivator is ready to proceed, as before described.

By the use of the balancing-pivotP the smallest boy capable of driving is able to manage the largest-sized cultivator, and to any one it is a great saving of time and labor in turning the machine.

If small grain be sown, the plows H H are removed and the grain harrowed in and pressed down by the combination of the harrow and roller. The roller serves to mellow the ground and bring the soil into intimate contact with the seed, thereby preserving it and preventing the chance ofits beiu g left ex posed by the loose soil blowing away from it.

By using this cultivator in planting corn the rows are all made the same distance apart, so

that when the corn requires harrowing I have only to remove the roller and plows and I have a light harrow exactly fitting the rows of corn. The movable slidesf, to which the roller R is attached, are of great advantage, as by lowering the roller the harrow-tecth and shovelplows will enter the soil but a small distance, thus affording a simple and effective means of regulating their sinking in the ground by altering the position of the roller. By removing both plows and teeth there remains a roller suitable for any purpose for which that implement is used. If it be required simply to furrow out corn, I remove both roller and harrow -teeth, and the machine is an excellent one for the purpose. In fact, this cultivator combines the harrow, roller, and shovel-plow, which can each

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