USX3130I1 - Improvement in plows - Google Patents

Description

.BEST AVAILAJCF df/ 0X V1. woon.

Plow. Y

Patented Sep. 1,1819.

` prim.. wann-avon. mc.

, N30/V PATENT OFFICE.

JETHEO woon, 0F POPLAR RIDGE, NEW vonk.

4l MPROVEM ENT iN PLOWS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent dated September l, i819.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JETHRO WOOD, of Popiur Ridge, county of Cayuga, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvenient in Plows, ofwhich the followingisa specitication.

Considerin g the manifold errors and defects in the construction of plows,and tite inconvenience experienced in the use ot' them, the petitioner and inventor hath applied the powers of his tnind to the improvetnent of this noble utensil, and produced a plow so far superior to those in common use that he asks an exclusive privilege for the same from the government of his country, '.lhe principal matters l'or which be solicits Letters Patent he now reduces to writing, and explains in words anti sentences as appropriate and significant as he possihly can; but being perfectly aware of the feeblcuess and insufficiency oflanguage to convey precise and adequate ideas of complicated forms and proportions, the said JETHRO WOOD annexes to these presents a delineation upon paper of his said new and improved plow, with full and explanatory notes, urging with earnestness and respect that tite delineation und notes may be considered as part of this communication.

rlhe said petitioner and inventor also being perfectly convinced, as a practical man,that a model ot' his inventions anti improvements will convey and preserve the most exact and durable itnpressions ofthe matters to which he lays claitn, he sends herewith a model lci the due t'orm und proportions ot' each as a just exhibition of his principle and ot its application to the construction and improvement of the plow, requesting that the same may be kept in the Patent Otiice as a perpetual memorial ot the invention and its use.

In the ilrst place, the said JE'rmtO WOOD cluims an exclusive privilege forconstructing the part of the plow heretofore and to this day generally called the mold-board, in the manner hereinafter mentioned. This mold-board may be termed a piano-curvilinear ligure, not detined nor described iu any ot' the element ury books of geometry or mathematics; but nu idea may he conceived of it thus: The laudside of the plow, measuring from the point ot the mold-board, is two feet and two inches long. It is a straight-iined surface, from four to five and one-half inches wide and half an inch thick. Its more particular description will be hereinafterward given. It is sutiiclent, to observe here that ofthe twenty-six inches of length on the landside eighteen inches belong to the part ofthe plow strictly called the lundside and eight inches to the mold-board. The part of the mold-board cotnprehended by this space ot' eight inches is very important, utfording weight and strength and substance to the plow, enabling it the better to sustain the cuttingedge for separating and elevating the soil in sward, and likewise thc standard for coitnecting the mold-board with the beam, as will hereinafter be described more at large.

The figure of the lnoldboard as observed from the furrow side is a sort of irregular pentagon or tive-sided platte, though curved and inclined in a peculiar manner. 'Its two lower sides touch the ground, or are intended to do so, while the three other sides enter into tite composition ot the oblique or slanting moldboard, ovcrhanging behind, vertical midway, and projecting forward. The angleoithe moltiboard as it departs from the foremost point ol' or at the landside is about forty-two degrees, and the length of t,or,in other words, at tite first side, is eleven inches. The line oi' the next or the second side is nearly, but not exactly, parallel with the before-mentioned righ tlined landside, for it widens or divcrgcs from the'angle atwhicit the lirst and second sides join toward its posterior or hindertnost point. as much as oneinch. Hence thedlstnnce irotn the hlndniost point ot' the incld-lnntrd ut the angie of tite second anti third sides directly across to tite landsidc is otto inch more than itis from tite angle oi' the iirst'antl second sides directly across. The length oi' this the second side is eight inches. The next side, or what is here denominated the third side, leaves tite ground or furrow in a slantiug di. rection backward, and with nu overhangng curve exceeding tite perpendicular outward from three to six inches, according to the size of the plow. The length of. this third side is fourteen inches and onchali. The fourth side ot' this mold-board is horizontal, or nearly so,

extending from the uppermost point ot' tite third side tothe fore part or pitch eighteen inches. Theiiithor last side descends or slopes from the lastmentioned mark, spot, or pitch to the place of beginning at the low anti fore pointot the moid-board,where it joins the laudside. Its length is thirteen inches. Besides by thesawvin fashioning it` and b v the rule in these properties and'proportions of his moldboard, the said JETHRO WOOD now explains other properties which it possesses and by which it may be and is distinguished from every other invented thing. The peculiar curve has been compared to that of the screw-auger, and it has been likened to the prow of a ship. Neither of these similitudes conveys the fair und proper notion ofthe inventor.

The mold-board which the said JETHRO Woon claims as his own, and whichis the result ot' profound reflection and of nnmberless experiments, is a sort of plano-curvilinear surface, as hereinbei'ore stated, having the following bearings and relations: A right line drawn by a chalked string or chord, or by a straight rule, diagonally or obliqnely upward and backward from a point two inches and a halt-inch above thetipor extretntyof the moldhoard to the angle where the third and fourth sides of the mold-board join, touches the snrface the whole distance in an even and uniform application, and leaves no sinking depression, hole, cavity, rising, bump, or protuberance in any part of the distance.V Bo at a distance half-way between the diagonal line just described and the angle Abetween the first and second sides, a line drawn parallel to the diagonal line already mentioned will receive the chalked string or cord, or the straight rule, as on a uniform and even surface without the smallest bend, sunosity, or bunch, whereby earth might adhere tothe mold-hoard and impede th'e motion and progress oi' the plow under, through, and along the soil. In a like manner, it a point be taken one inch behind the anglc connecting the second and third sides and a perpendicular be raised upon it, that perpendicular will coincide with the vertical portion ofthe mold-board in that place; or, in other words, if a plumb-line be let fall so as to reach a point one inch behind the lastmentioned angle, then such a plumbllne will hang parallel with the mold-hoard the whole way, the line of the moldboard there neither projecting nor receding, but being both a right line and u perpendicular line. Moreover, it' a right lino he drawn from a point on the just. described perpendicular ono inch, or thereahont,above the upper margin ofthe fourth side and i'rom the point to which the said perpendicular, it' continued, would reach it', the said Jarnac Woon repeats,a right line be drawn downward and forward, not exactly parallel to the diagonal herein already described, but so diverging from the same that it isone inch more distant or farther apart at its termination on the iil'th sideot the mold-hoard than ut its origin or place oi beginning such line so beginning, continued, and ended is a right line parallel to the mold-board along its whole course and direction, andthe space over which it passes has noincqnality,hill, or hollow thereabout. Furthermore, an additional pro ierty ot his moldboard is that if it be measure and proved various ways vertically and obllquely meting it, and bythe chalk-line in determining fit,"the capital and distinguishing character of right lilies extending on, over, and along the peculiar curve which his mold-board describes is always and inseparably present. This grand and discriminating feature ol his mold-board he considers of the"'utmost importance. He therefore craves the aid and elncidation of his drawings and ot' hisniodel in their totality and in their several parts to render plain and sure whatever there may be from the nhstruse and recondite nature of the subject uncertain or dubious in the language of his speci tic-ation.

In the second place,the said J Eurmo Woon claims an exclusive right and privilege in the construction ofa standard of' cast-iron like the 1rest of the work already described, for con necting the mold-boards with the beam. This standard is broad, stout, strong, and rises from the fore and upper part of the moldboard, being cast with it, and being a. projection or continuation of the same from where the fourth and fifth sides meer, its figures, strength, and arrangement are such as best to secure the connection and toenahle the standard thus associated with the beam to bear the pull, tug, and hruntof service. By a screw-bolt and nnt properly adjusted above the top oi the stand ard and acting along its side,assi'sted, if need require, bya wedge for tightening and loosening, the beam may be raised and lowered, and the mold-board, with its cnttingedge, enabled to make a furrow of greater or smaller depth, as'the plowman may desire, andv a latch and key iixed to the beam, and capable of being turned into notches, grooves,or depressionson one edge or-narrow side of the standard, serve to keep the beam from settling or descending. By means ofthe screw-bolts, wedges, latches, and keys,with theirnppropriate notches, teeth, and joggles, the'plow maybe deepened or shallowed most exactly.

In the third place, the said J strutto Woon claims an exclusivo privilege in the in vendons and improvements made by him in the construction of thecutting-edge ofthe m old-board, or what may be called in plain language the plowshare. The cutting-edge consists of cast. iron, as do the mold-board and landside themselves. It is about twelve vinches und cnc-h all' of one inch long, four inches and one-halt` o1' one inch broad,and ln the thickest part threequarters ofen inch thick. It is so fashioned and cast that its tits snugly and nicely into n corresponding excavation or depression at the low and fore edge of the mold-board along the side hereinbetore termed the l first7 side. Then properly adapted the cutting-edge seems by its uniformity of surface and evenuess ol' connection to he an'elongation ot' the mold board, or, as it were, an extension or continuA ation of the same. To give the cuttingedgc firm coherence and connection, it is secured th the mold-board by two or more knobs, pins, or heads in the inner and higher side, which are received into one or more holes in the tore and lower part oi' the mold board. By this mechanism the edge is lapped on and kept fast and true without theV employment of screws. lliatthecutting-edge may be more securelyand im movubly kept in its place, it has a groove o r ship-lap of one inch in length below or at its antler side, near the angle between the ilrst and second sides, for the purpose of holding, and for the further accomplishment of the same object another groove or ship-lap, stouter and stronger than the preceding, is also cast in the iron at or near the points of the moldboard, so as to cover, incase, and protect it ellectually on the upper and lower sides, but not on the land side. After the cutting-edge is thus adapted and adjusted to the mold-board by means of the indentations, pins, holes, shiplaps, and fastenings, it is fixed to its place und prevented from slipping back or working oil' by wed ges or pins of wood or other material driven into the holes from the inner-end un-V der side and forced tight home by a hammer. lu the fourth place, the said Ja'ruso Woon claims the exclusive right of securing the handles of his plow to the nioldboard and lautlsidc of the plow by means of notches, ears, loops,nrholders cast with the mold-board and landside, respectively, anti serving to receive and contain the handles without the use ol nuts and screws. For this purpose one or more ears or loops or one or more pairs of notches or holders are cast on the inner side ot' the mold-board and laudside, toward their hinder or back parts or near their after margins, for the reception of the handles of theplow, and therelore when duly entered and fitted are wedged instead of being fastened by screws.

ln the tlith place, the said JETIIRO Woop claims an exclusive right to his invention and improvement in the mode ol' litt-ing, adapting, anti adjusting the cast-iron landside to theeastiron mold-board. Their junction is after the manner of tenen and mortise, the tenon being at the fore end of the landside, and the mortise being at thevinside of the mold-board and near its point. The' tenon and mortise are joggled or dovetailed together in the casting operation, so as to make them hold fast. The tore enti of the tenon is additionally secured by a cast projection from the inside of the moldboard formed for its reception, and if an y other tightening or bracing should be requi site a wooden wedge well driven in will bind every part eeetnally, and all this is accom plished without the assistance or instrumentality of screws.

The said Iinventor anti petitioner wishes it to be understood that the principal metallic material of his plow is cast-iron. He has very little use for wrought iron, and by adopting the former to the extent he has tiene anti by discontinuing the latterhe is enabled to make the plow stronger and better, as well as more lasting anti cheap. He also claims and hereby asserts the rightot varying the dimensions and proportions ot' his plow and of its several sections and parts in the relation of somewhat more and somewhat less ot' length, breadth, the thickness, and composition according to his judgment or fancy, so that all the while he adheres to his principle and departs not from it. Regarding euch and every ot' the matters submitted as very conducive to the reputation and emolnment ot the said J ItTutto Woon,l1e relies confidently upon a benign and favorable construction of his petition und specitication by the constituted authorities oi' his country.

Given under his hand, at the city ot' New York, this 14th day oi' August, 1819, in the presence of two witnesses. as to wit.

JETHRO WOOD.

Witnesses:

SAM. L. MxToHELL, I. G. Bonner.

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