US23988A - Improvement in machines for digging and gathering potatoes - Google Patents

Description

J. B. PARVIN.

Potato-Digger.

Patented May -10, 1859.

NITED STATES FFICE,

ATENT JONATHAN B. PARVIN, OF HIGHTSTOWN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND ELIAS STRATTON, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT lN MACHINES FOR DIGGING AND GATHERING POTATOES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 23,988, dated May 10, 1859.

all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JONATHAN B. PARVIN, of Hightstown,in the county of Mercer and State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Digging and Gathering Potatoes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the construction and operation of the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, in which- .Figure 1 represents an elevation of said potato-digger. Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal vertical section through the same. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 represent detached views, hereinafter to be described.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A represents the frame of the machine. It is supported by the two driving-wheels, one of which is seen at B.

0 represents a swivel-roller, which is secured to the front end of the machine by means of the swivel-pin a.

D represents a serrated cutter, the shape of which is represented in Fig. 3, which is secured to the swivel E ofthe roller G, and which serves the purpose of cutting down the vines and weeds, and which are then pressed down by the roller 0 passing over them. The object of the swivel is to turn the roller 0 and cutter D to its proper working position when the team is turned;

E represents the digging-plow. It is secured to the front of the frame G, which also supports the rollers H and I, around which pass two endless belts or' chains, K, to which the slats or rods 1) are secured, and which thus serve as an endless slatted apron for the purpose of conveying the potatoes toward the rear of the machine. The frame G is hung at its rear end to the shaft 0, which is supported by the brackets L, and can swing freely on the shaft 0, while its front end is suspended to the screw-shafts d, the latter passing through the shafts f, which rest with both their ends on the frame A.

9 represents a link, which connects the shaft f with the shaft h, the ends of which also rest on the frame A.

M represents a lever, which is secured to the end of the shaft It. By turning the lever M the link 1 and shaft f, and consequently the screw-shafts d and plow F, will be raised or lowered to such a height as the operator may desire for the proper performance of the work. Besides this the frame G and the parts which are supported by it can be adjusted by means of the screw-nuts m.

N is a cogged wheel, which is set loosely on the shaft 0, and which meshes into the wheel 0, the latter receiving its motion from the driving-shaft n. The face of the wheel N is provided with two projection, 0, Fig. 5, on which the clutch 12 operates when it is moved by the lever P toward the face of the wheel N. The clutch p is set upon the shaft 0 by means of hub z', and is prevented from turning on said shaft by the tongues l, fitting into a groove of the hub, while the wheel N turns loosely on the shaft 0, and is coupled to said shaft only by the application of the clutch p.

Q represents a grate, which is hung to the frame A by means of the rods q, and which can swing freely on saidrods,

4" represents a forked lever, the upper end of which is attached to the crank 8, while its lower ends are pivoted to the grate Q. Thus, as the crank sis rotated, the frame Q is vibrated in such a manner that the rear part thereof, which is suspended to the rods q, shall swing simply on said rods, while the front part, which is suspended to the forks 1', has a compound vertical and horizontal motion, which it receives from the crank s, for the purpose of not only freeing the potatoes from the ad her in g dirt, but also for causing them to move to the rear and to drop off the grate.

t represents the crank of the shank s, which receives its motion from the pinion a, which and into box U as they are delivered by thev grate Q. The box U is closed on the rear side by a hinged door, V, which may be opened or closed by the driver from his seat W by the following arrangement:

X is a lever, which turns on the fulcrum w, and to the short arm of which the rod 00 is hinged at y. The other end of the rod 00 is pivoted to the crank-lever 2 at 2, the lever z turning on the fulcrum 8, while the arm 4 of said lever is brought up against the arm 5 of the lever Y, which turns on the fulcrum 6, and thus disengages the arm 7 from the latch 8, upon which the door V is pushed out by the weight of the potatoes within the box U.

The rear end of the machine is supported by the swivel-roller Z, which, as the machine is turned, tracks the driving-wheels.

The operation of the machine is as follows: As the machine is drawn over the field the serrated cutter D cuts ofi' the weeds, which are then pressed down by the roller G. The frame Gr being lowered down to the required depth by the means above described, the digging-plow F enters the ground, and the soil and potatoes rise up the inclination 10 and onto the endless apron K. The driving-wheels B impart rotary motion to the shaft a, wheels 0, pinions w and N, and to the pulleys 11 and 12, which latter drives the elevating apparatus above described. The soil and potatoes digged up by the shovel F pass up over the apron K, where part of the adhering soil drops through between the rods 1), and the rest is carried toward and drops onto the vibrating grate Q, where the potatoes are freed from the adher ing soil and pass toward the elevator, the buckets Q} of which carry the potatoes upward and over-the partition T and drop them into the box U. \Vhen the latter is sutficiently filled the driver from his seat W turns the lever X, and thereby disengages the arm 7, Fig. 4, from the latch 8, when the weight of the potatoes will press the door V outward and they will drop onto the ground in one heap. When the box U is emptied the door V will shut by its own weight, and the operation can be repeated. During the intervals of emptying the box U the delivering apparatus K is uncoupled from the pinion N by removing the clutch p from the projections 0.

Having thus fully described the nature of my invention, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination of the weed-cutter D and roller (J, when mounted on a swivel and applied toa potato-digger, snbstantiallyin the manner and for the purpose herein described.

2. Hinging the frame that carries the plow and the endless apron K on the shaft 0, when used in combination with the lever, links, and rods, by which the operator from his seat can raise up, lower, or hold up the plow and apron, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the adjustable endless apron K, horizontal and vertically vibrating grate Q, and the elevating apparatus, substantially as herein described.

JONATHAN B. PARVIN.

Witnesses:

G. COHEN, Trros. H. UPPERMAN.

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