Improvement in Ditching-Machines. Page: 3 of 4
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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.
MATTHEW J. AUSTIN, OF BONElHAM, TEXAS.
IMPROVEMENT IN DITCHING-MACHINES.
Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 19,75, dated January 11878; applicationfiled
November 22, 1877.To all whom it snay concern:
Be it known that I, MATTHEW J. AusTIN,
of Bonham, in the county of Fannin and State
of Texas, have invented certain new and use-
ful Improvements in Ditching-Machines; and
I do hereby declare that the following is a
full, clear, and exact description thereof,
which will enable others skilled in the art to
which it appertains to make and use the
same, reference being had to the accompany-
ing drawings, and to letters of reference
marked thereon, which form a part of this
specification, and in which-
Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a plan view of my im-
proved ditching-machine. Fig. 2, Sheet 2, is
a side elevation thereof, and Fig. 3 is a simi-
lar detached view of the same.
Corresponding parts in the several figures
are denoted by like letters.
My invention consists in the employment,
in connection with the ditching-wheel sup-
porting-frame, of bent axles and arms having
toothed segments, and a cranked bar or rod
having worms or screws; and, secondly, in
the employment, with an endless apron or
carrier having one of its rollers provided with
a gear-wheel or pinion, of a shaft and its
gearing, a sliding bar, a lever, and a second
shaft having gearing engaging with a gear-
wheel upon the ditching wheel or wheels, sub-
stantially as hereinafter more particularly set
forth.
The object of my invention is to easily and
rapidly cut or excavate, on the surface of the
ground, soil, clay, or soft stone, a ditch or
trench of any reasonable width or depth suita-
ble, and for the purpose of setting in pickets
for making picket-fences, for laying pipes for
water, gas, or other purposes, for drainage
and culverts for agricultural, sanitary, or
other purposes, and for grading roads.
In the annexed drawings, A marks a frame,
within which is journaled the ditching or ex-
cavating wheels B B, consisting of a cylinder,
provided upon its periphery with flanges or
rings, two or more in number. The weight of
the frame resting on the wheels sinks their
flanges into the ground, and, as they revolve,
the mass of earth thus pressed between said
flanges is lifted, by friction and cohesion, to
the top of the.wheels, where it is thrown outfrom between flanges by scrapers C C, fast-
ened in position so as to rest about horizon-
tally and nearly at a tangent with the top of
the wheels. The earth thus thrown out is re-
ceived upon a transverse endless belt or apron,
D, which conveys and drops it to one side of
the ditch.. The apron D envelops rollers
bearing in side pieces secured upon the frame
A. To one of these rollers is attached a bev-
eled gear-wheel, a, with which engages a simi-
lar wheel, b, upon a shaft, c, bearing in one
end of a sliding or shifting bar, d, operated
by a lever, e, and confined to one side of the
frame A in an eye or staple. The shaft c is
provided with a second gear-wheel, f, which
is caused by shifting the lever e to alternately
engage with the pinions g g' upon a, shaft, h,
having a third pinion or gear-wheel, i, gear-
ing with a toothed or gear-wheel, j, upon the
axis of the wheels B B. By means of this
mechanism the apron or carrier D is caused
to move so as to drop its load to either side
of the ditch at the option of the driver or at-
tendant.
To prevent the earth, as it is thrown out
from the ditching-wheels, rolling off the apron
D, one of its side pieces is provided with a
fender or board, k, disposed opposite the
ditching-wheels.
The frame A is mounted or supported upon
bent axles and arms 1 l' fastened in toothed
segments m in, gearing with screws or worms
n n upon a rod, o, supported in bearings p p
fastened to the side of the frame A. The rod
o is provided with a crank, o', by turning
which in the required direction the frame A
will be raised or lowered, as may be desired.
The axles l t are provided with wheels E E.
The arms 1' l' are pivoted or hinged to the
lower horizontal piece of an upright frame, F,
its upper end being connected to the frame A
by means of a pivoted frame or arms, q q.
This frame F is supported upon caster-wheels
G G, the axes of which are swiveled in the
said frame. The draft is applied at this end
of the machine through a tongue, II.
I I are plows or cutters fastened to the
frame A, and arranged so as to cut the ditch
in rear of the ditching-wheels B B and widen
the ditch. The loosened earth produced by
the cutters or plows I I is taken up by
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Austin, Matthew J. Improvement in Ditching-Machines., patent, January 1, 1878; [Washington D.C.]. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth166739/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.