The Post-Hole Digger: Two Shovels on a Hinge and a Point Between Them

Lowry's object is "to combine with one of the shovels which form the post hole, a sleeve which is connected to such shovel for vertical longitudinal movement and to which the handle is attached, and a point for digging up the earth at the center of the post hole". Shovel 1 has a tubular head 2 in which a sleeve 3 slides; handle 4 bolts into the sleeve. The lower end of the head is curved inward to form concave cam surfaces 6. A wedge-shaped digging point 8 has a stem 9 held in the sleeve by a set screw and shoulders 10 that bear on the cam surfaces. Drawing the sleeve up lets the shovel reach below the point; "By forcing the sleeve downwardly, the point may be projected beyond and below the shovel and employed to loosen the earth at the center of the hole". Shovels 1 and 12, with handles 4 and 13, have lugs 14 "pivotally connected together by a bolt 15, thereby effecting a hinge connection between the shovels", and studs 16 at their tops that meet when the handles are parallel.

Mark a spot and cut the turf with the digging shovel. Drive the post-hole digger in with its handles together, spread them to grip, and lift. Tip the plug onto a sheet and weigh it on the scale. Repeat to 60 cm, measuring the depth after every lift with the tape. Compare your number of lifts and plug weights with the notebook, and note where the soil changes. Set a stake in the hole and backfill in layers, ramming each one.

**Jacob H. Lowry** of Lenoir City, Tennessee, filed US 884,177 on 11 June 1907; it was granted on 7 April 1908. Its claims are for the shovel with the sliding sleeve and the digging point that can be projected at will. **Honest limits.** Soil density, fill fraction and bite depth in the notebook are examples; real bites depend heavily on moisture and stones.