GB2116411A - Soil cultivating implement - Google Patents

Abstract

A soil cultivating implement comprises a frame (1) supporting a row of soil working members. A ground roller (14) lies in advance of the row of soil working members and has a working width which is substantially the same as, and which substantially coincides in position with the distance between the inner rear ground wheels of an operating tractor or other vehicle. Hydraulic piston and cylinder assemblies (18) are operable to press the ground roller into engagement with the ground surface so that, part of the weight of the operating agricultural tractor or other vehicle may be borne from the ground surface by the roller 14. An alternative embodiment is described which is of greater working width and in which two further rollers that register axially with the roller (14) are provided to consolidate strips of soil lying axially beyond the ground wheels of the tractor. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Soil cultivating implement This invention relates to soil cultivating implements or machines of the kind which comprise a frame portion that carries at least one row of soil working members, each provided with at least one tine or other soil working tool, said frame portion and row(s) of soil working members extending substantially horizontally perpendicular, or at least transverse, to the intended direction of operative travel of the implement or machine with each soil working member being power-drivable to rotate about a substantially vertical, or at least upwardly extending, axis, a ground roller being connected to said frame portion so as to lie in advance thereof relative to said direction of operative travel and so as to be adjustable in level with respect to the frame portion, the implement or machine being primarily, but not exclusively, intended for use in preparing seed beds. The term "implement(s) or machine(s)" is shortened to "implement(s)" alone throughout the remainder of this document for the sake of brevity.

In the implements of the kind set forth, the ground roller extends throughout substantially the whole of the combined working width of the soil working members and this prevents optimum consolidation of the soil lying between and/or at lateral sides of the wheel tracks of a tractor by which the implement is both moved and operated.

Moreover, the space which must be left between the tractor and the soil working members of the implement has to be sufficiently large to accommodate the roller and this can involve high stresses on the tractor couplings and/or on parts of the implement as well as being unsatisfactory on undulating ground.

An objector the present invention is to avoid, or very considerably to reduce, these disadvantages and to provide a construction which enables the maximum working depth of the soil working members to be controlled whilst enabling at least the strip of land between the tractor ground wheels to be correctly consolidated even when those wheels produce somewhat deep tracks.

Accordingly, one aspect of the invention provides a soil cultivating implement of the kind set forth, wherein said ground roller has a working width which is equal, or substantially equal to, and which coincides, or substantially coincides, with the width between the wheel tracks of a tractor or other vehicle that moves and operates the implement in the use thereof.

For a better understanding of the invention, and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of an implement in accordance with the invention shown connected to the rear of the agricultural tractor, Figure 2 is a section, to an enlarged scale, taken on the line Il-Il in Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a plan view illustrating an alternative form of soil cultivating implement in accordance with the inverition shown connected to the rear of an agricultural tractor.

Referring firstly to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, the implement that is illustrated therein is a soil cultivating implement or rotary harrow that is intended primarily, but not exclusively, for use in preparing seed beds. The implement of Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings comprises a hollow box-section frame portion 1 that extends substantially horizontally perpendicular, or at least transverse, to the intended direction of operative travel of the implement that is indicated in each Figure of the drawings by an arrow A.The hollow frame portion 1 rotatably supports a plurality, such as twelve, of rotary soil working members 3 that are located in a single row beneath the frame portion 1 with the axis of rotation of each member 3 defined by the longitudinal axis of a corresponding rotary shaft 2 that, during operation of the implement, will be substantially vertically disposed or will be in at least an upwardly extending position. Preferably, but not essentially, the longitudinal axes of two immediately neighbouring and parallel shafts 2 will be spaced apart from one another by a distance of substantially 25 centimetres. Each shaft 2 is rotatably journalled in upper and lower walls of the hollow frame portion 1 and has the corresponding soil working member 3 firmly but releasably secured to the lowermost end thereof that projects downwardly from beneath the bottom of the hollow frame portion 1.Each soil working member 3 comprises a substantially horizontally disposed carrier 4 that projects in two opposite directions from the shaft 2 concerned and whose opposite ends are formed with substantially vertically disposed sleeves in which fastening portions of corresponding soil working tools, in the form of tines 5, are firmly but releasably received. Each tine 5 is of rigid formation and has a downwardly projecting soil working portion that penetrates into the ground that is to be cultivated in substantially the manner which can be seen in Figure 2 of the drawings.The distance between the two tines 5 of each soil working member 3 is a little greater than is the distance between the axes of rotation of neighbouring shafts 2 so that, during operation, the strips of soil worked by the individual members 3 overlap one another to produce a single broad strip of worked ground that will have a width of substantially 3 metres in the case of the implement of Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings when the preferred spacing between the axes of rotation of the shafts 2 that has been mentioned above is employed.

Each shaft 2 is provided, internally of the hollow frame portion 1, with a corresponding straight-toothed or spur-toothed pinion 6, the sizes of the pinions 6 being such that the teeth of each pinion 6 are in mesh with those of the or each immediately neighbouring pinion 6 in the single row thereof, the hollow interior of the frame portion 1 containing a supply of oil or other lubricant. With this arrangement, each pinion 6, shaft 2 and soil working member 3 will rotate in the opposite direction to the or each immediately neighbouring similar assembly.Substantially vertically disposed shield plates 7 are located immediately beyond the opposite ends of the row of soil working members 3 and, in addition to preventing stones and other hard objects from being flung laterally of the implement by its rapidly rotating soil working members 3, said shield plates 7 serve the important function of cooperating with the immediately neighbouring soil working members 3 at the opposite ends of the row thereof in working the soil to substantially the same thorough extent as is produced by cooperation between neighbouring soil working members 3 at locations closer to the centre of the implement.As can be seen in Figure 1 of the drawings, each shield plate 7 is carried by a corresponding arm that is turnable about a substantially horizontal axis extending substantially parallel to the direction A at a location on top of the hollow frame portion 1 and near to one end thereof. This aliows the shield plates 7 to move upwardly and downwardly, as may be required, to match undulations in the surface of the soil that may be met with by the implement during progress in the direction A.

Figure 2 of the drawings shows that each shield plate 7 has a lower edge which is arranged to slide over the ground surface in the direction A and that front and rear portions of that lower edge are upwardly inclined in case a stone or other obstacle at or near the ground surface should be met with.

A central region of the top and front, with respect to the direction A, of the hollow frame portion 1 is provided with a coupling member or trestle 8 which is constructed and arranged for connection to the three-point lifting device or hitch of an agricultural tractor or other vehicle that may be employed to move the implement operatively in the direction A. The coupling member or trestle 8 is of generally triangular configuration as seen in front or rear elevation and includes a pair of strips 9 which are fastened to the top of the hollow frame portion 1 so as to extend substantially horizontally parallel to the direction A throughout parts of their lengths, rearmost portions thereof, however, being in rearwardly convergent relationship with one another.Further strips 19 that also extend substantially horizontally parallel to the direction A are secured to the top of the hollow frame portion 1 at locations further from the centre of that frame portion than are the strips 9, the rearmost ends of the strips 1 9 having the rearmost ends of corresponding arms 11 turnably connected to them by pivot pins 10 that are substantially horizontally aligned in a direction that is parallel to the length of the hollow frame portion 1 and perpendicular, or substantially perpendicular, to the direction A.Each arm 11 extends forwardly from the corresponding pivot pin 10 alongside one of the strips 19 but it will be seen from Figure 2 of the drawings that, from a location just in advance of the front of the hollow frame portion 1, with respect to the direction A, each arm 11 is inclined downwardly, and forwardly to a small extent, to a location in advance of the row of soil working members 3. Each arm 11 is provided, at a location adjacent the junction between its substantially horizontal and substantially vertical portions, with a bracket 1 7 and an adjacent internally screwthreaded pivotal mounting through which the matchingly screw-threaded shank of a manually rotatable spindle 12 in entered.The lowermost end of each spindle 1 2 is rotatably connected to a further bracket carried by the hollow frame portion 1 but is immovable axially relative to that bracket.

Thus, by rotating each spindle 12 in an appropriate direction, the corresponding arm 11 will pivot either upwardly or downwardly relative to the frame portion 1 about the pin 10 concerned, any chosen position being maintained automatically by the adjusting mechanism which comprises the two spindles 12. The lowermost end of the leading downwardly directed portion of each arm 11 carries a corresponding substantially horizontal bearing 13 and the opposite ends of a substantially horizontal shaft 1 3A are received in the two bearings 13 in a freely rotatable manner.

The shaft 1 3A affords the axis of rotation of a ground roller 1 4 which roller 14 lies between the two arms 11, said roller 14 comprising circular support plates 1 6 secured to the shaft 1 3A and a plurality, such as twelve, of elongate elements 1 5 that peripherally interconnect the support plates 1 6 at regularly spaced intervals around the shaft 1 3A. The elements 1 5 may extend parallel to the shaft 1 3A or, if preferred, may extend helically around that shaft 1 3A.

The opposite ends of the ground roller 14 are spaced by substantially equal distances from the centre of the hollow frame portion 1 and said roller has an axial length which is intended to correspond, or substantially to correspond, with the distance between the rear ground wheels, or inner rear ground wheels, of the agricultural tractor or other vehicle which moves and operates the implement when the latter is in use. Generally speaking, a soil cultivating implement of this kind will have one of a number of different working widths and will be intended for use with a category of agricultural tractor having appropriate power take-off capacity and tractional capacity to move the implement in the direction A.

Agricultural tractors of each category usually have substantially the same width between their rear ground wheels, or between their inner rear ground wheels, regardless of their country of origin and the manufacturer concerned, so that an axial length of the ground roller 14 that is appropriate for one agricultural tractor will also be appropriate for most, if not all, agricultural tractors of the same category. It will be appreciated that, since the arms 11 rotatably carry the roller 14, the adjusting mechanism which comprises the two screw-threaded spindles 12 can be employed to move the roller 14 bodily either upwardly or downwardly relative to the frame portion 1.The roller 14 constitutes a member by which the implement is supported from the ground surface when it is operation and it will immediately be apparent from Figure 2 of the drawings that raising or lowering the roller 1 4 relative to the frame portion 1 will increase or decrease the maximum depth of penetration of the tines 5 of the soil working members 3 into the ground which is possible during a soil working operation. Each arm 11 is provided, immediately in advance of the pivotal mounting of the corresponding spindle 12, with one of the aforementioned brackets 17, said bracket 1 7 projecting upwardly and forwardly from the corresponding arm 11 as seen in Figure 2 of the drawings and forwardly and inwardly towards the centre of the implement as seen in Figure 1 of the drawings.The upper, leading free end of each bracket 1 7 is pivotally connected to the free end of the piston rod of a corresponding hydraulic piston and cylinder assembly or ram 18 carried by the operating agricultural tractor or other vehicle for a purpose that will be further described below. The two arms 11 constitute a supporting assembly for the ground roller 14.

The opposite ends of the hollow frame portion 1 are closed by substantially vertical side plates that extend substantially vertically parallel to the direction A, said side plates supporting substantially horizontally aligned pivots 1 9A and 1 9B at locations close to their tops and fronts.

Rearwardly projecting arms 20 are movable upwardly and downwardly alongside these side plates about the axis defined by the pivots 1 9A and 1 9B, the rearmost ends of the two arms 20 being interconnected by a carrier 21, of L-shaped cross section, that extend substantially horizontally parallel to the frame portion 1. The carrier 21 supports a row of resilient groundengaging tines 21 A, said tines 21 A being formed from, for example, spring steel wire or rod and being constructed in integral pairs which are so arranged along the carrier 21 that the individual tines 21 A are spaced apart from one another at substantially regular intervals. As can be seen best in Figure 2, the tines 21 A engage the ground surface at a location some distance to ther rear of the soil working members 3 with respect to the direction A.

One of the centre pair of rotary shafts 2 has an upward extension through the top of the hollow frame portion 1 into a gear box 22. Bevel pinions and substantially horizontal shafts (not visible) within the gear box 22 place said upward extension in driven connection with a rotary input shaft of the gear box 22 that projects substantially horizontally forwards from the front thereof, such connection being through the intermediary of the change-speed gear 23 that is mounted at the back of the gear box 22.It is not necessary to describe the change-speed gear 23 in detail for the purpose of the present invention and it suffices to say that it is manually adjustable to change the transmission ratio between the rotary input shaft of the gear box 22 and the upward extension of said one of the shafts 2 so that all of the soil working members 3 can be driven at a faster or slower rate, depending upon the adjustment employed, without having to vary the speed of driving rotation that is applied to the rotary input shaft of the gear box 22.The forwardly projecting rotary input shaft of the gear box 22 is splined or otherwise keyed and is intended to be placed in driven connection with the rear power take-off shaft of an agricultural tractor or other operating vehicle through the intermediary of a telescopic transmission shaft 24, which is of a construction that is known per se, having universal joints at its opposite ends.

In the use of the implement that has been described, its coupling member or trestle 8 is connected to the three-point lifting device or hitch of an agricultural tractor, such as the one somewhat diagramatically illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, or some other operating vehicle, the implement being adjusted (if required) before work commences to obtain an appropriate maximum working depth of the members 3 and an appropriate speed of rotation thereof. These adjustments will normally be made having regard to the nature and condition of the soil that is to be cultivated and the particular purpose for which that soil is required after cultivation.The implement illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings is intended for the production of a seed bed and the arrangement of the ground roller 14 to register with the space between the inner rear ground wheels of the illustrated tractor ensures that the broad strip of soil which corresponds to that space is satisfactorily consolidated immediately before being dealt with by the soil working members 3 and the following tines 21A.

The hydraulic piston and cylinder assemblies or rams 18 have their cylinders pivotally mounted on the operating agricultural tractor (see Figure 1) and are coupled to the hydraulic system of the tractor by flexible ducts that are not shown in the drawings. It will be apparent from Figure 2 of the drawings that, upon operating the hydraulic system of the tractor to extend the piston rods of the two rams 18 further from their cylinders, the whole implement will be turned a short distance in an anti-clockwise direction (as seen in Figure 2) about the pivotal connection of the top of the coupling member or trestle 8 to the upper lifting link of the tractor's hitch and that this movement will tend to move the roller 14 further downwardly whereby, in practice, some of the weight of the tractor will be borne by the ground roller 14 of the implement rather than by the rear ground wheels of the tractor itself. This clearly increases the soil consolidating effect of the roller 1 4 and assists in resisting/absorbing upwardly directed reaction forces, this being of particular importance when hard soil is being dealt with. The effect of the ground roller 1 4 in consolidating the strip of soil which coincides with the distance between the inner rear wheels of the tractor improves the action of the implement because the consistency and degree of consolidation of the soil that is immediately subsequently dealt with by the members 3 is of much greater uniformity throughout the working width of the implement than would be the case if the roller 14 were absent.Its presence is particularly beneficial in cases where the ground wheels of the tractor tend to sink into the soil by a significant distance and thus to form deep wheel tracks.

The row of tines 21 A at the rear of the implement carry out a final soil treatment calculated to produce a fine well-broken tilth that is ideal as a seed bed, the soil also being well broken, although more coarsely, to a considerably greater depth by the tines 5 of the foregoing soil working members 3. The tines 21 A can move upwardly and downwardly to match undulations in the surface of the soil over which the implement moves and to match the particular depth setting of the implement because the arms 20 to which the carrier 21 is secured are freely turnable upwardly and downwardly about the substantially aligned pivots 1 9A and 19B.

Figure 3 of the drawings illustrates an alternative soil cultivating implement in accordance with the invention which is similar, in many respects, to the implement that has already been described but which has a greater working width that will amount to substantially three and a half metres when the preferred spacing between the axes of rotation of immediately neighbouring shafts 2 that has been referred to above is adopted. In view of the greater working width, there will be lateral portions of the implement of significant working width that register in the direction A with strips of soil that are laterally beyond the rear ground wheels, or outer rear ground wheels, of the operating tractor.Those parts of the implement of Figure 3 that are similar, or identical, to parts that have already been described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 are indicated in Figure 3 by the same references as are employed in Figures 1 and 2 and will not be described in detail again.

In the embodiment of Figure 3, the central shaft 1 3A of the ground roller 14 has axial extensions 25 at both its opposite ends, the extremities of the two extensions 25 being rotatably received in bearings carried by arms 11' which are upwardly and downwardly turnable about further pivot pins 10 carried at the rear of end plates of a hollow frame portion 1 A which is very similar to the frame portion 1 except for its greater length in a direction substantially horizontally perpendicular to the direction A.The arms 11' are upwardly and downwardly adjustable in position with the aid of the previously described adjusting mechanisms 12, the latter co-operating with the arms 11' at substantially the opposite ends of the hollow frame portion 1 A rather than with the arms 11 which are spaced inwardly from opposite ends of the hollow frame portion 1 by significant distances in the case of the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings.That portion of each shaft extension 25 that is furthest from the centre of the implement, and that registers, in the direction A, with a strip of land that lies beyond the rear ground wheel, or the outermost rear ground wheel, at one side of the tractor, is provided with a corresponding ground roller 26 that also affords a supporting member of the tractor and implement combination when the implement is in use. Each roller 26 is of shorter axial length than the ground roller 14 but otherwise has substantially the same construction as does that roller 14, it being noted from Figure 3 of the drawings that the elongate elements 15 of the two rollers 26 are shown as extending helically around the corresponding shaft extensions 25 rather than parallel thereto, but in spaced relationship.

The adjusting mechanisms which comprise the two screw-threaded spindles 1 2 can be operated to raise or lower the three ground rollers 14 and 26 relative to the hollow frame portion 1 A and thus to increase or decrease the maximum depth of penetration of the tines 5 of the fourteen soil working members 3 into the ground which is possible whilst the implement is in use. The screw-threaded spindles 12 co-operate with the outer arms 1 1', rather than with the inner arms 11, to bring this about. Once again, the hydraulic piston and cylinder assemblies or rams 18 can be operated to press the rollers 14 and 26 more firmly into engagement with the ground surface and thus, in effect, to support part of the weight of the tractor by way of those rollers 14 and 26 rather than by way of the rear ground wheels of the tractor itself.In any particular operating circumstances, the tractor and implement combination can readily be arranged so that the rollers 14 and 26 consolidate the ground surface to substantially the same extent as do the rear ground wheels of the operating tractor so that the soil which is immediately subsequently dealt with by the members 3 is in a substantially uniform condition of consolidation throughout the working width of the implement.

The implement of Figure 3 operates in substantially the same way as has already been described for the implement of Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings but it is noted that, whilst the agricultural tractor which is illustrated as moving and operating the described implement in each of the two embodiments has twin ground wheels at each end of its rear axle, and operating tractor or other vehicle having only single ground wheels at the opposite ends of its rear axle could equally well be employed, it only being necessary to make a matching alteration to the axial length of the roller 14, or to the rollers 14 and 26, when the implement is intended for use with such an agricultural tractor or other operating vehicle.

Although certain features of the implements that have been described and/or that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings will be set forth in the following claims as inventive features, it is emphasised that the invention is not necessarily limited to those features and that it includes within its scope each of the parts of each soil cultivating implement embodiment that has been described, and/or that is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, both individually and in various combinations.

Claims (14)

1. A soil cultivating implement of the kind set forth, wherein said ground roller has a working width which is equal, or substantially equal, to, and which coincides, or substantially coincides, with the width between the wheel tracks of a tractor or other vehicle that moves and operates the implement in the use thereof.

2. An implement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the opposite ends of said ground roller are spaced from the middle of the frame portion by substantially equal distances.

3. An implement as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein two further ground rollers are provided, said further ground rollers being positioned to register, or substantially to register, with strips of soil that will be worked by said soil working members but that lie laterally beyond the ground wheels, or beyond the outer ground wheels, of said tractor.

4. An implement as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the or each ground roller is carried by a supporting assembly whose position is upwardly and downwardly adjustable relative to that of the frame portion.

5. An implement as claimed in claim 4, wherein at least one screw-threaded spindle is provided to enable the position of the supporting assembly to be varied relative to that of said frame portion, the or each screw-threaded spindle being disposed in an upwardly extending position.

6. An implement as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein means is provided by which, during operation, part of the weight of the operating tractor or other vehicle can be supported from the ground surface by the ground roller or rollers of the implement.

7. A soil cultivating implement comprising a frame portion that carries at least one row of soil working numbers, each provided with at least one time or other soil working tool, said frame portion and row(s) of soil working members extending substantially horizontally perpendicular, or at least transverse, to the intended direction of operative travel of the implement with each soil working member being power-drivable to rotate about a substantially vertical, or at least upwardly extending, axis, at least one supporting member being connected to said frame portion so as to lie in advance thereof relative to said direction of operative travel, wherein means is provided by which part of the weight of a tractor or other operating vehicle of the implement can be sustained from the ground surface by said supporting member(s) of the implement during the operation thereof.

8. An implement as claimed in claim 7, wherein the or each supporting member of the implement is in the form of a ground roller.

9. An implement as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein said means comprises at least one hydraulic piston and cylinder assembly or ram extending in use, between the tractor or other operating vehicle and a carrying assembly of the roller(s).

10. An implement as claimed in claim 9, wherein the or each hydraulic piston and cylinder assembly or ram forms part of the carrying assembly of the roller or rollers.

11. An implement as claimed in any one of claims 4, 5, 9 or 10, wherein the supporting assembly for the ground roller or rollers comprises two relatively spaced arms at least one of which is connected to at least one hydraulic piston and cylinder assembly or ram.

12. An implement as claimed in any one claims 9 to 11, wherein the or each hydraulic piston and cylinder assembly or ram is operatively connected, during the use of the implement, to the hydraulic system of the tractor or other vehicle which then moves and powers the implement.

13. An implement as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein a carrier supporting a plurality of resilient ground-engaging tines is located to the rear of said soil working members, relative to the intended direction of operative travel of the implement, so as to be freely upwardly and downwardly movable when the implement is in operation.

14. A soil cultivating implement of the kind set forth substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 or Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.