AU642245B2

AU642245B2 - Sand and topsoil spreading machine

Info

Publication number: AU642245B2
Application number: AU76235/91A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Ronald William Richmond
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1990-09-26
Filing date: 1991-04-29
Publication date: 1993-10-14
Anticipated expiration: 2011-04-29
Also published as: AU7623591A

Description

42245 P/00/011 Form PATENTS ACT 1952 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

(ORIGINAL)

FOR OFFICE USE Short Title: Int. Cl: Application Number: Lodged: Complete 1, Priority: Specification-Lodged: Accepted: Lapsed: Published: Related Art: Name of Applicant: Address of Applicant: TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT RONALD WILLIAM RICHMOND Lot 2, Floyds Road, South Maroota, New South Wales, Australia RONALD WILLIAM RICHMOND Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Peter Maxwell Associates Blaxland House Ross Street NORTH PARRAMATTA NSW 2151 Complete Specification for the invention entitled: SAND AND TOPSOIL SPREADING MACHINE The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:-' SNote: The description is to be typed in double spacing, pica type face, in an area not exceeding 250 mm in depth and 160 mm in width, on tough white paper of good quality and it is to be inserted inside this form.

14599/78--L Printed by C. J. THOIPSON, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra The present invention relates to a machine for sand and soil top dressing of turf.

According to the invention, there is provided a machine for applying top dressing material to turf comprising a mobile main frame, a hopper mounted on the main frame for receiving top dressing material, transfer means for transferring top dressing material from the hopper at a predetermined rate, rotary impellor means for receiving top dressing material and upwardly impelling the top dressing material over a selected area of turf, wherein the transfer means includes an endless belt conveyor that transports the top dressing material to the rotary impellor means, and further including means for changing the direction of rotation of the rotary impellor means so as to impel the top o 9* dressing material downwardly.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying illustrations, in which:- Fig. 1 is a side view of a top dressing machine 20 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a sectional side view taken along A-A of *e the machine of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a perspective view of an end portion of an endless belt conveyor of the machine of Fig. 1, Fig. 5 is a side view of a roller for the conveyor of Fig. 4, Fig. 6 is a detailed view showing the action of the rotary impellor means of the machine of Fig. 1, Fig. 7 is a part sectional end view taken along B-B of the machine of Fig. 2, Fig. 8 is a detailed view of the drive assembly of the rotary impellor means of the machine of Fig. 1, Fig. 9 is a detailed view of the seal and deflector assembly of the conveyor belt of the machine of *ol0215 Fig. 1, and Fig. 10 is a detailed view of the wheel support assembly of the machine of Fig. 1.

The top dressing machine illustrated includes a main frame 10 supported on pneumatically tyred wheels 11. The 20 main frame 10 has a forwardly converging draw bar 12 with a front 3600 rotating draw clevis 13 for connection to a tractor (not shown).

A hopper 14, in this embodiment made of pressed steel, 0* is mounted on the main frame 10. At the bottom of the hopper 14 are, as shown in Fig. 2, a series of outlet openings separated by weight bearing baffles 16.

The outlet openings 15 provide access to the belt 17 of an endless belt conveyor system as shown in Fig. 3. The conveyor system has two opposing end rollers 18 and 19 about which the endless belt 17 turns, idler rollers 20 that support the upperbelt run between the end pulleys 18 and 19 and an underbelt run support roller 88 to ensure that the underbelt does not sag significantly.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, each of the end rollers 18 and 19 have a pair of opposed wedge shaped circumferential recesses 21 and have slightly tapered ends. The belt 17 is cleated on its non-load carrying surface with a pair of opposed wedge shaped longitudinal profiles 22 that fit into their respective recess 21 on the rollers 18 and 19, and so 0* 00 restrict the belt from wandering off the rollers 18 and 19.

The tracking of the belt 17 with respect to the rollers 18 and 19 is also maintained by a pair of tracking adjusters 23 and 24, as shown in Fig. 1, and by the provision of the tapered ends.

15 Access to each of the idler rollers 20 is protected by a respective flange plate 25 and bearing flange unit 26 mounted on a side of the main frame 10 whilst support roller 88 is supported by bearing 89.

Referring to Fig. 6, top dressing material (shown as 0* :20 random dots) is conveyed by belt 17 towards a flow gate 28 Spositioned near the rear of the machine. Flow gate 28 is adapted to turn about pivot point 29 thereby providing an opening of a predetermined size for the top dressing material to pass through. The flow gate 28 is raised by turning a hand wheel 30 that is connected by universal joint 31 to a stainless steel threaded rod 32. The rod 32 is screwed at its opposite end to a trunion mounting 33 fixed to the flow gate 28.

Any excess top dressing material passing through the flow gate 28, is deflected downwardly back towards the belt 17 by deflector plate 34.

Top dressing material falls from the end of the belt that passes around roller 18 and lands upon the rotary impellor means or aerator brush 35. The rotary motion of brush 35 is controlled by a motor (to be described later) which normally causes the aerator brush 35 to rotate in an anticlockwise directioa as shown, thereby impelling top se e.

S10 dressing material upwardly in the direction of arrow A so .4 9 that it spreads across the turf over which the machine has advanced.

0 oo As shown in Fig. 7, there is a protective mesh screen 36 located in the path of the impelled top dressing material to protect workers operating near the rear of the machine 4 9 from large rocks or other large particle contaminants of the top dressing material. The screen 36 also serves to safeguard a worker who may be near the aerator brush 35, for instance to operate the handwheel 30, from having an article o of his clothing or the like entangled in the brush 35 or other structure of the machine.

If aeration or spreading of the top dressing material over the turf is not required, the brush 35 can be caused to rotate in a clockwise direction, thereby impelling the top dressing material downwardly. In this instance, any stray top dressing material is deflected off deflector plate 37 shown in Fig. 3.

The outer surface of the aerator brush 35 brushes across the belt 17 as it turns around the underside of the pulley 18, thereby sweeping off the belt 17 any top dressing material that has not fallen under gravity or has otherwise stuck to the belt 17.

Both the conveyor belt drive roller 18 and aerator brush 35 are driven by separate high torque hydraulic motors and 91 located behind one side of frame e ow As shown in Fig. 1, positive displacement hydraulic 10 pump 38 mounted on a bracket 39 of the convergent draw bar 12 :is connected to the drive shaft (not shown) of the tractor via a pump shaft support housing 92.

There is an oil reservoir 39 mounted on the forward part of the hopper 14, which includes a primary filter filler 40, having two parts, the first being a filler 44 and the second being a gauze filter 40a, a secondary suction filter 41, a sight glass 42, a pressure relief valve (not shown) 0 enclosed in casing 43 and a hinged dirt excluding lockable lid 45. A pipe 46 allows oil to feed from the secondary ;20 suction filter 41 to the pump 38, and the oil is then fed 0 through hose 27 to the pressure relief valve in casing 43.

Although not shown, the oil is then fed to hydraulic motors and 91 and on to the tractor control valve.

Upon activation of the tractor control valve, oil is pumped by the pump 38 to the respective motors 91 and 90 for the conveyor belt drive roller 18 and aerator brush Referring to Fig. 8, the motor 91 has a sprocket 47 and the conveyor belt drive roller 18 has a sprocket 48. These sprockets 47 and 48 are connected by a chain 49. The motor has a sprocket 50 and the aerator brush 35 has a sprocket 51. These sprockets 50 and 51 are connected by a chain 52.

The tension of both chains 49 and 52 may be adjusted by identically operating sliding sprocket adjustors 53 and 54 respectively. Adjustor 53 has a sprocket 55 which abuts against the chain 49 and can be adjusted by moving upwardly (and hence more tightly) against the chain 49, then securing 10 the adjustor to its new position by passing a captive bolt (not shown) through the slot 56.

The position of the aerator brush 35 can be adjusted by moving a self aligning flange unit 57 about pivot point 58 and securing the flange unit 57 to its new position by passing a captive bolt (not shown) through the arcuate slot p 59.

Fig. 9 shows a side portion of the conveyor belt 17 and *1 pulley 19. There is a conveyor seal 60 that has one end fixed to the chassis 61 by bolt 62, and at its other end, abuts against load carrying surface of the belt 17 to restrict top dressing material from falling off the sides of the conveyor belt. If top dressing material passes between the belt 17 and seal 60 and falls through gap 64, it will be stopped from falling onto the lower or return belt by a catching tray The catching tray 65 is inclined in a direction such that any top dressing material that falls thereon will slide down the tray and onto the turf at the side of the machine.

The provision of a conveyor seal 60 and catching tray is important in ensuring that no top dressing material builds up on the belt and conveyor rollero, which, if it were allowed td happen, would block the wedge shaped recesses 21 and cause the belt 17 to wander off the rollers 18 and 19.

The machine has two aligned but independently rotating axles 66 and 67 that each Aupport three pneumatically tyred wheels 11.

oe Axle 66, shown in detail in Fig. 10, is bolted to the 10 bearing housings 68 and 69. Although not shown, the axle 66 G a P e may also be supported by an additional two bearing housing

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supports, one on either side of the central support 83.

Mounted along the axle 66 are three wheel hubs 75, 81 and 82 that each have two sealed ball bearings 70 and 71 that .5 allow the inner race 72 and outer race 73 of each wheel hub 75, 81 and 82 to rotate independently. Both flange bearings and pillar bearings may be used.

Mounted on the outer race 73 of each wheel hub 75, 81 and 82 is a welded flange plate 74 that receives a wheel (not 20 shown) by locking between the studs 76 and nuts 77.

*B Between each wheel hub 75, 81 and 82 is a spacer 78 that allows each hub 75, 81 and 82 to rotate about the axle 66 independently of any other hub. There is also a spacer 79 at each end of the axle 66 to separate the two most outward of the hubs 75 and 82 from the bearing housing 68 and outer wheel support beam 80, in the case of the outermost hub and from the bearing housing 69 and inner wheel support beam 83, in the case of the innermost hub 82.

-9- A lock nut 84 threadably engages the axle 66 and, when tightened, causes each of the spacers 78 and 79 and the inner race 72 of each of the hubs 75, 81 and 82 to be pinched hard against each other in the order shown along the axle 66, thereby producing the effect of a single shaft able to rotate about bearings 85 and 86 of housings 68 and 69. This leaves the outer race 73 of each hub 75, 81 and 82 able to rotate completely independently of each other.

The advantage of having such independent wheel rotation '10 is that, even if bearings 85 and 86 were to seize up, all the wheels would remain able to rotate freely and so accommodate the terrain and direction in which the machine was advancing without skidding or otherwise damaging the turf.

The removal of the wheels is carried out by, in sequence, unbolting the wheel support beam 80, jacking up the 0 side of the machine, unscrewing the lock nut 84 and then sliding the bearing housing 68, hubs 75, 81 and 82 and spacers 78 and 79 off the axle, during which time the bearing housing 69 holds the axle 66 in place.

It will be apparent that there are numerous advantages 0 and desirable safety features of the top dressing machine of the invention. For instance, the provision of a front 3600 rotating draw clevis (13) ensures that in the event of the top dressing machine rolling over (as may occur where the terrain is steep), the tractor remains stable, and vice versa.

Various modifications may be made in details of design and construction without departing from the scope or ambit of the invention.

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Claims

1. A machine for applying top dressing material to turf comprising a mobile main frame, a hopper mounted on the main frame for receiving top dressing material, transfer means for transferring top dressing material from the hopper at a predetermined rate, rotary impellor means for receiving top dressing material and upwardly impelling the top dressing material over a selected area of turf, wherein the transfer means iinludes an endless belt conveyor that transports the top dressing material to the rotary impellor means, and further including means for changing the direction of rotation of the rotary impellor means so as to impel the top dressing material downwardly.

2. The machine of claim 1 wherein the transfer means includes a series of outlet openings at the bottom of the hopper. S

3. The machine of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the rotary impellor means comprises a cylindrical aerator brush adapted to rotate about its longitudinal axis.

4. The machine of any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the a main frame has a forwardly converging draw bar adapted for Sconnection to a tractor or other drive means.

5. The machine of claim 4 wherein the draw bar includes a front 3600 rotating draw clevis.

6. The machine of claim 2 wherein the series of outlet openings are separated by weight bearing baffles.

7. The machine of claim 3 wherein the endless belt -conveyor includes opposing forward and rearward end rollers -12- about which the endless belt turns, each of the said end rollers having a pair of opposed wedge shaped circumferential recesses, with the endless belt being cleated on its non-load carrying surface with a pair of opposed wedge shaped longitudinal profiles that fit into their respective recesses on the rollers.

8. The machine of claim 7 wherein the end rollers have slightly tapered ends.

9. The machine of claim 7 wherein the endless belt conveyor includes a pair of tracking adjusters. The machine of claim 1 wherein the transfer means includes a flow gate adapted to provide an opening of a predetermined size for top dressing material to pass through to the rotary impellor means.

11. The machine of claim 10 wherein the flow gate is operable by turning of a hand wheel.

12. The machine of claim 1 wherein the rotary impellor means is caused to rotate by a motor.

13. The machine of claim 1 wherein there is a protective 9 mesh screen located in the path of the impelled top drest.-g material adapted to deflect downwardly large rocks or other a** large particle contaminants of the top dressing material, but not to affect the upward passage of a substantial portion of e* the impelled material.

14. The machine of claim 7 wherein the outer surface of the aerator brush brushes across the load carrying surface of the belt as it turns around the underside of the rearward end roller. -13- The machine of claim 3 and including means for adjusting the position of the aerator br

16. The machine of claim I and including a conveyor seal adapted to restrict top dressing material from falling off the sides of the conveyor.

17. The machine of claim 16 and further including a catching tray located above the return belt and inclined downwardly away from the edge of the return belt so as to deflect away from the return belt any top dressing material that has passed through the conveyor seal.

18. The mechine of claim 1 wherein the mobile main frame has two aligned but independently rotating axles.

19. The machine of claim 18 wherein each axle supports three pneumatically tyred wheels. i. 20. The machine of claim 19 wherein each wheel is supported 4 on its axle by an independently rotating wheel hub, thereby providing for independent wheel rotation.

21. A machine for applying top dressing material to turf,said machine being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings. 4- Dated this 22nd day of July, 1993. RONALD WILLIAM RICHMOND Patent Attorneys for the Applicant PETER MAXWELL ASSOCIATES