AU666877B2

AU666877B2 - An improved farm implement

Info

Publication number: AU666877B2
Application number: AU27156/92A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Graeme John Taege; Brian Stewart Teage
Original assignee: TAEGE IND Ltd
Current assignee: TAEGE INDUSTRIAL Ltd
Priority date: 1991-10-17
Filing date: 1992-10-19
Publication date: 1996-02-29
Anticipated expiration: 2012-10-19
Also published as: AU2715692A

Description

Af ^77 0 a a S. S *SS aBbe a a COMMONWEA~LTH OF AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1952/1969 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR THE INVENTION ENTITLED: "AN IMPROVED FAM IMPLEHENT" The following statement 18 a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known' to us.

1- The invention relates to a farm implement and particularly to an improved towable farm implement suitable for use in confined spaces to ensure complete coverage of a farm when the implement is towed.

At present when farmers are feeding-out, harvesting or generally driving in restricted areas, for example, in the corners of fenced areas it is difficult if not impossible to completely cover the area because at the corners a vehicle driven in an arc inevitably, because of the size of the vehicle's turning circle, does not cover the area. This means that there is a potential loss of production at the corners of fenced areas because farm implements for ploughing, sewing or harvesting can not cover part of the corner area.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved connection for a towable farm implement to enable the implement to have a smaller turning circle to therefore overcome at least in part the above-identified disadvantage.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description which is given by way of example only.

Acording to the present invention thore is provided improved connection for a towable farm impleme e connection including a turntable a ront end of a draw bar or main chassis of a f _aplement, the turntable supporting a tow bar ection used for connection to a vehicle, a -2- 2/1 According to the present invention there is provided a towable farm implement, including a wheeled turntable at a front end of a main chassis of the farm implement, the wheeled turntable supporting a tow bar connection used for connection to a vehicle, the main chassis having at a rear thereof a transverse member relative to which a rear or back wheels of the implement are mounted, the main chassis also supporting a linkage rotated about its longitudinal axis by turning movement of the wheeled turntable to thereby pivot at the rear of the main chassis a drop arm movement of which causes transverse drag link mechanisms to rotate steering arms which pivot the rear or back wheels in sympathy with the movement of turntable.

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S S connected to pivot and teer roar or back whee1s of the implement.

The linkage from the turntable to th eerable rear or back wheels can be by way of s a linked by universal joints connected to ate a drop arm and drag link mechanis ich are connected to steering arms arranged to The joints between the drag links and the drop arm and the drag links and the steering arms can be by way of knuckle joints.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is S provided a large size towable farm implement such as a V-rake incorporating the connection according to the first aspect of thp invAntinn.

Further aspects of the invention will become apparent S from the following description which is given by way of example only.

An example of the inv- tion will now be described with reference to the drawings accompanying this specification in whichr Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a chassis incorporating a connection according to the invention; Pi f; 2 shows a perspective view of the front part of the chassis shown in Figure 1 with part of the linkage shown therein; 3 Ficnure, 3 shows a perspective view of the joint between one of the drag links and the drop arm at the rear of the chassis; and Fiqure 4 shows a perspective view f rom above of part of the chassis showing a post exctending through the chassis for a hack wheel (not shown) to be fitted at the bottom end of the post and showing the connection between the post, its steering arm and its adjacent drag link.

In the following description the invention will be described with reference to the invention being fitted to a *V-rake type farm implement. It is however to be appreciated 0 e that with minor modifications the invention can be applied to other farm and towable implements.

The connection as shown in Figures I. and 2 has a pivotable turntable 1. The turntable 1 has a connection 2 at its forward end for attachment to a towing vehicle (not shown). The turntable 2. has a pivot pin 3 linked to a front end 4 of a draw bar 5 of a farm implement 6. The turntable 1 can be generally triangular shaped in plan and has a pair of wheels 7.

The rear 8 of the draw bar or main chassis frame member o 5 has a transverse member 9 at the ends of which are provided mountings 21 for posts 10 at the bottom of each of which is a back wheel 11 of the implement 6.

The pin 3 has at its upper end a universal joint 12 (Figure 2) connected to a mechanical linkage extending toward the rear 8 of the implement. The first 1Unk 13 in this -4 instance is connected at B to a second link 14 by a further universal joint 15. The rear end 16 of the second link 14 is connected to a drop 'arm 17 which is adapted to pivot in the direction of the arrows 18 stiown in Figure 3. This drop arm 17 causes pivotal movement in drag arms 19 (FiguLres S and connected thereto to thereby create turning movement in steering armse 20 which axe connected to the posts 10 at the lower ends of which are mounted the back wheels 11 of the implement.

The rotational movement of the turntable 1 is therefore converted by the linkage and steering arms to corresponding movement in the back wheels 11. The degree of movement of the back wheels 11 can be altered by varying the lengths of the steering arms 20 so that when turning, for example, in a corner rotation of the turnable is converted to movement in sympathy in the back wheels to thereby improve/reduce the turning circle of the vehicle to cover as much of an area as possible.

As indicated this device can be incorporated in a range eaf farm implements including a V-rake of the type which has a ohassis of the general type shown in Figure 1.

Thus by this invention there is provided an improved connection for a towable farm implement which enables the implement to have a small turning circle thereby enabling users to better cover an area.

A particular example of the invention has been described and it is envisaged that improvements and modifications take place without departing from the scope o± the appended clainis 4 0 4 0 464404 0e 4 0* 0S a -6

Claims

1. A towable farm implement, including a wheeled turntable at a front end of a main chassis of the farm implement, the wheeled turntable supporting a tow bar connection used for connection to a vehicle, the main chassis having at a rear thereof a transverse member relative to which a rear or back wheels of the implement are mounted, the main chassis also supporting a linkage rotated about its longitudinal axis by turning movement of the wheeled turntable to thereby pivot at the rear of the main chassis a drop arm movement of which causes transverse drag link mechanisms to rotate steering arms which pivot the rear or back wheels in sympathy with the movement of turntable.

2. A towable implement as claimed in claim 1 wherein the joints between the drag link mechanisms and the drop arm and the drag link mechanisms and the steering arms are by way of knuckle joints.

3, A towable implement as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the towbar connection is at the forward end of the turntable, the turntable being generally triangular in plan and having a pair of wheels.

4. A towable implement as claimed in claim 1 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings accompanying the provisional specification.

A towable implement as claimed in claim 3 wherein the turntable is at a forward end of a single main chassis frame member the rear of which has the transverse member at the ends of which are mountings for posts at "the bottom of each of which is a back wheel. 25

6. A towable implement as claimed in claim 5 wherein the linkage extends along the main chassis member at the rear of which is the drop arm to which the drag links are connected, the drag links extend at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the main chassis member and beneath the transverse member to turnbuckles which link the drag links to the steering arms 30 mounted on or at the top of the posts.

7. A towable implement as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 which includes a series of rakes mounted thereon. 8

8. A towable farm implement substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this 29th day of December 1995 TAEGE INDUSTRIAL LIMITED Patent Attorneys for -the Applicant; F.B. RICE &CO. 0 S. 00S 0 0 0 0 0 00S 4 0.:0.