AU8081582A

AU8081582A - Hose or cable support

Info

Publication number: AU8081582A
Application number: AU80815/82A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Kock Karl-Arne
Original assignee: Sidler H Kock K A
Current assignee: Sidler H Kock K A
Priority date: 1982-01-14
Filing date: 1982-01-14
Publication date: 1983-07-28
Also published as: EP0098263A1; WO1983002385A1

Description

Hose or cable support

This invention relates to a support for irrigation hoses, cables or the like, which are intended to be extended on the ground or corresponding surface and possibly to be retracted, which support is capable both to carry the hose so that ground contact substantially is avoided, and to considerably reduce the friction resistance at the extending and retracting movements.

At mobile irrigation systems, for example, a great problem lies in the substantial friction force, which must be overcome when a water supply hose is being extended and during its extending movement the water has normally the necessary pressure. At one embodiment of mobile irrigation systems, a carriage-mounted irrigation ramp is used which via said hose is connected to a water supply mains. The hose is extended from a hose reel or the like, which normally is positioned relatively c.lose to the point of connection to the mains. Due to said friction force, a tractor of considerable power and, therefore, size is required for towing the carriage and hose. A self-propelled carriage must have corresponding power and size. At the irrigation operation this power and size give rise to extensive damages on the ground and standing crops. Moreover, the dependency on ground conditions is undesirably great, and thereby also the tractor or carriage costs are high.

The present invention relates to means for reducing said friction force. In this way the tractor or carriage power and size can be decreased considerably, whereby the aforesaid problems and costs decrease. This applies correspondingly also to the power of the hose reel when being driven for hose retraction.

The problems are substantially the same when cables or the like are to be extended/laid out. The present invention, therefore, relates to a hose or cable support intended, for example, for water supply hoses at mobile irrigation machines or the like, where the hose or corresponding member is intended to be extended from and possibly be retracted by a hose reel or the like and thereby is dragged on the ground or corresponding surface. The invention is characterized in that every support comprises a preferably annular member to be positioned substantially concentrically or symmetrically about the hose or corresponding member and to rest against the ground or corresponding surface, that preferably eight distance arms are arranged preferably symmetrically along. the inner periphery of said member, which arms are directed inward and substantially radially in the member, and that at the free end of each distance arm a wheel or the like is mounted, the axle of which extends substantially perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the distance arm, and each wheel abuts the hose, so that the hose can be pulled through the support rolling against said wheels, whereby a very low traction force is required compared with the force required at dragging the hose on the ground.

The invention is described in greater detail in the following, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a support according to the invention applied to a hose, which support is seen in the longitudinal direction of the hose and from the right in Fig. 2,

Fig. 2 is a section A-A according to Fig. 1 through the support according to Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 shows schematically and partially an embodiment of an irrigation machine comprising means for storing, positioning and collecting supports according to the invention.

In Fig. 1 the reference numeral 1 designates a hose for water supply according to the above. The hose 1, as mentioned above, also may be a cable or the like. 2 design ates an annular member, which is comprised in the support and capable to substantially concentrically enclose the hose and to rest against the ground or corresponding surface (not shown in Figs. 1 and 2). Said annular member 2 has an inner diameter, which exceeds substantially the outer diameter of the hose 1, as shown in Fig. 1. The support also comprises distance arms 3, which preferably are eight in number and located symmetrically, i.e. equidistantly, along the inner periphery 4 of the member 2. The distance arms are arranged substantially radially and directed inward in the member 2, as shown in Fig. 1. At the preferred embodiment of supports according to the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 2, said distance arms 3 form a certain angle, for example 45°, with the main extension plane 5 of the member 2, i.e. a plane 5 through the periphery of the member 2, where every second arm 3 is directed in a definite direction, for example in the intended dragging direction for the hose 1, and every second arm 3 is directed in the opposite direction. Thus, every second arm 3 is located on one side of said plane 5, and every second arm 3 is located on the other side of said plane 5, as appears from Fig. 2.

At the free end 6 of every distance arm 3 a wheel 7 or the like is located, its axle extending substantially perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the arm 3. Each wheel 7 is intended to abut the hose 1.

At the hose 1 a plurality of supports are intended to be arranged preferably equidistantly along the hose 1, and preferably at such a distance from one another that the hose due to its stiffness caused a.o. by the water pressure does not contact the ground or corresponding surface between the supports, when the hose is being pulled through the supports.

Fig.3 shows schematically and partially an embodiment of an irrigation machine comprising an embodiment of means for storing, positioning and collecting supports. The hose

1 is intended to be connected to a connection pipe 11 beneath a carriage comprised in the irrigation machine and mounted on wheels 9.10. Said pipe 11 extends in the intended driving direction of the carriage and is inclined downward to the rear portion of the carriage which is located to the left in Fig. 3. Supports according to the invention are intended to be threaded on said pipe 11, as shown in Fig. 3. At the lower, rear, portion 12 of said pipe 11 a stop means in the form of, for example, two hydraulically operated cylinders 13,14 is located. The piston rods 15 and, respectively, 16 of each cylinder act in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the pipe and can be moved inward in the direction to the pipe, so that supports cannot slide off the pipe, but are stopped, as shown in Fig. 3. The piston rod 15 here constitutes a stop member for a lowermost support 17 and thereby for the remaining supports, and the piston rod 16 constitutes a stop member for a support 18 located closest to the support 17 . In connection to the lower, rear, portion 12 of the pipe

II and behind said stop member, an arm 19 is hingedly attached, which comprises a substantially horizontal and preferably fork-shaped rearward directed portion 20 and a vertical portion 21, at which said joint 22 is located. Said portion 21 is actuated by a preferably hydraulically operated cylinder 23, in such a manner, that the said forkshaped portion 20 upon said actuation performs a substantially horizontal reciprocatory movement. The fork-shaped portion 20 is so positioned and designed that in a first end position it permits supports to pass freely along the pipe 11, and when moving to a second end position it engages with a support having passed and moves this support forward along the pipe 11 past said stop means 13,14, 15,16. The mode of operation of the supports according to the invention substantially should have become apparent from the above description. Supports comprising the said annular members 2, thus, are threaded on the hose 1 or corresponding member and are intended to be positioned in a suitable way along the hose when the hose is being extended. At this extending movement the hose rolls on said wheels 7 on the distance arms 3. The friction is hereby reduced considerably compared with when the hose is extended by dragging it on the ground. Owing to the design of the supports, comprising a plurality of arms 3 forming an angle with the longitudinal direction of the hose, which arms are directed alternatingly in different directions, so-called "drawer effects" and similar problems are avoided.

The supports are laid out and collected preferably automatically, for example by means as described above. The supports threaded on the inclined pipe 11 are released one at a time and slide down on the hose and ground. Each support is hereby positioned in a definite place on the ground, and the hose can be pulled through the supports thus positioned.

The lowermost support 17 is released in that the piston rod 15 of the cylinder 13 is retracted to the cylinder 13. The support 18 and the remaining supports hereby are retained in place by the cylinder 14 with the piston rod 16. When the support 17 has been released, the piston rod 15 is returned to its "stop position", and the piston rod 16 is retracted to the cylinder 14, so that the support 18 can slide downward and rearward until it is stopped against the piston rod 15, whereby also the remaining supports can slide downward and rearward. Thereafter the piston rod 16 is returned to "stop position" whereby, thus, one cycle for the release of one support has been completed. For controlling the cylinders 13,14 a control system (not shown) of a suitable known type is provided, so that cycles of the aforesaid kind are repeated at desired intervals, and supports are distributed uniformly along the hose whereby a.o. the speed of the extending movement is taken into account.

When supports laid out on the ground and along the hose are to be collected, the carriage in Fig. 3 is moved to the left, whereby the support laid out to the left in Fig. 3 is moved on the rear portion of the pipe 11. This procedure is intended to be detected in a suitable way, for example by a mechanic transducer or the like (not shown). The said fork-shaped portion 20 is intended to be in said first end position, so that the support can move past the same forward along the pipe. After having passed, the presence of the support is intended to be detected by said transducer, whereby the portion" 20 by means of the cylinder 23 is caused to engage with the support and to assume said second end position, at the same time as the piston rods 15,16 are retracted to the respective cylinder. Hereby, thus, the support is moved up on the pipe 11 past the stop means consisting of the cylinders 13,14 with the piston rods 15,16, which thereafter are caused to assume stop position, and the portion 20 is thereafter caused to re-assume said first end position. The collecting of supports also is intended to be controlled by said control system (not shown). In the foregoing a preferred embodiment of supports according to the. invention has been described. As should have become evident, the invention solves in a simple way the great problems involved when a.o. water supply hoses for irrigation machines are to be extended and retracted. Measurements show that by using supports according to the invention the necessary traction force can be reduced to only about 15% of the force required when no supports are used. This implies, as mentioned above, much lower requirements in respect of the size and power of a.o. tractors, carriages and hose reels. It should be mentioned, that the supports according to the invention are not lost, because they entirely enclose the hose or cable. This is, of course, a great advantage.

It is, of course, possible to imagine more embodiments of supports according to the invention without abandoning the invention idea.

In certain cases, for example when a hose or cable is to be extended for permanent use, it is expedient to design said annular members so that they can be opened in the circumferential direction, and the supports can simply be removed from the hose or cable. This is achieved, for example, in that the members are slitted open in two diametrical places, and in one place a hinge 24, and in the other place a locking means 25 are provided, as shown schematical ly in Fig. 1. The number of distance arms, of course, can be varied, too.

The invention, thus, is not to be regarded restricted to the above embodiments, but can be varied within the scope of the attached claims.

Claims

1. A hose or cable support intended, for example, for water supply hoses at mobile irrigation machines or the like where said hose or corresponding member is intended to be extended from and possibly be retracted by a hose reel or the like and thereby be dragged on the ground or corresponding surface, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that each support comprises a preferably annular member (2) intended to be positioned substantially concentrically or symmetrically about the hose CD or corresponding member and to rest against the ground or corresponding surface, that preferably eight distance arms (3) are located preferably symmetrically along the inner periphery (4) of said member (2) and directed inward and substantially radially in the element (2), and at the free end (6) of each distance arm (3) a wheel (7) or the like is mounted with its axle (8) extending substantially perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the distance arm (3), which wheel (7) is intended to abut the hose CD, so that the hose (1) can be pulled through the support rolling against said wheel (7), whereby a very low traction force is required compared with when the hose is being dragged on the ground.

2. A hose or cable support as defined in claim 1 where said element is annular and eight symmetrically located distance arms are provided, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that said arms (3) form a certain angle with the main extension plane (5) of the member, i.e. a plane (5) through the periphery of the member, and every second arm (3) is directed in a definite direction, for example in the intended dragging direction for the hose (1), and every second arm (3) is directed in the opposite direction.

3. A hose or cable support as defined in claim 1 or 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that said member (2) is slitted open in two preferably diametrical places, that a hinge (24) or corresponding means is located in one of said places, and a locking means (25) is located in the other one of said places, so that the support can be opened and closed in a simple way and hereby be attached to and removed from a hose (1) or the like.