CA1056641A - Soil cultivating implements - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract of the Disclosure Soil cultivating implements are disclosed of the kind which have a frame that is at least partly supported by ground wheels during operation of the implement and which also have at least one group of soil working or cultivating members that are rotatable about upwardly extending axes, the group being carried by the frame in a row that extends in a direction which is transverse to the intended direction of operative travel of the implement.
At least two groups of the soil working or cultivating members are carried by the frame in side-by-side relationship and at least one group is upwardly tiltable relative to at least one other group to bring the implement from a working position to a position that is suitable for the inoperative trans-port thereof.

Description

~ liS inven-tion rel.-ltes to soil cultivatlng implements of the kind which comprise a .Erame that is at least partly supported by ground whoels during operation of the implelnen~ and which also comprises at Least one group of soil working or cultivating members that are rotatable about upwardly ex-tend.ing axes, said group being carried by the frame in a row *hat extends in a direction which ls transverse to the intended direction of operative travel of the implement.
According to one aspect of the invention, there i5 provided a soil cultivating implement comprising a rame and a group of rotatable soil working 10 members journalled in an elongated central portion of said frame, an elongated ~-outer portion pivoted at each lateral side of said central portion and respective further groups of rotatable soil working members being journalled .
in the outer portions, said soil working members and urther soil working :
members being rotatable about corresponding upwardly extending axes defined by respective shafts and said shats being positioned in a row that extends transverse to the direction of travel, driving means engaging said soil working members and further members, two beams of said frame extending in the general direction of travel and said beams having rear portions that extend `.~
substantially parallel to one another and forward convergent portions that .
comprise coupling means, said rear portions being connected to the central frame portion and positioned above same, each outer portion being pivoted to - . :
the rear beam portions with spaced apart pivots~ the axes of said pivots extendlng in the direction of travel and said outer portion being pivotable to an upward tilted transport position about said axes, respective supports connected to the outer frame portions intermediate the lengths thereof, each support extending forwardly to a pivot connection with the remainder of said frame and said connection having a pivot axis in lir,e with said first mentioned pivot axes, said supports being displaceable with the outer rame portions in ' the latter's transport position, said rear beam portions being supported on 30 ground wheels, said ground wheels being adj~stably connected to the rear portions and vertically displaceable relative to those portions~ whereby the ;~
central and outer portions can be raised to an inoperative transport position.

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According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a soil cultivating implement comprising a frame and a group of rotatable soil working members journalled in an elongated central portion of said frame, an elongated outer portion pivoted at each lateral slde of sald central portion and respective further groups of rotatable soil working members being journalled in the outer portions, said soil working members and further soil working members being rotatable about corresponding upwardly extending axes defined by respective shafts and said shafts being positioned in a row that extends transverse to the direction of travel, driving means engaging said soil working members and further members, two beams of said frame extending in ~he general direction of travel and :
said beams having rear portions that extend substantially parallel to one another and orward convergent portions that comprise coupling means, said rear portions being connected to the central frame portion and positioned above same, each outer portion being pivoted to the rear beam portions with ~ .
spaced apart pivots, the axes of said pivots extending in the direction of travel and said outer portion being pivotable to an upward tilted transport position about said axes, respeotive supports connected to the outer frame portions intermediate the lengths thereof, ea¢h support extending forwardly to a pivot connection with the remainder of said frame and said connection having a pivot axis in line with said first mentioned pivot axis, said ~:.
driving means comprising a gear box on said central portion and a ~ :
corresponding transmission shaft that extends from said box, laterally to respective gear means of each further group of soil working members, said transmission shaft being displaceable upwardly with the corresponding outer portion in the lat~er's transport position.
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 drawingsJ in which:-Figure 1 is a plan view of a soil cultivating implement in accordance with the invention connected to the rear of an agricultural tractor, a seed drill being provided at the rear of the implement, _ 2a -Figure 2 is a side elevation as seen in the dlrection indicated by an arrow II in Figure 1, an operative position of the implement being .illustrated in full lines and an inoperative transport posit.ion thereof in broken lines, Figure 3 is a partial front elevation of the i.mplement . ~

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to an enlarged scale as compared with ~i~ures 1 and 2, ~ igure 4 is a plan view as seen i:n -the direction in dicated by an arrow IV in :~igure 3, Figure 5 .is a section taken on the 1.lne V~V in Fl~ure 4, Figure 6 is A diagrammatic plan view of an alternative form of soil cultivating implement ln accorda~ce with the invention connected to the rear of ar~ agricultural tractor, a seed drill again being provided at the rear of` the imple-me~t, Figure 7 is a section, to an enlarged scale, taken on ~
the line VII-~II in Figure 6, ~ .
Figure 8 is a plan view as seen in the directlon indi-cated by an arrow VIII in Fiæure 7, ~ i~ure 9 is a section taken on the line IX-IX ln Fig-ure 6, Figure 10 is a diagrammatic plan view of a further alternative embodiment of a soll cultiv~ti~g implement in accordance with the invention, connected to the rear of an agricultural tractor, no seed drill being provided, ~ igure 11 is a section, to an enlarged scale, taken on the line XI-XI in ~igure 10, Figure 12 is a plan view as seen in the direction indicated b~ an arrow XII in ~igu.re 11, and Figure 13 is a section, to an enlarged scale, taken on the line XIII-XIII in ~igure 10 Referring to ~igures 1 to 5 of the accompan~ing draw-ings, the soil cultivating implement -tha~ is illustrated therein is in the form of a rotar~ harrow which comprises :

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a frame having two beams 1 and 2 ma~or portions 4 of which are :Eorwardl~ convergent with respect to the intended direc-tion of operativ0 travel of the implement which is indicated throughout the drawings b~ the reference AI ~he ~rame beams 1 and 2 are substantially horizontal.ly disposed and include rear portions 3 that are in substant:iall~ parallel relatlon-shlp with one another and with the d:irection A. ~he leading ends of the ma~or portions ~ of the beam~ 1 and 2, which por~
tions are both straight, are interco~nected at their ~unction point by a fork 5 whose two limbs are substantiall~ horizontal- :
ly disposed~ in vertically spaced apart relationship, so as to project forwardl~ from the beams 1 and 2 with respect to the direction A. A substantially horizontal beam 6 perpendicular~
ly interconnects the rear portions 3 of the beams 1 and 2 close to the rearmo.~it ends of said portions 3. A hollow box-shaped frame portion 7 is connected to the lower surfaces of the two frame beams 3 so as to ex~end substantially parallel to the frame beam 6 at a location which is a short dista~ce in advanoe of that beam 6 with respect to the direction A~ The connec- .:
tion between the hollow frame portion 7 and the portions 3 of the two beams 1 and 2 is effected by upri~ht substantial-` ~:
l~ tria~gular plates 8 that are fastened to the top o~ the ;~
hollow frame portion 7 at Pour locations whi.ch are close to the front and rear of the frame portion 7 with respect to ~:
the direction A a~d close to the opposite ends of that frame portio~. ~he rear substantially parallel portions 3 of the ,~
two frame beams 1 and 2 are provided, at locatious that are respectivel~ i~ front of~ and behi~d, the corresponding plates 8~ with four obliquely upwardl~ and outwardl~ inclined arms 1: . ,:

.~ _ 4 _ " ' ,~' 9, ~he upper and outer ends of the four arms 9 being pivotal-ly con~ected to ~our corresponding vertical plate~ y four pivot pins 10 whlch areal.lgned, ln two pairs, so as to define two p~rallel axes that are both subst~ntlal~ parallel to the direction A and that pass above the hollow frame portion 7 quite clo3e to the opposite ends of the latter.
~ he four plates 11 are arranged i~ two pairs and each pair is secured to a corre~ponding one of two hollow box-shaped frame portions 12 that are both of similar co~struction to the hollow frame portion 7 and that, whe~ the implement i3 in use, have their longitudinal axes in more or less coincident relatio~ship with the longitudinal axis of the central hollow frame portion 7 and in porpendicular, or substantially per~
pendicular, relationship with the direction A. ~he two hol- :
low frame portions 12 are, of course, tur~able upwardly and downwardly about the axes defined by the corresponding pairs ..
of pivot pins 10 relative to the central frame.portion 7. Each ~.
pair of plates 11 lS provided, very close the tha tops of those plates, with transverse piece~ 13 that pro~ect towards one ano~
ther from the plates 11 concerned in perpeDdicular relation-ship with the planes of those plates. Upright plates 14 are mounted at the six ends of the three hollow ~r~me portions 7 and 12 and supports 15, which serve as tie ~eams, extend bet-- :
ween each pair of transverse pieces 13 an~ the uprigh-t plate 14 which is at the outermost e~d of the same hollow ~rame portion 12 a~ that which is pro~ided with the plates 11 that ca.rry said tra~erse piece~ 13~ ~here is a total of four of -:
the supports 15 and it will be seen ~rom the arawi.n~s that they are arranged in correspo~ding pairs that are gentl~ co~vergent ' ~ - 5 ~
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from the -transverse pieces 13 to the respective uprigh-t plates 1~. Moreover, when th~ impleme.nt is disposed in its operative position, each pair of supports 15 i9 i~lclined do1~nwardl~ at a small an~le to the h~rizontal ~rom the co:rrespondi.ng transver~e pieces 13 to the corresponding upright plate 14~ Each hollow frame portion 12 is providad, at a locatlon which is approxi~
mately one-quarter of the way along that portion 12 -towards the central frame portion 7 from t:he outermost end thereof, with a vertical plate 16 (Figure 1), each plate 16 extending ~
rigidly betwe~n the top o~ the frame portion 12 concerned and the lower surfaces of the two overlylng supports 15. ~he fro~ts of the two vertical plates 16 with respect to the direction are both secured to the rear ends of corresponding ~orwardly convergent tubular supports 17 whose leading ends carry cor-responding substantially horizontal sleeve bearings 18. ~he :~.
sleeve bearings 18 at the leading ends of the tubular supports ; ~.
17 with respect to the direction A are considerably closer to an imaginar~ vertical plane of substantial, but not exact, s~mmetry of the implement which extends parallel to the direc-tion A than are the vertical plates 16 at the rearmost ends o~
said tubular supports 17. A horizontal beam 21 is detachabl~ ~;
secured to the tops of the convergent portions 4 of the two frame beams 1 and 2 so as to extend perpendicular to the ;~
direction A and so as to project for equal distances from ~he opposite side of the imaginary vertical plane of substantial symmetry of the implement that has just been referred to. Ihe opposite e~ds of ~he beam 21 oarry corresponding forks 20 whose vertically disposed limbs are spaced apart ~rom one ,, :
a~other in the direction A and each fork 20has a corresponding ~:
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one o~ th~ two sleeve `bearings 18 tu:rnab:ly moun-ted between its limbs by n correspo:rldln~ ho.cizontal pivot p:ln 19 wh.ose axis is co:incid.ent with that defi.ned b-~ one pa~r of the four pivot pins ~lO tha-t is located behind it :relative -to the direc-tion A. 'rhus, the pins ~lO at -the i~mer ends of the outer pivotably bounted hollow fra-me portions 12 and -the corres~
ponding pivot pins 19 are located one behind the other with respect to the direction A. It will be noted that the horizontal beam 21 is located substantiall~ midway between the opposite ends of the convergent portlons 4 of the frame beams 1 and 2.
Stub shaf-ts 22 that are horizontally aligned in a direction that is perpendicular to the d~recti.on .A are turnably mounted in bearin~s bolted -to the lower surfaces of the rear subs-tantially parallel portions 3 o.f the two beams 1 and 2 at locations which are immediatel~ behind the frame beam 6 with respect to the direction A (see particularly . :
~igures 4 and 5 of the drawings). The alig~ed stub shafts 22 project towa~ds one another from their bearings and their inner ends are secured to corresponding arms 23 which proaect upwardl~ and rearwardly therefrom with respect to the direction A. Ihe rear ends of the two arms 23 are secured -to a strip~
shaped beam 24 which serves as an axle beam ~or the rotar~
mountings of two ground wheels 25 whose axes o~ rotation are substantiall~ horizorltally coincident in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the direction A. As can be seen in outline in Figure 1 o:~ the drawings, -the rotary mountings of the two ground wheels 25 are adjustable towards and away from one another along opposite end regions of the beam 24 so that the distance between said ~round wheels 25 and/or the positions thereof relative to the path of travel of the whole implement ca~ be ad~usted to facili-tate U50 of`
the implement in various row cultures. ~ach stub shaft 22 is provided, between its bearing and the correspondin~ arm 2~
with an upwardl~ and forwardly inclined arm 26 whose upper end is pivotally connected to the free end of the piston rod of a corresponding hydraulic piston and cylinder assembl~ 27.
~ach of the two assemblies 27 extends substantially parallel to the directior. A and has the leading base end of its cylinder pivotally connected to a correspondin~ arm 28 that projects upwardl~ from the portion 3 of the frame beam 1 or

2 concerned, the lower ends of the arms 28 being turnable relative to said beam portions 3 about an axis that is sub-stantiall~ horizontally parallel to the frame beam 6. ~he upper end of each pivotably mounted arm 28 is connec-ted, at a level above that of the corresponding assembly 27, to the top of a corresponding upright arm 29 by a helical tension spri~g 28A that is substantially~ although not exactly, parallel to the direction A. ~he two upright arms 29 are rigidly secured to the frame beam 6 at locations close to the opposite ends of that frame beam. ~wo pairs of lugs ~O
project rearwardl~ from the back of the frame beam 6 at - `
positions which are spaced only short distances inwardly from the opposite ends of said frame beam and these serve for the connection to the implement of a seed drill 59 or other tool or implement i~ a manner ~hat will be further des-cribed below. ~he two pairs of lug9 3O are spaced at e~ual distances from -the midpoint of the beam 6 . ~ . . . ~ .. . .

Each of the three hol~ow frame portions 7 and 12 has a plurality of corresponding substRntially vert:ical or at least upwardly e~tending shafts 31 rotata~ly mounted -therein i~ a single row, the longitudlnal a~es of the sha~ts 31 being spaced apar-t from one another at regular distances which preferably~ but not essentially, have magnitudes of substantially 25 centimetres. In the embodiment which is being descrî~ed~ theIe are twelve of the shafts 31 in respect of each of the three hollow frame portions 7 and 12. 'llhe ` ;
shafts 31 are rotatably ~ournalled in bearin~s carried by upper and lower walls of the hollow frame portlon~ 7 and 12 and each shaft 31 pro~ec-ts from beneath the bottom of the corresponding frame portion. ~he lowermost end of the downwardly projecting portion of each shaft 31 is secured to the midpoint of a corresponding horizon-tal or substan-tially horizontal tine support 32, said tine support 32 havin~
sleeve-like holders at its opposite ends in which fastening portions of two corresponding rigid and downwardly extending tines 33 are firmly but releasabl~ secured in a manner which it is not necessary to desc~ibe for the purpases of the presen~ invention. ~ach pair of tines 33 constitutes, to-gether with the corresponding support ~2 and its tine holders, a rotary soil working or cultivating member 35. Each of the shafts 31 is provided, inside the corresponding hollow frame portion 7 or 12, with a straight-toothed or spur-too-thed pinio~ 34, the pinions ~4 being so arranged that each one of them has its teeth in mesh with those of its neighbour, or both of its neighbours, in the single row thereof that corresponds to the hollow fr~me portion 7 or 12 concerned.

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In each of the two outer hollow frame porti.ons 12, one o~ the centre pair of shafts 31 has cm upward axtensi.on through the top of said frame portion into a gear box 36 that is bolted onto the top of that frame portion. Bevel pinions (not visible in the drawings) located inside each gear box 36 place the upward extension of the corresponding shaft 31 in driven connection with a substantially horiæontal shaft (not visible) that extends parallel to the length o~
the frame portion 12 concerned and thus substantially per- :
pendicular to the direction A. One end of the subs-tantially horizonbal shaft that has just been referred to projects into a change-speed gear 37 together with one end of a cor-responding overl~ing and parallel rotary input shaf-t 38 of the gear box 36. It is not necessary to describe the change-speed gears 37 in detail for the purpo~es of the present inven-tion but it should be noted that, in each change-speed gear 37, the ends of the corresponding two substantiall~
hori30ntal shafts are splined or otherwise ke~ed to receive the hubs o~ pairs of interchangeable and/or exchangeable straight-toothed or spur-toothed pinionsO ~he transmission .
ratio between the input shaft 38 of the gear box 36 and the u~derlyinæ row of shafts 31 will depend upon the pinion arrangeme~t selected in the corresponding change-speed gear 37 and this arrangement thus governs the speed of rotation of the soil working or cultivati~g members 35 that are driven from each gear box 36 during the operation o~ the implement.
The two gear boxes 36 and their rotary input shafts 38 are arranged substantiall~ symmetricall~ at the opposite side of the imaginary vertical plane of substantial s~mmetry of the implement that ~-tend.s parallel to -the (I.irection A
an~ each input shaft 38 is coupled by a co.rre~3pond1ng uni-versal ~oin-t 39 to o~e e:nd of a corresponding tel.escopic transmission sha:ft 40. ~rhe -telescapic transmission sh~fts 40 extend from the unlversal ,loi.n-ts 39 towards -tne opposite sides of a gear box 42 that is mounteld on top of -the central frame portion 7 and in-to which projects an upward exter.sion of one of the central pair of shaf-ts 31 that corresponds to said frame porti.on 7. 'l~e gea~ 'box 42 is thus mou~ted ~ust to one side of the vertlcal plane of substantial sy~netry of the implement that extends parallel to the diL~ection A.
r~he central gear box 42 has a rotary input shaf't 43 that projects from the front thereof in substantiall~ the dir-ection A, the p-rojecting end of said s'haft 43 'being splined or otherwise keyed to enable it to be driven in -the manner that will be described below. ~wo rotary output shafts 41 project from opposite sides of the central gear box 42 and are hori~ontally aligned in a direction parallel to the len~th of the hollow frame portion 7 and t'hus in a diraction that is substantiall~ perpendicular to the direction A.
~he in~ut shaft 43 of the gear box 42 directl~ drives the two output shafts 41 by wag of co-operating bevel pinions :-(not visible) that are contained in-,ide the gear box 42 - :.
~d said shafts 41 are drivingly connected, in turn, to the inner ends of the two tel.escopic transmissi.on shafts 40 b-g wa~ of correspondlng universal joints 40A~ rrhe rear of the central gear box 42 with respect to the direction .A carries :~
a change-speed gear 44 and the rearmost end of the rotary input shaft 43 proaec~s in-to said change-speed gear 44, - '11 - ' together with the rearmost end of an unclerlying ~nd parallel shaft that is not vi.sible i~ the drawi.ngs, the l.at-te-r non-illustra-ted shaft being driviIlgly connected by bevel. pi.nions to the aforementioned upward extensiorl o:E one of -the centre pair of shafts 31 that corresponds to the hollow ~'rame portion 7. The ends of the two shafts that project rearwardLy into the change-speed gear 44 are both splined and are ar-ranged to receive chosen ~airs of interschangeable and/or exchangeable pinions in -the same manner as has a:Lread-~ been briefly explained in relation to the two change-speed gears 37.
The forwardl~ projecting splined or otherw:ise ~eyed end o~ the rotar~ input shaft 43 of the gear box 42 is driven from the rear end of a telescopic transmission shaft 46 through the intermediary of a universal joint 45, the lead-ing end of said shaft 46 being, in turn, driven from the rear end of a short rotar~ shaft 47 by a further universal joint 47A. As can be seen in the drawings, the short rotar~
shaft 47 exte~ds substan-tially horizontall~ parallel to the di.rection A and is rotatably journalled in a horizontal bear-ing 48 that is mounted on top of the beam 21 midway between the convergent portions 4 of the -two frame beams 1 and 2.
When the implement is in use, the leading splined or other-wise keyed end of the shaft 47 iS placed in driven connection with the power take-off shaft at the rear of an agri.cultural tractor or other operating vehicle through the intermediary of a further telescopic transmission shaft 4~A having u~i-versal joints at its opposite ends. ~he leading plate 11 of the pair of those plates that corresponds -to one of the hollow fr~e portions ~l~ has the free end of the pi.ston of ~ 12 -.

a double-acting pis-ton a:nd cyli.nder assembl~ 49 pivot~lly connected. to subst~mtially i.ts uppermost point. ~rhe b~.lse of' th~ cylindeL~ of the same us,sembl.y 4'3 is pi.votally c.onnected to one end of a strip 50 that extends subst~nti.ially .hor.izon-tally pel.pendicul.ar to the di.rection A on top of a horizon~al base portion of a bracket 51, the limbs of said bracket 5'1 dlve.rging~ steeply downwardl~ away fro~ its base and having their free ends rigidl.y secured to the rear substantially parallel portions 3 of the two frame be~ns 1 and 2. A seco~d substantiall~ symmetri.call~ arranged double-acting pls-ton and cylinder assembly 49 pivotall~ interconnects the opposite end of the ~rip ~0 and subs-tanti.ally the top oE the leading plate 11 that corresponds to the other of the two hollow frame portions 12.
~ ach of the six upri~ht plates 14 at the opposite ends oE the three hollow frama portions 7 and 12 has a cor-responding arm 52 arranged alongside i.t, the two arms 52 that correspond to each o:E the three hollow frame portions 7 and 12 bei~g turnable upwardly and downwardly relative to the plates 14 carried by that f'rame portion ~bout substan~
tially horizontally aligned strong pivots that are disposed :~
at the fronts of said plates 14 with respect to the direction A (see particularly Figure 5). ~ach plate 14 is formed~ near its rearmost edge, with a cur~ed row of holes that are equidistant from the axis defined b~ the corresponding pair of strong pivots and each arm 52 i5 formed with a single hole that is at the same distance from said axis and which can thus be brought into register with any chosen one o.~ the holes i~ the immediatel~ adjacent plate 1'~ by turning that - ~3 ~

arm 5~ to an a~propri.ate angula* posl-t:i.on about the corres--ponding strong ,pivot. Ho~izontal bolts 54, or ec,~uiva~ent horiæontal locking pins, are provided for ent:ly through ~e holes in the arms 52 and the sel.ected holes in the plates 14.
A rotatable supporting mem'ber in the form o~ an open ground roller 53 is rotatabl.y mounted between rea.rmost downwardl-y directed portions of each pair of arms 52 and it will be seer that the particular angu].ar positions of the arms 52 relati~e to the corresponding frame portions 7 and 12 that are fixed by the bolts 54 or equivalent locking pins dicta-te the levels of the substantially horizontal axes of rotation of the three rollers 53 relati~e to those of the corresponding hollow frame portions 7 and 12 and t'hus the maximum depths of pene-tration of the tines ~3 into the soil that are possible during the operation of the implement. Two substantially vertical shield plates 55 that both extend substantiall~
parallel to the direction A are located immediately beyor~d those two ends of the outer hollow frame portions 12 that are furthest remo-te from one another~ said shield plates 55 being shaped so that lower edge regions thereof wil:L slide over the ground surface in the d.irection A (~ee Fi.gure 2) ~:
and being arranged ~o that the plates will b~ able to turn upwardl~ a~d downwardly to match undula-tions in the surface ~' of the soil that they ma~ meet with during t'he operation of the implement. To this latter end, each shield plate 55 is pivotall~ connected by a corresponding pair of` arms 5 (~igure 1) to ~ pair o~ molmtings on the top of the cor-responding hollow frame portion 12, the pivotal connections ,~
being such as to define substantially horizontal axes that - ~4 -:

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are ~ub~tan-t;ally parallel to the direction A~
In the use of the soil cultiv~-t:Ln~ imple~ent t;hat ha~, been described~ the ~ork 5 is connect;ed to a tow bar at the rear of an agricultural tractor or o-t;her operating vehicle and the hydraulic piston and c~linder assemblies 27 arld 49 are placed in operative co~nection wlth the h~draulic s~stem of the same tractor or other vehlcle by way of ducts that are not illustrated in the accompan~ing drawing~. ~he leading end of the telescopic tra~smission shaft 1~8A ls placed in driven connec-tion with the rear power take-o~f shaft of the same tractor or other operating vehicle ~y wa~
of a universal joint which is not visible in the drawings so that the rotary soil working or cultivating members 35 that correspond to the three hollow frame portions 7 and 12 ma~ be driven from said tractor or other operating vehicle by wa~ of the previously described transmission. Be~ore work commences, the maximum depths to which the tines 33 of the members 35 can penetrate into the soil are set by bring-ing the axes of rotation of the three rollers 53 to appro-priate levels relative to the three hollow fr~me portions 7 and 12 by entering the bolts 54 or equivalen-t locking pins through appropriate holes in the uprigh-t end platss ~4 of said frame portlons 7 and 12. Moreover~ ths pistons of the hydraulic assemblies 27 are set in positions of extension relative to their cylinders which will maintain the common a~is o~ rctation of the two ground wheels 25 at a desired level relati~e to th~t o~ the central hollow frame portion 7.
It will be noted that, in this connection, the two pivotably mountsd arms 28 can bear against stops 57 which are carried .

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b~ -the rear substanti.al1y parallel portions 3 of th~ kwo frame beams 1 and 2 at l.ocations which are ~ust .in .front of said arms ~8. Before a ~,-ul.-tivating operatio.n ac-tual.ly commences, the adju~t;ements that will. be made W.Lll inclu.de atterltion to the three chan~e-speed gear3 37 c~ld ~ -to ensure tha-t the three groups of rotar~ soil working or cultivating mem~ers 35 will revolve at a desired speed ~n respo~se to a more or less stand.ard :input speed of rotation that is applied to the shaft 43 of the central gear box 42.
~he speed of rotation that will be chosen for the members 35 will depend upon -the nature and condition of the soil that is to be cultivated and the consistency which it is desired that it should have at the end of the operation. ~he three change~speed gears 37 and 44 will, almost invariably, be adjusted to give the same speeds of ro-tation for all o~ the members 35 of the thlee groups but it is noted that, under exceptiona~ operating co~ditions 9 one of the three cnaIge-speed gears could bé set for a speed of rctation of the cor- -responding group of members 35 that is differen-t to the speeds of rotation of the other two groups or all three change-speed gea~ ~7 and 4~ could be set for di~fere~t speeds of rotation of the corresponding, groups of members 35. Only very rarely indeed will -the operati.ng circ~mstances make different speeds of rotation amongst the three groups o~
members 35 d0sir~ble and, in the vast majority of operations, all o~ the members 35 of the three groups will rotate at the same spead.
IhLe to the intermeshing arrangement o.~ the pinions 34 i~side the three hollow frame portions 7 and 12, each pi~ion I

34, and the cor~espon~ing soil working or clllti.vati.n~ members35, will, during a cultiva-ti.ng ope:ration, ro-t~te i.n the opposite d:irecti.on -to tha-t of its immedin-te ne:i.ghbour, or -to those of bo-th its immedia-te neigh~ou:rs, in the same group of members 35. In the embodiment of ~igures 1 to 5 of the draw ings which is being described~ there are three groups o~
the soil working or cultivating members 35, each group comprising twelve of the members 35 ~o that there is a total of thirty-six of those members that are arran~ed, at 1east as seen in the plan view of Figure 1 of the drawlngs~ in a single row that extends substantially perpendicular to the direction A. Actually, the row of thirty-six members 35 will not be truly straight during the operation of the impl0ment, except at random momentary occasions, because of the upward and downward pivotal movements of the outer frame portions 12 and the corresponding groups of members 35 that will take place about the two axes that are defined ~y the two sets of pivot pins 10 and 19 relative to the central hollow frame portion 7. Slnce the free ends or tips of the two tines 33 o~ each soil working or cultivatin~ member 35 are spaced apart from one ano-ther b~ a distance which is a little in excess of the regular spacing (preferably substan-tially 25 centimetres) between the a~es of ro-tation of` the shafts ~1 in each group of members 35, said members work overlapping strips of soil. during operative progress of the implement in the direction A and a single broad strip of worked soil results. ~he three groups oP members 35 su~stan-tiall~ adjoin or overlap one another so that no major dis-co~tinuities in the broad strip of worked soil are caused in l.i.ne, in the direction A~ with the ~uIlctions between the holl.ow frame portion 7 and the two holl.c~w frflrne portion~
12. Generally speaking, the implement; culti.vates -the soil in such a way that the surface of the st-rip which has been cultivated thereby is--~in;errupted th:ro~ hout :i.ts width~
The two shield plates 55 at the opposite ends of the row of thirty-six members 35 serve to minimise ridging of the soil at the margins of the S trip that is ~,~orked by the lmplement a~d also co-operate wi-th the neighbouri.ng members 35 in preventing loose stones and other potentially dangerous items from being flung laterally of the path of travel of the implement by the rapidl~ moving tines ~3.
With the preferred spacing between -the axes of rotation of neighbouring shafts 31 that has been mentioned ~.
above, the implement of Figures 1 to 5 of the drawings has an overall working width of substantially 9 metres since each of the three groups of members 35 has a working width of substantially three metres. These particula~ dimensions -are not~ of couL~se, essential. Hollow frame portions and corresponding gIoups of the members 35 ma~ be emplo~ed which have effec-tive widths of 2.0 metres or 2.5 me-tres or widths greater than ~.O metres, the number of members ~5 per group being reduced or increased as requiredO If required, the detachabl~ mounted horizontal beam 21 may be replaced by alternative beams which are similar except for their dimensions, such ~lternative beams, if required, being cormected to the portions 4 of the frame beams 1 and 2 at locations that are further to the rear, or further to the front, ~ith respect to the direction A, than is the beam 21. Figure 4 of the ~ 18 -~3~

drawi.n~s shows two al-ternative fasten.ing holes 51A fo:r use with such alternative beams. 'I`wo armC, 58 have thei.r lHadi.ng ends pivotally connected to the hori.zontal beaTrl 6 by ali~rled pivot pins that co-operate with -t'he pairs of rearwardl~ dir-ected lugs 30. The arms 58 form parts of, or a:re provided for u.se with, a further agricultural implement -that i5 arranged behind the soil cul-tivating implemenk with respect to the direction A. Figures 1 to 5 of the drawings illustrate the provision of the seed drill 59 as the further agricultural.
implement but alternative implements can equally well co-operate with the soil cultivati~g implement. I`he seed dri.ll ~ ~
59 which is illustrated is pivotally connected to the beam -' 6 of the soil cultivating implement by wa~ of the arms 58 and comprises a horiæontal beam 60 which, when the implement is in use, extends su'bstantiall~ perpendicular to the direc-tion A and which has a pluralit~, such as twelve, of' sowing units 61 connected to it at regul~rl~ spaced intervals along ~.
its length~ The seed drill 59 is a precision seed drill whose ~' construction and operation it is not necessar~ to describe for the purposes of the present invention, t`he SOWillg units 61 'being units that are known ~ se.
As previously mentioned, each o~ the two groups of twelve soil working or cultivating members 35 that corres~
ponds to the two outer hollow ~rame portions 12 can pivot relative to the hollow c~ntral f'rame portion 7, to match '' undulation.s in the sur~ace of the ground, by tu.r~ g upwardl~
and downwardl~ about the axis that is af~olded b~ the cor-respondi.ng pair of' pivot pins 10 and the corresponding pivot pin 19~ those three pivot pins being sp~ced apart ~rom one ,' anotner in the dir~ction A with the pivot pin 19 foremost.~he ~lound wheels 25 are bodil~ pivotabl.e to a li.mi-ted extent relative -to the :Fra~e of the i.mplemerlt a'bout the a~is defined by -the substa.n-ti.ally horizon-tal stu'b s.hafts 22. The arran~emen-t ls, in ~act, such that the tension springs 28A -tend to turn the ~round wheels 25 bodily downwards -towards the ground surface and oppose bodily upward displacements of sai..d wheels.
When the implement is -to be transportied from one place to another without performlng any working operation, the pistons o~ the double acting hydraulic piston and cyli.nder assem~lies 49 are retracted into their cylinders and this causes the two outer hollow frame portions 12, and. the parts which they carry, to turn upwardly about -the axes that ars defi~ed by the pivot pins 10 and 19 until they reach the positions that are shown in broken lines in Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings.
It will readil~ b~ appreciated that this reduses the overall width of the implement to little more than the width of the path of t~avel of the agricultural tractor or other vehicle which operates and tows the i.mplement~ ~n the case of the paricular embodiment which is illustrated in Figures 1 to 5 o~ the drawings, the inoperative transport width o.f the soil cultivating implement alone is substantially 4.0 metres. When the outer hollow frame portio~s 12 have been tilted upwardly, the pistons of the two assemblies 27 are extended from their cylinders and this causes the two ground wheels 25 to be dlsplaced bodily downwards with the result that t'he frame is raised ralative to the ground sur~ace. ~his pOSitiOIl of tha ground wheels 25 is shown in bro~en lines in Figure 2 of the drawings and it will be evident from a comparison batween :

.. .: : :. , : . ~. . -that pO~3itiOIl and. the operati.ve pos:it;i.on that is ~I.so shown in the same F~ re, but. in :full li.nec3 7 that ~he soil. working or cultivating rnembers 35 of the cent;ral group thereof have their ti.nes rai.sed well clear of cont;act wi-th the grou:nd surface. ~he implement can -then be -transported by towing it f`orward.ly in the direction A~
~ he horizontal beam 60 of the preci.sion seed drill 59 is, in fact, formed in t~.ree separate portions and it will be seen ~rom Figure 1 of the drawin~s that the outer two of those three portions can be turned forwardl~ through sub-stantially 90 about the axes that are defined b~ substan-tiall~ ver-tical hinges 62~ mis greatl~ rsduces the width o~ the implement for i.noperative transport purposes and brlngs it to substantially the position thereof that is shown in broken lines in Figure 1 of the drawings, i.t being re-membered that the outer hollow frame portions 12 o~ the soil cultivating implement will alread~ have been tilted upwardl~ ~.
about the axes defined by tha pivot pins 10 and 19. Naturall~, if the hollow frame portions, o.r at least the central hollow frame portion 7, of the soil cultivatlng implement were of .
smaller width than in the embodiment tha-t has ~een described with reference to ~igures 1 to 5 of the drawings, the overall transport width of' that implement alone would be smaller as would the overall transport width of a com~ination of the soil cultivating implement with a further implement such as a matchin~l~ dimensioned seed drill. Under such circu~stances, the overall transport width could be 3.0 metres or less.
~ igures 6 to 9 of the drawings illustrate an alternative soil cultivating implement in accordance with th~ invention .

':

which impleme:nt comprl.ses a frame that includes two su.bstan-tially ho.Lizontally disposed beam.s 71 and 72, said beams 71 and 72 comp~ising rsar substantiall~ parallel portions 73 and leading portions 74 that converge fo:rwardly 1.n substan-tially the direc~ion A. All. four of t;he portions 73 and 74 are substantially straight and the two por-tions 73 are both substantially parallel to the direc-ti.on A. ~he leading ends of the convergent portions 74 of the beams 71 and 72 are provided with a coupling ~ork 75 tha1; ls e~uivalent to the previously described fork 5. ~he substantially parallel portions 73 o~ the two beams 71 and 72 are rlgidly inter-connected, near their rearmost ends, by a hollow beam 76 (Figure 9) of substantially square cross--section that extends perpendicular t or at least trans~erse, to the direction A. A
tie beam 76A of inverted shallow channel-shaped configuration rigidl~ interconnects the two beams 71 and 72 at points close to the integral junctions between the two portions 73 and 7 of each of the latter bea~s. m e arrangement o~ the tie beam 76A is such that its substa~tially horizontally dis-posed base is located centrall~ uppermost with its two limbs ::
extending downwardl~, at small angles to the horizontal, from the opposite ends thereo~ towards the respective beams 71 and 72. Further slanting beams 76B rigidly intercoI~nect the front o~ the hollow beam 76 and the rear of the tie be~m 76A, the centre lines of the slanting beams 76B being contained in ~ ~ertical planes that are substantially parallel to the dir~
ection A. A central hollow frame portion 77 is provided that extends substantially hQrizontally perpendicul~r to the dir-ection A, the ~ro~t of said hollow ~rame portion 77 with ., ~, ^ .

~.3~

respect to the direction A being subs-tan-tiall~ in vertical register with the overlying ~e beam '76A. r~he hollow frame portioIl 77 extends substantially para.llel to the hollow fr~me beam 76 and is connected to that frame beam throu~h -the inter-mediary of two relatively spaced pa:rallelogralrl linka~es 77A, the plvot pins -that form parts of the linkages 77A being arranged -to define axes that extend subs-tantially horizontal-ly perpendicular to the dlrectio~ A. Each linkage 77A is provided with a correspond.ing stop 77B which ls arranged in such a position as to prevent -toa great a downward dis-placement of the hollow frame portion 77 relative to the frame of the implement.
The rear substantially parallel portions 73 of the two frame beams 71 and 72 are each provided with two up-wardly and outwardly inclined lugs 79 at locations jus-t in front, and ~us-t behind, -the central hollow frame portion 77 with respect to the direction A (see Figure 8). ~ach lug 79 is formed with a vertically extending slot 79A (~igure 7) -and four pins 80 are entered through the slots 79A so as to be ~ovable alon~ those slots. Each pin 80 is carried by a correspondlng verticall~ disposed plate 81 at a location on that plate which is nearest to an imaginary vertical plane ., of substantial symmetry h of the implement that extends paral~el to the direction A. ~here are, of courseS four of the plates 81 that are arran~ed in two pairs, each pair being secured to the top of a corresponding outer hollow frame portion 82 at the end of that frame portion which is closely :.
adjacent to one end of the central hollow frame portion 77 When the implement is oper~tin~ on horizontal ground, the ;:.

Z3 _ ~

... . . . . . . . .

three frame portio~s 77 and 82 are i.Tl su.bstan-t.iall~ strictly horizontal alignment and all three of them are o:E substan-tially identical construction. Each of the two pairs of the ~our pins 80 are arranged one be~lind the oth~r in the direc-tion A but with their longitudinal axes coincide.rlt, sald pins affording axes about which -the outer hollow frame portions 82 can pivot upwardl~ and downwardl~ relative to the central hollow frame portion 77. The two plates 81 of' each pair are interconnected, near -their tops, by corresponding transverse pieces 83 tha-t both extend substantially parall.el to the direction A. ~ach of the two outer hollow frame portions 82 is provided on its to~ with a corresponding substantlally : vertical plate 84 (~igure 6) at a location which is towards the end of that frame portion that is remote from the central frame portion 77. ~ach transverse piece 83 and the corres-ponding plate 84 are rigidly interconnected b~ two supports 85 that are in gentl~ convergent relationshlp from the trans- :
verse piece 83 to the plate 84, said supports 85 also being inclined downwardly at a few degrees to the hori~ontal when the implement is arranged in its working position on horizontal land. ~Iwo tubular supports 87 that are forwardly converge~t with respect to the direction A extend from leadlng regions of the two plates 84 to positions where the~ are provided wi-th corresponding forks 88. Horizontal pivot pins 89 turnabl~
connect the forks 88 to lu~s 90 that are carried at the opposite ends of a horizontal beam 91 which is substantiall~
perpendicular to the direction A and which is supported from beneath b~ the convergent portions 74 of the two frame beams 71 and 72. ~he beam 91 is connected to the beams 71 and 72 , ~ .

;~ . - .
.

at points whlch are substantiaLl.y the mi.dpoints of the for--wardly convergen-t pOI't-~OnS 74 of tho.se two bearns. '~he longi tud~nal axls o~ each pi~ot pin 89 is coincident wi-th those of a correspondi.ng pair of -the pins 80 and it will be seen from Figure 6, i.n particular, o~ the d.rawin~s that each of -the two sets of three pivo-ts 80 and 89 are spaced apart from one another in the direccion A. Strengthening struts 87A
extend substantially parallel to the direction A between the leading one of each pair o~ p].a-tes 81 a~d the front end of ~ -the corresponding tubular support 87 at a point immed~tely adjacent to the corresponding fork 88~
A horizontal beam 92 of circular cross-sec-tion (P'i~ure 9) extends parallel to the hollow beam 76 at a location immediately behind the beam 76 and at a level ~ust beneath that of the frame beams 71 and 72. ~he beam 92 is turnable about its own longitudinal axis and extends sub-stantially horizontally perpendicular to the direction A~
said beam being provided near its opposite ends with two ;:`
rearwardly extendin~ arms 93 whose rearmost ends, in turn, are secured to a strip-shaped axle beam 94 at the opposite `~
ends of which two ground wheels 95 are rotatably mounted~
~he two ground wheels 95 have a common axis o~ rotation which extends substantially horizon-tally perpendicular to the ~ .
direction A. Brackets 96 project upwardly from the tops of the two arms 93 at locatlons immediatel~ abo~e the tubular beam 92. Eorizontal pivot pins 96A at the upper ends o~ the ~.
brackets 96 turnably connect those brackets to the ~ree ends of the piston rods of corresponding hyd.raulic piston ~nd cylinder assemblies 97. ~ach assembly 97 extends substan-tially parallel to the direction A ancl has the base end of its cyllndeL, which ls disposed foxemost, pivotally connectecl to a corr~sponding support 98 (FiguLes 8 and 9) -tha-t pro~ects upwardly from the portion 73 of the unde:L~lying beam 71 or 7~.
One sid0 of the cylinder of each assembly ~7 carries a cor-responding substantially horizontal pivo-t 97A at a location substantiall.y midway along the length of that cylinder and a corresponding latch 98A is turnably mounted on each pivot 97A. Each latch 98A has a laterally proaec-ting stop 99A which, ln the relative positions illustrated in the drawin~s, bears downwardly on the top of the cylinder of the corresponding assembl~ 97. When in this illustrated position, a slot 101A
in each latch 98A makes engagement with the corresponding substantiall~ horizontal pivot pln 96A and it will be noted that the ~nd of the latch 98A that is furthest from its pivot 97A is formed as a curved guide edge 100A that is ar-ranged to direct the corresponding pivot pin 96A and slot 101A into engagement with one another under circumstances that will be discussed below. h pull member in the form of a rope or cable 102A extends forwardl~ from an upwardly dir-ected limb of each ]atch 98A throu~h approprlately positio~ed guide eyes towards the ~ront of the frame and to a location on the agricultural tractor or other vehicle which tows and operates the implement that is accessible to the driver of that tractor or o-ther vehicle.
Two pairs ot` vertically disposed and horizontally spaced apart lugs 100 (Figure 8) proaect rearwardly from :~ .
the hollow beam 76 at locations which are spaced b~ equal dlstances from the midpoi~t of that beam and that are quite close to the opposi.te ends thereof. Arms 100B
are turnable upwardly and downwardly between the two lugs 100 of each pair about corresponding substantlally hori~on-tiall~ aligned pivot pins tha^t def.ine an axls which i9 sub-stantially perpendicular to the direction A. Each of the -three hollow frame portions 77 and ~2 is provided with a plurality (of which there are twelve i.n the embodiment il-lustrated in Figures 6 to 9 oP the drawings) of vertical or substantially vertical shafts 101 whose longitudina1. axes are arranged in regularly spaced apart relationship, the pref`erred spacing between each neighbouring pair of axes of rota-tion being substan-tially 25 centimetres. ~he lowermost :~
end of each shaf-t 101 projects from beneath the bottom of the corresponding hollow frame portion and is there secured to the midpoint of a substantially horizontally disposed tine support 102 which has substantially vertical sleeve-like tine holders at its opposite ends. ~astening portions of .
rigid tines 10~ are firml.y but releasably secured in the holders in a manner which it is not necessary to des^ribe for the purposes of the present invention and it is noted that each tine support 102, together with its tine holders and the corresponding tines 103, constitutes a rotar~ soil work-ing or cultivating member 10~ ach shaft 101 is provided, inside the corresponding hollow frame portion 77 or 82, wi-th a correspondin~ straight-toothed or spur-toothed pinion 105 which pinions are so dimensioned that, as can be seen in out-line in ~`igure 8 of the drawings, the teeth of each pinion 105 are in mesh with those of its neighbour, or of both of its neighbours, in the same hollow frame portionO

~ 27 -' ... .. . .. .. .. . . .

'~3~
~ he two ou-ter hollow :frame por-ti O~lS 82 are of sub-stantially symmetri.cally :identical construction ar.~d arran~e-ment and, in each of them, one of the cen-tre pai.r of shafts 101 has an upward extension into a gear box 106 that is mounted on top of the hollow frame portion concerned. ~he arrangement of each gear box 106 is t;he same as -tha-t of the previously described gear boxes 36, i.t bei.n~ parti.cularly noted that each gear box 106 is provi.ded with a change-speed gear that is not illustrated in the cLrawings but which serves the same function as one of the change--speed ~ears 37 that has been briefly described above. ~hus, each gear box 106 has a rotary lnput shaft 107 which projects therefrom to~
wards the a~o~e~entloned imaginary vertical plane of sub-stantial symmetry of the implement h that extends parallel to the direction A. Universal joints 108 connect the input shafts 107 of the gear boxes 106 to the ends of corresponding telescopic transmission shafts 109 and the opposite ends of those shafts are connected by fur-ther u~iversal joints 110to the e.nds of corresponding shafts 111, said shafts 111 being rotatably journalled in horl~ontal sleeve bearlngs 112 carried . -by the supports 98 which are fas-tened to the portions 73 of the two frame beams 71 and 72. It will be noted from ~igures 6 and 7 of the drawings that the centres of the universal .:
joints 110 are located very close to the pivotal axes that are defined b~ the pins ~0 and pivot pins 89.-~ hat end of each rotary shaft 111 which is closest to the imaginary plane of substantial s~mmetry h is co~nected by a further universal ~oint 112A to one end of a corres-ponding telescopic shaft 112B, the opposite end of the shaft 112B being connected, in turn~ to an OlltpUt shaft 11~ o~ a cen-tral gear bo:x 113A by a further correspondi.n~ universal joint 112C. '~he centra]. gear box 113A is mounted on top of the central hollow ~r~me portion 77 above one of khe centre pair of shafts 101 that corresponds to that frame portion.
It will be evide.nt from the drawings that the two ou-tput shafts 113 of the central gear box 11~A projec-t substantially horizontally from the opposite sides of the gear box in dir-ectio~s that are subs-tantially perpendicular to the Airection A. 'nhe central gear box 113A is arranged ln a generally similar manner to the previously described central gear bo~
42 and it is emphasised that 7 although not illustrated in the drawings, it is provided with ~ change-speed gear that ssrves the same function as the previously described change-speed gear 44 ln controlling the speed of rotation of the soil working or cultivating mcmbers 104 which correspond to the central hollow frame portion 77 in response -to drive imparted to said c~ntral gear box 113~ at a more or less con-stant speed. '~hus, a splined or otherwise keyed rotary input shaft 114 projects forwardl~ in substantially the direction A from the front of the central gear box 113A and is connected by a universal joint 115 (~igure 8) to the rear end of a -transmission shaft 1167 the leading end of said shaft 116 being in drive~ communication~ by way of a further universal joint (Figure 6) with the rearwardly directed driving shaft of an internal combustion or other engine 11? that i5 SUp-ported by the convergent portions 74 of the frame beams 71 and 72 at a location immediately to the rear of the coupling fork 75~ ~he driving shaft of the engine 117 ex-tends sub-:

stantially horizontally parallel to the direction A.
Subs-tantially horlzontal. pivot pins 118 that ex-tend subs-tantially parallel to the directi.on .A a.re ente:red through slots 119A formed at the -tops of those two vert.ical plates 81 that are foremost with respect to the direction A, said pivot pins 118 con~ecting forks at the free ends of the piston rods of corresponding hyrdraulic piston and cylinder assemblies 119 to the leading plates 81. An upright strip 121 is carried on top of the base of the tie beam 76.A and horizontal pivot pins 120 turnably connect the bases of cylinders 122 of said assemblies 119 to the opposite ends of .-.
the strip 121~ ~ach c~linder 122 is provided, ver-y close to the end thereof that is remote ~rom -the strip 121, with substantially horizontall~ disposed trunnion pins 124 about ~:
which a corresponding bracket 123 is turnable~ the brackets 123 being arranged to project upwardly above the cylinders ~
122 of the assemblies 119~ ~he substantially horizontal a~es :~:
tha-t are defined by the trunnion pins 124 extend parallel or substantially parallel to those that are defined by the cor- ~
responding pi~ot pins 118 and 120, ~he downwardly directed ~. :
limbs of each bracke-t 123 also form parts of latchss 125 which latches project from ths tru~nion pins 124 in dir~ctions -that are perpendicular to the brackets 123 that pro~ec-t upwardly from said pins 124. ~he latches 125 e~tend at both sides of the pisto~ rods of the corresponding assemblles 1~9 and thus towards the leading plate 81 of the nearest hollow frame portion 82. Each latch 125 comprises a slot 127 that ope~s on-to -the lower edge of ths latch con~erned and an ad~oining inclined guide surface 126 that is so disposed that it will ':' .
.

, :

~ ~ .

co-operat;e with a corresporlding pin 1-3~3 in a manner that wil.1 be further discussed below. '~he top of eac:tl bracke-t '123 has one end o.~ a correspondin~ pull mernber in the form of a rope or cable 128 connec-ted to i-t, the ropes or cables 12~
ex-tending from the brackets ~123 through appropriately posi-tion-ed guide e,yes on the strip 121 and the casing of the engine 117 to positions whele -they are accessible to the driver o~
the agriculture.i tractor OI' other vehicle which tows and operates the latter when it is in use. ~he functions of the ropes or cables 128 and the latches 125 -to which they are connected wiïl be described below. :~
~ he opposite ends of the hollow frame portion 77 and the opposite ends of the two hollow frame portions 82 are all closed by corresponding upright plates 1~17 each of the six upright plates 129 having a corresponding arm 130 turn-able upwardly and downwardly alongside it about an axis that is defined by a corresponding strong horizontal pivot that is located at substantially the ~ront of the plate 129 CO~
cerned with respect to the direction A. 13ach plate 129 is formed close to its rearmos-t edge with a row of holes 133 that are equidistant from the axis that is defined by the pivotal mountings of the arms 130 -that correspond to the same hollow frame portio:n and the arms '130 themselves are formed with single holes that can be brought into register with any chosen ones of the holes 133 in the corresponding rows~ Hori-zontal bolts 132, or e~uivalent locking pins, are provided for entr;y through the holes in the arms 130 and the chosen holes 133 and, when said bolts 132 are -tightened, they positively retain the arms 130 in chosen angular positions -- 3'1 --RboUt; t~3f3 p,i.votal. connec-tiorls of' those a:rms to the co-r-respo~d.lng ho.`llow :t'rame portions. The rearmo.st ends of the a.rms 130 wi.th respect to the di.rectioll A are inclined down-waId'L~ and three rotatable supporting mem'bers in -the ~orm of open gro-und rollers 131 a:re rotatabl~y supported by substan~
tial].y horizontal bearings be-tween t:he rearmost extremities of the three pairs of arms 130 that correspond -to -the respective three hollow frame portions 77 and 82. It will be evident tha-t the level of the axis of rotation of each roller 131 that is set by choosing approprlate holes 133 in the plates 129 for co-operation with the ~olts 1~2 is a principal factor in deternining the maximum depth of penetra-tion into .'' the soilwhi~h is possible for the tines 103 of the rotary soil working or cultivating members 104 (see Figure 9~. ~wo shield plates 134 that are normally substantially vertically disposed and that both extend substantially parallel to the direction A are provided immediately beyond the opposite ends of the single row of thirt-y-six members 104 that exists when the implement is disposed in its working pos~tion as lllustra-ted in Figures 6 to 9 of the accompanying drawings. Each shield plate 134 i.s constructed and arranged so that its lowermost edge can slide ovsr -the ground surface in substantially the direction A andg in order to enable it to match undulations in the sur~ace of the soil which it may meet, -lt can turn upwardl.y and downwardly, as may be required, about a substan- `~
tiall~ horizontal axis t'hat e~tends substant~ally parallel to the direction A. As can be seen in outline i~ ~igure 6 of the drawings, each such a~is is afforded by an arm that co~operates with 'bearing lugs or the like mounted on top of the hollow : , .. . . ~ . . .

frame por-tion 82 collcerne~l, said arm bein~ secured to the top of the correspondirlg plate 134 and being freely p1.votable in the corresponding bearing lugs or -the like. '~he shield plates 134 co--ope.rate with the neighbouring '30il working or . .
cultivating members 104 in minimi.si.ng ridg~n~ o~ the soil at the margi:ns of the path of travel o~ the implement and also tend to prevent stones or other potentially dangerous objects from being flung laterally from the imp~ement by the rapidly moving tines 103. A screening member 134A of sub-stantially ~-shaped cross-section (see Flgure 9) is provided immediatel~ in front of each group of soil working or cultiva-ting members 104, with respect to the direction A, at a level which is the same as that of th0 tine supports 102 and the fastening regions of the tines 103. Springs whose arrangements it is not necessary to describe for the purposes of the present invention are arranged to maintain the three screening members 134A in the positions thereof that are illustrated in the drawings but, in the event of a stone or other obstacle be-coming momentaril~ aammed between, for example, one of the tine holders and the rear of one of the members 134A, that member can ~ield forwardly, agains-t the action of -the cor-responding springs, to allow the stone or other obstacle to be released. Although not referenced~ one of the springs is illustrated in Figures 7 and 8 of the drawings. The screeninæ
members 134A very greatly reduce the damage that would other~
wise be caused to the tine supports 102, the tine holders at the ends of those supports and the fastening portions o~ the tines 103 as the result of impacts against sharp stones and the like.

~. ~ , . . . . .

In the use of the 90il cul-tivating implemerlt tha-t has been described with reference -to Figures 6 to 9 of the draw~
ings, the coupling fork 75 is conneeted to a tow bar a-t the rear of an agriculturRl tractor or other opera-ting vehicle and hydraulic ducts (not illustrated) are connected to the hydraulic system of that tractor or other vehicle to enable the piston and cylinder assemblies 97 and 119 -to be operated by the driver of the tractor or other vehicle. Before operat~
ion commences, the levels of the axes of rotation of the three rollers 131 are set relative to the levels of the correspond-ing hollow frame portions 77 and 82 to govern the maximum depth of penetration of the tines 103 into the soil which will be possible when the implement is operating. Moreover, the change-speed gears (not illustrated) that are associated with the three gear boxes 106 and 113A are set to give appropriate speeds of rotation of the shafts 101 and cor-responding members 104 having regard to the nature and con-dition of the soil that is to be worked and the degree of soil fineness that is required when the soil has been worked by the implement. The ground wheels 95 are bodily displaceable, upwardly and downwardl~, relative to the hollow frame portion 77 by extending or retracting the piston rods of the assem-blies 97 and, when operation is about to commence, the ground wheels 95 are raised to enable -the rollers 131 to make frame-supporting contact with the ground surface. As the implement .:
moves over the ground in the direction A, the drive trans- ;
mission that has been described causes all of the soil work-ing or cultivating members 104 to revolve and, due to the intermeshing arrangement of the pinions 105, each member 104 will revolve in the opposite direction to i-ts immediate neighbour, or -to both of i-ts immedla-te nei~hbouxs, in the same group that corresponds to one of -the three hollow frame portions '77 or 82. The distances between the tips of the two tines 103 of each member 10L~ are a little greater than are the dis-tances (preferably substantially 25 centime-tres) bet-ween the axes of rotation of immediately neighbouring shafts 101 in each group and, accordingl~, -the strips of land that are worked by the individual members 104 overlap one another to form a single broad strip of worked soil. ~his strip of soil is smooth and substantially uninterrup-ted throughout the working width of the i~plement because the members 104 that adjoin the two junctions between the central hollow frame portions 77 and the two outer hollow frame portions 82 either work slightly overlapping strips of soil or strips that at least adioin one another. Generally speaking~ the soil work-ing or cultivating members 104 are rotated b~ power derived ~;
from the internal combustion or other engine 117 as is illustrated in Figure 6 of the drawings but it is noted that, as will be further discussed below, this arra~gement is not essential. Each of the three groups of soil working or culti-vating members 104 has an effective width of substantiall~
three metres with the preferred spacing between the axes of rotation of the shafts 101 of substantially 25 centimetres.
mus, the whole implement has a total working width of sub-stantially 9 metres.
A f1rther agricultural implement may be arranged be-hind the soil cultivating implement to enable two agricultur-al operations to be performed simultaneously. ~igure 6 of ~-.

the drawings illllstrate~ the arms 100B arranged with their leading ends pivotally mounted between the pairs o~ lugs 100 for the connection of a further agricultural implement which, in the example illustrated in Figure 6, is a precision seed drill 135. ~he drill 135 compri~es a main frame beam 136 that extends substan-tially horizontally perpendicular to the direction A throughout substan-tially the whole of the working width of the foregoing soil cultiva-ting implement. A plurality, such as twelve, of precision sowing units 137 are connected to the beam 136 at regular intervals along the length of that beam but it is not necessary to de~cribe the construction nor function of the precision sowing units 137 in detail for the purposes of the present invention, such units 137 being known se. ~he main frame beam 136 of the prec1sion seed drill 135 i9 provided in a central region thereof with a coupling member or trestle 136A o~ generally triangular configuration and that coupling member or trestle 136A is connected by three forwardly directed links ~the upper one o~ which is adjustable in length) to a second generally triangular coupling member or trestle 136B. ~he coupling -member or trestle 136B is ar-ranged for pivotal connection to substantially horizontally aligned pins carried by the arms 100B near to the rearmost ends o~ those arms. ~he rarmost extremities of the arms 100B
carry laterally projecting stops 100C that engage beneath the lower links interconnecting the two coupling members or trestles 136A and 136B and prevent the coupling member or trestle 136A and the precision seed drill 135 to which i-t is secured from turning too far downwardly relative to the couplîng member or trestle 136B.

During the use of the soil cult;i.va-tin~ implement of Figures 6 to 9 of the drawi.ngs with or without th0 prec:ision seed drill 135 or some o-ther simultaneou.sly employed implement, the central hollow frAme portion 77 and the members 10L~ which it supports can move upwardly and downwardly relative to the frame because of its connection -to that frame by -the para~elo-gram linkages 77A. ~he central group of rotary soil working or cultivating members 104 can thus match any undulations in the surface of the soil that are met with and can deflect upwardly to avoid damage by embedded rocks or other obstacles.
~he two outer hollow frame portions 82 and the members 104 which they support can also move upwardly and downwardly for the same purposes because the vertical plates at -their inner ~-ends are connected to the lug8 79 -through the intermediary of the pins 80 which pins are freely movable upwardly and downwardly along the vertical or substantially vertical slots 79A that are formed in said lugs 79. Pivotal movements about the axes defined by the pins 80 and pivot pins 89 are also possible because the leading plates 81 are connected to the ~
piston rods of the hydraulic piston and cylinder assemblies .~.
119 through the i~termediary of the pivot pins 118 and the slots 119A7 said pivot pins 11~ being freely movable along those slots 119A. ~he parallelogram linkages 77A by which the central hollow frame portion 77 is floatingly mounted and the slots 79A and 119A through the intermediary of which the outer ho~ow frame portions 82 are floatingly mounted enable the soil working or cultivating members 104 to match undulat-ions in the surface of the soil that ma~ be met with partic-ularly satisfactorily across the whole working. width of the ; ' ` .
37 ~

. : :

:, ~. . ~ . .
, :. , , - : . - . - .
; -. ~: . : : . . . . .

implement, the members 104 being capable of deflecting to avoid embedded rocks or o-t:her obstacles that mig:ht other-wise break the tines 103 without the f`loating arrangemant detracting from the very effective cu:ltivation which the implement can produce. If an agricultural tractor or other operating vehicle is emplo~ed -that has a high power output of which a large part can be used to :rotate its power take-off shaft, then that power -take-off shaft can be indirectly connec-ted to the rotary input shaf-t 114 of the central gear box 113A whilst the engine 117 remains inoperative.
When the implement is to undergo inoperative trans-port along public roads or the like, the pistcn rods of the two double-actlng assemblies 119 are retracted into the cylinders 122 of those assemblies an~ this causes -the two outer hollow frame portions 82 and the members 104 which they support to tilt upwardly and inwardl~ about the axes that .
are defined by the pins 80 and pivot pins 89. When the piston rods of said assemblies 119 are fully retracted in-to the cylinders 122, the pins 138 that are carried by the leading plates 81 meet the inclined guide surfaces 126 of the latches 125 and turn those latches upwardly through a few degrees about the axes that are defined by the corresponding trunnion pins 124. As soon as the pins 138 move pas-t the lowermost ends of tha surfaces 126, the latches 125 turn back through a few de~rees about the axes that are defined by the corresponding trunnion pins 124, under the action of gravity, so that the slots 127 in said latches 125 come into retaining engagement with the pins 138~ When this condition is reached, the -two outer hollow frame por-tions 82 will have been tilted upwardly . .

and inwardly substantially as fas as the~J will go and, when hydraulic pressure is wi.thdxawn fIom the assemblics 1~9, the outer hollow frame porticx6 82 remain reliably in their up-wardly and inwardly -ti.lted positions because of the engage-ment of the slotted latches 125 wlth the pins 138. After the outer hollow frame portions 82 have been folded upwardly and inwardly, the hydraulic piston and cylinder assemblies 97 are operated to displace the ground wheels 95 bodily down-wards towards the ground sur~ace with the result that theframe of the implement is raised and brings -both the central roller 131 and the tines 103 of the central group of members 104 clear of contact with the ground surface. ~his state of affairs can be seen in Figure 7 of the drawin~s althoug'~ it is noted -tha-t~ in Figure 7, the ~uter hollow frame portion 82 which is visible therein remains in its operative position and is not tilted upwardly and inwardly for transport purposes.
It will be remembeled that the stops 77B prevent the central hollow frame portion 77 and the members 104 and roller 131 which are connected. thereto from turning too fal downwardl~
relative to the frame as a result of~ the arrangemeIlt Or the parallelogram linkages 77A. After the ground wheels ~5 have :~
been bodily displaced downwardl~ to raise the frame of the implement relative to the ground surface, -the hydraullc piston and cylinder assemblies 97 may be operated to reverse that displacement to a small degree with consequent minimal lowering of the frame and upward bodily displacement of the ground wheels 95. The action which has just been described involves the withdrawal of the pistons of the assemblies 97 into their cyli.nders through short distances and, as that takes place, the pivot pins 96A come into contact with the curved ~uide edges 100A of the la-tches 98A and turn those ].a-tches up--wardly about -the axes de~lned by the pivots 97A. The pins 96A soon come into register with the ope:n lower ends of the slots 101A and gravity causes the latches to turn downwardly about the pivots 97A until the stops 99A bear agains-t the tops of the c~linders of -the assemblies 97 and the pivot pins 96A are rellabl~ a-t the upper ends of the sl.ots 101A.
Hydraulic pressure can then be withdrawn from the assemblies 97 whilst the latches 98A maintain the g~round wheels 95 in their bodily downwardly displaced positions. ~en the ~. :
precision seed drill 135 is also to undergo in-operative transport, a pair of ground wheels 139 and an adaustable arched mounting therefor is connected to the main frame :~
beam 136 towards one end thereof and the coupling member or trestle 136A is disconnected from the coupling member or trestle 136B. A vertical coupling pin 139A at the end of the main frame beam 136 which is remote from the end thereof near which the pair of' ground wheels 139 is disposed is entered through a coupling eye 139~ that is located midwa~
along the strip~shaped axle beam 94 for the ~round wheels 95 of the soil cultivating implement. ~he precision seed drill 135 can then be towed behind the soil cultivating implement with its main frame beam 136 in substantially parallel relationship with the direction A. In ibs inopera-tive transport position, the soil cultivating implement alone, or '.
the combination of the soil cultivating implement and the precision seed drill ~l35 has an overall width of substantially 4.0 metres.
~.
-- ~0 --.. ~ . . ., - - .

When the so.il cul-t:ivatinæ -imp],ement is to 'be b.rought from i-ts inopera-tive transport posl.ti.on to its wor~:ing posi--tion, the driver o.~ -the tractor or ot:he:r operating ve'hicle pulls the ends of the ropes or cables 102A that are accessible to him and -th1s action turns the latc.hes 98A upwardly (in clockwise directions as seen in Figure 9) about -the corres-- :
ponding pivots 97A and releases the pivot pins 96A from the slots 1Q1A. The ground wheels 95 can then be dlsplaced 'bodily upwards to allow the frame of the implement -to move down-wardly until the central roller 131 and the members 104 of the central group thereof come into contact with the ground surface. Subsequently, the outer hollow frame portions 82 and -the parts which they carry are tilted outwardly and downwardly into the operative position illustrated in Fig-ures 6 to 9 of the drawings and this entails the driver of the agricultural tractor or other operating vehicle pulling upon the ends of the ropes or cables 128 that are accessible to him whereupon the latches 125 are turned upwardly about the axes defined by the trunnion pins 124 -to free the pins 138 from the slots 127 whereafter suitable manlpula-tion of hy-draulic controls in the tractor or other operating ve'hicle .' will extend the piston rods of the assemblies 119 and allow .
the outer hollow frame portions 82 to turn gen-tly downwardly until the tines 103 of their soil wor~ing or cultivating members make contact with the ground surface. ~he hydraulic piston and cylinder assemblies 97 and 119 cus~ion the dis-placements which they bring about, or all.ow, so that there is no danger of damage bei.ng caused by hard colllsions with the ground surface by the parts that are belng displaced.

_ 4~1 _ .. ..

It is noted that forward and d()wnw~rd tilting of the Erame o~ the soil cultiva-tln~ irnplement is prevented when that implement ~ disconnected from an agriclll-tural tractor OI`
other operating vehicle by the provision of a ~rround wheel 139C (Figure 6) that supports the Erame ~rom beneath at a location immedia-tely to -the rear of the coupling fork 75.
Figures 10 to 13 inclusive of -the drawings illustrate a further form of soil cultivating implemen-t in accordance with the invention, many of the parts of this further embodi-ment being similar, or identical, to parts that have already b0en described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 of the drawings. Accordingl~l such parts are indicated in Figures 10 to 13 inclusive by the same references as have been used in Figures 6 to 9 of the drawings and will not be described again in detail. In the embodiment of Figures 10 to 13, the central hollow frame portion 77 has a suppor-ting structure which comprises two frame beams 140 and 14'1 that both extend substantially horizontally perpendicular to the direction A
in spaced apart relationship in that direction, the beam 140 being in advance of the baam 141. ~ocations that are close to the opposite ends of the two beams 140 and 141 are rigidly secured to -the overlying rear portions 73 o~ the two beams 71 and 72 by upwardly directed brackets. As can be seen best in Figure 13 of the drawings t each of the two beams 140 and 141 is of hollow ~ormation and square cross~section, both beams bein~ so disposed that, as seen in cross-section, diagonals between their opposite corners are respectively substantiall~ horizontall~ and substantiall~ verticall~ dis-posed. ~lthou~rh a square cross section is preferred for the ';
- ~2 -;

beams 140 and 141, it is no-t ess~ntial and -the beams may have other polygonal crosCl-section. r~:he l.eadi.ng frame beam 140 is provided, between the portions 73 of the two frame beams 71 and 72, wit:h upIlght supports 142 that are spaced by short distances from the corresponding beams 71 and 72 ~see particularl.y Figur~s 11 and 12). Each upright support 142 is connected by a pair of rearwardly extending strips 143 to the uppe:r end of a corresponding upwardly and for-wardly inclined support 144 whose lower end is rigidl~
secured to the frame beam 141~ ~he upper end of e~ch support 144 is sandwiched between the rearmost ends of the corres-ponding pair of strips 143. ~ach upright support 142 is also connected by upper and lower pivot pins to the leading ends of upper and lower pairs of rearwardly extending li~ks 145 and the rearmost ends of each pair of links 145 are pivotally connected by upper and lower pins to upright por- .
tions of corresponding brackets 146 that are fastened to the top of th~ central hollow frame portion 77. As can be seen in the drawings~ the upright supports 142 are sandwiched bet-ween the two links 145 of each of the corresponding two pairs of those links and the same is true of the brackets 146 at the other rear ends oP the links 145. ~he links 145 are members of spaced parallelo~ram linkages 147 which are so arranged that the central hollow frame portion 77 and its members 104 can move upwardly and downwardly relative to the frame of the implement without tilting. lt will also be noted from the drawings that each substantially planar bracket 146 is located slidably between the corresponding pair of fixed strips 143 so that said strips 143 will servo ~ 4~ -.

as retain:ing guides for the parallelo~lam linkag~s 147 and will prevent si~nificant la-teral di.splacement~ that might lead to deterioration or failllre of the parallelogram link ages.
The opposi-te ends of the leadin~ subs-tantially hori--zontal frame beam 140 are provided with upwardly and out wardly inclined lugs 148 and the opposite ends of the rear substantially horizontal frame beam 141 are provided with similarly disposed lugs 148A. ~he upper and outer çnds of the lugs 148 and 148~ are provided with horizontally aligned stub shafts 149 to which further lugs 150A are turnably con-nected. ~he further lugs 150A are secured to the ends of leading and rear beams 151 and 152 that are of similar con-struction and arrangement to the beams 140 and 141 and which, when the implement is disposed in its working position on flat land~ are in substantially horizontal register with said beams 140 and 141 at opposite ends of those beams. ~he beams 151 and 152 thus have the outer hollow frame portions 82 connected to them in an upwardly and downwardly displaceable manner by parallelogram linkages that are similar to the parallelogram linkages 147 -that have already been described and it will be noted from ~igure 10 of the drawin~s that sup-ports 151A which extend substantially parallel to the direction A rigidly interconnect the be~ams 151 and 152 at locations which are near to the ends of those beams that are remote from the central frame beams 140 and 141. ~ach outer hollow frame portio.n 82 and the parts which it carries is turnable upwardly and inwardly with respect to the central hollow frame por-tion 77 about a corresponding axis which is defined - ~4 -by two of the stub sha.fts 1~9 a:nd the correspondi.ng pi.vot pin 89, said pin 89 and stub shafts 14'3 be.ing spaced apart from one ancther in the dl:cection ~. In thi.s embodiment, -the tubular supports 87 are fas-te~ed -to the leadi.ng ~rame beams 151 tha-t cor~espond to the -two outer hollow frame portlons 82 at posi-tions which are in regis-ter with the supports 151A and the strengthening struts 87A interconnec-t the forks 88 and the corresponding l~ading lugs 150~. More-over, ~orwardly divergent supports 91A (Figure 'lO~ inte:r-connect the forwardly convergen-t portions 74 of the two frame beams 71 and 72 and locations on the subs-tantially horizontal beam 91.
Each of the leading lugs 150A with respect to the direction A carries a corresponding forwardly directed bracket 150 whose leading end has an upright limb to which a fork a-t the end of a pis-ton rod of a corresponding h~-draulic piston and cylinder assembly 53 is turnably connected by a horizontal pivo-t pin 160. ~he base end o~ the cylinder 155 of each assembly 153 is turnably connected by a parallel pivot pin to the upright limb of a corresponding bracket 164 which is fastened to the leading frame beam 140 at a location spacod some distance ~rom the midpoint of the beam 1400 Each cylinder 155 has a horizontal pivot 156 projectingfrom one side thereof and a corresponding latch 157 is -turnably mounted on that pivot. ~ach la-tch 157 is formed with a slot 159 that opens onto -the lower edge of the la-tch close to the end thereof that is remote from the corresponding pivot 156, said end itself being formed as a curved guide edge 158 whose l.owermost extremity -terminates alongside the corresponding .
; - 45 -' slo-t 159. Each latch 157 i5 arrarlgecl to co-op~rate, by way of its guide edge 158 and slot 159, with one ~nd of the cor-responding pivot pin 160. When the outer hollow Erame por-tions ~2 and the parts which they carry are pivo-ted upwardly and inwardly relative to the cen-tral hollow frame portion 77 to bring them ~o positions similar to that which ls shown for one of them in broken lines ln ~igure 11 of the drawings, the latches 157 make retaining engagement with the pivot pins 163 and prevent the outer hollow frame portions 82 from being turn~
ad outwardly and downwardly agaln until said latches 157 are released. Eydraulic pressure can thus be discontinued in the hydraulic piston and cylinder assemblies 153 with no danger of an involuntar~ return of the implement to its working position. Pull members in the form of ropes or cables 161 have their ends connected to upright limbs of the latches 157 and extend fle~ibly by way of suitabl~ positioned gulde eyes to a location on -the co-operating tractor or other `~
operating vehicle which lS accessible to the driver theleo~
When the driver of the tractor or other vehicle pulls the ropes or cables 1619 he will turn the latches 157 upwardly and disengage the slots 159 that are formed therein from the pivot pins 1~0 thus releasing the hydraulic piston and cylinder assemblies 153 so that their ~istons can extend from the cylinders 155 and allow the cuter hollow frame portions 82 and the parts which the~ carry to turn outwardly and downwardl~ into the working posltion o~ thc implement in a gentl~ cushioned manner. In the embodiment of Figures 10 to 13 of the drawings, helical tension springs 97D are stretched between the upper ends o~ supports 97C which are ; ~ , , , , . -. .. . .

rigidly secured to tha top of -the hollow beam 76 and the upper ends of arms 97B whose 10WeI ends are connected to the portions 73 of the two beams 71 and 72 by subs-tantlally horizontall~ alignecl pivot pins. With -thls arrangement, the ground whe~ls 95 of the implement are urged resiliently downwardly into contact with the ground surface.
In the embodiment of ~igures 10 to 13 oP the drawings, ths rotatable supporting members that are afforded b~ the ground rollers 131 ar~ carried by corresponding pairs of arms 130A that are directed rearwardly with respect to the direc-tion A from supports 130B that are upwardly and downwardly displaceable relative to the beams 141 and 152. ~he means by which each support 130B is upwardly and downwardly dis- ;
placeable may be of a kind which is known ~ se and which~
accordingly, will not be described in detail7 Each such means comprises a crank handle 130C at its upper ~nd, -the arrang~ment being such that manual rotation of each crank handle 130C in one direction will raise the corresponding support 130B whilst manual rotation thereof in the opposite direction will lower that support. alearly, such raising and lowering of the supports lowers or raises the levels of the axes of rotation of the rollers 131 relative to the corres-ponding frame beams 140/141 or 151/152 and thus is a principal factor in det~rmining the maximum depth of penetration of the tines 103 into the soil that is possible. In the embodiment of Figures 10 to 13 of the drawings~ the three groups of rotary 50il working or cultivating members 104 are movable upwardly and downwardly in an independent manner during the operation of the implement because the hollow frame portion 47 _ .. , . - . . . ..

77 or 82 that cor:responds to each such ~,.roup is mounted in a floating menner by tLle corresponding pair of parallelogram linkages 147, such linkages being guided by -the pairs of strips 1~3 in such a way as to absorb any forces tending to produce lateral deformations. ~le s-trips 143 are also arranged so as to prevent the hollow frame portions 77 and 82 from moving too far downwardly, particularly when the implement is disposed for lnoperative transporti. Th~ floating arrange-ment of the three groups of soil working or cultivating members 104 b~ way of the parallelogram linkages 1~7 pro~id~s a very satisfactory matching of the members 104 to the soil surface throughout the working width of -the implement even ~' on undulating land and the ready deflectabili-ty of each group that is possible~ independently of the other groups, enables any embedded rock or other fixed obstacle to be avoided with ,~
a minimum of damage, if any. ~o bring the implemen-t from its working position to its inoperative transport position, the outer hollow frame portions 82 and the parts which they carry are tilted upwardly and lnwardl~ by the hydraulic piston and cylinder assemblies 153 that are under the control of the driver, of the a~ricultural tractor or other vehicle which tows the implement. As previously mentioned, the final up-wardl~ tilted position of one of the two outer hollow frame portions 82 is illustrated in broken lines in ~igure 11 of the drawings. ~he further adjustments of the implement that are requir~d to bring it into a condition sui-table for trans-port, particularly along public roads, invol~e the bodily downward displacement of the ground wheels 95 and are carried out in a manner similar to that which has already been des~

_ 48 -. ... . . .. . .. . . . . . .

cribed in connection with the proc~ding embo~limcnts.

- '19 -'~B

Claims (5)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A soil cultivating implement comprising a frame and a group of rotatable soil working members journalled in an elongated central portion of said frame, an elongated outer portion pivoted at each lateral side of said central portion and respective further groups of rotatable soil working members being journalled in the outer portions, said soil working members and further soil working members being rotatable about corresponding upwardly extending axes defined by respective shafts and said shafts being positioned in a row that extends transverse to the direction of travel, driving means engaging said soil working members and further members, two beams of said Frame extending in the general direction of travel and said beams having rear portions that extend substantially parallel to one another and forward con-vergent portions that comprise coupling means, said rear portions being connected to the central frame portion and positioned above same, each outer portion being pivoted to the rear beam portions with spaced apart pivots, the axes of said pivots extending in the direction of travel and said outer portion being pivotable to an upward tilted transport position about said axes, respective supports connected to the outer frame portions intermediate the lengths thereof, each support extending forwardly to a pivot connection with the remainder of said frame and said connection having a pivot axis in line with said first mentioned pivot axes, said supports being displaceable with the outer frame portions in the latter's transport position, said rear beam portions being supported on ground wheels, said ground wheels being adjustably connected to the rear portions and vertically displaceable relative to those portions, whereby the central and outer portions can be raised to an inoperative transport position.

2. A soil cultivating implement comprising a frame and a group of rotatable soil working members journalled in an elongated central portion of said frame, an elongated outer portion pivoted at each lateral side of said central portion and respective further groups of rotatable soil working members being journalled in the outer portions, said soil working members and further soil working members being rotatable about corresponding upwardly extending axes defined by respective shafts and said shafts being positioned in a row that extends transverse to the direction of travel, driving means engaging said soil working members and further members, two beams of said frame extending in the general direction of travel and said beams having rear portions that extend substantially parallel to one another and forward con-vergent portions that comprise coupling means, said rear portions being con-nected to the central frame portion and positioned above same, each outer portion being pivoted to the rear beam portions with spaced apart pivots, the axes of said pivots extending in the direction of travel and said outer portion being pivotable to an upward tilted transport position about said axes, respective supports connected to the outer frame portions intermediate the lengths thereof, each support extending forwardly to a pivot connection with the remainder of said frame and said connection having a pivot axis in line with said first mentioned pivot axis, said driving means comprising a gear box on said central portion and a corresponding transmission shaft that extends from said box, laterally to respective gear means of each further group of soil working members, said transmission shaft being displaceable up-wardly with the corresponding outer portion in the latter's transport position.

3. An implement as claimed in claim 1, wherein said wheels are pivoted to said rear beam portions on arm means and at least one hydraulic piston and cylinder assembly interconnects said arm means to the frame, said wheels being displaceable upwardly to a limit defined by a stop on said frame and said stop being positioned to arrest the pivoting of said arm means, spring means interconnecting said wheels to the frame and biasing the wheels down-wardly.

4. An implement as claimed in claim 2, wherein a corresponding support-ing roller is positioned to the rear of each frame portion, said roller being pivoted to said frame portion with arms and means adjusting the relative position of the roller to the frame portion to regulate the working depth of the implement,

5. An implement as claimed in claim 2, wherein ground wheels are pivoted to the rear beam portions and a further implement is coupled to the rear of said frame and positioned to the rear of said wheels, said further implement extending across the working width o-E said frame portions and the sides of the further implement being foldable to a reduced width in which the sides extend forwardly adjacent said wheels.