CA1217091A

CA1217091A - Rotary cultivator drill

Info

Publication number: CA1217091A
Application number: CA000434341A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Michael Horsch
Original assignee: LANDWIRTSCHAFTLICHE EIN- und VERKAUFSGESELLSCHAFT HORSCH oHG
Current assignee: LANDWIRTSCHAFTLICHE EIN- und VERKAUFSGESELLSCHAFT HORSCH oHG
Priority date: 1982-08-11
Filing date: 1983-08-11
Publication date: 1987-01-27
Also published as: AR230770A1; EP0102557B2; DE3247884C2; EP0102557B1; EP0102557A3; AU569705B2; EP0102557A2; DE3247884A1; BR8304307A; AU1765783A; DE3372899D1

Abstract

IN THE CANADIAN PATENT OFFICE
Specification A ROTARY CULTIVATOR DRILL
Abstract A seed drill making use of a rotary cultivator is so designed that the seeds, as for example cereal grains, are placed under the soil as slung upwards along a curved path by the cultivator. There is a guide rail with a leading edge starting to the back of a point at which the cultivator is designed to make contact with the soil. The guide rail is free of any soil lifting effect. There is furthermore a stripping body and means for turning the body about an axis parallel to the axis of the cultivator with a peripheral speed different than the peripheral speed of the cultivator.

Description

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page ,., The present invention is with respect to sowing seeds such as cereal grain and seeds in the form of grains of the same order of size as cereal grains , Normally such seeds are sown by first plowing and harrowing or rotary llcultivating the land to make a seed bed onto which the seeds are scattered and~
fthen pressed into the bed by rolling.
I In the German Offenlegungsschrift specification 3,02~,382 a system of~
,~drilling seed was put forward in which once harvesting had taken place the soil was not to be tilled till the sowing season. Then the ground with crop stems land roots still on and in it was to be cultivated with an implement in such a 10 llway that the earth was thrown upwards and the seeds were mixed into the shower ¦,of flying earth as thrown upwards by the cultivator so that they were then ;deposited and covered over by the broken up earth when it came down again. The drill implement used for this purpose was a rotary cultivator with a seed box ¦!having a number of seed pipfes running to outlet points to the back of the 15 flcultivator rotor so that the tilth was thrown upwards by the cultivator rotor and the seeds might be well mixed therewith, the soil and seeds then falling back onto the untouched layer of the soil. However such a mixing effect is not desired and for this reason this known form of cultivator drill further had a jguide rail stretching along the working breadth of the rotor to the back of same 20 land having a wedge-like cross section with the point thereof turned towards the rotor. This guide rail was designed with a loosening tine or coulter running beep under the said rotor for guiding the soil moved by the tine and the rotor ¦lalong a curved path in a backward direction, the seed outlet boots opening into ¦Ithe free space within the shower of flying earth. The purpose of the cultivator 25 ¦Irotor, working with the loosening tine, was that of clearing away the soil down ¦~to the level of the desired sowing depth. Furthermore because the earth acted ilupon by the cultivator was caused to go in an upward direction along a curved ~path a free space was to be produced, into which the seeds were to be placed.
Ii This form of seed drill was touched upon by Prof. Heege in a paper in 30 ~rundl. Landtechnik, Vol. 20 (1970) No. 3, pages 82 to 84, but however it hassince turned out that the drills designed for working on these lines were less ~seful under field conditions, because the drill quickly became clogged up !between the guide rail and the rotor and regular sowing was not longer possible.
'1 One purpose of the present invention is that of making such a better design 35 iof seed drills of the sort noted herein so far that the seed may be run into soil without any danger of stoppages.
I For effecting this and further purposes of the invention the guide rail has f 1. .
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,,a leading edge placed to the back of the point of contact of the rotor with the, soil and free of any soil lifting effect and Eurthermore there is a long turningstripping body placed over the guide rail with an axis of turning parallel to',ithe axis of turning of the rotor and more specially turning in the same I,ldirection as it, the peripheral speed of the stripping body being different~
,than that of the rotor and more specially being greater than same.
Because the drill of the invention does not have any loosening tine there ',is on the one hand the useful effect ~hat the implement becomes simpler and Ijlower in price, while on the other hand there is not chance of the rotor being~
loverloaded or strained by the tilth thrown up by the loosening rotor. Because ,lin the prior art in this case the soil is forced into the rotor, is moved along' by it for one complete turn and comes into contact with fresh soil cut free by~the loosening tine, the chances of the prior art implement becoming stopped up~
llare increased. On the other hand in the present invention the leading edge of Ii'the guide rail is placed further back so that there is no danger is this and b~cause of the stripping body placed over the guide rail there is simply no, chance whatever of soil being pulled and dragged along by the rotor as far as' llthe point at which it makes contact with the ground. me guide rail may have a, ¦,spring support system. There is in fact a freely moving or freely thrown, ~Ishower of soil fragments to the back of the cultivator rotor and the seeds may l¦be run into this shower at a point under it wit'nout any undesired effects.
¦I When the soil is simply thrown up along a curved path on using the cultivator drill of the present invention without any trouble or undesiredl~effects, furtheremore the soil will be separated from stubble or straw because, ¦lit is lighter than the soil and will come down more slowly. For this reason such straw will be kept clear of the seeds and will in fact be resting on thetop of the loose seed bed as a loose covering layer.
¦ A further more specially useEul effect produced by the invention is that lany soil sticking to and dragged round by the rotor will be cleared by the long' ''turning stripper b~dy placed over the guide rail, and when such earth is cleared from the rotor it will be broken up and thrown up along with the other earth' ~,islung up by the rotor and moving along a parabolic path, this making certainl ,'that the heavier soil scraped off in this way will be moved along as part of the' ~lupwardly thrown soil, whereas -the lighter pieces of stubble and of roots will ,Ibe sent on flying for a greater distance as a different class of material.
~', One specially useful effect of this stripper body is to be seen in the fact that the overall aTnOUnt of power needed Eor driving the implement is~
decreased. This decrease in the power needed is to be experienced not only whenthe implement is used as a drill but Eurtùermore when it is used only as a~

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page 3 cultivator or is designed as such in the first place. This is a part of theinvention that is claimed separately as a subcombination, In the simplest case the said stripper body may take the form of a square ~Ibeam, that is to say a beam with a square cross section. If desired~ the beam l~may be armed with paddles or tines running out therefrom.
I In order not to be in the way of the shower of ving soil a useful effect ,may be produced as a further outgrowth of the general idea of the invention if the seed pipes are placed together in the form of bundle running into the space/lunder the soil shower from the side thereof. That is to say, the seeds are run ilin from the side to a point under the shower of soil, the separate outlet openings being equally spaced out over the working breadth of the turning toolso that the seed is quite evenly spread out over the firm uncultivated soil.
I In order to make possible an even more regular distribution of the seeds, llit is possible, as part of a further development of the invention, to have a '~cover element, running across the direction of working, placed to the back of ,land over the outlet boots of the seed pipes for the purpose of spreading the~
seeds and guiding them downwards. The cover element is best made in the form of a rubber baffle.
Il Because of this cover element the seeds are scattered and stopped from 20 1l ixing with pieces of earth falling from the shower of soil particles so that ~the seeds are in fact placed on the uncovered, firm lower soil.
The design of the cover element in the form of rubber baffle does give the useful effect that there is no chance of soil coming to rest on the top oE itl~here it would otherwise be cause of trouble conditions. More specially, there l~s then no chance of the curved shower of soil fragments being not formed in the desired way.
¦ The cultivator rotor is best in the form of a rotor with angled tines andwith its axis of turning running at a right angle to the direction of forwardsImotion of the drill.
I The wedge-like guide rail is best so designed that its face turned towardsthe rotor is flat or somewhat curved towards it and the edge next -to the ground is rounded off, the wedge angle at this edge being between 30 and 45.
The design of the wedge-like guide rail so that its surface facing the jLotor is flat has turned out to give specially useful effects inasfar as Lhereunder there is then enough space to take up the rotor till it more or lesscomes into contact with the guide rail at a tangential line. Next to this pointthe gap therebetween becomes wider again so that one may be quite certain thatthe soil moved along by the rotor is slung up as desired right up along a curvedpath in a backward direction. In some cases if desired this inlet and outlet .
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angle may be made greater by having the surface in question of the wedge-likeguide rail curved out towards the rotor. me fact that the edge of -the guiderail nearest to the soil is rounded oEf makes certain that there is no chance of~
lthe guide rail digging its way into the soil and in fact it will be suppor~ed "with a sort of skimming effect on the top oE the uncovered and unworked soil,~This being the case there is generally no chance of the cultivator drill in ',keeping with the present invention digging into the soil or otherwise becoming bogged down therein.
~j As a further useEul development of the idea on which the invention is~
I,lbased, the spring support for the guide rail may be so designed that the rail is loaded towards the rotor. With such a spring support on may be certain that the~
system is adapted to the form and nature of the uncovered soil and it will be~very unlikely for hard structures such as stones or clods to become jammed~
I~between the rotor and the guide rail.
~I A specially useful effect is to be had if the guide rail is fixed to a ~lever system, whose supporting turnpin on the implement frame may be adjusted ,upwards and downwards and in the direction of motion of the drill implement.
This makes possible the best adjustment of the guide rail in relation to thellrotor not only by a turning or rocking adjustment of the lever system but l~furthermore by an adjustment in height and/or on the level in the direction of l~motion or in a direction opposite thereto.
As for the size of the lower face of the guide rail sliding along on the soil, the kest values are related to the distance of the trailing edge of thellguide rail from the line of contact of the cover element with the soil. More ~Ispecially the size (11) as measured in the direction of motion of the guide rail l¦is roughly equal to the distance of the trailing edge of this guide rail from~
¦~the line at which the cover element makes contact with the soil. In this way jone may be certain that soil and any somewhat cut up stubble moved along, ,Itherewith are sent flying backwards at a great enough distance over the cover ,lelement without any chance oE sticking to the said element where they would make lit heavier so that it would be pressed against the soil possibly pushing the drilled seed along in front of it.
, A further point in connection with the present cultivator drill that gives lla useful effect is that it is in fact the first drill to make possible a sowing, ,`,effect along a broad path. Although in the past attempts have been made at, i,sowing along a broad path by using relatively broad drill tines placed parallel to each other so that the seed might be drilled in to the back thereof through~
funnel_like koots, there was then obviously no chance of stopping overlap~etween the separate boots or of strips of soil not to be drilled. In ~he case .
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~of the drill of the present invention there is a broad uncovered strip of soil free to have seed scattered thereon. Preferably in this connection a form ofthe drill of the present invention is used which is characterized in that a~
icompressed air su,cply system is placed on the implement frame for the supply of ~air to the seed outlets, there being a seed box whose outlet may be changed in size and is joined up with compressed air lines running to the seed outlets.Using such a compressed air transport or feed system for the seed it is possible~to make certain that seed funnels, that are to be accurately adjusted to be in ,line with the desired proportions, are formed at the separa~e outlet openings land that the seed will be spread out over a wide path.
In this respect it is best for the pressure of the compressed air, the llplacing and the spacing of the seed outlet openings and the distance of the Iflexible cover element to be such that the seed outlet funnels at one seed ¦l~outlet opening and the ones next thereto are overl~pped to a small degree.
¦IBecause of the impacting or bouncing effect of the seed at the cover element -the overly great arnount of seed at this point will be spread out again to give a lvery even broad seed path or drilled zone.
A highly useful effect is to be had if the seed pipes joined up with seed ~loutlet openings are in the form of a pipe system made a part of the guide rail 20 Ilso that not only is the system made more comoac~ but furthermore the guide rail, ¦that may come into contact with the soil and be strained thereby, is made stronger by the presence of such pipes therein and will be quite strong enough¦for meeting such loads or strains Il As a general point it is best if the soil dropped onto the seeds is pressed lldown somewhat so that as part of a further design of the invention the drill may ¦have a trailing roller for compacting the seed bed. This press roller may be ilthe only part of the cultivator drill used for support on the ground.
Because it is important for the guide rail to be able to be skimmed lalong ,Ithe uncovered and unworked soil without anything getting into its way, as for l~example clods of earth at the side of it, and in view of the design of rotor llused there may otherwise be some chance of this, in a further development of the~
fiinvention, there is a dished disk tine on the Erame at each end of the rotor for 'cutting into the soil accurately and for pushing some soil inwards because of ;
lithe special form of the disk, where such soil is taken up by the rotor and flung backwards. This being the case, the guide rail may be moved quite freely overand on the uncovered soil.
Further useful effects and further details of the invention will be seen from the account now to be given of forms thereof using the figures herein.
Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side view of a cultivator drill in keeping with the Q~.
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f present invention.
'IFigure 2 is a back view of part of the drill implement.
~Figure 3 is a view of part of same to make clear the placing of the seed pipes with the outlet opening out of line with each other. IFigure 4 is a view of part of a preferred form of bent or knee tine rotary cultivator as a turning soil working tool with a dished tine thereon.
In the figures the reader will see working designs of the invention with a ,frotary cultivator as part of the drill. However it is only natural that other ,forms of soil working implements may be used if they make it possible for a jllayer of soil to be taken out with a depth equal to be depth of sowing across the full sowing breadth without any ridges or the like that would be in the wayof the guide rail. If desired the rail may be kept in position by springs so~
that it will be able to give way if comes up against any stones, that have notllbeen loosened by the rotary cultivator or other soil working part, and will not~
~ e damaged thereby.
i In figure 1 the reader will see the unworked earth 1 that is now to be acted upon by the implement with its powered rotary or hoe cultivator or rotor~2. It will be noted that the soil is cut away to a depth in keeping with the depth at which the seeds are to be placed in the soil, such earth or tilth being, llslung upwards as a shower of fragments along a curved path 3 in a direction opposite to the direction A of motion of the implement. Inside the path 3 at 4there will be generally no soil, this being because the soil is guided by guide¦rail 5, that is wedge-like. Within the guide rail 5 there is bundle 6 of pipes Ifor the seeds and running to outlet openings at which the seeds 7 are placed on l¦the soil. Furthermore in the present working example of the invention there is cover element 8 in the form of a rubber baffle so that an earth fragments of' soil falling short and dropping downwards within the curved path will not be;
mixed up with the seeds 7 and will be kept clear thereof.
I~ After moving along the curved path the soil will be come to rest as a loose jllayer at lO on the seeds, that are marked purely diagrammatically at 11.
The seeds are transported through a number of different hoses (not figured) ifrom a seed box on the implement to the bundle 6 of pipes.
¦I From the diagrammatic back view of figure 2 the distribution of the ,Idifferent seed outlet openings 14 will be seen at the ends of the pipes, that in ~Ithe present forln of the invention are more specially square in cross section, forming the bundle 6.
From figure 3 is it will be seen that these different pipes 16, 17, and 18 ~may be put at an angle so that sowing beaks 19, 20 and 21 are formed having the function of seed outlet openings 14.

j page 7 ' ,, Furthermore in figure 1 the reader will be able to see part of the side frame of the drill. The two ends oE the shaft 23 of the rotor 2, that may be~
example have bent tines and which is only to be seen diagrammatically, arei~bearinged in two such side frames. The shaft 23 is joined up by way of a jdriving chain or a train oE gear wheels 24 with the driving shaft 25, that for its part may be joined up with the power take-off point of -the tractor used with the drill. The drill is furthermore joined up by the draw bar 26 with theItractor.
I It will be seen that a two~armed lever 28 is rockingly supported in the~
~limplement frame 22 and 27, one end of the lever 28 being fixed to tne guide rail ~5~ The other end is acted upon by a compression spring 29 so that the guide rail 5 is at all times forced in the direction of the tangential line 30towards the bent tine cultivator 2. It will furthermore be seen that the earthlis slung out by the cultivator backwards along a curved part 32. The seeds 7 !jcome out of the seed outlet openings, the seeds being marked diagrammatically lunder the cover element 8. The seeds are covered over by the slung soil and in ~the present example there is a trailing roller 32 joined up with a support ~system 31 so that the loose earth is pressed down onto the seeds. This roller l132 is the only part supporting the implement on the ground. The other end of ¦Ithe implement is fixed to the tractor by way of the draw bar 26.
l~ It will further be seen that the length ratio 1 to 1 is to be about 1.
¦l In figure 4 the shaft 23 of the bent tine cultivator 2 will be seen having, bent tines 33 and 34. In front of the cultivator there is a dished harrow diskl~35 (see figure 1 as well) cutting into the soil at 36 ~o make certain that the ¦Iguide rail 5 is guided onto the cultivated soil and is not pushed sideways.
The stripper body is numbered 37 in figure 1. It is driven fr~m the driving shaft 25, that may be joined up with the tractor for driving it, by wayf a chain drive 38 or by gearing with the same function driving the gear 39 ~joined with the stripper body 36~ The said body 37 is marked in figure 1 as a ~am with a square cross section. It may have paddles fixed to it if desireds (I

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Claims

page 8 The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:-

1. A cultivator drill having a rotary cultivator designed for cultivating the soil to a given depth in keeping with the depth to which seeds are to be sown and thereby slinging part of said soil upwards for motion along a curved path backwards from the said cultivator, a seed box, seed transport means for running seeds from said seed box onto unworked soil under said curved path, a wedge-like guide rail placed to the back of said cultivator for guiding soil coming from said cultivator along said curved path backwards, said seed transport means having outlet openings within a space inside said curved path, aguide rail with a leading edge starting to the back of a point at which the cultivator is designed to make contact with the soil, the guide rail being free of any soil lifting effect, a stripping body and means for turning the body about an axis parallel to the axis of the cultivator with a peripheral speed different than the peripheral speed of the cultivator.

2. The cultivator drill as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for turning said body is designed for turning it in the same direction as said cultivator and at a higher peripheral speed.

3. The cultivator drill as claimed in claim 1 wherein said body is in the form of a beam with a square cross section.

4. The cultivator drill as claimed in claim 2 further comprising paddles on said beam.

5. The cultivator drill as claimed in claim 1 wherein said seed transport means is in the form of a bundle of pipes running sideways into said guide rail,said pipes coming to an end at points spaced out in a width direction of said cultivator and forming outlet beaks for said seeds.

6. The cultivator drill as claimed in claim 5 comprising to the back of said outlet openings a cover element for scattering said seeds and guiding same downwards, said element running across the width of a strip of soil as worked bysaid cultivator.

7. The cultivator drill as claimed in claim 6 wherein said cover element is in the form of a rubber baffle.

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8 The cultivator drill as claimed in claim 1 comprising means for adjustably and springingly supporting said guide rail and furthermore loadingsame towards said cultivator.

9 The cultivator drill as claimed in claim 1 wherein said guide rail has a surface that is turned towards said cultivator, this said surface being flatto outwardly curved towards said cultivator, said guide rail further having anedge next to said soil and having a wedge angle between 30° and 45°.

The cultivator drill as claimed in claim 1 comprising a lever system support said guide rail and a flame, said system being rockingly joined to saidframe at a rocking axis and means for adjustment of the position of said rockingaxis vertically and in the direction of motion of said drill.

11 The cultivator drill as claimed in claim 6 wherein said guide rail has a lower face designed for sliding on the soil, said lower face having a lengthas measured in the direction of motion of said drill at least equal to thedistance of a back edge of said guide rail from a point at which said cover element is designed to come into contact with the soil.

12 The cultivator drill as claimed in claim 6 comprising an implement frame and a compressed air supply system joined up with said seed outletopenings for supply of compressed air thereto, and means for adjustment of anoutlet opening of said seed box and compressed air ducts running from the saidseed outlet openings.

13 The cultivator drill as claimed in claim 12 comprising means for adjustment of the pressure of the compressed air, of the spacing and positioningof the seed outlet openings and of the cover element in such a way that there isoverlap of seed strips as supplied to the said soil.

14 The cultivator drill as claimed in claim 12 wherein said bundle of pipes is united with said guide rail for the purpose of increasing the strengththereof.

The cultivator drill as claimed in claim 1 comprising a trailing roller for compact of a seed bed produced by said drill.

page 10 16 The cultivator drill as claimed in claim 3 wherein said roller is designed as the only part supporting said drill on the ground.

17 The cultivator drill as claimed in claim 1 comprising two dished harrow disks placed at the ends of said cultivator and somewhat to the front thereof.