EA037622B1 - Cultivator, especially for within-the-row cultivation - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a cultivator K, mainly for within-the-row cultivation, having a frame (1) attached to a tractor or a towed structure. The frame (1) is provided with at least one cultivating unit (8) with a rotary hoe member (12) having an inclined rotary axis, as cutting tool. The essence of the invention lies in that the cultivating unit (8) is parallel guided on the frame (1) and is provided with a tool holder (10) arranged transversely adjustable on the frame (1) in relation to a travel direction (16) of the cultivator K. On the frame (1), hoe wheels (21A, 21B) of the at least two adjacent rotary hoe members (12A, 12B) are arranged along the cultivated plant row 6, in each row spacing (6A), in the direction of travel (16) having laterally and rearwardly inclined rotary axis (22A and 22B), so that the hoe wheels (21A) and 21B of the adjacent rotary hoe members (12A and 12B) are rotatable in opposite directions. Further-more, in the cultivation unit (8) arranged in the row spacing 6A, the hoe wheels (21A and 21B) of the adjacent rotary hoe members (12A and 12B) are arranged behind each other in the direction of travel (16), and each of the rotary hoe members (12A or 12B) of the cultivating unit (8) is associated with a protective disc (38) located on a cultivation side of the corresponding rotary hoe member (12A or 12B), beside the plant row (6).

Description

The technical field to which the invention relates

The present invention relates to a cultivator, in particular for in-row cultivation, which is a field agricultural machine.

Background Art

As is well known, the agrotechnical task of in-row cultivation is to prevent soil shrinkage and facilitate ventilation of the soil between the rows of plants, in addition to allowing moisture to penetrate the root system and destroy weeds. For the successful implementation of these operations, the main requirements for field cultivators are currently: effective destruction / destruction of weeds in the rows of plants; loosening the soil without clogging (lumping) and dusting; in-row cultivation, but without damage to the agricultural crop and soil compaction; large area of processing, while the technology used allows cultivation several times per season.

In the prior art, various cultivators are known (for example, patent documents DE 2528928 and US Pat. No. 4,646,850) in which the tillage implements are designed as a rotary hoe. A common feature of these solutions is that the axes of rotation of each rotary hoe - whether located in groups or individually on a frame attached to a tractor - are always parallel to the ground to be cultivated in their working position.

However, due to their design and layout and their heavy weight, these solutions are only able to work with a shallow working depth of no more than 10-12 cm, and they work along a cleaned path, that is, they are not able to cultivate the entire soil surface. Therefore, using the above-mentioned cultivators, uncultivated parts of the soil inevitably remain, the weeds are only partially cut and covered with soil, but these weeds, most often, germinate again after a short period of time.

According to the experience of the inventor, an additional problem with the above solutions is that due to the small and limited cultivation width of the rotating hoes, they can only cultivate the soil surface with low efficiency. As a consequence, only an unacceptably low herbicidal (weed-killing) effect can be achieved. On the other hand, due to the excess weight of the above-mentioned cultivators and the required excess traction energy, it is necessary to rely on a relatively low cultivation efficiency in the field.

From the above, it follows that the aforementioned cultivators having rotary hoes can only be used in a limited way, since they are intended exclusively for cultivating the soil surface only at a shallow working depth of 10 to 12 cm and a small cultivation width. Therefore, they can only be used with acceptable results in the absence of weeds in the soil, or immediately after weeding, when the weeds are still small.

According to the experience of the inventor, in the field of field cultivation of plants in large areas, the cultivators known in the prior art for intra-row cultivation are becoming less and less in demand in the field of field cultivation of plants in large areas. The main reason for this is the lack of high-performance cultivators.

Essentially, a hoe as a tillage tool, comprising a cutting element attached to a support rod or shank, remains unchanged for thousands of years. There is no significant change in the method of weed control, regardless of whether we are talking about a hand tool, the handle of which is moved by a person in the ground, and its cutting element cuts off the roots of plants, or the same handle is attached to the machine and pulled by the chassis.

Not only the methods of killing weeds, but also the problems associated with these traditional methods, have been known for thousands of years. These existing technological problems are as follows: low level of working safety of cultivators; high risk of clogging the cultivator; short service life of cultivators; high uncertainty in weed control; small cultivator processing area; significant crop cutting; ineffective crushing of soil lumps; uneven ground surfaces after cultivation; the likelihood of weed germination; also the impossibility of killing weeds in a number of crops.

All of these shortcomings are sufficient for farmers to exclude in-row cultivation from their agricultural practices, despite the fact that its impact on crop yields, improved production safety, cost savings, and environmental relevance are well known. Another problem is that, for these reasons, there is not enough associated work, such as the destruction of chemically resistant weeds through intra-row cultivation and soil replenishment of plant rows.

The essence of the invention

Therefore, the main objective of the present invention is to provide an improved solution that is reliable and stable, practically unclogged, durable, preserves the roots, which reduces crop losses even when the cultivator is inadequately guided along the rows of plants, provides a uniform flat soil surface after cultivation, reduces the possibility of weed germination, does not cover agricultural crops

- 1 037622 soil and allows you to destroy weeds in the rows of plants.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved in-row cultivator that is capable of working with a relatively large working width and fully cultivating the entire soil surface, thus achieving complete weed control and soil loosening.

Another object of the invention is to improve the efficiency and economy of intra-row cultivation.

The cultivator according to the present invention is primarily intended for in-row cultivation, the cultivator having a frame attached to a tractor or towed structure. The frame is equipped with at least one cultivator unit with a rotary hoe element (as a cutting tool) having an inclined axis of rotation. The cultivator unit is directed parallel to the frame and is equipped with a tool holder located on the frame transversely to the direction of movement of the cultivator and with the possibility of adjustment. In addition, on the frame, the hoe wheels of at least two adjacent rotary hoe elements are arranged along the row of plants to be cultivated and in the row spacing in the direction of travel. Each of the at least two adjacent rotary hoe elements has an axis of rotation inclined laterally and rearwardly so that the hoe wheels of the adjacent rotary hoe elements can rotate in opposite directions. In the cultivator unit located in the row-spacing, the hoe wheels of the adjacent hoe rotary elements are arranged one after the other in the direction of travel. The essence of the invention lies in the fact that each rotary hoe element of the cultivating unit is connected to a protective disk located on the cultivation side of the rotary hoe element near the row of plants.

It is preferable that the hoe wheels of at least two adjacent rotary hoe elements in the cultivator unit are so arranged on the tool holder one after another that one of the axes of rotation, inclined laterally and backward, is inclined towards the left side, and the other is inclined towards the right side. for the cultivation of a given working row spacing.

According to yet another embodiment of the invention, at least two rotary hoe elements are fixed with the possibility of adjustment on the tool holder in the transverse direction relative to the direction of travel to adjust the working width of the cultivator unit.

Preferably, it is possible to adjust the relative height position of the protective disc on the cultivating unit in order to adjust the thickness of the soil layer guided / deflected across the direction of travel.

Additional benefits can be achieved by providing parallel track cultivator assemblies supported by a height-adjustable wheel that guides soil into a row of plants to suppress small weeds or steer soil away from a row of plants to prevent small plants from becoming covered with soil. ...

In a preferred embodiment of the cultivator according to the present invention for the above purpose, in addition to the swing arms providing parallel guides, the cultivator units are equipped with protective discs that are capable of completely preventing the soil from being guided into the row of plants and, by adjusting the height and depth of cultivation, are able to adjust the amount of soil guided. to a number of plants for weed control, in accordance with the state of the cultivated crop.

According to the experience of the present inventor, cultivation of the soil must also take into account the problem of permanent changes in soil hardness due to rains. In deeper areas, the soil is softer because moisture takes longer to evaporate, while soil with larger areas becomes harder earlier because moisture evaporates faster. As a consequence, even with the height-adjustable wheels, fine adjustments cannot be made so that the rotary hoe elements guide the soil into or out of the row of plants. In many cases, another problem is that the soil surface is uneven due to poor soil preparation for sowing. In this case, it is difficult to precisely control the direction of movement (deflection) of the soil with the help of the rotary hoe elements depending on the unevenness of the terrain, so that in some cases this occurs to the row of plants, and in some cases from the row of plants.

This problem can also be solved by using the discs according to the invention, which are always located in front of the axis of rotation of the corresponding rotor hoe element, since, according to the experience of the present inventor, the relative movement of the hoe teeth located in front of the axis of rotation in the direction of the row of plants directs the soil mainly way to a row of plants.

An essential element of the inventive idea is that the amount of soil deflected (directed) towards a row of plants can be adjusted by adjusting the relative height of the protective disc in relation to the hoe wheel of the rotary hoe element consciously and in accordance with current agronomic requirements, and which remains constant regardless of heterogeneity of the terrain and soil hardness. This is an important feature because this

- The 2 037622 measure allows germinating weeds to be covered with soil even in the case of small crops.

The present invention is based on the understanding that the actual problems of in-row cultivation can be solved by improving traditional cultivators containing roller hoes, when adjacent rotary hoe elements are located on the frame in the proposed manner, i.e. one by one, and the cutting elements of their hoe wheels always rotate (move) outside the rows of plants. Thus, the cultivator in accordance with the present invention provides a comprehensive solution that can significantly improve field cultivation techniques and increase their economic efficiency.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description and accompanying drawings.

List of figures

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a cultivator according to the invention in isometric view.

FIG. 2 shows in detail a fragment of FIG. 1 in a top view, namely a top view of two cultivator units.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a detail of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the detail from FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the detail of FIG. four.

Information confirming the possibility of carrying out the invention

The in-row cultivator K according to the invention shown in FIG. 1, contains a frame 1 with a beam 2 running across the forward direction / direction of movement of the cultivator K, indicated by the arrow 16. The frame 1 is equipped with a transverse beam 2 and a hitch (not shown in detail, for example, with a known three-point linkage scheme) designed to attach the cultivator to tractor or other towed structure (not shown) for the straight direction 16 of movement of the cultivator K. In this case, the hitch of the frame 1 is equipped with two lower coupling heads 3 and one upper coupling head 4 for attaching the cultivator K to the tractor.

FIG. 1-3, the frame 1 of the cultivator K is supported on the ground on both sides by the support wheels 5. In FIG. 2, the rows of plants (in this case, the rows of corn stalks) are indicated by the position 6. On the beam 2 of the frame 1 for each row spacing 6A, a cultivator unit 8 is installed by means of a parallel guide device 7, so that in this case there are eight cultivator units 8 (Fig. one).

FIG. 2 shows a top view of two adjacent cultivator units 8 of a cultivator K according to the invention, and FIG. 3 is a side view. It should be noted that other cultivating units 8 have the same design.

As shown in more detail in FIG. 4, each cultivator unit 8 is attached with the ability to move laterally to the cross beam 2 of the frame 1 of the cultivator K, in this case using a frame-shaped gripping unit 9. The parallel guides 7 have articulated parallel levers for vertical movement of the cultivator unit 8, which are articulated connected to the tool holder 10 of the cultivator assembly 8 to hold the working elements of the cultivator assembly 8. In this case, a wheel 11 for adjusting (limiting) the depth is installed on the front of the tool holder 10 with the possibility of vertical adjustment (Figs. 3-4). Each cultivating unit 8 is provided with at least two rotary hoe elements 12A and 12B as working elements (FIG. 2), which are provided in the present embodiment with a conventional tool holder 10 configured for longitudinal and lateral adjustment. In the same cultivating unit 8, opposite directions of rotation of the two rotary hoe elements 12A and 12B are shown by arrows 13A and 13B, respectively (FIG. 2).

It should be noted that the preferred embodiment and arrangement of the rotary hoes were disclosed in the present applicant's previous PCT application number PCT / HU2009 / 000062 (incorporated herein by reference).

Adjustment of the cultivation depth 24 by the cultivator 1 can be carried out by adjusting the vertical position of the depth adjustment wheel 11, which can be performed by vertical movement of the bracket 14 of the depth adjustment wheel 11 in the sleeve 15, and in the adjusted position the depth adjustment wheel 11 must be fixed, for example, with using the screw 29 (Fig. 3).

FIG. 1-4, the forward direction of movement of the cultivator K is indicated by an arrow 16, and in FIG. 2, the rows of plants to be cultivated are indicated by 6, while the row spacings are indicated by 6A, individual plants in the rows of plants are indicated by 6-17, and the original soil surface to be cultivated is indicated by 18.

FIG. 2 and 3 show the installation of two rotary hoe elements 12A and 12B of the cultivating unit 8 on the tool holder 10. Rotary hoe elements 12A and 12B have hoe holders 19 connected to the ears 20 of the tool holder 10, and in the longitudinal holes (not shown) of the tool holder 10 they can be shifted laterally to adjust the working width 23 of the cultivator unit 8. Position of the rotary hoe elements

12A and 12B, adjusted laterally on the bike holder 19, can be fixed, for example, with screws.

FIG. 1 to 3, at least two rotary hoe elements 12A and 12B of each cultivator unit 8 of the cultivator K of the present invention are positioned relative to each other such that the directions of rotation 13A and 13B, respectively, of two adjacent hoe wheels 21A and 21B of the rotary hoe elements 12A and 12B are opposite to each other. In addition, in the structure according to the invention, those parts of the hoe wheels 21A and 21B of the rotary hoe elements 12A and 12B having laterally and rearwardly inclined axes 22A and 22B of rotation, respectively (schematically shown in FIGS. 2 and 3), which are located closer to the individual plants, 17 rows of 6 plants to be cultivated, do almost all the cultivation work. FIG. 2, the working width between adjacent rows 6 of plants is indicated by 23, and the adjustable working depth of the cultivator unit 8 is indicated by 24.

In this case, in each cultivating unit 8, the angular position of their laterally and rearwardly tilted rotation axes 22A, 22B of two adjacent rotary hoe elements 12A and 12B may be the same. It should be emphasized that in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 2, in the forward direction 16, the pivot axis 22A of the front rotary hoe 12A is tilted to the left and rearward, while the pivot 22B of the rear rotary hoe 12B is tilted to the right and rearward.

Due to this arrangement, the rotary hoe elements 12A and 12B of the two adjacent cultivator assemblies 8 shown in FIG. 2-3, the row spacing 6A is cultivated (in the case of corn, its width may be 70-75 cm) of six rows of plants on a working width 23 of approximately 65 cm, so that the front hoe element 12A cultivates the left side of the entire working width 23 the row spacing 6A, while the rear rotary hoe member 12B is cultivating its right side, preferably with an overlap of 15-25 cm in the middle of the row spacing 6A. In this case, the hoe wheels (rotors) 21A and 21B of the rotary hoe elements 12A and 12B have the same diameter (for example, 50 cm).

The hoe wheels 21A and 21B of the rotary hoe elements 12A and 12B of the cultivator assemblies 8 are mounted for free rotation about their rotational axes 22A and 22B, respectively, in the bushing 26 attached to the motor holder 19. A predetermined oblique angular position of the rotation axes 22A and 22B of the hoe wheels 21A and 21B relative to the soil surface 18 remains constant during cultivation. Hoe wheels 21A and 21B have radial and arcuate hoe teeth (knives) 27, which are located at equal distances along the perimeter and are located in the common plane of the corresponding hoe wheel. The free ends of the hoe teeth 27 of the hoe wheel 21B, interacting with the soil, are bent backward in the opposite direction to the direction of rotation, as shown by arrow 13B (FIG. 5).

FIG. 3, it can be seen that the rotary hoe elements 12A and 12B in the cultivating units 8 are fixed on the tool holder 10 (for lateral movement) by means of screws 28. The depth limiting / adjusting wheel 11, which can be adjusted in the vertical direction, is attached to the tool holder 10 using bolts 29 (Figs. 2 and 3). In front of each rotary hoe element 12A or 12B, a support arm 30 is arranged laterally movable relative to the rotary hoe elements 12A or 12B (FIGS. 4-5). The support arms 30 are provided with holes 31. Through one of the holes 31, the rocker arm 33 can be connected to the support arm 30 by means of a screw 32. A threaded shaft 35 is attached to the rocker arm 33 by means of a nut 34, on which a protective disk 38 is mounted for free rotation. according to the present invention.

The swinging arm 33 has a spring tension protrusion 39 (FIG. 5). The support arm 30 is connected to a spring adjusting member 40, the position of which in the forward direction 16 can be adjusted by means of a screw 41. The spring tension protrusion 39 and the spring adjusting member 40 are connected to each other by a spring 42. Lateral movement and securing the support arm 30 perpendicularly direction 16 of movement is achieved by another element 43, which is attached to the rotary hoe element 12A or 12B by means of a screw 49.

The cultivator K according to the invention operates in such a way that, during movement in the direction of travel 16, the hoe teeth 27 of the hoe wheels 21A and 21B of the rotary hoe elements 12A and 12B, respectively, rotate away from the crop rows 6 (see rotation directions in FIG. 2 ). Thus, they are able to effectively kill weeds, cover them with soil, break up the surface layer of soil into small pieces, level the resulting pieces of soil, cut off weed stems that are cut and crushed into small pieces, remove pieces of soil from the cut roots of weeds and separate weed leaves. that is, many different stages of weed control are carried out in a very efficient way. According to field experiments conducted by the author

- 4 037622 of the present invention, teeth / knives 36 of hoe wheels 21A and 21B of rotary hoe elements

12A and 12V are long-lasting, reliable and, in addition, do not require any monitoring and are almost never clogged.

An additional agronomic effect of the invention lies in the fact that, in particular, by combining the protective discs 38 with the rotary hoe elements 12A and 12B by means of the proposed cultivator K, in the case of newly emerged crops or plants of early development, it is possible to prevent the soil from covering the plants 17 in the rows 6 plants (FIG. 2), while killing and suppressing (covering from light) weeds in row spacing 6A can be efficiently performed.

During cultivation, the protective discs 38 roll freely on the surface of the ground 18, with the discs 38 preferably placed on the ground with a load, for example, in this case by applying a pre-tensioning force of the spring 42. This pre-tension can be adjusted by displacing the spring adjustment element 40 in forward direction 16 and fixing it with the screw 41 in its new position, as well as by introducing the spring 42 into engagement with another of the holes 45 made in the spring tension protrusion 39.

In the case of plants at different stages of development, the cultivator K according to the invention also provides a special deflection of the soil in the lateral direction (Fig. 2) by means of the protective discs 38, which effectively suppress (destroy) weeds in the aisles 6A, but also, unexpectedly, in rows 6 plants.

Thus, the thickness 44 of the lateral deflection of the soil (see FIG. 3) depends on the fact how far the shield disk 38 is from the soil surface 18. As already mentioned, the vertical position of the guard disk 38 can be adjusted, and the easiest way is by transferring the bolt 47 of the restraining chain 46 to another hole 48 of the rocker arm 33 or by reducing the length of the restraining chain 46 (Fig. 5). It should be noted that one end of the restraining chain 46 is attached to the bolt 47 and thus to the rocker arm 33, and the other end to the support arm 30.

By using the cultivator K according to the invention, the technology and economic performance of field cultivation can be improved in an unexpected way.

- 5 037622

List of reference designations

TO cultivator 23 working width one frame 24 cultivation depth 2 beam 25 bushing pivot (26) 3 lower connecting 26 sleeve head 27 hoe teeth / knives four upper connecting 28 screw head 29 bolt five support wheel thirty support arm 6 row of plants 31 hole 6A aisle 32 screw 7 parallel guide 33 swing arm device 34 nut eight cultivator unit 35 threaded shaft nine gripping knot 36 screw 10 tool holder 37 screw eleven wheel 38 protective disc restrictions / adjustments 39 spring tension protrusion depths 40 spring adjustment element 12A and 12V rotary 41 screw hoe element 42 spring 13A and 13V direction of rotation 43 adjustment element in fourteen bracket lateral direction fifteen sleeve 44 soil layer thickness sixteen arrow (forward direction / (deflected in the lateral direction of travel direction of protective cultivator) disk) 17 single plant 45 hole eighteen original soil surface 46 bounding chain (to be cultivated) 47 bolt nineteen hoe holder 48 hole twenty eyelet 49 screw

21A and 21B hoe wheel (rotor)

22A and 22B pivots

Claims (3)

CLAIM 1. A cultivator, mainly for in-row cultivation, comprising a frame attached to a tractor or towed structure and equipped with at least one cultivator unit with a rotary hoe element having an inclined axis of rotation as a cutting tool, and the cultivator unit (8) is directed parallel on the frame (1) and is equipped with a tool holder (10) located on the frame (1) with the possibility of adjustment in the transverse direction with respect to the direction (16) of the cultivator (K), and on the frame (1) hoe wheels (21A, 21B) at least at least two adjacent rotary hoe elements (12A, 12B) are located along the cultivated row (6) of plants in the row spacing (6A), and in the direction (16) of movement, the hoe wheels (21A, 21B) have an axis inclined laterally and backward (22A, 22B) rotation such that the hoe wheels (21A, 21B) of adjacent rotary hoe elements (12A, 12B) are rotatable in opposite directions y, and in the cultivator unit (8) located in the row spacing (6A), the hoe wheels (21A, 21B) of the adjacent rotary hoe elements (12A, 12B) are located one after the other in the direction (16) of movement, characterized in that each rotary the hoe element (12A, 12B) of the cultivating unit (8) is connected to a protective disk (38) located on the cultivation side of the rotary hoe element (12A, 12B) near the row (6) of plants, and each protective disk (38) is provided with means for adjusting the relative the position of the height of the protective disc (38) on the cultivator unit (8) in order to adjust the thickness (44) of the soil layer directed across the direction of travel (16). - 6 037622 2. The cultivator according to claim 1, characterized in that the hoe wheels (21A, 21B) of two adjacent rotary hoe elements (12A, 12B) in the cultivator unit (8) are arranged one after the other on the tool holder (10) in such a way that one of laterally inclined and rearwardly inclined rotational axes (22A, 22B) are inclined towards the left side, while the other of the axes is inclined towards the right side to cultivate a predetermined working width (23) of the row spacing (6A). 3. Cultivator according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that to adjust the working width (23) of the cultivator unit (8), at least two rotary hoe elements (12A, 12B) are fixed on the tool holder (10) with the possibility of adjustment in the transverse direction ...