Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01B—SOIL WORKING IN AGRICULTURE OR FORESTRY; PARTS, DETAILS, OR ACCESSORIES OF AGRICULTURAL MACHINES OR IMPLEMENTS, IN GENERAL
  • A01B35/00—Other machines for working soil not specially adapted for working soil on which crops are growing
  • A01B35/16—Other machines for working soil not specially adapted for working soil on which crops are growing with rotating or circulating non-propelled tools
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01B—SOIL WORKING IN AGRICULTURE OR FORESTRY; PARTS, DETAILS, OR ACCESSORIES OF AGRICULTURAL MACHINES OR IMPLEMENTS, IN GENERAL
  • A01B35/00—Other machines for working soil not specially adapted for working soil on which crops are growing
  • A01B35/32—Other machines for working soil not specially adapted for working soil on which crops are growing with special additional arrangements
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01C—PLANTING; SOWING; FERTILISING
  • A01C5/00—Making or covering furrows or holes for sowing, planting or manuring
  • A01C5/06—Machines for making or covering drills or furrows for sowing or planting
  • A01C5/062—Devices for making drills or furrows
  • A01C5/064—Devices for making drills or furrows with rotating tools

Definitions

• This invention relates to ground working equipment.
• the present invention relates to such ground working equipment as cutting blades that are used to cut channels, cultivating implements (herein after referred to as boots) used to open out those channels for subsequent sowing of seed and seed sowing equipment.
• Typical ground working apparatus used for sowing seed consists of a number of ground working units which are towed by a vehicle over the ground to be worked.
• a unit typically includes a cutting blade which cuts a line in the ground.
• a boot which opens up the ground cut by the disk to form a channel or bed suitable for sowing seed in.
• the unit often includes a seed tube through which seed or sometimes fertiliser is fed into the seed bed as well as a press wheel which acts to close the cut over the seed bed once it has been sown.
• the wide channels formed by the heavy blade can also be undesirable. In some circumstances as wide channels do not retain moisture desirable for seed growth to the same extent as narrow channels.
• Hairpinning is the pushing of organic matter known as "trash" into the channel by the cutting blade. This organic matter can decompose causing a toxic environment for the seeds sown there. The trash within the channel can also prevent the formation of a friable seed bed or even result in seeds or other material fed into the channel being forced out of the channel or not being placed at the optimum depth within the channel.
• the cutting blade is a disk coulter such as those used in agricultural ground working machinery. It should be appreciated however that the principles of the present invention can be applied to blades of different configurations and used in non- agricultural situations.
• the vertical motion assists the blade in cutting the soil and trash. Particularly, it is the trash which prevents the efficient operation of the conventional ground working apparatus.
• the vertical motion of the blade cuts the trash thus making it easier to also cut the ground.
• the machinery associated with the blade requires less horsepower and weight. This is more economical than previous machinery and further the machinery is less likely to churn and compact the ground. As less horsepower and weight are required to be used, the blade itself need not be as strongly constructed and can be narrower in width giving rise to narrow channels. Narrow channels retain moisture better and provide a more conducive environment for growing seed.
• the vertical action of the blade also helps avoid hairpinning as instead of trash being pushed into the channel by the blade, the action of the blade serves to cut the trash instead.
• a sideways movement is defined as is in a plane at approximately right angles to the forward motion of the blade and at approximately right angles to the substantial vertical motion.
• the blade has a fast vibrating surface as a consequence of this additional motion.
• This sideways motion can assist in the preparation of the soil by the cutting blade.
• the sideways movement can also assist in the clearing of trash in that it can push trash sideways rather than encouraging the entry of trash into a channel.
• the blade may be directly driven to produce the vertical and sideways movements.
• hydraulics or a suitably converted cam may be used to achieve this.
• the blade is not directly driven, but moves as an indirect consequence of the motion of the apparatus towing the ground cutting blade during its operation.
• the vertical movement may be imparted to the blade as a consequence of the center of the blade not being aligned with the central axis of the shaft on which the blade rotates. It can be seen that this is a simple and effective way of imparting vertical movement.
• the blade may be tilted or inclined from the plane perpendicular to the axis on which the blade rotates. Again it can be seen that this simple positioning of the blade obviates the needs for complicated machinery. A slight tilt in combination with a fast rotation of the blade provides the motion required.
• the blade has a substantially vertical and a substantially sideways movement which is given by the blade being positioned so that its center is offset from the shaft on which the blade turns and the blade is also inclined from the plane perpendicular to the axis on which the blade rotates.
• An alternative means for imparting the required motion to the blade may be by the use of an eccentric sleeve which receives the shaft on which the blade turns.
• the blade may be centrally mounted on a shaft as with conventional ground working apparatus.
• the shaft may be attached to the ground working apparatus via an eccentric sleeve, the configuration of which causes the shaft to move the blade so that it has a substantially sideways and a substantially vertical movement.
• an eccentric sleeve situated within the plane of the blade and capable of interacting with bearings which enable rotation of the blade.
• a standard drive shaft may pass from the agricultural equipment and be fixed inside the sleeve.
• the inside of the sleeve may be free to rotate between inner bearings situated between the inner walls of the sleeve and the drive axle.
• the outside of the sleeve may bear against outer bearings situated in between the outer walls of the sleeve and the cutting blade.
• the eccentric sleeve is manufactured to be of varying thickness and/or skewed with respect to the drive shaft. If the drive shaft is turned, say by a hydraulic motor then this may impart motion directly to the eccentric sleeve. As the sleeve turns it presses against the outer bearings to which the disk is fixed.
• the varying thickness of the eccentric sleeve or "offset" gives a vertical movement to the blade via the outer bearings.
• the skew of the eccentric sleeve against the outer bearings with respect to the shaft provides a sideways movement to the blade.
• the applicant has also found that the operation of the apparatus is enhanced by bleeding of oil from the hydraulic motor to lubricate the shaft.
• the blade Once the blade hits the ground, the blade will stop spinning and then change its direction of rotation. Even though not coupled directly to a drive system, the blade has a form of torque. The blade appears to want to drive itself forward, that is in the direction that the vehicle is moving. There may be provided other means of imparting the required motion of the blade. For example, there may be provided a loosely controlled suspension allowing the blade to effectively wobble in the required directions. Other systems are also envisaged.
• the blade has a substantially vertical and sideways movement as previously described.
• the boot is configured to accommodate the close proximity of the blade.
• the boot may have a curved face of substantially the same curvature as the blade.
• the proximity of the boot and blade to each other can vary according to their relative sizes and situations in which the ground working apparatus is to be used.
• the tolerance between the blade and the boot will be in the order of 0.001 to 3 millimeters. Tolerance in this order ensures that the movement of the blade in relation to the boot provides a guillotine effect which can cut any trash which is brought down by the blade.
• this embodiment of the present invention further avoids the "hairpinning" problem.
• a boot for ground working which is configured to operate in close proximity to a blade for ground working.
• the boot includes an angled portion near the top of the boot which is angled between the horizontal and the vertical. This prevents trash riding up or sliding around the boot.
• a known problem of dirt blocking the seed tube could be avoided by having a curved seed tube.
• a curved seed tube can lead to problems in that the travel of seed down the tube can be impeded.
• a straight seed tube is provided which forms part of a boot.
• the boot can be used with a vibrating blade as described earlier with the vibration assisting to prevent blockage of the seed tube by continually shaking the trash and dirt downwards.
• This embodiment of a boot can also be used with a non-vibrating blade.
• a general problem with boots and seed tubes in general is that it is often desired to deposit seed and fertiliser at the same time in the trench created by the boot.
• the close placement of fertiliser to the seed can cause burning of the seed.
• a boot which incorporates at least two guides,
• the other guide capable of directing fertiliser into the trench created by the boot
• the guides ensure that the seed and the fertiliser are placed in separate positions from each other.
• the guides in the boot may come in various forms but in preferred embodiments the guides are in the form of internal tubes.
• a first internal tube may at the rear of the boot situated higher than an internal tube immediately in front of the first tube.
• the rear tube in this embodiment may deliver seed behind and above fertiliser delivered by the front tube.
• the heights of the base of the tubes may be determined by having the outlet seed tube at an angle to create a space between the outlet of the tube and seed bed so that the seed can fall between the base of the boot into the soil bed created by the boot.
• a boot for ground working characterised in that the toe of the boot sits higher than the cutting edge of the ground working blade with which the boot operates.
• the boot can readily ride over rocks, roots, pipes and the like which would otherwise be caught by the boot if the toe was brought to a point level with the base of the boot. This is also the point of highest wear and a toe so designed reduces the degree of damage. This is believed to be a significant advantage over the design of previous boots.
• the width of the boot may be narrower than other boots. This also reduces the chance of "smearing” as described previously and reduces the chance of moisture loss as there is minimum disturbance of the soil.
• Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side view of a method of operating a blade in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
• Figure 2 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of an alternate method of operating a blade in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention
• Figure 3 is a diagrammatic side view of a boot in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention
• Figure 4 is a diagrammatic end view of the boot illustrated in Figure 3.
• Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view showing how the distance between the boot and blade can be adjusted.
• FIG. 1 there is provided ground working apparatus generally illustrated by arrow 1 which can operate a blade 2 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
• a drag arm 3 depends from a ground working unit (not shown).
• a shaft 4 extends from the drag arm 3.
• the longitudinal axis of the shaft 4 is at approximately right angles to the direction of travel of the drag arm 3.
• Bearings 8 enable the shaft 4 to rotate with respect to the drag arm 3.
• an off-set portion 6 At the end of the shaft 4 closest to the blade 2 is an off-set portion 6.
• the off-set portion 6 is connected to a hub 7 onto which the blade 2 is mounted.
• the shape of the off-set portion 6 and its relationship to the shaft 4 and the hub 7 is such that the central longitudinal axis of the hub 7 is not aligned with the central longitudinal axis of the shaft 4. Further, the off-set portion 6 causes the hub 7 to tilt with respect to the vertical. This relationship is shown in exaggerated form in Figure 1A.
• the hub 7 is journalled for free rotation on the off-set portion- 6 by the use of suitable bearings (not shown) such as for example taper roller bearings.
• the hub 7 is held into place on the off-set portion 6 by a nut 8.
• the blade 2 is fixed with respect to the hub 7.
• a hydraulic motor (not shown) is directly coupled to the shaft 4 via a flexible universal coupling (not shown) which may accommodate slight irregularities in alignment.
• Drive mechanisms other than hydraulic motors may of course be used - for example electric motors, belts or counter shaft mechanisms.
• the blade 2 naturally rotates in the same direction as the shaft 4.
• the direction of rotation of the shaft 4 is counter to the direction in which the blade 2 would rotate with no drive applied and being pulled through the ground by the ground working apparatus.
• the substantially vertical vibrations and sideways vibrations still occur when the blade 2 is in the ground and being towed by the ground working apparatus.
• the center of the hub 7 at point X is approximately 2 millimetres out of alignment from the central axis of the shaft 4. Through the rotation of the hub 7, this provides a 4 millimeter movement to the blade in the vertical direction.
• the degree ⁇ between the central axes is 0.25°.
• the offset will of course vary with blade sizes. It can be seen that this slight off-set can give a very fine sideways vibrational movement to the blade 2.
• Figure 2 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the present invention in which a similar movement can be imparted to a blade 9.
• the eccentric sleeve 10 is milled so that it has a varying wall thickness and is skewed with respect to a drive shaft 11.
• the drive shaft 11 is driven by a hydraulic motor 12.
• the sleeve 10 may be fixed directly to the drive shaft 11 by grub screws 12A.
• the inner bearings 13 allow ready rotation of the sleeve 10.
• Outer bearings 15 are positioned between the outer walls of the sleeve 10 and the blade 9.
• the hydraulic motor 12 causes the shaft 11 to rotate which in turn rotates the eccentric sleeve 10 affixed to same.
• the eccentric sleeve 10 turns between the inner bearings 13 and the outer bearings 15.
• the rotation of the sleeve 10 pushing against the outer bearings 15 imparts the required motion to the blade 9. It is the varying thickness of the eccentric sleeve 10 that gives a vertical movement to the blade 9.
• the skew of the eccentric sleeve 10 provides a sideways movement to the blade 9.
• Figure 3 illustrates a boot which can be used with a vibrating blade in accordance with the present invention or with a standard blade.
• the boot generally indicated by arrow 16 comprises a toe 17, a first leading face 18, a second face 19, a seed tube generally indicated by arrow 20 and a base 21.
• FIG. 1 An end view of the boot 16 is illustrated in Figure 4.
• the face 18 has a curvature which is similar to that of the blade (not shown) with which it is to co-operate. In preferred embodiments of the present invention the face 18 is positioned in the order of 0.001 to 3 millimetres from the blade.
• the co-operation of the blade with the face 18 may cause a guillotining action. This can act to cut trash thereby improving the performance of the ground working apparatus.
• the face 19 is angled to prevent trash riding up or sliding around the boot 16. This also prevents trash becoming stuck between the seed tube 20 and other parts of the ground working unit (not shown).
• the seed tube 20 is divided into two tubes or guides 21 and 22.
• the outlet of the seed tube 20 generally indicated by arrow 23 is angled with respect to the base 21 of the boot 16.
• the angling of the outlet 23 ensures that the seed is deposited behind and above the fertiliser delivered through the tube 22. This ensures that the placement of the seed and the fertiliser is not so close so as to cause the seed to be burnt by the fertiliser.
• the seed tube 20 extends out from the sides of the main portion of the boot 16 (see Figure 4). This assists in clearing trash away from the channel opened out by the boot 16.
• the toe 17 of the boot 16 sits higher than the base 21 of the boot 16 and also higher than the cutting edge of the blade with which the boot is to co-operate. By having the toe 17 higher, the boot 16 can readily ride over rocks, roots, pipes and the like with would otherwise be caught by the boot 16 if the toe 17 was brought to a point level with the base 21 of the boot 16.
• Figure 5 illustrates how the clearance between the blade 2 and the boot 23 can be adjusted. It is important that clearance be adjustable to account for differing amounts of trash on the ground and for wear on the blade or boot.

Landscapes

• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Soil Sciences (AREA)
• Environmental Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Soil Working Implements (AREA)
• Disintegrating Or Milling (AREA)
• Steroid Compounds (AREA)
• Harvester Elements (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=19925960

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

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• 1998
  • 1998-03-23 CA CA002284703A patent/CA2284703A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1998-03-23 EP EP98914168A patent/EP1011304A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1998-03-23 WO PCT/NZ1998/000043 patent/WO1998042175A2/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1998-03-23 AU AU68584/98A patent/AU6858498A/en not_active Abandoned

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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