EP3576514A1

EP3576514A1 - Cultivator, especially for within-the-row cultivation

Info

Publication number: EP3576514A1
Application number: EP18747257.6A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Benedek Horváth
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2017-02-02
Filing date: 2018-01-24
Publication date: 2019-12-11
Also published as: EA037622B1; WO2018142172A1; EP3576514A4; EA201991663A1; MD4825C1; HU231007B1; MD4825B1; UA124437C2; MD20190060A2; HUP1700050A2

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

CULTIVATOR, ESPECIALLY FOR WITHIN-THE-ROW CULTIVATION

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This application relates to a cultivator, especially for within-the-row cultivation, which is a field agricultural machine.

[0002] As it is well known, the agrotechnical purpose of the„within-the-row cultivation" is to prevent soil spillage and to facilitate soil ventilation between the plant rows, furthermore to allow moisture to infiltrate rootstocks and to eradicate weeds. For the successful implementation of these operations, the main requirements for the field cultivators are currently, as follows: efficient destruction/eradication of weeds within the plant rows;

soil loosening without any clogging (lump structure) and dusting;

within-the-row-cultivation, but free from damage of crops and soil compaction; large area performance, wherein the used technology allows the within-the-row cultivation several times during the season.

[0003] Various cultivators are known in the art (e.g. DE2'528'928. and US4'646'850), where the tillage tools are formed as rotary hoes. The common feature of these solutions is that the rotational axes of each rotary hoes - arranged in groups or individually on a frame attached to a tractor - are always parallel to the ground surface to be cultivated, in their working position.

[0004] However, due to their structural design and arrangement and their high weight, these solutions are only able to work with a amall working depth of not more than 10-12 cm, and they work in a cleared way, that is, they are not able to cultivate the entire soil surface. That is why, by using the above-mentioned cultivators, inevitably untreated soil parts remain behind, weeds are cut only partially and they are buried with soil, but these weeds mostly shoot again shortly.

[0005] According to our experience, a further prblem of the above solutions is that, due to the small and the limited cultivation width of the rotating hoes, they are only able to culti- vate the soil surface with a low efficiency. As a consequence, only an unacceptably poor herbicidal (weed killer) effect can be reached. On the other hand, due to the excessive weight of the above cultivators and the excessive traction energy required, one has to calculate with a relatively low efficiency of the field cultivation.

[0006] It follows from the foregoing that the above mentioned cultivators having rotary hoes can only be used in a limited way, since they are exclusively capable to cultivate the soil surface only at a small working depth of 10 to 12 cm and a small cultivation width. Therefore, they can be used with acceptable results only, when there are no weeds in the soil or just after the weeding of the weeds, when the weeds are still small.

[0007] According to our practical experience, in the world's large-scale field plant cultivation the known cultivators for the within-the-row cultivation are more and more ousted. The main reason of this is the lack of high-capacity cultivators.

[0008) In essence, a hoe as a tilling tool consisting of a cutting member fixed to a support bar or stem has been unchanged for thousands of years. In a method of killing weeds, there is no significant change in the fact that the stem is a toolpiece that people move in the soil and its cutting member cuts the roots of the plants, or the same stem is attached to a carriage and is pulled by a chassis.

[0009] Not only the weed killing methods alone, but also the problems associated with these traditional methods have been known for thousands of years. These existing technological problems are, as follows: a high level of operational insecurity of cultivators;

high risk of cultivator clogging;

short service life of cultivators;

high uncertainty factor in killing of weeds;

small area performance of cultivators;

drastical cutting-out of crop;

inefficient crushing of soil clods;

uneven ground surfaces after cultivation;

possibility of weed re-shoot;

impossibility of killing weeds just in the crop row, too. [0010] All of these shortcomings were sufficient to allow farmers to exclude the within-the- row cultivation from their agricultural technologies, although its impact on crop yields, production safety improvements, cost-cutting effects and environmental significance are commonly known. Another problem is that, for these reasons, the associated working steps that should be carried out, such as, for example, destruction of chemical-resistant weeds by means of the within-the-row cultivation and filling soil into the plant rows necessarily fall short.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Therefore, a primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved solution that is reliable and robust, practically non-clogging, long lasting, root-saving, reduces yield loss even when the cultivator is inadequately guided along the plant rows, it provides a uniform flat soil surface after cultivation and reduces the possibility of weeds' revival and does not cover the crops with soil, and allows the killing of weeds in the plant rows, too.

[0012] It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved within-the-row cultivator that is able to work with a relatively large working width and completely cultivate the whole soil surface, thus achieving a perfect weed control and soil loosening.

[0013] It is still another object of the invention to increase the efficiency and economy of the within-the-row cultivation.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0014] The cultivator of the present invention is capable mainly for within-the-row cultivation, having a frame attached to a tractor or a towed structure. The frame is provided with at least one cultivating unit with a rotary hoe member (as cutting tool) having an inclined rotary axis. The essence of the invention lies in that the cultivating unit is parallel guided on the frame and provided with a tool holder arranged transversely adjustable on the frame in relation to a travel direction of the cultivator. Furthermore, on the frame hoe wheels of the at least two adjacent rotary hoe members are arranged along the cultivated plant row and in a row spacing, in the direction of travel. Each of the at least two adjacent rotary hoe members has laterally and rearwardly inclined rotary axis so that hoe wheels of the adja- cent rotary hoe members are rotatable in opposite directions. In the cultivation unit a rranged in the row spacing, the hoe wheels of the adjacent rotary hoe members are a rranged behind each other in the direction of travel. Furthermore, each rotary hoe member of the cultivating unit is associated with a protective disc located on a cultivation side of the rotary hoe member, beside the plant row.

[0015] Preferably the hoe wheels of the at least two adjacent rotary hoe members in the cultivation unit are so arranged on the tool holder behind each other that one of the laterally and rearwardly inclined rotary axes is inclined to the left-hand side, while the other is inclined to the right-hand side for cultivating a predetermined working width of the row spacing.

[0016] According to a further feature of the invention, the at least two rotary hoe members are transversal adjustably fixed on the tool holder in relation to the travel direction for adjusting the working width of the cultivation unit.

[0017] Preferably, the relative height position of the protective disc on the cultivation unit is adjustable in order to regulate a soil layer thickness directed/deflected transversely to the travel direction by the protective disc.

[0018] Further advantages can be achieved by providing the cultivation units with parallel guides and supported by a height adjustable wheel that allows the soil to be directed to the plant row for suppression of small weeds or for directing soil just pulling away from the plant row so as to prevent covering of small plants with earth.

[0019] In a preferred embodiment of the cultivator according to the invention, for the above purpose, in addition to swinging arms providing parallel guides, the cultivating units are associated with protective disks, which are both capable of completely preventing the direction of soil to the plant row and by adjusting the height and the cultivation depth to control the amount of soil directed towards the plant row for weed control, in accordance with the state of the cultivated crop.

[0020] According to our experience in soil cultivation, we also have to consider the problem that soil hardness is constantly changing as a result of rains. In the deeper places, the soil is persistently softer because the moisture evaporates later, while the soil of higher areas becomes harder earlier because the moisture evaporates faster. As a consequence, even by means of the height adjustable wheels can not be accurately adjusted to the extent to which the rotating hoe members have to direct the soil to or out of the plant row. In many cases, a further problem is that the soil surface is uneven due to poor quality seedbed preparation. In this case, it is hardly possible to accurately adjust the direction of soil drift (deflection) with the rotary hoe members, depending on the terrain unevenniss, in some cases, it happens towards the plant row, in other cases, however, away from the plant row.

[0021] This special problem can also be solved by application of the proposed protective discs according to the invention, which are always arranged in front of the axis of rotation of the associated rotary hoe member, because according to our expereiences the relative movement in the direction of the plant row of hoe teeth being in front of the rotation axis direct mainly the soil towards the plant row.

[0022] An essential element of the inventive idea is that the amount of soil deflected (directed) to the plant row can be adjusted by adjusting the relative height of the protective disc with respect to the hoe wheel of the rotary hoe member, consciously and according to the current agronomic requirements, and which remains constant regardless of terrain un- evenness and soil hardness. This is an important feature because this measure will allow covering sprouting weeds with soil even in the case of small-scale crops.

[0023] The present invention is based on the recognition that the actual problems of the within-the-row cultivation can be solved by improving the traditional cultivators containing rolling hoes, when the adjacent rotary hoe members are arranged on the frame in the proposed manner one behind the other and cutting elements of their hoe wheels always rotate (move) off the plant rows. The cultivator according to the invention thus provides a complex solution that allows field cultivation techniques to be significantly upgraded and economically improved.

[0024] These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled person in the art from the description which follows and from the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0025] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a cultivator according to the invention in a perspective view; [0026] FIG. 2 illustrates a detail of the Figure 1 is a top-view, namely a top-view of two cultivating units;

[0027] FIG. 3 illustrates the side-view of a detail of FIG.2;

[0028] FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of a detail of FIG. 3;

[0029] FIG. 5 shows a relatively larger perspective view of a detail of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0030] A cultivator K for the within-the-row cultivation according to the invention of FIG. 1 comprises a frame 1 with a beam 2 extending transversally to a forward movement/direction of the cultivator K designated by an arrow 16. The frame 1 is provided with a transversal beam 2 and hitch structure (not illustrated in detail; e.g. known three-point suspension structure) adapted for connection of the cultivator K to a tractor or other towed structure (not illustrated) for forward movement 16 of the cultivator K. In this case, the hitch structure of the frame 1 is provided with two lower coupling heads 3 and one upper coupling head 4 for suspending the cultivator K on the tractor.

[0031] In FIGs. 1-3, the frame 1 of the cultivator K is supported on the ground on both sides by support wheels 5. In FIG. 2, plant rows (in this case, rows of maize stalks) are indicated by reference number 6. On the beam 2 of the frame 1, for each row spacing 6A by means of a parallel guidance 7 a cultivating unit 8 is mounted, so there are altogether eight cultivating units 8, in this case (FIG. 1).

[0032] FIG. 2 is a top-view of the two neighboring cultivation units 8 of the cultivator K according to the invention in a top-view, and FIG. 3 is a side-view. It is to be noted that the other cultivation units 8 are of the same design.

[0033] As best seen in more detail in FIG. 4, each cultivating unit 8 is laterally movable secured to the transverse beam 2 of the frame 1 of the cultivator K, in the present case by means of a frame-like gripping unit 9. The parallel guidances 7 have articulated parallel arms for vertical displacement of the cultivating unit 8 which are hingedly connected to a tool holder 10 of the cultivating unit 8 for carrying working elements of the cultivating unit 8. In the present case, a depth adjusting (limiting) wheel 11 is vertically adjustably mounted to the front part of the tool holder 10 (FIGs. 3-4). Each cultivating unit 8 is provided with at least two rotary hoe members 12A and 12B as working elements (FIG. 2), which are provided in the present embodiment with the common tool holder 10 longitudinally and transversely adjustable. Within the same cultivation unit 8, the opposite rotation directions of the two rotary hoe members 12A and 12B are indicated by arrows 13A and 13B, respectively (FIG. 2).

[0034] It is to be noted that the preferred embodiment and arrangement of the rotary hoes have been disclosed in the prior PCT Application of the present Applicant under PCT/HU- 2009/000062 (herein referred to as reference).

[0035] Adjusting a depth of cultivation 24 by the cultivator 1 can be effected by adjusting the vertically position of the depth adjusing wheel 11 which can be done by vertically displacing a bracket 14 of the depth adjusing wheel 11 in a hub 15, and in the adjusted position the depth adjusing wheel 11 it is to be secured, e.g. by a screw 29 (FIG. 3).

[0036] In FIGs. 1-4., the forward direction of the cultivator K is designated by the arrow 16, and in FIG, 2, the plant rows to be cultivated are designated by 6, while row spacings by 6A, and individual plants in the plant rows 6 by 17, and the original soil surface to be cultivated is designated by 18.

[0037] FIGs. 2 and 3 illustrate the mounting of the two rotary hoe members 12A and 12B of the cultivation unit 8 onto the tool holder 10. The rotary hoe members 12A and 12B have hoe holders 19 that are connected to shackles 20 of the tool holder 10, and in longitudinal openings or boreholes (not shown) of the tool holder 10 they can be transversally displaced in order to adjust a working width 23 of the cultivation unit 8. The lateral position of the rotary hoe members 12A and 12B transversely adjusted on the hoe holder 19 can be fastened, e.g. by screws.

[0038] In FIGs. 1-3, the at least two rotary hoe members 12A and 12B of each cultivating unit 8 of the cultivator K of the present invention are mutually disposed in such a way that the direction of rotation 13A and 13B, respectively, of the two adjacent hoe wheels 21A and 21B of the rotary hoe members 12A and 12B are opposite to each other. In addition, in the arrangement according to the invention, such parts of the hoe wheels 21A and 21B of the rotary hoe members 12A and 12B having a laterally and rearwardly inclined rotary axis 22A and 22B, respectively (only schematically shown in FIGs. 2 and 3) that are closer to the individual plants 17 of the cultivated plant rows 6, but these parts perform practically the cultivation work. In FIG. 2, the working width between the adjacent plant rows 6 is designated by 23 and the adjustable working depth of cultivating unit 8 by 24 .

[0039] In the present case, within each cultivating unit 8, the angular position of their side and rearwardly inclined rotary axes 22A, 22B of the two adjacent rotary hoe members 12A and 12B can be the same. It is to be emphasized that, in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 2, seen in the forward direction 16, the rotary axis 12A of the front rotary hoe member 22A is inclined to left and rearward, while the rotation axis 12B of the rear rotary hoe member 22B is inclined to the right and backward.

[0040] Thanks to this arrangement, the rotary hoe members 12A and 12B of two adjacent cultivating units 8 of FIGs2- 3 cultivate a row spacing 6A (in case of maize it can be of 70-75 cm) of the 6 plant rows in a working width 23 of approximately 65 cm, in such a way that the front hoe member 12A cultivates the left part of the entire working width 23 of the row spacing 6A, while the rear rotary hoe member 12B cultivates the right part thereof, preferably with an overlapping of 15-25 cm in the middle of the row spacing 6A. In this case, the hoe wheels (rotors) 21A and 21B of rotary hoe members 12A and 10B have the same diameter ( e.g. 50 cm).

[0041] The hoe wheels 21A and 21B of the rotary hoe members 12A and 12B of the cultivation units 8 are freely rotatable arranged around their rotary axis 22A and 22B, respectively, in a hub 26 fixed to the hoe holder 19. The predetermined inclined angular position of the rotary axes 22A and 22B of the hoe wheels 21A and 21B relative to the soil surface 18 remains constant during the cultivation. The hoe wheels 21A and 21B are provided with radial and arched hoe teeth (knives) 27 which are arranged in equal distances along the periphery and are located in a common plane of the corresponding hoe wheel. The free ends of the hoe teeth 27 of the hoe wheel 21B, being in forced cooperation with the soil, are curved backwards, opposite to the direction of rotation as indicated by the arrow 13B (FIG. 5).

[0042] In FIG. 3, it can be seen that the rotary hoe members 12A and 12B in the cultivation units 8 are secured on the tool holder 10- for lateral displacement thereof - with 28 screws. The depth-limiting/adjusting wheel 11, which is adjustable in the vertical direction, is se- cured to the tool holder 10 by means of 29 bolts (FIGs. 2 and 3). In front of each rotary hoe members 12A or 12B, a support arm 30 is laterally movable arranged relative to the rotary hoe members 12A or 12B (FIGs. 4-5). The support arms 30 are provided with holes 31. By one of the holes 31 a swinging arm 33 can be connected to the support arm 30 by means of a screw 32. To the swinging arm 33 a threaded shaft 35 is secured by means of a nut 34, on which a protective disc 38 of the present invention is freely rotatably embedded.

[0043] The swinging arm 33 has a spring tensioning extension 39 (FIG. 5). The support arm 30 is coupled to a spring adjusting bag 40, whose position in the forward direction 16 can be adjusted by means of a screw 41. The spring tensioning extebnsion 39 and the spring adjusting bag 40 are coupled together by a spring 42. The lateral displacement and securing of the support arm 30 perpendiculars to the direction of travel 16 is solved by another 43 bag that is secured to the rotary hoe member 12A or 12B.

[0044] The cultivator K according to the invention operates in such a way that, during development in the travel direction 16, the hoe teeth 27 of the hoe wheels 21A and 21B of the rotary hoe members 12A and 12B, respectively, rotate away from the plant rows 6 (see the rotation directions in FIG. 2)-. Thereby they are able to kill effectively the weeds and to cover the weeds with soil, and to break into small pieces the surface soil layer, and to level the broken soil parts, and to cut weed stems, that are crushed and cutted into pieces, and to remove soil parts from the cut weed roots, and to scale off the weed leaves, that is to say, a variety of different weed killing steps are carried out in a very effective way. According to our field experiments, the teeth/knives 36 of the hoe wheels 21A and 21B of the rotary hoe members 12A and 12B are long lasting, reliable, furthermore, they don't need any control and are practically never clogged.

[0045] A surplus agronomic effect of the invention lies in that especially by association of the protective discs 38 with the rotary hoe members 12A and 12B the invented cultivator K, at crops have just come up or at plants in the early developing state, a covering of the crop plants 17 in the plant rows 6 can be prevented (FIG. 2), but clocking and suppression (closing from light) of the weeds in the row spacings 6A can be fulfil effectively.

[0046] When cultivating the crop, the protective discs 38 freely roll on the ground surface 18, but the discs 38 are preferably loaded onto the ground, e.g. in the present case, by ap- plying a prestressed force of the spring 42. This prestress can be adjusted by displacement of the spring adjusting bag 40 in the forward direction 16 and its securing by a screw 41 in its new position, and by engaging the spring 42 in another one of the holes 45 formed in the spring tensioning extension 39.

[0047] In case of plants of different development stage, the cultivator K of the present invention also allows a special lateral soil deflection (FIG. 2) by means of the protective disks 38, which effectively chokes (kills) the weeds in the row spacings 6A, but surprisingly in the plant rows 6, too. In this way,

[0048] The thickness 44 of the lateral soil deflection (see FIG. 3) depends on the fact, how far the protective disc 38 is from the soil surface 18. As already mentioned above, the vertical position of the protective disc 38 can be adjusted, in the most simple way, by transferring a bolt 47 of a limiting chain 46 in another hole 48 of the swinging arm 33, or by shorthening the length of the limiting chain 46 (FIG. 5). It is to be noted that one end of the limiting chain 46 is secured to the bolt 47 and thereby to the swinging arm 33, but the other end to the support arm 30.

[0049] By using the cultivartor K according to the invention, the technology and economics of field cultivation can be surprisingly improved.

[0047] LIST OF USED REFERENCE CHARACTERS

K - cultivator 24 - depth of cultivation

1 - frame 25 - rotary axis of hub (26)

2 - beam 26 - hub

3 - lower coupling head 27 - hoe tooth/knives

4 - upper coupling head 28 - screw

5 - support wheel 29 - bolt

6 - plant row 30 - support arm

6A - row spacing 31 - hole

7 - parallel guidance 32 - screw

8 - cultivating unit 33 - swinging arm

9 -gripping unit 34 - nut

10 - tool holder 35 - threaded shaft

11 - depth limiting/adjusting wheel 36 -screw37 - screw

12A and 12B - rotary hoe member 38 - protective disc

13A and 13B - direction of rotation 39 - spring tensioning extension 14 - bracket 40 - spring adjusting bag

15 - hub 41 - screw

16 - arrow (forward direction/travel di42 - spring

rection of the cultivator) 43 - bag for lateral adjustment

17 - individual plant 44 - soil layer thickness (deflected later¬

18 - original soil surface (to be cultivated) ally by the protective disc)

19 - hoe holder 45 - hole

20 - shackle 46 - limiting chain

21A and 21B - hoe wheel (rotor) 47 - bolt

22A and 22B - rotary axes 48 - hole

23 - working width

Claims

C L A I M S :

1. In a cultivator mainly for within-the-row cultivation, having a frame attached to a tractor or a towed structure, said frame is provided with at least one cultivating unit with a rotary hoe member having an inclined rotary axis, as cutting tool, c h a ra ct e r i z e d i n that the cultivating unit (8) is parallel guided on the frame (1) and provided with a tool holder (10) arranged transversely adjustable on the frame (1) in relation to a travel direction (16) of the cultivator (K), and 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 the row spacing (6A), in the direction of travel (16) the hoe wheels (21A, 21B) have laterally and rearwardly inclined rotary axis (22A, 22B) so that the hoe wheels (21A, 21B) of the adjacent rotary hoe members (12A, 12B) are rotatable in opposite directions, furthermore, in the cultivation unit (8) arranged in the row spacing (6A), the hoe wheels (21A, 21B) of the adjacent rotary hoe members (12A, 12B) are arranged behind each other in the direction of travel (16), and each rotary hoe member (12A, 12B) of the cultivating unit (8) is associated with a protective disc (38) located on a cultivation side of the rotary hoe member (12A, 12B), beside the plant row (6).

2. The cultivator according to claim 1, characterized in that the hoe wheels (21A, 21B) of the two adjacent rotary hoe members (12A, 12B) in the cultivation unit (8) are so a rranged behind each other on the tool holder (10) that one of the laterally a n d re a r- w a rd l y i nclined rotary axes (22A, 22B) is inclined to the left-hand side, while the other is inclined to the right-hand side for cultivating a predetermined working width (23) of the row spacing (6A).

3. The cultivator according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that for adjusting the working width (23) of the cultivation unit (8) the at least two rotary hoe members (12A, 12B) are transversal adjustably fixed on the tool holder (10).

4. The cultivator according to claim 1, characterized in that the relative height position of the protective disc (38) on the cultivation unit (8) is adjustable in order to regulate a soil layer thickness (44) directed transversely to the travel direction (16) by the protection disc (38) .

For he Applicant: