FR3055510A1 - VEHICLE AUTOPORTE FOR CUTTING AND GRINDING PLANTS - Google Patents

Abstract

The self-propelled plant cutting and crushing vehicle (1) comprises a power unit (8) rotating, on the one hand, a cutting and grinding tool (9) and, on the other hand, at least two wheels engines (7) ensuring the movement of the vehicle (1), said driving wheels (7) being each equipped with a transmission adapted to selectively drive the wheel (7) on which the transmission is mounted and allow the vehicle (1) to rotate on himself. The cutting and grinding tool (9) comprises at least one rotating shaft about a horizontal axis of rotation, said shaft being provided with knives fixed perpendicularly to the shaft, rotatable in the vertical plane and said shaft is mounted perpendicularly. in the direction of movement (F) of the vehicle (1).

Description

® FRENCH REPUBLIC

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY © Publication number:

(to be used only for reproduction orders) (© National registration number

055 510

01328

COURBEVOIE © Int Cl ⁸ : A 01 D 34/43 (2017.01)

PATENT INVENTION APPLICATION

A1

©) Date of filing: 08.09.16. © Applicant (s): F.M. SA FORGES DES MARGE- (30) Priority: RIDES Simplified joint-stock company - FR. @ Inventor (s): BESOGNE PATRICK and BONNIN EMMANUEL. (43) Date of public availability of the request: 09.03.18 Bulletin 18/10. ©) List of documents cited in the report preliminary research: Refer to end of present booklet (© References to other national documents ® Holder (s): F.M. SA FORGES DES MARGERIDES related: Joint stock company. ©) Extension request (s): © Agent (s): CABINET LUERN.

SELF - SUPPORTING VEHICLE FOR CUTTING AND GRINDING PLANTS.

FR 3 055 510 - A1 (3d> The self-supporting vehicle (1) for cutting and grinding plants comprises a power train (8) driving in rotation, on the one hand, a cutting and grinding tool (9) and, on the other hand, at least two drive wheels (7) ensuring the movement of the vehicle (1), said drive wheels (7) each being equipped with a transmission adapted to selectively drive the wheel (7) on which the transmission is mounted and allowing the vehicle (1) to pivot on itself. The cutting and grinding tool (9) comprises at least one rotary shaft about a horizontal axis of rotation, said shaft being provided with knives fixed perpendicular to the 'shaft, rotating in the vertical plane and said shaft is mounted perpendicular to the direction of movement (F) of the vehicle (1).

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SELF-SUPPORTING VEHICLE FOR CUTTING AND GRINDING PLANTS

The present invention relates to a self-supporting vehicle for cutting and grinding plants.

A self-supporting vehicle for cutting and shredding plants is a type of agricultural vehicle with a driver, that is to say a self-propelled machine with the driver seated. A vehicle for cutting and grinding plants, whether on foot or self-supporting is, within the framework of the invention, an agricultural work machine particularly suitable for cutting and grinding herbs. Thus, a vehicle as concerned by the invention is used for, in general, maintenance work on lawns and green spaces, private or public, and also for so-called heavy maintenance work such as mowing stadium lawns, approaching traffic lanes, motorway embankments or other work more generally carried out by professionals.

In the case of vehicles for cutting and grinding self-supporting plants, there are machines of which a cutting tool comprises one or more blades that are rotating in a horizontal plane around a vertical axis. De facto, such vehicles are large capacity riding mowers, or even small mowing tractors. This type of vehicle can be fitted, removably or not, with a chopping member, therefore for grinding, of the grass into small pieces. Such a body, frequently referred to as mulching, allows the chopped grass to be left on the ground, like a mulch. This chopped grass covers the ground and provides protection against dryness of the soil as well as a supply of organic matter, like a fertilizer.

Subsequently, in order to facilitate reading, the expressions “cutting vehicle” and “cutting tool” will also be used in place of the expressions “cutting and grinding vehicle” and “cutting and grinding tool”;

Such cutting vehicles, known from the state of the art, are only really effective for grasses not exceeding 5 cm in height and / or plants whose stem diameter is less than 1 cm, it being understood that these herbs and plants should be flexible enough to be bent and drawn under the cutting tool.

In addition, the intervention areas of these vehicles are more or less congested by the presence of trees, rocks, cultivated or flowered areas. Therefore, cutting and / or grinding herbs and plants requires frequent maneuvers, which increases the intervention time. For brushcutting actions, i.e. cutting tall grass, for example more than 10 cm high and / or plants with a diameter greater than 1 cm, shrubs, brush and brambles, such vehicles are ill-suited. One generally uses either a portable machine with thermal or electric engine, or a brushcutter tool towed by a tractor, or a vehicle of the quad type, or even a self-propelled brushcutter with driver on foot.

It is to these drawbacks that the invention more particularly intends to remedy by proposing a self-supporting vehicle for cutting and grinding plants, of a simplified manufacture and implementation, making it possible to carry out rapid intervention on a area to mow or brush, regardless of the size and / or diameter of the plants to be cut.

To this end, the subject of the invention is a self-supporting vehicle for cutting and grinding plants comprising a powertrain driving in rotation, on the one hand, a cutting and grinding tool and, on the other hand, at least two driving wheels ensuring the movement of the vehicle, said driving wheels being each equipped with a transmission adapted to selectively drive the wheel on which the transmission is mounted and allow the vehicle to pivot on itself, characterized in that the cutting tool and grinding comprises at least one rotary shaft about a horizontal axis of rotation, said shaft being provided with knives fixed perpendicular to the shaft, rotating in the vertical plane and in that said shaft is mounted perpendicular to the direction of movement of the vehicle.

Thus, it is possible to use such a vehicle to carry out both lawn mowing and brushcutting operations on plants of large diameters and / or heights, since the contact zone between the cutting and grinding tool and the plants is situated substantially in a vertical part, in a space whose height is defined by the distance between the cutting blade and the ground. A cut of the plant is no longer made solely from its free end as with a brushcutter or a ride-on mower of the prior art but from an area of the plant between the free end and the base of the plant . Cutting with rotary knives in a vertical plane around a horizontal tree makes it easy to cut plants other than lawn, while chopping the cut grass and therefore mulching operations.

The presence of a dedicated wheel transmission allows the vehicle to have a very small turning radius, advantageously almost zero, which makes it possible to quickly overcome obstacles without additional maneuver. It is then possible to reduce the intervention time of the vehicle on the area to be mowed or brushed.

According to advantageous but not compulsory aspects of the invention, such a vehicle may include one or more of the following characteristics:

- the cutting and grinding tool is rotated counterclockwise.

- The length of the cutting and grinding tool is greater than the width of the vehicle.

- The vehicle is provided with at least one steering wheel, the cutting and grinding tool being placed between the driving and steering wheels.

The invention will be better understood and other advantages thereof will appear more clearly on reading the description which will follow of several embodiments of the invention, given by way of nonlimiting example and made with reference to following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, from above, of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 2 is a side view, on another scale, of the vehicle of FIG. 1,

- Figure 3 is a front view of the vehicle of Figure 1 and

- Figure 4 is a bottom view of the vehicle of Figure 1.

FIG. 1 illustrates a first embodiment of a vehicle for cutting and grinding plants according to the invention. Subsequently, to promote reading, the term shredder will also be used to designate such a vehicle, it being understood that this term usually designates a towed vehicle.

The vehicle 1 comprises a chassis 2 supporting, in the upper part, the driver's seat 3 and the controls of the machine, in particular the levers 4, 5 for controlling the direction. The seat 3 is positioned above the wheels 6, 7, slightly forward relative to the direction of movement of the vehicle 1, illustrated by the double arrow F.

A powertrain 8 is mounted behind the seat 3, therefore vertically to the wheels 6, 7. Such a configuration makes it possible to raise the chassis 2 while optimizing the distribution of loads, with a center of gravity located between the wheels 6, 7 and the cutting tool 9. As will appear on looking at FIG. 2, a raised chassis allows a greater amplitude in the settings of the cutting tool 9.

Here, the vehicle 1 or shredder is equipped with two steered wheels 10,11. In a variant not shown, only one steering wheel is provided. In other embodiments, the steered wheels are also driven.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the cutting tool 9 is mounted between the driving wheels 6, 7 and the steering wheels 10, 11. Such a configuration allows a large amplitude in the choice of cutting heights. In particular, the contact zone between the cutting tool and the plants is defined over an area equivalent to that of the cutting tool 9.

As shown in Figure 2, the cutting tool 9 is provided with support members

12, facilitating its support and its movement on the ground, in the low cutting position. Here, the support members are represented by rollers, visible in Figure 4 and arranged on two parallel edges of the cutting tool 9. It is understood that such members may be different from those illustrated.

The cutting tool 9, as shown in FIG. 4, comprises a rotation shaft 13 equipped with several knives 14. The shaft 13 has a circular or generally circular cross section. The knives 14 are in the form of flattened legs configured in L, the small branch of the L having bevelled edges to obtain cutting edges. Such knives 14 are also called flails.

The knives 14 are fixed perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the shaft 13, in pairs, using a shackle type piece allowing the movements of the knives 14 relative to the shaft 13 as well as their change. The shaft 13 is arranged perpendicular to the direction of movement of the vehicle 1, that is to say along the width

L1 of the latter. The knives 14 are distributed regularly on the shaft 13 so that, according to the cross section of the shaft 13, there are never two pairs of knives 14 coplanar. In other words, the knives 14 are staggered on the shaft 13. Thus, during the rotation of the shaft 13, a cutting and grinding effect is obtained by the pairs of knives 14, also known as the denomination of plagues.

The shaft 13 is oriented along the width L1 of the shredder 1, with a total length L2 of the cutting tool 9 greater than the width L1, as shown in the figure

3. It is understood that this length L2 can be greater than that illustrated. As a variant, the cutting tool 9 comprises several shafts 13 arranged in series, that is to say aligned and articulated together, along the width L1 of the vehicle 1. In this case, the length I2 of the cutting tool. Alternatively, several shafts 13 are mounted in parallel. In this case, it is no longer systematically the length L2 of the cutting tool which is increased but, first of all, its width. It is understood that, in this case, the geometry of the shredder is adapted. In another embodiment, several parallel rows of abutting shafts 13 are provided.

A protective cover 15 covers the shaft 13 and the knives 14, thus providing protection for the driver and / or third parties, while allowing the cutting of plants. For this, the tool 9 is not only adjustable in height relative to the ground, according to the double arrow F1, but also, to a lesser extent, in inclination relative to the vertical, according to the double arrow F2.

The operation of such a vehicle 1 is now described with reference to the various figures. The powertrain 8 drives the driving wheels 6, 7 in rotation by a vertical, not visible output shaft. This vertical output shaft rotates, along a horizontal axis of rotation, the wheels 6, 7, via a transmission fitted to each of the wheels 6, 7. Such a transmission is advantageously of hydrostatic type. As a variant, it is of pneumatic, mechanical or hydraulic type.

Thus, when, by acting on the levers 4, 5, it is desired to rotate the mower shredder 1, a different speed of rotation is induced between the wheels 6, 7: the so-called inner wheel at the turn has a lower speed of rotation , or even zero, with respect to the wheel said to be external to the turn. Thus the shredder 1 can pivot on itself. Such a mode of transmission is known per se and commonly designated by the English name of zero turn or ZTR.

The powertrain 8 also drives the cutting tool 9 in rotation. For this, a belt 16, visible in FIG. 2, provides the connection between the powertrain 8 and the shaft 9. In order to transform a vertical rotation movement of the output shaft of the powertrain 8 in a rotation movement about a horizontal axis, the belt 16 is configured in eight. It is understood that, as a variant, it is replaced by a chain or by a set of several belts mounted in parallel, see by a reduction unit.

In all cases, the rotation of the shaft 13 is carried out in a trigonometric direction, therefore in the opposite direction relative to the direction of movement, in forward direction, of the vehicle.

1. Such a rotation of the shaft 13, generally close to 2500 revolutions / minute, allows cutting, whatever the direction of movement F of the vehicle 1, including when the vehicle pivots on itself. In other words, it is possible to mow, grind or brush in forward and reverse, in a straight line or in bends with the same cutting quality and keeping, in the various directions of movement of the mower-shredder, the ability to carry out mulching and therefore grinding.

Note, downstream of the steered wheels 10, 11 in the forward direction of the shredder 1, a rounded plate 17. This plate 17, in addition to protection of the conductor against plants and a role of bumper , ensures, by its shape, a partial folding of the plants thus facilitating their handling and their cutting by the tool

9. In another embodiment not illustrated, the plate 17 is replaced by a V-shaped part also ensuring the guiding of the plants towards the tool 9. According to another embodiment, such a part, when it is configured in V and is advantageously fixed to the tool 9. In this case, the shape and / or dimensions of another protective plate located at the front of the vehicle 1 may be different from those illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4 since this protective plate no longer performs the function of guiding the plants towards the cutting tool 9, due to the presence of the first V-shaped part.

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Claims (4)

1. - Self-supporting vehicle (1) for cutting and grinding plants comprising a powertrain (8) driving in rotation, on the one hand, a cutting and grinding tool (9) and, on the other hand, at least two driving wheels (6, 7) ensuring the movement (F) of the vehicle (1), said driving wheels (6, 7) being each equipped with a transmission adapted to selectively drive the wheel (6, 7) on which the transmission is mounted and allow the vehicle (1) to pivot on itself, characterized in that the cutting and grinding tool (9) comprises at least one shaft (13) rotating around a horizontal axis of rotation, said shaft (13) being provided with knives (14) fixed perpendicular to the shaft (13), rotating in the vertical plane and in that said shaft (13) is mounted perpendicular to the direction of movement (F) of the vehicle (1) . 2. - Vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that the rotation of the cutting and grinding tool (9) takes place in the opposite direction relative to the direction of movement, in forward gear, of the vehicle (1). 3. - Vehicle according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the length (L2) of the cutting and grinding tool (9) is greater than the width (L1) of the vehicle (1). 4. - Vehicle according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the vehicle (1) is provided with at least one steering wheel (10, 11), the cutting and grinding tool (9) being placed between the driving wheels (6, 7) and steering (10, 11). 1/2 2/2