GB1577430A

GB1577430A - Drive unit

Info

Publication number: GB1577430A
Application number: GB2403977A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Kverneland AS
Current assignee: Kverneland AS
Priority date: 1977-06-08
Filing date: 1977-06-08
Publication date: 1980-10-22

Description

(54) DRIVE UNITS (71) We, KVERNELAND A/S of 4344 Kvemaland, Norway a Norwegian body corporate, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The present invention relates to a drive unit, useful for pulling and steering fann implements, transportation equipment and other machinery.

According to the invention there is provided a drive unit which is supported on the ground by wheels arranged on one axis only and having drive means for driving said wheels and, at each of opposite ends of the unit in its direction of movement, a three-point connection for detachably connecting other equipment to the drive unit, each three-point connection being rotatable about a vertical axis to control the relative directions of travel of the drive unit and the attached equipment, so as to effect steering of the assembly.

As will emerge more clearly from the following discussion, the invention can provide a drive unit which in order to provide a useful assembly, is combined with the implement or machine it is to drive, but which nevertheless has the advantage that it can easily be connected and used with various unpowered implements or machines, and that it is relatively inexpensive.

The invention can also help solve problems associated with reversible ploughs, i.e. a plough with left-hand and right-hand plough bodies.

Furthermore, because a single drive unit can be associated in turn with several different nonpowered implements, the present invention enables the capital outlay necessary by a user of several implements to be reduced, since there is no need to buy more expensive, powered, versions of these implements.

The drive unit may include a power unit which may be operated hydrostatically or electrically, so that one may position the driven wheels and steering mechanisms as desired in an assembly of drive unit and implements attached to it.

In addition; power can easily be transferred from the drive unit to perform operations or work mechansims on the implement or implements attached to it. This means that new possibilities arise for electronic steering and power balancing and optimizing.

The drive unit can be used in conjunction with the great majority of the various types of implements in use today. Examples of relevant implements would be ploughs, harrows, sowing machines, dumpers, road graders, asphalt machines, potato diggers, combines, harvesters, rotary snow cutters, etc.

Embodiments of the invention will now be descirbed by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 includes side and top views of a drive unit of the invention connected to two ploughs, Figure 2 is a top view of two drive units connected to each other, and Figure 3 is a top view of two drive units connected to one plough.

The drive unit embodying the invention shown in the drawings, has, on a single axis, two ground contacting wheels (i), driven by a power unit (c). It has no other ground contacting load-carrying wheels. The driver's cab (h) is at one side. At each end of the unit is a three.

point connection or suspension (e) which is controllably pivotable about a vertical axis (f).

Some of the advantages of the invention can be seen in its use when connected to ploughs.

These commonly are associated with hydraulic lifting units to raise them off the ground when they are to be moved without ploughing. This system is also used with reversible ploughs, which have both left-turning and right-turning plough bodies. As improvements in tractor design have led to bigger and more powerful tractors, ploughs have also become bigger. This has resulted in some ploughs, especially reversible ones with left and right turning bodies on the same unit, becoming very heavy, and thus somewhat impractical to lift.

When using a plough, for example, as the implement (Figure 1), the drive embodying the invention is connected on one driving direction to a plough (a) having only right-turning ploughshares and in the other driving direction to a plough (b) having left-hand ploughshares only. The problem is size limitations for conventional reversible ploughs is thus ameliorated.

The self-driven ploughing unit thus formed then functions as a reversible plough, which can include plough units corresponding to the largest non-reversible ploughs that are ordinarliy used.

The drive unit (c) is balanced because ploughs of the same size are suspended on each side of the single pair of wheels (i).

During ploughing, this unit will have the advantage that it does not have to make 1800 turns as an ordinary tractor does. When one of the ploughs, for example, the right-turning plough, has been driven to the end of the field, this plough is raised up. The unit is then shifted slightly to one side. It can then continue in the opposite direction without having to turn, since the left-turning plough is now lowered into the working position. In this way, one cannot only save a great deal of time, but unnecessary driving on the turning strips which adversely affects the soil structure and consequently the yield, can be eliminated.

A drive unit having two wheels (i) only cannot be steered alone, so steering must be effected by means of the implement that is connected to it, for example, the plough.

Such a plough will have a support wheel (d) at the back and this will be capable of turning, possibly being hydraulically controlled from the drive unit, and may be used as the steering member for the unit when it is being driven but not performing work. When it is ploughing, steering can be effected by use of the threepoint suspension (e). This can be used to change the angle made by the drive unit and the plough (a,b) (and thus change their relative directions of movement) by rotation of the whole suspension (e) about the axis (f). In certain situations, the two methods of steering can be intergrated.

The drive unit has the same maximum speed in both driving directions. When the unit is to be driven with no implement connected to it, a rotatable wheel is attached to one of the threepoint connections, which will enable the unit to balance and simultaneously can act as the steering member.

In order to put sufficient weight on the wheels and on the plough that is working, in the assembly illustrated it is possible to fold up the upraised plough which is not being used, by means of a hinge (g), as shown in Figure 1, in order to shift its center of gravity nearer the centre of the drive unit. When driving on a slope, the three-point suspension carrying the elevated, possibly folded-up plough can be rotated around the axis (f) to shift its centre of gravity to the side, in order to obtain greater stability and to prevent the machine from tipping over sideways.

The driver of such a unit preferably sits transversely to the direction of driving, and will thus be able to supervise the direction of driving and the implement, respectively, by turning his head 90 in either direction. When driving a conventional four-wheeled tractor, the driver must turn his body and head 180 from looking in the direction of driving to looking at the working implement. It is common knowledge that the latter is a troublesome problem; The driving cab (h) thus has much improved ergonomic properties.

Should one drive unit have too little pulling power for the largest implements, two or more drive units can be connected together by their three-point suspensions and be driven synchronously. The steering will then be what is commonly called articulated but with the special advantage that steering can be effected about two axes (f) for each junction between two drive units, see Figure 2. One can then steer either by pivoting singly on one of the axes or by combined pivoting of both axes.

When driving on a slope, for example, one can easily adjust this steering arrangement to compensate for the slope.

If very great pulling power is required, the implement (j) can also be placed between two drive units, see Figure 3. The total unit will then have two axes of rotation (f). Such an arrangement also makes it possible to have a very large implement unit which at the same time can operate with other implements. At both the front and the back of the total unit shown on Figure 3, additional implements could also be mounted on the three-point suspensions (e).

In addition to its application with ploughs, the drive unit can also be used as an integrated part of all types of farming implements, transportation machinery, and various types of machines which are to be made mobile.

It will be appreciated that the unit described above can be simpler, less expensive and more efficient than a four-wheeled tractor. When used in ploughing and performing and other work, it has the particular advantage that it is not necessary to turn the machine 1800 at the end of each work pass, as is common when using a four-wheeled tractor. This means in turn that the implement and drive unit are more economic in use. It is also possible to operate the implement with a better grip between the tires and the ground and to take measures to improve the friction conditions prevailing.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. A drive unit which is supported on the ground by wheels arranged on one axis only

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. tractors, ploughs have also become bigger. This has resulted in some ploughs, especially reversible ones with left and right turning bodies on the same unit, becoming very heavy, and thus somewhat impractical to lift. When using a plough, for example, as the implement (Figure 1), the drive embodying the invention is connected on one driving direction to a plough (a) having only right-turning ploughshares and in the other driving direction to a plough (b) having left-hand ploughshares only. The problem is size limitations for conventional reversible ploughs is thus ameliorated. The self-driven ploughing unit thus formed then functions as a reversible plough, which can include plough units corresponding to the largest non-reversible ploughs that are ordinarliy used. The drive unit (c) is balanced because ploughs of the same size are suspended on each side of the single pair of wheels (i). During ploughing, this unit will have the advantage that it does not have to make 1800 turns as an ordinary tractor does. When one of the ploughs, for example, the right-turning plough, has been driven to the end of the field, this plough is raised up. The unit is then shifted slightly to one side. It can then continue in the opposite direction without having to turn, since the left-turning plough is now lowered into the working position. In this way, one cannot only save a great deal of time, but unnecessary driving on the turning strips which adversely affects the soil structure and consequently the yield, can be eliminated. A drive unit having two wheels (i) only cannot be steered alone, so steering must be effected by means of the implement that is connected to it, for example, the plough. Such a plough will have a support wheel (d) at the back and this will be capable of turning, possibly being hydraulically controlled from the drive unit, and may be used as the steering member for the unit when it is being driven but not performing work. When it is ploughing, steering can be effected by use of the threepoint suspension (e). This can be used to change the angle made by the drive unit and the plough (a,b) (and thus change their relative directions of movement) by rotation of the whole suspension (e) about the axis (f). In certain situations, the two methods of steering can be intergrated. The drive unit has the same maximum speed in both driving directions. When the unit is to be driven with no implement connected to it, a rotatable wheel is attached to one of the threepoint connections, which will enable the unit to balance and simultaneously can act as the steering member. In order to put sufficient weight on the wheels and on the plough that is working, in the assembly illustrated it is possible to fold up the upraised plough which is not being used, by means of a hinge (g), as shown in Figure 1, in order to shift its center of gravity nearer the centre of the drive unit. When driving on a slope, the three-point suspension carrying the elevated, possibly folded-up plough can be rotated around the axis (f) to shift its centre of gravity to the side, in order to obtain greater stability and to prevent the machine from tipping over sideways. The driver of such a unit preferably sits transversely to the direction of driving, and will thus be able to supervise the direction of driving and the implement, respectively, by turning his head 90 in either direction. When driving a conventional four-wheeled tractor, the driver must turn his body and head 180 from looking in the direction of driving to looking at the working implement. It is common knowledge that the latter is a troublesome problem; The driving cab (h) thus has much improved ergonomic properties. Should one drive unit have too little pulling power for the largest implements, two or more drive units can be connected together by their three-point suspensions and be driven synchronously. The steering will then be what is commonly called articulated but with the special advantage that steering can be effected about two axes (f) for each junction between two drive units, see Figure 2. One can then steer either by pivoting singly on one of the axes or by combined pivoting of both axes. When driving on a slope, for example, one can easily adjust this steering arrangement to compensate for the slope. If very great pulling power is required, the implement (j) can also be placed between two drive units, see Figure 3. The total unit will then have two axes of rotation (f). Such an arrangement also makes it possible to have a very large implement unit which at the same time can operate with other implements. At both the front and the back of the total unit shown on Figure 3, additional implements could also be mounted on the three-point suspensions (e). In addition to its application with ploughs, the drive unit can also be used as an integrated part of all types of farming implements, transportation machinery, and various types of machines which are to be made mobile. It will be appreciated that the unit described above can be simpler, less expensive and more efficient than a four-wheeled tractor. When used in ploughing and performing and other work, it has the particular advantage that it is not necessary to turn the machine 1800 at the end of each work pass, as is common when using a four-wheeled tractor. This means in turn that the implement and drive unit are more economic in use. It is also possible to operate the implement with a better grip between the tires and the ground and to take measures to improve the friction conditions prevailing. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1. A drive unit which is supported on the ground by wheels arranged on one axis only

and having drive means for driving said wheels and, at each of opposite ends of the unit in its direction of movement, a three-point connection for detachably connecting other equipment to the drive unit, each three-point connection being rotatable about a vertical axis to control the relative directions of travel of the drive unit and the attached equipment, so as to effect steering of the assembly.

2. A drive unit according to claim 1 having a driving cab arranged so that the forward facing direction of the driver is parallel to the said axis of the wheels.

3. A drive unit substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

4. An assembly consisting of two drive units each according to any one of the preceding claims and at least one implement connected between them.

5. An assembly consisting of two drive units each according to any one of claims 1 to 3 connected directly to each other.