GB1601046A

GB1601046A - Soil cultivating machines

Info

Publication number: GB1601046A
Application number: GB2285578A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Patent Concern NV
Current assignee: Patent Concern NV
Priority date: 1977-11-09
Filing date: 1978-05-25
Publication date: 1981-10-21
Also published as: FR2408287A1; GB1601047A; DE2847785A1; NL7712318A; FR2408287B1

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO SOIL CULTIVATING MACHINES (71) We, PATENT CONCERN N.V., of Willemstad, Curaqao, The Netherlands Antilles, a Limited Liability Company organised under the laws of The Netherlands Antilles, 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: This invention relates to soil cultivating machines.

According to the present invention there is provided a soil cultivating machine comprising a frame and a plurality of cultivating members journalled in this frame for rotation about upwardly extending axes, the machine comprising a transmission whereby the cultivating members can be selectively driven, from the power take-off shaft of a tractor, in one or other of two relatively opposite senses.

For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made by way of example to the accompanying drawings in vhich: Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of a soil cultivating machine, Figure 2 is a sectional side view of the machine of Figure 1 taken on the line Il-Il in Figure 1 but with parts omitted and on a larger scale, Figure 3 is a sectional side view with parts omitted taken on line III--III in Figure 1 and on a larger scale, Figure 4 is a sectional view of a detail taken on line IV-IV in Figure 2, Figure 5 is a view of a detail partly broken away and in section, taken in the direction of arrow V in Figure 2, Figure 6 is a sectional view of a detail taken on line VI--VI in Figure 5 and on a still larger scale, and Figure 7 is a detail view taken in the direction of arrow VII in Figure 3.

The device shown in the Figures is a soil cultivating machine having a frame beam 52 of a U-shaped cross-section (Figures 2 and 3), the limbs of the U being at least substantially equal in length to the width of the web between the limbs. In this frame beam are journalled at equal distances of about 15 cms, shafts 53, 54 and 55 of cultivating members 54A, inclined, in the direction from bottom to top, forwardly with respect to the intended direction of operative travel A of the machine at an angle of about 40 to the vertical. The shafts 54 and 55 are associated with two neighbouring, centrally-disposed cultivating members of the row of cultivating members and project above the frame portion by ends having key ways. The lower ends of the shafts 53 and the shaft 55 are journalled each in a plain bearing 55A which is supported by a shoulder near the lower end of the shaft. The plain bearing 55A, the top end of which extends to near the centre of the shaft (see Figure 3), has a downwardly extending collar held in an opening on the bottom of the frame beam 52. This collar extends below the frame beam.

The shaft 54 (Figure 2) is surrounded at the lower end by a plain bearing 56 forming part of the housing of a gear wheel pump 57 (to be described more fully hereinafter) located in the hollow frame beam 1.

Above the plain bearings 55A and 56 each shaft 53, 54 and 55 is provided with a pinion 58 having straight teeth, the pinions on neighbouring shafts being drivably in mesh with one another. Above the pinion 58 each shaft 53, 54 and 55 is provided with a nut 59 cooperating with screwthread on the shaft so that the shaft with the plain bearing and the pinion can be mounted as a prefabricated unit in the frame beam, whilst the collars of the respective plain bearings are lodged in locating openings in the bottom of the frame beam. The bearings can be fixed in the frame beam from the outside by means of screw bolts 60 and flanges.

The top end of each shaft 53, 54, 55 is surrounded by a plain bearing 61 or 62 which is fixed in place by means of screw bolts 63 to a cover plate 64 which closes the top of the frame beam to form a hollow frame beam and which is secured by means of bolts 65. From Figures 2 and 3 it will be apparent that the cover plate 64 has a bulging part at the front and at the rear for receiving sealing material 66.

Each of the shafts 53 to 55 is provided at the bottom with a flat supporting part 67 having a centering opening at the centre. To the flat supporting part 67 is secured by means of three bolts 68 the flat fastening portion 69 of a tine 70, this fastening portion being held in the centering opening by means of a centering member 71. Each tine 70 has an operative portion inclined outwardly with respect to the rotary axis of its cultivating member and changing approximately midway its length into a helically curved part 72, which is at least substantially concentric with a circle centered on the rotary axis a of the cultivating member and which covers a circumferential angle of about 90 (Figure 7). The outwardly inclined part of the operative portion of the tine is at least substantially straight. From the Figures it will be seen that the helically curved parts of immediately neighbouring cultivating members 54A extend in opposite senses so that alternate helically curved parts have the same sense. The operative portion of each tine 70 tapers from the fastening portion 69 towards the free end and has a substantially oval crosssection, the larger dimension of which extends at least substantially tangentially to a circle centered on the rotary axis a of the cultivating member at least over part of the length of the operative portion of the tine. The tines 70 of immediately adjacent cultivating members that rotate in the same sense are disposed with a relative phase difference of about 45" with respect to one another.

On the bottom of the hollow frame beam 52/64, both at the front and at the rear, protective members 73 cover the whole length of the frame beam. Each protective member 73 has a U-shaped cross-section, one limb being secured by means of the screw bolts 60 to the bottom of the frame beam, whereas the other limb extends to the rear or to the front up to the collar of a bearing 55A or 56. Each of the lower limbs of the respective protective parts 73 has openings through which the screw bolts 60 can be passed.

At the ends the hollow frame beam 52/64 is closed by plates 22 having a substantially sector-like shape as shown in Figures 2 and 3.

In front of the frame beam 52/64 the plates 22 are each provided near the bottom edge with a pin 23 about which arms 24 are pivotable, these anns extending along the plates to the rear. The arms 24 can be set in any selected one of a plurality of positions by means of a bolt 25 co-operating with a selected one of a number of holes 26 near the rear of each of the plates 22. Between the rear ends of the arms 24 a supporting member 27 formed by a roller is mounted. This roller is provided at the circumfelence with helically extending elongated elements 28.

As stated above, the neighbouring shafts 54 and 55 project above the frame portion by a key-way end. This can be directly coupled with the power take-off shaft of a tractor through an auxiliary shaft. The plain bearing 56 for the shaft 54 forms part of the housing of a rack-and-pinion pump 57. The rack-andpinion pump 57 comprises a toothed wheel 74 mounted on the shaft 54 inside the housing for co-operation with a pinion 75 on a shaft 76 which extends parallel to the shaft of the cultivating member and is journalled in the pump housing. At the top the housing of the pump 57 is closed by a cover 77 which is fixed in place by bolts. Figure 4 shows that the shaft 76 for the toothed wheel 75 journalled in the housing of the pump 57 is in line with the shafts 54 and 55 of the cultivating members to be driven from the power take-off shaft of the tractor. The housing of the rack-and-pinion pump 57 has on one side an opening 78 for the intake of a lubricant, for example, oil from the frame beam 52, whereas on the other side the housing has a pressure duct 79 for supplying oil to a pressure chamber 80 on the top side of the frame beam 52. The pressure chamber 80 forms part of a signalling device, which is connected through a signalling cable 8 1A to a monitoring device on the tractor with which the machine is coupled. The pressure chamber 80 has a safety valve 80A.

The respective plain bearings 55A, 56, 61 and 62 for the shafts of the cultivating members have spaces communicating with a bore 81 extending in the direction of length of each shaft so that a communication is established between the space in the lower plain bearings 35A and 56 respectively and a space in the upper plain bearings 61 and 62 respectively.

Moreover, the lower plain bearings 55A have channels 82 extending in inclined positions towards the rotary axes a of the cultivating members for lubricating the surfaces of the plain bearings engaging the shoulders of the shafts (Figure 3). The spaces in the upper plain bearings 61 and 62 communicate with one another through connecting ducts 83 extending between the plain bearings in the direction of length of the hollow frame beam 52/64.

The connecting duct 83 between the bearings from the two driving shafts 54 and 55 communicates near the centre with a duct 84 which communicates with the pressure chamber 80 for supplying a lubricant under pressure from the rack-and-pinion pump 57 to the respective plain bearings.

The machine described above operates as follows.

During operation the machine is coupled by means of a trestle 47 with the three-point liftlng device of a tractor, this trestle being connected by means of diverging supports 48 with an angle-section member 49 wihch is secured to the rear of the frame beam 52, and the respective cultivating members are driven via the above-described transmission, providing a reduction, in the directions indicated by arrows B m Figure 7. When the machine is operating, the frame beam 52 and hence the rotary axes a formed by the longitudinal centre lines of the shafts of the respective cultivating members are in the positions illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, that is the shafts are at an angle of about 40D to the vertical. The tines of the respective cultivating members provided each with a helical end part work strips of soil having a width of about 18 cms so that neighbouring cultivating members work overlapping strips of soil. As stated above, the helical end parts of the tines of immediately neighbouring cultivating members extend in opposite senses so that alternatively the helical parts are directed in clockwise and anti-clockwise senses respectively. By means of the helical parts the tines effectively penetrate into the soil, even if the soil is hard, whilst owing to the inclined position of the rotating shafts any material adhering to the tines can be readily loosened. The working depth of the cultivating members can be adjusted by means of the roller 27 located behind the cultivating members and being adjustable in a direction of height. The leading protective member 73 fastened to the lower part of the frame beam 52 prevents damage of the tine fastening areas, whilst owing to the inclined positions of the shafts of the cultivating members this protective member also prevents material lying on the surface from winding around the tines.

The configuration of the helically curved part 72 is such that good penetration of the tines 70 into the soil is achieved. Moreover, any adhering material can be readily loosened.

The plain bearings 55A, 56, 61 and 62 provide a comparatively cheap form of mounting for the shafts of the cultivating members 54A, whilst the rack-and-pinion pump 57 in the frame beam ensures effective lubrication and cooling of the shafts 54 and 55 to be coupled with the power take-off shaft through an auxiliary shaft as required for the high speed with which the cultivating members can be driven. By utilising one or other of the shafts 54 and 55 the cultivating members can be driven at will in two opposite directions. The driving direction may depend, inter alia upon the nature of the soil to be worked and upon prevailing conditions. When working stony fields or, for example, for "mulching", the cultivating members may be driven so that the helically curved parts 72 are in trailing positions, whereas on harder soil or, for example, for working stubble fields, the cultivating members can be driven so that the helically curved parts 72 are directed forwardly with respect to the direction of rotation. Since the helically curved parts of neighbouring cultivating members extend in opposite senses, it is ensured that with a given direction of rotation the helically curved parts of all cultivating members extend rearwardly or forwardly with respect to the direction of rotation. The alternative of driving the cultivating members in opposite senses may also be employed in machines in which the cultivating members are rotatable about vertical or substantially vertical axes and in which more tines or differently shaped and mounted tines are used.

A soil cultivating machine such as described above is also described and claimed in co-pending Application No. 8009198 (Serial No. 1,601,047), to which reference is accordingly directed.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A soil cultivating machine comprising a frame and a plurality of cultivating members journalled in this frame for rotation about upwardly extending axes, the machine comprising a transmission whereby the cultivating members can be selectively driven, from the power take-off shaft of a tractor, in one or other of two relatively opposite senses.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transmission includes two drive shafts disposed side by side and either of which can be selectively coupled with the power take-off shaft of a tractor.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein the drive shafts are inclined to the front, in the direction from bottom to top, with respect to the intended direction of operative travel of the machine.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein the drive shafts are formed by the rotary shafts of two immediately neighbouring cultivating members.

5. A machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cultivating members are arranged in a row transverse of the intended direction of operative travel of the machine and the rotary shafts of the cultivating members associated with the transmission are located near the centre of this row.

6. A machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein forced lubrication is provided for bearings of the rotary shafts of the respective cultivating members.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 6, wherein a pump is provided for effecting said forced lubrication.

8. A machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the rotary shaft of one of the cultivating members is supported by two relatively spaced plain bearings.

9. A machine as claimed in claim 8, wherein one plain bearing is located near the bottom and another plain bearing is located near the top of the shaft, and wherein these two bearings are located inside a hollow frame member.

10. A machine as claimed in claim 9, wherein the lower plain bearing can be fixed in the

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

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. via the above-described transmission, providing a reduction, in the directions indicated by arrows B m Figure 7. When the machine is operating, the frame beam 52 and hence the rotary axes a formed by the longitudinal centre lines of the shafts of the respective cultivating members are in the positions illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, that is the shafts are at an angle of about 40D to the vertical. The tines of the respective cultivating members provided each with a helical end part work strips of soil having a width of about 18 cms so that neighbouring cultivating members work overlapping strips of soil. As stated above, the helical end parts of the tines of immediately neighbouring cultivating members extend in opposite senses so that alternatively the helical parts are directed in clockwise and anti-clockwise senses respectively. By means of the helical parts the tines effectively penetrate into the soil, even if the soil is hard, whilst owing to the inclined position of the rotating shafts any material adhering to the tines can be readily loosened. The working depth of the cultivating members can be adjusted by means of the roller 27 located behind the cultivating members and being adjustable in a direction of height. The leading protective member 73 fastened to the lower part of the frame beam 52 prevents damage of the tine fastening areas, whilst owing to the inclined positions of the shafts of the cultivating members this protective member also prevents material lying on the surface from winding around the tines. The configuration of the helically curved part 72 is such that good penetration of the tines 70 into the soil is achieved. Moreover, any adhering material can be readily loosened. The plain bearings 55A, 56, 61 and 62 provide a comparatively cheap form of mounting for the shafts of the cultivating members 54A, whilst the rack-and-pinion pump 57 in the frame beam ensures effective lubrication and cooling of the shafts 54 and 55 to be coupled with the power take-off shaft through an auxiliary shaft as required for the high speed with which the cultivating members can be driven. By utilising one or other of the shafts 54 and 55 the cultivating members can be driven at will in two opposite directions. The driving direction may depend, inter alia upon the nature of the soil to be worked and upon prevailing conditions. When working stony fields or, for example, for "mulching", the cultivating members may be driven so that the helically curved parts 72 are in trailing positions, whereas on harder soil or, for example, for working stubble fields, the cultivating members can be driven so that the helically curved parts 72 are directed forwardly with respect to the direction of rotation. Since the helically curved parts of neighbouring cultivating members extend in opposite senses, it is ensured that with a given direction of rotation the helically curved parts of all cultivating members extend rearwardly or forwardly with respect to the direction of rotation. The alternative of driving the cultivating members in opposite senses may also be employed in machines in which the cultivating members are rotatable about vertical or substantially vertical axes and in which more tines or differently shaped and mounted tines are used. A soil cultivating machine such as described above is also described and claimed in co-pending Application No. 8009198 (Serial No. 1,601,047), to which reference is accordingly directed. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A soil cultivating machine comprising a frame and a plurality of cultivating members journalled in this frame for rotation about upwardly extending axes, the machine comprising a transmission whereby the cultivating members can be selectively driven, from the power take-off shaft of a tractor, in one or other of two relatively opposite senses.

frame member by means of screw bolts from the exterior of the frame member.

11. A machine as claimed in claim 8, 9 or 10, wherein the plain bearings are provided with spaces for the supply of lubricant, which spaces communicate with a bore provided in the rotary shaft of one of the cultivating members.

12. A machine as claimed in claim 11, wherein the spaces of neighbouring upper plain bearings communicate with one another via a conduit.

13. A machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein one cultivating member comprises a tine having an operative portion which is bent, at its end in a helical fashion.

14. A machine as claimed in claim 13, wherein the operative tine portion includes a part extending at least substantially parallel to the rotary axis of the cultivating member and which joms the helical part.

15. A machine as claimed in claim 13 or 14, wherein the helical part is curved around an axis which at least substantially coincides with the rotary axis of the cultivating member.

16. A machine as claimed in claim 15, wherein the helical part is located throughout its length at least substantially at the same distauce from the rotary axis of the cultivating member.

17. A machine as claimed in any one of claims 13 to 16, wherein the operation tine portion has a cross-section of substantially oval shape, the larger dimension of which is at least substantially tangential to a circle centered on the rotary axis of the cultivating member; and wherein the sides of the operative portion furthest remote from one another are each provided with a rib.

18. A machine as claimed in any one of claims 13 to 17, wherein the cultivating members are arranged in a row transverse of the intended direction of operative travel of the machine, and wherein the helical parts of the tines of immediately neighbouring cultivating members are curved in opposite senses.

19. A machine as claimed in any one of claims 13 to 18 wherein each cultivating member comprises only one tine.

20. A machine as claimed in any one of claims 13 to 19, wherein part of the tine has a bore for feeding material to the soil.

21. A machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the rotary axes of the cultivating members are inclined forwardly, in the direction from bottom to top, with respect to the intended direction of operative travel of the machine so that they are at an angle of about 40 to the vertical.