GB2031252A - Tine - Google Patents

Abstract

A tine for use with an agricultural implement has a thin steel shank 11 having a pointed leading edge on a shin 12 detachably fixed thereto. A leading point 13 is detachably fixed to a point support at the base of the shank 11. The width of the shin 12 and the leading point 13 are no greater than the width of the shank 11. Wings 15 project laterally of the shank 11, the wings being positioned behind the pointed leading edge and adjacent to the point support 14. The wings 15 are detachably fixed to brackets 16 welded to the shank 11. The wings 15 of the tine do the main cultivating work, the narrow leading point 13 and the pointed leading edge of the shin 12 merely making a narrow channel and causing a minimum soil disturbance. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Tine This invention relates to a tine for use with an agricultural implement, and to an agricultural implement incorporating such tines.

Usually, after a crop has been harvested, it is necessary to cultivate the land prior to planting the next crop. Typical cultivation operations which occur are ploughing and harrowing. Recently, however, this traditional agricultural method has been replaced on some farms by what is called "direct drilling". Direct drilling dispenses with the normal cultivation processes which occur between harvesting one crop and planting the next. The main advantage of direct drilling is that it leads to a build up of organic matter in the soil, and this in turn leads to higher yields. This build up of organic matter is normally prevented by ploughing, which turns over the soil and destroys the aerobic conditions necessary for build up of organic matter. Direct drilling is particularly advantageous where the same land is to be used for growing cereals year after year.In this case, after harvesting, the stubble is left on the land which then lies uncultivated until the next crop is planted. The stubble rots and helps to form the build up of organic material in the top layer of the top-soil. Usually it takes several years of direct drilling to lead to a worthwhile build up of organic materials.

Unfortunately, the direct drilling method has not so far been suitable for use on farms practising crop rotation, or on farms whose soil is unsuitable for the method. In the former case, some cultivation is essential between crops, for example to get rid of roots and trash, and in the latter case cultivation is necessary for drainage purposes.

Drainage problems arise in such soil because a layer of hard, impervious material builds up (usually at a depth of about 9 to 11 inches) this layer (or pan) resulting from the compaction of the ground occurring following the use of heavy agricultural machinery such as combined harvesters. In either case, however, the necessary cultivation prevents the desired build up of organic material, and so direct drilling cannot be used.

The aim of the invention is to produce a tine for an agricultural implement which can be used to cultivate the earth without disturbing substantially the build up of organic matter.

The present invention provides a tine for use with an agricultural cultivating implement, the tine comprising a thin shank having a pointed leading edge, a leading point at the base of the shank, the leading point extending forwardly of the leading edge of the shank and having a width no more than substantially equal to that of the shank, and projections extending transversely of the shank, the projections being positioned behind the leading edge of the shank and adjacent to the base of the shank.

The projections of this tine do the main cultivating work, the narrow leading point and shank merely making a narrow channel through the soil and causing a minimum disturbance to the soil surface. The leading point thus merely makes a lead for the tine rather than to lift the soil as is the case with known tines.

Advantageously, the leading edge of the shank is bevelled to define a pointed leading edge which is contiguous with a bevelled leading edge of the leading point.

A pair of swept-back wings may constitute the projections, and preferably, the wings project from the shank by at least a distance approximately twice the thickness of the shank.

The leading edges of the wings may also be bevelled.

Advantageously, the wings are bolted to brackets attached to the shank. This enables the wings to be removed for resharpening or replacement.

Preferably, the pointed leading edge of the shank is formed on a shin detachably fixed to the shank. This enables the shin to be removed for resharpening or replacement. Advantageously, the shin is attached to the shank by means of a tongueand-groove connection. Conveniently, said tongue-and-groove connection is held together by means of expansion pins spring-fitted into holes in the connected parts.

Advantageously, the leading point is detachably fixed to the shank. This enables the leading point to be removed for resharpening or replacement.

Thus, all the parts most susceptible to wear are easily replaceable. Preferably, the leading point is attached to the shank by means of a tongue-andgroove connection. Conveniently, said tongueand-groove connection is held together by means of expansion pins spring-fitted into holes in the connected parts.

The leading point may be integral with the shin.

Preferably, in this case, the rear edge of the shin is curved in an arc of a circle, the front edge of the shank being similarly curved.

The tine may also be provided with additional devices such as a disc to cut trash and a leading slot at the soil surface, or rollers, wheels or skids attached to the tine to prevent soil surface disturbance.

The invention also provides an agricultural cultivating implement incorporating one or more tines as defined above.

Three forms of tine constructed in accordance with the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side elevation of the first form of tine; Figure 2 is a front elevation of the first form of tine; Figure 3 is a plan view of the first form of tine; Figure 4 is a side elevation of the second form of tine; Figure 5 is a plan view of one wing of the second form of tine; Figure 6 is an exploded side elevation, on a larger scale, of the lower part of the second form of tine; and Figure 7 is a schematic side elevation of the third form of tine.

Referring to the drawings, Figures 1 to 3 show a tine having a plate-like shank 1 provided with a leading point 2 at its base. Both the shank 1 and the leading point 2 are made of high grade steel plate of one inch thickness, and their leading edges are formed with a double-bevel 3 which defines a sharp leading edge 4 for each of these members. A pair of swept-back wings 5, which are also made of high grade steel, are welded to the shank 1 behind the bevelled portion 3 and at about the height where the shank merges with the leading point 2. The wings 5 each extend about two inches transversely of the shank 1 and are each provided with a bevelled leading edge 6. A top plate 7 is welded to the top of the shank 1, the plate 7 being provided with four bolt holes 8 for attachment to an agricultural cultivating machine (not shown).The entire height of the tine is approximately twenty-two inches, and the tine is shown in Figures 1 and 2 in a working position with its leading point 2 extending about ten inches below the surface 9 of the soil. The top plate 7 is also made of high-grade steel, and the parts of the tine are joined together by welding.

In use, the tine is lowered into the earth until the leading point 2 is at the required depth. The tine is then dragged through the earth. During this process, the leading point 2 makes a track for the tine and causes no lifting of the soil or pulling out of large lumps of soil. The shank 1 cuts a narrow channel through the soil and so causes minimal disturbance. The wings 5 are positioned to provide a lifting shear at each side, and behind the leading edge 4, of the shank 1, and so effects the pan breaking operation. The shank 1 also assists with this pan-breaking operation to a certain extent.

However, because of their position behind the leading edge 4 of the shank 1, the wings 5 do not turn the soil over or lead to more than a minimal disturbance of the soil. Consequently, this tine does not destroy the conditions necessary for the build up of organic materials in the soil, though it does help with land drainage by breaking up impervious pans of material and it does provide a degree of shallow sub-surface cultivation which is necessary when crop rotation is practised. This system of cultivation is called "sub-surface" cultivation.

The tine is, of course, fastened to an agricultural machine such as a cultivator, the height of which can be adjusted to ensure that the tine penetrates the soil to the required depth. In practice, a plurality of identical tines will be mounted on the same cultivator frame.

Figure 1 shows the various angular relationships between the parts of the tine, though it will be appreciated that these angles are not critical, and that the tine could be of different configuration, provided that the shank 1 and leading point 2 are thin enough to cause only minimum soil disturbance, and provided that some sort of shear is applied to the soil behind the leading edge 4 of the shank. Moreover, although the various parts of the tine are welded together in the described embodiment, it is envisaged that bolts could be used for this purpose. Indeed, this would be preferable in that it would facilitate the replacement of those parts of the tine subject to wear.

Figures 4 to 6 show a modified form of tine having a plate-like shank 11 provided with a replaceable shin 12 at its leading edge. At its base, the shank 11 is provided with a replaceable leading point 1 3 which is mounted on a point support 14. All the parts 11 to 14 are made of high grade steel plate of one inch thickness. The leading edges of the shin 1 2 and the leading point 14 are pointed to form a sharp leading edge to the tine. The point support 1 4 is welded to the leading edge of the shank 1 1 at its base. A pair of sweptback wings 15, which are also made of high grade steel, are detachably fixed to a pair of wing brackets 1 6 which are welded to the shank 11 behind its leading edge, and at about the height where the point support 14 is welded to the shank.Each wing 1 5 is detachably fixed to its bracket 1 6 by means of three counter-sunk bolts (not shown) which pass through holes 1 sub in that wing (see Figure 5). The wings 1 5 each extend about two inches transversely of the shank 11 and are each provided with bevelled leading edge 1 spa Both the shin 12 and the leading point 1 3 are provided with longitudinal grooves 1 7 (shown in dotted lines in Figure 6) in their trailing edges.

These grooves 1 7 are arranged to be friction fits with corresponding tongues 1 8 formed respectively on the leading edges of the shank 11 and the point support 14. The shin 12 and the leading point 14 are held in position by means of three expansion pins (not shown) which are spring-fitted into holes 1 9 passing through the grooved portions of the shin and leading point and through the tongues 18. A plurality of holes 20 are provided in the upper part of the shank 11, these holes being used to attach the tine to an agricultural machine such as a cultivator.

The main advantage of the tine of Figures 4 to 6, when compared with the tine of Figures 1 to 3, is that the parts most susceptible to wear are replaceable. Thus, the shin 12, the leading point 13 and the wings 15 are removable for resharpening or replacement. Moreover, the shin 1 2 is reversible end-for-end to give double-life, as only its lower half is normally subject to wear. The use of tongue-and-groove connections for attaching the shin 12 and the leading point 1 3 to the shank 11 results in a tine which keeps its streamlined shape whilst having the advantage of easy replaceability of these parts. Although expansion pins are used for attaching the shin 12 and the leading point 14, it will be apparent that any other removable attachment means could be used provided such means does not extend laterally of the shank 11 and so interfere with the streamlining of the tine.

Figure 7 is a schematic representation of a third form of tine. This tine is similar to that of Figures 4 to 6 in that it has a shin 22 attachable to a shank 21 by means of a tongue-and-groove connection.

It also has wings 25 similar to the wings 1 5. In this embodiment, however, the leading edge of the shank 21 is curved in an arc of a circle, and the trailing edge of the shin 22 is similarly curved. The base of the shin 22 is pointed so as to form a leading point 23 for the tine. As wear occurs, the shin/point 22, 23 can be lowered gradually and resharpened, thus extending its useful life.

Each of the tines described above may also be provided with additional devices such as a disc to cut trash and a leading slot at the soil surface.

Rollers, wheels or skids may also be attached to the tine or to the cultivator to minimise soil surface disturbance. Such a tine can also be used for many other types of soil working operations, and can be used in conjunction with other types of tine. It can also be provided with devices for the prevention or reduction of wear and/or any standard safety device.

In a modified form of tine, the two wings are replaced by a one-piece double-wing fixed to the trailing edge of the shank. The advantage of this modified constnrction is that the wing lifting action occurs further back and this leads to a reduction in soil compaction and less disturbance at the soil surface.

Claims (15)

1. A tine for use with an agricultural cultivating implement, the tine comprising a thin shank having a pointed leading edge, a leading point at the base of the shank, the leading point extending forwardly of the leading edge of the shank and having a width no more than substantially equal to that of the shank, and projections extending transversely of the shank, the projections being positioned behind the leading edge of the shank and adjacent to the base of the shank.

2. A tine as claimed in Claim 1 ,wherein the leading edge of the shank is bevelled to define a pointed leading edge which is contiguous with a bevelled leading edge of the leading point.

3. A tine as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein a pair of swept-back wings constitutes the projections.

4. A tine as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the wings project from the shank by at least a distance approximately twice the thickness of the shank.

5. A tine as claimed in Claim 3 or Claim 4, wherein the leading edges of the wings are bevelled to form pointed edges.

6. A tine as claimed in any one of Claims 3 to 5, wherein the wings are bolted to brackets attached to the shank.

7. A tine as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the pointed leading edge of the shank is formed on a shin detachably fixed to the shank.

8. A tine as claimed in Claim 7, wherein the shin is attached to the shank by means of a tongue-and-groove connection.

9. A tine as claimed in Claim 8, wherein said tongue-and-groove connection is held together by means of expansion pins spring-fitted into holes in the connected parts.

10. A tine as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 9, wherein the leading point is detachably fixed to the shank.

1 A tine as claimed in Claim 10, wherein the leading point is attached to the shank by means of a tongue-and-groove connection.

12. A tine as claimed in Claim 10, wherein said tongue-and-groove connection is held together by means of expansion pins spring-fitted into holes in the connected parts.

13. A tine as claimed in any one of Claims 10 to 12 when appendant to Claim 7, wherein the leading point is integral with the shin.

14. A tine as claimed in Claim 1 3, wherein the rear edge of the shin is curved in an arc of a circle, the front edge of the shank being similarly curved.

15. A tine substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated by, Figures 1 to 3, Figures 4 to 6, or Figure 7 of the accompanying drawings.

1 6. An agricultural implement incorporating one or more tines each as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 1 5.