GB2046067A

GB2046067A - A hay tedding machine

Info

Publication number: GB2046067A
Application number: GB8012082A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Wilhelm Stoll Maschinenfabrik GmbH
Current assignee: Wilhelm Stoll Maschinenfabrik GmbH
Priority date: 1979-04-11
Filing date: 1980-04-11
Publication date: 1980-11-12
Also published as: DE2914623A1; GB2046067B; FR2453596A1; FR2453596B1

Abstract

A hay tedding machine includes at least one driven rotary rake, said rake comprising a revolving turntable 2 driven about a non-rotating member 4 which defines its axis of rotation, a plurality of tine support arms 8 pivotally supported by said turntable, each tine support arm carrying a crank assembly 9, 10 positively guided in a cam path ring 12, said cam path ring having a U-section which is open radially outwardly and contoured for height adjustment of the tine support arms, said cam path ring being part of a control cam 3 which is fitted by means of a hub component to the non-rotating member, each said tine supporting arm being rotatable about the longitudinal axis thereof by means of co-operation of its crank assembly and the cam path ring during rotational movement of the turntable, characterised in that the control cam is mounted on the hub component in a manner such that the cam path ring may be removed by displacement thereof, downwardly relative to the hub component. The cam path ring 12 suitably comprises two annular bodies 12a, 12b which are locked in position by means of locking member 17 in co- operation with detent disc 16. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A hay tedding machine This invention relates to a hay tedding machine and, more especially to a machine inciuding at least one driven rotary rake, said rake comprising a revolving turntable driven about a non-rotating member which defines its axis of rotation, a plurality of tine support arms pivotally supported by said turntable, each tine support arm carrying a crank assembly, each crank assembly being positively guided in a cam path ring, said cam path ring having a U-section which is open radially outwardly and contoured for height adjustment of the tine support arms, said cam path ring being part of a control cam which is fitted by means of a hub component to the non-rotating member, each said tine supporting members being rotatable about the longitudinal axis thereof by means of cooperation of its crank assembly and the cam path ring during rotational movement of the turntable, such a machine will be referyed to as a machine as hereinbefore defined.

Hay tedding machines as hereinbefore defined have been disclosed many times in practice and amongst other things in our prospectus P 680 (relating to universal hay machine UM). A disadvantage of them is that, as the cam path wears, the entire control cam must be replaced in a complicated operation involving a wastage of material and thus in an uneconomical manner For replacing the control cam, the turntable with associated bevel gear must be removed from the circular rake axial (usually a sleeve), before the control cam may be removed by displacement upwardly and replaced by a new one. The accurate sliding on and fitting of the individual hubs during reassembly is difficult, complicated and timeconsuming.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved hay tedding machine in which, when the cam path wears, an appropriate replacement may be carried out rapidly and economically in a simple manner.

According to the present invention, the machine as hereinbefore defined is characterised in that the control cam is mounted on the hub component in a manner such that the cam path ring may be removed by displacement thereof downwardly relative to the hub component.

With this improved construction, when the cam is worn it is only necessary to replace the cam path ring and this may be accomplished with the hub component remaining in the fixed axial position on the non-rotating member or rake axle (e.g. support tube). Consequently even when working the machine on surfaces (e.g. with sandy soils) which cause pronounced wear of the running surface, a considerable saving in material and manufacturing costs for the hub region is attained over a fairly long period. Also, the replacement of the worn component is simple (trouble-free and rapid) to carry out. In order to do this only the circular rake support member (especially support wheel) with its mounting needs to be released from the non-rotating member rake axle (e.g. support tube). Thereafter the dismantling of the cam path ring can be carried out.For this purpose, connecting means (e.g. screws) between cam path ring and hub component need to be released. The cam path ring is then removed by displacement downwardly, without further components having to be dismantled. The control, necessary for a satisfactory working cycle of the relative vertical displacement between the control cam and tine support arms is assured at the time of the initial factory assembly of the machine and this relationship is retained at every replacement of a worn component. This is achieved because the control cam hub component is axially fixed and serves during a replacement operation of a cam path ring as an axial position fixing device.A further advantage which accrues, is that the control cam hub component which remains on the non-rotating member or rake axle, permits the cam path ring to be fitted rapidly and accurately without this operation necessitating complicated threading operations on the non-rotating member.

The two component construction of the control cam, together with hub component mounted on the non-rotating member also provides the advantage for the manufacturer that circular rakes of differing working diameters may be fitted to the same mounting unit (consisting of non-rotating member with the control cam hub component and turntable mounted thereon). In addition longer or shorter tine support arms may be fitted as required. In addition, a cam path ring may be fitted according to the required working circle diameter.

Likewise, differently shaped cam paths, as necessary for circle diameters of different sizes, may be readily fitted in order that the working travel, especially the discharge point for the raked material may be modified and a clean swath may be achieved. The construction and arrangement of the control cam according to embodiments of this invention makes possible, as a result of prefabrication of a component group (assembly unit) suitable for a number of machine sizes, a more rational manufacture and/or economical maintenance of stocks. A further advantage is that the pre-assembled units or hay tedding machines intended for dispatch and preferably prepared for that purpose in order to save space with the support member (support wheel) removed from the circular rake turntable, may be kept stored or transported without the cam path ring mounted.

Thus damage to the cam path profile may be prevented. The final assembly may be rapidly and simply carried out by the merchant or farmer.

In a preferred embodiment, the cam path ring is divided into two components, that is to say each arm of the U-section control cam comprises a separate component. This form of the cam path ring permits replacement of the worn U-profile component by itself. Usually the worn component in this construction will be the component providing the upper running surface. The replacement of a component worn on its guide surface may be carried out simply and rapidly, as a result of the aforementioned easy removal of the entire cam path ring in a downward direction.

According to a preferred feature of the invention, in order to assure a long or longer working life, the guide surface (cam surface) of the upper cam path ring component is made more wear resistant, preferably hardened. - An especially simple construction is obtained if the control cam hub component possesses a flange equipped with screw seatings and each cam path ring component possesses an inwardly situated, annular fixing component (inner flange) with screw-receiving holes, and these three flanges (annula walls) are axially clamped together by means of bolts. At least the upper ring component of the two component cam path ring may advantageously be centred on the flange of the hub component.Furthermore, it is preferred, especially in hay tedding machines with several circular rakes, to arrange for the control cam to rotate about the non-rotating member or axle of the circular rake. This permits adjustment of the tine support arms, as it may be necessary for various different operations to change the relative position (association) of circular rakes relative to one another and/or in relation to the direction of travel for correct operation. The control cam hub component, which is then rotationally movable for adjustment purposes only and axially fixed, may then be rotationally locked by means of a locking member in selected rotational positions to a detent component, such as detent component or disc with notches along its edges.This detent component may be disposed underneath the hub component and torsionally locked to the nonrotating member (or a component associated therewith). The entire detent apparatus (especially detent component or disc plus pivoting member) is made smaller in its cross-sectional dimensions than the clearance width of the central annular opening of the cam path ring.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which there is shown A partially cut-away side view of a rotary rake of a hay tedding machine in which the tines revolve in a controlled manner and embodying a control cam for positive control of the tines.

A hay tedding machine according to embodiments of this invention may be construed with a single-rotor or multiple-rotor and as a swath rake or universal machine (i.e. machine usable for various operations), a rotary rake construction of a universal machine being illustrated here. In all cases the hay tedding machine possesses positively controllable/positively controlled tines which pivot for adjustment of their height during the rotation of the rotary rake. During this height adjustment the tines pivot by swinging down from a lifted position to a ground position in which they adopt an upright working attitude in which they rake together the material on a sector of their rotary circuit. This material is then deposited again at a pre-determined point when the tines swing upwards to form a swath.This pivoting of the tines is effected by rotation of the tine support arms (8) to be described below.

The or each rotary rake possesses a turntable 2, driven by means of a drive device, preferably via a bevel gear 1. The turntable 2 is journalled to be rotatable about a non-rotating axle 4. Axle 4 is preferably a support sleeve in which also a support member mounting 5 is secured. Member 5 may be detachably pinned by means of a transverse pin 6.

The axle 4 carries a control cam 3. The rotary rake possesses tine support arms 8 which extend radially in the manner of spokes in bearing seatings 7. The tine supports arms 8 do not pivot vertically about a horizontal axis in a swath rake construction of the machine. Alternatively, in a universal machine construction, the time support arms 8 are preferably pivotal about a horizontal axis for adjustment of the height of their tines and locakable in both end, i.e. lifted and ground, positions (as shown in the drawing). Each of the tine support arms 8 are equipped at the outer end portion with tines, for example spring tines (not shown) and carry a crank assembly (9, 10) at the end nearest to the axle 4 about which they rotate.

The crank assembly comprises a control lever 9 and a cam path roller 10. Roller 10 serves for positively controliing the pivoting of lever 9 about the longitudinal axis of roller 10 and co-operates with the control arm 3. Pivoting of lever 9 causes tine support arm 8 to execute rotary movement about its longitudinal axis as the turntable rotates.

The control cam 3 is equipped with a cam path profile, open at the outer wall side and of Usection, into which the individual cam path rollers 10 fit. This control cam 3 is of multi-component construction and comprises a hub component 11 and cam path ring 12. Ring 12 according to a preferred feature of this embodiment has portions at each of two levels or heights in such a manner that each arm of the U-cam path profile is a constituent of another component (annular body).

In any case, the cam path ring 12, after the support member mounting 5 has been dismantled and the connection (especially connecting bolts 13) to the hub component 11 have been released, can be removed downwards, that is towards the ground, without dismantling of the turntable 2 from Lne support tube (axle 4) or the like being necessary.

In this preferred embodiment, the cam path ring 12 comprises two annular bodies 1 2a, 1 2b, which are both composed of sheet steel and which may be formed as stamped pressed component. Each body 1 2a, 1 2b, possesses on its height-deformed cam portion a flat inner flange (disc ring) 14 which forms a bearing'and fixing component. An outer flange 15 of the cam path hub compoent 11 serves for securing the cam path ring 12. Both of flanges 14, 1 5 are perforated to receive the connecting bolts 13. Instead of being a closed ring, the partial regions referenced 14 of both the annular bodies 1 2a, 1 2b, may be made of individual strips, but this does not require any change to the mode of clamping by means of the connecting bolts 13.

In order to attain a long working life, the most heavily loaded profile surface (running surface) of the upper annular body 1 2a, which serve as the abutment surface for the cam path roller 10, is made more wear-resistant than the more iightly loaded, lower annular body I 2b. In an especially preferred form of construction, the upper annular body 1 2a is hardened, at least at its surface which co-operates with the crank assembly. Both halves of the cam path 12 could of course be hardened, The hub component 11 is axially fixed and also if desired (that is in a universal machine construction) mounted to be rotatable to, and lockable in, various positions about the rotationally fixed axle (support tube) 4.

For locking the control cam 3 in position, a detent component, preferably a detent disc 1 6 with detent recesses at the edge (preferably notches 1 6a) is mounted on and rotationally keyed to the axle (support tube) 4, preferably its the lower end. A locking member 17, preferably a detent lever, is provided on the control cam hub component 1 The detent device (parts 16, 17) is smaller in cross-section than the clear width of the central annular opening of the cam path ring 12.

This ensures that (after the support member 5 has been dismantled) removal of the cam path ring 1 2 by pulling it downwardly, is possible.

The locking member or pin 1 7 is constructed as a detent lever (pivoting pin) which is held springloaded in its locking position. It is pivotally mounted in the upper half of the hub 11 about a horizontal axis 18, depends through an edge recess (slit) 1 5a of the outer flange 1 5 provided at the lower half of the hub 11 and engages in a detent recess of the detent disc 1 6. Flange 1 5 carries the cam path ring 12 and detent disc 1 6 is preferably also formed as the lower abutment (support component) of the control cam hub component 11. A compression spring 20 is preferably fitted over a holding nose 1 9 and bears against the web of the cam path profile.More especially, spring 20 bears against the upper ring member 1 2a of the two-part cam path ring 1 2.

Spring 20 biases locking member or pin 1 7 into its locking position. The lower end of the upright locking pin 17, which extends beneath the detent disc 1 6 is formed as a handle portion 1 7a or equipped with a handle.

The replacement of the cam path ring 12 or a worn half thereof (e.g. annular body 1 2a) may be carried out in a simple manner. In the universal machine construction, this replacement is especially easy to effect, with the tine supports (tine support arms) 8 withdrawn (preferably they are swung upwards) for this purpose. When supports 8 are so withdrawn, each crank assembly (9, 10) is withdrawn from the control cam 3 and each support 8 may be locked (engaged) to the turntable 2 in a non-interfering position, namely the working position intended for spreading hay.

Claims

1. A hay tedding machine including at least one driven rotary rake, said rake comprising a revolving turntable driven about a non-rotating member which defines its axis of rotation, a plurality of tine support arms pivotally supported by said turntable, each tine support arm carrying a crank assembly, each crank assembly being positively guided in a cam path ring, said cam path ring having a U-section which is open radially outwardly and contoured for height adjustment of the tine support arms, said cam path ring being part of a control cam which is fitted by means of a hub component to the non-rotating member, each said tine supporting members being rotatable, about the longitudinal axis thereof by means of cooperation of its crank assembly and the cam path ring during rotational movement of the turntable, characterised in that the control cam is mounted on the hub component in a manner such that the cam path ring may be removed by displacement thereof downwardly relative to the hub component.

2. A hay tedding machine as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the cam path ring (12) has components at each of two levels.

3. A hay tedding machine as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the cam path ring (12) has an upper ring component ( 1 2a) which possesses a more wear resistant running surface.

4. A hay tedding machine as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the upper ring component (12a) has a hardened running surface.

5. A hay tedding machine as claimed in any one of Claims 2 to 4, wherein at least the upper ring component ( 1 2a) of the cam path ring (12) is fabricated from steel sheet.

6. A hay tedding machine as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the control cam hub component 1) possesses a hub flange (15) against a lower face of which there bears an annular fixing component (14) of the cam path ring (12), and releasable fixing means (13) securing said annular fixing component (14) to said hub flange (15).

7. A hay tedding machine as claimed in Claim 6 when dependent from any one of Claims- to 5, wherein at least the upper ring component ( 1 2a) is centered on the hub flange (15) of the hub component(1 1).

8. A hay tedding machine as claimed in Claim 7, wherein the two ring components (1 2a, 1 2b) of the cam path ring (12) bear against each other with flat annular walls and are held clamped to the hub component flange (15).

9. A hay tedding machine as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 8, wherein the control cam (3) is journalled on the non-rotating member (4) by means of said hub component 1) and said control cam (3) is lockable in selected rotary positions relative to the non-rotating member (4) by means of a locking member (17), said locking member (17) being engageable with a detent component (16) disposed underneath the control cam hub component 1) and rotationally keyed to non-rotating member (4), locking member (17) and detent component (16) being constructed to be smaller in cross-section than the clearance width of a central annular opening of the cam path ring (12).

10. A hay tedding machine as claimed in Claim 9, wherein the locking member(17) comprises a detent lever pivotallyjournalled on the control cam hub component ( 1 1) about a pivot axis ( 18) extending transversely to the axis of the hub component (11), said detent lever (17) being resiliently biased to co-operate with a recess (1 5a) of the hub component flange (15) and detent recesses (1 6a) of detent component (16).

11. A hay tedding machine as claimed in Claim 19 wherein said lever (17) is resiliently biased by a compression spring (20) which bears against the cam path ring (12) and acts upon the locking lever (17).

12. A hay tedding machine as claimed in either one of Claims 10 or 11, wherein the locking member (17) extends virtually upright and possesses, at its lower end, a handle component (1 7a) extending down below the detent component (16).

13. A hay tedding machine arranged, constructed and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.