GB2126862A

GB2126862A - A soil cultivating machine

Info

Publication number: GB2126862A
Application number: GB08324090A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Der Lely Cornelis Van
Original assignee: C Van der Lely NV
Current assignee: C Van der Lely NV
Priority date: 1982-09-16
Filing date: 1983-09-08
Publication date: 1984-04-04
Also published as: IT1169829B; IT8322897A0; DE3332966A1; NL8203584A; FR2533797A1; GB8324090D0; GB2126862B; DE3332966C2

Abstract

A soil cultivating machine comprises a rotor (6) having tines (10). Behind the rotor there are cultivating members (49) which are displaceable upwardly and downwardly relatively to the rotor (6) by hydraulic or pneumatic means (45). The tines (10) are each held in recesses in a tine carrier and have forwardly directed portions (14). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A soil cultivating machine The invention relates to a soil cultivating machine.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a soil cultivating machine comprising a frame and first and second cultivating members which are of different kinds from each other, the first cultivating members being hydraulically or pneumatically displaceable upwardly and downwardly relatively to the second cultivating members.

With an embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it is possible to adjust independent the cultivating members from a tractor or the like. By means of this provision the relative working depths of the soil cultivating members can be adjusted immediately when different soil conditions demand it.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a soil cultivating machine comprising a frame and a plurality of cultivating members driven around the axis of a substantially horizontal shaft extending transversely of the intended direction of operative travel of the machine, a transmission comprising spur gear wheels being disposed near the centre of the shaft.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a soil cultivating machine comprising a frame and a plurality of cultivating members journalled in the frame for rotation about a substantially horizontal shaft extending transversely of the intended direction of operative travel of the machine, the cultivating members comprising tines having fastening parts which can be fixed in either one of at least two positions with respect to the shaft in a receiving recess in a manner such that the circumferential paths described by the ends of the tines during operation are different in the different positions.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a soil cultivating machine comprising a frame and a plurality of driven cultivating members which are rotatably supported by the frame, the cultivating members comprising tines constructed so that, in operation, the end of the tine and the adjacent part of the operative part of the tine move relatively little with respect to the ground to be worked during rotation through an angle of about 900.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention there is provided a soil cultivating machine comprising tines which are each arranged in a recess, the walls of which are formed from sheet material.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention there is provided a tine for use in a soil cultivating machine, the tine having a polygonal cross-section and being adapted to be secured to a rotatable tine carrier, the tine further having means spaced apart in the direction of length to fix the tine in either one of at least two different positions at a distance from the rotary axis of the tine carrier.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of cultivating unploughed soil, in which tines are forcibly pressed into the soil to make slits in the soil.

For a better understanding of the present invention and to show how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a soil cultivating machine; Figure 2 is a side view taken in the direction of the arrow 11 in Figure 1; Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line Ill-Ill in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line lV-lV in Figure 3; and Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line V-V in Figure 3.

The machine shown in the Figures is a soil cultivating machine comprising a frame having three horizontal frame beams 1, 2 and 3, which extend transversely of the intended direction of operative travel of the machine, indicated by an arrow A, and are disposed one behind the other.

The frame beams 1 to 3, each of which has an angular, preferably square, section, are spaced apart from one another by substantially equal distances. The front frame beam 1 and the rear frame beam 3 are at the same level as each other, but the middle frame beam 2 is at a higher level.

The ends of the frame beams 1 to 3 are interconnected by upwardly extending plates 4, which are generally rhombic, as viewed from the side (Figure 2). A tubular carrier 5 of a rotor 6 is disposed between the plates 4 near their lowermost point. The carrier 5 is situated ahead of the middle frame beam 5, with respect to the direction A. The carrier 5, which preferably has a circular section, is freely rotatable and is supported by stub shafts 7 and bearings in bearing housings 8. At equal intervals, and at a distance from the ends equal to about half that interval, the tubular carrier 5 is provided with supports 9 for groups of tines 10. Each group comprises three tines 10 which are angularly spaced from each other by angles of about 1200.Each support 9 comprises two welded opposite-handed but otherwise identical plate or sheet metal parts 11 of a thickness of preferably about 4 mms, obtained by punching so that three boxes or box-shaped parts 12 are formed, which are angularly spaced from each other by angles of 1200, the longitudinal centre lines a of which extend at least substantially perpendicular to, and spaced from, the longitudinal centre line of the carrier 5 forming the rotary axis of the rotor 6 (Figure 3).

The sheet metal walls of the boxes 1 2 enclose a rectangular space preferably having an at least substantially square cross-section. The parts 11 forming the supports 9 each have a central opening so that they can be slipped onto the tubular carrier 5.

Each of the boxes 12 accommodates a fastening part 13 of a tine 10, the tine having an angular, preferably square cross-section. The tine 10 comprises an operative part 14 adjoining the fastening part 13. The operative part 14 comprises a portion which is aligned with the at least substantially tangential fastening part 1 3 and which meets, at a shart bend near the middle of the operative part, a straight portion which extends forwardly with respect to the direction of rotation B of the carrier 5 during operation of the machine. The angle between the longitudinal centre lines of the two portions of the operative part 14 is about 150 .

The fastening part 13 of each tine 10 has several, in this embodiment two, relatively spaced holes 15, through which can be passed a bolt 16, which can also be passed through a hole in the box 12 in a manner such that the fastening member 13 can be passed into the box 12 to a greater or lesser depth so that during operation the end of the operative part of the tine describes a larger or smaller circumferential path.

Figure 3 shows that the portion of the operative part 14 directed forwards with respect to the direction of rotation B and the portion adjoining the fastening part 1 3 and penetrating later into the soil move in the foremost quadrant of the path described by the tine end during the rotation of the carrier 5 in a manner such that a minimum movement with respect to the soil to be engaged is obtained so that less power is required. Viewed in the direction of longitudinal centre line of the carrier 5, the tines 10 of successive groups are located substantially one behind the other.

However, the tines 10 of successive groups may, as an alternative, be relatively off-set from each other through a given angle in a manner such that a line going through the ends of the tines of successive groups extends helically.

Near the centre, the tubular carrier 5 is journalled in an upwardly extending gear box 1 7.

Inside the gear box 1 7 the carrier 5 is provided with a toothed crown 1 8 having straight teeth, which cooperates with a gear wheel 1 9 located at a higher level and also having straight teeth (Figures 3 and 4).

The gear wheel 19 is arranged on a shaft 20, which is freely rotatable with respect to the walls of the gear box 17 and the longitudinal centre line of which is parallel to the longitudinal centre line of the carrier 5, but, as viewed from the side, is slightly ahead of the longitudinal centre line of the carrier (Figure 3). Vertically above the shaft 20 there is a shaft 21 which is freely rotatable with respect to the walls of the gear box 17, this shaft 21 being parallel to the shaft 20 and being provided with a gear wheel 22 identical to the gear wheel 1 9 and thus also having straight teeth.

The gear wheel 1 9 is drivably in mesh with the gear wheel 22. The gear wheel 22 is drivably in mesh also with a considerably smaller gear wheel 23 having straight teeth which is fastened to a shaft 24, the longitudinal centre line of which is also parallel to the longitudinal centre line of the carrier 5. The shaft 24 is journalled in the walls of a gear box 25 connected to the top side of the gear box 1 7 and also carried by supports 26. The shaft 24 extends into a change-speed gear 27 located at the side of the gear box 25 (Figure 4).

Inside the change-speed gear 27 the shaft 24 is provided with an exchangeable gear wheel 28, which can cooperate with an exchangeable gear wheel 29 on a shaft 30 extending parallel to, and in front of, the shaft 24. The shaft 30 is located at the same level as the shaft 24. From the changespeed gear 27 the shaft 30 extends into the gear box 25, inside which it is provided with a bevel gear wheel 31. The bevel gear wheel 31 cooperates with a bevel gear wheel 32 on a shaft 33, which extends in the direction A and is journalled in the front and rear walls of the gear box 25. The shaft 33 projects from both the front and rear of the gear box 25 and has splines at the ends so that a connecting stub is formed at each end. The front connecting stub can be coupled by an auxiliary shaft 34 to the power take-off shaft of a tractor.

Although this is not shown, the tubular carrier or shaft 5 may consist of two identical parts the central ends of which are inserted into a sleeve of the gear box 17, the toothed crown 18 being arranged on the sleeve journalled in the gear box 17.

At equal distances from the centre and at substantially corresponding distances from the ends the middle frame beam 2 is provided with pairs of upwardly extending supports 35, which project below the frame beam (Figure 3). A rearwardly extending arm 37 is pivotally arranged between each pair of supports 35, near their top ends, by a pin 36. Between the ends of the supports 35 located below the frame beam 2 there is a further rearwardly extending arm 39 which is pivotally mounted by a pin 38. Each of the arms 37 and 39 is pivotally arranged by means of a pin 40 and 41 respectively between the top ends and bottom ends respectively of a pair of supports 42 secured to the top of a carrier 32 extending transversely of the direction A (Figure 2).The carrier 43 also has an angular, preferably square, cross-section and extends - as will be apparent from Figures 1 and 2 - parallel to the frame beams 1 to 3.

Between each upper arm 37 and each lower arm 38 there is a hydraulic adjusting cylinder 45 which is pivotally mounted by pins 44. The cylinder 45 is connected with a duct 46, which communicates with a hydraulic system of the tractor to which the machine is attached. The adjusting cylinder 45 may, as an alternative, be pneumatically operable.

The carrier 43 is provided with a plurality of sleeves 47 which are attached side by side at equal intervals to the front of the carrier. Part of a tine 49 is retained in each of the sleeves 47 by a bolt 48. The tine 49 has an operative part which is curved smoothly to terminate in a forwardly directed part, the end of which is provided with a hoe-shaped working member 50. The ranges of operation of the hoe-shaped working members 50 are contiguous and the tips of the hoe-shaped working members are located substantially vertically below the rotary axis of the rotor 6 (Figure 2).

To the lower rear region of the carrier 43 is pivoted a screen part 51 which is inclined downwardly and rearwardly away from the pivotal connection and is smoothly curved, terminating in a part which bears on the ground during operation.

The rotor 6 is enclosed at the top by a screening hood 52, which - as will be apparent from Figure 2 - is substantially coaxial with the path described by the ends of the tines 10. The hood 52 is secured at the front to the front frame beam 1 and at the rear to a transverse support 53 extending between the plates 4.

At equal distances from the centre, the front frame beam 1 and the rear frame beam 3 are interconnected by bracket-shaped supports 54, the limbs of which converge upwardly and are interconnected by a substantially horizontal part extending in the direction A. Near the transition between the limbs and the horizontal part of each bracket there are transverse supports 55. The transverse supports 55 are provided near the centre with spaced strips 56 extending in the direction A and constituting near the front and rear ends coupling points for the top arm of the lifting device of a tractor to be fastened between the supports.The front frame beam 1 and the rear frame beam 3 are provided at equal distances from the centre with forwardly and rearwardly extending pairs of lugs 57, between which the lower arms of the lifting device of the tractor can be fitted by means of pins in a manner such that the machine can be attached with a lifting device both at the rear and at the front of the tractor.

For operation, the machine is coupled by means of the strips 56 and the lugs 57 with the threepoint lifting device of a tractor. By means of the auxiliary shaft 34 of the transmission described above, the carrier 5 of the groups of tines 10 of the rotor 6 can be driven by the power take-off shaft with a minimum speed of 160 rev/min in the direction indicated by the arrow B in Figures 2 and 3. The ends of the respective tines 10 describe the path indicated in Figure 3. Preferably the travel speed is 5 kms/hour.

Owing to the specific design of the operative part of each tine 10, which comprises a straight part extending away from the axis of rotation and to the front with respect to the direction of rotation B, and inclined by about 1 500 to the tine part adjoining the fastening part of the tine, these parts describe, during operation, a path which is schematically shown in Figure 3, in which a relatively slight movement is performed with respect to the soil to be engaged. It can thus be ensured that the drive of the machine requires less power.

Since drive of the rotor 6 is achieved through a spur gear wheel transmission, the drive can be arranged near the centre in a relatively narrow gear box of, for example, about 6 mms. As a result, the width of the gear box 1 7 as compared with the distance between the groups of tines, which may be about 1 2 cms, is relatively small so that a strip of soil can be worked in the same manner throughout the width of the machine without the need for special measures.

The tines 10 on the carrier 5 constitute soil cultivating members of a first kind, and the tines 49 arranged on the carrier 43 located behind the rotor 6 constitute soil cultivating members of a second kind, which are displaceable upwardly and downwardly with the aid of the hydraulic adjusting cylinder 45 for varying the working depth of this second kind of members so as to match prevailing conditions. Since the front of each hoe-shaped working member 50 is located substantially below the rotary axis of the rotor 6, effective cooperation between the two kinds of members is possible.

By displacing the tines 10 having relatively spaced openings 1 5 in the fastening part 13, the position of the fastening part in the respective boxes can be changed to alter the diameters of the paths described by the tines. In this way, when the length of the tines is reduced by wear, the fastening part can be moved outwardly to restore the original operative length of the tines.

The supports 9 fabricated from the sheet parts 11 for the tines 10 of a group can be readily manufactured and are light and strong.

The screen part 51 mounted at the rear of the carrier 43 is capable of performing a final treatment of the soil at the rear of the machine.

By exchanging the exchangeable wheels of the change-speed gear 27, which - as stated above - is located at the side of the gear box 25 near the top, the speed of rotation of the rotor 6 can be adapted to the prevailing conditions and to the desired treatment.

Whilst various features of the soil cultivating machine that have been described, and that are illustrated in the drawings, will be set forth in the following claims as inventive features, it is to be noted that the invention is not necessarily limited to these features and that it encompasses all of the features that have been described both individually and in various combinations.

Claims

1. A soil cultivating machine comprising a frame and first and second cultivating members which are of different kinds from each other, the second cultivating members being hydraulically or pneumatically displaceable upwardly and downwardly relatively to the first cultivating members.

2. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in claim 1, in which the second cultivating members comprise tines which are located behind the first cultivating members with respect to the intended direction of operative travel of the machine, the second cultivating members being mounted on a rotor.

3. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in claim 2, in which the tines are arranged side by side on a carrier which is displaceable upwardly and downwardly relatively to the frame, each tine comprising a part which extends in the intended direction of operative travel of the machine and is provided with a hoe-shaped member, the front of which is located at least substantially vertically below the rotary axis of the rotor.

4. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in claim 3, in which the carrier is pivotally connected to the same frame by means of a polygonal linkage that can be adjusted by an adjusting cylinder.

5. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which drive means is provided for the second cultivating members near the centre of a rotary shaft for the second cultivating members, the drive means comprising a spur gear wheel transmission.

6. A soil cultivating machine comprising a frame and a plurality of cultivating members driven around the axis of a substantially horizontal shaft extending transversely of the intended direction of operative travel of the machine, a transmission comprising spur gear wheels being disposed near the centre of the shaft.

7. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in claim 5 or 6, in which the spur gear wheel transmission comprises two gear wheels located between a driving shaft and a shaft to be driven, the spur gear wheels being drivable from a transmission comprising bevel gear wheels.

8. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in claim 7, in which a change-speed gear is provided between the bevel gear wheel transmission and the spur gear wheel transmission.

9. A soil cultivating machine comprising a frame and a plurality of cultivating members journalled in the frame for rotation about a substantially horizontal shaft extending transversely of the intended direction of operative travel of the machine, the cultivating members comprising tines having fastening parts which can be fixed in either one of at least two positions with respect to the shaft in a receiving recess in a manner such that the circumferential paths described by the ends of the tines during operation are different in the different positions.

10. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in claim 9, in which the fastening part of each tine is displaceable in its lengthwise direction and is fixable in either one of at least two positions in the receiving recess.

11. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in claim 9 or 10, in which each tine comprises an operative part which is constructed so that, in operation, the end of the tine and the adjacent part of the operative part move relatively little with respect to the ground during rotation through an angle of about 900.

12. A soil cultivating machine comprising a frame and a plurality of driven cultivating members which are rotatably supported by the frame, the cultivating members comprising tines constructed so that, in operation, the end of the tine and the adjacent part of the operative part of the tine move relatively little with respect to the ground to be worked during rotation through an angle of about 90 .

13. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which each tine comprises an operative part which initially extends away from the fastening part in a substantially tangential direction with respect to the rotary axis in front of the cultivating members and meets a substantially straight part which extends forwardly with respect to the direction of operative rotation of the cultivating member.

14. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in claim 13, in which the forwardly extending part of the operative part of the tine is inclined at an angle of about 1 500 to the part extending substantially in a tangential direction, the transition between the two parts being located near the centre of the operative part of the tine.

1 5. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the fastening part of the tine is arranged in a recess, the walls of which are formed from sheet material.

1 6. A soil cultivating machine comprising tines which are each arranged in a recess, the walls of which are formed from sheet material.

17. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in claim 1 5 or 1 6, in which the walls of the recess constitute parts of two interengaging plates, which comprise supports arranged on a tubular carrier of a rotor.

18. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which further cultivating members are provided, the further cultivating members being hydraulically or pneumatically displaceable upwardly and downwardly with respect to the first-mentioned cultivating members.

1 9. A soil cultivating machine substantially as described herein with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.

20. A tine for use in a soil cultivating machine, the tine having a polygonal cross-section and being adapted to be secured to a rotatable tine carrier, the tine further having means spaced apart in the direction of length to fix the tine in either one of at least two different positions at a distance from the rotary axis of the tine carrier.

21. A tine as claimed in claim 20, in which the tine has a quadrangular cross-section and comprises a straight end part which is inclined to a further part of the tine.

22. A method of cultivating unploughed soil, in which tines are forcibly pressed into the soil to make slits in the soil.