GB2155297A - Farm implement - Google Patents

Abstract

A farm implement adapted in use to be connected to and moved by a vehicle such as a tractor, enables the mechanical return of fodder or silage to animals feeding from a mangerless feed barrier (29). The implement comprises material displacing means such as a pair of wheels or tyres (1) freely mounted on a support for rotation thereon in a horizontal or substantially horizontal plane. The support serves to attach the material displacing means to the tractor. The wheels or tyres (1) contact and displace laterally and outwardly the material which it is desired to displace, the rotation of the wheels being caused either by contact thereof with the material (28) or with the surface upon which the material is situated when the support is moved. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Farm implement This invention relates to a farm implement. More particularly it relates to an implement which inter alia can assist in maintaining a supply of fodder to cattle feeding from a mangerless feed barrier by returning to the cattle fodder which the cattle push out of their reach whilst feeding.

When cattle are being fed their silage or fodder along a mangerless feed barrier, it is generally found that they push a substantial amount, often at least half of their fodder out of their reach with their noses whilst they are feeding. In order to save costs by avoiding wastage of perfectly good fodder, it is desirable to return this "nosed out" feed to within easy each of the animals, and up until the present time, this has always had to be done manually, for example, using a fork or hand pusher. This is a very time-consuming task and for dairy cattle it is a task which may have to be performed several times a day. Also, because of the bulky nature and high density of the silage or fodder, it involves a great deal of physical labour and necessitates loading the feed barrier twice a day.

I have now devised a farm implement which enables the return of the fodder or silage to the animals to be achieved mechanically. Using my implement, a tremendous saving of effort and time may be achieved.

According to one aspect of the present invention, I provide a farm implement adapted in use to be connected to and moved by a vehicle, which comprises a support and means for attaching said support to said vehicle, the support having freely mounted for rotation thereon in a horizontal or substantially horizontal plane material-displacing means adapted in use to contact and displace laterally and outwardly material it is desired to displace, said material displacing means being caused in use to rotate either by contact thereof with the material it is desired to displace or by contact thereof with the surface upon which the material is situated when the support is moved.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the material displacing means is adapted to be lifted from an out-of-work position into an operational position and vice versa. Such movement is preferably controllable by the operator of the vehicle from his operating position. In a further preferred embodiment, the implement is adapted to fold into a more compact shape of narrower profile than the vehicle when not in use to facilitate transport whether in an operational or outwork position. The folding of the implement is preferably also controllable by the operator of the vehicle from his operating position.

The material-displacing means preferably comprises one or more elements which are circular in cross-section and will most desirably comprise either one or a pair of wheels or similar wheel shaped elements. Most preferably the implement will include a pair of such wheels able to be symmetrically supported and disposed each side of the central direction of motion of the vehicle.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a farm implement according to the invention, in its operational position relative to a vehicle, in this case a tractor, Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the implement of Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a plan view of the implement of Figure 1.

In the Figures, tyres 1 are secured to crossed bar members 2, which fulfil the function of a hub, thus resembling wheels. Each tyre is secured by its upper inner rim only, and this assists in retaining maximum flexibility of the main part of the tyre.

The bar members are themselves rotatably and centrally mounted on vertical axles 3. Although not shown, the axles 3 may be, and preferably are each mounted at a slight angle to the vertical, in such a way that the planes of each of the tyres 1 are disposed at a similar slight angle relative to the ground and the outer portions of the tyres, relative to the central axis of the implement, are in contact with the ground. The slight torque created by the contact of the outermost rims of the tyres 1 with the ground is sufficient to cause each tyre to rotate.

Axles 3 are rotatably connected to each of a pair of arms 4 by means of clamp assemblies 5. The arms 4 are pivotally connected at 6 to a support bar 7 which forms part of a support assembly generally indicated as 8, but comprised of rigid supporting elements 9, 10, 11, and 12 in the form of a rectangular frame, and rigid bar member 13 which is rigidly connected to one corner of the rectangular frame and perpendicular to the plane thereof.

The distance apart of the clamps 5 and hence tyres 1 may be varied to suit the desired use.

Each end of bar member 13 is provided with a bracket 14, and the end of rigid member 9 is provided with a bracket 15 for attachment via pins or other like retaining members to link arms A and B (not shown) which form part of a tractor's towing and operating system. These link arms A and B are generally to be found as a standard fitting, on farm tractors and will often be associated with a hydraulic lifting system.

The rigidity of the support assembly is further enhanced by provision of diagonal bar members 16 and 17 between each end of bar member 13, and a point on bar member 12 as shown in Fig. 2.

The arms 4 are pivotally mounted at points 6 to the support 7 so that they can be raised if desired to a suitable out-of-work position for transport or when not in use. The arms 4 are caused to pivot relative to the support assembly 8 by means of a linking cable and pulley system. A wire cable 18 is attached to a suitable fixed p.oint on the centre rear of the towing vehicle, such as the draw bar clevis, indicated at C.

From this point of attachment, the cable runs over a pulley 19 housed in an aperture in the rigid bar member 12, under pulley 20 which is housed below support bar 7, then is attached to a point 21 towards the upper end of rigid bar member 11.

Two further cables 22 and 23 are clamped to the same point 21. These two cables 22 and 23 pass in opposite directions over separate pulleys 24 and 25 which are housed in a projection 26 of the bar member 11. Pulleys 24 and 25 rotate in planes perpendicular to the planes of rotation of pulleys 19 and 20. The ends of cables 22 and 23 remote from the point of common attachment 21 are secured on brackets fixed to the arms 4 at points 26 and 27 respectively. The lengths of all the cables are chosen so that they are all as short as possible, yet they are under substantially no tension when the implement is in its operating position.

In operation, the implement shown in the Figures is connected to link arms A and B behind a tractor at points D and E. The cable 18 is attached to a point on the tractor at C. The implement is mounted with the tyres 1 rotatable and positioned so as either lightly to contact the ground surface or be just separated from it. As the implement is towed or pushed along by the vehicle, the leading edges of the tyres 1 contact silage or fodder 28 and/or the ground as shown in Fig. 3 and rotate accordingly, causing the silage or fodder thus contacted to be displaced laterally and outwardly away from the implement in a generally horizontal direction and towards the feed barrier 29. Thus, the floor area covered by the silage and fodder after the implement has passed is less than before it passes and this may be seen in Fig. 3.Because the tyres rotate, there is little build-up of silage or fodder carried along with the device, and the redistribution of the silage or fodder is more even.

In order to raise or lower the tyres 1 out of or into the operational position when the tractor is equipped with some form of hydraulic lifting gear, the link arms A and B shown in Fig. 1 are caused to rotate by an operator about points F and G respectively, thus raising the lower connecting mounting points D of the frame assembly to a position shown as H. The upper mounting point E of the frame assembly simultaneously moves to a position J. The link arm B may be contrived to be shorter than the link arms A, so that the upper mounting point E moves through an arc of smaller radius than the lower mounting points D. Thus, when the implement is raised, the support assembly 8 is inclined towards the rear of the tractor.

At the same time as link arms A and B are raised upwardly, the pulley 19 moves away from the fixed point C, causing cable 18 to be pulled over pulleys 19 and 20. This causes the cable junction 21 to move vertically downwards with respect to bar 11, pulling with it cables 22 and 23 over pulleys 24 and 25. The vertical movement of cable junction 21 is equal to the vertical distance travelled by the ends of the link arms A and B and as junction 21 moves, so cables 22 and 23 will travel an equal amount.

Since the cables are attached to the brackets 26 and 27 on the arms, which arms are able to pivot about points 6, any movement of the link arms A and B will cause the arms 4 to be raised or lowered accordingly.

The tyres 1 may be moved to an out-of-work position shown by the dotted lines in Figure 2 using the hydraulic system of the tractor. From here they may be easily pushed manually to a vertical position and retained in place by two retaining catches 28 in brackets 29. These catches generally relieve all strain on the wire cables and pulleys when the implement is not in use.

It will be realised that alternative hydraulic systems may be used to fold or unfold the arms 4 of the implement independently of any system capable of raising or lowering the implement from the ground. Thus, for example, a simple hydraulic ram, operable using an auxiliary valve on the rear of the tractor, may replace the cable 18 and pulleys 19 and 20 and serve to move cable junction 21 upwards or downwards, thus lowering or raising the arms respectively.

The implement can be adapted for use on a single barrier feed system simply by removing one of the tyre assemblies together with arm 4 and cable 22 or 23. Also, the implement can be adjusted to accommodate variable widths of feed barrier passage (shown as K in Fig. 2) by altering the distance between the vertical axles 3 (shown as M in Fig. 2) on the arms 4 using the clamp assemblies 5. The position of the tyres 1 will desirably be such so that the silage or fodder it is desired to displace will contact the outer leading face of the tyres, thus assisting rotation of the wheels in the desired direction as shown in Fig. 3.

The implement is designed to function equally well with the vehicle to which it is attached moving in a forward or backward direction, and will do so.

In fact it is advantageous to operate the implement in a mode in which the vehicle is pushing the implement, since in this mode silage or fodder will be displaced back towards the feed barrier before it can be in any way soiled or compressed by the wheels of the vehicle.

For storage away from the vehicie, the implement is lowered into its operational position and an adjustable stand 30 is lowered to support the front of the frame assembly, whilst the wheels support the rear.

The implement is simple to manufacture, and any old disused vehicle tyres may be used for the tyres 1. Moreover, it is inexpensive to operate, since it requires no separate motor or power source.

A further feature of the invention allows for the drop arms pivoting about axis 6 to follow the contour of the ground level, which may be smooth or uneven.

Claims (12)

1. A farm implement adapted in use to be connected to and moved by a vehicle, which comprises a support and means for attaching said support to said vehicle, the support having freely mounted for rotation thereon in a horizontal or substantially horizontal plane material-displacing means adapted in use to contact and displace laterally and outwardly material it is desired to displace, said material displacing means being caused in use to rotate either by contact thereof with the material it is desired to displace or by contact thereof with the surface upon which the material is situated when the support is moved.

2. A farm implement as claimed in claim 1 in which the material displacing means comprises one or more elements which are circular in crosssection.

3. A farm implement as claimed in claim 2 in which the or each said element comprises a wheel, or similar wheel-shaped element.

4. A farm implement as claimed in claim 2 or 3 in which the material displacing means comprises a pair of said elements which are able to be symmetrically supported and disposed each side of the central direction of motion of the vehicle.

5. A farm implement as claimed in any of claims 2, 3 or 4 wherein the or each said element is rotatably mounted on an axle which is itself mounted at a slight angle to the vertical whereby the elements themselves are mounted at a slight angle to the ground and the outer portions of the elements, relative to the central axis of the implement, are in contact with the ground.

6. A farm implement as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the material displacing means is adapted to be lifted from an out-of-work position to an operational position and vice versa.

7. A farm implement as claimed in claim 6 wherein the lifting of the material displacing means is controllable by the operator of the vehicle from his operating position.

8. A farm implement as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the implement is adapted to fold into a more compact shape of narrower profile than the vehicle.

9. A farm implement as claimed in claim 8 in which the folding of the implement is controllable by the operator of the vehicle from his operating position.

10. A farm implement as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the material displacing means comprises one or a pair of tyres.

11. A farm implement as claimed in any preceding claim which is adapted to be connected to and/or controlled from a farm tractor.

12. A farm implement substantially as hereinbefore described and with reference to any of the accompanying drawings.