GB2196823A - Soil cultivating implements - Google Patents

Description

1 GB2196823A 1

SPECIFICATION

Soil cultivating implements This invention relates to soil cultivating implements or machines of the kind which comprise a plurality of soil working members that are supported by an elongate hollow frame portion extending substantially horizontally per- pendicular, or at least transverse, to the intended direction of operative travel of the implement or machine so as to be rotatable about corresponding vertical or substantially vertical axes, the hollow frame portion being connected to a frame member having opposite ends that are located between the opposite ends of said hollow frame portion and said frame member being provided with a threepoint coupling member constructed and ar- ranged for connection to the three-point lifting device or hitch of a tractor or other operating vehicle, a single supporting roller being provided that extends throughout the combined working width of said soil working members and said single supporting roller being rotatably supported at substantially its opposite ends. The expression "implement(s) or machine(s)" is shortened to "implement(s)" along throughout the remainder of this document for the sake of brevity.

During the operation of known soil cultivating implements of the above kind, considerable forces are exerted on their single supporting rollers.

The invention accordingly has for its object to prevent any significant deformation of such single supporting rollers. In accordance with the invention, there is provided an implement of the kind set forth, wherein a stop in the form of a member having an arcuately shaped periphery is provided to co- operate with the ' single supporting roller when required to prevent significant deformation of the latter due to heavy loading.

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 which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a soil cultivat- 115 ing implement in accordance with the invention in the form of a rotary harrow that is intended principally, but not exclusively, for the preparation of seed beds, Figure 2 is a plan view as seen in the direction indicated by an arrow 11 in Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a similar view to that of Figure 2 but illustrates an alternative construction.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the soil cultivating implement that is illustrated is in the form of a rotary harrow which is intended primarily, but not necessarily exclusively, for preparing seed beds in previously worked agricultural land ' The implement has a carrying frame which is constructed and ar- ranged for connection to the three-point lifting device or hitch of an agricultural tractor or other moving and operating vehicle in a manner that will be further described below, said carrying frame being afforded principally by a single frame beam 1 that extends substantially horizontally transverse and usually. as illustrated, substantially horizontally perpendicular, to the intended direction of operative travel of the implement that is indicated in Figure 1 of the drawings by an arrow A. Plates 2 whose compound shape can be seen in Figure 1 of the drawings are rigidly secured to the opposite ends of the frame beam 1 so as to be substantially vertically parallel to one another and to the direction A. The plates 2 are very approximately Z-shaped, each plate 2 including a substantially vertically disposed upward projection 3 that is located principally rearwards of the frame beam 1 with respect to the intended direction of operative travel A.

The two upward projections 3 form parts of corresponding substantially symmetrically identical parallelogram linkages 4, these spaced apart linkages 4 connecting an elongate hollow frame portion 5 to the frame beam 1 in such a way that said-frame portion 5 can move upwardly and downwardly without significant tilting relative to said frame beam 1.

The hollow frame portion 5 extends substantially horizontally parallel to the frame beam 1 at a location behind the latter with respect to the direction A.

A plurality, of which there are sixteen in the example that is being described, of substantially vertical, or at least upwardly extending, shafts 6 are rotatably journalled in upper and lower ball bearings carried by the hollow frame portion 5 so as to lie in a single row with their longitudinal axes of rotation parallel to one another and advantageously, but not essentially, spaced apart from one another at regular intervals of substantially 25 centimetres. The single row of rotary shafts 6 is, of course, parallel. to the transverse length of the hollow frame portion 5 and each shaft 6 has a lower portion which projects downwardly from beneath the bottom of that frame portion 5 to carry a corresponding soil working member that is generally indicated by the reference 7.

At locations which are between the third and fourth soil working members 7 counting from either end of the hollow frame portion 5, the top of said frame portion 5 has the base edge of an upright substantially isosceles triangular plate 10 firmly but releasably secured to it with the aid of corresponding pairs (if front and rear feet, which feet are welded to the plates 10 whose general planes are substantially vertically parallel to one another and to the direction A. It will be seen from Figure 1 of the drawings that the plates 10 afford rear portions, with respect to the direction A, of the two parallelogram linkages 4, the base 2 GB 2 196 823A 2 edge of each plate 10 extending throughout substantially the whole of the fore-and-aft width of the top of the hollow frame portion 5.

A stop plate is welded or otherwise rigidly secured to the leading upwardly inclined edge of each plate 10 at a location which is a short distance above the mid-point of that edge, each stop plate being so disposed that it will prevent the hollow frame portion 5 from mov ing downwardly, relative to the frame beam 1, beyond substantially the position that is shown in Figure 1 of the drawings in which the lower edges of the stop plates bear against the upper edges of corresponding pairs of lower links 15. The lower pairs of links 15 are of stronger formation than are upper pairs of links 14 and each pair of lower links 15 is formed with aligned holes which holes will register with a single hole formed through the corresponding intervening plate 10.

The opposite ends of the hollow frame por tion 5 are closed by corresponding strength ening side plates 18 of oblong configuration (Figure 1) which side plates 18 extend sub stantially vertically parallel to one another and to the direction A. Shield plates 19 having symmetrically identical shapes and one of which can be seen in Figure 1 of the drawings 95 are also provided adjacent the opposite ends of the frame portion 5 and actually just be yond the opposite ends of the single row of rotary soil working members 7. Each shield plate 19 cooperates with the immediately neighbouring rotary soil working member 7 in working the soil to the same thorough extent as is produced by co-operation between neighbouring soil working members 7 at loca tions closer to the centre of the implement.

Lugs project forwardly and upwardly from the frame beam 1 at locations spaced by short distances from the opposite ends of the latter, the flat lugs being substantially vertically parallel to one another, to the direction A and 110 to the plates 2, each lug being spaced by only a relatively short distance from a correspond ing one of those plates 2. The leading down wardly inclined end of an arm 47 is turnably mounted between each lug and the neighbour- 115 ing plate 2 with the aid of a respective strong horizontal pivot 45.

The two arms 47 extend generally rear wardly over the hollow frame portion 5 from the pivotally mounted obliquely downwardly and forwardly inclined leading ends thereof.

Each arm 47 comprises a straight and more or less horizontal portion that is of progres sively increasing vertical width from front to rear, this portion integrally terminating in a downwardly and rearwardly inclined portion.

Thus, as seen in side elevation (Figure 1) each arm 47 is of shallow arched formation which leaves sufficient room beneath the central straight and more or less horizontally disposed130 portion thereof for the hollow frame portion 5 to move upwardly and downwardly relative to the frame beam 1 without fouling said arms 47.

The rearmost extremity of each arm 47 is firmly but releaseably secured to a leading re gion of a corresponding plate 49. The two plates 49 are substantially vertically parallel to one another and to the direction A, each of them being welded or otherwise rigidly secured to both an upper beam 50 and a lower beam 51. The upper beam 50 lies vertically above the lower beam 5 1, said beams 50 and 51 both extending throughout the length of the hollow frame portion 5 in substantially perpendicular, or at least transverse, relationship with the direction A.

The lower beam 51 is both substantially straight and substantially horizontal whereas the upper beam 50 is of inverted very shallow V-shaped configuration, said beam 50 thus comprising two straight limbs which diverge outwardly and downwardly from the mid-point of the beam in such a way that the distance between the two beams 50 and 51 at the ends thereof where they are interconnected by substantially vertical plates 52 (Figure 1) is significantly less than is the distance between them at their mid-points. Stay plates strengtheningly interconnect the upper and lower beams 50 and 51 at intervals along the lengths thereof. The arms 47, beams 50 and 51 and associated parts afford a carrying assembly for a ground roller 54A. The ground roller 54A is an open-work, cage-formation roller comprising a plurality of regularly spaced apart support plates that are substantially vertically parallel to one another and to the direction A, the shape of one such support plate being visible in Figure 1. A plurality, of which there are seven in the embodiment that is being described, of tubular, or alternatively rodformation, elongate elements 54B interconnect the peripheries of the support plates at regularly spaced apart angular intervals around the central longitudinal axis of rotation of the roller 54A and preferably, as can be seen in Figure 2, the elements 54B are wound helically around that central axis of the roller to some extent.

Near the middle of the beams 50 and 51 there is provided a support plate 69 which has, at its front with respect to the direction A, a horizontal pivot pin 70, which connects the plate 69 to a fork at the outer end of the piston rod of a hydraulic piston and cylinder assembly 71 which extends obliquely upwardly and forwardly from the pivot pin 70 to carry, at the upper leading end of its cylinder, a support 72 for a screw-threaded adjusting mechanism 73 comprising a manually operable crank handle at its upper leading end. The support 72 is turnably connected to a coupling member or trestle 77 by which the frame beam 1 of the implement can be con- 3 GB2196823A 3 1 45 nected to a three-point lifting device or hitch mounted at the rear of an agricultural tractor or other vehicle which both moves the imple ment in the direction A and operates the mov ing parts thereof. The hydraulic piston and cyl inder assembly 71 is provided with hydraulic connections (not shown) for coupling it to the hydraulic system of the tractor or other vehicle which both moves and operates the implement.

The screw-threaded adjusting mechanism 73 acts, upon rotation of its screw-threaded spin dle by turning the crank handle in an appropri ate direction, to move a stop (not visible) either upwardly or downwardly inside the cyl- 80 inder of the assembly 71, the adjustment be ing carried out to control the location to which the piston of that assembly 71 can move in the cylinder with this position corresponding to a chosen horizontal level of the ground rol- 85 ler 54A relative to that of the frame portion 5 and soil working members 7. Thus, an advan tageous relative level which has been set for a particular cultivating operation can quickly be reestablished, after, purely for example, an over-night stoppage, merely by extending the assembly 71 hydraulically until the piston thereof meets the adjustable stop, no re-ad justment being necessary until a fresh job is to be undertaken under different conditions.

The tops of two upright plates 78 of the coupling member or trestle 77 have the lead ing ends of corresponding upper arms 95 tur nably connected to them by aligned strong pivots 96 which define a substantially horizon100 tal axis that is parallel or substantially parallel to the frame beam 1, said arms 95 extending more or less horizontally rearwards from the pivots 96 to locations. in rear regions of the implement. The same upright plates 78 also 105 have the leading ends of corresponding lower arms 97 connected to them by horizontally aligned strong pivots that define an axis that is parallel to the axis of turnability of the up per arms 95 which is defined by the aligned 110 pivots 96. These horizontally aligned pivots are mounted in the upright plates 78 at loca tions spaced upwardly and rearwardly from the top of the frame beam 1. The arms 97 extend more or less horizontally rearwardly from their pivots for approximately the same distance as do the upper arms 95, the pair of upper arms 95 being rigidly and transversely interconnected, towards their rear ends, by a horizontal beam of hollow formation and circu- 120 lar cross-section. Similarly, the pair of lower arms 97 is rigidly and transversely interconnected by a horizontal beam. However, in this case ' the hollow beam is of oblong, or alter- natively square, cross-section and intercon- nects-the extreme rear ends of the two arms 97 rather than being spaced forwardly from those extreme rear ends as is the hollow beam in relation to the upper pair of arms 95.

The rearmost ends of the two lower arms 130 97 are bevelled inwardly and, at the locations of their junctions with the interconnecting hollow beam, have the upper leading ends of corresponding downwardly and rearwardly inclined brackets fastened to them. A rear coupling mechanism 104 is turnably connected by horizontally aligned pivots to the rear ends of the upper arms 95 and by aligned parallel pivot bolts to the lower rear ends of the lower brackets. The rear coupling mechanism 104 is of basically rectangular configuration. The single upper coupling point of this rear coupling mechanism is afforded by a pair of substantially vertically parallel, but horizontally spaced apart, plates 109 which surround a central region of a horizontally extending beam and project downwardly and forwardly therefrom (Figure 1), the downwardly and forwardly projecting portions being formed with horizontally aligned holes through which an upper coupling pin can be entered. The construction and arrangement of the rear coupling mechanism of the implement itself is such that a further implement, machine or tool which may be mounted behind the soil cultivating implement is located as close as possible to the latter thus facilitating a compact disposition of the complete combination.

Each upper arm 95 is formed with a rela- tively short axially extending slot and each such pair of slots has a horizontal pivot pin 111 entered horizontally therethrough in perpendicular relationship with the lengths of the arms 95 in such a way as to be.movable lengthwise along the slots concerned. Each pivot pin 111 is surrounded by a sleeve at the free end of the piston rod of a corresponding fluid pressure-operated piston and cylinder assembly 113, the leading lower end of the cylinder of each assembly 113 being turnably connected to a shoulder of the corresponding upright plate 78 by a strong horizontally disposed pivot. It will be noted that. the axis defined by the two horizontally aligned strong pivots which have just been mentioned is located at substantially the same horizontal level as is the bottom of a beam which horizontally interconnects the plates 78.

The pivots 96 by which the upper arms.95 115 are turnably connected to the upright plates 78 of the coupling member or trestle 77 also have corresponding latches 115 turnably mounted on them, the latches 115 being located at the relatively remote or outer sides of the upright plates 78 and upper arms 95. The rear end of each latch 115, with respect to the direction A, is formed with a jaw whose shape can be seen in Figure 1 of the drawings and each such jaw is arranged to cooperate retainingly with a corresponding pin that projects horizontally from the outer side of the corresponding lower arm 97. These pins are mounted on the lower arms 97 at locations which are short distances to the rear of the mid-points of those arms. The latches 115 4 project short distances forwardly of the pivots 96 and these forwardly projecting portions are formed with holes 117 into which extend, with sufficient clearance to allow limited turn- ing movements of the latches 115 about the pivots 96, corresponding stop pins 118. Each 'latch 115 has the end of a cable or other flexible but inextensible operating member 119 connected to it at a point spaced from the corresponding pivot 96, the members 119 extending to locations on the agricultural tractor or other vehicle that moves and operates the implement and these locations being readily accessible to the driver of that tractor or other vehicle so that, upon pulling them forwardly, the latches 115 will be raised to the extent that is allowed by the co-operation between the holes 117 and stop pins 118 which is sufficient to disengage the latch jaws from the pins on the lower arms 97.

If desired, and as illustrated in Figure 1, the flexible but inextensible cables or the like which afford the operating members 119 may include in their lengths helical tension springs 119A or alternatively short lengths of a strong but elastic material such as natural or artificial rubber. With this arrangement, the latches 115 can be disengaged from the pins by applying hydraulic pressure to the assemblies 113 for a very short period of time, this effectively---shaking-the pins free of the jaws of the latches 115.

Each shaft 6 is provided, inside the hollow frame portion 5, with a corresponding straight- or spurtoothed pinion, the size of each pinion being such that its teeth are in mesh with those of the or each immediately neighbouring pinion in the single row of sixteen, in this embodiment, such pinions. One of the centre pair of shafts 6 in the single row of sixteen shafts has an upward extension into a speedreducing gearbox whose rotary input shaft, in turn, extends into a gearbox 9 1. Shafts and bevel pinions inside the gearbox 91 indirectly place the upward extension of the shaft 6 mentioned above in driven connection with a rotary input shaft of the gearbox 91 which shaft projects substantially horizontally forwardly from the front of the gearbox 91 and is splined or otherwise keyed to enable it to be placed in driven connection with the rear power take-off shaft of the tractor or other vehicle which is to move and operate the implement by way of an interme- diate telescopic transmission shaft 94, which is of a construction that is known per se, having universal joints at its opposite ends.

The rear of the gearbox 91, with respect to the direction A, is provided with a change speed gear 92 whose construction is not illus- 125 trated in detail since it does not form the subject of the present invention. It suffices to say that two splined or otherwise keyed shafts project into the change-speed gear 92 and carry a pair of meshing straight- or spur- GB 2 196 823A 4 toothed pinions whose sizes establish a predetermined transmission ratio between the two shafts concerned. The change-speed gear 92 has a readily removable cover and the pi- nions which have just been mentioned can be interchanged on the shafts, or be exchanged for another pair of co-operating pinions of different sizes, to change the transmission ratio between the two shafts. Thus, the speed at which the soil working members 7 will all be rotated can be increased or decreased without having to alter the speed of driving rotation that is applied to the rotary input shaft of the gearbox 91 from the rear power take-off shaft of the operating tractor or other vehicle. The shaft which protrudes from the front of the gearbox 91 also protrudes from the rear of the change- speed gear 92 to enable it to be used as a source of rotary power for the moving parts of some other implement, machine or tool that may be coupled to the rear of the soil cultivating implement, for use in combination therewith. Such implement, machine or tool might be, for example, a seed drill or a planting machine.

In the use of the soil cultivating implement that has been described in preparing a seed bed, its coupling member or trestle 77 is connected to the three-point lifting device or hitch at the rear of a tractor or other operating vehicle. The rotary input shaft of the gearbox 91 is placed in driven connection with the rear power take-off shaft of the same tractor or other vehicle using the known telescopic transmission shaft 94 which has universal joints at its opposite ends. Adjustments which may, if required, be made before work commences include raising or lowering the bodily level of the ground roller 54A relative to that of the frame portion 5 and soil working members 7 using the hydraulic piston and cylinder assembly 71, powered from the hydraulic system of the tractor or other operating vehicle, for that purpose, remembering that the adjusting mechanism 73 can be set, as described above, to enable any chosen bodily level of the roller 54A to be quickly and easily regained after work has been discontinued for a time. The speed at which the soil working members 7 will all revolve in response to a more or less standard speed of rotation applied to the rotary input shaft of the gear box 91 can be changed, if required, by altering the transmission ratio established in the change- speed gear 92. These adjustments will usually be made having regard to the nature and condition of the soil that is to be dealt with and the particular purpose for which that soil is required after its cultivation.

When a single roller, such as the roller 54A, is used in an implement of relatively large working width and is also temporarily combined with a rear-mounted further implement, machine or tool, such as a heavy potato plant- ing machine, the forces acting on the single GB2196823A 5 roller 54A during operative progress in the direction A reach such magnitudes that a central unsupported region of the roller tends to be deflected upwardly either flexibly or by bending and this is, of course, most undesirable. Accordingly, in order to prevent such up- ward deflection occurring to any significant extent, a stop member in the form of a baffle 122 is provided substantially centrally along the axial length of the roller 54A.

A curved plate 124 is connected to both the upper beam 50 and the lower beam 51 by a shaped plate 123 whose lower concave edge is spot-welded or otherwise secured to the matchingly shaped convex side of the curved plate 124, by a substantially vertical clamping plate 120 whose leading surface is centrally secured to the rear upright edge of the shaped plate 123, and by upper and lower pairs of U-bolts 121 that clampingly embrace the upper and lower beams 50 and 51 in such a way that their screw-threaded shanks are provided with nuts which bear against the leading surface of the clamping plate 120 with the nuts at one side of the shaped plate 123 whilst those corresponding to the other U-bolt of the same pair are located at the opposite side of that plate 123. The substantially vertically disposed shaped plate 123 is parallel or substantially parallel to the direction A and the curved plate 124 that is fastened in its arcu ately recessed lower edge has its centre of curvature co-incident with the axis of rotation of the roller 54A and subtends an angle of 180', or marginally less than 180', at that axis of rotation. As can be seen in Figure 1 of the drawings, the lower concave surface of the curved plate 124 is normally just clear of contact with the elongate elements 54B of the roller 54A during rotation of the latter.

If, during operation, the roller 54A should be heavily loaded as briefly discussed above, its central region may be flexed upwardly but, when this occurs, the curved plate 124 of the stop baffle 122 will bear against the upwardly 110 deflected uppermost central region of the rol ler 54A and will prevent any further upward deflection, to such an extent that permanent bending might result, whilst still allowing rota- tion of the roller in an anti-clockwise direction 115 as seen in Figure 1 of the drawings with the successive elongate elements 54B sliding around the concave surface of the plate 124. Thus, the roller 54A will continue correctly to control the working depth of the implement whilst maintaining its normal rotation.

Figure 3 of the drawings again shows the provision of the stop baffle 122 but, in this case, the roller 54A with which it co-operates comprises a single cylinder 58 extending throughout the combined working width of the soil working members 7 of the implement. With this construction, the relatively narrow curved plate 124 of the stop baffle 122 nor- mally closely partially surrounds an uppermost region of the cylinder 58 of the roller 54A and is disposed between two groups or crowns of teeth 63 carried by that cylinder 58. A mud-shedding scraper may be omitted at this single location since the stop baffle 122 itself will act to shed mud and lumps of soil from between the immediately neighbouring groups or crowns of teeth 63 provided on the roller cylinder 58.

A construction in accordance with the invention is particularly advantageous for implements having a relatively large working width of substantially three metres or more. The carrying frame which is afforded principally by the frame beam 1 is considerably shorter in axial length than is the hollow frame portion 5, preferably having a length which is approximately half that of said frame portion 5. The beam 1 provides support for the hollow frame portion 5 in a manner which adds very considerably to the rigidity of the latter in a particularly simple manner that is economic as regards both material and weight. As the implement is moving operatively in the direction A, the hollow frame portion 5 can move or ---float-upwardly and downwardly relative to the frame beam 1 through the intermediary of the dual parallelogram linkage 4 and is sustained from the ground surface by the immedi- ately following closely adjacent supporting ground roller 54A. The carrying assembly for the roller 54A which comprises the arms 47 and the upper and lower beams 50 and 5 1 sustains the carrying frame in a most effective manner which tends to distribute reaction forces exerted upon the implement during its operation in a way which makes breakage or bending damage a very rare occurrence indeed.

The implement constructions that have been described also form the subject of our copending patent Application No. 8502739 (Serial No. 2153642) to which reference is directed.

Claims (3)

1. An implement of the kind set forth, wherein a stop in the form of a member having an arcuately shaped periphery is provided to co-operate with the single supporting roller when required to prevent significant deformation of the latter due to heavy loading.

2. An implement as claimed in claim 1, wherein said member is secured to a carrying assembly of the single supporting roller.

3. An implement as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the arcuately shaped periphery of said member is arranged to co-operate with an uppermost region of the single supporting roller.

Published 1988 at The Patent Office, State House, 66/71 High Holborn, London WC 1 R 4TP. Further copies may be obtained from The Patent Office, Sales Branch, St Mary Cray, Orpington, Kent BR5 3RD. Printed by Burgess & Son (Abingdon) Ltd. Con. 1/87.