GB2479132A

GB2479132A - Device and method for harrowing a ground surface using slewing apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2479132A
Application number: GB201005243A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Mark David Beresford Smith
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2010-03-29
Filing date: 2010-03-29
Publication date: 2011-10-05
Anticipated expiration: 2030-03-29
Also published as: GB2479132B; GB201005243D0

Abstract

A harrowing device for harrowing a ground surface comprises a main frame110and harrowing means112which are coupled to the main frame110. The device further comprises mounting means adapted to operably mount the harrowing device to a slewing apparatus such as an excavator or digger. The mounting means may comprise a support structure114which extends upwardly from the mainframe110when in use. The mounting means may further comprise a mounting bracket120coupled to the support structure114. The harrowing device may further comprise a hauling member coupled to the mainframe. The method comprises attaching the afore described device to slewing apparatus and moving the device in a slew motion.

Description

DEVICE AND METHOD FOR HARROWING A GROUND SURFACE

The present invention relates to a harrowing device for harrowing a ground surface, and in particular to a harrowing device adapted to be attached to a slewing apparatus.

In agriculture, a set of harrows is an implement for cultivating the surface of the soil. Harrowing is often carried out on fields to follow the rough finish left by ploughing operations. The purpose of this harrowing is generally to break up clods and lumps of soil and to provide a finer finish, a good tilth or soil structure that is suitable for seeding and planting operations. A coarser harrowing may also be used to remove weeds and to cover seed after sowing.

There are three types of harrows (i) disc harrows, (ii) tine harrows and (iii) chain harrows. Chain harrows are often used for lighter work such as leveling the tilth or covering seed, while disc harrows are typically used for heavy work, such as following ploughing to break up the sod. Chain harrowing may also be used on pasture land to spread out dung and to break up dead material in the sward. Similarly, in sports-ground maintenance, a light chain harrowing is often used to level off the ground after heavy use, to remove and smooth out boot marks and indentations.

Tine harrows are usually used to refine seed-bed condition before planting, to remove small weeds in growing crops and to loosen the inter-row soils to allow for water to soak into the subsoil.

In addition, there are various types of power harrows, in which the cultivators are power-driven from the tractor rather than depending on its forward motion.

Harrows may be of several types and weights, depending on the intended purpose. Harrows usually consist of a rigid frame to which are attached discs, teeth, linked chains or other means of cultivation. Tine and chain harrows are often only supported by a rigid towing-bar at the front of the set.

In the past, harrows were horse-drawn. However, today, they are tractor-mounted and either trailed after the tractor or mounted on a three-point hitch. Figure 1 (a) shows a typical tractor-mounted tine harrows 10 that is pulled over the ground surface. Here, the frame 12 is coupled to the rear mount 14 of the tractor 16. In order to cultivate, for example, a large field, the tractor has to drive back and forth along adjacent stripes having the width of the harrow. Figure 1 (b) shows a typical example of such practice.

This technique can be very slow and time consuming, because the tractor has to drive the full distance along the path to be cultivated. In addition, uneven terrain may cause the harrows to bounce of the ground when pulled at a certain speed or the rigid frame of the harrows may not be able to follow the profile of the surface causing an incomplete or irregular harrowed surface. Also, the tractor may not be able to pull the harrows over a very uneven or substantially inclined ground surface so that cultivation may only be achieved using hand tools.

Preferred embodiments of the invention seek to overcome one or more of

the above disadvantages of the prior art.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a harrowing device for harrowing a ground surface, comprising: a main frame, harrowing means coupled to the main frame, and mounting means adapted to operably mount the harrowing device to a slewing apparatus.

This provides the advantage that the harrowing device can be attached to any suitable slewing apparatus to allow the harrowing device to be moved in a slewing motion by the slewing apparatus and relative thereto.

Suitable slewing apparatus may include an excavator or digger which are commonly available and generally comprise a standardized mounting bracket at a free end of a hydraulically operated arm or boom mounted to a platform of the excavator or digger. The term excavator' has been used in the following description to describe any slewing apparatus capable of slewing, rotating and/or dragging the harrowing device of the present invention.

A conventional excavator platform is capable of 3600 rotation allowing the arm and attached harrowing device to slew unhindered. Therefore, the excavator and attached harrowing device are capable of covering a large area while stationary by moving the harrowing device in a slew motion relative to the excavator. Furthermore, the excavator and attached harrowing device are capable of covering a significantly wider stripe than known conventional methods by slewing the harrowing device from one side to the other while slowly driving the excavator along a path over the ground surface. In addition, the present invention provides the advantage that uneven or severely inclined surface areas can be cultivated to the same standard as on a flat surface, because the excavator arm allows the harrowing device to be tilted to an angle matching the inclination of a particular ground surface. The present invention may also allow access to otherwise inaccessible ground surface areas, because the excavator arm is capable of lifting the harrowing device over obstacles and employing the harrowing device within that particular area.

Therefore, the present invention provides a harrowing device that, in combination with a conventional excavator, has improved manoeuvrability and versatility that allows covering more ground surface area in a shorter time period, and which allows working ground surfaces with awkward or complex surface profile.

The mounting means may further comprise a support structure extending from the main frame. Preferably the support structure extends upwardly from the mainframe thereby not to interfere with the harrowing means during use. The mainframe and/or the support structure may suitably comprise elongate sections such as commonly available box section or tubular section, for example.

The mounting means may further comprise a mounting bracket coupled to the support structure and adapted to engage a mounting portion of the slewing apparatus. Suitably the support structure may comprise a plurality of elongate portions extending between the mounting bracket and the in a i nfra me.

The mounting bracket may be an automatic or manual quick-hitch mount.

Suitably the mounting bracket may be adapted to engage with a conventional mounting portion or headset' of an excavator arm.

The harrowing means may be a chain harrow comprising either one of a plurality of tines, blades or spikes projecting towards the ground surface during use.

The harrowing means may be a disc harrow comprising a plurality of disc blades projecting towards the ground surface during use.

The harrowing device may further comprise a hauling member coupled to the main frame. This provides the advantage that the harrowing device may also be used with conventional methods such as dragging behind a tractor or other vehicle.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for harrowing a ground surface, comprising the steps of: mounting the previously disclosed harrowing device to a slewing apparatus; placing the harrowing means on or into the ground surface, and moving the harrowing device in a slew motion relative to the slewing apparatus over the ground surface, or moving the harrowing device in a slew motion relative to the slewing apparatus over the ground surface while the slewing apparatus is moving along a predetermined path over the ground surface.

This provides the advantage that more surface area can be covered in a shorter time period, and awkward or complex surface profiles can be worked to the same standard as flat and/or easily accessible surface areas.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a slewing apparatus comprising a harrowing device as previously disclosed.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a conventional harrowing device (a) during use attached to a tractor, and (b) the surface area covered when used with a conventional method, Figure 2 shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention from the (a) front, (b) side, and (c) top, Figure 3 shows a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Figure 4 shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention when attached to an excavator and used on a complex surface profile, and Figure 5 shows an example of the surface area covered and the path of the harrowing device when used during forward motion of the excavator.

Referring to Figure 2 and 3, the harrowing device 100 comprises a main frame 110 supporting a chain harrow 112. The chain harrow 112 is a conventional and commercially available harrow that is attached to the main frame 110. A support structure 114 is attached to a first side 116 of the main frame 110. The first side 116 of the main frame 110 faces away from the ground surface when the harrowing device 100 is in use. The support structure 114 comprises a plurality of elongate portions extending from the mainframe 110 to a mounting bracket 120 which is preferably positioned near the centre of the support structure 114 to minimize the inertial forces of the harrowing device during use. However, the mounting bracket 120 may be positioned anywhere on the main frame 110 or support structure 114 in order to provide a mounting bracket location that is advantageous for any specific purpose.

Although the main frame 110 of the preferred embodiment of the present invention covers a rectangular surface area, other main frame shapes may be used to cover differently shaped surface areas. For example, the main frame 110 may be circular, triangular or square. The main frame 110 of the harrowing device may also be made for differently sized surface areas according to the intended use. For example, a smaller main frame 110 may be better suited for residential or garden work, or when used in narrow spaces, and may also be more suitable for awkward or complex ground surface profiles. On the other hand, a larger main frame 110 is advantageous when used on large surface areas saving considerable time and costs.

The main frame 110 and support structure 114 are preferably made of metal, such as steel or aluminium, but any other suitable rigid material may be used. The mainframe 110 and/or support structure 114 may be box or tubular section, for example.

The mounting bracket 120 may be a manual or automatic standardized bracket that is compatible with the mounting brackets of conventional excavators 200. Preferred conventional mounting brackets 120 are of the type "Quick-Hitch", which are often affixed to the end of the excavator arm 210, enabling different types and sizes of the harrowing device 100 to be attached and changed in a significantly reduced time period.

Figure 4 shows the harrowing device 100 when used on an inclined surface having a complex profile. It would not be possible or at least very difficult to work this type of ground surface with the conventional method, because a tractor would have to pull the harrow either over or along the steep surface. However, the harrowing device 100 of the present invention can be tilted to an angle parallel to the ground surface and slewed over the surface without having to drive over the steep surface profile.

Figure 5 shows an example for a method of harrowing a large surface area from a top view perspective. The harrowing device 100 of the present invention is coupled to an excavator 200 and, once placed on the ground surface, slewed from one side to the other while the excavator slowly moves along a path 220 over the ground surface, leaving, for example, a working pattern 230 as shown in Figure 5. The excavator 200 may also be placed stationary onto the ground surface and the excavator top housing and excavator arm 210 rotate around the excavator pivot point 240 in order to work the ground surface surrounding the excavator 200. Most common excavator arms can be extended and retracted allowing working a wide band of ground surface around the excavator 200 without having to move the excavator 200 from its stationary position.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiment has been described by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A harrowing device for harrowing a ground surface, comprising: a main frame, harrowing means coupled to the main frame, and mounting means adapted to operably mount the harrowing device to a slewing apparatus.
2. A harrowing device according to claim 1, wherein said mounting means further comprises a support structure extending from the main frame.
3. A harrowing device according to claim 2, wherein the support structure extends upwardly from the mainframe.
4. A harrowing device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said mounting means further comprises a mounting bracket coupled to said support structure and adapted to engage a mounting portion of said slewing apparatus.
5. A harrowing device according to claim 4, wherein the support structure comprises a plurality of elongate portions extending between the mounting bracket and the mainframe.
6. A harrowing device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein said mounting bracket is an automatic or manual quick-hitch mount.
7. A harrowing device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said harrowing means comprises either one of a plurality of tines, blades or spikes projecting towards said ground surface during use.
8. A harrowing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein said harrowing means comprises a plurality of disc blades projecting towards said ground surface during use.
9. A harrowing device according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a hauling member coupled to said main frame.
10. A method for harrowing a ground surface, comprising the steps of: mounting the previously disclosed harrowing device to a slewing apparatus; placing the harrowing means on or into the ground surface, and moving the harrowing device in a slew motion relative to the slewing apparatus over the ground surface, or moving the harrowing device in a slew motion relative to the slewing apparatus over the ground surface while the slewing apparatus is moving along a predetermined path over the ground surface.
11. A slewing apparatus comprising a harrowing device according to any one of claims 1 to 9.