GB2621168A

GB2621168A - Agricultural trailed implements

Info

Publication number: GB2621168A
Application number: GB2211425.0A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hatfield Mark
Original assignee: ROLAWN Ltd
Current assignee: ROLAWN Ltd
Priority date: 2022-08-05
Filing date: 2022-08-05
Publication date: 2024-02-07
Anticipated expiration: 2042-08-05
Also published as: GB202211425D0; GB2621168B

Abstract

An agricultural trailed implement 10 comprises a chassis having a longitudinally extending spine 20, 22 and implement-supporting arms 26 pivotable relative to the spine. The arms are pivotable between a deployed position in which the arms extend transversely to the spine and a transport position in which the arms extend parallel to the spine. In the invention, the spine comprises mutually articulated front 20 and rear 22 sections. The front section is provided with a tow hitch 12 at one end and being connected to the arms. The rear section is supported on ground engaging wheels 16 and connected to the front section for pivotal movement about a pivot 24 an axis parallel to that of the wheels. The front and the rear sections may overlap. The implement arms may comprise a plurality of segments each connected to a neighbouring segment for pivotal movement about a longitudinally extending axis. The implements which are supported by the arms may be two longitudinally rows of grass cutting heads 42, each row comprising heads spaces transversely from each other.

Description

Agricultural Trailed Implements

Field of the invention

The invention relates to agricultural trailed implements, and more specifically to trailed implements suitable for towing on a public highway.

Background

Trailed implements to be towed behind a tractor are used throughout the agricultural industry to perform different tasks. The trailed implements need be very wide, for them to carry out efficiently a task, such as crop spraying or grass cutting, in a large field. A typical width of a crop sprayer, for example, may be in the range of 20 to 30 metres, and large commercially available grass cutting machinery provide a cutting width of approximately 15 metres.

To transport such a trailed implement on the public highway, it is essential that it be foldable in some way to reduce its width. For some trailed implements, such as crop sprayers, folding can be achieved in a straightforward manner, owing to the fact that the spraying arms are relatively thin. The arms may be split into sections that are pivotable relative to one another, thereby allowing them to fold back on each other multiple times.

Trailed implements for mowing grass are known that have lateral arms carrying multiple mowing cylinders that are arranged in two rows, the cylinders in each row being spaced from one another and arranged to provide full coverage by the cylinders of one row being aligned with the spaces of the other row. Folding of the arms of such a trailed implement presents more difficulty, on account of the vertical height of each arm section and its length in the direction of movement of the trailed implement.

Object of the invention The invention seeks therefore to provide a trailed implement design that permits relatively bulky arms to be folded for transportation of the trailed implement on public highways. -2 -

Summary of the invention

In a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an agricultural trailed implement comprising a chassis having a longitudinally extending spine and two implement-supporting arms pivotable relative to the spine between a deployed position in which the arms extend transversely to the spine and a transport position in which the arms extend parallel to the spine, characterised in that the spine comprises mutually articulated front and rear sections, the front section being provided with a tow hitch at one end and being connected to the arms, and the rear section being supported on ground engaging wheels and connected to the front section for pivotal movement about an axis parallel to that of the wheels.

In a second aspect of the invention, the present invention provides a method of folding an agricultural trailed implement as set forth above to permit its towing on a public highway, the method comprising the steps of pivoting the two sections of the spine, so as to raise the pivot axis therebetween, and pivoting the two arms relative to the front section of the spine to a position overlying the ground engaging wheels.

Brief description of the drawings

The invention will now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a trailed implement in a transport position with the mowing heads omitted in the interest of clarity, Figure 2 is a view of implement-supporting arms of the trailed implement in a position midway between deployed and folded positions, and Figure 3 is a top view of the trailed implement in a deployed position, complete with the mowing heads.

Detailed description of the invention

The invention will be described below by reference to a trailed implement to serve as a large area grass mower but it should be understood that the trailer configuration of the invention may alternatively be used to support other agricultural equipment.

Figure 1 shows an agricultural trailed implement 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention The trailed implement 10 comprises a chassis having a longitudinally extending spine 20, 22 and pivotable implement-supporting arms 26 The trailed implement 10 is towable by a tractor from a tow hitch 12 on the front end of a front section 20 of the spine and is further supported by at least two ground engaging wheels 16, on a rear section 22 of the spine to allow the trailed implement 10 to be towed across a field or on a public highway. Preferably four wheels 16 support the trailed implement in order to spread the mass of the machinery over a larger ground area, therefore reducing the likelihood of the trailed implement 10 sinking into, and damaging, the field. The wheels 16 may be braked wheels, and in embodiments where the wheels 16 are braked, airbrakes are preferred The front and rear sections 20, 22 of the spine are mutually articulated by means of a pivot 24. While the pivot 24 may connect the ends of the front section 20 and rear section 22 to one another, in the illustrated embodiment, the front and rear sections 20, 22 overlap with the front section 20 extending beyond the pivot 24 to overlie the rear section 22.. In all embodiments the axis of the hinge 24 and therefore the axis of rotation of the rear section 22 lies parallel to that of the wheels 16, so that, when articulated, the rear end of the front section 20 is raised with respect to the ground.

The articulation is preferably provided by means of hydraulics. For example, as shown in the figures a hydraulic cylinder 28 may connect a rear part of the front section 20 to a cross member of the rear section 22. When hydraulic pressure is supplied to extend the piston of the cylinder 28, the position shown in Figure 1 is adopted. In alternative embodiments, two cylinders 28 may be used, and each cylinder may be connected to a longitudinal member of the rear section 22 rather than to the cross member. Alternatively, a pneumatic or electrically powered system may be used to articulate the spine of the trailed implement.

Implement-supporting arms are attached to the front section 20 of the spine. The arms 26 are pivotable relative to the spine about a pivot pin 32 between a deployed position and a transport position. In the deployed position, shown in Figure 3, the arms 26 extend transversely to the spine and enable the mowing cylinders to mow a wide swathe in a field. In the transport position, shown in Figure 1, the arms 26 are pivoted to extend parallel to the spine, thereby greatly reducing the width of the trailed implement 10 and enabling it to be towed along a public highway. The pivoting of the arms 26 about the hinge 32 is again preferably carried out using hydraulic power. -4 -

In order to enable increase the width of the swathe that can be mowed, the implement-supporting arms may be segmented arms 26 and provided with extensions 26A, as shown in Figure 2. When using such arms 26, the arms 26 may themselves be foldable, in order to reduce the length of the trailed implement 10 when the arms 26 are in the transport position parallel with the chassis.

Figure 2 shows foldable arms 26 approximately midway between a deployed position, where implement attachment points 34 all lie in the same horizontal plane, and a folded position where the distal segments 26A of the arms 26 lie on top of the proximal segments, while the arms remain in a position transverse to the spine. The folding action may be carried out by a linkage having two hydraulic cylinders 36, 38 and a plate 40. It can be seen in Figure 2 that when the piston of the first cylinder 36 is extended, the distal segment 26A of the arm 26 is pivoted to a point halfway between deployed and folded. To fold the arm 26 fully, the piston of the second cylinder 38 is also extended. It is therefore understood that three positions are possible where foldable aims 26 are used; namely the deployed position, the folded position, and the transport position.

Where hydraulic power is used above, it is supplied by a hydraulic pump. The hydraulic pump may be powered by a PTO (power take off) shaft of the tractor.

Figure 3 shows the foldable implement-supporting arms 26 of the trailed implement 10 supporting two rows of grass cutting heads 42. Each cutting head 42 comprises a cylinder with helical blades (not shown for clarity) with the axis of the helix lying substantially parallel to that of the arms 26. The cutting heads 42 are preferably driven by hydraulic motors (not shown).

The cutting heads 42 are arranged in two rows with each cutting head axially overlapping at least one neighbouring head 42 to ensure that as the trailed implement 10 moves forward, no grass is left uncut. The heads 42 are 'floating' heads, meaning that they are capable of articulation and height adjustment to ensure an even cut on undulating ground.

Extra support for the arms 26 may be provided by support wheels 48 mounted toward the end of the arms 26.

It will be appreciated that large area mowers are known per se, and that the geometry of the cutting heads is well known as is the ability to adjust the height and inclination of the cutting heads individually to cope with uneven ground. These features need not therefore be described in detail in the present context.

The front section 20 of the spine support and additional grass cutting head 42A so that a central strip of grass is also cut as the trailed implement passes over the field.

Figure 3 shows the implement-supporting arms in their deployed position. The total grass cutting width of the trailed implement 10 may be approximately 16 metres. As the trailed implement cannot be towed on a public highway in such a configuration, the arms 26 are pivotable about pivots 32 so as to adopt a longitudinal attitude ready for transport on the public highway. The pivoting action is preferably powered by hydraulic cylinders 46 so that the arms 26 pivot about the hinges 32 as pistons of the cylinders 46 retract. Once in either the deployed position or the transport position, the arms 26 may be mechanically locked in place.

It can be seen from Figure 3 that were the spine 20, 22 of the tractor to be in one piece, pivoting the arms 26 about the hinges 32 to bring them into a position parallel with the spine would be prevented by the mowing equipment colliding with the road engaging wheels 16. It is for this reason that the invention provides an articulated spine.

By articulating the spine, the rear of front section 20 of the spine, to which the arms 26 are attached, can be raised so that when the arms 26 are pivoted about the pivot pins 32, the arms will lie in plane inclined to the horizontal enabling them to be stowed above the wheels 16.

The method of operating the trailed implement 10 of the present invention therefore requires the step of articulating the front and rear sections 20, 22 before the arms 26 are pivoted about the pivot pins 32. In embodiments where the arms are segmented, the step of folding the segments may occur before, during, or after the step of articulating the front and rear sections 20, 22 of the chassis.

Claims

-6 -CLAIMS 1. An agricultural trailed implement comprising a chassis having a longitudinally extending spine and two implement-supporting arms pivotable relative to the spine between a deployed position in which the arms extend transversely to the spine and a transport position in which the arms extend parallel to the spine, characterised in that the spine comprises mutually articulated front and rear sections, the front section being provided with a tow hitch at one end and being connected to the arms, and the rear section being supported on ground engaging wheels and connected to the front section for pivotal movement about an axis parallel to that of the wheels.
2. The agricultural trailed implement of claim 1, wherein the front and rear sections of the spine overlap longitudinally.
3. The agricultural trailed implement of claim 2, further comprising at least one hydraulic cylinder connected at a first end to the front section and at a second end to the rear section to cause the sections to pivot relative to one another.
4. The agricultural trailed implement of any preceding claim, wherein each implement-supporting arm comprises a plurality of segments, each connected to a neighbouring segment for pivotal movement about a longitudinally extending axis.
The agricultural trailed implement of any preceding claim, wherein the implements supported by the implement-supporting arms are two longitudinally spaced rows of grass cutting heads, each row comprising heads spaced from transversely spaced with one another.
6. The agricultural trailed implement of claim 5, wherein an additional grass cutting head mounted to the front section of the spine.
7 The agricultural trailed implement of claim 5 or 6, wherein the cylindrical grass cutting heads comprise cylinders having helical cutting blades
8. The agricultural trailed implement of any of claims 5 to 7, further comprising a plurality of hydraulic motors each connected to drive a respective one of the grass cutting heads.
9. The agricultural trailed implement of claim 8, wherein the hydraulic motors are powered by at least one pump connectable to a power take off shaft of a towing tractor.
The agricultural trailed implement of any preceding claim, wherein each implement-supporting arm is supported by at least one ground engaging roller.
II. The agricultural trailed implement of any preceding claim, wherein the trailed implement further comprises an air braking system operable to brake at least two of the plurality of wheels
12. A method of folding an agricultural trailed implement as claimed in any preceding claim to permit towing of the trailed implement on a public highway, the method comprising the steps of pivoting the two sections of the spine, so as to raise the pivot axis therebetween, and pivoting the two arms relative to the front section of the spine to a position overlying the ground engaging wheels.
13. A method as claimed in claim 12, wherein each arm is formed of segments pivotable relative to one another about a longitudinal axis and wherein the segments are pivoted to overlie one another prior to the arm being pivoted to overlie the ground engaging wheels.