MXPA00001624A - Corner pivot irrigation machine - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses an irrigation machine of corner pivot comprising a main arm which extends outward from a structure of the central pivot supported over and activated by a plurality of transmission towers which cannot be directed. An elongated corner arm pivotally secured to the exterior end of the main arm and is supported by a transmission tower which can be directed includes a elongated beam placed beneath the water piping of the corner arm which has a pair of transmission wheel supports placed at the opposite ends of it, both can rotate regarding the same around a vertical axle. A steering engine, actuated by a conventional guide system, is mounted on the main beam and is connected to the rotatory transmission wheel supports by means of an adjustable union to allow the selectively adjustment of the union when the machine is operated in reverse.

Description

BRIEF CORNER PIVOT IRRIGATION MACHINE BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a corner pivot irrigation machine and more particularly to a corner pivot machine having means thereon for selectively adjusting the direction joint between the Steering motor and drive wheel supports to allow the machine to operate in reverse. In most corner pivot irrigation machines, the machine comprises an elongated main arm or end extending outward from a central pivot structure and having a corner arm or end directly connected to the outer end of the same. . The main arm comprises a series of water pipes secured in an end-to-end relationship to form a line of water pipe which is supported on a plurality of transmission towers that can not be directed. The corner arm or limb comprises one or more water pipes supported on a drive tower that can be steered. The steerable transmission tower includes a pair of drive wheels that can be steered which are activated and steered to move the corner arm outward into the corners of a field as the main boom is moved. approach the corners and to retract the corner arm as the main arm moves away from the corners of the field. Usually the corner pivot irrigation machine operates in a forward direction, that is, with the main arm in front of the corner arm. However, in some situations, it is desirable or necessary to have the corner arm in front of the main arm. The steering arm of the corner arm normally includes an elongated main beam which is placed below the water pipe of the corner arm and which is secured thereto by a lattice-like support structure. The main beam of the corner arm normally has a steering motor mounted thereon which has an elongated link or arm extending therefrom which is connected to a joint which in turn is connected to the supports of the arm. Pivot transmission wheel placed on the outer ends of the main beam on which the drive wheels that can be steered are mounted. The steering motor is activated by a guidance system, such as a guide system of drowned cables to pivotally move or rotate the wheel drive brackets with respect to the main beam in the transmission tower that can be steered so that the arm can be extended and retracted with respect to the main arm in a conventional way. As mentioned, in most corner pivot irrigation machines, it operates in a forward direction, that is, with the corner arm behind the main arm. In order to facilitate the movement of the transmission tower that can be steered, with the transmission wheels that can be steered following one another to create a single wheel track, the main beam in the steering tower that can be steered is angled with respect to the longitudinal axis of the corner extremity about 20 °. That is, the angle between the front portion of the main beam and the corner water pipe is 70 °. Although the angular relationship of the main beam to the corner end works very well when the machine is being operated in a forward direction, the angular relationship of the main beam and the corner end creates a problem when the machine operates in reverse. The problem that arises in the operation of the machine described above in reverse is that the joint connecting the steering motor and the transmission wheel supports can not be moved sufficiently to properly position the transmission wheels that can be steered to allow that the transmission wheels that can be directed from the transmission tower that can be directed to direct the machine. Therefore, for that the corner pivot machine can be converted in such a way that it can operate in reverse, the joint connecting the steering motor and the transmission wheel supports, like the main beam, must be drastically modified or completely replaced, since the existing joint can not adequately pivot the transmission wheel supports to allow the corner arm to direct the main arm in reverse. A further problem associated with the angular relationship of the main beam with respect to the corner limb is that the angular relationship makes it difficult to fully extend the corner arm to a position where it is in substantial alignment with the main arm. A corner pivot irrigation machine is disclosed which comprises a main arm extending outwardly from a central pivot structure with the main arm being supported on and activated by a plurality of transmission towers that can not be directed. A corner arm is pivotally secured to the outer end of the main arm and is supported by a drive tower that can be steered. The steerable transmission tower includes an elongated main beam placed under the water pipe of the corner arm and which is operatively secured to it. The rotating drive wheel supports are placed at each end of the main beam and rotate relative to it around the vertical axes. The steering motor is secured to the main beam and has a vertically extending rotating steering shaft thereof which has a first elongated link arm secured to the transmission shaft and which extends horizontally outwardly therefrom. A second elongated link arm is secured at one end to one of the transmission wheel supports and extends outwardly therefrom. A third elongated link arm is secured to one end of the other transmission wheel holder and also extends outwardly therefrom. An elongated joint is pivotally secured to and extends between the other ends of the second and third link arms. The other end of the first link arm is pivotally secured to the elongated linkage whereby the rotation of the drive wheel shaft of the steering motor causes the wheel supports to move pivotally with respect to the main beam. The connection of the second and third link arms with the drive wheel supports is adjustable, around a vertical axis, so that adjustments can be made between them to allow the machine to operate either forward or reverse. The adjustment is easily made and does not require Modification or replacement of system components. To the corner pivot irrigation machine of this invention, the main beam is disposed at a right angle with respect to the water pipe of the corner end which helps to fully extend the corner arm to a position where it is in substantial alignment with the main arm. Therefore it is a main object of the invention to provide an improved corner pivot irrigation machine. Still another object of the invention is to provide a corner pivot irrigation machine wherein the main beam of the corner arm is arranged at right angles to the length of the corner arm to allow the corner arm to be fully extended in alignment with the main arm. Still another object of the invention is to provide a corner pivot irrigation machine wherein means are provided for tightly connecting the steering motor to the drive wheel supports in a transmission tower that can be steered so that the machine can operate in reverse without extensive replacement or modification of the steering mechanism in the steering tower that can be steered. These and other objects will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a perspective view of a corner pivot irrigation machine of this invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the transmission tower that can be directed from this intention; Figure 3 is a schematic view showing the manner in which the corner arm of this invention can be fully extended to a position in substantial alignment with the main arm; Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of the steerable transmission tower of this invention; Figure 5 is a partial top elevation view of a portion of the adjustable joint; and Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 except that the joint has been adjusted with respect to the drive wheel support. The number 10 refers to a corner pivot irrigation machine which has a conventional design except for the means for adjusting the directional junction of the drive tower that can be steered from the machine, as will be described later, and except that the main beam of the transmission tower that can be directed is arranged at a right angle with respect to the water pipe of the corner arm. The machine 10 includes a central pivot structure 12 having a main arm extending outwardly therefrom. The main arm 14 comprises a water conduit or pipes 16 supported on a plurality of transmission towers 18 which can not be directed. The corner arm 20 is pivotally connected to the outer end of a main arm 14 at 22 in a conventional manner and comprises a water pipe or pipe 24 which is supported on the drive tower 26 that can be steered. As seen in Figure 2, the steerable transmission tower 26 includes a lattice 28 which connects the transmission tower 26 to the pipe 24. The steering tower 26 includes a main beam 30 having opposite ends. In this invention, the beam 30 is disposed at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the pipe 24 instead of being disposed at an angle to it as is common in most corner pivot irrigation machines. A pair of tubular supports 32 and 34 are secured to opposite ends of the main beam 30 with the lower ends thereof rotatably receiving the vertically disposed tubes 36 and 38 of the drive wheel supports 40 and 42, respectively. The transmission wheels 44 and 46 they are rotatably mounted on the lower ends of the brackets 40 and 42 of the drive wheels, respectively, and activated by electric motors 48 and 50 in a conventional manner. As can be seen in the drawings, the upper ends of the tubes 36 and 38 have flanges 52 and 54 extending outwardly provided thereon. Each of the flanges 52 and 54 has a plurality of separate apertures 56 formed therein. A conventional steering motor 58 is secured below the main bar 30 and has a rotary drive shaft 60 that extends vertically downward therefrom. Guide means such as a drowned cable guidance system is used for the operation of the steering motor 58 to control the direction of the wheels 44 and 46. The wheels 44 and 46 are activated by means of conventional activation means normally located in the union between the main arm and the corner arm. A first link arm 62 is secured at one end to the shaft 60 so that it rotates therewith and extends horizontally outwardly therefrom. The outer end of the first link arm 62 is pivotally connected to a link 64 at 66 by a screw or pin. A second link arm 68 has its outer end pivotally connected to one end of the joint 64 by means of a screw or pin 70, as illustrated in Figure 5. The inner end of the joint arm 68 is provided with a semicircular notch 72 formed therein which defines the end portion 74 and 76. A plurality of separate openings 78 are formed in the connecting arm 68, as illustrated in Figure 4. The semicircular opening 72 receives and partially covers the support 36 above the flange 52 with the connecting arm 68 being secured to the flange 52 by means of screws 80, as illustrated in the Figure 5. The link arm 82, which is identical to the link arm 68, has one end connected to the flange 54 and its other end connected to the other end of the link 64. The link arm 82 is connected to the flange 54 in an identical manner as the connecting arm 68 is secured to the flange 52. Thus, when the machine is being operated in a forward direction, the connecting arms 68 and 82 will be secured to the flanges 52 and 54, respectively, with the screws connecting them extending through certain openings in the inner end of the joint arm and the openings in the flange. When the machine is operated in reverse, the angular relationship between the link arm 68 and the flange 52 and the relationship between the link arm 82 and the tab 54 is changed easily removing the screws connecting them and rotating the connecting arms 68 and 82 with respect to the flanges 52 and 54 respectively and then reinserting the connecting screws in a different set of openings so that the supports 40 and 42 of the wheels of the The transmission can sufficiently and pivotally move with respect to the main beam so that the transmission wheels 44 and 46 can be moved to the proper position by the reversing steering motor. The means of this invention that convert the joint between the steering motor and the drive wheels is easily and quickly achieved without any major modification of the machine or a replacement of a component part. Although the corner arm transmission tower creates a pair of wheel rails in the field instead of a single wheel rail, the advantage of being able to fully extend the corner arm in alignment with the main arm, as illustrated in Figure 3, and the ability of the machine to be quickly adjusted so that it can be activated in reverse largely solves any disadvantages associated with a pair of wheel rails instead of a single wheel rail. In this way it can be seen that the invention achieves at least all of its aforementioned objectives.

Claims (2)

1. In combination: a corner pivot irrigation machine characterized in that it comprises a central pivot structure, a main arm extending outward from the central pivot structure supported on and activated either forward or in reverse by a plurality of transmission towers that can not be directed; an elongate corner arm pivotally secured to the outer end of the main arm and supported by a steering tower that can be steered; the transmittable steering tower comprises: (a) an elongated main beam positioned below the corner arm and operatively connected thereto, the main beam having opposite ends; (b) a transmission wheel support positioned at each end of the main beam and rotating thereon about vertical axes; (c) a drive wheel in each of the drive wheel supports; (d) a steering motor secured to the main beam and having a rotating transmission shaft that extends vertically therefrom; (e) a first elongated joint arm, having opposite ends, having an axis secured to the steering shaft and that extends horizontally outwardly thereof; (f) a second elongated link arm, having opposite ends, secured at one end to one of the transmission supports and extending outwardly thereof; (g) a third elongated link arm, having opposite ends, secured at one end to the other transmission wheel support and extending outwardly therefrom; (h) and an elongated joint pivotally secured to and extending between the other ends of the second and third link arms; (i) the other end of the first link arm is pivotally secured in the elongated linkage where the rotation of the drive shaft of the steering motor causes the drive wheel supports to move pivotally; (j) the end of each second and third link arm are selectively and adjustably secured, about a vertical axis, to the drive wheel supports. The combination according to claim 1, characterized in that each transmission wheel support includes, a disc-shaped flange arranged horizontally, secured thereto; each flange has a plurality of separate screw openings formed therein; the end of each second and third link arm has a notch semicircular formed therein which defines a fork portion to place on and fix the inner end thereof to the respective flange; the fork portions have a plurality of separate screw openings formed therein which agree with the openings in the flanges; and screws extending through the screw openings in the flanges and adjustably securing the second and third link arms to the first and second drive wheel supports, respectively.