NZ205713A - Ground working implement with bladed rollers - Google Patents

Description

2G57L3 •\'l £f<T Of F ICC 16 FEB 1987 RECEfVED NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT 1953 GOME1ESE, SPBCILF1CATICN IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO SEAEJK CUTTING BLADES ROUERS HEYTRACK (ADST.) PTY. LTD., of 2 Halsey Road, Airport West, Victoria, 3042, Australia, and MARDEN MANUFACTURING COMPANY, INCORPORATED of 205 Denton Avenue, Auburndale, Florida, 33823, United States of America, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us and the method by which it is to be performed, to -be particularly described in and by the following statement: Priority Date(s): ./i, Complete Specification Filed: Class: ?. }fi?A Ml/0.?? 2'$ Way 1987; Publication Date: /J P.O. Journal, No: :.fv ■ •••If c 20571 This invention relates to the working, scraping or scarifying of the ground or a surface portion thereof in order to chop the stalks of weeds, brush, scrub and suchlike material and to stir, break up and aerate the ground.

In the past such machines have included rollers with blades adapted to contact the ground and crush and/or break the stalks and to stir the ground somewhat by a simple cutting or chopping action. However such equipment is often inefficient and is rarely capable of providing more than a temporary removal or cutting back of unwanted vegetation* An object of the invention is to enhance the cutting action with a view to a more thorough destruction of unwanted vegetation than has usually been possible heretofore using such means.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following.

With the foregoing in view the invention according to one preferred aspect provides an agricultural machine or implement for working the ground and breaking and cutting stalks roots and the like, said machine including a roller in the form of a drum, means for detachably securing a desired number of ground-tilling blades around the curved face of the drum in generally axial planes having an adjustable angular inter-relationship around the drum, and a frame for moving the drum over the ground while entry of the blades into the ground rotates the drum, characterised by a pair of said rollers mounted in the frame with their axes non-parallel in plan view, such that during at least some stage of a cycle of motion of the blades at least parts thereof move relatively to the ground in a direction having a component parallel to the blade or blade edge, to effect a slicing action without causing substantial lateral displacement or inversion of the soil.

NEW ZEALAND : 10 APR 1987 PATENT OFFICE | " •' - . v ' ;/ 2057'^ The blade may be helical or quasihelical and of "pitch" suitably related to the angle to which the axis is inclined relative to the motion, and to the cone-angle of the drum.

In another aspect, the invention provides a cutting machine with blades so arranged that at least portions of one or more blades will move longitudinally of themselves within the ground to produce a slicing or draw-cut action adapted to cut the vegetation underground.

The blades may be organized in a plurality of groups each group being associated with a rolling member, each member with its own frame, the frames being so drawn as to maintain the rolling axes at angles to each other and being substantially rigid so that their weight can be effectively brought to bear for crushing and/or destroying resistant objects.

Advantageously, the sliding and stirring action can be produced by arranging the blades of a unit in general in conical arrangement. For example, the machine may include a plurality of rollers of conical or cylindrical formation with blades secured on their outer surfaces 205713 of the respective rollers and with the faces of the blades approximately radial with respect to said axes* When a plurality of rollers are utilized, the rollers may he deployed in tandem and/or in echelon, and in either arrangement it is preferable to have the axes of the respective rollers arranged at an angle to each other instead of parallel, as this also promotes a scraping and scarifying action of the blades on the soil.

If desired, the machine of the invention may provide for maintaining the rollers in such relative-positions as to keep a desired relative orientation of their axes* Furthermore, if desired, there may be provided frame means for controlling the position of conical rollers according to which the rollers are able to operate with the entire or desired length of the blades contacting the ground with the axes of the cones suitably inclined to the ground.

The invention zay also provide for the attachment of a variable number of blades or variable spacing of the blades on the rollers. The variation cay be infinite by the provision of continuous adjustment means or may be limited to certain numbers and positions of the blades.

Thus, a variable number of blades may be attached to the rollers in a desired spacing which spacing may itself be susceptible of variation. It may be substantially infinitely or continuously variable by providing continuous 2 0 57 13 adjustment means, or the adjustment may be discrete and/or limited to certain numbers and positions of blades.

But in order that the invention may be better understood reference will now be madc< to the accompanying drawings which are to be considered as part of this specification and read herewith. In the drawings: Pig. 1 is a plan view of a practical embodiment of the machine; Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a machine on the axis of a conical roller of Fig. 1, on section line II-II, and illustrating the manner of mounting the conical roller in its frame with the frame horizontal, and also illustrating a manner of attaching blades to- a drum adjustably; Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line III-III of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an enlarged detailed horizontal sectional view, on line 17-17 of Fig. 9 parts being broken away to show the connection between two roller frames; Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view on the line 7-7 of Fig.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional view broken away of a connection between two roller frames at the end where said frames are spaced farthest apart, the section being taken on line 71-71 of Fig. 9; 7(15 / * o 9 Fig. 6a i3 a horizontal sectional view on line VIa-7Ia of Fig. 6; Fig. 7 is a plan view of a rigid connection between roller frames at the ends spaced farthest apart; Fig. 8 is a plan view of another practical embodiment of the machine; Fig. 9 is a plan view of a practical embodiment of a machine having adjustable blades; Fig. 10 is a transverse sectional view of the machine of Fig. 9 taken on the axis of a drum on line 2-2, particularly illustrating the manner of attaching and adjusting the blades on the drum; Fig. 11 is a transverse sectional view of the drum shown in Fig. 10 taken on line 11-21; Fig. 12 is an enlarged sectional view of part of Fig. 10, broken away and showing particularly the manner of adjustably attaching a blade relative to a drum; Fig. 13 is an enlarged sectional view on the line XIII-2III of Fig. 12 as viewed from the left; Figs. 14., 15, 15, 17, 18 and 19 are diagrammatic illustrations of various forms of rollers and ground-working blades, the brackets in said figures indicating diagrammat-ically that the pairs of rollers are mounted in fixed relation in frames; Fig. 20 is a plan view of a further practical embodiment of the machine; Pig. 21 is a vertical sectional view on line 21-21 of Pig. 20; Pig. 22 is an enlarged section on line 22-22 of Pig. 20, showing a detail of the connection of one end of the axle with the frame; and Pig. 23 is an end view partially in section on line 23-23 of Pig. 21 but showing a further modified form and arrangement of the blades on the drum.

Referring particularly to Pigs. 4, 5, 9 and 10, rolling members are in the form of closed-ended cylindrical drums 1' and 2* with blades 56 mounted on their outer surfaces in angularly spaced relationship relative to each other around the circumferences of the drusi3. These blades extend longitudinally parallel to the axles 4', a-a1 of the respective drums, and have their flat faces arranged radially. The axles extend axially at the axes of their respective drums and extend through the ends of the drums and are secured to said end by any suitable means, as by welding. The blades may be secured on the drum by brackets to which they may be bolted. The brackets may be bolted to pairs of hoops or bands 52 which may be welded to the outer surfaces of the drums and extend toward each other from the opposite edges of grooves 8' which extend circumferentially around the druas.

The drums may be mounted in a rigid frame in the form of two rectangular parts 11* and 12' formed for example of . .rJ r G O ZOSTt! ^ channel beams and joined together by a rigid connection in the form e.g. of a bar 13 which may be fixedly secured at its ends to rectangular parts 11* and 12', the ends of the rigid bar being bent to conform to th.e direction of 5 extent of the respective frame parts to which they are attached by any suitable means. Bar 13 is located at the ends of the rectangular parts where they are farther apart than at the other ends. The other ends of the rectangular parts of the frame may be connected by another connecting 10 member 17 which holds the rectangular parts closer together than at the other ends. The connection means i3 shown in enlarged Figures 4 and 5 in more detail. The roller members or drums are rotatably mounted symmetrically in the rectangular part3 of the frame by means cf their respective axles 15 4-' and bearings 251 secured to the channel beams, and hence the axes of the drums are arranged at an angle to one another. The frame constitutes means by which the drums can be drawn over the ground with their axes at angles to one another whereby the blades are caused to perform a 20 chopping and slicing action on the ground and vegetative matter to be broken and cut. One end of the frame means is preferably provided with means 25' for attachment to a draft means, for example, a tractor.

In Fig. 1 the ground-working machine illustrated 25 comprises two units 1 and 2 arranged to be drawn in tandem by draft means --3• Each unit illustrated in Fig. 1 may 205713 comprise a frame designated 5 and 6 respectively and a conical drum 7 and 8. The drums 7 and 8 preferably are of considerable weight so as to be able to press the blades 10 into the ground to a considerable extent as the machine is drawn along the ground. As illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, the drums may be hollow and filled or partially filled with water to provide the desired weight or, if desired, the drums could be of solid construction. As illustrated in Fig. 2, the side channels 11 of the frames 5 and 6 which encompass the rollers may be provided with bearings for the shafts 16 of the rollers located at different heights in order to allow the lower face of the roller blade in contact with the ground to lie approximately parallel to the ground surface while at the same time the frame is maintained generally.horizontal. Thus, at one end of a roller a bracket 14 say be provided on the frame which extends downwardly, while at the other end a bracket 15 may extend upwardly, and in the ends of these brackets bearing means may be provided for the ends of the shaft 16 which extends through the roller as illustrated.

According to the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, the two frames are interconnected adjacent their ends by means of bars or struts 17 and 18. Since, according to this system of deployment, with the drums arranged in tandem, the bar 17 at one end is generally shorter than the bar 18 at the other * > end, both of the rollers are drawn over the ground with their 205713 axes at an acute angle to the direction of movement. This angularity is particularly apparent from Pig. 18, which diagrammatically illustrates the rollers and direction of movement as indicated by the arrow. The connection 17 is shown in enlarged Pigs. 4- and 5 in more detail. The connection means may comprise a bolt 20 which extends through the flanges of channel 21 which may constitute part of the frame 5 of the forward unit. A sleeve 22 may be disposed on the bolt 20 and one end of a second bolt 24 may be welded to sleeve 22 and extend right angularly thereto. This bolt 24 passes through an opening in channel member 25 of the after unit 2, and positioned on this bolt between the two frame members may be one or more spacing sleeve elements 26. The channel member 25 of the frame of the after unit nay be drawn against the ends of the spacing sleeves by a nut 27- By this arrangement a considerable amount of twisting movement between the two frames is permissible while at all times the desired distance is substantially maintained.

At the other end the connection means may comprise a pair of bolts 29 (Pig. 6) extending substantially vertically through the flanges of the channel members, which bolts may be provided with sleeves to which may be welded links 30. At their opposite end3 links 30 may be provided with openings through which may extend bolts 31, and the free ends of the links may be maintained in spaced relation by spacing sleeve 32. The sleeves 32 nay be connected together by a rod or 205713 tube 3^ which nay be welled, to the sleeves at its ends* This connection may provide for vertical movement between the two frame members.

In some cases it nay be desirable to connect the frame members at the ends spaced farthest apart by a rigid connection in order to bring the weight of both units to bear in the event one of the units should be passing over a particularly hard portion of ground or some other hard object desired to be broken. Such a connection is illustrated in Pig. 7, in which a rigid bar 35 is shown fixedly secured at its ends to the frames 5 and 6, the ends of the rigid member being bent to conform with the direction of extent of the respective frame members to which they are attached.

Pig-. 8 will now be considered in more detail.

In Pig. 8 a different deployment of the units of the machine is represented. Also in Pig. 8 the drums 40, 4-1 are shown as being cylindrical while the blades 42 are helically curved. In this arrangement the drums are positioned in echelon and with their axes at angles to each other and to the direction of movement. The cylindrical drums of Fig. 8 cay also be filled or partially filled with water or the like, or may be solid. In operation it is clear that the blades will successively come into contact with the ground as the drums roll forwardly and a portion of each blade will contact the ground before the other portions, thereby securing 205713 an initial engagement in the ground, and as the remaining portion of the blade comes into contact with the ground, it will initially slidingly engage therewith and thus stir the ground and cut any stalks or roots which may be in its path* The helical shape of the blades promotes the lateral thrust of the blade against the ground so as to improve the scarifying action.

The drums may be maintained in the desired relative positions by means of a short connecting member or strut 44 which may be substantially similar to the member 17 of Pig. 1 and by a long connecting member or strut 45 which is pivotally secured to the frame of the after unit and to the draft bar 46 connecting the draft means with the frame of the forward unit. The forward unit nay also be maintained in its position by means of a rod 47 which i3 also pivotally connected at its respective ends to the unit frame and the draft bar.

In using machines of this kind on different kinds of ground and for different purposes, it is sometimes desirable to have a different number or a different spacing of the blades. In order to provide for altering the number or spacing of the blades, the attachment means by which the blades are held on the drums may be made adjustable and renovable. The drums shown in Figs. 9, 10 and 11 are represented as being cylindrical, but it will be understood that they might' be conical if desired. In the outer surface 205713 of the drum 50 a depressed groove 51 may he provided extending a substantial distance around the periphery, and along the opposite edges of these grooves may be welded hoops or bands 52 which may be slightly spaced apart, thus providing a slot 5^- over the groove, see Pigs. 12 and 13- 3rackets 55 to which are bolted the blades 56 by means of bolts 57 taay be secured to the hoops or bands 52 by means of T-bolts 59 in any desired position. Thus if the blades are too far apart for a particular operation, the nuts 60 or bolts 59 can be loosened and the brackets and blades moved around the drum to a new position, for instance, closer together, and additional blades can be added in the larger spaces thus provided. Since the slot may be continuous or substantially continuous, the adjustment provided is not limited to any particular position or numbers of blades.

A further manner of attaching the blades so as to be adjustable is shown in Pigs. 2 and 3 i- which a conical drum is illustrated as having a plurality of depressed grooves extending substantially around its periphery and over each of which at one side may be welded a hoop or band 61. The band may be provided with a multiplicity of holes 62 into which cay engage bolts 64 for securing the blade-holding brackets 65 to the drum. As illustrated in Pig. 3, the number of blades is eight, but if desired the number could be increased and the spacing decreased by moving the blades to other series of bolt holes 62. 2057 1 la Fig. 14 a pair of cylindrical drums having helical blades attached thereto is diagrammatically illustrated. The arrow indicates the direction of movement, and it is to be noted that the drums are arranged in tandem with their axes at opposite angles to the direction of movement, whereby the tendencies of the respective drums to skew to one side are counteracted by each other. Also it is noted that the direction of the helices of the rollers is opposite, which has the effect of counteracting the lateral thrust given to the earth by the blades, the after unit having a tendency to return the earth to its initial location.

In Fig. 15 a pair of drums having helical blades of similar direction are shown deployed in tandem with the axis arranged -at angles to the direction of movement but parallel to each other. This arrangement of the units is suitable for use where it is desired that the machine shall trail somewhat laterally of the line of motion and engage in a lateral slipping or skewing which tends to stir and agitate the ground.

Fig. 16 illustrates a pair of conical units with blades extending longitudinally of the drums and parallel with the surface of the drums, the drums being arranged in tandem and the larger end of the after drum following the smaller end of the forward drum. As previously explained, " \ drums of this kind must have relative sliding motion relative 14- 205713 to the ground throughout all points of their length except one point which theoretically would roll in fixed engage-aent with the ground. Thus if the ends of the blades at the larger end should remain fixed, all the remaining portion of the blades would engage in a sliding aotion and thu3 scarify the ground and cut roots and stalks. Since the after unit is arranged in opposite position, and the units are arranged in tandem, the ground throughout the entire width of the machine would receive similar treatment.

In Pig. 17 an arrangement of the druas similar to that of Pig. 16 i3 illustrated but ia which the blades are spirally disposed in the surface of the drum.

Pig. 18 illustrates a pair of conical units, the units being similar to those of Pig. 16 but having their axes arranged at opposite angles to the direction of movement, and thus, also at an angle to each other.

Fig. 19 shows an arrangement of conical units in tandem similar to Fig. 13 but in which the blades are arranged spirally.

Instead of having each of the drums mounted in a separate frame, the machine might have two or more drums in a single frame, as illustrated in Figs. 20 and 21. In Figs* 20 and 21 numeral 67 refers to a rectangular frame which may be composed of channel members. Inside this frame a pair of cultivating elements which may be in the form of conical drums 63 and 69 and having ground-engaging blades 70 mounted on their peripheries, are rotatably mounted. The ? 0 5 7 1 3 drums may be provided with axles 72 and 73» and in order to maintain the frame substantially horizontal, bearings 74 may be provided on the upper side of the frame for the axles at the larger ends of the drums, while bearings 75 may be provided on the under side of the frame for the axles at the smaller ends of the drums. Since the axles of these drums will usually be inclined, it may be necessary to arrange the bearings at appropriate angles, and this may be done by wedge-shaped shims 76 placed between the bearings and the frame. The bearings may be secured to the frame by U-bolts 78 or the like. As illustrated, the axes of the drums may be arranged in parallel vertical planes. Furthermore, if desired, the blades could be arranged spirally.

In Fig. 23 a ground-working and stalk-cutting implement .is shown which comprises principally a drum or heavy axle 80 adapted to be arranged in a frame (not shown), the drum or axle having a plurality of blades 82 permanently attached thereto in spaced positions around its periphery. The permanently attached blades may, for example, be four in number and can be attached to the center member as by welding or casting. The center member, that is, the drum or heavy axle, may also be provided with further blade-affixing members 84 located intermediate the permanently attached blades and to which removable blades 85 may be attached; for example, eight removable blades may be ' •» attached two in each of the spaces intermediate the - ^ " \ - S. j ^ ' J * XCj-/ 13 ^ permanently attached blades. The removable blade attach- ment means or the removable blades may be so arranged that the distances of the outer edges of the removable blades from the axis of the center member may be equal to, greater 5 than or less than the radial distance of the outer edges of the permanent blades from the axis.

Por some purposes the arrangement of the removably attached blades at less radial distance from the center than the permanent blades is more efficient, with the 10 removable blades arranged at les3 height, that, is, distance, from the center. The impact of the permanent blades in operation will be greater than if the removable blades were at the same distance from the center, and thus this arrangement provides for breaking hard ground by the 15 greater impact and also for crushing the ground as it is broken by the larger number of blades- This greater impact may also be useful for breaking large stalks and heavy brush stems, while the presence of the removable blades at less height will serve to break the lighter stalks and weeds to 20 shorter length.

A machine adapted for attachment and removal of intermediate removable blades may also be useful with only the permanently attached blades for the heavy duty work of breaking the bard ground and heavy brush stems and the like, 25 and subsequent to this treatment of the ground the removable blades can be attached at the desired relative height and 2 C 5 7 1 3 further working of the ground with finer pulverization by the greater number of blades can be accomplished. 505713

Claims (6)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS;

1. An agricultural machine or implement, for working the ground and breaking and cutting stalks roots and the like, said machine including a cylindrical or frusto-conical drum roller, ground-tilling straight or helicoidal blades extending substantially radially from the curved face of the drum and a frame for moving the drum over the ground while entry of the blades into the ground rotates the drum, characterized by a pair of said rollers mounted in the frame with their axes non-parallel in plan view, such that during at least some stage of a cycle of motion of the blades at least parts thereof move in and relatively to the ground in a direction having a component parallel to the blade or blade edge, to effect a slicing action without causing substantial lateral displacement or inversion of the soil.

2. An implement as claimed in claim 1 including means for securing the blades to the drum in a desired angular inter-relationship around the drum.

3. An implement as claimed in claim 2 including a groove formed in the drum and extending substantially around the circumference of the drum, a pair of hoops extending around the drum and partially over said groove from opposite sides in spaced relation to each other, thereby leaving a slot over the groove, and means for securing the blades to said hoops in the desired angular inter-relationship.

4. An implement as claimed in claim 3 including means for moving the implement in a direction oblique to at least one of said axes.

5. An implement as claimed in claim 4 wherein said direction is equally inclined to both of said axes. PATENT OFFICE NEW ZEALAND to APR 1987 G Q TV- '-•' \ . ■_ ,J *0&^3 - 20 -

6. An agricultural implement substantially as herein described with reference to any one of Figures 8, 9 and 14 to 19, or any of the following groups of Figures of the accompanying drawings: 1, 2 and 3; or 4, 5, 6, 6a, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13; or 20, 21, 22 and 23. JAMES W PIPES AND CO. Attorneys for the Applicant HEYTRACK (AUST.) PTY. LTD. and MABDEB MANUFACTURIHG COKPAHY, XHCOKPOKAXED NEW ZEALAND -1 APR 1987 1