NZ239684A - A pushing apparatus with driven pivot arm that moves in arcuate path to push material on to and off a flat surface such as the lifting forks of an agricultural implement - Google Patents

Description

/ 3 9 b B 4 PATENTS FORM NO. 5 Fee No. 4: $260.00 PATENTS ACT f— ...

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION / After Provisional / ^ ; No; 23dm ^ Dated: 5th September 1991 IMPROVEMENTS AND MODIFICATIONS TO AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS I Graeme Stanley Pedersen a New Zealand citizen of 31 Shakespeare Street, Te Aroha, New Zealand hereby declare the invention for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed to be particularly described in and by the following statement: 1 — r> o This invention relates to improvements and modifications to agricultural implements.

In particular, the present invention can be applied to situations where it is desired to push matter off agricultural implements such as silage forks, 5 scoops, truck decks and the like. Some embodiments of the present invention may also be applied to the task of pulling material onto these devices as well. Reference throughout the specification however, will now be made to the use of the present invention with regard to the matter being pushed or pulled being hay and silage bales. It should be appreciated 10 though, that the present invention does have applications outside of this field.

It should also be appreciated that the present invention can also be used with non-agricultural implements such as forklifts.

Traditionally, farmers have picked up bales of hay and silage by using a 15 hay sweep or a silage fork. These devices are generally mounted on the front end of a tractor. In the past, the bales have been relatively small in size and it has not been difficult for farmers to remove the bales from off the silage fork. However, recently bales of a much larger size have been made. These bales are difficult to remove from silage forks as they are 20 heavy and bulky to man-handle. This is particularly so when it is desired to place a bale on top of a high bale stack such as those commonly found in hay barns.

Devices are known which act to push hay off hay sweeps. Generally these devices are very complicated and push the hay across the tines of the 25 sweep in a substantially horizontal manner. Because these devices are 2 complicated, they are expensive, difficult to maintain and cannot be readily attached to existing equipment.

If a horizontal ram is used to push bales off hay sweeps and forks, then there will be problems with the ram digging into the ground or the tractor machinery when the forks on the tractor have been tilted.

It is an object of the present invention to address the above problems, or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description which is given by way of example only.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for pushing matter off a surface or surfaces, said apparatus including a pivoting arm, said arm actuated by driving means so that the driving means causes the arm to travel in a substantially arcuate fashion, said movement of the arm being sufficient to push material off the surface or surfaces.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of pushing matter off a surface or surfaces characterised by the step of actuating a arm by driving means so that the driving means causes the arm to travel in a substantially arcuate fashion, the movement of the arm being sufficient to push material off the surface or surfaces.

Reference shall now be made to the surface being a silage fork and the matter being hay or silage bales although it should be appreciated that the present invention can be used with other surfaces and matter. As an example the apparatus may be readily detachable and can be positioned so as to push matter off front end loader buckets.

By having a pivoted arm, many of the problems associated with the prior art can be overcome. For instance, the present invention can be less complicated than previous devices as the arm is not required to travel a considerable horizontal distance across the forks as with previous arms.

Furthermore, the driving means need not be in the vicinity of the fork tines from which the silage bales are being pushed off. For instance, the rear of the arm can be attached to the rear of the silage fork to which is also attached to the driving means. The driving means then need only push upwards (or downwards) on the end of the arm making it pivot around its pivot point. The other end of the arm will move in a substantially arcuate fashion acting to push out the hay bale from the end of the fork tines.

The driving means can be placed in positions other than that described above, but for ease of description reference shall be made to the driving means being situated behind the silage fork.

The driving means may come in a number of forms, for instance it may use threaded rods, electric motors and so forth. However, in preferred embodiments the driving means is a hydraulically operated ram. By having a hydraulically operated ram, the hydraulic system which is present in most tractors can be used to drive the ram. In one embodiment, the ram may be a single acting ram which pulls downwards on the pivoted arm causing the other ends of the arm to swing upwards and outwards in an arc. Upon release of the single acting ram, gravity will cause the arm to return to its original position. In a preferred embodiment a double acting ram is used. 739634 The arm may come in a variety of forms and in one embodiment it may comprise two struts connected between which is a pusher bar. In another embodiment the arm may be merely a single strut that pushes against the baies. In a further embodiment, the arm may have grabbing means at the end thereof enabling the present invention to have a dual role, that of pusher and grabber of bales.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the arm may have a pivoted plate at its free end. In this embodiment, as the arm arcs upwards in its normal motion of travel, the plate pivots to remain substantially vertical so it offers maximum surface area and constant force against the bale which is being pushed off the silage fork. In yet another embodiment, the arm may be a round bar which ensures that no corners of the arm dig into the bale as it is being pushed off the forks.

If the present invention is to be used to grab bales, the arm can move in substantially the same motion but in reverse to when it is being vised as a pusher. At the end of the arm there may be a number of grabbing attachments, for instance a single point, multiple teeth, long teeth or even spikes which can be used to load logs and so forth. In one use of the present invention, the silage fork may be used with the arm in its grabbing mode to pick up a long bale lengthwise so that the majority of the weight of the bale is hanging off the end of the forks. By holding onto the bale like this, the bale is secure with respect to the forks. To unload the bale from the forks, the grabber bar need only move upwards to release the bale whereby the force of gravity will cause the bale to tip off the forks and into position on the bale stack.

C:-j ij 0 In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, there may be incorporated in addition to the pusher arm, bale grabbing means as well. For example, the grabbing means may be driven by the same driving means as the pusher arm, or the pusher arm and the grabbing means 5 may indirectly drive each other, or alternatively they may have separate drive means.

In one embodiment of the present invention, there may be provided an adjustment means which enables the arm to operate in a grabbing mode as an alternative to a pushing mode. For example, the adjustment means 10 may hold the arm so they can be used to sandwich a bale between the downwardly pointing tines of the silage fork and the arm. If a bale can be picked up in this manner without the forks entering the bale or passing underneath them, the bale is not contaminated with dirt which has been known to rot bales when its in storage.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of holding material with respect to a surface or surfaces characterised in the step of using a pivoting arm actuated by driving means so that the driving means causes the arm to travel in substantially arcuate fashion said movement of the arm being sufficient to push 20 material onto the surface or surfaces.

Aspects of the present invention will now be described by way nf example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1: is a diagrammatic perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention, and 6 / 7 C, r 4 Figures 2a. 2b & 2c: illustrate one possible embodiment of the present invention in use, and Figure 3: is a side view of an alternative embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 4: is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 5: illustrates the above embodiment in use.

With respect to Figure 1, Figures 2a, 2b and 2c there is illustrated a silage fork generally indicated by arrow 1 to which there is attached an arm, ID generally indicated by arrow 2, and driving means 3 in the form of a hydraulic ram. It should be appreciated that in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the present invention is readily detachable from the silage fork and can be used in relation to other implements, for example loader buckets.

The silage fork 1 is of typical construction and has five fork tines 4 and a rear supporting frame 5. It should be appreciated that silage forks of other constructions may be used and have any number of fork tines.

The arm 2 is comprised of a pusher bar 6, connected to a shaft 7 which is also connected to plates 8. The plates 8 fit around a piece of box section 9 20 which is connected to the top bar 10 of the support frame 5 of the fork 1.

The pusher bar 6 is comprised of box section steel which has the high structural strength required to push against heavy loads on the fork tines 4. In other embodiments, the pusher bar 6 may be comprised of rounded 7 2o y 68 4 bar or may even have attached to it a pivoting plate that remains substantially vertical as the rest of the arm 2 travels in an arc-like motion.

The shaft 7 is also comprised of box section and is welded to the pusher bar 6. The shaft 7 may be attached by other means to the push bar 6 but 5 welding has been found to be satisfactory in this case. The plates 8 are also welded to the shaft 7.

At the base of the box section S is a further plate 11 through which are bolts 12 which attach the box section 9 to the top bar 10 of the support frame 5. The bolts 12 can be unscrewed enabling the arm 2 to be readily removed from the fork 1.

The ram 3 is connected to a pivoting link 13. The pivoting link 13 is also connected to the plates 8 allowing the plates 8 to pivot about a pivot point on the pivoting link 13 with respect to the box section 9. Extension of the ram 3 pushes the ram end of the link 13 upwards causing the shaft 7 and arm 6 15 to move in an arc-wise motion to rest substantially parallel with respect to the support frame 5. Retraction of the ram 3 pulls the ram end of the link 13 down causing the link 13 to pull the arm 2 upwards. This is more clearly shown in Figures 2a, 2b and 2c.

To accommodate the movement of the link 13 with respect to the ram 3, the 20 applicant has in one embodiment mounted the ram 3 on a further pivot point 16 allowing the ram 3 to rock backwards and forwards as the link 13 causes the arm 2 to move upwards and downwards.

Figures 2a, 2b and 2c illustrate ways by which the present invention can be used. For instance Figure 2a illustrates the bale fully loaded onto the fork 25 tines 4 with the arm 2 in a resting position. Figure 2b illustrates the bar in action pushing a bale 17 off the fork tines 4. Figure 2c illustrates the baij >•u *' <-v ;-<• ;8 2 APR 1935 : ;.• ;23 a 68 4 ;using a point 18 in a grabbing action to hold the bale 17 lengthwise on the fork tines 4. Further retraction of the ram 3 moves the bar 6 up sufficient to release the bale 17 from the point 18 enabling the bale 17 to fall off the ;P/wlr A oo o fqoi lH /vP rrfoxnfir ;IVi. iX VlAAVkJ -X L4U U X UU U1 U V/A gl M * A SI J • Figure 3 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the present invention in which in addition to a pusher bar 28, there is also a grabbing arm generally indicated by arrow 19. In this embodiment, the grabbing arm 19 comprises two arms 20 each with a tooth 21. The arms 20 are connected to a shaft 22 which is also connected to a ram 23. The movement of the ram 10 23 against the shaft 22 causes the grabbing arm 19 to pivot about a central shaft 24.

The bar 28 is connected by a slot 25 to the shaft 22.

To remove a bale from the fork tines 26, the ram 23 is retracted pulling the points 21 of the grabbing arm 19 upwards and the shaft 22 downwards. 15 Once the motion of the shaft 22 reaches the end of the slot 25, the bar 28 is then positively moved outwards by the ram 23 in an arcuate motion such as that described previously. The use of the slot 25 ensures that the points 21 are removed from the bale prior to the bar 28 trying to push the bale off the fork tines 26.

Figure 4 illustrates a further embodiment of the present invention. The construction illustrated in Figure 4 is similar to that illustrated in Figure 1 in that it comprises the basic elements of a shaft 7, pusher bar 6, ram 3 and link 13. One of the primary differences between the apparatus depicted in Figure 4 and that in Figure 1 is the adjustment plate 31 with its 25 associated locking means 32 and 33. t \2 APR 1035 The adjustment plate 31 enables the 'fixed' end of the arm 7 to be locked in two positions with respect to the rear supporting frame 5. In the position illustrated, the arm 7 can open fully vertically and be used to pick up bales in a manner to that illustrated in Figure 5. This is achieved by locking means 32. When locking means 33 is used to lock the arm 7, the bar 6 can be used as a standard pusher bar as described previously.

A central strut 34 is positioned within the rear support frame 5. Attached to the strut 34 are two loader arm brackets 35. The brackets 35 have a series of holes in them so they can fit onto many types of loaders.

Figure 5 illustrates the Figure 4 embodiment in use where the tines 4 are facing downwards and the rear support frame 5 is horizontal to the ground. With the arm 7 in the position dictated by locking means 32, the arms 7 and the tines 4 can sandwich the bale 17 between them. Use of the present invention in this manner means that the bale 17 is uncontaminated as a result of tines 4 passing under or into the bale 17.

Aspects of the present invention have been described by way of example only and it should be appreciated that modifications and additions may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (16)

239684 WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. An apparatus for use with agricultural implements that incorporate a substantially flat surface for holding material, the apparatus including a driving means and a pivoting arm, the arrangement and construction of the apparatus being such that operation of the driving means causes the arm to rotate in a substantially arcuate fashion, the axis of rotation of the arm lying substantially parallel to the plane of the surface, the movement of the arm enabling material to be pushed from and pushed onto the surface.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the surface is a silage fork.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the surface is a front end loader bucket.

4. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the driving means is situated behind the surface.

5. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the driving means is a hydraulic ram. v

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein the driving means is a double acting hydraulic ram.

7. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein a pusher bar is attached to the arm.

8. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein grasping means is attached to the arm.

9. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein there is provided a pivoted plate at the free end of the arm. 11 239684

10. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9 wherein the apparatus can be attached and readily detached from various vehicular implements.

11. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10 wherein there is provided a pivoting link connected between the driving means and the arm.

12. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11 wherein there is provided an adjustment means so that the arm can be operated in a mode which enables material to be sandwiched between the surface and the arm.

13. A method of pushing material off or onto a surface or surfaces characterised by the step of actuating an arm by driving means so that the driving means causes the arm to rotate in a substantially arcuate fashion, the axis of rotation of the arm lying substantially parallel to the plane of the surface, the movement of the arm being sufficient to push material off and onto the surface or surfaces.

14. A method of holding material with respect to a surface or surfaces - j j characterised by the step of using a pivoting arm actuated by driving means so that the driving means causes the arm to rotate in a substantially arcuate fashion, the axis of rotation of the arm lying substantially parallel to the plane of the surface, the movement of the arm being sufficient to push material onto the surface or surfaces.

15. Apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompany drawings.

16. A method of pushing matter off a surface substantially herein described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings. 12 23 0 68 4 A method for holding material with respect to a surface or surfaces substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings. GRAEME STANLEY PEDERSEN by his Attorneys JAMES & WELLS t N O