US2741043A

US2741043A - Land grading machine

Info

Publication number: US2741043A
Application number: US323875A
Authority: US
Inventors: Laurel B Lindbeck
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1952-12-03
Filing date: 1952-12-03
Publication date: 1956-04-10
Anticipated expiration: 1973-04-10

Description

April 10, 1956 L. B. LINDBECK LAND GRADING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 3, 1952 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS April 10, 1956 L. B. LINDBECK 2,741,043

LAND GRADING MACHINE Filed Dec. 3, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS United States Patent LAND GRADING MACHINE Laurel B. Lindbeck, Las Cruces, N. Mex. Application December 3, 1952, Serial No. 323,875

Claims. (Cl. 37-169) The invention relates to new and useful improvements in a land grading machine and more particularly to a land grading machine adapted to be drawn by a tractor.

An object of the invention is to provide a grading machine wherein the main grading blade is positioned during land moving operations by a spring normally under compression which spring is further compressed or expanded by variations in the draft on the grader blade.

A further object of the invention is to provide a grading machine of the above type with an adjustable lever mechanism disposed between the compression spring and the grading blade which lever mechanism may be adjusted to adapt the grading machine for use with tractors of widely different power output.

Another object of the invention is to provide a grading machine of the above type with a stop for limiting the expansion of the compression spring and a hydraulically operated lifting mechanism for raising and lowering the grader blade relative to its supporting frame to facilitate transportation of the machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide a grading machine of the above type with a trailing leveler blade which is automatically raised and lowered with the raising and lowering of the grader blade for transportation purposes.

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part be hereinafter more fully disclosed.

In the drawings, which show by way of illustration one embodiment of the invention:

Figure l is a side view of the improved grading machine.

Figure 2 is a view showing the grader blade raised by contact with an obstruction so that it may pass over the same.

Figure 3 is a plan view with some of the parts, for controlling the trailing leveling blade, removed.

Figure 4 is a view partly in section and partly in side elevation of the supporting housing for the compression spring and the connection to the operating lever which raises and lowers the'grading blade.

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the spring for forcing the leveling blade into contact with the ground being graded and also showing the lifting link connection for raising said leveling blade for transportation purposes.

The improved land grading machine includes a main frame structure having side members 1 and 2 and extensions of the side members indicated at 3 and 4 in the drawings. These extensions are bolted to the respective side members by bolts indicated at 5. The

extensions

3 and 4 are connected by a cross member 6. The side members 1 and 2, are connected by a cross member 7. At the front end of the side members and at the inner side thereof are strengthening plates 8 and 9. There is a cross member 10 extending from the plate 8 to the plate 9. There are also inclined members 11 and 12 which are connected to plates 8 and 9 and these members 11 and 12 incline forwardly and meet at 13. There is a strengthening web 14" connected to the members 11 and 12. This makes up the main frame structure.

Mounted between the main frame members 1 and 2 is the main grader which consists of a back portion 14 carrying at its lower end a grader blade 15. There is an end plate 16 at one end of the back portion 14 and an end plate 17 at the other end thereof. These end plates extend the full height of the back plate and are normally parallel at their lower sides with the ground and the grader blade projects below these end plates. The end plates serve to prevent the soil being graded from passing around the grader blade and back portion 14. They also serve with the back portion to form a bucket for transporting the soil during the leveling operation. Mounted on the plate 8 is a bearing bracket 18 and mounted on the plate 9 is a bearing bracket 19. The shaft 20 is journaled in these bearing brackets 18 and 19 and adjacent each end of the shaft are

arms

21, 21 which are pivoted at their outer ends to the end plates 16 and 17 as indicated at 22. At each end of the back plate 14 is a bracket 23. A link 24 is pivoted at 25 to the bracket 23. This link 24 is also pivoted at 26 to a bracket 27 on the side member 1. There is a similar link 24 at the other end of the back portion 14 which is pivoted to a bracket 27 on the extension frame 4. The arms 21 and the links 24 support the grading bucket. When the shaft 20 is turned in a counter-clockwise direction the link will raise the bucket and in this rising movement the bucket will be forced rearwardly and upwardly by the swinging of the links 24. In other words the end plates move bodily up and down and are substantially maintained parallel with the frame of the grading machine at their lower edges.

Fixed to the shaft 20 intermediate the ends thereof is a lever 28. This lever 28 has three

holes

29, 30 and 31 therethrough. Mounted on the plate 14 is a bracket 32. Pivotally attached to this bracket is a lever 33 having holes 34, 35 and 36. Connecting the lever 33 to the lever 28 is a hydraulic mechanism including a cylinder 37, a piston rod 38 provided with the usual piston head. The piston rod is pivoted at 39 to the lever 38 and the cylinder is provided with a projecting lug which is pivoted at 40 to the lever 33. Fluid may be directed through either of the lines 41 for moving the piston head toward one head of the cylinder or the other. adapted to be attached to a tractor and these lines 41 extend to a point on the tractor where they are accessible to the operator of the tractor.

Rising from the frame members 11 and 12 at their meeting ends is a bracket 42. Rigidly fixed to this bracket is a cylindrical housing 43. Located in the housing is a compression spring 44 which bears against an end cap 45 detachably connected to the housing 43. Also disposed within the housing and projecting therefrom is a sleeve 46. This sleeve has an abutment head 47 against which the inner end of the compression spring engages. At the outer end of the sleeve 46 is a nut 48 which is welded to the sleeve. There is a rod 49 threaded through the nut and extending into the sleeve. At the outer end of the rod 49 is a forked head 50 adapted to be secured to the lever 33 by means of a pin extending through a hole in the lever 33.

Fixed to the upper end of the bracket 42 is an arm 51 having a bent end 52 which serves as a stop for limiting the movements of the lever 33 in a clockwise direction.

By turning the nut 48 the sleeve 46 will be moved along This leveler is' 3 set position relative to the tube 53 by means of a pin connection 55. On the outer end of the telescoping tube portion 54 is a draft connection 56 which is adapted to be attached to a tractor.

Mounted at the rear end of the frame extension 3 is a bearing bracket 57 carrying a stub shaft 53 on which is mounted a ground wheel 59. There is a similar bracket 60 carried by the extension 4 and mounted in said'bracket 60 is a stub shaft 61 on which a ground wheel 62 is mounted.

Extending rearwardly from the frame ex-Leusions and 4 is a plate 63. There is a similar plate 63 extending from the frame extension 4. These plates are welded to the extensions and are rigidly supported thereby.

Pivoted at 64 is an auxiliary frame member 65. There is a similar auxiliary frame member 66 pivoted at 67. There is a cross bar 68 joining the

auxiliary frame members

65 and 66. There are also braces 69, 69 connecting the side members of the auxiliary frame to the cross bar. Attached to this cross bar 63 is an auxiliary grading blade 70. Said grading blade is bolted to the cross bar 68. Said blade has a cutting edge 71 at the lower side thereof and an angular extending smoothing blade 72. This blade may be detached from the auxiliary frame and turned over so that the smoothing blade will contact with the soil. There are end plates '73 at each end of the cutting blade which prevents the soil from passing around the end of the blade.

Extending upwardly from the frame extension 3 is an L-shaped bracket 74. There is an L-shaped bracket 75 fixed to the auxiliary frame member 65. These two

brackets

74 and 75 are connected by a rod 76. The rod 76 passes through one of the flanges of the L-shaped bracket 74. It also extends through the flange of the other bracket 75 and has a bent end 77 which extends through an opening in the other flange of the bracket 75. Mounted on the outer end of the rod 76 is a nut 78 which engages the outer face of the L-shaped bracket 74. There is a compression spring 79 mounted on the rod 76 and bearing against the inner faces of the L-shaped

brackets

74 and 75. This spring normally presses the auxiliary frame in a clockwise direction and the movement of the auxiliary frame is limited by the nut 78. There are

similar brackets

74 and 75 at the other side of the auxiliary frame which brackets are shown in section, and there is a similar rod and compression spring at the upper end of these brackets.

Rigidly attached to the link 24 in an arm 80. A rod 81 is connected to the arm 80. The rod 81 extends through an opening 82 in one of the angle members of the L-shaped bracket 75. The rod is bent back on itself as indicated at 83 and passes through an opening 84 in the bracket.

The bucket may be raised and lowered by the hydraulic mechanism when fluid is directed to the outer end of the cylinder 37 the lever 28 will be swung in a counterclockwise direction and this will cause the arms 21 to lift and move the bucket upward and rearwardly. As the bucket is lifted and moved rearwardly the links 24 will lift the rear end of the bucket. In this manner the bucket can be raised relative to the frame so that it is completely out of contact with the soil and this greatly facilitates transportation of the grading machine. At the same time that the links 24 move in a clockwise direction the arm 89 will pull on the rods Bland cause the curved end of .the rods to contact with the brackets 75 and swing the auxiliary frame on the pivots 64 and 67, thus lifting the leveling blade carried thereby. Through this means the main grading blade and the auxiliary grading blade may be simultaneously raised or lowered as desired.

When the bucket is in its lowered position for operation in grading, the lever 33 is out of contact with the stop 52 so that the compression spring holds the main grading blade in what might be said to be a floating position.

If the grading blade contacts a stone or other obstruction the spring 34 will be further compressed and allow the blade to'have a backward upward action until it passes over the obstruction, as shown in Figure 2. As soon as the obstruction is passed then the grading blade will return to its normal set position. If the soil is unusually loose so that the draft on the grading blade decreases then the spring 4 will expand and cause the blade to move deeper into the soil.

It will be noted that the lever 28 has three holes for the attachment of the piston to the hydraulic mechanism. Likewise, the lever 33 has three holes for attachment to the cylinder of the hydraulic mechanism. As shown in the drawings the hydraulic mechanism connects the middle holes in said levers. This is what might be called the average position and is suitable for connection to a tractor of the average horse power. If the piston be connected to the hole 2 in the lever 28 and the cylinder connected to the hole 36, this will change the leverage so that the machine can be attached to a tractor of greater horse power and the capacity of the grading machine increased. The spring 44 will not compress as easily by this change in leverage because the lever 23 is longer and the leverage of the lever 33 is shorter. This makes it possible to carry more pressure on the grader blade with-- out compressing the spring 4-4. If the piston rod 38 is connected to the lowest hole 31 and the cylinder connected to the upper hole 34 of the lever 33 this gives a shorter leverage on the lever 23 and a longer leverage on the lever 33 and, therefore, pressure on the grader blade is more effective in compressing the spring 44. This adjustment adapts the machine for attachment to a tractor of less horse power.

From the above it will be seen that through this adjustable leverage the machine is very flexible in that it may be attached to a tractor of average horse power or to a tractor having a horse power greater than theaverage or to a tractor having horse power'of less than the average.

The machine can be readily adjusted for moving soil from one location to another without any appreciable loss of load. This may be accomplished by setting the cylindrical connection to the lever 33 up one hole so as to allow the spring to compress easier. After this adjustment then the bucket is loaded to capacity with the spring compressed to its limit. As the contour of the ground level over which the machine passes changes the spring will let the blade float up and down. The pressure of the spring will force the blade down into hollows and the spring will compress and allow the grader blade to pass over higher elevations. This floating movement of the bucket enables the load to be carried a considerable distance without any appreciable spilling. If desired, when carrying a load from one location to another, the auxiliary frame and auxiliary leveling blade can be disconnected and the ground wheels shifted to the axial bearings 57 closer to load carrying bucket.

The member 54- telescopes within the member 53 and, as above noted, is held in a set position by a pin 55 passing through both tubes. When these parts are positioned as shown in Figure 1 then this draft member is made of minimum length by removing the pins and withdrawing the telescoping member 54. Three feet can be added to the length or six feet and the pin reinserted for holding the telescoping parts in their set position.

The compression of the spring 44 may be varied by adjusting the nut 48 on the rod 49. Thus it is that the degree of compression of the spring may be varied to provide for attachment to a tractor of light horse power or for lighter soil.

It is obvious that many changes can be made in the details of construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A land grading machine comprising a main frame adapted to be attached to a tractor, ground wheels for supporting said main frame, a grader bucket including a back plate, a grader blade carried thereby and forwardly projecting retaining plates at the ends of said back plate, a spring, devices carried by said main frame and actuated by said spring for supporting and for bodily raising and lowering said bucket as the draft on the grader blade varies, said devices including hydraulic means for raising said bucket for transportation, an auxiliary frame pivotally connected to said main frame at the rear end thereof, an auxiliary grader blade carried by said auxiliary frame, and spring actuated means for moving said auxiliary grading blade into operating position, and means for connecting said auxiliary frame to the raising means for the bucket so that said auxiliary blade will be raised for transportation with said bucket.

2. A land grading machine comprising a main frame adapted to be attached to a tractor, ground wheels for supporting said main frame, a grader bucket including a back plate, a grader blade carried thereby and forwardly projecting retaining plates at the ends of said back plate, a shaft mounted on said frame in front of said bucket, arms rigidly mounted on the shaft and connected to the front ends of the retaining plates of the bucket, links pivoted to lugs carried by the upper end of said back plate, said links being inclined downwardly and connected to said main frame, a lever carried by said shaft and hydraulic mechanism for oscillating said lever for raising the bucket relative to the frame to position the same for transportation, an auxiliary frame carried by said main frame at the rear end thereof, an auxiliary grader blade carried by said auxiliary frame, brackets rigidly mounted on said auxiliary frame, means connected to the links attached to the back plate of thebucket and to said brackets whereby the raising of the bucket for transportation will also raise the auxiliary blade.

3. A land grading machine comprising a main frame adapted to be attached to a tractor, ground wheels for supporting said main frame, a grader bucket including a back plate, a grader blade carried thereby and forwardly projecting retaining plates at the ends of said back plate, a shaft mounted on said main frame, arms rigidly mounted on the shaft, said arms extending downwardly at an inclination and pivotally connected to the ends of the re taining plates of the bucket, lugs pivotally mounted at the upper end of said back plate, links pivotally connected to said lugs and extending downwardly at an inclination to the frame and pivotally connected to lugs carried by the frame, a. lever fixed to said shaft, a second lever pivotally mounted on said main frame, means for connecting said levers, a spring, and devices for maintaining said spring under compression, said devices being connected adjacent the upper end of said second named lever.

4. A land grading machine comprising a main frame adapted to be attached to a tractor, ground wheels for supporting said main frame, a grader bucket including a back plate, a grader blade carried thereby and forwardly projecting retaining plates at the ends of said back plate, a shaft mounted on said main frame, arms rigidly mounted on the shaft, said arms extending downwardly at an inclination and pivotally connected to the ends of the retaining plates of the bucket, lugs pivotally mounted at the upper end of said back plate, links pivotally connected to said lugs and extending downwardly at an inclination to the frame and pivotally connected to lugs carried by the frame, a lever fixed to said shaft, a second lever pivotally mounted on said main frame, means for connecting said levers, a spring, and devices for maintaining said spring under compression, said devices being connected adjacent the upper end of said second named lever, said means for connecting said levers being shiftable at both ends to ditferent set positions on said levers for varying the power necessary for raising and lowering the main grader blade to conform to the power output of the tractor to which the grading machine is attached.

5. A land grading machine comprising a main frame adapted to be attached to a tractor, ground wheels for supporting said main frame, a grader bucket including a back plate, a grader blade carried thereby and forwardly projecting retaining plates at the ends of said back plate, a shaft mounted on said main frame, arms rigidly mounted on the shaft, said arms extending downwardly at an inclination and pivotally connected to the ends of the retaining plates of the bucket, lugs pivotally mounted at the upper end of said back plate, links pivotally connected to said lugs and extending downwardly at an inclination to the frame and pivotally connected to lugs carried by the frame, a lever fixed to said shaft, a second lever pivotally mounted on said main frame, means for connecting said levers, a spring, and devices for maintaining said spring under compression, said devices being connected adjacent the upper end of said second named lever, said means connecting the levers including a cylinder and hydraulically operated piston for raising the bucket relative to the frame to a position for transportation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,041,387 Waterman Oct. 15, 1912 1,845,324 Noffsinger et al Feb. 16, 1932 2,090,117 Gledhill Aug. 17, 1937 2,227,433 Berner Jan. 7, 1941 2,283,744 Lethlean May 19, 1942 2,317,680 Fitzpatrick Apr. 27, 1943 2,325,025 Allen July 27, 1943 2,349,130 Allen May 16, 1944 2,372,459 Todd Mar. 27, 1945 2,593,880 Heavilin on Apr. 22, 1952