US2784506A - Ditch digging machine - Google Patents

Description

March 12, 1957 F. R. HEFT 2,784,506

DITCH DIGGING MACHINE Filed Dec. 8, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet l T F E H R. F.

DITCH DIGGING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed DeC. 8. 1952.

DITCH DIGGING MACHINE Filed Dec. s, 1952 3 sheets-sheet s 1N V EN TGR.

AUnited States Patent() DITCH DIGGING MACHINE Fred R. Heft, Aitkin, Minn.; Carroll W. Heft, executor of said Fred R. Heft, deceased Application December 8, 1952, Serial No. 324,771 4 Claims. (Cl. 257-98) This invention relates to a ditch digging machine and has for its principal objects to provide a machine of this class which is simple, rugged, inexpensive and adapted' for etiicient operation in the digging of trenches or ditches of various depths.

A particular object is to provide a ditch digging machine'which is adapted to be` drawn by one or more tractors and having novel mechanism under controlV of an operator riding on the machine for varying the depth of the trench or ditch for the purpose of compensating for variations in the ground surface elevation, for maintaining a predetermined slope or gradientat the bottom of the ditch and for progressively increasing the depth of the excavation. j

A further object is to provide a machine of the class described which is adapted to beoperated to dig ditches or trenches of controlled and varying depths rapidly.

Another object is to provide a readily portable ditcher having an improved and modified plow-type cutter and moldy board assembly whereby earth may be excavated to depths of several feet in a step by step manner, that is to say, by a succession of passes along the ditch with adjustments to progressively increase the depth of the cut made by each succeeding pass.

My invention also includes certain other novel features of construction which will be more fully hereinafter described, including improvements inthe draft mechanism, depth controlmechanism and means for :stabilizing Ithe direction of travel ofthe machine whereby the excavation of substantially straight ditches is facilitated.

The invention will be best understood by reference to `the accompanying drawings which illustrate, byY way of example and not for the purpose of limitation, a preferred form of my invention.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a top plan view of my improved machine;

Fig. 2` is a left elevational View of the same with the left side ground-engaging wheels removed to Show parts otherwise concealed;

Fig. 3 is a somewhat diagrammatic plan view showing a suitable arrangement of draft mechanismand tractors for operating the ditch digging machine;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational View of the vertically adjustable draft mechanism;

Fig. 5` is a front4 elevational view of the same;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary cross sectional view through the platformor catwalk and keel plate;

Fig. 7 isa diagrammatic side elevational view showing atmodification of: the left side supporting wheels, and

Fig` 8 is a vertical cross sectionalview of the machine takenapproximately on the line 8--8 of Fig.` 1.

Referring to the drawings,` my. improved machine has a,horizontally elongatedlframe indicated generally byxthe numeral19` and connected to the front` end` of this `frame is draft mechanism-indicated generally by the numeral `10. Ground-engaging wheels 11, 12, l3;a,ndll4;are arranged to supportzthe frame 9. andexcavatingmechanism at various vce elevations relative to the surface of the ground being traversed. From the draft mechanism 10, a cutter blade 15 extends obliquely downwardly and rearwardly substantially in a vertical plane and extending in continuation of this blade I provide a straight vertically disposed keel plate 16 (Figs. 2 and 6). From one side of this plate a platform 17 projects horizontally to afford a support in the nature of a catwalk for an operator. This platform is preferably disposed to extend along the bottom of the ditch as it is formed and a seat for the operator may be provided if considered desirable. p

Projecting from the front end of the platform is an excavator blade 18 which delivers the loosened excavated material to an elongated mold board 19. This mold board is rigidly supported on the frame and extends obliquely upwardly to the rear and to one side of the excavator blade to carry material from the bottom of the ditch to the surface of the earth at` various elevations. The mold board 19- has a leading edge portion 20 which extends substantially vertically from thev upper edge of the keel plate 16 and a leading. edge portion 21 which converges gradually toward a trailing edge 22 of the mold board. A blade extends along the edge 22` to formi` one side wall of the ditch at a slope of approximately 45 and to allow the excavated material to spill over on the surface of the ground at various elevations above the floor of the cut.

A rigid substantially vertical post 23 is located adjacent to the back face of the mold board and the latter is supported` by a: pair of diagonal braces 24 extending to the post 23 and by a pair of braces 25 which are rigidly connected at their lower ends to the keel plate16.

Mounted` rearwardly of the mold board 19 is a grader blade 26 adapted to spread and remove the excavated material to the outeriside of the track of the Wheel 12, as indicated in` Fig. 3. One end of the blade 26 is adjustably connected to the post 23 by means of a bracket 27 which may be secured to the post 23 at any selected elevation. A` rigid arm 28 is adapted to support the outer end portion of theblade26 at an angle of approximately 45 relative to the directionv of travel of the machine. To

permit adjustment of Ithe elevation of the grader blade a ball joint 29 connects the outer end of the arm 28 to the blade and` a similar joint connects the inner end of the armr 28 to the machine frame adjacent'to the keel plate 16. The arm 28 is preferably formed with telescoping members and provided with a pin tting in` perforations in these members to permit adjustment of the effective length` of the arm. The lower edge of the grader blade 26 extends upon thesurface of the ground and obliquely to the rear of the leading end ofthe blade.

To'support the rear. end of the frame 9 when in traveling position above ground, a wheel 14 of the caster type is mounted onan arm30 adapted to oscillate about a supporting, substantially vertical pivot 31. A vertical bearing 32 for the pivot 31 has a pivot support 33 on the machine frame andits upperl end portion is connected by atlink 34 to a lever 35'thaving a fulcrum support 36. The upper end of the lever 35'is operatively connected to a nut which isV movable along ascrew shaft 37 provided with a manually operable crank 38.r The shaft 37 `is held against longitudinal movement in a bearing 39 so that when the crank 38` is' turnedthe wheel'14 may be raised or lowered relative to the frame through the linkage described. During the ditchingV opera-tion, the lower periphery of the wheel 141is-raised tolapproximately the elevation of the rear end of the platform 17.'

Arms 11a, 12a and13a connect the wheels 11, 12 and 13 respectively` to thesframek 9, these Wheels being revoluble onaxlesprojectingfrom the outer ends of the severalarms. The inner ends of the arms llatand 12a i j are fxedon oppositeendsof acommonsupporting shaft which extends horizontally across the machine. A hand wheel 41, disposed within easy reach of an operator standing on the platform 17, is operatively connected to the shaft 4t) so that the latter may be forcibly turned about its axis through an angle of at least 180. Power transmission mechanism is interposed between a shaft 42 supporting the hand wheel 41 and the shaft 40, the illustrated mechanism including a toothed pinion on the shaft 42 operatively connected by a chain to a sprocket wheel 43, a shaft 44 upon which the wheel 43 is fixed, a worm gear connection in a housing 45 between shaft 44 and a horizontal shaft and planetary gearing in a housing 46 for transmitting torque to the shaft 40. The arm 13a is fixed on an end of a shaft 47 extending horizontally in suitable bearings on the frame 9 and the shaft 47 is operatively connected to the shaft 40 for rotation in unison therewith by means of suitable sprocket wheels and a chain 48.

The arms 11a and 13a are always in parallel relation one to the other as they are oscillated about the axes of the shafts 40 and 47 respectively and the arms 11a and 12a are retained in a common plane through the axis of the shaft 40 when it is turned. As a result of this construction the operator, by turning the hand wheel 41, may forcibly raise the frame and excavating mechanism carried thereby to an elevation above ground or to any selected elevation below the surface of the ground on which the wheels 11, 12 and 13 are supported. The maximum height of the excavating mechanism is reached when the several arms 11a, 12a and 13a depend from the shafts 40 and 47 in vertical planes through the axes of said shafts respectively and the lower limit of depth of cut is reached when the arms 11a, 12a and 13a extend upward and outward from the shafts in such vertical planes.

For most eicient application of the draft power to the front end of the machine frame, I provide the draft mechanism indicated generally by the numeral 10. By this mechanism, the elevation of the point of application of the power is changed to compensate for the changing depth of the excavating mechanism when in operation at various elevations below the ground level. As best shown in Figs. 4 and 5, a rigid bar 50 extends across the front of the machine and a pair of perforated lugs 51, one on each end of the bar 50, project forward from this bar to be connected to coupling members 52. Parallel side plates 53 have rigidly secured to their outer surfaces channel bars 54 providing parallel guide flanges for pairs of rollers S5. The plates 53 are rigidly connected to the machine frame and upper end of the blade 15. The rollers 55 are mounted on brackets 56 fastened to the bar 50 at their front edges so that the draft bar is guided for movement along the steeply inclined channel bars 54. A toothed rack bar 57 is connected at its lower end to the bar 50 and its upper end is guided between a toothed pinion 58 and a pair of rollers 59. A pair of substantially triangular plates 60 confine the sides of the rack bar 57 and carry axial pins for supporting the rollers 59. The pinion 53 is fixed on a horizontally extending shaft 61 having bearings in the side plates 53 and having fixed on one end a sprocket wheel 62 which is operatively connected by a chain 63 to a sprocket wheel 64 fixed on the shaft 4t). By means of this linkage transmitting torque from the shaft 40 to the shaft 61, the draft bar 5t) is automatically maintained at an elevation which causes eieient application of the draft force at all times. It will be evident that the draft bar 50 is positioned to the front of the lower end of the guide channels 54 when the excavating blade 1S is at or near ground level and is positioned directly in front of the upper end portions of the guide channels 54 when the excavating blade is lowered to its maximum depth in the ditch.

Projecting forwardly from one of the coupling members 52 is a rigid link 65 and a second link 66 is connected to the other coupling member 52 and extends obliquely forward to the link 65 to which it is joined by a pin.

Draft power for moving the machine is applied to the forward end of the link 65. When a shallow ditch is to be formed by a single pass of the machine and during the rst pass in the operation of cutting deeper ditches, a single tractor or other suitable source of power may be coupled to the front end of the link 65. Ordinarily, however, for the excavation of the deeper ditches two sources of draft power are required. For example, as shown in Fig. 3, a pair of crawler type tractors, indicated at 67, may be connected to opposite ends of a rigid cross bar 63 and the ends of this bar may be connected by chains 69 to the front end of the link 65. The tractors are so operated as to travel in parallel paths land along opposite sides of either a previously marked center line along the site of a ditch to be excavated or along a partially excavated ditch 70 which is to be enlarged and increased in depth by successive passes of my improved machine.

Since both the mold board 19 and grader blade 26 under the reactive force exerted by the excavated material tend to thrust the machine laterally toward the opposite or left side, provision is made for opposing and substantially neutralizing this force. In my improved machine, lateral or skidding motion is opposed and substantially prevented by the Wheels 11 and 13 and the keel plate 16 which penetrates the ground below the trench bottom and presents a large elongated vertical surface in sliding engagement with the wall of the trench opposite to that formed by the mold board.

As indicated in Fig. 7, to further increase the resistance of the machine to lateral skidding motion caused by the mold board and grader blade, an endless type of track or tread 71 may be provided for the supporting Wheels at one or both sides of the machine. As illustrated, the endless tread 71 is trained on the peripheries of supporting wheels 72 and 73 mounted one ahead of the other at a side of the machine, in place of the wheels 11 and 13. The wheels 72 and 73 may be mounted on the outer ends of the arms 11a and 13a. The supporting axles of the wheels 72 and 73 may be connected together by a longitudinally extending link 74 and the tread 71 formed with longitudinally extending lugs adapted to substantially eliminate lateral skidding motion of the machine due to the reactive forces on the mold board and grader blade. In operation, when the machine is adjusted to travel on a road or surface of the ground, the excavator blade 18 and keel plate 16 are elevated above the surface of the ground, the several ground engaging wheels are in their lowest positions relative to the frame and excavating mechanism, and the draft bar 50 is positioned near the lower ends of the guide channels 54. With a suitable source of power coupled to the draft link 65, the machine is readily movable to the site of the trench or ditch to be formed. At the start of movement along the site of the trench an operator stationed on the platform 17 rotates the hand Wheel 41 in the appropriate direction to raise the wheels 11, 12 and 13 relative to the frame thereby lowering the forward end portion of the frame and causing the excavator blade 1S to penetrate the ground. The rear end of the frame and keel plate 16 are also lowered by suitable manipulation of the crank 38 to raise the wheel 14 to a position wherein its lower periphery is approximately at the elevation of the rear end of the platform 17. The tractors or other source or sources of propelling power are then operated to draw the machine along a predetermined line marking the center line of the ditch to be dug. Many ground materials may be excavated to a depth of from six to twelve inches, depending on the condition and character of the soil, during a single pass of the machine. Ordinarily, where a ditch of greater depth is required, the machine after being drawn to the end of the shallow ditch formed in one pass is turned around and operated along the ditch in the reverse direction after lowering the excavating asse-soa mechanism to a suitably increased depth below the surface.

It will be evident that the soil or material in place is loosened by the blades and 18 and a stream of loosened material is gathered into the lower end of the mold board 19 which conducts such material laterally and upwardly to the surface of the ground directly in front of the grader blade 26. This blade operates to spread and convey the material to the right of the track of the machine so that the excavated material is out of the way of subsequent operations including the further traversing of the machine along the ditch to increase its depth or for other operations such as the laying of pipe or drainage tile in the ditch. During the ditching operation, an operator stationed on the platform 17 adjusts the depth of the cut to compensate for irregularities in the ground level and/or to maintain a predetermined slope or gradient at the bottom of the ditch. The elongated keel plate 16 imparts desirable stability and resistance to lateral deviation from a predetermined line of travel during the ditching operation. Such lateral deviation is further opposed by my disposition of the wheels 11 and 13 and by the endless track 71 and wheels 72 and 73 shown in Fig. 7.

My improved machine, because of its low cost and rugged construction is adapted for use on farms and elsewhere for digging trenches or ditches for pipe lines or for drainage ditches either of the open type or for pipes or drainage tile.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

l. In a ditch digging machine having side and bottom cutters, a single elongated mold board extending obliquely upward and laterally from one side of said cutters and a frame rigidly supporting said cutters and mold board, the improvements which comprise, a plurality of wheels portably supporting said frame, disposed one ahead of the other and spaced laterally from said frame at the side opposite to said mold board, a third wheel disposed to portably support the opposite side of the frame, a support for an operator carried by said frame, means adapted to be actuated by an operator positioned on said support during the ditch digging operation for selectively changing the elevation of the frame relative to all of said wheels including means operatively connecting said wheels for movement in unison to a multiplicity of selected common elevations relative to the frame, a vertically disposed, horizontally elongated keel plate adapted to coact with said wheels in maintaining directional stability to the longitudinal movement of the machine and draft mechanism connected to the front end of said frame.

2. A ditch digging machine in accordance with claim l wherein said plurality of wheels supporting the frame at the side opposite to the mold board are provided with a common endless tread trained on the wheels and affording an elongated ground engaging member.

3. In a ditch digging machine having side and bottom cutters, a single elongated mold board extending obliquely upward and laterally from one side of said cutters CII and a frame rigidly supporting said cutters and mold board, the improvements which comprise, wheels portably supporting said frame and spaced laterally from said frame at opposite sides-thereof, said wheels including a plurality of wheels disposed one ahead of the other at the side of the frame opposite to the mold board, a support for an operator carried by said frame, elevation control means carried by said frame and adapted to be actuated by an operator positioned on said support during the ditch digging operation to selectively change the elevation of the frame relative to said wheels including means operatively connecting said wheels together for movement in unison to a multiplicity of selected common elevations relative to the frame, draft mechanism, means movably connecting said draft mechanism to the front end of said frame, and manually controlled gear means disposed to be actuated from a position on said support for positively and selectively changing the elevation of the draft mechanism either up or down relative to the frame and for securing the draft mechanism at any of a multiplicity of different elevations on the frame during the ditch digging operation.

4. In a ditch digging machine having side and bottom cutters, a single elongated mold board extending obliquely upward and laterally from one side of said cutters and a frame rigidly supporting said cutters and mold board, the improvements which comprise, wheels portably supporting said frame at opposite sides thereof, elevation control means carried by said frame and operative to selectively change the elevation of the frame relative to said wheels including means operatively connecting said wheels together for movement in unison to selected common elevations relative to the frame, draft mechanism, draft control means movably connecting said draft mechanism to the front end of said frame and operative to selectively change the elevation of the draft mechanism relative to the frame and means operatively connecting said draft control means to said elevation control means whereby to synchronize the selective changing of the elevation of the frame relative to the wheels with changes in the elevation of the draft mechanism relative to the frame.

References Cited inthe le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 119,759 Hale Oct. 10, 1871 1,271,546 Davison July 9, 1918 1,427,357 Caughey Aug. 29, 1922 1,534,900 Bolin Apr. 21, 1925 2,018,138 LeTourneau a Oct. 22, 1935 2,158,340 Spieth May 16, 1939 2,195,631 Post et al Apr. 2, 1940 2,423,544 Acton July 8, 1947 2,437,059 Williams e Mar. 2, 1948 2,595,277 Mathias May 6, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 24,052 Great Britain Oct. 16, 1897 of 1896 t

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