US2873542A

US2873542A - Tractor mounted shoulder maintainer

Info

Publication number: US2873542A
Application number: US372542A
Authority: US
Inventors: James B Codlin
Original assignee: TRACTOMOTIVE CORP
Current assignee: TRACTOMOTIVE Corp
Priority date: 1953-08-05
Filing date: 1953-08-05
Publication date: 1959-02-17
Anticipated expiration: 1976-02-17

Description

Feb. 17, 1959 J. B. CODLIN TRACTOR MOUNTED SHOULDER MAINTAINER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 5, 1953 m. MN

I NVENTERT flag 4),,

ATTORNEYS,

Feb. 17, 1959 J. B. CODLIN TRACTOR MOUNTED SHOULDER MAINTAINER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 5, 1953 IN VEN TOR; gimfi 50M BY zZWW/ MW ATTOR NE Y5 Feb. 17, 1959 J. B. CODLIN 2,873,542

TRACTOR MOUNTED SHOULDER MAINTAINER Filed Aug. 5, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent O TRACTOR MOUNTED SHOULDER MAINTAINER James B. Cpdlin, Deerfield, Ill.,assignor to Tractomotive Corporation, Deerfield, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application August '5, 1953, Serial'No. 372,542 2 Claims. (Cl. 37-155) This invention relates to shoulder maintainers and more particularly to a mechanism for supporting an angular scraper blade from a tractor, or-the like, for leveling roadways and similar surfaces.

.In scraping roadways and similar surfaces to smooth and-level them, it has beenthe common practice to employ an angular scraper blade carried by a tractor and set to cut the surface to the desired depth and smooth it. Loose materialscraped up by such blades is carried to one end thereof and deposited in the form of a windrow. It has heretofore been proposed to provide a second or shoulder maintainer blade following the first blade to deposit such material uniformly across the scraped surface.

The present invention relates to a shoulder maintainer of this general type and has for one of its objects the plOVISlOnDf means by which the blade is supported simply and inexpensively for accurately distributing material in a windrow over the scraped surface.

Another object is to provide a shoulder maintainer in which the tilt of theblade can easily and accurately be controlled from the tractor.

Still another object is to provide a shoulder maintainer in which the blade angle is adjusted by shifting one of the supporting links lengthwise, thereby tilting the frame which carries the blade about an axis at an acute angle to the blade length.

A further object is toprovide a shoulder maintainer in which blade clearance is accurately maintained by ground wheels carried-bythe frame and by one end of the blade. Preferably, such ground wheels are vertically adjustable to adjust the clearance and to compensate for wear of the blade and the tires.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will be more readily apparent from thefollowing description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing in which- Figure 1 is a partial side view of a tractorequipped with a shoulder maintainer embodying the invention;

'FigureZ is a partial enlarged side elevation of the blade supporting mechanism;

Figure 3 is a partial plan view of the blade supporting mechanism;

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a partial perspective view of a tractor equipped with a shoulder maintainer embodying the invention.

The shoulder maintainer of the present invention is adapted to be carried by any desired type of tractor such as that indicated generally at in Figure 1 which in use will travel from left to right, as seen. The tractor may be equipped with a scraper blade forwardly of the shoulder maintainer blade which will scrape the surface to smooth and level it and which will throw up loose material in the form of a windrow. The scraper blade of the present invention is adapted to distribute material in such a windrow uniformly across the scraped surface following the initial scraping operation.

ice

The tractor carries a linkage on which the shoulder maintainer is supported and, as shown, is provided with a frame 11 to which the linkage is attached. In the form illustrated, the linkage comprises ajpair of main links of beams 12 pivoted at opposite sides of the tractor on horizontal axes near the rear portion of the frame 11. For- Wardly of the pivotal connection of the beams 12, the frame 11 has pivoted thereto hydraulic cylinders .13' whose piston rods 14 extend outwardly for pivotal connection to cross links 15 pivoted at their lower ends to the main links 12. As shown, each cross .link is pro= vided with spaced ears 16 to which the outer end of the piston rod 14 may be selectively connected to vary the degree of control over the scraper blade. An upper link 17 generally parallel to the main link 12 extends from the upper end of the cross link 15, as shown.

The links 12 and '17 carry a generally rectangular frame, including uprights 18 and cross members 20, on which the shoulder maintainer blade is mounted. As best seen in Figure 2, the

links

12 and 17 are pivotally connected to the uprights 18 or to brackets thereon at vertically spaced points. As seen in plan in Figure 3, rearmember 19 is secured at one end to the lower cross member 20 and lies at an acute angle to the axes of the pivotal connections between the links 12 and the frame and also at an acute angle to the vertical plane in which the links -12 and 17 are adapted to swing. The member 19 is secured to the frame 18 by a lower angle iron brace 19a intermediate its ends, a box section brace 190. at its end and a tubular brace 1% extending from the upper cross member 20 to the member 19. As shown in Figure'4, the member 19 carries downwardly projecting support members 21 at spaced points in its length to the .lower ends of which the shoulder maintainer blade 22 is connected. Preferably, the blade 22 has brackets 23 projecting from its rear surface which arepivoted to the lower ends of the support members 21. The angle of the shoulder maintainer blade about its pivotal connection to the support members can be ad-' justed throughlinks 24 pivoted to the shoulder maintainer blade near its upper edge and formed with a pluralityof spaced openings through which a bolt 2-5 can extend to connect the links 24 to the support members 21. In this way, the scraping angle of the blade 22 can easily be adjusted. Preferably, a removable scraping edge 26 is provided on the blade 22 which can be reversed or replaced as it wears so that the whole blade does not require replacement.

The frame 18-24) and member 19 are supported for movement at a predetermined distance above the ground on a ground wheel indicated at 27. As shown, the frame is formed with extensions 28 at one side thereof and with an angle brace 30 connected to the lower frame cross member 29, all carrying a bracket 29 upon which the ground wheel is mounted for vertical adjustment. For this purpose, the bracket 29 carries a threaded pin 31 threaded through a nut 32 secured to the bracket. A yoke 33- is freely pivoted on the pin and engages a thrust collar 34 near the upper end of the pin which takes the vertical load on the wheel. The rod can be threaded through the nut 29 by means of a cross pin 35 extending loosely through an opening in the pin and having one end bent over either to serve as a crank or to hook into a book 36 to hold it against accidental turning. A spring 37 urges the pin in a direction to engage the hook so that when it is hooked in place, it will be securely held against accidental displacement.

To adjust the ground wheel vertically with respect to the frame thereby to vary the height of the frame, the pin 35 may be pushed inward to disengage the hook 36 and may then be used as a crank to turn the threaded pin 31 thereby to move the thrust collar 34 up or down and thus change the elevation of the frame.

One end of the blade is preferably supported on a similar ground wheel 38 which is vertically adjustable through a mechanism identical to that just described. The framework 39 for the ground wheel 38 may be secured directly to the blade 22, as best seen in Figure 3 and preferably lies at the end of the blade closest to the tractor where a projection of its axis is adjacent to the axis of the ground wheel 27. The framework 39 may be braced by an angle strut 40 secured to the blade 22 at a point spaced from its end.

According to the present invention, the tilt of the blade 22 is adjusted by tilting the frame 18 about its points of pivotal connection to the

links

12 and 17. For this purpose, the cylinder 13 may be controlled through 'a valve 41 to expand or contract, thereby to vary the effective length between the pivotal connection to the tractor frame 11 and to the vertical link 15. Expansion or contraction of the cylinder 13 will cause the link 17 to move lengthwise and will tilt the main frame 1820 about the horizontal axis on. which the frame 1820 is pivoted to the links 12. Since the blade itself lies at an acute angle to the pivotal axis of the linkage, the angle of its scraping edge relative to horizontal will be adjustable by tilting of the frame. The ground wheel 38 will maintain the forward edge of the blade at a predetermined distance above the ground and the frame will be held a predetermined distance above the ground by the ground wheel 27. Since the axes of both wheels 27 and 38 are spaced from the axis about which the frame 1820 pivots they will both tend to rise or fall through approximately the same distance as the frame pivots. The frame will rise or fall as it pivots so that the wheels 27 and 38 remain in engagement with the ground at all times. Therefore, the trailing edge of the blade will be raised or lowered by tilting of the frame 18 so that it will effect the desired scraping or spreading operation to distribute material in the windrow uniformly across the previously scraped surface. It will be seen that this adjustment can be effected very simply and accurately from the tractor through the control valve 41 so that the operator can change the angle of the shoulder maintainer blade from time to time, as required without leaving the tractor or without the necessity of stopping it.

When it is desired to lift the shoulder maintainer for transport, or the like, a second hydraulic cylinder 42 connected to the main link 12 may be employed to swing the main link vertically and to lift the entire frame 18 and scraper blade to a convenient height for transport.

While one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail, it will be understood that this is illustrative only and is not to be taken as a definition of the scope of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims.

' What is claimed is:

1. A shoulder maintainer for use with a tractor comprising linkage connected to the tractor for swinging in a vertical plane and including vertically spaced substantially parallel links, a frame connected at vertically spaced points thereon to the links, the linkage maintaining the frame in substantially the same angular position relative to vertical and horizontal planes therethrough regardless of the elevation thereof, a blade carried by the frame at an acute angle to said vertical plane as projected on a horizontal plane, one end of the blade terminating at a point longitudinally beyond the frame and the other end at a point longitudinally between the frame and the tractor, a ground-engaging wheel carried by the frame on an axis parallel to said vertical plane to support the frame above the ground, said other end of the blade lying substantially in alignment with the axis of the wheel, and power means operable from the tractor to shift one of the links lengthwise to tilt the frame about a horizontal axis thereby to change the angle of the blade to the horizontal, the wheel maintaining said other end of the blade at a substantially constantdistance above the ground as the frame is tilted.

2. A shoulder maintainer for use with a tractor comprising linkage connected to the tractor for swinging in a vertical plane and including vertically spaced substantially parallel links, a frame connected at vertically spaced points thereon to the links, the linkage maintaining the frame in substantially the same angular position relative to vertical and horizontal planes therethrough regardless of the elevation thereof, a blade carried by the frame at an acute angle to said vertical plane as projected on a horizontal plane, one end of the blade terminating at a point longitudinally beyond the frame and the other end at a point longitudinally between the frame and the tractor, a ground-engaging wheel carried by the frame on an axis parallel to said vertical plane to support the frame above the ground, a ground-engaging wheel on said other end of the blade to maintain it a predetermined distance above the ground, said ground-engaging wheels lying on closely spaced parallel axes parallel to said vertical plane, and power means operable from the tractor to shift one of the links lengthwise to tilt the frame about a horizontal axls thereby to change the angle of the blade to the horizontal.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 621,371 Philip Mar. 21, 1899 1,876,604 Bruner et al Sept. 13, 1932 1,920,475 Meyer Aug. 1, 1933 2,238,389 Kerber A Apr. 15, 1941 2,259,747 Gustafson Oct. 21, 1941 2,283,744 Lethlean May 19, 1942 2,437,059 Williams Mar. 2, 1948 2,564,355 Danuser Aug. 14, 1951 2,565,337 Allan Aug. 21, 1951 2,566,547 Bartlett Sept. 4, 1951 2,579,651 Covielle Dec. 25, 1951 2,641,983 Crum June 16, 1953 2,652,642 Gifford et al Sept. 22, 1953 2,668,631 Reese Feb. 9, 1954 Schwindt et al Mar. 22, 1955