WO2000003583A2

WO2000003583A2 - Implement for crushing and overturning a compact layer of soil

Info

Publication number: WO2000003583A2
Application number: PCT/EP1999/004937
Authority: WO
Inventors: Renzo Carboni
Original assignee: Renzo Carboni
Priority date: 1998-07-17
Filing date: 1999-07-10
Publication date: 2000-01-27
Also published as: WO2000003583B1; AU5159299A; WO2000003583A3

Abstract

A soil-working implement comprising a frame (1) provided with two side walls and arranged to be mounted on two wheels or applied to the rear lift of a tractor, a series of hoes (8) rotating about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the direction in which the implement advances, and a grid (10) positioned to the rear of said series of rotary hoes, in which the grid is adjustable relative to the series of hoes, and is associated with a rear levelling bar.

Description

Implement for crushing and overturning a compact layer of soil

Technical field

This patent concerns rotary soil-working machines and tools, and in particular certain useful configurations thereof which extend their field of application to other uses, such as animal litter treatment.

The invention relates specifically to implements provided at their rear with a series of hoes rotating about a horizontal axis. Said hoes are also known as cutters. In a particular configuration the implement comprises a central body, from the sides of which there emerge two aligned axles carrying the hoes.

The implement can be towed by a tractor and receive its motorization from this latter. It can also form part of a machine provided with wheels and with its own motorization, in particular of those small machines hand- manoeuvred via a suitable handlebar operated by an operator who follows the machine. This type of machine is known as a power cultivator.

Background art

The object of the invention is to enable the aforesaid implements, and in particular the machines of the aforesaid type, to work soil laden with herbaceous plants and stones, for the purpose of preparing beds for sowing. A further object of the invention is to crush and overturn layers of hardened soil to render it aerated, friable and soft, suitable for forming animal litter.

Hoeing machines have recently appeared on the market in which said hoes are rotated in the opposite direction to the direction of travel of the machine, to prevent them tending to climb up the soil while the machine advances, the clods of soil removed by the hoes being lifted and forcefully projected towards a rear grid, against which they become crushed.

Said grid retains most of the extraneous and/or coarse material, such as stones, tufts of grass, roots, pruning residues and plants, which falls into the underlying furrow which has just been created by the rotating hoes, whereas the crushed soil pieces pass through the grid and fall rearwards where they cover said extraneous material.

Said machines and implements have however a series of drawbacks which considerably limit their use. In this respect it has been found that the action of the grid to the rear of the hoes depends greatly on the inclination of the grid to the ground, this inclination, especially in the case of power cultivators, varying substantially on the basis of the depth of the soil strip being worked. It has also been found that the material discharged through the grid requires levelling.

It has further been noted that the machine tends to penetrate to a greater or lesser depth into the soil without the operator being able to remedy this, hence preventing uniformly worked strips being achieved.

In addition the clods lifted by those hoes positioned in proximity to the tubular portions of the central body of the implement from which said axles carrying the hoes emerge strike the lower part of said central body, with the result that below and around it there normally forms an ever increasing compact mass of stringy tangled material mixed with soil.

Said mass forms more quickly the more moist the soil and the more stringy material there is present, until it rapidly attains a size of the same order of magnitude as the diameter of the hoes, with the result that these are no longer able to perform their function.

It is hence necessary to remove said mass with a certain frequency, this involving some fatigue and requiring the machine to be stopped. In addition to accumulating below and around the central body of the implement, said stringy material also creates offshoots which firmly grip about the tubular portions of the central body of the implement from which said axles carrying the hoes emerge.

One of the objects of the invention is, as stated, to eliminate said drawbacks. The invention finds a further particular use in poultry farms, in particular for the upkeep of the litter in the sheds housing the animals.

The shed floors are generally of concrete, and only rarely of compacted earth. The sheds are designed to contain about five animals per square metre, some thousands of animals being housed in the same shed.

Before entry of the newly-born animals, on the shed floor a layer of shavings is laid, on which the the animals' excretion accumulates as they grow. The excretion accumulation is greatest in proximity to the fodder troughs, and reaches a thickness of up to about thirty centimetres on termination of the rearing cycle.

Because of the liquid contained in it and the treading of the animals, the litter tends to harden and to become impermeable, favouring the formation of puddles or very wet zones.

These phenomena prejudice the animals health.

In addition to the contamination caused by the presence of wet zones and the problems arising for the animals health, the hardening of the litter leads to a further phenomenon resulting in considerable cost to the breeder.

As a result of intensive feeding, the weight increase of the animals is not balanced by increased strength of their bone structure, and towards the end of the cycle the largest sized animals, for example turkeys, attain a weight which cannot be supported by their skeleton.

In particular, when the animals lie down for rest, and the ground is hard, the sternum can easily fracture.

A further object of the invention is to provide for conveniently treating the litter to eliminate the aforesaid problems.

Disclosure of the invention To this end, the invention comprises means for detaching and lifting the litter from the floor, and feeding the layer of litter lifted in this manner to the rotating hoes which then assume the function of triturator means, and means for sifting the resultant product to make it soft and homogeneous.

Further according to the invention, while the layer of litter lifted from the floor is being triturated it is conveniently overturned, so that the top of the layer falls first into contact with the floor. All the objects of the invention are attained by virtue of the characteristics defined in the claims.

The merits and the constructional and operational characteristics of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description of three preferred embodiments thereof given hereinafter by way of non-limiting example with reference to the figures of the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a partial view from above of a first embodiment of the invention, in which for reasons of clarity and simplicity some accessory members, such as the means for levelling and compacting the worked soil, have been omitted.

Figure 2 is a section on the plane II—II of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a side view of a second embodiment of the machine. Figure 4 is a partial plan view of the machine shown in Figure 3. Figure 5 is a section on the plane V-V of Figure 2. Figure 6 is a section on the plane VI-VI of Figure 1.

Figure 7 is a partly sectional schematic side view of a third embodiment of the invention.

Figure 8 is an enlarged detail of Figure 3.

Specific reference is made hereinafter to a cutter unit for hand- manoeuvred power cultivators, but this is in no way to be considered a limiting fact in that there is nothing to prevent one or more of the teachings of the invention being used for cutter units of carried type. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the unit comprises a tubular body 1 orientated in the travel direction A of the respective power cultivator. Within the tubular body 1 there is a transmission shaft (see Figure 5), on the rear end of the tubular body 1 there being fixed two transverse horizontal coaxial flanged sleeves 3. Two hoe-carrying axles 4 are mounted rotatable but axial ly immovable within the sleeves 3 and are linked to said transmission shaft 2.

Each axle 4 comprises two flanges 5 and 6, of which the first 5 is positioned close to the respective sleeve 3, and the second 6 is positioned on the free end of the axle. By means of the bolts 7, there are fixed onto each flange 5, 6 four angularly equidistant usual hoes 8, of which one diametrical pair has its blades orientated axially in one direction, and the other has its blades orientated in the opposite direction. The hoes 8 are arranged to rotate in the direction indicated by B in Figures 2 and 3, ie in the opposite direction to the direction of travel A of the machine, with these there being associated a guard 9 for retaining the soil 11 being worked, and a grid 10 in the form of parallel round bars, the purpose of which was explained in the introduction. According to the invention, a rib 12 is removably fixed below the rear part of the tubular body 1.

As can be seen in Figure 5, said rib 12 comprises a vertically- lying central triangular plate 120 coplanar with the vertical plane passing through the longitudinal axis of the tubular body 1, and two opposing lateral profiled gussets 121 which are flared upwards and outwards.

Said central plate 120 is fixed to the tubular body 1 by two transverse opposing bolts indicated by 100 in Figures 1 and 2, and its lower edge is sharpened. The respective lower edges of the lateral gussets 121 converge into said sharpened edge and are welded thereat, their upper edges being conjugate with the outer surface of the tubular body 1 and virtually resting against it. Essentially, said double-function rib 12 is in the shape of a wedge the cutting edge of which is inclined upwards and towards the front, and which at the rear end of the tubular body 1 has a width substantially equal to the corresponding transverse dimension of this latter.

In addition the rear corner of said wedge shape is substantially vertically aligned with the axis of said sleeves 3, and is positioned virtually at the level of the lower generating lines of the cylindrical surface swept by the hoes 8. Again according to the invention, with each sleeve 3 there is associated a scraper member 13 which, with particular reference to Figure 6, comprises a holed arched plate 130 to be fixed onto the inner face of the flange 5 by the bolts 7 which fix the hoes 8, and a perpendicular blade 131 the active edge of which is bevelled.

The blade 131 is arranged virtually tangential to the respective sleeve 3, with its bevelled edge positioned close to the outer surface of this latter.

With particular reference to Figures 3 and 4, it can be seen that the guard 9 comprises two parallel side walls 91 held together by a profiled upper wall 92 and fixed to the machine frame in a manner not shown. To said side walls there are hinged at 209 two bars 201 which carry at their end a roller 200 arranged to roll along the ground to determine the working depth of the machine.

The cylindrical surface of the roller can be advantageously formed from a mesh. To lock the roller 200 in the desired position, from each bar 201 there upperly projects an appendix 202 provided with at least one hole, by means of which a latch 96 can lock said appendix in any one of the holes 95 provided in a gusset 94 fixed to the outside of the side wall 91. In this manner the working depth of the machine can be easily regulated.

Each of the side walls 91 has an aperture 97 shaped as shown in Figure 8 and comprising four inlets 98, the apertures of the two side walls facing each other. Said inlets 98 are intended to receive the opposing projecting ends of two parallel transverse rods 102 and 103 fixed to the teeth of the grid 10. In the illustrated example said teeth consist of pairs of a U-bent round rod supported by an upper beam

101.

As can be better seen from Figure 8, the grid can be fixed for each of the possible positions of the bar 201 defined by engagement of the latch 96 in one of the holes 95, to provide four different inclinations to the ground. When travelling with the implement suspended, both the grid and the roller will be in their maximum raised position. When travelling with the implement towed, the roller will be fixed in its lowest position.

In a position to the rear of the grid there is a levelling bar 205 maintained elastically in position.

The bar 205 is supported by two lateral appendices 206 the free end of which is fixed by one of the holes 204 provided in columns 203 branching from the bars 201. Said columns 203 comprise a perpendicular narrow plate 203' against which there acts a curved plate 206' rigid with the appendices 206. Said narrow plate is shaped to limit the anticlockwise (in Figure 3) travel of the appendices 206. The levelling bar 205 is maintained in position by the pair of springs 208 which connect it to the frame. The holes 203 enable the levelling bar to be adjusted to the required level. The springs 208 enable the levelling bar to withdraw from the grid 10 when any foreign bodies or soil accumulations penetrate between them.

Working from the bottom upwards, the machine projects stones, soil, grass and debris against the selection grid, which is positioned to the rear of the rotor and is composed of spring- steel bars spaced apart by 2 cm. The grid formed in this manner selects those pieces (stones and grass) of diameter greater than 2 cm and allows them to fall downwards into the furrow created by the blades. At the same time the finely worked soil covers the bed of stones and grass. The levelling bar 205 levels the soil before passage of the mesh- surfaced roller 200, which determines the quantity of exit soil. The working depth, adjustable from 5 to 15 cm, is maintained constant by the rear roller, which is set in the desired position as explained. These operations are possible only with 4-wheel tractors which have a rear lift to which the implement is applied to be raised and lowered vertically without the implement undergoing any variation in its inclination to the surface to be worked. In contrast, if the implement is applied to the central body of a power cultivator, during lowering to achieve the necessary working depth, a non-parallel movement is created which completely changes the orientation of the operating members to the ground. It becomes necessary therefore to simultaneously vary the working depth and the grid inclination, and at the same time select the height of the adjustable levelling bar, so enabling the machine to be used with maximum efficiency at depths generally between 5 cm and 15 cm.

The soil which passes through the grid rests in a small space between the grid and the rear levelling bar, to form a reserve to be dispensed gradually. The grid is fixed to the side walls by engaging the ends of the rods 102 and 103 in the inlets 98 of the profiled apertures 97. The lower points of the constituent teeth of the grid must be maintained at the desired distance from the ground even when the working depth changes. This is essential because stones and vegetation would be able to pass if the points of the teeth withdraw from the surface of the ground.

The performance of the rear levelling bar is decisive for a good result. The longitudinal and vertical movements of the rear levelling bar must be strictly related to those of the grid, in order to ensure correct release of the soil quantity which accumulates between the grid and bar.

Figure 7 shows a particular version of the machine suitable for treating animal litter. The figure shows a load-bearing structure supported by coupling means for coupling to a common rear lifting device of a tractor. On the structure there is positioned a mechanical unit 300 for receiving and retransmitting motion, comprising a splined motion input shaft which can be connected to the rear power take-off of the tractor, and a shaft 320 perpendicular thereto for retransmitting the motion to one side of the structure.

A chain transmission, not shown for simplicity, connects the shaft 320 to the tool carrying shaft 400 on which are distributed the hoes 8 which have their end bent parallel to the shaft 400. Motion transmission between the countershaft 320 and the shaft 400 is such that the shaft 400 rotates in the anticlockwise direction in Figure 7, ie in the opposite direction to the direction of machine travel .

On each section of the shaft 400 there are arranged six hoes 8, having their ends bent alternately in one direction and in the opposite direction.

It is evident that the number of hoes provided on each section of the shaft 400 can be other than six.

In a position below the shaft 400 there is provided a scraper dihedron 500, the transverse dimension of which is equal to the length of the shaft 400.

The scraper dihedron is fixed to the side walls of the structure and is able to support it.

By means of its bottom blade the dihedron detaches the hard dry litter from the floor, and with its upper inclined part conveys it to a zone in which it is available to the curved tips of the hoes

8.

In this respect, the hoes 8 graze the top of the dihedron 500.

To the rear of the shaft 400 there is a blade 600 supported by two lateral support columns 610 received within two sleeves 620 hinged to the machine structure on an axis 630 parallel to the shaft 400.

By virtue of said arrangement the blade 600 can be set to the desired height and inclination.

The upper part of the rotor 420 formed by the shaft 400 and the hoes 8 is contained within a guard 700. On the opposite side to the blade 600 the structure supports the comb-shaped grid 10, which is fixed at its top to the structure with a slight rearward inclination.

To the rear of the grid 10 there is a sheet metal flap 900, which is rotatable by being hinged at 910 to the structure.

The purpose of the flap 900 is to check the rearward projection of the triturated and sieved product which passes through the grid. The structure is connected to respective means for its coupling to the tractor in a manner enabling it to be slid in a transverse direction, its position relative to said means being adjusted by a hydraulic cylinder-piston unit, not shown. The transverse position of the structure can also be adjusted manually.

The invention operates in the following manner. The entire structure, connected to the rear lift of a tractor, not shown, is rested on the litter via the scraper 500, and is advanced towards the left in Figure 7.

The highest points of the litter are levelled by the front blade 600 after which the litter is lifted by the scraper 500 which immediately rests on the floor when advancement commences. In the case of a compacted earth floor the structure comprises two lateral skids (not shown) for resting on the ground to prevent the scraper 500 damaging the floor.

The scraper 500 is inserted below the litter and makes it available to the hoes 8, which project the litter material upwards in the travel direction and then against the rear sieve in the form of the grid 10, the material being contained between the front blade 600 and the guard 700.

The material is hence crushed by the hoes 8 and reduced by the grid into homogeneous particles which again fall onto the ground in soft and relatively dry form. The fact that the rotor rotates in the opposite direction to the direction of travel facilitates the overturning of the litter, with the driest parts previously in contact with the floor now lying mainly in the upper layer. The flap 900 levels the treated litter, should this be necessary. The facility for laterally sliding the structure relative to its support members enables it to also operate flush with the walls and with the fodder troughs.

Claims

Cl aims

1. A soil-working implement comprising a frame provided with two side walls and arranged to be mounted on two wheels or applied to the rear lift of a tractor, a series of hoes rotating about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the direction in which the implement advances, and a grid positioned to the rear of said series of rotary hoes, characterised in that the grid is adjustable relative to the series of hoes, and is associated with a rear levelling bar.

2. An implement as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the grid can be rotated towards and away from the series of hoes.

3. An implement as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the grid is composed of a series of curved teeth contained in vertical planes and branching from an upper crosspiece, and comprises at least two horizontal parallel rods the ends of which project laterally from the grid, to be inserted into two opposing profiled apertures provided in the sides of the frame.

4. An implement as claimed in claim 3, characterised in that said apertures comprise a substantially vertical slot from which there branch at least two inlets which are perpendicular to it and are of different depth.

5. An implement as claimed in claim 1, characterised by comprising a rear roller of adjustable height positioned at the end of two lateral arms hinged to the side walls.

6. An implement as claimed in claim 5, characterised in that the cylindrical surface of the rear roller is in the form of a mesh.

7. An implement as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the rear levelling bar is mounted in an adjustable position on the arms which support the rear roller.

8. An implement as claimed in claim 7, characterised in that from each of said arms there upwardly projects a column having at least two holes at different heights to receive the pin of a hinged connection to an appendix branching from the levelling bar.

9. An implement as claimed in claim 7, characterised in that the levelling bar is maintained in position by an elastic means.

10. An implement as claimed in claim 8, characterised in that the lateral appendices hinged to the columns comprise a curved flat narrow plate which rests on the respective column to limit the rotation of the appendix about it.

11. An implement as claimed in claim 1 and comprising a longitudinal tubular body (1) housing a transmission shaft (2), the rear end of which comprises two opposing coaxial transverse horizontal sleeves, each of which supports an axle (4) linked to said shaft, each axle being provided with circumferential series of radial hoes (8) driven to rotate in the opposite direction to that in which the machine advances, characterised in that with each of those two circumferential series of hoes positioned close to said sleeves there is associated at least one scraper member (13) positioned tangential to the respective sleeve.

12. An implement as claimed in claim 11, characterised in that said scraper member comprises a holed connection plate to be fixed to the support for the respective circumferential series of hoes, and a perpendicular blade the active edge of which is bevelled.

13. An implement as claimed in claim 11, characterised by comprising a downwardly projecting vertical profiled rib positioned below the tubular body, and lying in the vertical plane passing through the longitudinal axis of said tubular body, and having that edge facing the ground sharpened.

14. An implement as claimed in claim 13, characterised in that said rib is shaped as a wedge with its cutting edge inclined upwards and towards the front of the tubular body.

15. An implement as claimed in claim 14, characterised in that in the rear region of said tubular body, said wedge has a width virtually equal to the corresponding dimension of this latter.

16. An implement as claimed in claim 14, characterised in that the rear corner of said wedge is positioned substantially in correspondence with the lower generating lines of the cylindrical surface swept by said hoes.

17. An implement as claimed in claim 13, characterised in that said rib is removably fixed to said tubular body by threaded members.

18. A soil-working implement particularly for regenerating litter in poultry farms, comprising a frame to be mounted on two wheels or applied to the rear lift of a tractor, a series of hoes rotating about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the direction in which the implement advances, and a grid positioned to the rear of said series of rotary hoes, characterised by comprising a scraper means positioned in the region below the rotary hoes.

19. An implement as claimed in claim 18, characterised in that the scraper means is in the form of a dihedron with its vertex positioned at the front relative to the travel direction.

20. An implement as claimed in claim 18, characterised by comprising a height and inclination-adjustable front levelling blade positioned in proximity to the rotary hoes to check the material projected forwards by the implement.

21. An implement as claimed in claim 18, characterised in that the grid is a comb-shaped grid slightly inclined towards the rear of the machine.

22. An implement as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that behind the comb-shaped grid there is hinged a levelling flap of adjustable inclination.

23. An implement as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the hoes have their end bent parallel to the rotor axis.

24. An implement as claimed in claim 18, characterised in that on each section of the rotor shaft there are fixed at least four knives having their ends bent in opposite directions alternately.

25. An implement as claimed in claim 1, characterised by being engaged with its support means in such a manner as to be able to be shifted transversely.