WO2009138573A1

WO2009138573A1 - Plough comprising several parallel segments

Info

Publication number: WO2009138573A1
Application number: PCT/FI2009/050406
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ari Koutonen
Original assignee: Vieskan Metalli Oy
Priority date: 2008-05-16
Filing date: 2009-05-15
Publication date: 2009-11-19
Also published as: EP2288248A1; EP2288248A4; FI20085462L; FI20085462A0

Abstract

A plough comprising several parallel segments (1A, 1B, 1C) which each include several successive mouldboard ploughs (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7) for turning soil by each mouldboard plough over its working width (R7) to the side into a furrow formed by the preceding mouldboard plough, is characterised in that it comprises as a combination an arrangement comprising instead of the mouldboard plough at the first place in the segment, a cultivating device (K) for cultivating soil over the width (R1) equivalent to the working width of the mouldboard plough without turning the soil to the side, whereby the following mouldboard plough (S1) turns soil on the cultivated width, and at the last place in the direction of drift (E) and laterally in alignment with said cultivating device a device (P) for shifting the soil turned on the cultivated width into the furrow formed by the last mouldboard plough (S7) of the adjacent segment.

Description

PLOUGH CONTAINING SEVERAL PARALLEL SEGMENTS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention concerns a plough comprising several parallel segments which each comprise several successive mouldboard ploughs for turning soil by each mouldboard over its working width to the side into a furrow formed by the preceding mouldboard plough.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the agriculture, mouldboard ploughs have been used for a long time for controlling weeds and loosening soil so that when sowing after ploughing, the coulters are able to place the seed at a desired depth. Before the sowing, the ploughed land is levelled by harrowing.

Until today, the frame structure of the plough has been such that the mouldboard ploughs have been located in one and the same oblique line in relation to the direction of drift. When larger working widths are desired, the structure of a plough will be long. A long structure moves the centre of gravity far away from a tractor making it difficult to control. It is also difficult to use a long plough structure at the ends of a field because the first mouldboard plough turns a long strip of the already ploughed land before the last mouldboard plough reaches its destination, which causes overlapping in ploughing. A large working width makes also the transport width of the plough too big which means that special arrangements are needed for transporting the plough on a road.

The above drawbacks may be removed by a solution in which a long frame construction is replaced by several parallel segments. Then the frame structure of the plough will be short and its centre of gravity is obtained close to a tractor. In a short plough with several segments, the first and last mouldboard ploughs are longitudinally close to each other whereby overlapping at the ends of a field is reduced. The construction is such that the side segments may be raised to upright position for transport, whereby the transport width of the plough is got suitable for moving it on a road.

A problem of a plough with several segments is, however, that the first mouldboard plough of a segment turns soil on the area which is not ploughed and the last mouldboard plough must turn the masses of the strips of the first and the last mouldboard plough at the same time. This means that said last mouldboard plough turns a double mass of soil, for which the ploughed land obtained is not even.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the invention is to present a solution to the above problem of the unevenness of the ploughed land when using a plough with several parallel segments. For achieving this object, a plough according to the invention comprising several parallel segments which each include several successive mouldboard ploughs for turning soil by each mouldboard plough over its working width to the side into a furrow formed by the preceding mouldboard plough, is characterised in that it comprises as a combination an arrangement comprising instead of the mouldboard plough at the first place in the segment, a cultivating device for cultivating soil over the width equivalent to the working width of the mouldboard plough without turning the soil to the side, whereby the following mouldboard plough turns soil on the cultivated width, and at the last place in the direction of drift and laterally in alignment with said cultivating device a device for shifting the soil turned on the cultivated width into the furrow formed by the last mouldboard plough of the adjacent segment.

The cultivating device may be so called goose-foot blade, a chisel type blade or a blade provided with wings.

The device for shifting the soil turned on the cultivated width may include e.g. a disc or a levelling plate.

With the solution according to the invention, the ploughed land will be even although the mouldboard ploughs are arranged in several segments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention is described in further detail in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 presents schematically in plan view an embodiment of the plough according to the invention;

Fig. 2 presents essential parts of the plough of Fig. 1 schematically in side view; Figs. 3 and 4 present a possible realisation of the cultivating device included in the solution of the invention;

Fig. 5 presents an example of the device for shifting soil included in the solution of the invention; and

Figs. 6 and 7 present some further examples of the realisation of the cultivating device included in the solution of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A plough 1 presented by Figs. 1 and 2 comprises a frame 2, means 3 for connecting it to a working machine and wheels 4, 5. The direction of drift of the plough is indicated by arrow E. The plough comprises three parallel segments IA, IB and 1C which include each, in an ordinary way, obliquely successive mouldboard ploughs Sl, ... , S7 installed in the frame 2 A, 2B, 2C of the segment. The frames of the segments are advantageously fastened to each other by hinges (not presented), whereby the side segments may be turned to upright position for transport for reducing the transport width.

Instead of the first mouldboard plough each segment includes at its place a cultivating device K which may be e.g. so called goose-foot blade. It cultivates soil M over the width equivalent to the working width Rl of a mouldboard plough but does not shift soil to the side (the cultivated soil is indicated by sign Ml in Fig. 2). Accordingly, the first mouldboard plough Sl turns the soil M2 from its working width over on the width Rl. The mouldboard ploughs S2, ..., S7 succeeding it turn each in ordinary way soil from their own working width into the furrow left by the preceding mouldboard plough.

The solution of the invention includes, in addition to the cultivating device K at the first place, at the last place in the frame 2A, 2B and laterally in alignment with said cultivating device, a device P for shifting the soil M2 turned on the cultivated width Rl into the furrow left over the width R7 by the last mouldboard plough of the adjacent segment. The device P is provided with e.g. a disc 12 installed at a suitable oblique position, as described in Figs. 1 and 2.

Instead of the device P, the combination may include e.g. a device Pl presented in Fig. 5 including a levelling plate 13 for shifting the soil M2 into the furrow left by the last mouldboard plough of the adjacent segment. The device K for cultivating soil may be e.g. so called goose-foot blade, an example of which is presented in Figs. 3 and 4. A blade 7 is fastened to e.g. a tubular shaft 6. An essential part of the blade is formed by a horizontal, generally triangular plate 8 moving under the soil surface. In addition to that, the blade may include one or more ridges 9 affecting the cultivation of the soil. ^' The cultivation device may also be e.g. a chisel type blade Kl presented in Fig. 6, or a device K2 presented in Fig. 7 and including a narrow blade 10 provided with wings 11. The cultivation device may be formed also by e.g. several spikes. The rearmost soil shifting device may be also a suitable one-wing plough, for example.

The invention may vary within the scope of the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. A plough comprising several parallel segments (IA₅ IB, 1C) which each include several successive mouldboard ploughs (Sl, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7) for turning soil by each mouldboard plough over its working width (R7) to the side into a furrow formed by the preceding mouldboard plough, characterised in that it comprises as a combination an arrangement comprising: instead of the mouldboard plough at the first place in the segment, a cultivating device (K) for cultivating soil over the width (Rl) equivalent to the working width of the mouldboard plough without turning the soil to the side, whereby the following mouldboard plough (Sl) turns soil on the cultivated width; and at the last place in the direction of drift (E) and laterally in alignment with said cultivating device a device (P) for shifting the soil turned on the cultivated width into the furrow formed by the last mouldboard plough (S7) of the adjacent segment.

2. The plough according to claim 1, characterised in that the cultivating device (K) is so called goose-foot blade (7, 8, 9).

3. The plough according to claim 1, characterised in that the cultivating device is a chisel type blade (Kl).

4. The plough according to claim 1, characterised in that the cultivating device is a narrow blade provided with wings (K2).

5. The plough according to claim 1, characterised in that the device (P) for shifting the soil turned on the cultivated width includes a disc (12).

6. The plough according to claim 1, characterised in that the device (Pl) for shifting the soil turned on the cultivated width includes a levelling plate (13).