WO2023248168A1

WO2023248168A1 - Mowing equipment

Info

Publication number: WO2023248168A1
Application number: PCT/IB2023/056444
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hendrik Matthijs KRUITHOF
Original assignee: Vanmac Beheer B.V.
Priority date: 2022-06-22
Filing date: 2023-06-22
Publication date: 2023-12-28
Also published as: NL2032254B1

Abstract

A mowing device comprises a mower deck (10) with a mowing member (15) and support means, particularly a support roller (30), whereby the mowing device supports on a ground surface and thereby imposes a mowing height above a ground level on the mowing member. The mowing height is adjustable with a mowing height adjusting means. This comprises an extending device (40) with an extending member (45) which is coupled operatively to the support means. The extending member can perform an adjustment between a first extreme position in which the extending member imposes on the support means a first position and a second extreme position in which the extending member imposes on the support means a second position which determines the mowing height. A limiter device which can be set (60) is associated with the extending member (45), particularly a limiter device which can be set manually, which is able and configured to progressively limit a movement of the extending member (45) to the second extreme position by adjustment.

Description

MOWING EQUIPMENT

The present invention relates to a mowing device comprising a mower deck with at least a mowing member and support means, particularly a support roller, whereby the mowing device supports on a ground surface and imposes a mowing height above a ground level on the mowing member, and a mowing height adjusting means whereby the mowing height is adjustable.

Such a device is used for mowing for instance fields, roadsides and thickets, particularly grass fields, and can be applied per se, optionally autonomously driven, or be combined with other functions, such as for instance taking up and collecting mowed plants. The device supports with the support means on the ground surface to be mowed, wherein a distance between the support surface of the support means and a working plane of the mowing member determines a mowing height. In order to be able to adapt to varying mowing heights here the device provides a height adjusting means whereby this distance between the mowing member and the support means can be set as desired by the user.

The present invention has for its object, among others, to provide a mowing device with a height adjusting means which is both robust and effective.

In order to achieve the stated object a mowing device of the type described in the preamble has the feature according to the invention that the mowing height adjusting means comprises an extending device with an extending member which extends from the extending device and is coupled operatively to the support means, which extending member is able and configured to perform an adjustment between a first extreme position in which the extending member imposes on the support means a first position and a second extreme position in which the extending member imposes on the support means a second position which determines the mowing height, and that a limiter device which can be set is associated with the extending member, particularly a limiter device which can be set manually, which is able and configured to progressively limit a movement of the extending member to the second extreme position by adjustment. The second extreme position, and thereby the mowing height, can thus be set by placing a limiter device which need only be able to limit the movement of the extending member of the extending device from the first to the second position. The limiter device is here expandable in order to impose this limitation to increasing extent and thus move the mowing height further. A mechanical blocking which is adaptable in respect of dimensions for instance already suffices for this purpose, so that electronics or adjusting mechanisms which are complicated and/or susceptible to malfunction can be dispensed with.

Although the extending device can per se be embodied in diverse ways, a preferred embodiment of the mowing device according to the invention in conjunction with the limiter device has the feature that the extending device comprises a linear actuator, particularly a hydraulic or pneumatic pressure cylinder, and the extending member a drive rod extending axially therefrom. The limiter device can here for instance be placed on or at the drive rod so that this rod is forced to perform an increasingly smaller maximum stroke.

In the latter respect a particular embodiment of the mowing device has the feature according to the invention that the limiter device comprises a series of spacers, the spacers of which can be successively moved into a path of the extending member in order to limit an adjustment of the extending member to the second extreme position in steps. The spacers are for instance blocks or protrusions which grip round the drive rod or rest thereagainst. As more spacers are placed in a line of sight between an outer end of the drive rod and for instance a housing of the extending device, the inward stroke of the drive rod is limited to increasing extent. The minimal movement of the linear actuator thus increases in steps and the mowing height is thereby adjusted further in progressive manner.

A further particular embodiment of the mowing device according to the invention has the feature that the series of spacers are carried displaceably by a shared support arm, which support arm is directed parallel to the extending member, and that the spacers are adjustable from a first position, clear of the extending member, to a second position in the path of the extending member. The spacers are here held together by the shared support arm on which they are adjustably mounted. The support arm extends parallel to the extending member, wherein the spacers lie alongside a path in which the extending member performs its stroke. Adjustment of one or more spacers moves more or fewer spacers into this path in order to thus limit the stroke of the extending member to increasing extent. A particularly practical embodiment of the mowing device is characterized here in that the series of spacers are carried pivotally about a shared pivot shaft of the support arm and can be moved into the path of the extending member by pivoting from the first position to the second position.

In order to prevent the adjustable spacers from being lifted from their position during operation, for instance under the influence of vibrations, which could change the mowing height unintentionally, a preferred embodiment of the mowing device has the feature according to the invention that the series of spacers is provided with locking means which lock the spacers in the first position or in the second position. The locking means here fix the spacers in their intended position and thus prevent them from being able to leave their position unintentionally.

From a practical viewpoint, a further preferred embodiment of the mowing device has the feature according to the invention that the extending device with the extending member is arranged in lying manner on a visible side of the mower deck and is coupled to the support means via a rocker and rocker arm, which rocker and rocker arm are able and configured to convert a substantially horizontally directed stroke of the extending member into a vertical adjustment of the support means. Because the extending device with the extending member are here arranged on a visible side of the mower deck, the two lie there readily accessible to the user and the position of the spacers and thereby the mowing height is moreover immediately visible and clear. A further particular embodiment of the mowing device has the feature according to the invention that provided behind the mower deck, as seen in the direction of travel, is a capturing and/or transporting device which is able and configured to take up and discharge cuttings, and that the mowing height adjusting means comprises a support roller which extends between the at least one mowing member and the capturing and/or transporting device, particularly adjacently of the mower deck. The support roller which is here arranged in the vicinity of the mower deck and supports the device on the ground surface has been found to provide a particularly reliable height setting for both the mower deck and the capturing and/or transporting device. The position between the two components of the device moreover provides here a favourable distribution of forces acting on the support roller, whereby a suspension thereof will be loaded to lesser extent.

The invention will be further elucidated hereinbelow with reference to an exemplary embodiment and an accompanying drawing. In the drawing:

Figure 1 is an isometric view of a first exemplary embodiment of a mowing device according to the invention in a first position;

Figure 2 is a side view of the device of figure 1 in the first position;

Figure 3 is an isometric view of the device of figure 1 in a second position;

Figure 4 is a side view of the device of figure 1 in the second position;

Figure 5A is an isometric view of a mowing height adjusting means of the device of figure 1 in the first position; Figure 5B is a side view of a mowing height adjusting means of the device of figure 1 in the first position;

Figure 6A is an isometric view of a mowing height adjusting means of the device of figure 1 in the second position;

Figure 6B is a side view of the mowing height adjusting means of the device of figure 1 in the second position;

Figure 7 is a side view of a second exemplary embodiment of a mowing device according to the invention in a first position; and

Figure 8 is a side view of the exemplary embodiment of figure 7 in a second position.

It is otherwise noted here that the figures are purely schematic and not always drawn to (the same) scale. Some dimensions in particular may be exaggerated to greater or lesser extent for the sake of clarity. Corresponding parts are designated in the figures with the same reference numeral.

Figure 1 shows an isometric view of a mowing device according to the invention, which is shown in a side view in figure 2. The device can be applied per se, either drawn by a tractive vehicle or forming part of a greater whole, such as for instance a container truck or container trailer which also provides for capturing and collecting of mowed plants.

The device comprises on one side a mower deck 10 and on the other a capturing and/or transporting device 20 for capturing and transporting plants once they have been mowed. Both parts are accommodated in a shared frame 5. The mower deck comprises internally one or more mowing members; in this embodiment a flail shaft 15 with thereon a set of flail mowers 17 which are concealed underneath a safe cover in the form of strong plating 3. The capturing and/or transporting device 20 is placed directly therebehind, as seen in the direction of travel, and comprises a worm wheel 25 which captures grass or other plants after being mowed and transports it to a side of the device and there discharges it in the form of a continuous mound. The plants can then be taken up from the mound using a suction device configured for this purpose, which is further described in a co-pending application also filed by applicant. The suction device displaces the mowed material to a capturing device, such as a receptacle or container of a vehicle, which may or may not be the same vehicle in which it is collected and subsequently discharged.

The mowing device supports on a ground surface by means of a support device in the form of a support roller 30 which is suspended round a shared pivot shaft 33 in a frame 5 of the device by means of a set of support arms 35. Coupled to support arm 35 is a mowing height adjusting means whereby a mowing height can be set in steps. The mowing height adjusting means comprises a set of extending devices 40, each with an extending member 45 on either side of the frame, which are coupled operatively to the support roller 30. In this embodiment these are a set of linear actuators in the form of pneumatic pressure cylinders 40, each with a cylinder housing in which a piston (not shown) is received for movement between a set of compressed air connections 41, 42.

The extending members 45 are each formed by a drive rod which is connected to the piston and which extends axially from the housing. When energized in a first direction, pressure cylinder 40 pushes the drive rod 45 axially outward, while energizing in opposite direction imposes an inward stroke into the housing on drive rod 45.

In this embodiment the pressure cylinders 40 are mounted at the top of the frame of the mowing device in lying orientation together with their drive rod 45, and are located on a visible side thereof. Cylinders 40, 45 are arranged between a fixed arm or wing 7 of frame 5 on one side and on the other a rocker 50 which is coupled to the support arm 35 of support roller 30 via a rocker arm 55. A set of pivoting stabilizer arms 57 on either side of support roller 30 fixes the support arms 35 laterally in frame 5.

Rocker 50 is able to pivot around a pivot point 51 in the frame, while the rocker arm 55 is likewise pivotally coupled at both outer ends thereof to rocker 50 on one side and the pivotable support arm 35 on the other. Pressure cylinder 40, 45 is thus coupled operatively to support roller 30 via this arm assembly 35, 50, 55. In the situation shown in figures 1 and 2 the drive rods 45 are in a fully extended state and rocker 50 thereby lies almost wholly flat. Rocker arm 55 is thereby lifted, and pulls support arm 35 along with it. Support roller 30 is now in the fully retracted position of figures 1 and 2, wherein the flail shaft 15 lies with the flail mowers 17 of mower deck 10 a minimum mowing height Hmin above the ground level.

Energizing pressure cylinders 40 in opposite direction and thereby sending them inward brings the rockers into the largely vertically directed position of figures 3 and 4. Rocker arms 55 now press support arms 35 and thereby support roller 30 downward. As a result, the whole mowing device is now lifted and flail shaft 15 now lies with flail mowers 17 at a maximum mowing height Hmax above ground level 1. The actual mowing height H can be set in steps by means of a limiter device 60 which is provided for this purpose and which is shown further in figures 5-8, and which is able and configured to progressively limit the inward stroke of the relevant drive rod 45 in steps.

Such a limiter device 60 is received at each of the pressure cylinders 40, 45. This device comprises a series of spacers 65 which are placed on a shared support arm 61 alongside a path of drive rod 45. The spacers 65 pivot around support arm 61 individually and can thereby be brought from the situation shown in figures 5A-5B into the situation shown in figures 6A-6B, and vice versa. Owing to wings 66 formed on spacers 65, this manipulation can be performed manually in relatively simple manner. In this embodiment use is made for spacers 65 of plastic bodies of for instance nylon, propylene or another suitable wear-resistant plastic. These can be given their desired shape (cross-section) directly by means of for instance injection moulding or extrusion. A spring 62 on support arm 61 holds the group of spacers 65 joined together.

Each of the spacers 65 comprises cavity 64 whereby the relevant spacer 65 is received fittingly over the drive rod 45 of the relevant cylinder 40. By placing a suitable number of spacers 65 over drive rod 45 the path of drive rod 45 into the cylinder housing is thereby blocked accordingly. By placing more spacers on drive rod 45 the inward stroke of drive rod 45 can thus be limited increasingly (progressively) in steps, wherein the step size is determined by a width of the individual spacers. The mowing device will drop down no further than the thus set mowing height under the influence of its mass. This mowing height setting is mechanically fixed in the device. Even if pressure cylinders 40 were to become pressureless, the thus imposed mowing height will be maintained.

In order to prevent spacers 65 from being able to leave their position unintentionally, which could otherwise have consequences for the mowing height setting, the two limiter devices 60 are provided with a lock in the form of a locking bar 63. This can be lifted from its position shown in the figure in order to thereby release the spacers 65. Once in position, locking bar 63 however lies in one of the two slots 67, 68 provided in spacers 65 for this purpose, whereby the spacers are locked in their position on support arm 61. The locking bar 63 is fixed in an end plate 69 in this state. End plate 69 also provides together with a yoke 66 for a mutual fixation and positioning of support arm 61 and locking bar 63 relative to cylinder housing 40 and drive rod 45.

Figure 7 shows a second embodiment of a mowing device according to the invention. In this case the mower deck 10 lies between support roller 30 and capturing means 80 in the form of a suction pipe 85 with suction mouth (not visible) to which is coupled a fan (not shown) which sucks up mowed plants and discharges them to a capturing unit. The support roller is in this case also connected via a set of support arms 35 to a frame 5 of the device for pivoting about a shared pivot shaft 33. In this embodiment a pressure cylinder 40 with drive rod 45 engages directly on the relevant support arm 35 on either side and is for this purpose suspended vertically in the frame between a fixed support point of frame 5 and the relevant support arm 35. The two pressure cylinders 40 are provided with a same or at least similar limiter device as described on the basis of the preceding exemplary embodiment. An inward stroke of the drive rod can thereby also in this case be progressively limited in steps, and a mowing height can thereby be set higher in steps.

Although the invention has been further elucidated above with reference to only a single exemplary embodiment, it will be apparent that the invention is by no means limited thereto. On the contrary, many variations and embodiments are still possible within the scope of the invention for a person with ordinary skill in the art.

Use is thus in both embodiments made of an extending device in the form of a pneumatic pressure cylinder, but it is instead also possible to opt for hydraulics. Other forms of actuator can also be applied within the scope of the invention. Besides other linear actuators, such as for instance screw spindles, it is also possible to apply nonlinear actuators whose maximum movement or stroke can be limited, optionally in steps, by means of a limiter device tailored thereto.

In the exemplary embodiments only the mower deck with the limiter device was shown as independent mowing device. In practice the device can be both used independently and integrated in a greater whole. The mowing device together with the shown capturing and/or transport means for the cuttings can thus be applied particularly in a container truck which also provides buffer storage for the cuttings. A set of mowing devices of the type shown in figures 1 -4 is here particularly applied as wing mowers on either side alongside a track of the container truck, while the device of figure 7 is applied as central mowing device in the track of the container truck in order to thus create a cutting pattern over a collective width. The cuttings are then taken up centrally and discharged to the receptacle of the container truck.

Nor is the invention limited to flail mowers, rather it is generally applicable to mowing and/or combine devices, such as particularly also cylinder mowers and rotary mowers, wherein a simple yet robust manual mowing height adjustment is desirable.

Claims

Claims:

1. Mowing device comprising a mower deck with at least a mowing member and support means, particularly a support roller, whereby the mowing device supports on a ground surface and imposes a mowing height above a ground level on the mowing member, and a mowing height adjusting means whereby the mowing height is adjustable, characterized in that the mowing height adjusting means comprises an extending device with an extending member which extends from the extending device and is coupled operatively to the support means, which extending member is able and configured to perform an adjustment between a first extreme position in which the extending member imposes on the support means a first position and a second extreme position in which the extending member imposes on the support means a second position which determines the mowing height, and that a limiter device which can be set is associated with the extending member, particularly a limiter device which can be set manually, which is able and configured to progressively limit a movement of the extending member to the second extreme position by adjustment.

2. Mowing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the extending device comprises a linear actuator, particularly a hydraulic or pneumatic pressure cylinder, and the extending member a drive rod extending axially therefrom.

3. Mowing device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the limiter device comprises a series of spacers, the spacers of which can be successively moved into a path of the extending member in order to limit an adjustment of the extending member to the second extreme position in steps.

4. Mowing device according to claim 3, characterized in that the series of spacers are carried displaceably by a shared support arm, which support arm is directed parallel to the extending member, and that the spacers are adjustable from a first position, clear of the extending member, to a second position in the path of the extending member.

5. Mowing device according to claim 4, characterized in that the series of spacers are carried pivotally about a shared pivot shaft of the support arm and can be moved into the path of the extending member by pivoting from the first position to the second position.

6. Mowing device according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the series of spacers is provided with locking means which lock the spacers in the first position or in the second position.

7. Mowing device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the extending device with the extending member is arranged in lying manner on a visible side of the mower deck and is coupled to the support means via a rocker and rocker arm, which rocker and rocker arm are able and configured to convert a substantially horizontally directed stroke of the extending member into a vertical adjustment of the support means.

8. Mowing device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that provided behind the mower deck, as seen in the direction of travel, is a capturing and/or transporting device which is able and configured to take up and discharge cuttings, and that the mowing height adjusting means comprises a support roller which extends between the at least one mowing member and the capturing and/or transporting device, particularly adjacently of the mower deck.