CA1082527A - Agricultural machine for working the ground - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract of the Disclosure An agricultural machine for working the ground is disclosed. The machine includes at least one member that is adapted to penetrate the soil and a roller mounted to be driven by engagement with the ground at least one seed drill is provided behind the roller. Spraying means is preferably provided behind the soil penetrating member, with respect to the intended direction of operative travel of the machine.

Description

10825;~7 This invention relates to a machine for working the soil.
The object of the invention is to provide a combination of penetrating tool means, spraying means and cultivating rollers with means for controlling the working depth and also with means for the adjustment of two cultivating rollers in connection with spraying means disposed in a special disposition with respect to the said tool means and the said cultivating rollers, which combination is not known in the prior art.
According to the present invention, there is provided a soil cultivating machine comprising a frame and a transverse row of soil penetrating tool means supported on said frame, spraying means mounted on said frame and positioned to the rear of said tool means, two cultivating rollers being arranged in tandem to the rear of said spraying means and each of said rollers having a periphery that comprises blade members that extend substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of that roller, a further roller positioned to the rear of said first-mentioned rollers, said further roller being a machine-supporting roller connected to said frame and means setting the relative level of said roller with respect to the frame to control the working depth of said tool means, said cultivating rollers being rotatable about substantially horizontal transverse axes and adjusting means interconnecting said rollers to the frame, means fixing the working levels of said cultivating rollers, further spraying means being mounted between said cultivating rollers and above the ground as seen from aside.
For a better understanding of the present invention and to show how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example only, to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a plan view of a soil cultivating machine;
Figure 2 is an elevational view in the direction of the arrow II
in Figure l;
Figure 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the machine shown in Figures 1 and 2;

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10825Z~7 Figure 4 is an enlarged side elevation of a working member of the machine of Figures 1 to 3;
Figure 5 illustrates schematically how the working members of Figure 4 may be produced;
Figure 6 shows on an enlarged scale a component of the working member of Figure 4;
Figure 7 is an elevational view in the direction of the arrow VII in Figure 6; -Figure 8 illustrates on an enlarged scale a detail ~' - 2a -i(li8Z527 o~ the machine of Figures 1 to 3; and Figure 9 shows an alternative embodiment of the detail shown in Figure 8.
The agricultural implement or ma~h~ne ~honn in the Figures compri~es a frame havi~g two ~rame beams 1 a~d 2 extending tra~sversely of the intended direction of operative travel of the machine, which is indicated by an ~rro~w A. ~he frame beams 1 a~d.2 are.horizQnt~L and substantially parallel to one another. ~he front frame beam 1 has a re¢tangular cross-section,the longer sides of the rectangle being inclined upwardly and forwardly, whereas the rear frame beam 2 has a square cross-section and is disposed 80 that one of its diagonals extends sub~tantially vertically. The ends of.:the frame beams 1 and 2 are inter-connected by tie be.ams 3'extending in the direction A.
Bracing members 4 are.arranged.between the tie beams 3 and the beam 2. ~he fro~t.frame.beam 1 is provided, on its upper surface, near its ends.a~d.~at equal intervals alQng..its length with supports 5. These support~ 5 are channel- .
~haped i.e. they are U-shaped in cro~section, the web of each support 5 being secured to the frame beam 1 80 th~
its limbs extend upwardly (~igure 4). ~he longitudinal centre line of eaoh support 5, which is parallel to''bhé longer eid~s of the rectangular cross-~ectional ~hape''~ the frame beam 1, is inclined by about 25 to the horizontal. Ab-the front, between the limbs of each support 5 there is arranged .: , ,: . , ~082527 by means of a pivot bolt 6 a sub~tantially parallel-sided upper portion 6A of a member in the form of a hook-like tine 7 which i~ adapted to penetrate the soil. ~hese tines 7 comprise plates punched from ~heet material with a thickness of about 20 mms. In use ef the machine the tines act as --subaoil agitator~ loo~ening the ~ubsoil. ~he portion 6A
con~titutes a fastening portion a~d.extends over substa~ti~lly.
bh~ whole length of its support 5..The front side of the portion 6A, like the front side of the U-shaped support 5, is bevelled (Figure 4). The portion 6A merges into a central portion 8 having a regular curve and.being the broadest near the centre, the width progre~sively decreasing away from the centre on either side. ~hus the tine has..generally the shape of a ~ickle. The portion 8 merges into a.forwardly exbending portion 9 which.ends in a tip. ~he end of the portion 9 i8 located eub~tantially vertically beneath the pivot bolt 6. As stated above, the tines 7 are made from sheet material and their special design enables them.to be punched from a ~ingle sheet without appreciable 1089 of ~ .
material, since the front edge of one tine can bear over the whole of its length on the rear edge of an adjacent tine ee Figure 5). Cn the end of the por.tion 9 there i~ provided a removable tip 10 of wear-reeistant material, which is fa~tened to the tine 7 by a transver~e pin 11 near its broader end. ~he tip 10 has a flat part 12 on its upper side having a subetantiallytrapezoidal shape, viewed on plan.

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, ,, 1082~7 The part 12 projects to each side of the tine and extend~
substantially perpendicular to the side face of the tine (Eigures 6 and 7).
Near its rear end, each ~upport 5 has tag~ 13 which hold between them the rear edge of the portion 6A
of the tine 7, this portion 6A being held in place by a bolt 14 arranged between the tags. The bolt 14 is formed to act as a shear pin 80 that, as the tine 7 moves through the ~oil, the bolt can break if excessive forces are exerted on the tine,the tine then turning upwardly about the bolt 6 at the front of the support 5. Some distance behind the tine~, betweenthe tie beam~ 3, is mounted a spraying boom 15 which extends transversely of the direction A and i~ provided with spraying nozzles 16 positioned directly behind the tine~ 7 and, moreover, midway between each two adjacent tines, viewed in the direction of movement A.
~ he spraying nozzles 16 are directed 30 that the sprayed fluid i~ sprayed do~nwardly and ~lightly to the rear.
Behind thespray~ng boom 15 the tie beams 3 each carry a support plate 17 on its outer side. Each ~upport plate 17 project~ above its tie bea~. At the ~ame vertical as level the tle bea~ 3, an arm 19 is pivot~lly conneotea to each support plate 17 by a stub ~haft 18. Each of the arms 19 tapers upwardly and ha~ an opening at it~ upper end for receiving a bolt 20, which can al~o be received in any one of a plur~lity of holes 21 provided in the upper region of each support plate 17 and arranged on an arc centred on the longitudinal centre line of the stub shaft 18. ~he stub shafts 18 on each side of the~ chine are in line with one another. The lower end of each arm 17 is provided with bearings in which a stub sh~t ~2 i8 ~reely rotatable. The stub shafts 22 are con~ected with a roller 23 extending transversely of the direction A.
Some dista~ce behind the support pla~e~ 17 the tie boams 3 are provided with upwardly..~xt~nding.support plate~ 24, the shape of.which cQrre~ponds.with that.oft~e plates 17, these plat~s 24 being arranged in the sa~e manner.
An arm 26 i~ pivotally obnn.ected to each of the plates 24 by a stub shaft 25. he ~rm~ ~g are piv~table in the same ma~ner as the ar,ms 19 about the aligned stub ~hafts 25 and can also be ~ixed in a plurality of positions. ~he lower '.
ends of the arms 26 are provided with be.arings for the stuh shafts 22 of a second roller 2.3. ~he stub.shafts 22.are lo¢ated at a lower level tha~.those of the first roller.
The tWQ rollers 2~ Qperate,..as a pair, as cultivating mR~ber,~
and are adjustable. by meana of the arms.19 and 26 s~ a~ .
: the distance between them.. cas be varied.. In the.. position shown in the Figure~, the rollers are at their mlnimum distance apart. This minimum.di~tance is about 5 cm6. The diameter of each of the rollers is about 40 cms. Each roller 23 is provided at its ends and at equal intervals betwees - . : . : . ~ . .

` 1082527 its ends with ~upport plates 27. Each ~upport plate 27 has a serrated psriphery constituted by alternate straight short ~ides 28 and straight long sides 29. ~he ~hort sidee 28 and the long sides 29 are in the same po~ition relative to the centre of a support holding the rotary axis of the roller. Each short side 28 is at an angle of 25 to 30 to the radial line going through it~ ~unction wi~h the next following long side 2g and slopes forwardly of that radius with respect to the operative direction o~ rotation of the roller. The long sides are substantially tangential~to the rotary axis of the roller. Each long side 29 iB about 3-times as long as each short ~ide 28. To each o~ the short sides 28 is fastened to cross-piece of a ~-section iron 30 so that part of that crQss-piece projects beyond the shQrt ~ide and hence beDoDd the periphery of the support 27. ~he path aescribed by th~proiecting ena af the cross-piece haa a greater diameter than the path ~scribed by bhe radially outer end of the upright of the T-secti~n.In ~otal eight ~-section irons 30 are provided on each rolle~ he irons ~0 o~ the t~o rollers ex~end helicaIly in opposite __ - ' ' ~7 ! ~
sen~es about ths rotary axes of the ro11ers~ and serve as the 801-e interconnection between the ~uppQrts 27 of each roller. Cn the upper ~urfaceof the tie bea~ 3 a~d, as viewed on plan, between the roller~ 23, there is arranged a second ~praying boom 31 extending, like the boom 15, across the whole working width of the machine. ~e boom 31 has ~08Z5Z7 spraying nozzles 32 which spray the sprayed fluid in the direction towards the rear roller 23. Directly behind the rear roller 23 are situated downwardly and rearwardly -inclined arm~ 34 which are pivobed to the tie beams 3 by stub shafts 33. ~ear its rear end, each arm 34 is provided with an ear 35, through.which a pin 36 can be passed, which can fit into any one of a plurality of holes 37 in. a plate 38 fastened to the lower surface of each tie beam 3. Between the ends of~ the arm6 34 is provided a third roller 39 ~vhich is mountsd in a freely rotatable ma~er. ~he roller 39 comprise~ a plurality of support plates 40 located, as are the supports 27 of the rollers 23, in line behind.the tines 7, as is shown in ~igure 1. ~he suppQrt plates 40 are inter-connected by oircular bars 41 which exte~d.sub~tantially parallel to the rotary axis of the roller. Within the ~rorking range of the roller: 39 and in front of it there is arr~ged between the tie beam~ 3 a third sprayi~ boom. 42 having spraying nozzles:-43 lacated at the level of the support plates 40 of the roller 39 and directed ~o that during. operation the sprayed fluid is ejected rearwardl~r and downwardly towards the roller 39.
: I On the rear fr~me beam 2, on ibs rear ~urface and in line with the support plates of the respective rollers 23 and 29 arLa of the tinea 7 in front of th~ pai~s of tags 55 are pro~ided for pivotally supporting brackets 45 one above the other. ~he rear ends of the brackets 45 are . : . ' , ' ', ' .- . . ; ' " ' . ~,: ,' , . . .
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~ 08ZS~7 pivotally con~ected between supports 46 provided at the front of precision seed drill~ 47, which may be of known construction. ~he brackets 45 aisposed one above the other constitute a parallelo?~ram structure. A compres~ion spring 48 is arranged between the rear end of the upper bracket 45 ~nd the front end of the lower bracket to absorb part of the weight of the seed drill.
Some distance from its ends, near the fastening location of each QutermQs~ tine 7, the front frame beam 1 is provided with a forwardly extending support 49, the connection of which to the frame beam 1 is reinforced by a bracing member 50, which i5 arra~ged inbQard of the eupport andextends toward~ the front frame beam 1 in an inclined position. Each of the supports 49 is fitted, by meana of clamping strap0?51 and 52, with a hopper or tank 53, which extands over the whole length of itB support 49 and which has a height e~ceeding its width. The bottom of most of the front portiQn of the tank 53 béars on the support 49 which is inclin~d upwardly from the frcnt frame beam 1. From the centre of the tank 53, the bottom of the tank i8 inolined~.upwaraly to the rear (Figure 2). On the bottom of each bank 53, near the centre, i8 provided a delivery conduit 54 a~d 55 re~pectively ~hich ia guided along the frame beam 1 and has? near the centre of the frame beam, a forwardly direoted section connected with à pump 56, which can be ooupled with the power take-off ~aft of a _ g _ 101!32S~7 tractor propelling the machine. A second conduit 57 and 58 re~pectively extends ~rom the pump 56 to the front spraying boom 15 and to the rear spraying baom 42 respectively. The middle spraying boom 32 communicates through a cond~i~
with a conduit 57. lh~ conduit 57 and the conduit 59 include stop cocks 60 by mean~ o~ which one or both of tha ~ront two ~praying booms can be ~witc~ o~ ~r off at will.
~ ear it~ centre the ~ront fra~e ~e~m 1 i8 proyi~ed with Q trestle 61 for hitching the machi~e to the three-point lifting device of a tractor. ~he top r~gion of the trestle 61 is secured to the rear frame beam 2 by rearwardly diverging supports 62.
The machine described above operates as follows:
For operation the machine i~ attached by the trestle 61 to the three-point lift of the tractor and, as stated above, the pump~ 56 are drivably connected with the power take-off shaft of the tractor. ~he working depth of the hook-like tines 7 operating as sub-soil agitators can be adjusted by altering the level of the rear roller 39 serving, in addition, as a support. This alteration is performed by ad~usting the upwardly displaceable arms 34.
The distance between the two front rolle~ 23 can be adjusted by means of the setting arrangement comprising the arms 19 ~d 26 and, by the same meane, their working depth oan be ad~usted, for example ~o that the depth o~ the front roller is the ~maller. By varying the relative po~itions of the , . . , . .: ~:

rollers the inten~ity of their co~operation can be a~fected.
During a run of the ~achine, ~oil is torn up over the working width of the machine in adiacent strips by the tines 7, after which, directly in front of the front rollçr 23, chemicals such as herbicides and/or pesticides are spread on the worked strip through the spraying nozzl~s 16 of the spraying boom 15. Subse~u~tly the sprayed chemi~als.are intensively mixed into. the.earbh by the two.~n~ecutive rollers ~3, whilst ang plan remnan~a and roots can be cut up by the aid of the T-section irons 30 and ~ixed with the ear~h. It is advantagqous that the rollers 23 do not ha~e a centrally extending carrier or support shaft, 80 that earth can readily pass into and out of the rollers. If de~ired, a herbicide or a pesticide may again be added through the spraying boom 31. In certain circumstance~, it has been found that good results are obtained with the front roller 23 working at a depth of 6 to 7 cms and the rear roller 23 working at a depth of about 10 cms. Into the strip of 80il thu~ worked a fertili~er, such as liquid manure, is subsequently introduced through the spraying boom 42 and by the rear roller 39 and the worked earth i~ consolidated by the bars 41. ~hen each of.the seed drills 47 introduces seed~ through their ~owing pipes into the worked and.prepared ~oil. After bhe operations described the strips of soil torn up by the bines 7 are ~lightly pac.ked by the support plates 27 a~d 40 of the respective rollers 23 and 39 , ,.

` 108Z5~7 located directly behind the t'ne~ 7. lhi~ prevents the seed~
introduced by the respective ~eed drills 47 into the furrow~
from being deposited at a~ e~e~siv~ depth in the ~oil.
Instead of the T-3ection irons 30, each of the ~oil worki~g roller~ 23 may be provided with knife-like bars 63, which are fastened by bolta 64 (see Figure 9) to bent-Qver tags 65'located at the shQrt sides 2~ of the serrated periphery of the support plates 27. ~ike the cross-pisQe of the ~-sections 30, one side of each k~ife-like b~r 6~ is at an an4le of about 30 to a radial line from the rotary P~iS
of the roller. In thi~ way the cutting effect of the bars of the roller can be materially enhanced. If a tine 7 turns about its bolt 6 after rupture of the bolt 14, this occurs without the tine being first pressed more deeply in~o th~
soil since as stated above the bolt 6 is located substantially vertically above the tip of the tine.
~ he specific dispoaition o~ the ho~pers or ta~k~ 53 on the eides of the machine a~d in front of the coupling points for the attachmeht to the tractor ensurest~at the machine ca~ be readily lifted by the lifting device, when the machine has to be moved into a tran~port position.
~loping fields, an exces~ive unilateral load i8 avoided by usin~ two hoppers or tanks. Since the hoppers or tanks are located by their outer sides in line with the outer eide of the frame (Figure 1), the assembly ha~ a compact ~tructure. If 1esired the sprayin~ bo~ t-~ may be omitted ~ so that the machine will still be more compact.

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Claims (10)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OR
PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A soil cultivating machine comprising a frame and a transverse row of soil penetrating tool means supported on said frame, spraying means mounted on said frame and positioned to the rear of said tool means, two cultivating rollers being arranged in tandem to the rear of said spraying means and each of said rollers having a periphery that comprises blade members that extend substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of that roller, a further roller positioned to the rear of said first-mentioned rollers, said further roller being a machine-supporting roller connected to said frame and means setting the relative level of said roller with respect to the frame to control the working depth of said tool means, said cultivating rollers being rotatable about substantially hori-zontal transverse axes and adjusting means interconnecting said rollers to the frame, means fixing the working levels of said cultivating rollers, further spraying means being mounted between said cultivating rollers and above the ground as seen from aside.

2. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in claim 1, in which each roller is supported on corresponding arms which are pivotably mounted on said frame, the said arms being settable in any one of a plurality of positions to fix the rollers relative to said frame in different positions.

3. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the cultivating rollers has support plates and elongate T-section members, one side of the T-section members being fitted to said plates.

4. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in claim 3, in which the support plates have serrated peripheries, each serration comprising a short side and a long side, the short side joining the long side of an adjacent serration.

5. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in claim 3, in which said elongate members extend helically across the periphery of the roller.

6. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tool means includes a row of soil penetrating tools and seed drills are arranged side by side to the rear of said tools, the number of seed drills corresponding to the number of tools.

7. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in claim 6, wherein each tool comprises a tine made from sheet material, the front and rear edges of said tine being curved.

8. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in claim 7, in which each tine is hook-shaped and comprises an upper, forwardly inclined, straight end portion that merges through a regular curve with a forwardly directed lower end portion and the lower portion terminates in a tip, the portions of the tine adjacent the end portions having the greatest width.

9. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in claim 8, wherein said upper portion is disposed between upwardly extending limbs of a channel-shaped support on the frame and said tine is pivotally connected adjacent the front end of said support, said support having ears at the rear end thereof and a shear pin being passed through said ears.

10. A soil cultivating machine as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said frame has coupling means and at least one externally-mounted tank for growth-stimulators communicates with soil spraying means, said tank being positioned in front of the coupling means and said coupling means being positioned to receive a three-point lifting device of a tractor.