GB2173382A

GB2173382A - Agricultural machine having pivotable wheels attached to a tractor

Info

Publication number: GB2173382A
Application number: GB08607232A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Wilfried Schulz
Original assignee: Claas Saulgau GmbH
Current assignee: Claas Saulgau GmbH
Priority date: 1985-03-27
Filing date: 1986-03-24
Publication date: 1986-10-15
Also published as: DE3511099A1; NL8600795A; DE3511099C2; GB8607232D0; GB2173382B

Abstract

The illustrated agricultural machine is connected for free pivotal movement about a vertical axis 6 to the draw bar 4 of an agricultural tractor 5 by way of a hitch bar 3 which is rigidly connected to the machine chassis structure 2. For height adjustment of the machine, the support wheels 7 and 8 are mounted on arms 9 and 10 which are connected with their adjusting means 11 and 12 to vertical pivot shafts 15 and 16. The pivot shafts 15 and 16 are mounted in mounting tubes 19 and 20 which are pivotable on the machine chassis structure 2 about axes 23 and 24 which are disposed transversely with respect to the direction of travel, and, for horizontal pivotal movement of the support wheels into various pivotal positions relative to the machine, the pivot shafts 15 and 16 can be steplessly pivoted and fixed from the tractor seat by way of hydraulic cylinders 17 and 18 which are supported on the mounting tubes 19 and 20. The mounting tubes 19 and 20 are indirectly engaged by spring elements 36 and 37, the force of which is in opposition to the weight of the machine chassis structure, in order to reduce the pressure applied by the working tools to the ground, in the working position. The spring elements 36 and 37 are torsion spring bars which are clamped to the machine chassis structure 2 and which are held to a flange 21, 22 connected to the mounting tubes 19 and 20, to provide a force which is in the opposite direction to the weight of the machine chassis structure 2. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Agricultural machine which can be attached to a tractor The invention relates to an;agricultural machine comprising support wheels which are pivotable about vertical axes and of which at least one can be fixed in various pivotal positions to provide particular lines of travel of the machine.

One such machine is disclosed in US patent specification No. 3 059403. In that patent specification the support wheels are mounted for movement about vertical axes in mounting tube members on the chassis structure of the machine and, by way of a hand lever arrange ment~associated with each wheel, can be pivoted in a horizontal plane and fixed in various pivotal positions. When the machine is operat ing in the field, it can be put into various inclined positions with respect to the direction of travel of the tractor while for on-road tran sportation it can be put into an inclined position behind the tractor to give a small overall transportation width. When operating on slopes, it is possible to prevent the machine from drifting down by suitable inclined positioning of the wheels relative to the direction of travel.A disadvantage in that case how ever is that, at each change in the angle of the slope and after each turn at the. edge of the field, when the machine is to operate in the opposite direction, the driver must get down from the tractor and reset the wheels by way of the hand lever arrangements. The continuous process of climbing down and up requires a great deal of strength and frequent manual adjustment of the wheels takes up a great deal of time.

In machines as disclosed for example in German patent specification No. 2 447 424, there is no provision for inclined positioning of the machine in the working position in which it operates laterally behind the tractor. For the on-road transportation position of the machine behind the tractor, the arrangement provides that the hitch bar is connected to the machine chassis structure in such a way that it can be pivoted in a horizontal plane and locked in position, whereby in that position, as in the operating position, the machine is in a position which is transverse with respect to the direc tion of travel of the tractor.For transportation purposes as well as for turning at the edge of a field, the machine can be lifted from the ground by way of support wheels which are pivotally mounted on the chassis structure of the machine, and can be- fixed in the selected position. With such an arrangement the pivotal movement is effected by way of hydraulic lift cylinders which engage the support wheel car riers. In addition, in the operating position of the machine, in which it is let down onto the ground with the cylinders in a pressure-less condition, the pressure applied by the working tools to the ground can be reduced by means of a spring arrangement between the machine chassis structure and the support wheel carriers.A disadvantage with such constructions is that the machine is of large transportation width when in an on-road travel condition, and that, when operating on slopes, there is no provision for preventing the machine from drifting down by virtue of suitable inclined positioning of the support wheels.

The problem from which the present invention arose was to improve the handling of agricultural machines such that while saving time and effort on the part of the operator, the machine is capable of operating on slopes without drifting down and can be converted from a working position into an on-road transportation position in which it is of small transportation width. It was also desirabie that the machine, when travelling in a curve during operation, can be so adjusted in its lateral spacing relative to the tractor that it is always in an optimum position relative to a crop material which is to be processed.

According to one aspect, the invention provides an agricultural machine comprising support wheels which are pivotable about substantiaily vertical axes and of which at least one can be fixed in various pivotal positions to provide particular lines of travel of the machine, and a hitch bar which is rigidly connected to the machine chassis structure and by way of which the machine chassis structure may be connected to a tractor, the connection providing free pivotal movement about a substantially vertical axis, wherein the wheel(s) which determine the line of travel can be steplessly pivoted and fixed in position by way of hydrauiic, pneumatic or electrical means, provision being made for operating said means from the tractor seat.

According to another aspect, the invention provides an agricultural machine, for example a rotary mower, which can be connected to a tractor by way of a hitch bar, comprising wheels which serve as ground support means and which are movable upwardly and downwardly relative to the machine chassis structure by adjusting means for the purposes of height adjustment of the machine, wherein the wheels with their adjusting means can be steplessly pivoted and fixed about a substantially perpendicuiar axis by hydraulic, pneumatic or electrical means, provision being made for operating said means from the tractor seat.

According to a further aspect, the invention provides an agricultural machine, for example a rotary mower, which can be connected to a tractor by way of a hitch bar, comprising wheels which serve as ground support means and which for the purposes of height adjustment of the machine are mounted on arms pivotable upwardly and downwardly with respect to the machine chassis structure about axes which are disposed transversely with respect to the direction of travel, and adjusting means-engaging said arms, wherein the arms and their adjusting- means are connected to vertical pivot means which are mounted on the machine chassis structure and which can be steplessiy pivoted and fixed by hydraulic, pneumatic or electrical means, to provide for various lines of travel of the machine, provision being made for operating said means from the tractor seat.

According to yet another aspect, the invention provides an agricultural machine, for example a rotary mower, which can be connected to a tractor by way of a hitch bar, comprising wheels which serve as ground support means and which, for height adjustment of the machine, are mounted on arms which are pivotable upwardly and downwardly with respect to the machine chassis structure about axes which are disposed transverseiy with respect to the direction of travel, said arms being connected to adjusting means and spring elements whose force is directed in opposition to- the weight of the machine chassis structure in order to reduce the pressure of working tools against the ground in the working position, wherein the arms and their adjusting means are connected to substantially vertical pivot shafts which are mounted in mounting tubes which are pivotable with respect to the machine chassis structure about axes disposed transversely with respect to the direction of travel, wherein the spring elements indirectly engage the mounting tubes and the substantialiy vertical pivot. shafts can be steplessly pivoted and fixed in position byhydraulic, pneumatic or electrical means supported by the mounting tubes, provision being made for operating said means from the tractor seat.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described in greater detail by way of example with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of an agricultural machine according to the invention, attached to a tractor and shown in the working position with full lines and in the transportation position with broken lines; Figure 2 is also a plan view of the agricultural machine shown in Figure 1, but illustrating more details thereof; Figure 3 is a side view of- the agricultural machine shown in Figure 2; and Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of the way in which the hydraulic cylinders for height adjustment of the machine are coupled together.

The agricultural. machine, in this case, is a rotary mower having a plurality of mower rotors 1 which are driven in rotation about vertical axes. The mower is connected for free pivotal movement about a vertical axis 6 to the draw bar 4 of a tractor 5, by way of a hitch bar 3, which is rigidly connected to the chassis structure 2 of the machine and is supported by ground-engaging support wheels 7 and 8.

The support wheels 7 and 8 are freely rotatably mounted on arms' 9 and 10 which, for height adjustment of the machine, can be pivoted in a vertical plane, and fixed in position, by way of hydrauiic cylinders 11 and 12, about axes 13 and 14 which are disposed transversely with respect to the direction of travel. The axes 13 and 14 are disposed at the lower ends of vertical pivot shafts 15 and 16 which can be pivoted and fixed in position in vertical mounting tubes 19 and 20 by way of hydraulic cylinders 17 and 18, for different lines of travel of the machine relative to the line of travel of the tractor. The mounting tubes 19 and 20 are secured by way of flanges 21 and 22 thereon, to bushes 23 and 24 which are rotatably mounted in a tube 25 of the machine chassis structure 2, the tube 25 being disposed transversely with respect to the direction of travel.Torsion spring bars 36 and 37 pass through the bushes 23 and 24 and have their inner ends non-rotatably held in the tube 25. Their outer ends are connected to levers 26 and 27 which are connected by way of adjusting screws 28 and 29 at the free ends thereof, to brackets 38 and 39 on the flanges 21 and 22. The torque set by the screws 28 and 29 is so selected that the mowing rotors 1 only bear against the ground with slight pressure during operation of the machine, and can thus easily follow irregularities in the ground. For the purposes of supporting the torsion spring bars 36 and 37 at their outer ends, the levers-26 and 27 which are connected thereto are mounted pivotally by way of a hub in the bushes 23 and 24.

The pivotability of the vertical mounting tubes 19 and 20 about the horizontal axes 23 and 24 on the machine chassis structure 2 is limited by abutments (not shown). This pivotability permits the machine chassis structure 2 to be adapted to ground irregularities, but it also provides a given vertical position of the machine chassis structure 2 relative to the mounting tubes 19 and 20 and thus relative to the support wheels in the working and lifted positions of the machine.

The hydraulic cylinders 17 and 18 are pivotally connected to levers 30 and 31 extending from the vertical pivot shafts 15 and 16 and at their other ends are supported on cantilever arms 32 and 33 which are connected to the mounting tubes 19 and 20. The hydraulic cylinders 17 and 18 are double-acting cylinders which, as can be seen from Figure 2, are hydraulically coupled together in parallel relationship and are controllable from the tractor seat by way of hydraulic connections, to provide for various pivotal positions of the wheels 7 and 8 relative to the machine.

The hydraulic cylinders 11 and 12 which are provided for height adjustment of the machine are connected at one end to the arms 9 and 10 of the wheels 7 and 8 and are supported at the other end on cantilever arms 34 and 35 which are fixed -to the upper ends of the vertical pivot shafts 15 and 16. As can be seen from Figure 4, the hydraulic cylinder 11 is in the form of a- double-acting cylinder while the hydraulic cylinder 12 is in the form of a single-acting cylinder, and the two cylinders are hydraulically connected together in series and are likewise controllable by way of hydraulic connections from the tractor seat.

Claims

1. An agricultural machine comprising support wheels which are pivotable about substantially vertical axes and of which at least one can be fixed in various pivotal positions to provide particular lines of travel of the machine, and a hitch bar which is rigidly connected to the machine chassis structure and by way of which the machine chassis structure may be connected to a tractor, the connection providing free pivotal movement about a substantially vertical axis, wherein the wheel(s) which determine the line of travel can be steplessly pivoted and fixed in position by way of hydraulic, pneumatic or electrical means, provision being made for operating said means from the tractor seat.

2. An agricultural machine, for example a rotary mower, which can be connected to a tractor by way of a hitch bar, comprising wheels which serve as ground support means and which are movable upwardly and downwardly relative to the machine chassis structure by adjusting means for the purposes of height adjustment of the machine, wherein the wheels with their adjusting means can be steplessly pivoted and fixed about a substantially perpendicular axis by hydraulic, pneumatic or electrical means, provision being made for operating said means from the tractor seat.

3. An agricultural machine, for example a rotary mower, which can be connected to a tractor by way of a hitch bar, comprising wheels which serve as ground support means and which for the purposes of height adjustment of the machine are mounted on arms pivotable upwardly and downwardly with respect to the machine chassis structure about axes which are disposed transversely with respect to the direction of travel, and adjusting means engaging said arms, wherein the arms and their adjusting means are connected to vertical pivot means which are mounted on the machine chassis structure and which can be steplessly pivoted and fixed by hydraulic, pneumatic or electrical means, to provide for various lines of travel of the machine, provision being made for operating said means from the tractor seat.

4. An agricultural machine, for example a rotary mower, which can be connected to a tractor by way of a hitch bar, comprising wheels which serve as ground support means and which, for height adjustment of the machine, are mounted on arms which are pivotable upwardly and downwardly with respect to the machine chassis structure about axes which are disposed transversely with respect to the direction of travel, said arms being connected to adjusting means and spring elements whose force is directed in opposition to the weight of the machine chassis structure in order to reduce the pressure of working tools against the ground in the working position, wherein the arms and their adjusting means are connected to substantially vertical pivot shafts which are mounted in mounting tubes which are pivotable with respect to the machine chassis structure about axes disposed transversely with respect to the direction of travel, wherein the spring elements indirectly engage the mounting tubes and the substantially vertical pivot shafts can be steplessly pivoted and fixed in position by hydraulic, pneumatic or electrical means supported by the mounting tubes, provision being made for operating said means from the tractor seat.

5. An agricultural machine according to claim 4 wherein hydraulic means are used and the substantially vertical pivot shafts can be adjusted by double-acting hydraulic cylinders which are connected to said substantially vertical pivot shafts and which are hydraulically coupled together to operate in parallel.

6. An agricultural machine according to claim 4 or 5 wherein the spring elements are torsion spring bars which are secured to the machine chassis structure and which are connected to flanges on the mounting tubes to provide a spring force which is directed in opposition to the weight of the machine chassis structure.

7. An agricultural machine according to any one of claims 2 to 6 wherein hydraulic adjusting means are used and the arms are adjustable by hydraulic cylinders which are connected to the arms and which are hydraulically coupled together in series relationship.

8. A rotary mower, substantially as described with reference to the drawings.