Earth working – Alternating for right or left hand operation – Tool shifted for opposite throw
Patent
1990-08-10
1992-08-04
Reese, Randolph A.
Earth working
Alternating for right or left hand operation
Tool shifted for opposite throw
172219, 172289, 172569, A01B 508, A01B 328
Patent
active
051350564
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to ploughs of the general type comprising a longitudinal frame fitted with a gang of plough elements such as plough discs or mould-boards.
DISCUSSION OF PRIOR ART
This form of plough is a familiar and fundamental agricultural apparatus, and its general configuration is well known. The plough elements are fixed equidistantly apart across the plough's width so as to cut parallel furrows in the earth and to turn each resultant furrow-slice over, thus tilling a full band of a field with a single passage of the plough assembly.
A plough element may comprise either a dished plough disc, or a ploughshare and mould-board configuration. The disc combines the function of cutting through the soil and turning over the furrow-slice--the disc's rim cuts, and its concave face turns the soil. The disc is generally oriented between 10.degree. and 25.degree. from the forward direction of the plough, so that the concave face turns the furrow-slice adequately.
In the mould-board configuration, the ploughshare cuts through the soil, which is pushed against and is turned over by the concave mould-boards.
The single passage of a plough element through the soil leaves a furrow, and a mound on one side, consisting of the turned furrow-slice. The passage of a parallel gang of plough elements, each turning the soil in the same direction, will normally leave a ditch on one side of the ploughed band of soil, and a mound on the other side. Between the two sides, the soil turned by one plough element normally fills the furrow left by the adjacent plough element. The plough members are ranged in a line set at an angle of some 45.degree. to 60.degree. to the forward direction of travel of the plough, so as to ensure that the furrow-slices fill the adjacent furrows in the manner described. However, the fact that a ditch and a mound are left on either side of the plough's path may have undesirable consequences for a tilled field, depending on the path taken by the plough assembly.
If the field is ploughed in the conventional manner, essentially in an inwardly spiralling helical path, firstly around the field's perimeter, and thence gradually inward in a continuous path to the centre, then the field will be left with a mound of earth adjacent its perimeter, since the residual mound at the side of the plough is pushed outwardly by the plough's action. A residual ditch will also be left along the plough's path. An uneven surface results, with numerous disadvantages for agriculture, in particular making the field suitable for irrigation.
If the field is ploughed in a series of parallel strips, with the plough being turned 180.degree. at the end of one run, and ploughing the earth directly adjacent the last strip, then the residual mound of the first run will be augmented by the residual mound of the second run, since the plough has turned 180.degree. and yet the residual mound will be left on the same side of the plough. Similarly, deep residual furrows will be left between runs. Again, this leaves the field uneven, with a corresponding lower yield and unsuitability for irrigation.
To address this problem by running the plough in the same direction in a series of parallel paths is clearly uneconomic and time-wasting, since the plough must be returned to the same side of the field before commencing each run.
According to one existing attempt to resolve this problem, there is provided a double plough, with two offset gangs of plough elements, such that the first gang turns the earth in one direction, and the second gang subsequently turns it back. This avoids leaving a residual ditch and mound, and leaves an even ploughed surface. However, this approach necessarily requires double tillage of the soil, which has been found to be considerably less effective than single tillage. For instance, it is less effective in weed control since weeds are not left turned over with their roots exposed, but rather are turned back upright, with a greater chance of survival and further propagation.
Hence, there is
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European Search Report.
Reese Randolph A.
Thompson Jeffrey L.
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