Planting – Drilling – Frame and planting-element arrangement
Patent
1982-09-20
1984-05-29
Feyrer, James R.
Planting
Drilling
Frame and planting-element arrangement
172462, 172488, A01C 506
Patent
active
044507798
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to seed or seed and fertiliser drills.
Seed drills have already been proposed comprising a frame, a series of coulters mounted on the frame at positions which are spaced apart in a direction transverse to the direction of operative forward motion of the drill, together with actuating means capable of thrusting the coulters downwards into the ground to open furrows into which seeds can be dropped.
Such a drill has already been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,494,427, having a beam mounted in a fixed position on the frame, the mounting permitting angular movement of the beam about its longitudinal axis, and a hydraulic ram being coupled to a lever arm on the beam so as to hold the beam, during each pass in a field, in a predetermined position with respect to angular movement about said axis, and thereby to cause a downward thrust to be transmitted to the coulters through resilient thrust transmitting means connected between the beam and the coulters. Said predetermined position of the beam, which determines the depths of penetration of the coulters, can be varied by an adjustable connection between the ram and the frame.
It has also already been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,155,316 to provide such a drill having a beam mounted on the frame between a pair of upright hydraulic rams that are connected to the beam at their upper ends via articulated joint means so that the beams can be raised and lowered by the rams to raise and lower the coulters and can tilt from side to side if the ground profile varies across the drill. While the coulters are lowered into work, the two rams are connected in parallel and are connected through a spool valve to a hydraulic supply so that the rams can be raised and lowered together under the control of the spool valve and can move in opposite directions to one another with the displacement of hydraulic fluid from one ram to the other.
The depth of penetration of the coulters in the soil can be controlled by the pressure supplied to the rams but this is difficult using a simple spool valve. It is preferred therefore to employ removal stops that limit the downwards movements of the ram, but the beam is then held rigidly against tilting movements and does not accommodate transverse variations in ground profile. This is a particular disadvantage with wider drills because they are more likely to meet ground profile variations and yet the beam needs to be longer and will therefore tend to flex more. Such a situation is especially intolerable when the drill is used for direct-drilling work in which seed is sown into un-tilled ground and a large thrust force is applied through the beam to the coulters.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a drill with a coulter operating mechanism including an overhead beam that is less susceptible to flexing than that of the aforesaid known drill.
This object is achieved according to the present invention by providing thrust applying means between the frame and the beam to move the beam downwards and thereby force the coulters into work through thrust transmitting means, the thrust applying means comprising two or more levers pivotally mounted on the frame so that they have a common pivot axis extending in a transverse direction, said beam being rotatably supported at the ends of said levers with at least one lever located at an intermediate region in the length of the beam, and actuator means being connected between the frame and each lever.
It will be appreciated that by rotatably supporting the beam in this manner it is still free to rotate about its own axis to balance loading between front and back rows of coulters, and to tilt end to end to accommodate transverse variations in ground profile. Furthermore, it is possible to locate one or more levers at intermediate regions in the length of the beam so as to support it against flexing.
In an embodiment of the invention using just two levers and thrust applying devices, these levers are preferably each located between the
REFERENCES:
patent: 2713836 (1955-07-01), Ajero
patent: 2756662 (1956-07-01), Christensen
patent: 3494427 (1970-02-01), Greig et al.
patent: 3570605 (1971-03-01), Rikli
patent: 4149475 (1979-04-01), Bailey et al.
Farris Robert L.
Feyrer James R.
Massey-Ferguson Services N.V.
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