Patent Grant
9894822
Not Applicable.
Not applicable.
This disclosure relates to agricultural implements, and in particular to mounting tool assemblies to agricultural implements.
Agricultural implements and machines, such as various plows, tillers, rippers, seeders, nutrient applicators, etc., are used to work soil of crop fields. Tillage and other agricultural implements can perform a variety of tasks, such as breaking up tough soil, injecting nutrients into the soil, and leveling the soil. Such implements are commonly towed behind work vehicles, such as tractors, and can be outfitted with a variety of ground-engaging tools, such as shanks and disks, depending on the soil preparation operation being carried out.
The ability to efficiently and effectively conduct soil preparation operations is highly affected by the soil conditions, such as the wetness of the soil, how much crop residue is in the soil, and the general composition of the soil. In some agricultural implements, ground-engaging tools may suffer from a buildup of soil and crop residue, especially when the soil is wet, resulting in decreased efficiency of the ground-engaging tools and potentially clogging the ground-engaging tools. This may require the operator of the work vehicle and agricultural implement to stop and exit the machine to manually unclog or clean the ground-engaging tools, resulting in lost time and decreased productivity. Another issue is establishing and maintaining the proper orientation of the ground-engaging tools with respect to the frame, and thereby alignment with the direction of travel of the implement and machine, to achieve a consistent furrow row spacing. Yet another issue is establishing proper contact of the ground-engaging tools with the ground to achieve the desired soil preparation, including creating the furrows at a desired depth into the ground, or at consistent depth across the width of the implement transverse to the travel direction of the machine.
A tool mounting arrangement for an agricultural implement is disclosed that improves the mounting of the ground-engaging tools to the implement frame in one or more respects.
According to one aspect the disclosure provides a tool assembly for an agricultural implement. The assembly includes a ground-engaging tool, a support post coupled to the tool, a mounting bracket connecting the support post at a connection axis, and a frame mount coupled to the mounting bracket to mount the tool to a support frame of the implement. The mounting bracket is couplable to the support post in alternate orientations. In a first orientation the mounting bracket is positioned to mount the support post to a first fore-aft side of the support frame and mount the frame mount to a first side of a connection center line axis intersecting the support frame and the connection axis. In a second orientation the mounting bracket is positioned to mount the support post to the first fore-aft side of the support frame and mount the frame mount to a second side of the connection center line axis opposite the first side of the connection center line axis.
According to another aspect, the disclosure provides a tool assembly for an agricultural implement including a ground-engaging tool, a support post coupled to the tool, a mounting bracket connecting the support post at a connection axis, and a frame mount coupled to the mounting bracket to mount the tool to the support frame. At least one of the support post and the mounting bracket includes a rod having a curved outer periphery and a collar having an axial opening about the connection axis configured to receive the rod. The collar defines a recessed pocket open to the axial opening and a radial passage extending between the pocket and an outer surface of the collar. The pocket is configured to receive a first threaded fastener and the passage is configured to receive a second threaded fastener configured to extend into the axial opening to engage the rod. The first threaded fastener threadedly engages the second threaded fastener.
According to another aspect, the disclosure provides a tool assembly for an agricultural implement including a ground-engaging tool, a support post coupled to the tool, a mounting bracket connecting the support post at a connection axis, and a frame mount coupled to the mounting bracket to mount the tool to the support frame. At least one of the support post and the mounting bracket includes a rod and a collar having an axial opening about the connection axis configured to receive the rod. The axial opening has an inner peripheral surface configured to provide more than one contact area between the rod and the collar.
These and other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent to a person skilled in the art from the following description and the accompanying drawings.
Like reference numerals in the drawings indicate like components, parts, or operations.
The following describes one or more example embodiments of the disclosed tool mounting assembly, as shown in the accompanying figures of the drawings described briefly above. Various modifications to the example embodiments may be contemplated by one of skill in the art.
In certain work and agricultural implements it may be beneficial to improve the mount of ground-engaging elements or tools. For example, various soil-conditioning implements, including primary, seedbed, and vertical tillage implements as well as seeders, nutrient applicators and disk implements, may include any number of rippers, cutters, chiselers, tillers, shanks, baskets and disks in various forms. Apart from general connectivity concerns, it may be particularly important to the operation and performance of the implement that the ground-engaging tools are mounted to the implement in the proper location and orientation relative to the implement and/or other tools and that the tools are maintained in that location and orientation during operation of the implement. As one example, it may be important for ground-engaging shanks to be mounted to the implement in a particular arrangement so that the furrows or other trenches which they form in the ground are in parallel and at a consistent, prescribed distance that may help to maximize crop yield of the field and may also coordinate with the spacing of other tools of the implement or other implements. For example, ground-engaging closing disks may need to be arranged on the implement behind and in alignment with the ground-engaging shanks in the direction of travel in order to properly cover the furrows.
Moreover, since the tools and implements may vary widely in configuration, the quantity and mounting locations and orientations of the ground-engaging tools may vary, and the desired row spacing may vary depending on crop or other field conditions, it may be important that the mounting arrangement facilitates adjustment and relocation of the tools on the implement. As noted, any adjustment feature should not interfere with the tool being mounted in a manner that maintains its positioning during operation.
In certain embodiments, the mounting arrangement disclosed herein may provide for adjustment of the tool with respect to the implement using a conventional bar and channel clamp connection. A mounting bracket may provide a complementary surface or recess for interfacing with a support bar of the implement's frame (e.g., a flat, broad surface or recess for supporting a square bar) and to which mounts the channel clamp (e.g., a square U-bolt or the like). The bar and clamp connection may provide for mounting of the tool in various lateral positions (i.e., side to side relative to the direction of travel of the machine). The mounting bracket may also provide a mounting connection for an upright support post of the ground-engaging tool. The mounting connection may be a pivot connection, which includes a collar with an axially extending opening formed as a part of the mounting bracket or the support post. The pivot connection may thus permit the angular orientation of the tool to be adjusted.
The mounting bracket may also be configured to permit the mounting connection for the tool's support post to be disposed either fore or aft of the support bar relative to the direction of travel. Further, the mounting bracket may be configured to be reversible such that in one mounting orientation the support post may be positioned forward of the support bar, which in an alternate “reversed” orientation the support post may be positioned behind the support bar.
Still further, the mounting bracket may be configured so that the support post may be offset or out of alignment with the channel clamp in the direction of travel. Thus, the mounting bracket may thus provide two, alternate lateral (i.e., side to side relative to the direction of travel) mounting positions for the support post of the tool. In one mounting orientation of the mounting bracket the support post of the tool may be offset to a first lateral side of the channel clamp, and to a second, opposite lateral side of the channel clamp when the mounting bracket is in a second, alternate mounting orientation. Moreover, the mounting bracket may be configured to provide for both alternate lateral and alternate fore-aft mounting locations for the support post of the tool.
In certain embodiments, the connection between the mounting bracket and the support post may be secured by a detent arrangement. The detent may be a hole or recess, or it may be a raised projection, at the interface between, and part of either, the mounting bracket and the support post. The detent arrangement provides a positive engagement of the support post to the mounting brackets. Multiple detents may be provided in a spaced arrangement to allow for vertical adjustment of the support post.
In certain embodiments, the detent arrangement may include or cooperate with a securing mechanism. As one example, the securing mechanism may be a fastener that extends into the axial opening of the collar (of either the mounting bracket or the support post) to engage a rod member (of either the support post or the mounting bracket). Further, the fastener and the detent may be configured to engage one another, for example, the detent may be a recess that receives an end of the fastener. Engagement of the two parts may inhibit relative angular rotation or axial translation of the mounting bracket and the support post.
In certain configurations, the fastener may be a threaded rod or bolt and may engage a threaded opening, collar or nut. The threaded rod or bolt may be tightened relative to the threaded opening, collar or nut to clamp the rod member (of the mounting bracket or the support post) against the inner periphery of the axial opening of the collar (of the support post or mounting bracket).
The axial opening of the collar may be cylindrical or non-cylindrical and may be open at one or both ends. The axial opening may provide multiple clamping points or regions. For example, the axial opening may have a varied dimension or degree of concavity by having a certain circular or non-circular arc for an angular portion of one or more of cross-sections, and a different circular or non-circular arc for one or more other angular portions of its cross-section(s). Further, the axial opening may have a predominately circular cross-section for 180 degrees or more and one or more recessed areas at a greater radial distance from a reference axis of the axial opening (or the axis of the rod member or support post) than the circular portion of the cross-section. The recessed area(s) may be located opposite to (or to an opposite side of the axial opening than) the threaded fastener (and the detent(s)). Engaging the threaded fastener against the rod member inside the axial opening thus clamps the rod member against the axial opening at the two or more regions on each angular end of the dished area(s). The surfaces interposed between the recessed areas and the non-recessed surfaces of the opening thus form clamping surfaces. The clamping surfaces may, for example, be short, flat angled surfaces. As one non-limiting example, the axial opening may have one radially extending recess running the axial length of the axial opening and opposite the detent(s) such that the rod member is clamped against the axial opening at flat clamp surfaces on each side of the recess, thus clamping the rod member at three points, which may be at equal (i.e., 120 degrees) or non-equal angular positions.
Moreover, the axial opening may have one or more enlarged sections so that the clamping force may be selectively located. For example, the axial opening may have an enlarged central section compared to upper and lower end sections. The end sections may form the recessed areas and the clamp surfaces, in which case the clamping forces applied to the rod member (e.g., the support post) may be spread apart an axial distance, which may provide better resistance to moment loading during operation to provide a more secure connection between the support post and the mounting bracket, and thereby between the tool and the frame.
In certain embodiments, the collar (of the mounting bracket or the support post) may be formed with a pocket that carries the threaded collar or nut. The pocket may be located so that the open side of the pocket is adjacent to the opening in the collar, and may be deep enough to receive the threaded collar or nut without it protruding into the collar opening. Also, the inner periphery of the pocket may be any curved or rectilinear configuration. For example, the inner periphery of the pocket may be multi-sided, such as defining a six-sided opening configured to mate with a standard nut.
With reference to the accompanying figures, one or more specific example arrangements will now be described. It is understood that the illustrated examples are not limiting, but merely provide examples to aid in describing the features of the disclosed mounting arrangement. Reference to particular common components (e.g., nuts, bolts, screws, washers and the like) should be understood to encompass other known components or techniques providing similar functions. It should also be understood that male-female features of mating parts (e.g., nuts and bolts, rods and collars, and so on) may be reversed from that shown and described in the illustrated examples without departing from the scope of the disclosure.
Moreover, it should be noted that reference herein to relative terms is made as a matter of convenience. “Forward” (or “fore”) and “rearward” (or “aft”) (and, generally, references to the “longitudinal” direction) are generally determined based upon the normal direction of travel for a relevant vehicle or implement. Similarly, references to a “lateral” direction generally refer to directions transverse to the longitudinal direction, with “left” and “right” directions being determined based from a perspective facing the forward direction for a vehicle. “Upward” and “downward” directions are relative to the ground. These terms may or may not align with true “horizontal” or “vertical” directions.
As shown in
Referring also to
As noted, the collar 46 may be arranged perpendicularly with respect to the collar 44 so as to extend about a transverse (e.g., vertical) axis. The collar 46 may be formed with, or augmented by, an ear or tab 58 that extends laterally between the return spring 40 and a clevis arrangement 60 mounted to the strut 52 of the support arm assembly 42. The tab 58 may be used to provide a backstop surface of the forward end of the return spring 40. In addition, or alternatively, the tab 58 may have a threaded opening (not shown) for a threaded tensioner rod 62 for setting and adjusting a pre-load or otherwise tensioning the return spring 40. The collar 46 may have a window 64 spanning an arcuate portion of the circumference of the collar 46 and opening toward the collar 44. The window 64 may receive a projection of locking collar 66 having a threaded opening for a set screw 68.
The collar 46 may thus provide a connection for an upright support post 70, which provides the vertical extension component coupling of the coulter disk 34 to the frame 26. Generally, the collar 46 defines an cylindrical opening sized to receive the support post 70, which may extend below a lower open end of the collar 46. The lower end of the collar 46 may be capped by a washer 72 and a retainer pin 74 passing through an opening at an end of the support post 70 to limit the upward movement of the support post 70 relative to the collar 46, and thus from being raised and separated from the support arm assembly 42 and the coulter disk 34. Downward movement of the support post 70 may be limited by a second retainer 74 at an opening through the upper end of the support post 70.
The locking collar 66 fits about the support post 70 within the collar 46, being assembled by first putting the locking collar 66 into the cylindrical opening of the collar 46 through the window 64 and then sliding the support post 70 through the concentric openings of the collar 46 and the locking collar 66. In this position, the projection of the locking collar 66 extends through the window 64. The locking collar 66 may then be secured to the support post 70 by threading the set screw 68 through the threaded opening in the locking collar 66 so that its end engages the support post 70. A nut 78 or additional threaded collar may thread onto the set screw 68 to further secure the set screw 68 in place.
The support post 70 may have one or more detents 76, which in the illustrated example is a tapered recess, such as having a conical or spherical cross-section. The end of the set screw 68 may have a complementary shape to aid in seating or nesting the set screw 68 in the detent 76 and securely coupling the support post 70 to the collar 46. The support post 70 may have a single detent 76, or it may have multiple vertically spaced detents to permit vertical adjustment of the position of the support post 70, and thereby the coulter disk 34. Additionally, the support post 70 may have a pair of detents 76, or set of paired detents, that are arranged in an angularly spaced relation. For example, one or more pairs of detents 76 may be arranged 180 degrees apart to allow for reversible mounting configurations should the support post 70 or other components have features (e.g., detents) that require a particular angular orientation and alignment to function, as described herein.
The support post 70, and thereby the coulter disk assembly 22, may mount to one of the support frame members 28 by a mounting assembly 80. The mounting assembly 80 may include a mounting bracket 82, a clamp fastener 84 (e.g., a square U-bolt) and one or more fastener arrangements for adjustably coupling the support post 70 to the mounting bracket 82. The example fastener arrangement described below includes a pair of mating set screws 86 and nuts 110. However, these terms should be understood to include any suitable male/female connection hardware, including threaded devices (e.g., screws, bolts, nuts, etc.) and non-threaded devices (e.g., pins, spring pins, collars, etc.).
As shown in
As mentioned, the mounting collar 90, and its axial opening 102, extends along the upright connection axis C. The mounting collar 90 may have one or more radial openings, such as the pair of axially spaced apart radial openings 104, which are open-ended at the inner and outer peripheries of the mounting collar 90. The radial openings 104 each open about an axis D that intersects the connection axis C, and be arranged along a common upright line so as to extend along the mounting center line axis 98. The axes D may fall on one or more different lines, however, which do not intersect the connection axis C or the mounting center line axis 98. Additionally, the radial openings 104 may pass through enlarged areas 106 where the wall thickness is increased compared to the wall thickness of other parts of the mounting collar 90. The radial openings 104 may be threaded or non-threaded and sized to accommodate the set screws 86. To simplify manufacturing, the radial openings 104 may be non-threaded openings, in which case an inner periphery of the mounting collar 90 may be formed with pockets 108, as can be seen in
The mounting arrangement may include various features that facilitate a secure, and also possibly an adjustable, connection between the support post 70 and the mounting bracket 82. For example, a detent arrangement and clamp surfaces may be provided at the interface between the support post 70 and the mounting bracket 82. The detent arrangement may include one or more mating projections and recesses formed in, or mounted to the, the support post 70 and the mounting bracket 82. In the illustrated example, the support post 70 has a plurality of openings or recesses 112 spaced apart along its length which can receive ends of the set screws 86. The engaging surfaces of the recesses 112 and set screws 86 interfere with relative rotation and axial translation of the support post 70 inside the axial opening 102 of the mounting collar 90. To enhance the engagement of the detent arrangement, the recesses 112 may be configured to complement the ends of the set screws 86. For example, the recesses 112 may have a conical shape corresponding to a conical ends of the set screws 86. The recesses 112 may have other configurations (e.g., cylindrical, oblong, multi-sided, and so on) to correspond to other configurations of the set screw ends.
To better ensure a strong clamp force between the support post 70 and the mounting collar 90, especially in the case of a cylindrical rod and collar, the axial opening 102 and/or the support post 70 may have clamp surfaces. The clamp surfaces may be located along the entire length of the interface between the support post 70 and the mounting collar 90, or at one or more specific areas less than the axial distance of the axial opening 102. For example, the clamp surfaces may be located at or near the upper and lower ends of the mounting collar 90, and thereby, provide two spaced apart clamping regions. The spacing of the clamping regions may serve to better resist force moments applied to the connection from various fore-aft or side loads transmitted through the support post 70 during operation of the coulter disk assembly 22.
Referring to
In the illustrated example, the clamp surfaces 118 are flat, angled surfaces located on each side or end of a radially extending clearance recess 120, which extends angularly less than 360 degrees, and may extend less than 180 degrees. The clamp surfaces 118 and the recess 120 are contiguous with a remaining arcuate (e.g., circular) portion 122 of the inner periphery. The shape of the clearance recess 120 be multi-sided or any circular or non-circular rounded configuration. In the case of a rounded clearance recess 120, its concavity or radial distance from the connection axis C would differ from that of the arcuate portion 122 of the inner periphery of the axial opening 102, at least at end sections 116. Each clearance recess 120 may be positioned across from the radial openings 104, such as having its center along the connection center line axis 98 about 180 degrees from the radial openings 104. This configuration allows the clearance recess 120 to provide a gap or spacing for the support post 70 to shift radially along the center line axis 98 when the set screws 86 are tightened to clamp the support post 70 against the flat clamp surfaces 118, rather than contacting the arcuate portion 122 of the inner periphery. When connected then, the axis of the support post 70s is shifted or offset along the connection center line axis 98 to be aligned with the connection axis C, which may be offset a radial distance from a reference axis of the mounting collar 90, which would be the central axis of the arcuate portion 122 if, as shown, it had a uniform radial dimension (e.g., its cross-section formed part of a circle).
Moreover, in the illustrated example, the “circumferential” (i.e., circular or non-circular radial distance) of the clearance recess 120, and thus the spacing between the clamp surfaces 118, may be selected to provide a symmetric angular spacing about the center line axis 98, and further equiangular spacing between the two clamp surfaces 118 and the detent recess 112 where the set screw 86 engages the support post 70. Points “E” shown in
In the embodiment of the mounting bracket 82′ shown in
In either illustrated example (or other) configuration of the mounting bracket 82, the mounting arrangement disclosed permits the coulter disk assembly 22 to be mounted to the support frame member 28 in various and numerous positions and orientations. The channel clamp fastener arrangement permits the coulter disk assembly 22 to be mounted along any one of the support frame members 28 of the frame 26, at the center or outer wings of the implement 20, at any location needed to align the assemblies with other like or different tools (e.g., the standards) and/or to avoid other features (e.g., other frame members, wheel mounts, hydraulics, etc.). Moreover, due to the offset configuration of the support flange with respect to the mounting collar, as well as the top side, bottom side symmetry and the symmetry of the support flange about its center line, the mounting bracket can be mounted in the assembly in different orientations to alter the mounting position of the coulter disk 34 relative to the frame 26.
For example,
Another aspect of the disclosed mounting arrangement is that it may facilitate efficient manufacturing. As already mentioned, a single mounting bracket may be used to provide various mounting positions for the coulter disk assembly 22. Additionally, the disclosed arrangement may also reduce the amount of secondary operations required to complete manufacturing of the components. For example, the components of the coulter disk assembly 22, especially the support post 70 and the mounting bracket 82, may be formed by a casting process without the needed for secondary machining or other tooling of the cast parts. As one example, by providing hardware retaining pockets 108 for the set screws 86 the radially openings 104 need not be threaded, thereby eliminating the related tooling step. Further, by providing the support post clamp arrangement disclosed, relatively coarse part tolerances may be used without sacrificing securing connection of the mounting arrangement. As a result, the support post and/or the mounting bracket can be cast parts without requiring machining of the axial opening or other features at the interface of the mounting bracket connection with the support post.
It should also be noted that this disclosure encompasses various modifications to the examples described and depicted herein. For example, as noted above, it should be understood that this disclosure encompasses reversal of mating male-female components. For example, in certain embodiments the mounting collar may be a feature of the support post, rather than the mounting bracket, which may have a corresponding rod portion. Also, the detent and clamping arrangement could be arranged on opposite mating parts as that described. For example, the detent arrangement be achieved by projections on the support post and recess in the mounting bracket. Similarly, the clamping surfaces could be located on the support post with a simple cylindrical bore in the mounting bracket. Various other aspects of the disclosure could be altered from the described examples.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the any use of terms “comprises” and/or “comprising” in this specification specifies the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
The description of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Explicitly referenced embodiments herein were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the disclosure and their practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosure and recognize many alternatives, modifications, and variations on the described example(s). Accordingly, various embodiments and implementations other than those explicitly described are within the scope of the following claims.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20160255759 A1 | Sep 2016 | US |
