Soil cultivating implements

Abstract

A cultivator or harrow implement has soil working members positioned side-by-side in a row that extends transverse to the direction of travel. The members are driven by a rotary input shaft in a central gear box and a driving shaft extending to each lateral side of the gear box. Each driving shaft has a respective bevel pinion in the gear box and the two pinions are separated by a driving pinion on the input shaft. The driving shafts are comprised by shaft segments that are coaxial with one another and interconnected by sleeves housed in transmission boxes. The shafts of the soil-working members are geared to the driving shafts in the transmission boxes which are separated by connecting members housing the driving shafts. In a modification, the soil working members are mounted on upwardly extending shafts and these shafts have pinions in mesh with one another within an elongated casing. Bearing housings are held in holes at the bottom of the casing and afford oil seals. An underlying trough is releaseably bolted to the casing and the shafts of the working members extend through the trough to their respective gears in the casing.

Description

Claims

1. A soil cultivating implement comprising a frame and a plurality of soil working members supported on said frame in a row that extends transverse to the direction of travel, said members being rotatably mounted on corresponding upwardly extending shafts and a driving mechanism engaging each of said shafts to rotate same during operation, said mechanism including a rotary input shaft that extends in the direction of travel of the implement and has a gear in driving engagement with two separate, substantially horizontally extending driving shafts, said driving shafts comprising pinion gear means in driving engagement with said input gear within a gear box, said driving shafts being substantially co-axial and extending transverse to the direction of travel at opposite sides of said gear box, the upwardly extending shafts of said soil working members being drivingly connected to said driving shafts within respective transmission boxes, an upper part of each transmission box comprising a housing for corresponding co-operating gear means that establishes drive from one of the driving shafts to the respective upwardly extending shaft, a lower part of that box forming a bearing housing for a rotatable support for said upwardly extending shaft, lower parts of neighboring transmission boxes being spaced apart from one another by connecting members that house segments of the driving shafts and said transmission boxes being rigidly secured to said connecting members.

2. An implement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inner end of each driving shaft has a respective bevel pinion that engages said input gear and the latter is a bevel gear.

3. An implement as claimed in claim 1, wherein said gear box is located substantially centrally with respect to the length of said row of soil working members.

4. An implement as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said two driving shafts are comprised by segments that are interconnected by sleeves housed in said transmission boxes.

5. An implement as claimed in claim 1, wherein said connecting members have longitudinally extending ribs that taper inwardly from the ends of those members towards their centers.

6. An implement as claimed in claim 5, wherein the ends of said connecting members have flanges and said flanges are rigidly secured to the upper parts of said transmission boxes.

7. An implement as claimed in claim 6, wherein the ribs of each connecting member extend from said flanges to the center of that connecting member.