AU631600B2 - Improvements to agricultural implements - Google Patents

Description

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Au llLl P/00/011 Farm PATENTS ACT 1952 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

(ORIGINAL)

FOR OFFICE USE Short Title: Int. Cl: A pplication Number: Lodged: ornplate Specification-Lodged: t~t* AcceptW~: Lapsed; Publis.ad Priority: Relatad Art: TO BE COMAPLETED BY APPLICANT Name of Applicant: Mildrbss of Applicant: DUDLEY JOHN DONOVAN "BOOMERANG", CAPELLA Q 4702 Actual Inventor: Address for Service: DUDLEY JOHN DONOVAN JOHN R.qC. GARDNER, PATENT ATTORNEY PO BOX 443, MUDGEERABA Q 4213 Complete Specification for the Invention entitled: IMPROVEMENTS TO AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS The following statement Is a full description of this Invention, including the best method of performing it1 known to me:- Note: The description Is to be typed In double spacing, pica type face, In an area not exceeding 250 mm In depth and 160 mm In width, on tough white paper of good quality and It Is to be Inserted '.nside this form.

14699/78-L 1459975- LPrinted by C. J. TiiompsoN, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra _L1I~ i THIS INVENTION relates to improvements to agricultural i implements and in particular to implements for use in reducing soil erosion and forplanting seeds into the ground.

In many agricultural situations where, for example rain fall is not high or not consistent it is particularly i important that there should be good retention and moisture in the soil. It is also important in other agricultural environment that erosion of soil due to high rain fall be reduced or eliminated so that leaching of the soil does not occur. In either of the above situations it is desirable that run off of the rain water should be retarded and reduced.

Erosion can be further reduced if the ground subject to erosion can be planted with grass seeds or the like. Various implements such as particularly configured rollers have been S 15 devised for reducing water run off by forming a multiplicity of hollows in a grounds surface, however, the implements devised in the past have not always functioned efficiently.

The present invention aims to provide an implement which will function efficiently to form hollows in the ground so as to prevent run off of rain water and al,! to permit seeding of that ground area. The present invention also aims to provide in implement which is economical to manufacture, which may be readily hitched to a prime mover and which is sturdy and durable in use.

With the above and other objects in view the present invention provides an agricultural implement including a hollow elongated body extending obliquely relative to the direction of movement of said implement, said body being adapted to contain seeds to be planted, a plurality of blade means arranged about and along said body and supported for movement Stherewith, a plurality of apertures in said body adapted to Spermit the passage of seeds therethrough and means for mounting saiid body for rotatable movement about its longitudinal axis, the arrangement being such that as said implement is advanced {{tt* 35 said blade means engage the soil and cause rotation of said body, respective said blade means forming in said soil, S respective hollow areas for retention of water and wherein seeds within said body pass through said apertures onto the ground.

Preferably each blade means comprises a first component lying substantially in or parallel to a plane disposed at an acute angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the body, and preferably a second blade component extending radially outwardly of the hollow body, the first blade component being disposed at an obtuse angle to said second component and extending outwardly therefrom. Suitably the second component is braced to the body. Most preferably the blade means are arranged at spaced apart positions along the hollow body and offset circumferentially relative to adjac-3nt blade means.

The elongated body suitably comprises a hollow cylindrical drum and preferably respective apertures are disposed adjacent respective blade means. Closure means are preferably provided for selectively opening and closing the apertures, the closure means suitably comprises a member pivotally mounted on the outer surface of the body to be movable between a position opening qn aperture and a position across and closing an aperture. Door meas are also preferably mounted on the hollow body, the door means providing access into the body for the depositing of seeds therein.

The implement also preferably includes support franie means adapted to be coupled to a prime mover, the elongated body being supported from the support frame means. Preferably the elongated body is supported adjustably relative to the lift support frame means whereby to enable adjustment of the oblique angle of the body relative to the direction of movement of the implement.

The support frame means preferably includes a yoke-like frame, the elongated body being mounted rotatable on the yoke-like frame which itself is preferably mounted to the main frame for adjustable movement in a vertical direction.

At least one support arm means is preferably provided for supporting the yoke-like frame to the main frame, and means are provided for adjusting the elevation of the support arm

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3A means whereby to adjust the elevation of the yoke-like frame.

Suitably two support arm means are arranged between the yoke-like frame and the main frame at spaced apart positions.

The or each support arm means is preferably mounted to the main frame in such a manner as to permit upward movement of the yoke-like frame in the event that the blade means strike an obstruction. The or each support arm means is preferably adjustable in length and preferably also, the support arm means are mounted to the main frame for pivotal movement about a substantially horizontal axis.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention and wherein:- Fig. 1 is a plan view of the implement according to the present invention showing portion of the drum; Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view along line A-A of Fig. 1 showing the arrangement of the blades or shovels about the drum of the apparatus; Fig. 3 is a side view illustrating details of the blades or shovels; Fig, 4 is a sectional plan view along line B-B of fig. 3; Fig. 5 illustrates the layout of the blades or shovels 25 and seed filler doors on a developed view of the drum of the apparatus of the invention; and Fig. 6 illustrates in perspective view the manner in which the implement may be mounted to a prime mover.

Referring to the drawings and firstly to Figs. 1 and 2 Iri r 111~ tl tl 1 r z r SIt It I *I Ir Crt *cI., C C r

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il I ,1 ,g it there is illustrated an implement 10 according to the present invention including a hollow elongated cylindrical drum 1 supported on, and secured to an axle 12 and carrying on its periphery a plurality of shovel blades 13. Each shovel blade 13 comprises as more clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3 a section of ste u plate bent or otherwise formed to an obtuse angle along line 14 which is substantially tangential to a circle centred on the axis of rotation of the drum 11 so as to form two vwings 15 and 16. The inner wings 15 are secured to the outer surface of the drum 11 as by welding and are supported by respective gusset plates 17 welded between the wings 15 and t-;a surface of the drum 11. The wings lie in planes perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the drum 11 and the outer wings 16 of all the blades 13 are inclined preferably at 45 degrees to the wings 15 in the same direction towards in this instance the left hand end of the drum 11. As shown more clearly in Fig. 2 both of the wings 15 and 16 are chamfered at their trailing edges.

As is apparent in Figs. 1 and 5 respective blades 13 are angularly displaced with respect to their adjacent blades 13 longitudinally of the drum 11 so as to form a generally helical t pattern of blades 13 about the surface of the drum 11.

The drum 11 is also provided with a series of apertures 18 disposed adjacent the respective blades 13 and in the re-.'on between the respective gusset plates 17. Closure plates 19 are mounted pivotally to the drum 11 so as to be pivotally movable to a position to fully close the apertures 18 as shown in dotted outline, only partly open the apertures 18 or fully open the apertures 18. The drum 11 is further provided with respective arcuate seed filler doors 20 which are pivotally mounted at 21 to the outer surface of the drum 11 for movement about a longitudinally extending axis and which are provided with latches 22 at their opposite end to enable the doors 20 to be held in a closed attitude after placement of seeds into the drum 11.

The rotary drum 11 is preferably supported by means of a yoke-like frame 23 which supports at the free ends of its respective opposite arms 24 and 25 bearings 26 and 27 in which the axle 12 is rotatably mounted. The yoke-like frame 23 is adapted to be supported on the draw bar 28 of a prime mover by means of a pair of adjustable support arm assembly 29. Each support arm assembly 29 as shown in Fig. 6 comprises an elongated support arm provided at one end with a clamp assembly 31 for clamping about the frame 23 and pivotally mounted via a pivot shaft 32 at its opposite end to a bracket 33 mounted to the draw bar 28. The bracket 33 also includes a pair of spaced apart upwardly extending flanges 34, the flanges 34 including a plurality of aligned apertures 35. Supported between the flanges 34 is an elongated 00. stop member 36, the latter including a series of apertures 37 which may be aligned with selected apertures 35 to receive a bolt or pin 38 therethrough. The opposite end of the stop member 37 passes through an aperture 39 in a flange 40 secured to the arm 30, this end being provided with an enlarged head 41 forming a stop which may abut the flange 40. It will be apparent that by aligning respective apertures 35 in the flanges 34 with apertures 37 in the stop member 36 and passing a bolt or locking pin 38 therethrough will permit adjustment of the horizontal attitude of the arms and thus the vertical position of the drum 11.

As will be apparent in Fig. 1 one support arm assembly 29 is considerably shorter than the other support arm assembly 29 so that the drum 11 and its support axle 12 are disposed at an oblique angle to the direction of movement of the implement In use when the implement is attached to a prime mover and advanced over the ground the blades 13 on engagement wit, the ground will penetrate the soil and be caused to rotate thereby causing the drum 11 to rotate. Each of the blades 13 penetrates the ground and as they rotate clear from the soil they scoop out respective hollows in the soil so as to form a multiplicity of hollows. At the same time seeds in the drum 11 will escape through the apertures 18 as the apertures 18 are rotated to positions on Sthe underside of the drum 11. Thus at the same time t- later retention furrows or hollows are being formed in the grounu seeds i will also be deposited.

The mounting arrangement provided by the arm assemblies 29 provides in the implement a stump-jump facility permitting the drum 12 to pivot upwardly about the pivot shafts 32 if it strikes an obstruction such as a stump. If desired a spring may be placed about the stop member 36 between the enlarged head 41 and flange to cushion any shock should the head 41 move away from the flange 40. The length of the respective arm assemblies 29 may be adjusted as desired to set the required angle of the drum 11 relative to the direction of movement.

S' Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative S embodiment of the invention, all such modification and variations 1, 5 thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the invention as herein defined in the appended claims.

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Claims (10)

1. An agricultural implement including a hollow elongated body extending obliquely relative to the direction of movement of said implement, said body being adapted to contain seeds to be planted, a plurality of blade means arranged about and along said body and supported for movement therewith, a plurality of apertures in said body adapted to permit the passage of seeds therethrough and means for mounting said body for rotatable movement about its lrngitudinal axis, the arrangement being such that as said implement is advanced said blade means engage the soil and cause rotation of said body, respective said blade means forming in said soil, respective hollow areas for Sretention of water and wherein seeds within said body pass through said apertures onto the ground.

2. An implement according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein each said blade means comprises a first component lying substantially in or parallel to a plane disposed at an acute angle relative to said longitudinal axis of said body.

7. Ar claims whe respective 5 8. Ar closure m apertures.

9. An 10 closure meE surface of said aperl apertures. 15 10. An claims and said door depositing

11. An claims and to a prime said suppor 25 12. An elongated b( frame means of said boc implement. a a 40 4 44 4 4* 4 a4 4 oe r 4• tt C 1 f e- a t t q t C 3. An implement according to Claim 2 wherein each said blade means includes a second blade component extending radially outwardrly of said hollow body, said first blade component being disposed at an obtuse angle to said second 25 component and extending outwardly therefrom. 4. An implement according to Claim 3 wherein said second component is braced to said body. 30 5. An implement according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said blade means are arranged at spaced apart positions along said hollow body and offset circumferentially relative to adjacent said blade means. (4 t

13. frame being An means mounte 444 35 4.I 'a *i 2 hi 1 6, An implement according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein said elongated body comprises a hollow cylindrical drum. 35 14. An i frame means mounted to I: 7. An implement according to any one of the preceding claims wherein respective said apertures are disposed adjacent respective said blade means. 8. An implement according to Claim 7 and including closure means for selectively opening and closing said apertures. 9. An implement according to Claim 8 wherein each said closure means comprises a member pivotally mounted on the outer surface of said body to be movable between a position opening said apertures and a position across and closing said apertures. 10. An implement according to any one of the preceding claims and including door means mounted on said hollow body, said door means providing access into said body for the depositing of seeds therein. 11. An implement according to any one of the preced'ng claims and including support frame means adapted to be coupled to a prime mover, said elongated body being supported from said support frame means. 12. An implement according to Claim 11 wherein said elongated body is supported adjustable relative to said support frame means whereby to enable adjustment of the oblique angle of said body relative to the direction of movement of said implement. 13. An implement according to Claim 12 wherein said support frame means includes a yoke-like frame, said elongated body being mounted rotatable on said yoke-like frame. 4.. 35 14. An implement according to Claim 13 wherein said support frame means includes a main frame, said yoke-like frame being mounted to said main frame for adjustable movement in a I I 4 9 vertical direction. An implement according to Claim 14 and including at least one support arm-means for supporting said yoke-like frame to said main frame, and means for adjusting the elevation of said support arm means whereby to adjust the elevation of said yoke-like frame.

16. An implement according to Claim 15 and including two said support arm means arranged between said yoke-like frame and said main frame at spaced apart positions.

17. An implement according to Claim 15 or Claim 16 wherein the or each said support arm means is mounted to said main frame in such a manner as to permit upward movement of said yoke-like frame in the event that said blade means strike an obstruction,

18. An implement according to any one of Claims 15 to 17 wherein the or each said support arm means is adjustable in length.

19. An implement according to any one of Claims 15 to 18 wherein said support arm means are mounted to said main frame Ifor pivotal movement about a substantially horizontal axis. 1*44 S An implement substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this thirteenth day of August 1992 DUDLEY JOHN DONOVAN By My Patent Attorney JOHN R.G. GARDNER I