Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~03636g
This invention relates to machines for raking crop lying on the
ground.
According to the invention, there is provided a haymaking machine
comprising a frame and at least one tined rake member arranged to be rotatable :
about an upwardly extending axis and provided with outwardly directed tines
arranged in rearwardly trailing positions with respect to the intended direc-
tion of rotation of the rake member, which positions are substantially fixed
relative to the other parts of the rake member, a irst swath beard located
at a lateral side of the rake member and extending substantially parallel to
the intended direction of operative travel of the machine, and a second swath
board so disposed that at least a major portion thereof is located rearwardly
of the rake member with respect to said direction with its leading edge spaced
from the circumference of the rake member by a distance which is such that
the second swath board is capable of directly receiving crop shed from the
tines of the rake member when the machine is in use, said second swath board
extending substantially radially with respect to the axis of rotation of the
rake member, as seen in plan view, in convergent relationship with said first
swath board in a direction opposlte to thc intended direction of operative
travel o the machine.
For a better understanding of the invention, and to show how the
same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of
example, to the accompanying drawings, in which:-
Figure 1 is a plan view of part of a machine in accordance with
the invention and
Figure 2 is schematic elevation as seen in the direction indicated
by an arrow II in Figure 1.
Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a raking machine having a frame 190 in
which a single rake member 226 is mounted so as to be rotatable about a
substantially vertical axis 192 that is actually so disposed that an upper
region thereof is further advanced with respect to the intended direction
of operative travel P of the machine than is a lower region thereof. However,
the axis 192 may be very nearly truly vertically disposed in accordance with
the particular construction that is ~
-2- ~ ~q
;:
10363~9
adopted for the rake member 226 and the nature of the hay
or other crop that is to be dealt with. ~he frame 190
has a coupling member or trestle 193 of substantially
inverted U-shaped con~iguration at its front with
respect to the direction P, said coupling member or
trestle 193 incorporating lower substantially horizontal-
ly aligned fastening means 194 and upper fastening means
195 for connection to the lower and upper links, respeo-
tively, of the three-point lifting device or hitch of
a tractor. ~ubular beams 196 converge rearwardly with
respect to the direction P from the top of the coup-
ling member or trestle 193 as seen in the plan view
of ~igure 1 and have their rea~most ends secured
to the top of a gear box 197. As seen in ~igure 1
of the drawings, the coupling member or trestle 193
and the two beams 196 define a truncated substantially
isosceles triangle whose base is foremost with respect
to the direction P and substantially perpendicular
to thQt dire¢tion. Rotary drive is transmitted to
the rake member 191 from the gear box 197 which has
a forwardly projecting rotar~ input 197A whose leading
ded
B splined or otherwise keyed end is ~n~enae to be
placed in driven co~nection with the power take-off
shaft of the operating tractor or other vehicle to
whose three-point lifting device Qr hitch the coupling
U5~
member or trestle is connected in the~e of the machine
by way of an intermediate telescopic transmission shaft
of known construction having universal joints at its
opposite ends. A tubular tie beam 198 has its leading
. ~ . . . .. . .
.;
.
1036369
end with respect to the direction P secured to the
top of the coupling member or trestle 193 adjacent to
the fastening means 195 and said means extends down-
wardly and rearwardly with respect to the direction P :
to have its rearmost end also secured to the top oi the
gear box 197. It will be noted that, as seen in ~igure
1 of the drawings, the beam 198 coincides with a
bisector of the apex angle of the previously mentioned
truncated trian~le that is afforded b~ the parts 193 and
196.
A beam 199 that extends substantially horizon-
tally perpendicular to the direction P has a central
region secured to the top of the ge~r box 197 and also
to the rear ends of the tubular beams 196 and 198. ~he
length of the beam 199 i8 slightly greater than the dia-
meter of the rake member 226 and its opposite e~ds, that
project laterally beyond the rake member~226, are bent
over forwardly through substantiall~ 90 to merge into
tubular wing beam~ 200 that both extend forwardl~ from
the beam 199 in substantially parallel relationship
with the direction P. The leading ends of the two wing
beams 200 are each bent over through less than 90 to
form tubular supports 201 that converge forwardly with
respect to the direction P and that have their leading
ends fastened to lower regions of the coupling member
or trestle 193 close to the fastening means 194. The
parts 199, 200 and 201 can be formed integrally by
suitably shaping a single tubular beam and it will be
apparent from ~igure 1 of the drawings that, together,
~;, . ; :
~()36~69
the~ afford protective brackets that lie above the
rake member 226 and shield that rake member ~rom con-
tact with personnel, upright obstacles and so on.
~ he axis of rotation 192 is also the longitu-
dinal axis of a stationar~ upright shaft whose lower
end has a pair of horizontall~ aligned ground wheels
202 indirectly connected to it. ~he two ground wheels
202 are ~ubstantially symmetrical with respect to a
vertical plane that extends in the direction P and
that contains the axis 192. ~he mou~ting of the ground
wheels 202 is, however, such that their points of
contact with the ground surface are disposed in front
of a vertical plane that is perpendicular to the
direction P and that contains the point of i~tersection
of the axis 192 with the ground surface. ~he ground
wheels 202 are upwardly and dow~wardly adjustable re-
lative to the frame 190 in a manner which ma~ be known
per se and which is not illustrated in the drawing~
but it is noted that this ad~ustability enable~ the
inclination o~ the rake member 226 to the ground sur-
face to be adjusted to, and maintained in, a desired
setting. The left-hand wing beam 200 with respect to
the direction P serves also as a support for a swath board
227 that is located at the left-hand side of the rake member
226. The left-hand end of the transverse beam 199 also
serves, in this embodiment, as a support for a second
swath board 228. lhe rake member 226 has a hub (not
visible) that is rotatable about the axis 192 and from
which a pluralit~, such as eight, of spokes 229 extend out-
^:
-
1036369
wardly at regular angular intervals around said axisand in radial directions as viewed lengthwise of that
axis (Figure 1). ~he inner ends of the spokes 229
are rigidly secured to the hub that has just been ment- :
ioned whilst the outer ends thereof rigidlg support a
ring 168 from which the upper edge of a flexible wall
34 is suspended, said wall being provided with a
pluralit~ of group~ of tine~ which are not actually il-
lustrated in the ~igures 1 and 2 but whose presence
is denoted in the former Figure bg a broken line which
inaicates the circular figure traced by the free ends
or tips of the tines.
~ tubular shaft 230 is pivotally connected by
bearing brackets to the left-hand tubular support 201
and to the left-hand end of the transverse beam 199 in
such ~ way that ~aid tubular support 230 extends sub-
stantially horizontally parallel to the left-hand wing
beam 200. As viewed in plan (~igure 1), the longitudin-
al axis of the shaft 230 intersects the circular tine
tip path (shown bg a broken line and mentioned above)
at two;points that are both close to the left-h~nd
side of the rake member 226. ~wo supports 231 and 232
have their ends secured to the shaft 230 near the leading
end of that shaft and towards the rearmost end thereof,
respectively, said supports 231 and 232 both extending
perpendicular to the shaft 230 in relativelg parallel
relationship. When the machine is employed with the
swath board 227 in an operative position, the supports
231 and 232 are substantially horizontally disposed
, - . . . . :
~ . . . . . . .
. . .. .
,:. ~. . ~ . . .
1036369
and extend laterally from the frP~e 190 and outwards
away from the rake member 226. ~he support~ 231 and 232
are provided with corresponding stops 233 and 234 which
can bear downwardly on the underlying left-hand wing
beam 200. ~he stops 233 and 234 incorporate ~et bolts
235 and 236 respectively and these set bolts can be
adjusted to alter the angular positions of the supports
231 and 232 that exist when the stops 233 and 234 come
into contact with the wing beam 200.
lhe ends of the tubular su~ports 231 and 232
that are remote from the shaft 230 are bent over down-
wardly through substantially 90 to form holders 237
and 238 whose upright lengths are equal to substantially
70h of the lengths of the supports 231 and 232 themselves.
~he holders 237 and 238 are interconnected, near their
upper ends and at their lower ends, by substantially
horizontally disposed tubular tie beams 239 and 240,
the upper beam 239 being prolonged forwardl~ in ~ront
of the holder 237 with respect to the direction P to
form a leading beam 241 that is bent over downwardly
through substantially 110. ~he lower end of the down-
wardly bent over leading beam 241 is secured to the
front end of an axially forward extension of the lower
tie beam 240. A shoe or skid 242 projects .:downwardly
from the lowermost end of the leading beam 241 and is
curYed rearwardly with respect to the direction P so
as to extend parallel to the tie beam 240 for sliding
contact with the crop and/or with the ground surface.
~he beams 239 and 240 are also extended
. - :
10363~j9
behind the holder 238 with respect to the direction P,
the open rear ends of the tubular beams 239 and 240
receiving helical compression springs 243 and 244
respectivel~ whose interual ends bear against plugs
that are not illustrated in the drawings. Upper ~nd
lower pins 245 and 246 are entered telescopically in
the open ends of the tie beam extensions and bear
against the rearmost ends of the springs 243 and 244.
~he two pins 245 a~d 246 are carried by an upright
stretcher 247 that is substantially parallel to the
holders 237 and 238. A framework is formed by the
beams 239 and 240, the leading beam 241 and the
stretcher 247 and that framework is covered on the
side thereof that is closest to the rake member 226
by a screen 248 of flexible material such as oilcloth
er the like. ~he screen 248 is held around the tie beam
239, the leading beam 241 and the stretcher 247 by
stitching that is not shown in the drawing~, the springs
243 and 244 causing the stretcher 247 to maintain the
sc~een 248 in a taut conditiou in the direction P.
~he screen 248 includes a flap which extends downwardl~
below the lower tie beam 240 to an extent such that its
g~1
B lowermost edge normall~ bears~the ground surface behind
the shoe or skid 242. ~h;s allows the swath board 227,
when it is in use, to follow undulations in the ground
surface by sliding thereover, said swath board being
turnable upwardly and downwardly relative to the frame
190 about the axis of the pivotall~ mounted tubular
shaft 230.
- 8 -
. - . . . .
. ~ - - ; .
- ~036369
A plurality, such a~ six, of guide rods 249
extend rearwardly from the holder 238 with respect
to the direction P in perpendicular relationship with
that holder. The guide rods~239 are e~ually spaced
apart from one another and, as will be clear from
~igure 2 of the drawings, are preferably, but not
essentially, formed in integral pairs from single lengths
of spring steel or other rod material. Each rod 249 is
bent over behind the stretcher 247 with respect to the
direction P towards the rake member 226 in such a way
that the bent over rear ends are contained in a sub-
stantially vertical plane that is inclined at an
angle of substantiall~ 20 to a substantially cvertical
plane containing the longitudinal axes of the beams
239 and 240, the leading beam 241 and the stretcher 247.
The bent over rearmo~t ends of the guide rods 249 are
extended rearwardly by further straight synthetic plas-
tic rods 250 having sockets at their leading end that
frictionall~ engage the guide rod~ 249.
~ he swath board 227 is perpendicularly spaced
from the nearest point on the rake member 226 by a
distance which is equal to substantiall~ 7~/o of the
radius of that rake member and, as viewed in side ele-
vation (Figure 2) most of it is in front of the axis
of rotation 192 with respect to the direction P.
A sleeve 251 is welded or otherwise rigidly secured
to the transverse beam 199 closely ad~acent to the bend
by which that beam is i~tegrally connected to the wing
beam 200 and a tubular support 252 is pivotally connected
.
~ 0363~9
to the sleeve 251. ~he support 252 includes a portion
253 that extends forwardly, as viewed in plan (Figure
1), from the beam 199 in perpendicular relation hip
therewith, the leading end of said portion 253 being
bent over through substantially 90 in a direction
away from the swath board 227 to form a latching
portion 254. The latching portion 254 carries a U-
shaped bracket 255 whose limbs are disposed at op-
posite lateral sides of the tubular shaft 230 but
whose extents are such that they pro~ect vertically
above that shaft. A substantially horizontal locking
pin is provided for entry through aligned holes in
the limbs of the bracket 255, above the shaft 230, to
latch the second swath board 228 effectively, but not
fixedly, to said shaft 230 when required.
~ he tubular support 252 can turn upwardly
and downwardl~ about a pivotal shaft relative to the
sleeve 251. ~he pivotal shaft which has just been
mentioned define~ an axis that is substantially
parallel to the beam 199 and forms the principal member
of the pivotal connection between the support 252 and
the sleeve 251. ~he æupport 252 is bent over, behind
the sleeve 251, towards the rake member 226 to form a `-
supporting portion 256 whose longitudinal axis is
inclined to that of the portion 253, at least as
seen in ~igure 1 of the drswings, by an a~gle of
substantiall~ 30~ ~he length of the supporting ~ ~ -
portion 256 is equal to substantially 8CYo of the
radius of the rake member 226. ~he rear end of the
- 10 -
-
;;
10363~9
supporting portion 256 with respect to the directionP is bent back away from the rake member 226 through
an angle of ~ubstantially 60 to form a further support-
ing portion 257 whose length is e~ual to substantially
60% of the radius of the rake member 226. A tubular
beam 258 extends substantially perpendicularly down-
wards from the further supporti~ portion 257 at a
location clo8e to the ~unction of that portion with
the portion 256, said tubular beam 258 having a length
which is approximately equal to that of the further
aupporting portion 257. ~he lower end of the tubular
beam 258 is bent over rearwardly through substantially
90 to form a beam 259 which terminates, as viewed in
plan (~igure 1), substantially vertically beneath the
free rearmost end of the further supporting portion
257. Most of the further supporting portion 257 that
is located rearwardly of the tubular beam 258, the
tubular beam 258 itself and the beam 259 are covered
at the sides thereof that face the swath board 227
by a screen 260 formed from, for example, a sheet
of canvas or rubber. ~he swath board 228 that is
afforded principally by the screen 260 and the parts
which immediately support that screen is inclined at
an angle of substantially 30 to the direction P as
viewed in plan (~igure 1).
In the use of the machine, the wall 34 of the rake
member 226 and its tines will displace hay or other
crop in the direction Q and, simultaneously, opposite
to the direction P. ~he hay or other crop is shed from the
: . -
103~i369
rake member in a region thereof that is generally to the
left of the foremeet point of said rake member with respect
to the direction P so that the eJected crop is thrown
towards the swath board 227 which swath board, of
course, also moves forwardly with the $rame 190 in
the direction P. ~t least some of the crop will also
be contacted, and laterall~ displaced, b~ the rear-
most ends of the forwardly moving guide rods 249 and
the synthetic plastic rods 250. ~he result is to push
the swath or windrow of crop that is formed a short
di~tance back towards the rake member 226 and it tends
to remain in the position to which it is pushed without
irregular bulging due to the resilience of the rods
249 and 250 and the low frictional resistance of their
crop-contacting surfaces. ~he side of the swath or
windrow of crop that has been formed that is nearest
to the member 226 i~ contacted by the second ~wath
board 228 ~hortly after the first swath board 227 ha~
5 i.,S ~ c ~
B ceased to affect the swath or windrow to an~4nif
~æ~ extent because, as will be evidff~t from ~igure 1
of the drawings, the second swath board 228 is located
substantiall~ wholly to the rear of the first swath
board 227 with respect to the direction P. lhe second
swath board 228 is also located to the right, as seen
in ~igure 1 of the drawings with respect to the
direction P, o$ a tangential line (parallel to the
direction P) to the broken line in ~ig~re 1 that
indicates the path of rotation of the tips of the
tines of the member 226 at the left-hand side of that
- 12 -
.
... .
~ . ,. - . .
1036369
member. The second qwath board shapes the adjacent
side of the formed swath or windrow of crop and brings
it to the desired 810ping configuration but also can
function to scrape from the ground and collect into
said swath or windrow any small quantities of hay or
other crop that have been carried round the axis 192
too far in the direction Q by the rake member 226.
~ he ~wath board 227 slides over the ground
surface by way of its leading skid 242 and can
thus follow undulations that it may be meet, it being
remembered that the whole swath board is turnable
upwardly and downwardly relative to the frame 190
about the axis of the tubular shaft 230. ~he ~econd
swath board 228 slides over the OEou~d on the beam 259
and can turn upwardly and downwardly about the axis of
the sleeve 251 to match ground undulations, the limbs
of the bracket 255 also moving upwardly and downwardly
at the opposite ~ides of the ~haft 230. Whe~ the three-
point lifting device or hitch of the operating tractor
or other vehicle is raised to lift the machine clear
of contact with the ground, the first swath board 227
turns downward~yabout the axis of the shaft 230 until
the stops 233 and 234 meet the wing beam 200. The
second swath board 228 turns downwardly about the
axis of the sleeve 251 until the base of the bracket
255 bears against the lower surface of the shaft 230.
In order to bring the machine to a transport position
in which its lateral width and rearward extent are
reduced as compared with a working position of the
- 13 -
.... - ~ , - .. .
1C~3~ 3 ~9
machine, the swath board 227 i8 first turned upwardl~
through substantially 180 about the axis Or the shaft
230 until the supports 231 and 232 bear against a stop
bracket 261 that extends substantially parallel to the
direction P between the beam 199 and the left-hand
tubular support 201. The locking pin interconnecting
the limbs of the bracket 255 is removed and the second
swath board 228 is turned upwardly through substantiall~
180 about the axis of the sleeve 251 to bring it to
a forwardl~ displaced inverted position in which the
supporting portion 256 of the tubular support 252 bears
downwardly on the ~top bracket 261.
~ lthough the embodiment is described for a single
rake member machine, it is emphasised that the swath boards
227 and 228 are also suitable for use in machines with at
least two rake members to be arranged so that the~ are
rotated in the same direction during operation, whereby :~;.
the positioning of the axi~ of rotation of one rake member
is forwardl~ of the axis of rotation of the other rake
member with respect to the intended direction of operative
travel of the machine, the latter rake member being clo-
sest to the swath boards 227 and 228.
- 14 -
. ~ .. . .
: ~ :
