Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~ACKGROUND OF THE I~VENTIOW
This inVentiDn relatas to new and useful improvements in
tripping mechanisms designed particularly for use with ground work-
ing implements such as cultivators or rod weeders which include aground working component mounted on the lower end of a shank.
Conventionally such tripping mechanisms are extremely
complicated in construction and although they may trip adequately,
they rarely permit the cultivating element and shank to be raised
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vertically by the normal controlling mechanism of the implement.
m is means that the cultivating element on the lower end of the
shanks varies in its relative position within the ground depending
~- upon the depth of cultivation. For example with cultivating shovels
mounted on the lower ends of arcuately curved shanks, the shovel
attitude varies the deeper it penetrates the soil, For draft pur- -
pose as well as for efficient cultivation, it is obviously desirable
that tha shovel maintain its attitude relative to the horizontal,
regardless of the depth at which it is working.
Also conventional cultivators usually control the work-
ing depth of the cultivators by varying the height of the frame
which requires considerable power and also alters the attitude of
the cultivators.
Normally there is a rigid mount between the shank and
the support therefor so that if an o~struction is met obliquely, `
no sideways resilience is provided thus straining or damaging the
implement,
The distance travelled by the cultivators in conventional -
construction is usually too small to clear relatively large rocks,
particularly as they are partially pulled from the ground once
again causing s~rain and/or damage to occur~
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5442~;
SUMM~RY OF ?HE INVENTION
The present invention includes both a mounting means and
trip mechanism. The mounting means incorporates a pair of parallel
arms with a cultivator shank carrying crank pivotally mounted to
the outer ends of the arms. The inner ends of the arms mount the
assembly to the frame of the machine.
The parallel linkage enables the cultivating elements
such as a shovel to maintain its attitude relative to the horizontal
as it is raised and lowered to control the depth of penetration,
A link extends between the upper end of the crank and one
of the parallel arms and a heavy duty tension spring extends between
the two arms normally maintaining them in a substantially parallel
position.
If an obstruction is engaged by the cultivating element,
the spring extends and as soon as the obstruction has been passed, ~ --
this spring retracts thus returning the cultivating element to its
original position within the ground. If a severe obstruction is
reached, then the link between the crank and the mounting arm passes
over center thus allowing the cultivating element to move upwardly
with relatively little additional extension of the tension spring,
Once again as soon as the obstruction has been passed, the tension
spring retracts and returns the cultivating element to its original
position.
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This means that the over center action reduces the
load upon the mechanism particularly if a relatively large ob-
struction is engaged yet at the same time permits the obstruc- .
tion to be by-passed by the cultivating element.
One aspect of the invention consists of a trip me-
chanism for ground working implements such as cultivators, rod
weeders and the like which include a supporting frame, shank
means, and a ground working component on the lower end of said ~
shank means, and means to raise and lower said component rela- :
10 tive to said supporting frame; comprising in combination a `
parallel arm linkage assembly pivotally secured by one end
thereof to said supporting frame and extending therefrom, a
shank means supporting crank member operatively and pivotally :
connected to the other end of said parallel arm linkage assem-
bly, and tension spring means operatively connected to said
parallel arm linkage assembly and normally maintaining the
parallelism of said linkage assembly thereby maintaining the ~ ... -.
relative attitude of the shank means and the ground working :
component as same is raised and lowered, said parallel arm
linkage assembly including an upper arm and a lower arm, said
supporting crank member including an upper portion and a lower ~-
portion, said supporting crank member being pivotally connected
intermediate the ends thereof to the other end of said lower
arm, linkage means pivotally connecting the upper portion of
25 said supporting crank member to the other end of said upper arm, -
said tension spring means extending between said arm, said link-
age means comprising a link member pivoted by one end thereof to
the other end of said upper arm and by the other end therof to
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the upper end of said supporting crank member whereby when
said mechanism is tripped, the pivo-tal connection between said
link member and said upper end of said supporting crank member,
passes over center thus facilitating the tripping action of
said mechanism, and means to initiate the return movement of
said member, said last mentioned means including a compressi-
ble elastic stop member mounted on the upperside of said lower `
arm and engageable by said upper portion of said supporting
crank member when the pivotal connection between said link mem-
ber and said upper end of said supporting crank member, passes
over center, said elastic stop member returning said pivotal
connection from the over center position.
A yet further advantage of the invention is to pro-
vide a device of the character herewithin described which is
simple in construction, economical in manufacture and other-
wise well suited to the purpose for which it is designed.
With the foregoing in view, and other such advantages
as will become apparent to those silled in the art to which
this invention relates as this specification proceeds, my inven-
tion consists essentially in the arrangement and constructionof parts all as hereinafter more particularly described, refer-
ence being had to the accompanying drawings in which:
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a side elevation of one of the trip mec-
hanisms shown in the normal ground engaging position.
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Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 but showing
the cultivating element raised clear o~ the ground. `:
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Figure 3 is a view similar to Figures 1 and 2 but showing
the mechanism in the tripped position~
Figure 4 is a rear view of Figure 1.
Figure 5 is a fragmentary cross sactional view of the
crank arm portion per se substantially along the line 5-5 of Figure 1
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In the drawings like characters of reference indicate
corresponding parts in the different figures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTICN
Proceeding therefore to describe the invention in detail,
reference to the accompanying drawings will show a longitudinal frame
member 10 which forms part of a supporting frame work shown general
ly by reference character 11,
Reference character 12 generally illustrates one cultiva-
ting element and tripping assembly. However it will be understood
that a plurality of such devices are normally provided and are in-
terconnected so that they can be raised and lo-~ered, simultaneously
but can trip independently.
In the embodiment described and illustrated, the cultiva-
ting element takes the form of a shovel 13A mounted on the lower end
of an arcuately curved shank 14A which in turn is supported by the
trip mechanism as will hereinafter be described. ~owever it should
be appreciated that the claims are not limited to such a cultivator
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but include many ground working implements which includes an element
mounted on the lower end of a shank or similar structure such as a -
rod weeder or the like.
The tripping mechanism 12 consists of a parallel arm link- :
age assembly collectively designated 13 including an upper arm 14
and a lower 15.
Upper and lower supports 16 and 16A are welded to the
longitudinal frame member 10 and extend rearwardly therefrom and the
upper and lower arms 14 and 15 are pivotally secured to these upper
and lower supports 16 and 16A respectively reference characters 17
and 17A illustrating the pivot points,
A rock shaft 18 extends between adjacent assemblies and ; -
one or more actuating arms 19 are secured to the rock shaft and ex- -
tend upwardly therefrom. The rock shaft is secured to the lower arm ~ .
of the linkage assembly spaced upwardly and slightly forwardly of
the pivot point 17A as clearly shown in Figure 1.
An actuating link 20 is pivotally secured by one end there- , -
of to the upper end of the member 19 and is connected to a fluid
operator or the like (not illustrated) so that it can be moved in
the direction of double headed arrow 21 thus pivoting the linkage `~
assembly from a position for example shown in Figure 1, to a posi- . :
tion shown in Figure 2 and vice versa,
A shank means supporting crank member is designated gener-
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ally by reference character 22 and is angulated a~ illustrated and
includes an upper portion 23 and a lower portion 24,
At a junction between the portions 23 and 24, a pivot 25
pivotally connects the member 22 to the outer end 26 of the lower
arm 15. Linkage means taking the form of a flat link 27 connects
the upper portion 23 to the outer end 28 of the upper arm 14 and
this link 27 is pivotally secured by means of pivots 29 and 30 re-
spectively,
A shank 14A is engaged within a socket formed in the outer
end of the lower portion 24 of the crank member 22 and can be held
therein by any well known means. Of importance is a flat resilient
strip 31 engaged between the underside of the shank 14A and the
lower side 32 of the socket. This permits a certain rasiliency and
acts as a shock absorber for the shank mounting. It also permits
certain sideways flexibility all of which reduces wear and breakage
to the trip assambly.
m e upper arm 14 includes the main substantially horizon-
tal portion 33 and a spring mounting portion 34 extending upwardly
therefrom intermediate the ends thereof, m is spring mounting por-
tion 34 includes a pair of plates 34A in spaced and parallel rela- -
~tionship pivotally mounting a block 35 between the upper ends thers-
of through which a screw threaded high bolt 36 extends and is adjust-
ed in position by means of lock nuts 37 in the usual way,
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A heavy duty tension spring 38 engages the eye bolt 36 by
the upper end thereof and is secured to the lower arm 15 intermedi-
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ate the ends thereof, by anchor means (not illustrated) and this
tension spring which is normally in the closed position, maintains
the arms 14 and 15 in the substantially parallel relationship one :
: with the other unless the device is tripped~
A compressible elastic stop 38A is secured to the upper
side of the lower arm 15 adjacent the outer end 26 as illustrated
in Figures 1 and 2,
In operation, the cultivating element and shank 13A and
14A may be raised or lowered by the actuation of the link 20 and the -
tension spring 38 holds the two arms in the substantially parallel
position so that the horizontal attitude of the shank means support- ~
ing crank member 22 and the shank 14A together with the cultivating : :
element 13A, remains constant. This means that the cultivating
element (in this embodiment a shovel 13A) remains at the same angle
15 relative to the horizontal regardless of the depth of penetration ` :
below ths soil line indicated by dotted line 39.
If however the cultivating element 13A engages an ob-
struction, then the shank and crank member 22 move in the direction
of arrow 40 which forces the upper arm out of the parallel relation- . .
ship with the lower arm and extends spring 38. ~ormal obstructions .
may be cleared this way and when they are passed, the spring 38
forces the arms back into the original position and the cultivating
element back to the set depth below the soil level,
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If however the obstruction is of a major nature, then
the pivotal movement of the member 22 is greater so that link 27
takes up the position shown in Figure 3 with the pivot point 30
between the link and the member 22, passing over center thus facili-
tating the further lifting action without putting too much additionalpressure upon the tension spring 38.
This means that when a major displacement is required,
the movement is not restricted by the increased tension of the
spring 38.
Under these circumstances, the rear surface of the upper
portion 23 of the member 22, compresses the stop 38A and when the
obstruction is passed, this elastic stop 38A initiates the return
movement of the member 22 assisted by the spring 39 so that the
cultivating element 13A once again returns to the previous position
It will be noted that during the tripping action~ link
20 is not moved in the direction of arrow 21 and 22 although it may
rise and fall slightly. Rather the member 19 swings from the posi-
tion shown in Figure 1 to the position shown in Figure 3 around the -
pivotal connection between member 19 and link 20 so that each indi-
vidual cultivator assembly can be tripped independently of the other
without effecting the basic setting of the others.
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1~442~
- Although the cultivating elements can be operated hy- .
draulically through actuating link 20, relatively wide cultivators
require several control valves and perhaps several individual pumps
in order to ensure rapid and accurate c~ntrol, ~owever due to the
relatively light load required to control the depth of the imple-
ment in this invention, it is well suited to control by means of
electric motors which are readily connected to the tractor cab.
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Since various modifications can be made in my invention
as hereinabove described, and many apparently widely different em- ~ .
bodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claims
without departing from such spirit and scope, it is intended that
all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be
interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.
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