Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
WO92/17051 PCT/GB92/00422
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IMPROVED TILLING APPARATUS
This invention relates to improved tilling
apparatus and to ploughs embodying such tilling apparatus
wherein the tilllng apparatus comprises a primary rotary
tilling member, together with a secondary tilling member
associated therewith.
There is a need for aiding ground preparation,
for ploughing, stubble incorporation and the like which is
an improvement over existing systems. Existing ground
preparation equipment, such as disc ploughs, usually
comprises a plough beam or frame to which is attached at
least one plough disc. Such apparatus, when used for
ploughing, especially for the purpose of incorporating
stubble, is not always economical to use on heavy land and
under unpredictably varying soil conditions. The problem
of straw and stubble incorporation is well known and
various solutions have been proposed, which include burning
:the stubble and burying the stubble into-the soil using
soil mixing implements such as tynes and mouldboard
ploughs. Burning is undesirable with regard to the smoke
pollution it creates whilst tynes and mouldboard ploughs
are inefficient, expensive, unreliable and can result in
incomplete burial of the straw.
While a variation of this plough using a soil
inversion wheel is an advance over disc ploughs, there is
still a requirement to provide an improved tilling
apparatus particularly suitable for aiding ploughing, more
especially where straw and stubble needs to be incorporated
in the soil.
The present invention provides a secondary
tilling member associated with the primary concave tilling
member which assists in further turning and inverting the
soil so as to provide a very good coverage and burial of
- straw or stubble at the surface of the ground being
cultivated.
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A preferred aspect of the invention provides a
plough comprising a frame and, supported by said frame,
tilling apparatus comprising a primary concave tilling
member rotatable by reaction with the ground to be tilled
and inclined to the direction of forward movement to
provide a soil tilling and ploughing action and a
secondary, smaller, rotary member mounted within the
concavity of said primary tillinq member and inclined with ~ ;
respect to the primary tilling member characterised in that
the secondary, smaller, rotary member is a tilling member
more greatly inclined to the direction of forward movement
in order to displace a sliver of soil together with stubble ~-
and straw off the surface of the ground, the primary
tilling member being operative in use of the plough to roll
the clean soil from the underside of the sliver over to
cover the sliver of soil, stubble and straw initially
displaced, the secondary tilling member being rotatable
about its axis.
While the primary tilling member may be a
conventional concave plough disc, it is preferred that it
be a soil inversion wheel comprising a substantially planar
diSC having a frusto-conical flanged rim as being more
efficient than the conventional disc. Similarly, the
secondary tilling member may be a conventional plough disc
shaped member or an inversion wheel and in some cases may -
simply comprise a flat disc or skimmer. While the tilling
members need not necessarily be comprised by a solid disc ~-
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~or member but may have a perforated or otherwise partially -
open centre and/or have a shaped or scalloped cutting edge,
this is particularly true of the secondary tilling member
which may be in the form of a spoked wheel or perforated
disc having a cutting perimeter as long as it has a
peripheral edge which is capable of moving soil which ~ --
primarily will be some of the soil displaced by the primary
tilling member but which in some cases may be surface soil
which has not been shifted prior to engagement with the
- I United Kingdom Patent Offlce I SUBSTITU~E SHET
~ PCr International App'ication
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secondary tilling member.
By having the secondary tilling member freely
rotatable relative to the primary tilling member, during
ploughing, as will be described, both tilling members will
be independently rotated due to the reaction of the forward
travel of the discs over the ground being cultivated.
However, it is possible for one or both of the tilling
members to be mechanically driven and one particular
possibility is to have the secondary tilling member
mechanically driven, for example by a universal jointed
linkage, by the larger disc so as to be rotatable thereby.
Preferably, a point is provided to penetrate the
ground in front of the primary tilling member and a land
slide may be provided extending rearwardly from the point
beneath the tilling member to assist in maintaining
directional stability of the plough, both directionally and
assisting in maintaining a consistent depth.
The invention will be further described, by way
of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in
which:-
Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of a portionof a plough embodying the present invention: -
Figures 2, 3 and 4 are each diagrammaticperspective views of tilling apparatus having a plough disc
as primary tilling element, the secondary tilling member
shown in Figure-2 being a disc, that shown in Figure 3
being an inversion wheel and that shown in Figure 4-being a
skimmer;
Figures 5, 6 and 7 are views similar to Figure 2
but each having an inversion wheel as primary tilling
element and with the secondary tilling elements in Figures
5, 6 and 7, respectively being an inversion wheel, a disc
and a skimmer; and
Figures 8 to 13 are top views of the apparatus
shown in Figures 2 to 7, respectively.
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¦ United Kingdom Patent O~ SH -ET
I PCT International Applicatjon l SUBSTITUT L
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Referring to Figure 1, there is shown therein in
top plan view part of a plough having a beam 1 from which
are trailed various plough units by means of pivot
connections 2. Trailing from each pivot connection 2 is a
frame member 3, only part of each of which is shown in
Figure 1. This frame member extends rearwardly over the .;
top of the tilling apparatus 4 having downwardly extending
therefrom forwardly of the tilling apparatus an upright
member 11 and having near its rear end a downwardly
depending pivot support 8.
A hollow shaft 7 extends from pivot support 8 and
rotatably carries a primary tilling element shown as a
plough disc 5. Rotatably supported by means extending
within the sha~t 7 is a smaller tilling member in the form
of a plough disc 6. Supported by the member 11 is a plough
point 10 extending forwardly of the leading edge of the . . ~
tilling members and extending rearwardly from the point 10 :
beneath the tilling members is a landslide 9. The pivot .~
support 8, instead of being supported solely from above, :.
can be supported both from above and below with the lower
connection extending from near the rear end of the
landslide 9.
During use of the plough shown in Figure 1, it :.
will be drawn forward over the soil in the direction of the :
arrow. The point 10 penetrates the soil so as to assist ~:.
later penetration by the leading edge of the primary
tilling element disc 5. The disc 5 is inclined to the
direction of forward movement and is caused to rotate by ::
the action of being dragged through and over the ground so
as to cause lifting and turning of the soil as :~
diagrammatically illustrated. While, normally, the disc 5
will be arranged with its plane substantially upright :
relative to the ground, in some cases, the operator may
wish to have it rearwardly tilted, relative to the
direction of movement, with the amount of tiling, in an
extreme case, possibly being as much as 25 to 30. The
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United Kingdom Patent Office~ SUBST~TUTE SHEET
PCT Interna.tional Application
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benefit of the present invention comes from the provision
of the secondary tilling element 6 which is received within
the concave primary tilling member and is also caused to
rotate by reaction to forward movement of the plough. Soil
which has initially been started to turn by the action of
the primary diæc 5 is further turned by the action of the
secondary tilling member 6 with the combination effect of
the two discs assisting in providing better coverage of the
top soil by soil brought up from beneath, during use of the
plough. As illustrated in Figure 1, the plough is arranged
for right-hand ploughing, that is turning the furrow to the
right as the plough is drawn forwardly through the ground.
Where left-hand ploughing is required, the angle of
inclination of the beam 1 to the direction of movement will
be reversed and the tilling apparatus 4 will be rotated
about the pivot 8 so as to be suitably disposed after that - ;
movement of the beam 1 to provide left-hand ploughing.
Figure 2 diagrammatically illustrates the
arrangement of two discs as tilling members as shown in
Figure 1. Figure 3 is a similar view but shows the use of
an inversion wheel instead of the secondary tilling member,
while Figure 4 shows the use of a flat skimmer.
Figures 5, 6 and 7 are similar to Figures 2, 3
and 4 but in each case using an inversion wheel 16 as the
primary tilling member with, in Figure 5, there being used
as secondary tilling member an inversion wheel 14, in
rUnited Kingdon~ Patent~i~ SUBSTIll~ S~
l PCT Internationa~ App.lcatlon
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Figure 6 a plough disc 6 and in Figure 7 a skimmer 18.
Figures 8 to 13 are top diagrammatic views of the
apparatus shown in Figures 2 to 7 with Figure 8 having two
discs 5 and 6, Figure 9 having a disc 5 and inversion wheel
14, Figure 10 having a disc 5 and a skimmer 18, Figure 11
having inversion wheels 16 and 14, Figure 12 having an
inversion wheel 16 and disc 6 and Figure 13 having an
inversion wheel 16 and a skimmer 18.
As will be appreciated from Figure 1, the plough
comprises tilling apparatus each having primary and
secondary tilling members arranged in a generally
upstanding attitude with respect to the ground. The ;
staggered formation permits progressive ploughing of a
series of parallel furrows. -
The preferred embodiment of the equipment
comprises a large primary tilling member 5 or 16 provided
with a statio~ary or rotationary axle protruding from its
axis on its concave side. From this axle is supported the
secondary tilling member comprising a disc 6,~an inversion
wheel 14 or a skimmer 18. All the discs and soil inversion
wheels rotate and are land-driven whilst being held in a
near vertical attitude with respect to the ground. The ~
smaller tilling member 6 or 14 is angled to towards to the ~-
front of the larger tilling member 5 or 16 and preferably
is supported at a different height. :: .
As the plough frame is pulled behind a tractor or
the like, the large tilling element engages the ground,
rotating and penetrating to the required depth. At this
depth the small tilling member is positioned so as to
rotate and cut a sliver of soil, plus the stubble and straw
off the surface of the ground, manoeuvreing it into the
open furrow formed by the preceding tilling apparatus. The
clean soil from the underside of the sliver is then rolled
over by the larger tilling member, covering the sliver of
soil, stubble and straw whilst rotating. Generally, the
large tilling element is rotatable by the reaction of being
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drawn across and through the ground with, necessarily,
assuming that it is not additionally mechanically driven,
the angle of inclination of the tilling element to the -
direction of travel being not so steep that rotation will
be inhibited. The secondary tilling member, because it is
more steeply inclined to the direction of movement of the
first tilling member, can well be in a situation that it
would be, in essence, stalled as compared with the
direction of movement over the ground, such that a disc at
that angle to the ground would not be rotated. However,
the secondary tilling member is engaged by soil which has
already been moved by the primary tilling member and thus
the drive to the secondary tilling member is by the action -
of movement of the secondary tilling member relative to the
soil which is already being moved by the primary tilling
member and this will be adequate to rotate the secondary -~
tilling member. However, as indicated previously, it is
also possible to drive the secondary tilling member
~mechanically, for example simply by;providing a mechanical
connection from the primary tilling member.
As compared with a conventional plough, it has
been found that this structure provides, in a simple and
relatively inexpensive arrangement, an aid to ground
preparation having the advantages of providing more
efficient shattering of the soil and better total stubble
and straw coverage by the soil with good plough working
speed and a predictable ploughing action.
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