Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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QUICK SET VARIABLE SCRAPER PRESSURE COUNTER ASSEMBLY
Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to a piece of agricultural
machinery and more particularly, to a plurality of coulter
assemblies attached to a tool bar; the improvement being a
scraper which is adjustable to exert varying pressure on a
coulter disk.
Background:
Farming in the prairies of North America is quickly
moving to working the land with equipment that produces less
soil disturbance. Reduced soil disturbance is proven to reduce
soil erosion. One method of creating a furrow in the soil is
with the use of a coulter disk which is a tool that penetrates
the soil with a minimal amount of soil disturbance. The
coulter can be used to insert seed, fertilizer and fungicide or
any one of the forgoing into the soil.
One of the consequences of reduced tillage or soil
disturbance is increased soil moisture because of reduced
evaporation of the soil moisture. One of the problems that is
encountered when disk coulters are used to penetrate wet soil
is debris adhering to the sides of the disk.
A spring-loaded scraper can be used to scrape this
debris from the disk. Failure to keep the disk clean increases
the size of the furrow and the amount of soil disturbance. The
debris also reduces the disk's ability to penetrate the soil.
The scraper also functions as a protection system for delivery
tubes that carry seed, fungicide, fertilizer, etc.
Since soil types and moisture conditions vary greatly
from area to area and change with the weather, the amount of
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scraper pressure required to keep the disk clean of debris
varies.
During a seeding operation in wet clay soil, the
scraper pressure required to peel the clay-laden debris off of
the disk is significant. However, in the wet clay soil, there
is a great deal of frictional force available between the disk
and the soil to keep the disk turning.
If the farmer then moves into dry, sandy soil with
the same scraper pressure setting as used in wet clay, the
available frictional driving force between the disk and soil,
may not be adequate to overcome the resistance between the
scraper and the disk. The spring force on the scraper has to
be reduced to be below that which is available between the soil
and the disk or the disk will simply not rotate.
Experience has shown that if there is less frictional
force available between the soil and the disk coulter, less
scraper pressure is required to remove the debris from the side
of the disk.
Therefore, a need exists to have an adjustment to
adjust the amount of pressure of the scraper against the
coulter disk.
SiJN~IARY OF INVENTION
Is an object of the present invention to provide a
scraper which has the ability to adjust pressure in relation to
coulter disk.
The present invention provides a pivoting scraper and
a pivoting torque arm. A torsion spring is attached to the
torque arm to generate the scraping pressure on the disk. The
present invention makes the scraper quickly adjustable for the
variable conditions. A slotted receiver is attached to the
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strut and is appropriately positioned so that it securely holds
the end of the torsion spring in its desired position. The
receiver is a slotted bracket with slots which are equal to the
diameter of the spring wire. When a farmer wants to change the
force of pressure that the scraper places on the coulter disk,
the farmer relocates the moveable end of the torsion spring
into a different slot in the receiver as required. A hollow
tubular handle that has an inner diameter slightly larger than
that of the spring wire is generally used to move the moveable
end of the spring to another slot.
This invention seeks to provide a disk coulter
assembly including:
- a mounting bracket which is attached to a tool bar
frame member;
- a disk coulter attached to a mounting hub;
- said mounting hub rotatably attached to a strut;
- said strut being pivotally attached to said
mounting bracket;
- resilient means;
- a scraper pivotally mounted onto a torque;
transmitting arm which is pivotally attached to said strut
- a torsion spring with one end attached to said
torque transmitting arm and the other end being moveable;
- and a receiving element with at least two slots,
said element being attached to said strut, and capable of
receiving and securing said moveable end of said torsion
spring, such that when desired, and operator can quickly and
easily increase or decrease the force that said scraper places
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on said disk coulter by changing the location of the moveable
end of said torsion spring in the receiving element.
This invention also seeks to provide a coulter
assembly, for use with an agricultural tool bar, adapted to be
pulled behind a power source; said assembly including a scraper
adapted to remove debris and soil from a side of a coulter
disk; said scraper being attached to a torque transmitting arm;
said arm being secured by a torque transmitting arm holder, and
being connected at its upper end to a torsion spring; said
torsion spring being adapted to urge said scraper against a
disk; wherein the improvement is that a lower end of said
spring is adapted to fit within a torsion spring receiver at
various locations, thereby varying the pressure exerted by said
scraper against said disk.
In order to make the scraper quickly adjustable for
the variable conditions; a slotted receiver has been attached
to the strut and appropriately positioned to securely hold the
end of the spring in this desired position. The receiver is a
slotted bracket where the slots are matched to the diameter of
the spring wire.
When a farmer wants to change the force of pressure
that the scraper places on the coulter disk, the farmer
relocates the moveable end of the torsion spring into a
different position in the receiver or slotted bracket as
required. A hollow tubular handle that has an inner diameter
slightly larger than the diameter of the spring wire is
generally used to make the changing of the moveable end of the
spring easier.
BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 shows an isometric view of a typical prior art coulter
assembly without a mechanism for quickly changing the scraper
force;
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Figure 2 is a side view of the scraper side of the coulter of
the present invention;
Figure 3 is a detailed view of figure 2 showing the scraper and
receiver of the coulter assembly;
5 Figure 4 is an isometric view of the coulter assembly of the
present invention;
Figure 5 is a detailed view of figure 4, particularly that of
the torsion spring and torsion spring coil receiver;
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Figure 1 shows the prior art type of coulter assembly without
the adjustment for the scraper pressure. The coulter assembly
is shown generally as 1. At the top of the coulter assembly is
the mounting bracket 2. The mounting bracket has a plurality
of holes, such that the coulter assembly can be raised or
lowered for attachment to a typical agricultural draw bar (not
shown). Mounting bracket 2 is attached to tubular frame 3. An
extension spring 4 keeps pressure on the coulter disk to
maintain it within the soil, in operation. In the particular
embodiment shown in figure 1, there is an eccentric element 7
with a lever 8 which is positioned above tab 6 and above
eyebolt 5. The latter attaches to the extension spring 4. In
this particular prior art coulter assembly, the coulter can be
lowered or lifted by use of the eccentric element. At the
bottom of extension spring 4, is a scraper tine 9 in which is
fitted a scraper tine 10. The scraper tine operates to clean
debris from the opposite side of the coulter shown in figure 1.
As typical in all coulter assemblies, there is a
coulter disk 11, which generally consists of a flat disk with
sharpened circumference. This is used to penetrate the earth
generally at an angle and create a furrow. A larger scraper
12, which is torsioned with pressure thereon, is kept in
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contact with coulter disk 11 by means of scraper torsion spring
15. A scraper shaft or torque transmission shaft 13, is
attached to the scraper 12. The scraper spring 15 encompasses
the upper portion of the shaft 13. The scraper also serves to
protect the granular products depositing tube 14.
In figure 2, which is a side view of the present
invention, one sees the scraper 12 torsionally mounted on to
the side of coulter disk 11. The surface of the ground 16 is
shown. Generally in operation, the coulter disk 11 would
penetrate 1 or 2 inches into the ground, depending on the seed
being sewn. Coulter disk 11 is secured to a mounting hub 17.
As shown in figure 3, there are bolt holes 18 which
attach the mounting hub to the coulter disk. The mounting hub
rotates about a spindle 19 which is secured at one end by a
seal 20. The spindle 19 is secured to the bottom of strut 21.
As shown in figure 2, strut 21 is pivotally secured
to coulter mounting bar 22 which in turn is secured to a
horizontal frame member 24 of a tool bar by means of tool bar
connecting bracket 26. Bolts 35 secure tool bar connecting
bracket 26 to tool bar frame member 24.
As shown more clearly in figure 3, the scraper 12 is
attached to right angled scraper shaft or torque transmitting
arm 27. The scraper shaft 27 is attached to the scraper by
means of a retaining pin 28. A scraper torsion spring 29 which
has an upper loop 33 is bolted to scraper shaft 27 at its upper
end by means of scraper spring bolt 30.
In the present invention, the lower end of the
scraper torsion spring 29 is adapted to fit within the slots of
scraper torsion spring bracket or receiving bracket 31.
As shown if figure 5, the lower end of scraper
torsion spring 29 is labelled as 32. In figure 5, it is shown
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in one of the slots of the scraper torsion spring bracket.
Also shown in figure 5 and nut 34 secures scraper spring bolt
30 to both the upper portion 33 of spring 29 to scraper shaft
27.
Turning back to figure 3, one sees fertilizer
connector tube 36. In figure 2, extension spring 37, as well
as torque transmitting arm holder 38 can be viewed.
In operation, in order to increase or decrease the
pressure of scraper 12 against coulter disk 11, the lower end
32 of scraper torsion spring 29 is moved into different slots
of scraper torsion spring receiver bracket 31. The farmer can
use a hollow tube tool to lift end 32 out of a slot of the
scraper torsion spring receiver bracket and to place the same
in another slot with lesser or greater spring pressure.
