FRONT APPARATUS PROVIDED WITH QUICK COUPLING

Front apparatus provided with quick coupling

The present invention relates to an agricultural machine according to the preamble of Claim 1. In recent years it has become common to provide various machines with front apparatus. GB-B-2323510 illustrates and describes a press roller with front apparatus, where an apparatus is mounted so that it can be separately ^"raised and lowered on the frame of the main apparatus, while another front apparatus is fixed directly thereon. As tractors have increased in power and thus acquired an ever greater capacity to tow large apparatus, the trend among leading manufacturers has been to combine several types of working devices in the same machine. This allows a number of work operations to be carried out as the tractor moves across a field in order thereby to save time and reduce the undesired soil compaction which heavy tractors often cause. For example, it may be possible simultaneously to level (crush), harrow, sow and recompact a ploughed field. Or to remove stubble, sow and recompact a field in the same crossing. This is just one example, and it is possible to conceive of a number of different combinations. As agriculture has become more rationalized in structure, i.e. in most cases farms have become larger, increasing numbers of farmers are having to work increasingly varied types of soil. Different soil types can include heavy clay (high clay content), light clay, fine sandy soil, peat, light sand, etc. In addition, varying amounts of stones are present. It will be readily appreciated that the various soil types, in which entirely different crops are often cultivated, must be worked in different ways and with different implements, apparatus and methods. A further consideration is that the soils are different in spring and autumn and, depending on moisture, the variables are numerous. At the same time, leading manufacturers of equipment have developed increasingly more efficient types of apparatus in which the various groups of work devices in front of the main apparatus can be adjusted hydraulically from the driver's position so as to function optimally. In certain cases, the front apparatus has been provided with an extra set of work devices which can be used when a soil type or other condition so requires. This leads to the apparatus becoming unwieldy, heavy, and in some cases more^'expensive than is necessary.

The object of the invention is to develop an agricultural machine of the type which has at least two sections and thus a considerable width, where the machine is flexible in construction and use.

This object is achieved with an agricultural machine which has the characteristic features set out in patent Claim 1.

Preferred embodiments of the invention have been given the characteristic features set out in the dependent claims.

By means of the design of an agricultural machine according to the invention, the farmer is easily able to change between different types of front apparatus in order thereby to be able to work with optimum efficiency. The agricultural machine is normally so bulky that it cannot be transported by truck without the front apparatus being disassembled. With previous techniques, such assembly work is both difficult and time-consuming, as a result of which there may be less commercial demand for the agricultural machine with front apparatus.

Quick couplings have for many years been used on vehicles and apparatus for handling of goods, for example loading machines and front loaders, where different types of apparatus are used such as scoop, grip shovel, stacking blade, pallet forks, etc. By contrast, no special quick coupling for agricultural machines has been proposed. In the case of the quick coupling in question here, one requirement is that of great flexibility. The quick coupling must be able to be used on a number of different types of front apparatus, which imposes widely differing requirements in respect of adjustability, space, lateral forces, torsional rigidity in different planes, and cost.

The quick coupling is intended to solve the problems involved in incorporating it in a structural system. Among other things, different module sizes of one side part of the quick coupling must be able to be mounted together with one and the same side part belonging to the quick coupling and also, ^"when ^"required, in different height positions. To satisfy the various requirements, the coupling has been constructed as a multiple system in which all the suspension axles and holes have been given a predetermined distance A and are thus identical in diameter. The distances between these axles and/or holes can vary, and it has been found expedient for this purpose to have a multiple distance of between 2A and 3A, preferably 2.5A, in the latter case for example 5A, 7.5A, etc. The diameter A of said axles and holes should lie between ca. 20 mm and ca. 25 mm for reasons of strength.

In a further development of the agricultural machine according to the invention, by providing the front apparatus with an interface in a suitable line in which a quick coupling according to the concept of the invention is arranged, different types of front apparatus can easily be attached. The quick coupling must be designed to take up the loads which occur in the different front apparatus. In certain types of front apparatus, the interface must also be able to be set at different angles to permit the desired result. The front apparatus can be raised and lowered, for example, irrespective of the design of the quick coupling.

By means of this construction, the farmer can easily change between a front disk apparatus and a front cultivator apparatus or other type of front apparatus. The front apparatus can be of widely varying types, for example with or without stone removal. It is evident that this solution can lead to less capital expenditure being invested in apparatus in a farm of a certain size. A farmer often has a number of different apparatus for his tractor. The solution described here makes it possible to invest in different front apparatus which are coupled to one and the same "basic apparatus", which overall results in lower investment requirements.

Constructing a coupling system in the abovementioned manner results in a very high degree of compatibility, while modular production is achieved and customer satisfaction optimized. The agricultural machine according to the invention is described in more detail below with reference to the attached drawings which show preferred embodiments. Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of an agricultural machine according to the invention. Fig. 2 is a partial perspective view of part of the agricultural machine according to the invention in which a quick coupling is shown in the disconnected state. Figures 3a-d show side views of some designs of said quick coupling. Figures 4a and 4b show side views of an embodiment of a quick coupling. Figures 5a and 5b show plan views of the embodiment in Fig. 1. Figures 6a and 6b show side views of two extension parts of the quick coupling according to the invention. Fig. 7 shows a side view of the parts in Fig. 6 in the assembled state.

Fig. 1 shows an agricultural machine 1 according to the invention being drawn by a tractor 2 by means of a draw bar 3 which is mounted on the machine and oriented forwards, viewed in the direction of travel. The machine shown in Fig. 1 is a press roller 4 comprising three sections 5, 6 and 7. These sections can be pivoted by means of a piston and cylinder arrangement 8 in order, as is described in EP-B-0334880, to assume a working position (in accordance with Fig. 1) and a transport position (not shown) in which the two wheel pairs 9 and 10 roll along the ground in the direction of travel and the outer sections are thus parallel with the direction of travel. Coupled and fixed onto the front of each section there is a front apparatus 11, 12 and 13. The machine shown in Fig. 1 additionally has two outer sections with rollers 14 and 15 with front apparatus 16 and 17, respectively. The front apparatus, which in this embodiment are thus five in number, are coupled to each section by means of quick couplings 18. At those locations where there is no quick coupling to support part of a front apparatus, there is a ball and socket coupling or the like which automatically engages on deployment of the roller.

When a quick coupling according to the invention is used in such an agricultural machine in which the side sections are folded upwards, for example in a sowing machine or harrow, the front apparatus are folded with the sections.

Fig. 2 shows part of the agricultural machine 1 according to the invention in the area of one of the rows of quick couplings 18, extending transverse to the direction of travel, between front apparatus and main apparatus. The quick coupling comprises two side parts 19, 20 , of which one 19 has a substantially vertical row consisting of a suspension axle 21 and three suspension holes 22 arranged to receive the other part's hook- shaped grip recess 23 and a hole 24 for a locking pin (not shown). The side part 19 consists of two plates 25, 26 connected with a spacing between each other and intended to receive the side part 20 between them.

For adjusting the inclination of the front apparatus in the longitudinal direction, the plates 25, 26 of the side part 19 are also suspended at the top in an articulated manner on arms 27 and 28, respectively, arranged rigidly on the machine. At the bottom, the plates are connected to the frame of the machine by means of an adjustable rigging screw 29 which can be turned to alter the inclination of the side part in the vertical plane and regulate the inclination of the front apparatus.

Figures 3a - 3c show three embodiments of a side part with hook- shaped grip recesses and holes for locking pin(s). Fig. 3d shows the opposite side part with suspension axles and holes for cooperation with one of the side parts in Figures 3a - 3c. All the suspension axles, holes and hook-shaped recesses have been given a predetermined diameter A and are thus substantially identical in diameter. The distances between these axles, holes or recesses can vary, and it has been found to be expedient for the purpose concerned to have a multiple distance of between 2A and 3A, preferably 2.5A, in the latter case for example 5A, 7.5A, etc. The diameter A of said axles and holes should lie between ca. 20 mm and ca. 25 mm for reasons of strength.

Figures 4 and 5 illustrate a further embodiment of the quick coupling according to the invention, Figures 4a and 5a showing a side part 30 with two upper hook-shaped grip recesses 31, 32 and a lower hole 33, open to the side, for a locking pin. Figures 4b and 5b show two plates 35, 36, spaced apart by a spacer plate 34, of a side part 37 with two axles 38, 39 and a hole 40 for a locking pin for cooperation with the side part 30 according to Figures 4a and 5a.

Figures 6a and 6b show two intermediate coupling parts 41 consisting of bent plates 42 and 43 (Fig. 7) which are fixed to each other and with hook- shaped grip recesses 44 and suspension axles 45 and holes 46 for locking pins. By mounting one or more such intermediate coupling parts in the quick coupling, the distance of the front apparatus from the main apparatus can be adjusted.

It is of course possible, within the scope of the attached patent claims, to combine features from the above-described embodiments with each other.