US1893506A - Loader - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 10, 1933. T. H. OPPENHEIM LOADER Filed March 9 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jam 5%, 1%33 QPPENHEIM I 1,893,506

' LOADER Filed March 9, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ian. 10, 1933. oPP M 1,893,506

LOADER Filed March 9. 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jan. 1Q, 1933. T. H. OPPENHEIM LOADER 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 9. 1931 ff M Theodore @w Patented Jan. 10, 1933 UNITED STA THEODORE H. OPPENHEIM, OF COLDWATER, OHIO, ASSIGITOR'TO THE NEW IDEA SPREADER 00., A CORPORATION" OF OHIO LOADER Application filed March 9, 1931. Serial No. 521,190.

This invention relates to loaders.

The principal object of the invention is other mat elevating hay or branch leaves, blades, blossoms,

erial having es or the like,

from the swath or wind-row and delivering the same on a wagon or othe with a minimum amount of agitation.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved loader having its operating mechanism so arranged that the gathering and elevating elements operate in timed relation.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved deck for a loader having novel means for preventing return movement of the material during its elevating movement.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of anew and improved loader that is comparatively inexpensive to manufacture,

easily assembled, eflicient in operation, and that is notlikely to become broken or get out oforder.

Other and further objects andadvantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of disclosing the invention, with away;

a hay loader parts broken Fig. 1a is a similar view of the upper end of the loader shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section on 7 line 2-,-2 of Fig. 3, with parts broken away;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the loader,

with parts broken away;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a portion of a modified form of floor or bottom wall for the deck;

Figure 5 is a cross-section of mg .amodified form of bearing a deck showsupport Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of a modified form of deck floor Fig. Tie a perspective View of a portion of a modified form of deck;

Fig. 8 is a perspective View of a portion of forms of hay 9 or Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings, the reference character 10 designates generally the platform or frame on which the loader is mounted, and comprises the side bars 11 and the transverse bars 12. The platform is supported at its forward end by the drive wheels 13 and 14 and at'its rear end by the casters 15 and 16, as is usual in such constructions.

The material gathering member is shown at 17 and may be of any suitable construction, that shown, which is by way of example only, being in the form of a rotating cylinder having bars 20 pivoted thereon, on which are rigidly mounted the teeth 18. Each of the bars 20 is provided with a cam wiper 19, see Fig. 1, which is adapted to engage the cam member 21 for holding the bars and the teeth attached thereto in operative position during a portion of the rotation of the member 17.

The construction and operation of this portion of the mechanism may be and preferably is similar to that disclosed in patent to Hartman 1,353,586 ofSeptember 21, 1920.

The elevator comprises a deck designated generally by the reference character 22 and suitable elevating mechanism as will presently appear. The deck includes the side members 23 and the bottom wall or floor 24. In the form of construction disclosed in Figs. 1 to 3 the bottom member 24 is continuous throughout the width of the deck. It is preferably, though not necessarily, made of sheet metal. Suitable braces 25 and 26 are provided for holding the deck in proper inclined position.

Suitable elevating mechanism is employed for elevating the material. Any suitable mechanism may be employed for this purpose. In the formof construction shown, which is by way of example only, the elevating mechanism is substantially the same as that disclosed in the Hartman patent and comprises two sets of reciprocating elevator bars 27 and 28 arranged to operate 180 apart. These bars are movably connected to journal boxes 29 which in turn are j ournaled on the crankshaft 31.

Each set of bars is provided with a corresponding set of pitmen 32 and 33 respectively, for giving the elevator bars an elliptical movement. Each of the pitmen 82 is pivotally connected at its upper end to the corresponding elevator bar 27 and at its lower end is pivotally connected to the extended portion 34 of the crankshaft 31. The pitmen 33 are likewise pivoted at their upper ends to the corresponding bars 28 and at their lower ends are pivoted to the extended portions 35 of the crankshaft 81. Each of the elevator bars is provided with teeth 36 for elevating the hay delivered to the elevator by the gathering cylinder. Each of the elevator bars is provided with a guide or bail 37 for guiding the upper end of said bars.

Since the details of the construction and mounting of the pitmen and elevator bars constitute no part of the present invention it is not thought necessary to further lllustrate or describe the same.

In loading hay, vines, stalks, branches and other material from the swath or wind-row it is desirable that the same be subjected to a minimum amount of agitation in order not to strip off the blades, leaves, blossoms, branches or the like. A considerable amount of the value of the material is in these elements, and for that reason it is highly desirable to preserve them. On becoming dry they are easily detached and in order to preserve them it is necessary to subject the material to as little agitation as possible in handling. In the reciprocating bar type of loader as heretofore constructed, the material, during the loading operation, slides back down the elevator to a certain extent during the interval between the elevating strokes of the bars, and this movement results in unnecessary agitation of the material.

The present invention seeks to avoid this diiliculty by the provision of means for preventing the return movement of the material during its elevation. In the form of construction selected to illustrate one embodiment of the invention the bottom wall 24 of the deck is provided with means for preventing the return movement of the hay. As

shown, this bottom member is corrugated or stepped with the corrugations extending transversely thereof. VVhlle the entire length of this member is preferably corruthe metal at these points, especially if galalong with the material vanized material be used, because sharp bending will cause galvanizing to flake ofi more or less.

In order to prevent water from collecting on the corrugated surface the upper surfaces 39 of these corrugations are inclined downwardly for draining the water downwardly of the deck, as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. By means of this arrangement the material will be held in its advanced position by the outstanding walls 39 of the floor of the deck.

If desired, this holding arrangement may be supplemented by cooperating holding members 41 of any suitable construction. Each of the members 41, in the form shown in Fig. 3, comprises an attaching base portion 42 and an outwardly extending hay retaining portion 43.

The rear edge of the upstanding portion 43 is inclined upwardly and forwardly in order that the material may readily pass over the same and the upper or forward edge of the member extends at an abrupt angle to the floor of the deck as clearly shown in Fig. 2 for holding the material in advancedzpos'ition. These holding members may be made from angle irons or other suitable material.

In order to further decrease the agitation of the material during the loading operation it is desirable that the elevating bars be operated in timed relation to the movement of the material gathering member 17.. In the form of construction shown this is accomplished by operating the crankshaft and the gathering cylinder from the same drive chains. As shown, the gathering cylinder 17 at each side of the loader is provided with a sprocket 44 and the crankshaft is provided with a sprocket 45 of the same number of teeth as the sprocket 44. It is evident that other ratios between the number of teeth on these two sprockets may be employed. A sprocket chain 46 trained over a sprocket 47 carried by the ground wheel and-about an idler sprocket 48 is adapted to extend about the sprockets 44 and 45 for operating the same. A

In an arrangement where the gathering cylinder is provided with gathering teeth or-fingers and only two sets of elevator bars are employed, these bars are operated to receive the material directly from each alternate row of teeth on inder. The material collected by the preceding row of teeth will have sufiicient space at the base of the elevator and will beengaged by the teeth of the elevator members delivered by the succeeding row of teeth on a minimum amount of agitation of the material.

In all arrangements, the teeth '36 of the elevator bars will {engagethe material .delivered by the teeth 18 ofthe gathering cylinfour rows of i the cylthe cylinder, with der immediately before the cam wipers of the teeth 18 pass beyond the cam 21, whereby a minimum of agitation of the material delivered by the gat iering cylinder to the elevator mechanism is accomplished.

The relative rates of rotation of the sprockets a4 and 15 will depend on the number of sets of elevating bars employed as well as on the number of rows of teeth on the gathering member. The arrangement may be varied, but in any event the movement of the parts will beso arranged as to reduce the agitation of the hay to a minimum consistent with efiiciency in gathering and elevating the same. The arr; ngement of course will vary with the angular distance between the rows of teeth of the cylinder, or with the number of sets of elevator bars employed, but in any event it is desirable that the teeth of the elevator bars en age the hay immediately before the teeth of the gathering cylinder are released.

The amount of material delivered by the gathering cylinder to the elevator deck will vary considerably, and in order to avoid unnecessary agitation of the material with consequent detaching -of the blades, leaves, branches or the like from the stalks when abnormal amounts are delivered to the deck by the gathering mechanism, means are provided for accommodating the variation in amounts delivered. This may be accomplished by automatically increasing the distance between the elevator bars and the bottom wall of the deck. As shown, the floor or bottom wall 2-1 of the deck is unattached or floating at its lower end. This floor rests on the cross bar 49 and is unattached to the deck from that point to the lower end thereof.

The lower portion of the floor or bottom wall may be and preferably is provided with guards or aprons 280 and 240 at each side thereof, see Fig. 9. These aprons are rigidly connected to the floor and extend upwardly and then outwardl and constitute sides or guards for the side edges of the floor when the same is forced downwardly below the side walls 23 by abnormal loads of hay forced along the same. Since the corrugations or steps of the bottom wall 2% extend transversely of the wall, they will strengthen the wall transversely but will not interfere with the yielding downwardly of the lower portion of the wall.

If desired, a spring 51 may be employed at each side of the elevator for assisting in holding the lower end of the floor in its normal position. The resiliency of the floor and of the springs 51 will permit the floor to yield to receive any extra amount of hay delivered by the teeth of the gathering cylinder. If desired, the springs 51 may be attached to a cross-bar 52 secured to and movable with the bottom wall 24 of the loader.

By means of this arrangement the floor of the deck will becaused to automatically descend by the pressure developed for increasing the space for receiving any abnormal amount of material delivered by the gathering mechanism, thereby avoiding packing or crowding of the material and the unnecessary agitation of the same during the loading operation.

The crankshaft 81 is of such length and the cranks of such shape, form and length that more or less vibration results during the operation of the loader. Furthermore, the operation of the elevator bars in forcing the material upwardly along the deck causes downward thrust on the crankshaft, thus tending to distort the shaft.

In order to reduce this vibration to prevent distortion of the shaft and enable the device to operate more smoothly and with a minimum amount of wear on the journals, it is desirable that the crankshaft be provided with a bearing at an intermediate portion. As shown, a supporting bar 54 attached at its lower end to an angle bar 55 secured to the transverse or end frame member 56 and attached at its intermediate portion to the transverse frame member 57 by the angle bar 58, is provided at its upper end with a hearing 59, see Fig. 2, in which the intermediate portion of the crank shaft 31 is journaled.

By means of this arrangement the intermediate portion of the crankshaft 31 is not only supported but is braced against downward thrust.

In Fig. 1 is shown a modified form of bot- '5;

tom wall or'floor for the deck. In this form of construction a plurality of slats 61 extending longitudinally of the elevator, are employed. If desired, these slats may be corrugated similar to the wall 24, but as shown 4 they are plane surfaces and each is provided with a plurality of holding or anchor members 62 of any suitable construction. It will thus be seen that the agitation of the material is reduced to a minimum at every stage in loading the same, and as a consequence the leaves, blooms, branches, blades or the like which have considerable value, are not stripped from the stalks, branches or vines and lost, as has been the case to a very large extent in loaders heretofore.

In the form of construction shown in Fig. 5, a modified form of means for supporting the intermediate bearing is provided. As

shown, upright braces 63 and 64 are secured 63 and 64 may, if desired, be c'ontinu'ations of the brace members 71, see Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings.

In Fig. 6 is shown a modified form of deck floor. In this form of construction the corrugations 72 are arranged in a non-straight line extending across the floor. In the specific construction shown they are curved with the central or concave portion extending downwardly.

The form of construction shown in Fig. 7 differs from that shown in Figs. 1 to 4 in that the connecting portions 73 and 74 of the corrugations 75 are curved rather than angular as-in the previous construction.

It is understood that the forms of retaining means and their arrangement as illustrated and described are by way of examples only, and that other forms and arrangement of the corrugations or other holding means may be employed as desired or as occasion may require.

In Fig. 8 are shown a plurality of modified forms of holding members. IVhere the floor of the deck is formed from sheet metal the upper face 76 of the corrugations 77 may have portions slitted on three sides and the parts bent outwardly to form retaining members 78, or if desired the inclined portions 79 of the corrugations may be slitted and bent outwardly to form the angular retaining member 81 as shown in said figure. If desired, the retaining members may be made from rods bent to U-shape as shown at 82, the members being attached to the corrugations 77 or floor of the deck by suitable clips 83 which permit the free ends of the rod to have a limited movement to and from the floor of the deck, or the U-shaped retaining member 82 may be secured on the uncle side of the deck floor by suitable clips 84., the free ends of the retaining member 82 extending through suitable slots 85 in the floor of the deck. These slots may be elongated so that the ends of the U-shaped member may have limited movement whereby they will pivot toward the floor of the deck to permit the material to move upwardly over the same and will engage the ends of the slots for preventing their movement beyond a predeterm ned angle to hold the material in its advanced position.

WVhile the loader is well adapted for loading hay it is understood that it may be employed with the same efiiciency' in loading other material.

It is thought from the foregoing taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, that the construction and operation of my device will be apparent to those skilled in the art. and that various changes in size, shape, proportion and details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a loader, an elevator, frame members for'supporting said elevator, said elevator comprising a deck and reciprocating elevator bars, an operating shaft having a plurality of cranks thereon for operating said bars, bearings for the end portions of said shaft, bearing means for an intermediate portion of said shaft, a supporting bar having its lower end rigidly connected to said frame members rearwardly of said elevator and having its free upper end connected to said bearing means for supporting the same and for preventing springing of said shaft in operating said elevator bars.

2. In a loader, a deck having side and bottom walls, a portion of the bottom wall of sa d deck being movable and unattached to said side walls, and an apron attached to the movable portion of said bottom wall and extending upwardly therefrom for lapping said side Walls when said bottom wall is sprung downwardly from said side walls.

3. In a hay loader, a deck having side and bottom wall members secured against long tudinal movement, one of said members being provided with material retaining means projecting outwardly from the plane thereof and pivoted thereto.

4. In a hay loader, a deck having side and bottom members, hay retaining fingers on one of said members, a plurality of lBClJlO- eating elements for elevating hay along said deck, rotary gathering mechanism, and means for operating said mechanism in timed relation to the operation of said elements whereby the agitation of the hay delivered to said deck and elevated thereon will be reduced to a minimum.

5. In a loading mechanism, an elevator deck having a bottom wall provided with material retainng means proJecting upwardly therefrom, a support for said deck, a portion of said bottom wall being movable in a substantially vertical plane, and means for advancing material along said elevator deck.

6. An elevator deck for loading mechanism comprising a bottom member, mechanism for advancing material along said deck, non-advancing means independent of said mechanism for preventing return movement of the material while the same is being elevated along said deck.

7. In a loader, a deck, reciprocating means for elevating material along said deck, means secured to said deck to hold the material in advanced position during the return movement of said reciprocating means, movable gathering means, means for operating said last-named means in timed relation to the movement of said reciprocating means, and means for automatically increasing the distance between said reciprocating means and the floor of said deck when the pressure of the material on said deck exceeds a predetermined maximum.

8. In a loader, a deck having bottom wall means, the bottom wall means being secured against longitudinal movement and being provided with material retaining corrugations extending at an angle to the longitudinal center line of said deck.

9. In a loader, an upwardly and forwardly extending deck having a bottom wall, the bottom wall being provided with material retaining corrugations, each corrugation having its angular surfaces inclined upwardly and forwardly whereby the accumulation of water and other matter on the surface of the bottom wall is prevented.

10. In combination, a deck for a loader, said deck having a bottom wall provided with corrugations, a plurality of material retaining fingers on said wall, and means for advancing material along said wall.

11. In a loader mechanism, a deck having a portion of its bottom wall yieldable, said bottom wall having material retaining means thereon, reciprocating means for elevating material along said bottom wall, and means for delivering material to said reciprocating means in timed relation to the movement of the latter.

12. In a loader for hay and the like, a deck, a plurality of reciprocating elevator members having hay engaging means for elevating hay along said deck, rotary gathering mechanism having teeth for gathering hay and delivering the same to said deck beneath said means and means for operating said mechanism and elevator members in timed relation so that hay or the like gathered by said mechanism will be engaged by said elevator members as it is delivered to said deck and elevated along the same whereby the agitation of said hay will be reduced to a minimum during the gathering and elevating operation.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature.

THEODORE H. OPPENHEIM.

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