US2711680A - Intermittent furrow forming device - Google Patents

Description

June 28, 1955 v. WRIGHT 2,711,680

INTERMITTENT FURROW FORMING DEVICE Filed Feb. 20, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f7 3/ 32 32 if I; l -5 INVEN OR.

June 28, 1955 v. WRIGHT 2,711,630

INTERMITTENT F URROW FORMING DEVICE Filed Feb. 20, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

United htatesPatent Q 2,711,680, I INTERMITTENT FORMING DEVICE Virgil Lester Wright, Boone, Colo. Application February 20,-1953,Serial No, 337,976

8 Claims. (Cl. 9.7-'..55)

This invention relates to an intermittent furrow plow. Such plows are usedfor forming furrows which are interrupted by damsv to form water pockets or pools for holding and preventing runoff of surface water;

The principal object of this invention is to provide a relatively simple implement which can be attached to a conventional farm tractonand which will form two alternating series of furrows, each furrow being interrupted by water-retaining dams, with the dams of one series of furrows positioned in staggered arrangement to, the dams in the other series of furrows.

A further object of'the invention is to provide a device in which two independent rotating furrow forming mechanisms will be mounted on and rotate about a single axis or shaft so as to reduce the size weight and" complications involved in multiple shaft implements.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the inventiomwhich is desi'gned for s implicity, economy, and efficiency. These will become more apparent from the following description. I

,In'the following detailed description of the invention, reference is had'to the accompanying drawing; whieh forms a part hereof. Like numerals, refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description. v

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a f' gmentary plan view of the improved intermittent furrow plow;

Fig. 2 is aside view of the rear portion thereofrand Fig. 3' is a cross-section, taken on the line33, l.

The invention comprises a'triangular main frame consisting oftwo draw bars terminating at their forward extremities in a tractor attachment fitting 1:1 and secured at their rear separated extremities to a transverse frame tube 12'. The draw bars 10 and the frame tube. are rigidly braced into a unitary frame by welded angle braces/.23.

The frame tube 12 terminates at its opposite extremities-in permanently fixed, parallel, rearwardly-extending, supporting arms 13. The frame tube is supportedfrom ground-engaging wheels 14 journaled on stub axles 15 projecting outwardlyfrom wheel levers '16. Each of the wheel levers is hingedly mounted at its rearward extremity, on a hinge shaft 17 carried in brackets 18' projecting from the frame tube 12.

The height of the frame tube above the ground, indicated' by the ground line in Figs. Zand 3, can be regu lated by swinging the wheel levers 16. This is accomplished through the medium of two hand levers 19, there being one hand lever for each wheel. Each hand lever is adjustably connectedto a rotatable toothed sector 20, which in turn is permanently connected to the levers 1,6

by means of a connecting link 21 The hand levers 19 can be set at any desired angular position ina second fixed, toothed sector 22 which is rigidly supported from the-frame tube 12 and-the draw bars 10 upon the er ctrer'nities of the angle braces 23. d

The rotatable sector 20 is employed for setting the relation between the handlevers 19 and the wheel levers 16, and the fixed sector 22 is employed for setting the position of the wheels 14 relative to the implement frame. It can be seen. that whenv .the. forward extremity of the main frame is supported from a tractor or other towing vehicle,the rear extremities of the supporting arms 1.3 will project rearwardly as cantilevers supported from the wheels -14. t

A. fixed plow shaft 24 is securedwtoand extends hori- "Ice zontally between the rear extremities of the supporting arms 13 in parallel relation to the frame tube 12, The plow shaft may be secured to the arms 13 in any desired manner. As illustrated, it is clamped thereto by means of suitable U-bolts 25.

An elongated, rectangular, outer plow frame 26 and a similar inner plow frame 27 are rotatably mounted about the plow shaft 24. Each plow frame consists of two end members joined by parallel longitudinal tubes, as illustrated. The, end members of each plow frame are journalled on the plow shaft 24 by means of suitable bearings 28 so that normally the two plow frames may rotate freely and. independently about the plow shaft 24.

A plurality of spaced plow arms 29 project oppositely outward from the side longitudinal members of the outer frame 2 6. Each plow arm 29 carries a furrow-forming shovel 30. A plurality of similar, spaced plow arms 31 project oppositely outward from the side longitudinal members of the inner plow frame 27 and carry furrowforming shovels 32. The plow arms 29 and 3 1 are so positioned that the shovels 30 will form furrows intermediate the furrows formed. by the shovels 32.

In the drawing, the inner frame 27 is illustrated with one of its sets of shovels 32 in the furrow-forming position. Each'frame is maintained in the plowing position by means of two trip arms 33, there being one trip arm 33 suspended from each of the hinge shafts 17 adiacent each extremity of the frame tube 12. Each trip arm terminates at its rearward extremity in an upwardly extending hook-34 positioned to engage a latch pin. 35'. The latch pins 35 are carried between pin brackets 36 which are welded or otherwise formed on. the longitudi nalside members of the two frames 26 and 27 in align ment' with the position of the .trip arms 33. The trip arms 33 are hinged at their forward extremities, as will be later described, and are free to swing in vertical planes at their rearward extremities.

The hooks 34 are urged upwardly into engagement with the latch pins 35 by means of tension springs 37 suspended from spring brackets 38 formed on and projectingrearwardly from the frame tube 12, and are connected at their lower extremities with the trip arms 33. During the plowing operation, one of the frames is.in the position illustrated with the hooks 3.4 engaging the pins 35. The other plow frame is rotating about its free under the inertia of the forward movement of the plow.

The rotating plow frame continues to coast until its latch pins 35 strike cam bosses 39 formed on .the trip arms 33. The impact causes the trip arms tobe forced downwardly against the action of the springs 37 so that the hooks 34 will release the plowing plow frame allowing it to swingrearwardly. The descending latch pins of the rotating plow frame will then move from the cam bosses 39 into engagement with ,the hooks 3.4 and initiate the plowing cycle of the second frame. The latter cycle will continue until the opposite side of the first plow frame approaches the bottom, at which time its latch pins will again release the hooks 3.4 from the plowing frame so as to initiate a second cycle of plowing for the descending frame.

Thus, it can be seen that the shovelsv at the first side of the outer frame will plow furrows for a short distance. They will then be released and the shovels at the first side of the inner plow frame will continue the furrows in offset relation for a second plowing cycle, at the termination of which the shovels will be released and replaced by the shovels at thesecond side of the first frame and the latter will be followed in sequence by the shovels at the second side of the second frame. Thus, the four sets of plow Shovels on the two frames will each plow in succession to form groups of short,

elongated furrows or pockets,'the successive groups of pockets being positioned in staggered or off-set relation to the adjacent sets.

It has been found that the impact of the latch pins 35 against the hooks 34 is rather severe, and might result in damage to the mechanism. In this improved construction, the impact is absorbed without damage by hinging each trip arm 33, adjacent its forwardextremity, on a hinge pin 49 carried inan L-Shaped shock-absorber arm 41. The latter arm is in turn hingedupon the hinge shaft 17 above the hinge pin 40 and extends forwardly from its hingeaxis. The forwardly extendingportion of the arm 41 is urged upwardly by a shock absorber spring 42 suspended from a second spring bracket 43 extending forwardly from the frame tube 12.

It can be seen that the impact of the latch pins 35 will tend to pull the trip arms rearwardly. These arms can move rearwardly to cushion the impact by swinging the hinge pins 40 rearwardly, causing the forward extremities of the arms 41 to stretch the shock-absorbing springs 42 to absorb the force of the impact.

To prevent damage to the mechanism should the shovels encounter rocks or other immovable objects, means are provided for automatically releasing the plow frames from their plowing positions. This is accomplished by extending a flexible element, such as a length of flexible cable 44, from the forward extremity of each shock-absorber arm 41 over a pulley 45, supported from the bracket 43, thence downwardly to an extension lever 46 extending forwardly from the adjacent trip arm 33. 1

Let us assume the plowing shovels encounter an immovable object. This will cause the trip arms to be pulled rearwardly so as to swing the forward extremities of the shock-absorber arms downwardly. The downward movement of the latter forward extremities will be transmitted through the cable 44 to the extension levers 46 so as to urge the latter upwardly so as to swing the rear extremities of the trip arms 33 downwardly until they release their engaged latch pins 35 and free the plowingplow frame.

When commencing plowing, it may occasionally be necessary to start the rotation of the second plow frame by hand while the first frame is plowing. When once started, however, the two frames continue to alternately trip until the forward speed drops to substantially onehalf mile per hour or less.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

1. An intermittent furrow plow comprising:

a supporting frame; wheels supporting said frame from the ground; a plow shaft supported in said supporting frame transversally of the path of movement of said supporting frame; an elongated, rectangular inner plow frame rotatably mounted on said plow shaft with its longer axis-parallel to said shaft; a similar outer plow frame similarly mounted in said plow shaft with its extremities extending beyond the extremities of the inner frame; a plurality of spaced shovels projecting from both sides of both frames; a latch member carried on both sides of both frames; and a trip arm hinged to said supporting frame and provided with a hooked extremity positioned in the plane of the paths of said latch members so as to successively engage the latter to successively restrain rotation of said frames when the shovels on a side thereof are in plowing position, the latch members of each frame being adapted to engage and release said trip arm from a preceding frame as the shovels of the next successive frame approach the plowing position.

'2. An intermittent furrow plow as described in claim 1 having a shock absorber member pivotally mounted 1} on said supporting frame, said trip arm being hingedly mounted on said shock absorber member eccentrically of the pivot of said member so that tension in said trip arm will tend to rotate saidshock absorber member; and resilient means acting to resist said rotation.

3. An intermittent furrow plow as described in claim 2 having releasing means connected with said trip arm and adapted to disengage the latter from an engaged latch member when the" tension in said trip arm exceeds a predetermined stress.

4. An intermittent furrow plow as described in claim 3 in which the releasing means comprises: a lever affixed to and extending from the hinged axis of said trip arm oppositely to the hooked extremity thereof; and connecting meanssecured to and extending between said shock-absorber member and said lever and acting to swing said lever to pry said trip arm from engagement with said latch member in consequence of the rotation of said shock-absorber member.

5. An intermittent furrow plow comprising: a supporting frame adapted to be hitched to a towing vehicle; a horizontal plow shaft supported by and extending transversally of the path of travel of said supporting frame; a first elongated, rectangular plow frame rotatably mounted on said plow shaft; a second similar plow frame rotatably and independently mounted on each plow shaft, each of said plow frames having two relatively long side members joined by two relatively short end members, the side members extending parallel to and being equally spaced from said plow shaft and the end members being journalled at their middles on said plow shaft; an aligned series of spaced plow shovels mounted along and extending outwardly from the side members of each plow frame; and means for stopping the rotation of each plow frame when a set of shovels thereon is in engagement with the earth, said means comprising a trip arm; means for hingedly suspending the forward extremity of said trip arm from said supporting frame, said arm extending rearwardly to a position in the path of rotation of said plow frames; a hook formed on the rear extremity of said trip arm; engaging means on each side of each plow frame, each of said engaging means being adapted to engage said hook when a series of shovels on its respective frame is in plowing position to stop rotation of that frame; spring means urging said hook into engagement with said engaging means; and means for releasing said hook at intervals.

6. An intermittent furrow plow as described in claim 5 in which the one plow frame will be rotating under kinetic energy while the other plow frame is stopped by said hook, and having means on the rotating frame for engaging releasing means on said trip arm to release said hook from the stopped plow frame as a series of shovels on the rotating plow frame approaches plowing position.

7; An intermittent furrow plow as described in claim 6 in which the releasing means comprises: a cam-like boss mounted on the top of the rearward extremity of said trip arm and positioned to be engaged by the descending side of the rotating plow frame so as to release said hook from the stopped plow frame.

8. An intermittent furrow plow as described in claim 7 having shock-absorbing means mounted between said trip arm and said supporting frame and acting to absorb the impact resulting from the engagement of said hook with the successive rotating frames.

Referenc es Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,799,098' Hendrick Mar. 31, 1931 2,044,304' James June 16, 1936 2,103,116 Peacock Dec. 21, 1937 2,323,460 Dornrese et al. July 6, 1943 2,614,375 Calkins Oct. 21, 1952 ,4, l w 4 A s 44

Images