Patent ID: 9313955
Filing Date: 2016-04-19
CPC Classification: A01F

Claim Text:
1. A safety device for an agricultural machine provided with at least one rotating working shaft, the safety device comprising; a stop element and a complementary stop element, both associated functionally with a kinematic transmission chain connected to control the working shaft, wherein the stop element is movable on command from a passive configuration, in which the stop element is spaced from the complementary stop element to allow free rotation of the working shaft, to an active configuration, in which the stop element is arranged so as to interfere with the trajectory of the complementary stop element thereby locking of the complementary stop element and of the working shaft; and a damping unit associated with at least one of the stop element and the complementary stop element, wherein the damping unit is actuated automatically upon impact of the stop element against the complementary stop element, wherein the stop element comprises an arm which is articulated to a supporting plate about a first pivot for oscillation from the passive configuration, in which the arm is spaced from the complementary stop element, to the active configuration, and vice versa, wherein in the active configuration, a first end portion of the arm, which is substantially opposite to the first pivot, is arranged along the stroke of at least one shoulder, which protrudes externally from a rotating disk, which substantially constitutes the complementary stop element and is keyed on the output shaft of the power take-off of the agricultural machine, the output shaft designed to transmit motion to the working shaft, wherein the disk has a pair of shoulders formed by opposite parts of a circumferential edge of the disk, wherein rotation of the disk, with the arm arranged in the active configuration, moves one of the shoulders into abutment against the first end portion thereby locking the disk and the working shaft, wherein the supporting plate is articulated to a fixed body of the agricultural machine about a second pivot, wherein the supporting plate and the arm are pulled so as to oscillate by the disk up to a stroke limit upon an impact of one of the shoulders against the first end portion to lock the disk, wherein the damping unit comprises at least one elastic element, which is associated with the arm, the elastic reaction of the elastic element contrasting the stroke so as to attenuate locking of the working shaft and of the other functional assemblies associated with the kinematic chain and/or arranged downstream of the power take-off, and wherein the at least one elastic element includes at least one Belleville spring fitted along a column, wherein the column is fixed to the fixed body of the agricultural machine and is inserted slideably, at the opposite end, in a hole provided in a transverse wing that protrudes from both sides of the supporting plate.