Abstract:
A carted hay rake is disclosed for raking cut crops into a windrow. The hay rake can include a wheeled cart, rake arms, and tine rake wheels. The rake arms are attached to a rake arm pivot, and can be extendable to a horizontal working position and retractable to a transport position. A positioning arm is utilized to change the angle of the rake arm between the working and transport position. An assist spring can help neutralize the weight of the rake arm while in the working position. The assist spring can be positioned horizontally.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   This invention relates to an agricultural hay rake device. 
   2. Discussion of the Background 
   Agricultural hay rakes, specifically carted or folding hay rakes are used to form windrows from cut crops, including hay, straw and grasses. It is a typical agricultural process to cut these crops, rake or merge them into windrows where additional drying may occur, collect and store the crops, and subsequently feed the crops to livestock. 
   Modern power equipment for raking cut forage employs rotating tined wheels and particularly banks of rotating tined wheels that are moved through a field of cut forage to form windrows. These banks of wheel rakes can be quite wide to reduce both the time and number of passes required to rake a field. Because of the wide widths employed by hay rakes, they typically have pivot points on each rake arm in order to fold to a narrower width for transport. Wide rakes thereby offer a potential time and cost savings to agriculture and enhance the raking process to best utilize favorable weather conditions, or to maximize the capacity utilization of the next piece of hay raking equipment. 
   The wide rakes require longer rake arms to support the banks of tined wheels used for efficient raking. These long rake arms can be heavy and cumbersome both in operation and in transport. While in operation, the rake arms are normally in a horizontal position and are preferably counterbalanced to a relatively neutral weight, to allow the tined wheels to “float” over the uneven ground without digging into the ground or skipping over the cut crop. Many of the known hay rakes use a vertically positioned expansion spring or shock absorbing material to help lift and cushion the weight of the rake arm while in operation. 
   One disadvantage of a vertical style spring or shock is that it is somewhat limited to its length, strength, and functionality. This is because the axle and wagon assembly at the spring mounting point is generally horizontal, and cannot adequately support a long vertical spring arrangement. The result is that vertical springs are typically short, requiring a stiff spring construction and a short effective range of motion. 
   Carted rakes normally have a pair of folding arms that are pivotally attached at one end to the wheeled cart. A pair of rake arms are pivotally attached to the other end of the folding arms, and include a plurality of tine rake wheels. The angle created by the pivot point between the folding arms and the rake arms is manually adjustable using a variety of adjustment methods. The angle of the rake arms is normally set to the optimum working position, and this same angle is maintained as the rake arm assemblies are pivoted up into a more vertical transport position. 
   In carted hay rakes where the angle between the rake arms and the folding arms is manually adjustable, one disadvantage is that the transport position of the rake assembly is not as compact, since the rake arms are angled upward while in transport. Another disadvantage is that the overall height of the hay rake in transport position is higher. Another disadvantage is that the rear end of the rake arms is lower, allowing the tine rake wheels to create more of a hazard to bystanders. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   Accordingly, one objective of the present invention is to provide a hay rake which addresses the problems associated with known devices for raking cut crops. Moreover, depending on the embodiment of the invention, one or more of the capabilities set forth below may be achieved. 
   For example, an embodiment of the present invention can provide a hay rake with rake arms which are “floated” while in operating position by using a substantially horizontal oriented spring, shock or cushion, allowing more weight reduction to be applied to the rake arm with minimal structural modifications. This horizontal spring can be longer with less stiffness than a vertical spring, providing a wider range of motion for the rake arms, with more even support during field travel. 
   An embodiment of the present invention can provide a hay rake where the rake arm actively pivots at the folding arm when transitioning between transport and raking positions, to provide a more compact configuration for transport. 
   Further, an embodiment of the present invention can provide a hay rake where the rake wheels fold and nest together for transport, so that the rake tines protrude less toward the outside, to present less of a hazard to bystanders. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other advantages of the invention will become more apparent and more readily appreciated from the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, where: 
       FIG. 1  is a side view of the wheel rake assembly in a transport position in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a top isometric view of the wheel rake assembly in a transport position in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3  is a rear view of the wheel rake assembly in a transport position in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 4  is a top view of the wheel rake assembly in a working position in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   With reference to  FIGS. 1-4 , a non-limiting hay rake apparatus is generally designated by the reference number  10 . The hay rake  10  includes a wheeled cart  12 , which can further include tires  14 , a frame  16 , a tongue hitch  18  for attachment to a tractor or towing means (not shown) and a jackstand  20 . The tongue can be oriented along a longitudinal axis  22 , which is generally inline with the direction of travel. A folding arm  30  includes a first end  32 , and a second end  34 . The first end  32  of the folding arm  30  is attached, or mechanically coupled, to the wheeled cart  12  at a pivot axis  36 . The second end  34  of the folding arm  30  is attached, or mechanically coupled, to a rake arm  40  at a rake arm axis  42 . 
   The rake arm  40  has a leading end  44  and a trailing end  46 . A plurality of tine rake wheels  48  are attached to rake wheel arms  49  along the length of the rake arm  40  to rake the hay materials when in operation. The combination of the folding arm  30 , the rake arm  40 , the tine rake wheels  48  and the rake wheel arms  49  make up the rake arm assembly  50 . A lift cylinder  52  can be attached, or mechanically coupled, to the first end  32  of the folding arm  30 , and also to the wheeled cart  12 , to allow the folding arm  30  to be mechanically pivoted around the pivot axis  36 . The lift cylinder  52  can be a hydraulic device. The lift cylinder can be controlled by a manually operated valve at the tractor. The pivot axis  36  is preferably oriented substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis  22  of the wheeled cart  12 . 
   A positioning arm  60  has a first joint  62  which can be attached, or mechanically coupled, to a first attachment point  64 . In the non-limiting example shown in  FIGS. 1-4 , the first attachment point  64  is adjustably connected to the leading end  44  of the rake arm  40 . In some embodiments, the first attachment point  64  is fixed and not adjustable. In other embodiments, the first attachment point  64  can be adjustably coupled to the trailing end  46  of the rake arm  40 . The positioning arm  60  has a second joint  66  which can be attached, or mechanically coupled, to a second attachment point  68  which is connected to the wheeled cart  12 . The length of the positioning arm  60  can be adjustable. The positioning arm  60  can be a lift cylinder, and can be a hydraulic device. However, during normal operation of the rake arm  40 , the positioning arm  60  preferably has a fixed length. 
   In order to reduce the cost, the adjustment of the positioning arm  60  can be manual, for example via a turnbuckle arrangement with locking pins for coarse adjustment. However, the adjustment of the positioning arm  60  can be also controlled otherwise. The positioning arm  60  helps to change the position of the rake arm  40  relative to the folding arm  30  around the rake arm axis  42  as the folding arm is moved by the lift cylinder  52 . The rake arm axis  42  is preferably oriented substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis  22  of the wheeled cart  22 . In a preferred embodiment, the positioning arm  60  changes the position of the rake arm  40  at the same time as the folding arm  30  pivots. In other words, the arms  60  and  30  are activated at the same time. When the folding arm  30  pivots, the fixed-length positioning arm  60  automatically re-orients the position rake arm  40  from a working position to a transport position. This reorientation happens because of the described geometry between the attachment point on the frame  16  and the attachment point on the rake arm  40 . The rake arm  40  is preferably parallel to the longitudinal axis  22  when in the raised transport position, and extends angularly to the longitudinal axis  22  when in the lowered working position. 
   Preferably there are two sets of folding arms  30 , rake arm assemblies  50 , and positioning arms  60  mirrored on each side of the longitudinal axis. These assemblies preferably move and work together, but can also be arranged to work independently of each other, if desired. 
   An assist spring  70  can be attached, or mechanically coupled, to the wheeled cart to help reduce the downward pressure of the rake arms  40  when in the lowered operating or working position. The assist spring  70  can be a coil spring. However, the assist spring  70  can have other configurations, such as for example a cushion, a bumper or a shock absorbing device. The assist spring  70  can include a plunger  72  along the horizontal assist axis  74 . A spring stop  76  can be attached to the first end  32  of the folding arm  30 . The spring stop  76  aligns with the plunger  72  along the spring assist axis  74  when the rake arm  40  is in the operating position so that the spring stop  76  can apply a force to the assist spring  70  when the rake arm  40  is in the operating position. This configuration can counterbalance, at least partly, the weight of the rake arm in the lowered operating position. 
   In the operation of the wheel rake apparatus  10 , the tongue hitch  18  of the wheeled cart  12  can be connected to a towing vehicle such as a tractor (not shown). To operate the apparatus  10 , the rake arms  40  are lowered to a horizontal position using lift cylinders  52 . The positioning arms  60  angle the rake arms such that the leading ends  44  are further apart from each other than the trailing ends  46  when in the operating position. This creates a “V” shape of the raking arms  40 , with the wide portion of the “V” toward the front of the machine. 
   The rake arms  40  have a plurality of tine rake wheels  48  attached to rake wheel arms  49  and evenly spaced along the length of the rake arms  40 . Once the rake arms  40  are parallel to the ground, the tine rake wheels  48  engage the ground, and the apparatus  10  is pulled forward by the towing vehicle through the cut crops in the field. The forward movement of the apparatus  10  in combination with ground engagement of the tine rake wheels  48  causes the tine rake wheels  48  to rotate and rake the cut crops toward the center of the apparatus, leaving a windrow of crops behind. Preferably, the tine rake wheels  48  are configured to contact the ground in the operating position, but without excessive pressure to cause them to dig in or bind. To attain this even pressure, assist springs  70  can be used to minimize the downward pressure of the heavy rake arms  40  due to gravity. The assist spring  70  pressure can be adjustable for a variety of ground conditions or other variables. 
   Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.