AGRICULTURAL ROLLER

Abstract: An agricultural roller construction includes a tow-bar (12), a roller (1) comprising a plurality of swingable roller-sections (3-5), and transport wheels (15, 16) which in the working position of the roller are free from the ground, but which can be lowered to a roller-transport position by means of a hydraulic piston-cylinder device (13). The roller-sections include a main roller-section (4) provided with a section-frame (7) to which there is rigidly connected an arm (20) provided with a pivot device (14) for connection to the tow-bar (12). Also rigidly connected to the main-section frame (7) are carrier arms (17, 18) which carry the transport wheels (15, 16), and a further arm (19) which is provided with a pivot device (22) for connection to the hydraulic piston-cylinder device (13), this device also being connected to a pivot device (21). The roller is moved from its working position to its transport position, by swinging the roller through approximately 90 DEG in two movement stages. In the first of these movement stages, the shaft carrying the roll-pack (10) of the main roller section (4) forms the pivot shaft about which pivotal movement takes place until the transport wheels (15, 16) rest on the ground. The shafts of the transport wheels (15, 16) then form pivot shafts until the roller has been swung free from the ground to its transport position. The side roller-sections can then be swung in manually.

Description: Agricultural roller The present invention relates to an improvement in agricultural roller constructions of the kind which include roller which comprises a plurality of roller- sections which are mutually connected with the aid of pivot devices and each of which has a section-frame and a pack of roller rings rotatably connected to said section-frame, and which roller construction further comprises transport wheels which when the roller is located in its operative rolling position are free from the ground and which are arranged to be lowered against the ground and to lift the roller to a transport posi- tion free from the ground upon appropriate activation of a hydraulic piston-cylinder device, and also comprise a tow-bar by means of which the roller can be towed behind a towing vehicle, e.g. a tractor. When the roller is in its transport position, in which the transport wheels support and carry the roller and ancillary roller- devices in a position raised from the ground, roller- sections can be swung towards one another, so as to decrease the transport-width of the roller. Rollers of this kind with which the transport wheels are moved between an operative working position and a trans¬ port position with the aid of a hydraulic unit are known to the art, e.g. from Swedish Patent Specification No. 7704263-8. The construction of agricultural roller con- structions of this kind has been greatly simplified in recent years, with movement of the roller and transport wheels between said positions being accomplished with the aid of one single hydraulic piston-cylinder device. One such roller construction is described, for instance, in Swedish Patent Application No. 8605239-9. However, there is still room for further development and further simplification in this known type of roller construction, among other things with respect to the adjustment of the roller between its working and trans¬ port positions. In the case of the roller construction described in the aforesaid Swedish Patent Application, it is necessary to drive the towing tractor forwards when moving the roller from its working position to its transport position, and, conversely, to drive the trac¬ tor rearwards when moving the roller from its transport position to its working position. Consequently, when practicing this known method, it is necessary to have free space in front of and behind the roller-tractor combination when lowering and raising the roller respec¬ tively. This drawback is avoided and a further simplified and less-expensive construction is provided by the present invention, in that one of the roller-sections, the main- roller section, has a frame to which there is rigidly connected a first arm which is provided at its free end with a pivot device for pivotal connection of a tow-bar to said one section-frame. Also rigidly connected to the aforesaid one section-frame is a second arm which is provided with a pivot device for driving connection with one end of a piston-cylinder device, said device also being connected pivotally to a pivot device mounted on the tow-bar. The aforesaid one section-frame also has rigidly connected thereto arms which carry the transport wheels of the roller construction. The arrangement is such that when the roller is moved from its working position to its transport position, by commensurate activation of the hydraulic piston-cylinder device, the roller-sections will be moved through an angle of 90° in two stages, and such that during the first of these stages the shaft carrying the roller-pack of the main roller-section will function as a pivot shaft up to the time at which the transport wheels are brought into supportive engagement with the ground, whereas during the second stage of said movement the shafts of the transport wheels will function as a pivot shaft until the roller has been swung to its transport position, and vice versa. According to a second embodiment of the invention, side roller-sections located on one side of the main roller- section extend in the same direction as the wheel- carrying arms when the roller is in its transport posi- tion. In accordance with a third embodiment of the invention, the length of the wheel-carrying arms is approximately half the length of the side roller sections. In accordance with a fourth embodiment, pivot device located between the roller-sections are mounted such that the axes of said devices will extend substantially horizontally in the working position of the roller and substantially vertically in the transport position of said roller. In accordance with a fifth embodiment, there is provided adjacent each pivot device between respective roller- sections a latching device which functions to lock the side roller-sections and the main roller-section to¬ gether in the transport position of the roller. In accordance with a sixth embodiment, the hydraulic piston-cylinder device functions to position the pivot devices located between the centre roller-section and the respective side roller sections in a manner such that the pivot axes of said pivot devices will deviate slightly from the vertical plane in one direction or the other relative to plane, so as to facilitate swinging of the roller-sections from the transport position to the working position, and vice versa. When the roller is moved between its working and trans- port positions, the roller is lifted from the ground such that the pivot devices located between the side- roller sections and main roller section will be brought to a position in which the side roller-sections can be swung to and from their respective transport positions without touching the ground when the roller is station¬ ary. This movement of the roller-sections requires no additional space for forward or rearward driving of the tractor, since the roller-sections can be moved with the tractor and roller stationary. The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illu¬ strates a roller construction comprising three roller- sections and in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of an inventive roller in its working position, said roller being shown from one side and obliquely from behind; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the roller in its transport position, said roller being shown obliquely from behind; Figure 3 illustrates the roller schematically in its working position, from one side of the roller; Figure 4 illustrates the roller of Figure 3 in an inter¬ mediate position during adjustment of the roller from its working to its transport position; Figure 5 illustrates the roller adjusted to its trans¬ port position; Figure 6 illustrates the roller of Figure 5 from above; Figure 7 illustrates the roller when the side roller- sections have been swung part way from the working position to the transport position; and Figure 8 illustrates the roller with respective roller- sections in their transport position. Figure 1, illustrates an agricultural roller construc¬ tion which is towed by a tractor 2 and which includes a roller generally shown at 1. The illustrated roller com¬ prises three roller-sections 3, 4 and 5, arranged side- by-side and provided with respective frames 6, 7 and 8. Each of the roller-section frames carries a respective roller pack 9, 10 and 11 provided with rotatable roller rings. A tow-bar 12 is pivotally connected to the section-frame 7 of the centre roller-section, i.e. the main roller-section 4. The ends of a piston-cylinder device 13, e.g. a hydraulic device, are pivotally con¬ nected to the tow-bar 12 and to the main-section-frame 7 respectively, said tow-bar and frame 7 being caused to pivot relatively to one another about a pivot device 14, when the piston of the piston-cylinder device 13 is extended or retracted during a manoeuvring operation. The roller construction illustrated in Figure 1 also includes two transport wheels 15 and 16, which are rotatably journaled on one end of respective carrier arms 17 and 18. The other ends of the carrier arms 17, 18 are rigidly connected to the frame 7 of the main roller-section 4, e.g. as by welding. The roller- sections of the Figure 1 illustration are shown in their working positions, and the transport wheels 15, 16 are hence free from the ground. Figure 2 illustrates the roller construction in its transport mode, with the roller-sections 3-5 raised from the ground and supported on the transport wheels 15, 16. Part of the weight of the roller is supported by the towing-hook or eye of the tractor, at the forward end of the tow-bar 12. It will be seen from the Figure that by adapting the length of the carrier arms 17, 18 , the transport wheels 15, 16 can be arranged in relation to the centre of gravity of the collapsed roller such that an appropriate load will rest on the towing-hook of the tractor. The components illustrated in Figure 3 are identified with the same reference numerals used in Figures 1 and 2. The outer end of an arm 19 welded to the main-section frame 7 has mounted thereon a pivot device 22 for con¬ nection to one end of the piston of the hydraulic pis¬ ton-cylinder device 13. The end of the piston-cylinder device remote from the arm 19 is connected to a pivot device 21 welded to the tow-bar 12. Also welded to the main-section frame 7 is an arm 20, which carries on its outer end the afore-described pivot device 14 connected to the tow-bar 12. In the Figure 4 illustration, the piston rod of the piston-cylinder device 13 is shown extended from the cylinder of said device. With the piston rod in this position, the roller is raised slightly from its working position; the roller section 3 (and also the roller section 5 not shown in this Figure) has been lifted from the ground by pivoting on the shaft of the roller-pack 10 of the main roller-section 4. In the position of the roller illustrated in Figure 4, the transport wheels 15, 16 are in the process of moving down towards the ground. Figure 5 illustrates a position of the roller in which the piston rod of the hydraulic piston-cylinder device 13 has been extended to its outer terminal position and the main roller-section 4 has been lifted from the ground. Figure 6 illustrates the roller of Figure 5 from above. The roller-sections 3, 5 remain in their laterally extending positions. The reference 23 identifies a pivot device located between the roller-sections 3 and 4, whereas the reference 24 identifies a corresponding pivot device between the roller-sections 4 and 5. The reference 25 and 26 identify latching tongues which are welded rigidly to respective section frames 6 and 8. Figure 7 illustrates the roller-sections 3 and 4 swung inwardly towards one another, about the pivot devices 23 and 24. When the pivot devices are adjusted positionally such that the axes of the pivot devices 23, 24 are brought to a vertical position, it is only necessary to overcome the friction in the pivot devices in order to effect swinging of the roller sections 3, 5 to their respective positions. By inclining the axes of said devices slightly rearwardly, the roller-sections will tend to swing towards one another "under their own initiative" therewith greatly facilitating this swinging or pivotal movement of the roller sections. Correspond¬ ingly, the pivot axes can be inclined slightly forwards when pivoting the roller-sections in the opposite direc¬ tion, i.e. from their transport to their working posi¬ tions. Figure 8 illustrates the roller when collapsed to its transport position, in which the roller sections 3 and 5 extend rearwardly. In this position of the roller, the latching tongues 25, 26 have been moved in behind latch¬ ing teeth on latching-hook means 27 and 28 respectively, so as to prevent the roller-sections 3, 5 from being swung outwards during transportation of the roller. Subsequent to having transported the roller to a new working site, adjustment of the roller from its trans¬ port position to its working position is effected in the reverse order to that described above.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. An agricultural roller construction comprising a roller (1) which includes a plurality of roller-sections (3, 4, 5) which are mutually connected by means of pivot devices (23, 24) and each of which includes a section frame (6, 7, 8) and a pack (9, 10, 11) of roller rings rotatably connected to respective section frames, and which roller construction further comprises two trans- port wheels (15, 16) which are free from the ground in the working position of the roller and are arranged to be lowered onto the ground and lift the roller free from the ground in the transport position of said roller, by activation of a hydraulic piston-cylinder device (13), and which roller construction includes an arm (20) which is rigidly connected to one section frame (7) and which is provided with a pivot device (14) for pivotal connec¬ tion of a tow-bar (12) to said one section-frame (7), such as to enable the roller construction to be towed by a towing vehicle (2), c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that said one section- frame (7) belongs to a main roller-section (4) and includes a first arm (19) which is rigidly connected to the main section-frame (7) and which has provided there¬ on a pivot device (22) for driving connection to the hydraulic piston-cylinder device (13), said piston- cylinder device also being pivotally connected to a pivot device (21) on the tow-bar, and in that the two transport wheels (15, 16) are carried on carrier arms (17, 18) rigidly connected to said main-section frame (7) of said main roller-section (4); the arrangement being such that appropriate activation of the hydraulic piston-cylinder device (13) will move the roller from its working position to its transport position, by swinging the roller through approximately 90° in two stages about a shaft which extends at right angles to the working and transport direction of the roller, wherein during the first stage of said movement the shaft of the roller-packs (10) of the main roller-sec¬ tion (4) forms the pivot shaft until the transport wheels (15, 16) have been brought into supportive con¬ tact with the ground, whereas during the second stage of said movement the shaft of the transport wheels (15, 16) form pivot shafts while the roller-packs of said roller are swung free from the ground and to their transport position and vice versa. 2. A roller construction according to Claim 1, charac- terised in that side-roller sections (3, 5) located on respective sides of the main roller-section (4) extend in the same direction as the transport-wheel carrier arms (17, 18) in the transport position of the roller. 3. A roller construction according to Claim 2, charac- terisied in that the length of the transport-wheel carrier arms (17, 18) is approximately half the length of the side roller sections (3, 5). 4. A roller construction according to Claim 1, charac¬ terised in that the pivot axes of the pivot devices (23; 24) located between respective roller-sections (3-4; 4-5) extend substantially horizontally in the working position of the roller and substantially verti- cally in the transport position of said roller. 5. A roller construction according to Claim 2, charac¬ terised in that latching devices (25/27; 26/28) are mounted adjacent each pivot device (23; 24) between said roller sections (3-4; 4-5), said latching devices func- tioning to lock the side roller sections (3-5) of the roller to the main roller-section (4) in the roller transport position. 6. A roller construction according to Claim 1, charac¬ terised in that the hydraulic piston-cylinder device (13) is operative to position the pivot devices (23, 24) located between said centre roller-section and said roller-sections (4; 5, 6) in a manner such that the pivot axes of the pivot devices will deviate slightly from the vertical plane to one or the other side of said plane, such as to facilitate swinging of the roller- sections from their transport position to their working position, and vice versa.

Inventors: STARK CRISTER, STARK, CRISTER
Applicants: STARK CRISTER, STARK, CRISTER
Application year: 1989
Main classification: A01B29
IPC codes: A01B29, A01B73