Abstract:
Implement toolbars as used for planters have become very long in recent years. In order to assure good ground contact, the long toolbar of the present invention is divided up into more than three sections, including a center section and wing sections. The wing sections fold forward for transport on public roads, over field accesses, and through gates. The resulting planter can be longer than prior art planters while providing sound ground contact and a compact transport mode.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     Not applicable.  
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
       [0002]     Not applicable.  
       REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX  
       [0003]     Not applicable.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0005]     The present invention relates generally to an agricultural device. More particularly the present invention relates to a planter toolbar comprising more than three sections, and is horizontally foldable.  
         [0006]     2. Background Art  
         [0007]     Fences are being removed in the corn belt. For this reason and because the acreage farmed by the typical farmer is increasing, field equipment, in particular planters, are being built to cover more and more crop rows as the years go by. Roads, however, are not being significantly widened. Therefore, schemes for folding or rotating wide equipment have been devised for the purpose of transporting this large machinery on public roads.  
         [0008]     An additional consideration is that farm ground is not perfectly flat. So a planter of significant width cannot be assembled on a rigid toolbar lest some of the row units be off the ground at times, and therefore, ineffective. Present-day planter toolbars have three sections for flexibility over uneven terrain. Difficulties arise in attempting to extend this to more than three sections.  
         [0009]     Friesen et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,956, disclose a forwardly folding, three section toolbar. A center section is held at a right angle to the tongue, while wing sections pivot on the ends of the center section. When in a field position, the wing sections are pivoted to be substantially collinear with center section. When in transport mode, the wings are pivoted to be substantially parallel to the tongue, and on either side, thereof.  
         [0010]     A five-section implement toolbar is disclosed by Smith in U.S. Pat. No. 6,089,329. The toolbar disclosed folds upwardly (vertically) when in transport mode, exhibiting a high ground clearance and the stresses resulting from carrying the weight of the wings on a pivot.  
         [0011]     There is therefore a need for an implement toolbar having five or more sections that can be folded horizontally—forwardly or backwardly—for transport.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]     An advantage of the present invention is the use of a five-section toolbar. Because farm fields are not perfectly planar, to ensure the planter units contact the soil, flexibility must be built into a planter toolbar. Ideally, each unit would “float,” such that it could be in contact with the soil, irrespective of the soil level for any other unit. A toolbar with only two units per section could provide this ideal flexibility, but at a high cost of complexity, maintenance, and reliability. A compromise is to divide the toolbar into as many sections as practical. For the present invention, that number of sections is more than three and, typically, five.  
         [0013]     An additional advantage of the present invention is the horizontal (that is, within a substantially horizontal plane) folding of a five or more section toolbar for transport on public roads and through narrow gateways. The present invention uses a telescoping tongue similar or identical to the three-section toolbars, but has overcome the difficulty of the additional pivot points. When in transport mode, the wing sections are borne by the tongue. The tongue, in turn, is supported at its forward end by the tractor draw bar, and its rearward end by wheels situated near the rear end of the tongue. At the extreme ends of the toolbar, as well as at each sectional pivot point, a latch is provided for transferring the weight of the wing sections to the tongue. Wheels at each pivot point and at the extreme ends of the wings carry the weight of the wing sections when the implement toolbar is extended in its field position. Actuators between the wheels and the toolbar raise the toolbar relative to the wheels for folding. Once the wings have arrived in their forward positions, the wing sections are lowered so the latches carry their weight on the tongue and the wheels are raised off the surface.  
         [0014]     Between each of the toolbar sections is a pivot point allowing the sections to be noncollinear with one another for the purpose of following the ground contour.  
         [0015]     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a planter;  
         [0017]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a five-section toolbar;  
         [0018]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view from the back of a latch for stabilizing a toolbar wing to a toolbar tongue;  
         [0019]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view from the front of a latch for stabilizing a toolbar wing to a toolbar tongue;  
         [0020]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a toolbar in a process of folding;  
         [0021]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a toolbar in a folded configuration;  
         [0022]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view, substantially from the front, of a five-section toolbar showing its flexibility;  
         [0023]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view, substantially from the back, of a five-section toolbar showing its flexibility;  
         [0024]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view, substantially from the front, of a planter assembled on a five-section toolbar showing its flexibility;  
         [0025]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view, substantially from the back, of a five-section toolbar assembled on a showing its flexibility;  
         [0026]      FIG. 11  is a perspective view of the latches and the tongue of the five-section toolbar; and  
         [0027]      FIG. 12  is a perspective view, substantially from the rear of the five-section toolbar in the folded and latched configuration. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0028]     A complete planter  100  is shown in  FIG. 1 . The planter  100  is drawn by a tractor or other vehicle by its tongue  110 , which is telescopic and an integral part of the foldability of the planter for road transport, gate access, and storage.  
         [0029]     A center wheel assembly  120  carries the weight of the tongue  110  and the center portion of the planter  100 . During transport, the center wheel assembly  120  carries all the weight carried by wheels on the planter.  
         [0030]     Center wing wheel assemblies  130  support weight in between the tongue  110  of the planter  100  and the ends of the planter  100 .  
         [0031]     End wing wheel assemblies  140  bear the weight of the ends of the planter  100 .  
         [0032]     Planter units  150 , with containers carrying seed, and the components for opening the ground, dropping the seed, and compacting the soil around the seeds are shown lined up across the planter  100 .  
         [0033]     Markers  160  provide a gage line for aligning the tractor and planter for each trip across the field.  
         [0034]     The planter units  150  are removed in  FIG. 2  to clearly show the five section toolbar  200 .  
         [0035]     A center section  210  is made up of three subsections. A center subsection  210   a  remains substantially stationary relative to the tongue  110 . The two outer subsections  210   b  pivot for folding, as will be explained, later. At each end of the center section  210  is a hinge assembly  310  ( FIGS. 3 and 4  show a hinge assembly for another part of the toolbar  200 , but the present hinge assembly is the same as shown) to which an inner wing section  220  is pivotally attached. When the planter  100  is in its field position, a hinge pin  320  lies substantially parallel to a direction of travel so the center section  210  and the inner wing sections  220  remain substantially in a substantially vertical plane throughout the allowed travel of the inner wing section  220  relative to the center section  210 .  
         [0036]     Two outer wing sections  230 , one mounted on each end of the inner wing sections  220  by hinge assemblies  310 , provide additional length to the toolbar, while also providing necessary flexibility. The hinge pin  320  again lies substantially parallel to the direction of travel, and permits the outer wing sections  230  to flex relative to the inner wing sections  220  within a substantially vertical plane.  
         [0037]     The process for transport and storage is begun as shown in  FIG. 5 . During the folding process, the tongue assembly  110  telescopes. The inner tongue portion  520  slides forward and out of the outer tongue portion  530 . The telescoping of the tongue assembly  110  causes the wing sections  220 ,  230  at each end of the center section  210 , as well as the two outer center subsections  210   b  to rotate in a substantially horizontal plane about pivot points  510  in the center section  210  until they are approximately parallel to the tongue assembly  110  as shown in  FIG. 6 . The inner wing section  220 , the outer wing section  230 , and the outer center subsection  210   b  at each end remain substantially in a substantially vertical plane during the process. A latch assembly  330  is used to stabilize the wing sections  220 ,  230  with the tongue  110  upon completion of the folding which is illustrated in  FIG. 6  where the toolbar  200  is completely folded and latched. A notch  340  in the latch assembly  330  engages the inner tongue portion  110  when latched. The latch assembly  330  thereby fits over the top of the inner tongue portion  520  in the latched position thereof.  
         [0038]     The toolbar  200  of the present invention could also be foldable by rotating the wing sections  220 ,  230  backward instead of forward. Such a rear-folding embodiment is not disclosed herein, but is contemplated by the claims because such alternate embodiment could easily be accomplished by a reversal of parts where needed.  
         [0039]     During the folding process of the embodiment shown in the drawings, wheel hydraulic cylinders  410  ( FIG. 4 ) at the wing wheel assemblies  130 ,  140  raise the wing sections  220 ,  230  relative to the wing wheel assemblies  130 ,  140 . Once the wings  220 ,  230  have rotated completely from the  FIG. 5  position to the  FIG. 6  position, the wheel hydraulic cylinders  410  lower the wing sections  220 ,  230  relative to the wing wheel assemblies  130 ,  140 , thus engaging the latch assembly  330  to the tongue  110  wherein the notch  340  in the latch assembly  330  engages the inner tongue portion  520  by fitting over and down onto the inner tongue portion  520  which is directly behind the hitch.  
         [0040]     Views of the five-section toolbar  200  in its folded configuration are shown in  FIGS. 11 and 12 . In particular, the latch assemblies  330  are shown with the toolbar tongue  110  engaged in their notches  340 . The toolbar  200  is completely folded and the wings  220 ,  230  stabilized to the tongue  110  for transport or storage.  
         [0041]     A main advantage of the five-section toolbar  200  is shown in  FIGS. 7-10 . Because fields are not, in general, planar, a planter and other field equipment must flex to follow the existing ground contours. The toolbar  200  is shown in a flexed shape from in front and above in  FIG. 7  and in  FIG. 9  it is shown flexed and with the planter units  150  attached to emphasize that the implement must contact the soil surface.  
         [0042]     The toolbar  200  is shown from a rear corner in  FIGS. 8 and 10 . Again, the toolbar  200  is flexed to indicate an advantage of the five-section design over the prior art. With planter units  150  attached, the need for flexing is obvious: so the units are in contact with the ground.  
         [0043]     The above embodiment is the preferred embodiment, but this invention is not limited thereto. It is, therefore, apparent that many 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 may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.