Abstract:
An apparatus for removing grass sprigs from sod and incorporating the grass sprigs into the ground, including a chassis, a sod conveying system mounted on the chassis and configured such that sod may be placed thereon and transported thereby, and a rotary tilling mechanism mounted on the chassis and oriented such that, during operation of the apparatus, the rotary tilling mechanism engages both the sod transported by the sod conveying system and the ground.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   Not Applicable 
   STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
   Not Applicable 
   THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
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   INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC 
   Not Applicable 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Not Applicable 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   An apparatus for removing grass sprigs from sod and incorporating the grass sprigs into the ground, including a chassis, a sod conveying system mounted on the chassis and configured such that sod may be placed thereon and transported thereby, and a rotary tilling mechanism mounted on the chassis and oriented such that, during operation of the apparatus, the rotary tilling mechanism engages both the sod transported by the sod conveying system and the ground. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention shown from the conveyor transmission side thereof; 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in  FIG. 1 , shown from the tiller transmission side thereof; 
       FIG. 3  is a fragmentary perspective view of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in  FIG. 1 , primarily illustrating the sod conveying system, the sod guides, and the sod platform thereof; 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in  FIG. 1 , shown from the front side thereof; 
       FIG. 5  is a fragmentary perspective view of the embodiment of the invention shown in  FIG. 1 , primarily illustrating a portion of the tilling tines of the embodiment; and 
       FIG. 6  is a fragmentary perspective view of the embodiment of the invention shown in  FIG. 1 , primarily illustrating the relative positions of the tilling tines and the sod guides of the embodiment; and 
       FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in  FIG. 1 , shown from a rear side thereof with the guard grille over the soil compacting roller removed to provide a clear view of the soil compacting roller. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   An embodiment of a sod sprigging apparatus or sprigger according to the present invention is illustrated broadly in  FIG. 1  at reference numeral  10 . The sprigger  10  includes a frame or chassis  11  having a conveyor transmission side  12 , a tiller transmission side  13  ( FIG. 2 ) opposing the conveyor transmission side  12 , a front side  14 , a rear side  15 , a top side  20 , and a bottom side  21 . A sod roller  22 , a user platform  23 , and a soil compacting roller  24  (shown in  FIG. 7  with guard grille  92  removed for clarity) are mounted near the rear side  15  of the chassis  11 , while a sod platform  25  is mounted on the top side  20  of the chassis  11 . A sod conveying system  30  extends from the rear side  15  toward the front side  14  of the chassis  11  and under a plurality of sod guides  31  ( FIG. 3 ). A rotary tilling mechanism  32  ( FIGS. 2 ,  4 ) is mounted under the front side  14  of the chassis  11 . 
   The sprigger  10  is intended to be towed behind and powered by a tractor (not shown). Therefore, as shown in  FIG. 4 , also mounted toward the front side  14  of the chassis  11  of the sprigger  10  is a gearbox  33  from which a power takeoff shaft  34  extends. The gearbox  33  is a right-angle gearbox having a 1:1 ratio. In addition, a set of three hitch points  35  are provided, two mounted on the chassis  11  and one mounted on the sod platform  25 . The power takeoff shaft  34  is configured to be received by a power takeoff receiver (not shown) commonly found on a rear portion (not shown) of an industrial/agricultural tractor (not shown), while the three hitch points  35  on the sprigger  10  are configured to mate with a three-point hitch (not shown) also commonly found on a rear portion of such a tractor. 
   Returning to  FIG. 1 , when the sprigger  10  is in use, sod “S” is placed to rest on the sod roller  22  and on the sod conveying system  30 . The sod conveying system  30  includes a first conveyor roller  40 , a second conveyor roller (only a shaft  41  carrying the second conveyor roller is shown), and a conveyor belt  42  (also shown in  FIG. 3 ) comprising a course metal mesh having articulating mesh joints  36  ( FIG. 3 ) that enable the conveyor belt  30  to engage and wrap around the first conveyor roller  40  and the second conveyor roller. Outer surfaces of the first conveyor roller  40  and the second conveyor roller are provided with teeth  43  (only shown on the first conveyor roller  40 ; also shown in  FIG. 3 ) that interlace with the mesh of the conveyor belt  42  to enable the first conveyor roller  40  and the second conveyor roller to actuate the conveyor belt  30 . The conveyor belt  30  is maintained substantially taut by the first conveyor roller  40  and the second conveyor roller during operation of the sprigger  10 . 
   The sod conveying system  30  is driven by the soil compacting roller  24  through the conveyor transmission system  44 . As discussed more thoroughly below, during operation of the sprigger  10 , the soil compacting roller  24  rolls along the ground to pack the soil after the sprigger  10  has torn grass sprigs from sod and incorporated the grass sprigs into the ground for cultivation. The soil compacting roller  24  is carried on the chassis  11  by first and second arms  45  ( FIG. 1 ),  50  ( FIG. 2 ), as is the user platform  23 . The first and second arms  45 ,  50  are mounted on the chassis  11  and receive first and second shafts  51  ( FIG. 1 ),  52  ( FIG. 2 ), respectively, which are mounted on the soil compacting roller  24 . As the soil compacting roller  24  rolls along the ground, the first shaft  51  ( FIG. 1 ) mounted on the soil compacting roller  24  rotates a drive sprocket  53  coaxially mounted on the shaft  51 . The drive sprocket  53  carries a first chain  54  that engages a first smaller diameter sprocket  55  and a first larger diameter sprocket  60  mounted on the first arm  45 . A second smaller diameter sprocket  61  is mounted coaxially with the first larger diameter sprocket  60  and carries a second chain  65 , which extends across a tension sprocket  62  and around a second larger diameter sprocket  63 . The second larger diameter sprocket  63  is mounted on a shaft  41 , on which the second conveyor roller (not shown) is also mounted. A chain guard  71  helps prevent the ground from damaging the second chain  65 , and vice versa. 
   The conveyor transmission system  44  enables the soil compacting roller  24  to drive the second conveyor roller, which in turn actuates the conveyor belt  42 . The sprockets  53 ,  55 ,  60 ,  61 ,  62 ,  63  and the chains  54 ,  65  of the conveyor transmission system  44  are configured such that for every twenty feet traveled by the sprigger  10  along the ground, the second conveyor roller moves the conveyor belt  42  one foot. The actuation of the conveyor belt  42  then rotates the first conveyor roller  40 , drawing the sod “S” onto the conveyor belt  42  toward the tilling mechanism  32  ( FIG. 4 ) of the sprigger  10 . Therefore, only a 1-foot length of sod is needed to incorporate grass sprigs into a 20-foot length of land. 
   Assisting in the direction of the sod “S” into the sprigger  10  are a plurality of sod guides  31 , which are most prominently shown in  FIG. 3 . Each of the sod guides  31  includes a pressure plate  73  for exerting pressure on the sod “S” to help ensure adequate traction of the sod “S” on the conveyor belt  42  during operation of the sprigger  10 . The pressure plates  73  also provide an edge  76  ( FIG. 6 ) against which the sod “S” is forced to help remove grass sprigs from the sod “S” during operation of the sprigger  10 . Pressure is maintained on the sod “S” by a plurality of at least partially compressed compression springs  74  that extend between a support rod  75  mounted on the chassis  11  toward the front side  14  thereof and sod guide handles  80  mounted on the sod guides  31 . The sod guides  31  are each welded or otherwise attached to a shaft sleeve  81  that houses a stationary shaft  82  that extends the width of the chassis  11 . The shaft sleeves  81  pivot about the shaft  82  to enable adjustment of the pressure imparted to the sod “S” and to adjust for sod of varying thicknesses. 
   Now looking at  FIG. 4  and the tilling mechanism  32  of the present embodiment, a shaft housing  83  extends from the gearbox  33 . The shaft housing  83  carries a pre-transmission shaft (not shown) that is rotated by the gearbox  33  while the power takeoff shaft  34  extending from the gearbox  33  is rotated by the power takeoff receiver (not shown) on the tractor (not shown). The pre-transmission shaft extends into a transmission housing  84  ( FIG. 2 ) mounted on the tiller transmission side  13  of the chassis  11 . The transmission housing  84  houses two sprockets (not shown) connected by a chain (not shown), and is packed with lubricant to ensure smooth operation of the tiller transmission. The chain and the sprockets in the transmission housing  84  cooperate to reduce the standard 540 RPM speed of the power takeoff system of the tractor to a speed of approximately 200 RPM for the tilling mechanism  32 . 
   Returning to  FIG. 4 , the chain and the sprockets in the transmission housing  84  transmit the rotation of the pre-transmission shaft to a tiller shaft  85 , on which is mounted a plurality of tilling wheels  90 . A plurality of tilling tines  91  is mounted on each of the tilling wheels  90 . Turning now to  FIG. 5 , the spiral arrangement of the tilling tines  91  across the plurality of tilling wheels  90  is shown. During operation of the sprigger  10 , viewing the sprigger  10  from the tiller transmission side  13  of the chassis  11 , the tiller shaft  85  rotates clockwise. 
   Turning now to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 7 , among other illustrated structures are the sod platform  25  for carrying sod “S”, whether in rolls, slabs, or another form, and the user platform  23  on which one or more users (not shown) may stand during operation of the sprigger  10 . The users load sod “S” from the sod platform  25  onto the sod roller  22  and the first conveyor roller  40  as the sod conveyor system  30  transports the sod “S” to the sod guides  31  ( FIG. 3 ) and the tilling mechanism  32  ( FIGS. 4 ,  5 ,  6 ) for sprig removal and incorporation of the sprigs into the ground at a predetermined depth. The disclosed embodiment of the invention incorporates the sprigs into the ground at a predetermined depth of approximately 1 to 1½ inches; however, the predetermined depth of sprig incorporation may be varied as needed. In addition, the soil compacting roller  24 , shown in  FIG. 7  with guard grille  92  ( FIG. 1 ) removed, and teeth  93  on the soil compacting roller  24  pack the soil after the grass sprigs are removed from the sod “S” and incorporated into the ground by the tilling tines  91  of the tilling mechanism  32 . The weight of the sod on the sod platform  25  and the weight of the users on the user platform  23  also aid in packing the soil after the grass sprigs are incorporated into the ground. 
   A sod sprigging apparatus and method is described above. Various details of the invention may be changed without departing from its scope. Furthermore, the foregoing description of embodiments of the invention and the best mode for practicing the invention are provided for the purpose of illustration only and not for the purpose of limitation—the invention being defined by the claims.