Patent GB-864066-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to devices for laterally displacing crop lying on the ground
IPC: A01D78/00
Filed: 1957-06-06
Abstract: 864,066. Haymaking machines. VAN DER LELY N.V., C. June 6, 1957 [June 18, 1956], No. 18038/57. Class 6(3). In a raking device of the kind comprising rake wheels mounted in echelon formation and rotated by contact with the ground or crop, the rake wheels are mounted on supports of different lengths, interchangeably connected to a main frame beam which extends transversely to the direction of travel of the device, the supports lying transversely to the main frame beam. The main frame beam 1 is made in three sections pivotally connected together and is either supported by ground wheels 13 and 14 whose positions along the frame beam may be adjusted, or is mounted on the lift links of a tractor. At their forward ends the rake wheel supports 37-40 are detachably mounted on sleeves 21-24 which are displaceable along the beam 1, the mounting of the support 39 on the sleeve 23 being illustrated in Fig. 3. The mounting comprises a spring-controlled parallel linkage system 41, 42, 43, 45, 48 and a tube 55 connected to the linkage system by a pivot pin 56 and a locking pin 57. The tube 55 is rigidly connected to a further tube 58 in which the forward end of the support 39 is removably locked by means of a pin 59. This mounting permits automatic adjustment of the associated rake wheel to unevenness of the ground, and by rotating the handle 71 so as to compress the spring 72, the support 39 is raised and thereby lifts the associated rake wheel from the ground. The mountings of the rake wheels 29-32 on the supports are each adjustable about the longitudinal axis of the associated support, and by adjusting the rake wheels in this manner, adjusting the positions of the supports along the beam 1, removing the supports from their respective mountings and reassembling them in different mountings, the side delivery rake of Fig. 1 may be converted to perform a variety of other raking operations. For transport purposes, the outer sections of the main frame beam are pivoted upwardly and each rake wheel is raised from the ground by pivoting the associated tube 55 about the pivot 56 and re-engaging the locking pin 57 in the hole 85 of the bracket 53. In the modification of the invention shown in Fig. 14, the supporting arms are provided at their forward ends with diametrically opposed pins 129 which rest in grooves 102 in a pair of lugs 100 upstanding from the main frame beam, and with an angled bracket 133 pivotally secured at 134 to a bar 135 having a curved portion 136 at its forward end. The curved portion engages under a thrust bar 105 which is linked at its ends to the frame beam and is rigidly attached to a lug 113 integral with a lever 110, also pivoted to the frame beam. A rod 138 provided with stops 140 and 141 engages a screw threaded hole in the bar 135 and freely engages a hole in the bracket 133, a compression spring 142 being mounted round the rod, between the stop 141 and the bracket 133. Thus the rake wheels can accommodate themselves to any unevenness of the ground and can be detached from the frame beam by lifting the rearward end of the supports until the associated bracket abuts against the stop 140, when the curved part 136 of the bar 135 will move away from the thrust bar 105 so that the rake wheels and their associated supports may be lifted clear of the slots 102, ready for reassembling in a different working position. The rake wheels in this embodiment may be raised for transport by releasing the pin 119 from the rack 22 and lowering the lever 110 about its pivot 111. Specifications 852,462, 864,067 and 864,068 are referred to.