Patent GB-578035-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and relating to soil and like cutting and lifting machines
IPC: E02F3/10
Filed: 1944-09-15
Abstract: 578,035. Conveyers. GRIFFITH, E. N., and HOWARD, A. C. Sept. 15,1944, No. 17686. [Class 78(i)] A soil and like material cutting and lifting 'machine comprises a rotary cutter and a conveyer rigidly associated together and supported at the rear of a tractor so as to be capable of pivotal movement on a horizontal axis as a unit relatively to the tractor, means for holding the cutter and conveyer at a desired height, and means for driving them from the power take-off shaft. The cutter comprises L-shaped cutting tools 97, Fig. 1a, and sweeping tools 98 which are mounted on a shaft 96. An additional cutter 137 with similar tools may be mounted in the upper part of the housing 86. A scraper 110 provided at the bottom of the housing is pivotally connected to one end of each of a pair of skids 113, the other ends of which are pivoted to long nuts 114. Screwed rods 115 supported in brackets on the housing engage the nuts. When these rods are turned independently, the skids can be adjusted to secure an even bearing of the machine on the ground. The conveyer &c. may be raised clear of the ground for transport by turning a screwed rod 118 which engages a long nut 117 pivoted to the tractor gearcase. The rod 118 carries a thrust collar 121 and passes through a trunnion bearing 119 mounted on an upright 120. This upright is secured to an arm by means of which the conveyer &c. is pivotally attached to the tractor. An auxiliary conveyer 144 having a deflector 148 may be provided for preventing choking of the entrance to the main conveyer. A deflector 171, Fig. 1b, directs the material on to an auxiliary conveyer 151 which can be adjusted vertically and horizontally. This conveyer is mounted in a trough 149, the closed end 150 of which is pivoted between arms 155 extending upwards from a bearing tube 156 which rests on a tubular stanchion 158 on the tractor and surrounds the drive shaft 157. Vertical adjustment is effected by engaging a tooth 166 on an extension of the tube 156 with a notched arm 167 pivoted to the trough. The trough is swung in a horizontal plane by moving the rod 169 which is pivoted to an arm on the trough. The cutter and conveyer are driven by a shaft 123 which is connected by bevel gears 125, 126, Fig. 4, to the power take-off shaft 127 of the tractor, and is contained in a housing 135. The shaft 123 is connected by bevel gearing to a shaft 130 disposed in a transverse tube 90 which is pivotally connected to the tractor by arms 92. Since the pivotal connection is not coincident with the axis of the shaft 127, telescopic elements are included in the housing 135 and shaft 123. The shaft 130 is connected by chain-and-sprocket gearing to the rotary cutter shaft 96, the lower run of the chain 131 of which passes over a sprocket on the shaft carrying the driving sprockets for the conveyer chain. The chain 131 engages also a sprocket 143 on a shaft which is connected by chain-and-sprocket gearing to the shaft 139 of the cutter 137. The drive shaft 157 of the conveyer 151 is connected by bevel gears and a flexible or articulated shaft 159 to the shaft 123. Friction or other overload clutches may be provided in the shafts subject to sudden variations in load. For example, a flanged collar 181 keyed to the shaft 182 carrying the sprocket 133 may be engaged by a friction ring 187 which is forced against it by a ring 186 and spring-loaded bolts 185 mounted in a flange 184 on the hollow shaft 96.