Patent GB-841325-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to raking devices
IPC: A01D78/00
Filed: 1956-12-11
Abstract: 841,325. Haymaking machinery. VAN DER LELY N. V., C. Dec. 11, 1956 [Dec. 13, 1955], No. 37849/56. Class 6(3). A raking device comprises two frame members, the first carrying rake wheels mounted in echelon formation, and the second connecting the first to a traction vehicle, the two frame members being rotatably connected so that by turning the first frame member about the connection the raking wheels can be brought from a first working position in which they deliver to one side to a second working position in which they deliver to the other side without dismantling the device, the points of the tines of the rake wheels extending rearwardly with respect to the direction of rotation of the rake wheels in both working positions of the device. The arched beam 27 of the rake, which connects the rake-wheel-carrying beam 54 to the tractor 1 is attached at its forward end to the lift links of the tractor by a connection 11 which allows the beam to be adjusted in a horizontal plane, and is connected to the beam 54 as follows. The rake wheel beam 54 carries a shaft 55 rotatably mounted in a bushing 56, the beam being fixed in the desired position relative to the bushing by means of a pin 60 engaging registering holes in a lip 59 integral with the bushing and a disc 58 integral with the beam. The bushing 56 is in turn integral with a bent axle 57 rotatably mounted in a second bushing 36 integral with the lower end of a shaft 31 rotatably housed in a tube 30 fixed to the rearward end of the arched beam 27. The angle between the beams 27 and 54 can thus be varied and can be fixed by means of a pin 35 engaging registering holes in flanges attached to the upper ends of the tube 30 and shaft 31, and also the beam 54 can be rotated about the axis 38 and is fixed in the desired position by means of a pin 43 engaging two eyes fixed on the bushing 36 and one or other of two holes formed at either end of a strip 45 fixed to the axle 57. Thus the implement, which as shown in Fig. 1 delivers to the right, can be modified to deliver to the left by lifting it clear of the ground, using the tractor lift links, releasing the pin 43 from one of the holes in the strip 45, rotating the beam through 180 degrees about the axis of the bushing 36, reinserting the pin 43 in the hole in the opposite end of the strip 45, and lowering the implement into contact with the ground. The pin is actuated by a Bowden cable 46 and the beam is rotated by means of the Bowden cable 51, both of which are operated from the lever 49. Having arranged for the rake to deliver to the lift, it can then be converted into a tedder by withdrawing the pin 60 and rotating the beam 54 through 180 degrees about the shaft 55. The working width of the rake may be varied by altering the angle between the beams 54 and 27 as described above, in which case the axis of the bushing 36 is no longer perpendicular to the direction of travel of the device so that when the beam 54 is rotated through 180 degrees about the said axis, its working width in the second working position will differ from that in the first, and in order to overcome this disadvantage the construction may be modified as shown in Fig. 8, wherein the arrangement for varying the angle between the beams 54 and 27 is so placed that the variation does affect the direction of the axis 38 of the bushing 36.