Deere & Company

Eaton Corporation

Agco Corporation

Warren L Thompson

James Thomas Noonan

Donald Ray Peck

James A Swartzendruber

Philip David Cox

Michael R Gilmore

Paul David Parker

Ronnie F Burk

Terry L Lowe

Douglas M Gage

Donald Thomas Sorlie

Larry M Delfs

Lynn E Kurt

Jerry F Carlin

Mark W Porter

Bierl James F

Marvis L Landon

James E Koon

Brian Bielke

David Moen

A spray system is provided with improved spray control having decreased injection lag, and reducing non-uniformity in injection lag throughout the length of a spray boom. A pump is coupled to spray nozzles installed along the spray boom by manifolds which divide the spray boom into a predetermined number of zones. Each zone has a respective boom manifold, and each boom manifold is coupled through equal length line to the spray nozzles. The size of lines coupling the pump to the boom manifolds varies with position along the spray boom and restricting orifices are used in some of the connecting lines. Application systems constructed according to principles of the present invention respond quicker to changes in pump operating points than conventional systems and variability of injection lag along the length of the spray boom is virtually eliminated with the present invention.

Agricultural application systems with improved spray control

A multiple rig row crop cultivator with first and second concave disks supported for operation at two different depths from adjacent rigs to provide two-step sizing of residue. The first disk, located ahead of the second disk, operates at a first depth in the soil to slice out the upper portions of roots and direct plant residue to the row middle. The second disk cuts to a depth approximately twice that of the first disk to further cut out root sections and move the root sections and other plant debris to the opposite row middle. After the disks move stalks and roots to the row middles, sweeps with ridging/bedding wings move the mixture of soil, stalks, and roots to the top of the bed to cover the groove made by the disks and preserve the original plant bed.

Row crop stalk and root remover

A cultivator sweep includes a body with a forward point and wings diverging outwardly in the rearward direction. In one embodiment, a row side sweep includes a row side wing angled upwardly from the horizontal at an angle of approximately 27 degrees, and the opposite wing is angled downwardly, to closely match the profile of the ground from the row bed to the row middle. In another embodiment of the invention, a wide sweep extends between the beds of adjacent rows and includes wings with outermost portions bent upwardly at an angle with respect to the horizontal to provide a sweep profile which closely approximates the ground profile between the rows for more uniform depth of penetration, less soil throw and crop root damage, and reduced draft. The sweep configuration, wherein a fore-and-aft extending line connecting a point anywhere on the leading edge of a sweep wing with a corresponding point on the trailing edge of the wing lies at a substantially constant angle relative to a horizontal plane, provides constant soil lift regardless of soil contact point along the leading edge. The sweep configuration therefore provides soil flow characteristics similar to those of a conventional flat sweep.

Bent wing sweep

A simple, light-weight C-shank standard is mounted on a bracket which is corner clamped to a rig cross tube on a row crop cultivator. A pin inserted through apertures in the bracket maintains the shank in a preselected field-working attitude. The pin can be removed to allow the shank to be pivoted upwardly for maintenance, sweep removal, or residue removal. The shank can be supported in the raised position by the pin when the cultivator configuration is changed for cultivation in lay-by conditions, or for operation in skip row or other special crop configurations. In one embodiment of the invention, the shank is edgebent and selective placement of the pin through one of a plurality of sets of mating holes in the bracket and the upper portion of the shank permits adjustment of the working position of the shank. A mounting slot at the lower end of the one embodiment of the shank provides pitch adjustment for the earthworking tool.

Flip-up C-shank standard for a cultivator

A rig assembly on a combination row crop cultivator and chemical applicator includes a knife or other applicator device supported in front of the cultivator sweep and behind the disk coulter blade. The sweep helps seal the chemical in the ground in certain soil conditions to prevent chemical loss, particularly when additional closing structure is not in use. A selectively attachable, shank-mounted closing mechanism, preferably a press wheel, may be mounted directly behind the sweep to assure a good chemical seal. Disk coulter support straps have flanges that provide a conveniently accessed mount for the applicator device and present minimal interference to trash and soil flow. A simple bracket connects an arm on the closing wheel mechanism to a central portion of the sweep standard. Numerous combinations of tools and tool mounting arrangements and adjustments are facilitated by the rig construction.

Combination cultivator and chemical applicator

A linear hydraulic cylinder (11) is provided of the type having a cylinder barrel (13;113) and a piston (21;121) reciprocally disposed in the barrel. There is a main piston seal member (55) which seals between the piston and an interior surface (37) of the cylinder barrel. Disposed adjacent the piston seal is a wear ring (61;161) defining a substantially cylindrical outer surface (67) bounded by a pair of substantially square corners (66). A loader member (69) biases the wear ring into sufficiently tight engagement with the interior surface of the barrel to prevent passage of contaminant particles between the surface and the wear ring. The result is substantially reduced cylinder 'drift' in the presence of contaminant particles.

Hydraulic cylinder and biased wear ring assembly for use therein

A chain is connected at its distal end to the pin at the rod end of a cylinder on an implement lift and depth control assembly. An intermediate portion of the chain is trained around a gear which rotates about the axis of the pin connecting the base end of the cylinder to the implement frame. An adjustable length, spring-biased rod is connected to the proximal end of the chain to maintain tension in the chain and operate a single point depth control valve to establish a highly accurate and repeatable depth setting which is dependent directly on cylinder rod extension and therefore less susceptible to looseness in the implement lift system.

Depth control mechanism for an implement

A gage connected to the rod end of the wing cylinder on a multi-section implement senses rod end pressure at the output of the hydraulic wing control (HWC) valve. The HWC valve is engaged or disengaged using the selective control valve (SCV) in the tractor, and the gage provides a visual indication to the operator of the following modes: 1) off; 2) fold wings; 3) unfold wings; 4) field operation--push wings down; and 5) field operation--pull wings up. In field operation, the gage also provides an indication of the force with which the cylinders are pushing or pulling on the wings to affect the cutting force of the wings.

Wing fold implement with hydraulic mode indicator

An improved disk harrow C-spring with a tapered cross section which reduces the compressive stresses in the inside radius and improves vertical and side-to-side flexibility. The curved portion of the C-spring has a constant cross section at the top and around three-fourths of the bend. At a location on the bend 45 degrees down from the horizontal, the thickness tapers to a location forward of the bearing hanger. The cross section is constant from the end of the taper to the end of the spring. The tapered cross section allows a thicker section to be used on the most highly stressed areas in the upper quadrant of the curved portion of the C-spring. The lower quadrant taper results in uniform stress distribution along the entire C-spring with the maximum compressive stress on the inside radius reduced substantially over a conventional C-spring. In addition, the tapered design provides an increase in both vertical and side-to-side flexibility for improved operation in rocky soil.

Tapered C-spring for a disk harrow

A weight-balancing system for a farm implement, such as a disk harrow with foldable wings operated by wingfold cylinders, includes a selective control valve for controlling fluid communication to the head and rod ends of the wingfold cylinders. A pair of pressure-reducing/relieving valves permit individual adjustment of the pressures in both the head and rod ends to achieve the desired balance. In a preferred embodiment, a pilot-operated, two-position valve is connected between the rod ends and one of the pressure-responsive valves. The two-position valve is operated by pressure signals generated by a flow-responsive switching valve connected between the two-position valve and the selective control valve. The switching valve and the two-position valve cooperate to block the pressure-controlled outlet of the one pressure-responsive valve and the rod ends and to bypass return fluid flow from the rod ends to sump when the cylinders are being extended. Then, when cylinder motion stops and this return flow ends, the switching valve and the two-position valve are connected to the control pressure outlet of the one pressure-responsive valve to the rod ends to achieve the desired balance.

Disk harrow hydraulic wing balancing system

Frame for a disk harrow or similar implement

A simplified method of assembling a disk from the ground up by first assembling disk gangs and then connecting the disk gangs together to provide a self-standing front and rear main disk gang pairs. The main frame is assembled over main disk gang pairs after which wheel modules are attached. Disks of different sizes are assembled, utilizing generally identical main frame beams with the same connecting locations, by decreasing the distance between the forward and rear gang pairs and moving the main frame beams outwardly as the desired width of the disk increases.

Method of assembling a disk

Force control system including bypass flow path for implement with

A hydraulic fluid power steering system includes an accumulator which stores a reserve of pressure fluid at pump standby pressure. The charging and discharging of the accumulator is controlled by an emergency steering valve which is operable in response to a predetermined minimum fluid pressure outputted by the steering pump to discharge the stored fluid for emergency steering. The emergency steering valve also has components which serve as a pressure switch which is actuated to complete a circuit through an indicator light whenever the emergency steering valve moves to effect the discharge of the accumulator.

Steering including accumulator for supplying emergency reserve of fluid

A tree shear head includes a frame which supports a pair of parallel crank shafts which are respectively linked to a pair of shear blades for moving the latter together into the trunk of a tree to be sheared upon rotation of the crank shafts. The crank shafts are rotated by means of an actuator including a cylinder in which a pair of piston and rod units are mounted with the rods projecting oppositely and being respectively connected to the pair of crankshafts. To prevent the cylinder of the actuator from shifting axially relative to the rods and from rotating on the rods, cables are connected between the cylinder and the frame.

Growing community of inventors

Elkhart, IA, United States of America

Warren L Thompson