IE46723B1

IE46723B1 - A fertilizer spreader having a rotary to oscillatory drive convertor

Info

Publication number: IE46723B1
Application number: IE74978A
Authority: IE
Original assignee: Vicon Nv
Priority date: 1978-04-17
Filing date: 1978-04-17
Publication date: 1983-09-07
Also published as: GB2019522B; GB2019522A; IE780749L; FR2423691A1

Abstract

A drive convertor for obtaining an oscillatory motion from a rotating drive, comprises a drive shaft 1, a bearing 6 having an inner ring 6a positively connected to the shaft 1 and an outer ring 6b rotatable relatively to the inner ring, and a bracket 9 pivotally mounted by means of a shaft 7 for oscillatory motion about an axis disposed at an angle relative to the axis of the shaft 1 and pivotally connected at 10 to two diametrically opposed locations on the outer ring of the bearing. The positive connection between the shaft 1 and the inner ring 6a is such that the plane of relative rotation between the inner and outer rings is inclined to the axis of the shaft 1 and to the axis of oscillation of the brackets 9. The drive convertor is constructed so that the axis of the shaft 1, the axis of oscillation of the bracket 9 and a straight line through the two diametrically-opposed locations 10 intersect at a common point. In this case the drive convertor may be used to convert the rotary motion of the power take off shaft of a tractor to the oscillatory motion of the spout of a fertiliser spreader.

Description

The present invention relates to an apparatus for spreading fertilizer wherein a distributor spout is required to oscillate from side-to-side about a generally vertical axis.

- Fertilizer spreader apparatus is usually towed by or mounted behind a tractor and the power take-off shaft of the tractor serves as the driving member for the spout. Thus it is necessary to convert the rotary motion of the shaft to an oscillatory motion for moving the spout.

Existing designs of oscillatory fertilizer distributors use complex mechanisms to convert rotary motion of the power take-off shaft to oscillating movement of the spreading mechanism. These mechanisms require counterbalancing to prevent vibration caused by out of balance moving parts and are excessively bulky and costly to manufacture.

When mounted on the three point linkage of a tractor they must be placed excessively far back from the tractor I so as to allow the power take-off shaft to be long enough to avoid excessive angles on the flexible joints. - 3 The present invention allows a lighter, less costly and more compact drive which is inherently balanced and enables the flexible joinx on tne power take-off shaft to be closer to the axis of the oscillating mechanism.

In accordance with the invention there is provided a fertilizer spreader comprising a hopper to contain granular or powder fertilizer, a distributor jgpout supported for rotary oscillation below the hopper, and a drive convertor for obtaining oscillation of the distributor spout from a rotating input drive, wherein the drive convertor comprises a drive shaft positively connected to the input drive, a bearing having an inner ring positively > — connected to the drive shaft and an outer ring rotatable relatively to the inner ring, and a bracket positively connected to the spout and mounted for oscillation about Λ an axis disposed at an angle to the drive shaft and pivotally connected to two diametrically opposed t. locations on the outer ring of the bearing, the positive connection between the drive shaft and the inner ring being such that the plane of relative rotation between the inner and outer rings is inclined to the axis of the drive shaft and to the axis of oscillation of the bracket, the drive convertor being constructed so that the drive shaft axis, the axis of oscillation of the bracket and a straight line through the said two diametrically-opposed locations intersect at a common point. 46<33 In one particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention the.shaft axis and the axis of oscillation of the bracket are at right angles to each other.

Preferably, the bearing is a ball bearing having 5 inner and outer rings separated by a cage retaining the balls.

An embodiment of the invention is hereinafter described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an elevational view, partly in section, of a fertilizer spreader, »Figure 2 is an isometric projection of the drive convertor, and.

Figure 3, is a perspective view of the fertilizer λ v 2 3 spreader.

Referring now to the drawings, a drive shaft 1 is supported for rotation about its own axis by a bearing 2 in a housing or subframe 3 attached to a main frame 4 of an apparatus for spraadi.g fertilizer, generally denoted by reference 5. As shown particularly in Figure 1, the shaft 1 is positively connected to the inner ring 6a of a ball bearing 6 so that relative rotation between the ring 6a and an outer ring 6b takes place in a plane inclined to the axis of the shaft.

A vertical driven shaft 7 is supported for oscillatory movement about its own axis by a bearing 8 in the subframe 3, and is positively connected at its lower end to a bracket 9 having a pair of depending arms 9a. The arms 9a are connected by pivots 10 to diametrically-opposed locations on the outer bearing ring 6b, and the arrangement is such that a straight line drawn between the pivots 10, the axis of the shaft 1, and the axis of the shaft 7, intersect at a common point. Thus a rotational motion of the drive shaft 1 imparts an oscillatory motion to the driven shaft 7.

The fertilizer spreader apparatus 5 may be attached to a tractor or provided with wheels (not shown) so as to be towable by a tractor, the shaft 1 being connected by a flexible shaft 11 to the power take-off shaft of the tractor. The apparatus 5 comprises a hopper 12, for receiving the granular or powder fertilizer, supported by the main frame 4, and a collector 13 provided with a distributor spout 14. The collector 13 16 fixed to the shaft 7 and is mounted for rotary oscillation about a vertical axis relatively to the hopper 12 whereby the spout 14 may move to-and-fro to distribute the fertilizer.

The flow of fertilizer from the hopper 12 to the collector 13 may be controlled by rotational adjustment of a plate 15 in a horizontal plane, the angular position of the plate 15 being controlled by a lever 16. The plate 15 may have openings and may cooperate with a fixed tf'S' 2 3 plate also having openings so that the degree of overlap between the openings may be varied; also, the openings may be moved out of alignment to stop the flow of fertilizer.

Claims

1. A fertilizer spreader comprising a hopper to contain granular or powder fertilizer, a distributor spout supported for rotary oscillation below the hopper, and a drive convertor for obtaining oscillation of the distributor spout from a rotating input drive, wherein the drive convertor comprises a drive shaft positively connected to the input drive a bearing having an inner ring positively connected to the drive shaft and an outer ring rotatable relatively to the inner ring, and a bracket positively connected to the spout and mounted for oscillation about an axis disposed at an angle to the drive shaft axis and pivotally connected to two diametrically opposed locations on the outer ring of the bearing, the positive connection between the drive shaft and the inner ring being such that the plane of relative rotation between the inner and outer rings is inclined to the axis of the drive shaft and to the axis of oscillation of the bracket, the drive converter being constructed so that the drive shaft axis, the axis of oscillation of the bracket and a straight line through the said two diametrically-opposed locations intersect at a common point.

2. A fertilizer spreader as claimed in claim 1, wherein the axis of the shaft and the axis of oscillation of the bracket are at right angles to one another.

3. A fertilizer spreader as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the bracket is positively connected to the spout by a driven shaft supported for oscillatory motion about - 8 its own axis. I

4. A fertilizer spreader as claimed in claim 1,2 or 3, wherein the bearing is a ball bearing having inner and outer rings separated by a cage retaining the balls.

5. 5. A fertilizer spreader as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the input drive is the power take off shaft of a tractor.

6. A fertilizer spreader as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein means are provided to control the flow of 10 fertilizer from the hopper to the spout, such control means comprising at least one aperture of variable effective area.

7. A fertilizer spreader substantially as described with reference to Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying 15 drawings.