ROLLER ASSEMBLY FOR AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY

• US 20120077656A1
• Filed: 08/31/2011
• Published: 03/29/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Otico
• Original Assignee: Otico
• Inventors: Piou, Denis, Martin Cabanas, Daniel
• Granted Patent: US 8,720,597 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 492/15
• CPC Class Codes: A01B 29/043 Tire-packers

Abstract

The invention relates to a roller assembly for agricultural machinery, comprising at least one tube (14) onto which tyres (16) are threaded, as well as two arms (32) adapted to support the tube (14) in rotation at both its ends. Each arm (32) carries a suspension lever (40) housed inside the tube (14) and acted upon by a resilient recoil member (48), the suspension lever (40) being mounted on the arm (32) so as to be pivotable about a first rotation axis (XX) and supporting a shaft end (64; 96) which carries a cheek (66; 108) fixed to the inside of the tube (14) for the rotation of this tube about a second rotation axis (YY) parallel to the first rotation axis (XX). The invention applies particularly to the rollers of seed drills.

Claims

1. Roller assembly for agricultural machine, comprising at least one tube (14) onto which tyres (16) are threaded, as well as two arms (32) adapted to support the tube (14) in rotation at both its ends,

characterised in that each arm (32) carries a suspension lever (40) housed inside the tube (14) and acted upon by a resilient recoil member (48), and in that the suspension lever (40) is mounted on the arm (32) so as to be pivotable about a first rotation axis (XX) and supports a shaft end (64;

96) which carries a cheek (66;

108) fixed to the inside of the tube (14) for the rotation of this tube about a second rotation axis (YY) parallel to the first rotation axis (XX).

2. Roller assembly according to claim 1, wherein each arm (32) is deflected towards the inside of the tube (14), in the axial direction of the tube, in a region that carries the suspension lever (40).

3. Roller assembly according to one of claims 1 and 2, wherein each arm (32) comprises an end branch (38) having a first end (42) carrying a pivot shaft (45) for rotation of the suspension lever (40) about the first rotation axis (XX) and a second end (46) connected to the resilient recoil member (48).

4. Roller assembly according to claim 3, wherein each suspension lever (40) is in the shape of a beam of generally U-shaped section with a core (50) and two wings (52, 54) and wherein the pivot shaft (45) passes through the end branch (38) and is received in the two wings (52, 54) of the suspension lever (40), whereas the resilient recoil member (48) is connected to the core (50) of the suspension lever (40).

5. Roller assembly according to claim 4, wherein the resilient recoil member (48) is provided with an abutment (76) that engages in a cut-out (78) in one (52) of the wings of the suspension lever (40).

6. Roller assembly according to one of claims 4 and 5, wherein a tie-rod (82) is interposed between the end branch (38) of the arm (32) and the core (50) of the suspension lever (40) for pre-stressing the resilient recoil member (48).

7. Roller assembly according to one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the resilient recoil member (48) is a body made of a rubber-type elastic material and the tie-rod (82) passes through it.

8. Roller assembly according to one of claims 1 to 7, wherein each suspension lever (40) extends backwards with respect to the first rotation axis (XX) and relative to the direction of advance of the roller.

9. Roller assembly according to one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the shaft end (64) is rotatably mounted on the suspension lever (40) and is fixedly attached to the cheek (66) which is removably fixed to the inside of the tube (14).

10. Roller assembly according to one of claims 1 to 9, wherein at least one of the suspension levers (40) comprises a braking member (98) for braking the respective cheek (108).

11. Roller assembly according to claim 10, wherein the shaft end (64) is fixedly mounted on the suspension lever (40) and supports the cheek (108) in rotation, which is removably fixed to the inside of the tube (14).

12. Roller assembly according to one of claims 10 and 11, wherein the braking member (98) comprises a drum brake (114).

13. Roller assembly according to one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the tyres (16) threaded onto the tube (14) have respective dome-shaped profiles adapted to form a series of parallel furrows in the ground.

14. Roller assembly according to one of claims 1 to 13, comprising two rollers (12) the respective tubes (14) of which are arranged in axial alignment and the arms (32) are carried by a common frame (34).

15. Roller assembly according to claims 13 and 14 taken in combination, wherein the respective dome-shaped profiles of the tyres (16) threaded onto the two tubes (14) have a constant pitch (P) in the axial direction and the profiles of two adjacent tyres (16e) belonging to the two tubes respectively are spaced at substantially the same pitch in the axial direction.