Side mounted fertilizer knife assembly with interchangeable strip till and low draft points

• US 9,326,442 B1
• Filed: 02/07/2012
• Issued: 05/03/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RCB Bank (RCB Holding Co., Inc. (Oklahoma))
• Original Assignee: Shield Industries, Inc.
• Inventors: Bergmeier, Mike J., Albright, Stephen B.
• Primary Examiner(s): TORRES, ALICIA M
• Application Number:
  US13/367,969
• Time in Patent Office: 1,547 Days
• Field of Search: 111118-120, 111123-126, 172/681, 172/684.5, 172/685, 172/690, 172699-701, 172705-711, 172/713, 172721-733, 172/762, 172/776
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A01C 23/025 Continuous injection tools
• CPC Class Codes: A01C 5/062 Devices for making drills or furrows

Abstract

An improved fertilizer knife assembly includes a shank member for attaching to the machine shank of a fertilizer implement, a point member and a fertilizer tube. The point member has side flange portions that extend past the back surface of the shank member to provide a channel for receiving and protecting the lower end of the fertilizer tube. The point member is removably mounted to the shank member and is configured as one of two distinctive types of point members: a strip-till point member and a low-draft point member. Accordingly, a fertilizer implement with improved fertilizer knife assemblies may be reconfigured for either strip-till or low-draft cultivation with only a few minutes of effort.

Claims

1. A side mounted fertilizer blade assembly for injecting fertilizer fluid under the surface agricultural topsoil, comprising:

(a) an elongated side mounted shank member having a proximate end adapted for side mount attachment to a machine shank of a fertilizer implement, the shank member having an upper portion and a lower portion, the upper portion being generally upright and having a generally constant cross section, the lower portion extending down and forward from the upper portion and being tapered toward the distal end thereof, the upper portion and the lower portion each having a front surface, two parallel side surfaces and a back surface, the shank member also having at least one fastener hole,

(b) a point member adapted for attachment to the lower portion of the shank member and adapted for drafting through soil beneath a soil surface, the point member including a forward leading edge portion, a base portion and opposite flank portions that connect between the leading edge portion and the base portion, the leading edge portion, the base portion and the flank portions defining a channel for receiving the lower portion of the shank member, the point member having at least one fastener hole that is positioned to align with the at least one fastener hole in the shank member for receiving at least one fastener for removably fastening the point member to the shank member, the leading edge portion of the point member defining cutting surfaces operable for breaking apart soil as the point passes through the soil,

(c) each flank portion of the point member having generally flat side surfaces that are generally parallel to and closely spaced away from the side surfaces of the shank member and which each originate at a forward boundary and terminate at a rear boundary that defines rear perimeter which extends from the proximate end of the point member to the distal end of the point member and that extend past the rear surface of the lower portion of the shank member such that the flank portions and the rear surface of the lower portion of the shank member define a tube channel, the flank portions also presenting pockets that cause soil to shatter and break apart as the soil passes over the flank portions, (d) a pair of soil guard plates affixed to the opposite side surfaces of the shank member above the point member, the soil guard plates extending behind the back surface of the shank member thereby defining a protected channel behind the back surface of the shank member, (e) a fertilizer tube mounted behind the shank member and extending to the distal end of the shank member, the fertilizer tube having at least one opening at the distal end thereof for releasing fertilizer fluid, the fertilizer tube mounted to the shank member such that the fertilizer tube is received by the protected channel defined by the soil guard plates and the shank member and the tube channel of the point member, the protected channel defined by the soil guard plates and the shank member and the tube channel of the point member extending sufficiently such that at least most of the portion of the fertilizer tube which is beneath the soil surface is protected from the abrasive action of passing soil as the blade assembly is drafted through the soil.

2. A side mounted fertilizer blade assembly, comprising:

(a) an elongated side mounted shank member having a proximate end adapted for side mount attachment to the shank of a fertilizer implement, the shank member having a generally rectangular cross section and having an upper portion and a lower portion, the upper portion being generally upright and having a generally constant cross section, the lower portion extending down and forward from the upper portion and being tapered toward the distal end thereof, the upper portion and the lower portion each having a front surface, two parallel side surfaces and a back surface, the lower portion having a fastener hole extending between the side surfaces thereof, the shank member presenting at least on fastener hole,

(b) a fertilizer tube fixed to the back surface of the shank member, the fertilizer tube for conveying liquid fertilizer from the fertilizer implement into the soil,

(c) at least two interchangeable point members adapted for attachment to the lower portion of the shank member and adapted for drafting through soil beneath a soil surface, the point members each including a forward leading edge portion, a base portion and opposite flank portions that connect between the leading edge portion and the base portion, the leading edge portion, the base portion and the flank portions defining a channel for receiving the lower portion of the shank member, each of the point members having at least one fastener hole that is positioned to align with the at least one fastener hole in the shank member for receiving at least one fastener for removably fastening each point member to the shank member, the leading edge portion of each point member defining cutting surfaces operable for breaking apart soil as the point passes through the soil, the flank portions extending behind the back surface of the shank member to define a tube channel for receiving the fertilizer tube, (d) a pair of soil guard plates fixed to the opposite side surfaces of the shank member above the point member, the soil guard plates extending behind the back surface of the shank member thereby defining a protected channel behind the back surface of the shank member for receiving the fertilizer tube, the protected channel defined by the soil guard plates and the tube channel defined by the point member extending sufficiently such that at least most of the fertilizer tube which is adjacent to the shank member and beneath the soil surface is protected from the abrasive action of passing soil as the blade assembly is drafted through the soil.

3. The fertilizer blade assembly of claim 2, wherein;

the interchangeable point members include a strip-till point member adapted for operations such that the distal end of the point member is generally between six and twelve inches below the surface of the soil, the strip-till point member having planar forward surfaces adapted for maximizing the disruption of the subsoil.