Fence post driving apparatus
OwnerCarl H. Hubenerinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A non-impact fence post driver attachable to a front end loader or similar mobile machine for operation has a hydraulic driven sleeve assembly suspended from a U-joint so as to vertically self-align from the loader, and has a fence post holding shell assembly attached to the sleeve with retractable gate hinged locking assembly to hold the fence post securely near the bottom while driving the post.
Claims18
An apparatus for driving fence posts into the ground and that is attachable to mobile means having a direction of travel and having a connectable power source for providing power to attachments to the mobile means, said mobile means having a front end and a rear end together aligned with the direction of travel, and two sides between the front end and rear end, said apparatus comprised of:
- a. rigid extension support member releasably attachable to the mobile means and having a first end and a second opposing end, said first end connected to said mobile means;
- b. fence post securing assembly suspended from the rigid extension support member for driving a fence post in a vertically self aligning manner, having a moveable drive sleeve, said drive sleeve having fence post latching means attachable thereto for securing a fence post to the moveable drive sleeve;
- c. nonimpact driving force means powered by said power source and having a fixed portion being fixed relative to the rigid extension support member, and a moving force element responsive to the power source, for driving the fence post secured to the moveable drive sleeve;
- d. rotation adjustment means between the fence post securing assembly and the rigid extension support member for rotating the fence post securing assembly so as to provide adjustment of the rotational direction of the fence post when a fence post is secured to the moveable drive sleeve.
An apparatus for driving fence posts that is attachable to a loader, said loader having a direction of travel and having a bucket and a connectable hydraulic power source means for providing power to attachments to the loader, said loader having a front end and a rear end together aligned with the direction of travel, and two sides between the front end and rear end, said apparatus comprised of:
- a. rigid extension support member releasably attachable to the bucket and having a first end and a second opposing end, said first end releasably attachable to the bucket;
- b. fence post securing assembly gravitationally suspended from the rigid extension support member for releasably securing a fence post, so as to allow for gravitationally guided vertical alignment of the fence post securing assembly and said fence post securing assembly having a moveable drive sleeve, said drive sleeve having fence post latching means for securing a fence post to the moveable drive sleeve;
- c. nonimpact driving force means powered by the hydraulic power source means and having a fixed portion being an encasement that is fixed relative to the rigid extension support member, and a moving force element comprising ram means moving in response to the hydraulic power source means, said ram means attached to the moveable drive sleeve, for driving a fence post essentially vertically into the ground in response to the hydraulic power source means;
- d. stop means for automatically stopping the moving force element when the fence post has been driven into the ground to a predetermined level;
- e. rotation adjustment means between the fence post securing assembly and the rigid extension support member for rotating the fence post securing assembly so as to provide adjustment of the rotational position of the fence post when a fence post is secured to the moveable drive sleeve.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.