US 4,015,667 AGranted

Cotton stalk and root shredder with re-bedder

OwnerAldo Ruoziinventor

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Abstract

A root and stalk shredder having a frame, a pair of longitudinally extending, parallel, power driven lifting rollers rotatably mounted on the frame and extending longitudinally parallel to a path of travel of the shredder, guide means mounted on the frame forward of the rollers in the direction of movement of the shredder for guiding stalks between the rollers, a blade assembly mounted on the frame over the rollers and operatively associated with the rollers for cutting roots and stalks lifted by the rollers, and a plow assembly mounted on the frame and provided with a fin assembly for facilitating use of the shredder to re-shape a bed being cleared. A bed re-shaping assembly is mounted at the rear end of the shredder frame for covering over shredded crop residue deflected down into the bed by a deflector shield also arranged at the rear of the shredder frame. Advantageously, a disc blade assembly is arranged at the front of the shredder frame for clearing a pathway for the plow assembly through heavy weeds, debris, and the like. The blade assembly may comprise two overlapping sets of vertically spaced blade clusters, while the lifter rollers are advantageously provided with resilient sleeves on cylindrical portions of the rollers rearward in the shredder frame. These resilient sleeves are constructed so as to form a plurality of longitudinally extending ribs which may be reinforced by rods, and the like, so as to prolong the life of the sleeves. Generally Y-shaped handles associated with wheel assemblies which movably support the frame of the shredder facilitate adjustment of the wheel assemblies in order to obtain proper leveling of the shredder frame relative to a surface being worked. In a modified embodiment of the shredder, the blade clusters may be arranged for rotation about a horizontal axis as opposed to parallel vertical axes in order to obtain finer shredding of the crop residue and to achieve adaptability of the shredder to crop beds having different row spacings.

Claims16

Dependent claims

In a root and stalk shredder which includes a frame movable in a direction of movement along a path of travel, a pair of longitudinally extending, parallel, power driven lifting rollers rotatably mounted on the frame and extending longitudinally parallel to the path of travel, guide means mounted on the frame forward of the rollers in the direction of movement of the frame for guiding stalks between the roller, a blade assembly mounted on the frame over the rollers and operatively associated with the rollers for cutting roots and stalks lifted by the rollers, and a plow assembly mounted on the frame;

the improvement wherein the plow assembly comprises, in combination:
a. a standard attached to the frame;
b. an earth engaging digging blade affixed to the standard and arranged vertically below and centrally between the rollers substantially rearward of the rollers along the path of travel of the frame for effecting a splitting of the earth and freeing of the roots subsequent to an initial grasping of the stalks by the rollers;
c. a fin including a fin affixed to the undersurface of the digging blade and extending cantilever fashion away from the digging blade and the standard to a free end terminating the fin, and an uplifting wing mounted on the free end of the fin and transversely to the fin, the fin assembly being arranged for fracturing the soil below the digging blade, preventing soil compaction by the digging blade, and facilitating directional plant root growth;
and
d. a furrowing-out shovel blade attached to the standard adjacent to the digging blade and arranged extending substantially rearwardly of the standard along the path of travel of the frame for splitting the bed and leaving a furrow open for receiving shredded crop,
the improvement further comprising a bed re-shaping assembly arranged rearwardly of the frame relative to the direction of movement of the frame, the bed re-shaping assembly including, in combination:
1. a pair of notched disc blades;
2. bracket means mounted on the frame and rotatably mounting the disc blades for lifting and lowering the disc blades relative to the frame and selectively engaging the disc blades in a bed being re-shaped;
3. first and second tool bars adjustably connected to the bracket means, the disc blades rotatably mounted on the first and second tool bars at a point thereon spaced from the connection of the first and second tool bars to the bracket means;
and
4. a tool bar assembly mounted on the bracket means together with and adjacent to the notched discs, the tool bar assembly including a third tool bar adjustably attached to the first tool bar, and a sweep blade adjustably mounted on the third tool bar at a point thereof spaced from the attachment of the third tool bar to the first tool bar, the first tool bar and third tool bar being arranged extending in substantially parallel planes.

9 more elements

In a root and stalk shredder which includes a frame movable in a direction of movement along a path of travel, a pair of longitudinally extending, parallel, power driven lifting rollers rotatably mounted on the frame and extending longitudinally parallel to the path of travel, guide means mounted on the frame forward of the rollers in the direction of movement of the frame for guiding stalks between the rollers, a blade assembly mounted on the frame over the rollers and operatively associated with the rollers for cutting roots and stalks lifted by the rollers, and a plow assembly mounted on the frame;

the improvement wherein the plow assembly comprises, a combination:
a. a standard attached to the frame;
b. an earth engaging digging blade affixed to the standard and arranged vertically below and centrally between the rollers substantially rearward of the rollers along the path of travel of the frame for effecting a splitting of the earth and freeing of the roots subsequent to an initial grasping of the stalks by the rollers:
c. a fin assembly including a fin affixed to the undersurface of the digging blade and extending cantilever fashion away from the digging blade and the standard to a free end terminating the fin, and an uplifting wing mounted on the free end of the fin and transversely to the fin, the fin assembly being arranged for fracturing the soil below the digging blade, preventing soil compaction by the digging blade, and facilitating directional plant root growth;
and
c. a furring-out shovel blade attached to the standard adjacent to the digging blade and arranged extending substantially rearwardly of the standard along the path of travel of the frame for splitting the bed and leaving a furrow open for receiving shredded crop, the improvement further including each of the lifting rollers comprising a cylindrical portion rearward of the forward end of the rollers relative to the direction of movement of the frame, and a sleeve constructed from a resilient material arranged in conforming engagement on the cylindrical porton, the sleeve being provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending, outwardly projecting ribs on an outer surface of the sleeve, and a plurality of longitudinal rods embedded in each lifting roller sleeve, each rib having a rod associated therewith, for absorbing shock and prolonging wear of the sleeve.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.