US 5,836,399 A · Sprayer wheel shield

Abstract

A wheel shield for a self-propelled sprayer includes a double wall plastic body with a profile designed to protect plants and provide smooth surfaces that resist build up of debris. A support and aligning rod assembly extending upwardly from the wheel hub includes locating pins to receive and initially support the plastic body so that mounting holes on the body sidewalls can be easily aligned with mating structure bracket structure on the wheel support. The inside wall of the body is connected to a bracket fixed to the wheel hub. A bearing is fixed to the outside wall of the body, and a mating hub mounting member is connected to the wheel hub. A bolt placed through the bearing and threaded into a nut fixed to the hub mounting member provides support for the body from the wheel hub without need for metal frames or similar supporting structure. The body terminates at a lower edge offset a substantial distance above the ground, and a flexible shield bottom is mounted on the lower edge to protect the body during shield contact with the ground or obstacles.

Claims20

Dependent claims

In an agricultural vehicle having a frame supported for movement over ground in a forward direction and in a rearward direction by a plurality of wheels, the wheels connected to wheel support structure and including wheel hubs, the wheels adapted for positioning between rows of crop, attachable and removable shield structure for protecting the crop from one of the wheels when attached, comprising:

a plastic wheel shield having a body with a lower, forward nose portion and inside and outside sidewalls extending in the rearward direction from the nose portion, and a top wall connected to the sidewalls;
a support and aligning member connected to the wheel support structure and extending upwardly therefrom to an uppermost shield receiving member, the support and aligning member and the wheel shield including mating structure for at least temporarily supporting substantially the entire weight of the wheel shield independently of separate fasteners during attaching of the shield structure;
and
bracket structure connected to the wheel support and alignable with a preselected location on one of the sidewalls when the wheel shield is supported on the support and aligning member, and bolt structure connected between the bracket structure and the preselected location and supporting the wheel shield from the wheel support structure.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Sprayer wheel shield

Life of this patent

Sprayer wheel shield

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20