Apparatus and method for clearing trash from furrow opener path
OwnerAntonius J. M. Brummelhuisinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for clearing trash from a furrow opener path comprises moving first trash from a first path with a front finger wheel and then moving second trash from a next path on top of the first trash with a rear finger wheel. An apparatus for practicing the method comprises a front finger wheel rotatably mounted to the apparatus and oriented to move trash from a first path to a first side of the apparatus. A rear finger wheel is oriented to move trash from an adjacent second path to an opposite second side of the apparatus. The finger wheels are mounted such that bottom edges thereof are maintained at a substantially constant vertical position relative to the ground by at least one depth control wheel rolling along the ground on the first path cleared by the front finger wheel.
Claims22
An apparatus for clearing trash from a furrow opener path, the trash clearing apparatus adapted for attachment to an implement for movement along the ground in an operating travel direction ahead of a furrow opener, the apparatus comprising:
- a front finger wheel rotatably mounted to the apparatus and oriented to move trash from a first path to a first side of the apparatus;
- a rear finger wheel rotatably mounted to the apparatus behind the front finger wheel and oriented to move trash from a second path to an opposite second side of the apparatus;
- wherein the front and rear finger wheels are mounted such that the first and second paths are adjacent to each other;
- wherein the separation along the operating travel direction between the front and rear finger wheels is such that a first trash stream thrown by the front finger wheel does not meet a second trash stream thrown by the rear finger wheel of an adjacent trash clearing apparatus;
- a depth control wheel rotatably mounted to the apparatus such that the depth control wheel rolls along the ground on the first path cleared by the front finger wheel, the depth control wheel operative to maintain bottom edges of the front and rear finger wheels at a substantially constant vertical position relative to the ground;
- and
- an adjusting mechanism operative to adjust a vertical position of the depth control wheel with respect to at least one of the front and rear finger wheels.
A paired row seeding implement attachable to a towing vehicle for movement along the ground in an operating travel direction, the implement comprising:
- a trash clearing apparatus attached to the implement, the apparatus comprising:
- a front finger wheel rotatably mounted to the and oriented to move trash from a first path to a first side of the apparatus;
- a rear finger wheel rotatably mounted to the apparatus behind the front finger wheel and oriented to move trash from a second path to an opposite second side of the apparatus;
- wherein the front and rear finger wheels are mounted such that the first and second paths are adjacent to each other;
- wherein the separation along the operating travel direction between the front and rear finger wheels is such that a first trash stream thrown by the front finger wheel does not meet a second trash stream thrown by the rear finger wheel of an adjacent trash clearing apparatus;
- a depth control wheel rotatably mounted to the apparatus such that the depth control wheel rolls along the ground on the first path cleared by the front finger wheel, the depth control wheel operative to maintain bottom edges of the front and rear finger wheels at a substantially constant vertical position relative to the ground by;
- and
- an adjusting mechanism operative to adjust a vertical position of the depth control wheel with respect to at least one of the front and rear finger wheels;
- a first furrow opening tool attached to the implement behind the trash clearing apparatus and oriented to follow the first path;
- a second furrow opening tool attached to the implement behind the trash clearing apparatus and oriented to follow the second path;
- a furrow depth control device mounted at a fixed vertical position relative to at least one furrow opening tool, and oriented to move along the ground between the first and second furrow opening tools and maintain the first and second furrow opening tools at a substantially constant vertical position with respect to the ground.
A method of clearing trash from a plurality of adjacent paired furrow opener paths of a furrow opening implement, each paired furrow opener path comprising a first path and an adjacent second path, the method comprising:
- with a first front finger wheel, throwing first trash from the first path towards a first side of the paired furrow opener path, relative to an operating travel direction of the implement;
- after the first trash has substantially landed on the ground, with a rear finger wheel throwing second trash from the second path towards a second side of the paired furrow opener path, relative to the operating travel direction of the implement, and on top of first trash thrown by an adjacent second front finger wheel;
- maintaining bottom edges of the front and rear finger wheels at a substantially constant vertical position relative to the ground with a depth control wheel oriented to roll along the ground on the first path cleared by the front finger wheel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.