Tool holder for at least one soil working and / or treatment tool and soil working machine equipped with such a tool holder

Abstract

The invention relates to a tool holder (1) for at least one tool (21) for working and / or treating the soil, said tool holder (1) comprising at least one rolling base (2) equipped with ground support wheels (3), a beam (4) and a first coupling system (5). The beam (4) is interposed between the first coupling system (5) and the rolling base (2). The tool holder (1) comprises a second coupling system (12) carried by the rolling base (2) and the beam (4) is mounted on the rolling base (2) pivoting about a so-called horizontal axis (XX') orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the beam (4). Figure for the abstract: Fig. 1

Description

Title of the invention: Tool holder for at least one soil working and / or treatment tool and soil working machine equipped with such a tool holder

[0001] The invention relates to a tool holder for at least one soil working and / or treatment tool and a soil working machine equipped with such a tool holder.

[0002] Tractor vehicles are becoming increasingly powerful and allow the traction of a large number of working and / or soil treatment tools. To date, each tool carrier associated with such working and / or soil treatment tools is designed to be used in a specific configuration. This requires the farmer to have a large number of tool carriers, each dedicated to working and / or soil treatment tools.

[0003] An aim of the invention is to propose a tool holder whose design allows rapid assembly and disassembly of the working and / or soil treatment tool(s) associated with the tool holder.

[0004] It should be noted that the term “soil working and / or treatment tool” means any tool capable of allowing a modification in depth or on the surface of the soil, such as a sowing tool, a spreading tool, a grinding tool, a clearing tool, a blade, a disc, etc.

[0005] To this end, the invention relates to a tool holder for at least one soil working and / or treatment tool, said tool holder comprising at least one rolling base equipped with ground support wheels, one or more beams and a first coupling system, characterized in that the or at least one of the beams, at least part of which is interposed between the first coupling system and the rolling base, is mounted on the rolling base to pivot about a so-called horizontal axis orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the beam and in that the tool holder comprises a second coupling system carried by the rolling base.

[0006] The presence of two coupling systems and at least one pivoting beam allows reversible use of the tool holder, i.e. traction in a first direction or in the opposite direction of said tool holder. At the same time, the possibility of pivoting the beam about a horizontal axis between a lowered position and a raised position allows, in the raised position of the beam, to position the tool holder above the working and / or soil treatment tool(s) to be associated with the beam, then to lower the beam to facilitate the coupling of the tool(s) to the tool holder. This possibility of pivoting the beam allows, in the lowered position of the beam, in the coupled state of the working and / or soil treatment tool(s) to be ground treatment to the tool holder, to uncouple the working and / or ground treatment tool(s) from the tool holder and then to raise the beam before moving the tool holder away from the working and / or ground treatment tool(s). This makes it easier to assemble and disassemble the working and / or ground treatment tool(s) from the tool holder.

[0007] According to one embodiment of the invention, said tool holder comprises at least one device for locking the pivoting beam in a predetermined angular position relative to the rolling base. The risk of pivoting movement of the beam during movement of the rolling base on the ground is thus avoided.

[0008] According to one embodiment of the invention, the locking device comprises at least one axis positionable inside facing holes provided respectively on the beam and on the base.

[0009] According to one embodiment of the invention, the pivoting beam is a beam of adjustable length between a minimum length and a maximum length, and the tool holder comprises a device for adjusting the minimum length of the beam. This design prevents the working and / or soil treatment tool(s) from being gripped between the base and the first coupling system.

[0010] According to one embodiment of the invention, the pivoting beam is a telescopic beam.

[0011] According to one embodiment of the invention, the beam(s), the first coupling system and the base form a U open towards the ground, and the second coupling system is arranged outside the U.

[0012] Preferably, the second coupling system is arranged on the portion of the base opposite that pivotally coupled to the beam. In other words, the axis about which the beam is pivotally mounted on the rolling base extends between the first and second coupling systems.

[0013] According to one embodiment of the invention, the first coupling system comprises at least two couplings, one arranged inside the U, the other outside the U.

[0014] According to one embodiment of the invention, the beam(s) and the first coupling system form a single-piece assembly.

[0015] According to one embodiment of the invention, the rolling base comprises a column provided with a cylinder for varying the length of said column. This design allows easy adjustment of the working and / or treatment depth of the soil.

[0016] According to one embodiment of the invention, said tool holder comprises, for pivoting movement of the pivoting beam on the base around the so-called horizontal axis orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the beam, an actuator, such as a jack, arranged between the base and the beam.

[0017] According to one embodiment of the invention, the rolling base is equipped with an axle or a plurality of axles with parallel axes.

[0018] According to one embodiment of the invention, the tool holder comprises at least one sheath extending from the first coupling system to the base. The presence of a sheath allows safe positioning of the conduits, in particular hydraulic conduits, and easy monitoring of the variation in length of the or each beam.

[0019] The invention also relates to a soil working machine comprising at least one tool holder and at least one soil working and / or treatment tool capable of being carried by the or at least one of the tool holders, characterized in that the or at least one of the tool holders conforms to that described above.

[0020] The invention also relates to a method for coupling at least one soil working and / or treatment tool to a tool holder, characterized in that the tool holder, being of the aforementioned type, the method comprises: - a step of pivoting movement of the at least one pivoting beam in the direction of lifting the beam, - a step of positioning the beam above the working and / or ground treatment tool(s) to be coupled to the tool holder, and - a step of pivoting the beam in the direction of lowering the beam for coupling the tool(s) to said tool holder. This coupling preferably takes place at the first coupling system of said tool holder.

[0021] The invention also relates to a method for uncoupling at least one working and / or soil treatment tool from a tool holder, characterized in that the tool holder being of the aforementioned type, the method comprises: - a step of uncoupling the working tools and / or ground treatment from the tool holder, - a step of pivoting movement of the at least one pivoting beam in the direction of lifting the beam, - a step of moving the tool holder in the direction of moving away from the at least one pivoting beam of the working and / or soil treatment tool(s). Brief description of the drawings

[0022] The invention will be better understood on reading the following description of exemplary embodiments, with reference to the appended drawings in which:

[0023] [Fig-1] represents a side view of a tool holder according to the invention,

[0024] [Fig.2] shows a side view of a soil working machine in the raised position of the tool holder beam, said beam being positioned above a working and / or ground treatment tool,

[0025] [Fig.3] represents a side view of a soil working machine in working configuration,

[0026] [Fig.4] represents a side view of a soil working machine in configuration of transport,

[0027] [Fig.5] represents a top view of a soil working machine,

[0028] [Fig.6] represents a partially sectioned side view of a tool holder.

[0029] As mentioned above, the invention relates to a tool holder 1 capable of carrying one or more tools 21 for working and / or treating the soil, such as blades, discs, coulters or the like, to form a soil working machine 20 conforming, for example, to that shown in [Fig.3].

[0030] This tool holder 1 comprises a rolling base 2. This rolling base 2 is equipped with ground support wheels 3. The ground support wheels 3 are at least in pairs, connected to each other by a structure, to form an axle each time.

[0031] The rolling base 2 may comprise a single axle, as illustrated in [Fig.6], or several axles 10 with parallel axes, as illustrated in [Fig.2], to allow an increase in the admissible load.

[0032] This tool holder 1 further comprises at least one beam 4 extending longitudinally from one of its ends towards its opposite end. The longitudinal axis of the beam 4 therefore extends from one end towards the opposite end of the beam 4. Although the tool holder may comprise several beams, a tool holder with a single beam will be described below to simplify the description.

[0033] This beam 4 is mounted on the rolling base 2 pivoting about an axis XX' called horizontal orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the beam 4 for the passage of the beam 4 from a lowered position to a raised position and vice versa. This axis XX' is called horizontal because it extends horizontally in the positioned state of the rolling base 2 on a horizontal flat surface. The beam 4 is, for its pivoting mounting on the rolling base 2, coupled at one of its ends to the rolling base 2 by a pivot connection.

[0034] This pivot connection can be formed by a rod inserted into holes opposite the beam 4 and the rolling base 2. This pivot connection is arranged in the upper part of the rolling base 2, the lower part of the rolling base 2 being equipped with the ground support wheels 3 of the rolling base 2.

[0035] To allow pivoting movement of the beam 4 on the rolling base 2 around the axis XX', called horizontal orthogonal, to the longitudinal axis of the beam 4, an actuator 6, such as a jack, is arranged between the rolling base 2 and the beam 4.

[0036] The extension of this jack here allows the pivoting movement of the beam 4 in the direction of raising the beam 4, while the retraction of the jack allows a pivoting movement of the beam 4 in the direction of lowering the beam 4.

[0037] It is noted that in the example shown in particular in Figures 3, 4 and 6, the rolling base 2 comprises a column provided with a jack 9 for varying the length of said column. This column is carried by the ground support wheels 3 described above.

[0038] The actuation of this jack 9 makes it possible to lengthen the column to allow the beam 4 to move away from the ground and thus to vary the working depth of the working and / or soil treatment tool(s) or to bring the tool holder 1 into a transport configuration in which the working and / or soil treatment tool(s) 21 are moved away from the ground as illustrated in [Fig.4].

[0039] The actuator 6 for driving the beam 4 is coupled to the rolling base 2 at the upper part of the column so that it can perform its function regardless of the length of the column.

[0040] To avoid any accident, the tool holder 1 comprises at least one device 7 for locking the beam 4 in a predetermined angular position relative to the rolling base 2. This locking device 7 comprises at least one axis positionable inside facing holes provided respectively on the beam 4 and on the rolling base 2.

[0041] Thus, the beam 4 can be equipped with a plurality of holes 72 selectively positionable opposite holes in the rolling base 2. It suffices, once these holes are in coincidence, to introduce an axis 71 in the form of a rod in the alignment of holes formed to obtain a locking of the angular position of the beam 4 to the rolling base 2.

[0042] Obviously, other embodiments of the locking device 7 can be envisaged without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0043] In the examples shown, the beam 4 is a beam of adjustable length between a minimum length and a maximum length, and the tool holder 1 comprises a device 8 for adjusting the minimum length of the beam 4.

[0044] As illustrated in Figures 1 and 3, the beam 4 may be a telescopic beam. This beam 4 is formed of at least two beam sections mounted with sliding interlocking. The variation in the length of the beam 4 is in this case obtained by varying the length of the interlocking zone.

[0045] To avoid the working and / or soil treatment tool(s) 21 being caught in a vice between the rolling base 2 and a first coupling system 5, which will be described below, the minimum length of the beam 4 may vary.

[0046] The adjustment device 8, which allows adjustment of this minimum length of the beam 4, can again be formed of two series of facing holes 82 arranged on the beam section coupled to the rolling base 2. Each type of hole 82 is formed of holes arranged axially offset along said beam 4 to delimit, at the level of each pair of holes 82, a receiving passage of a stop, for example in the form of a rod 81 insertable into said holes 82. This repositionable stop prevents the re-entry of the beam section adjacent to the powder section pivotally coupled to the base 2 into the beam section pivotally coupled to the base 2 beyond this repositionable stop.

[0047] The tool holder 1 further comprises a first coupling system 5 and a second coupling system 12. The beam 4 is interposed between the first coupling system 5 and the rolling base 2. The second coupling system 12 is carried by the rolling base 2.

[0048] As illustrated, for example, in Figures 1 and 3, the beam 4, the first coupling system 5 and the base 2 form a U open towards the ground, and the second coupling system 12 is arranged outside the U.

[0049] The first and second coupling systems can adapt to a large number of shapes. In the example shown in Figures 1 and 2, the first coupling system 5 comprises two couplings 51 and 52 arranged, one inside the U, the other outside the U and a connecting zone between said couplings 51 and 52.

[0050] The coupling arranged outside the U and shown at 52 in the figures is a coupling comprising a drawbar terminated at one end by a ball. This coupling may also comprise a bar coupled to the tractor's power take-off to enable the operation of a rotary soil working tool. This coupling outside the U enables the tool carrier to be coupled to a tractor vehicle or to an intermediate tool carrier chassis which itself is coupled to a tractor vehicle.

[0051] The coupling 51 of the first coupling system 5 arranged inside the U is, in the examples shown, a three-point coupling. This coupling arranged inside the U can be coupled to the working and / or soil treatment tools which thus extend below the beam 4.

[0052] The second coupling system 12 is also, in the examples shown, a three-point coupling which allows the rolling base 2 to be coupled to a towing vehicle, as illustrated in [Fig.2], or to an additional tool-carrying chassis, as illustrated in [Fig.3].

[0053] The beam 4 and the first coupling system 5 form a single-piece assembly. The beam 4 and the first coupling system 5 form a rigid assembly. Thus, the web of the U formed by the beam 4 and one of the branches of the U formed by the first coupling system 5 form a mobile assembly during the pivoting movement of the beam 4 relative to the rolling base 2 in the direction of moving the beam 4 and the first coupling system 5 away from or towards the ground.

[0054] The presence of these first and second coupling systems allows, in combination with the pivoting of the beam 4, easy assembly and disassembly of the tools of work and / or treatment of the soil. Thus, [Fig.2] illustrates the case where a tractor vehicle is coupled to the second coupling system 12 of the tool carrier.

[0055] The method of coupling the tool(s) 21 for working and / or treating the soil to the tool holder 1 comprises: - a step of positioning, using the towing vehicle, the tool carrier 1 in such a way that the beam 4 of the tool carrier, which is in the raised position, extends above the tool(s) 21 for working and / or treating the soil, as illustrated in [Fig.2], - a step of lowering the beam 4 by pivoting movement around the axis XX', and - a step of coupling the tool(s) 21 to the first coupling system 5, or generally to the tool holder 1.

[0056] The towing vehicle is then uncoupled from the second coupling system and coupled to the first coupling system to allow working and / or treating the soil, as illustrated in [Fig. 3]. If necessary, the working depth can be adjusted using the cylinder 9 which can also allow the tool carrier to move into transport configuration, as illustrated in [Fig. 4] where the working and / or soil treatment tools are moved away from the ground.

[0057] To uncouple the working and / or soil treatment tool(s) from the tool holder, the procedure is reversed to that described above, namely: - the working and / or soil treatment tool(s) are uncoupled, - the beam 4 is caused to pivot in the direction of elevation, and - the tool carrier is moved using a towing vehicle coupled to the second coupling system 12 in order to then, if necessary, re-couple the tool carrier to working and / or soil treatment tools.

[0058] To complete the tool holder, the tool holder may further comprise a sheath 11 extending from the first coupling system to the base. This sheath 11 allows the passage of hoses, in particular hydraulic hoses, for supplying working and / or soil treatment tools arranged outside the U at the level of the second coupling system.

[0059] As illustrated in [Fig.4], additional tool carrier frames may be arranged between the towing vehicle and the tool carrier described above, or at the second coupling system.

[0060] The tool holder 1, as described above, and the soil working and / or treatment tool(s) capable of being carried by said tool holder form all or part of a soil working machine 20 which may be in accordance with that shown in [Fig.5].

Claims

Claims

1. Tool holder (1) for at least one tool (21) for working and / or treating the soil, said tool holder (1) comprising at least one rolling base (2) equipped with ground support wheels (3), one or more beams (4) and a first coupling system (5), characterized in that the or at least one of the beams (4), at least a part of which is interposed between the first coupling system (5) and the rolling base (2), is mounted on the rolling base (2) pivoting about a so-called horizontal axis (XX') orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the beam (4) and in that the tool holder (1) comprises a second coupling system (12) carried by the rolling base (2), the presence of two coupling systems (5; 12) and of said at least one pivoting beam allowing reversible use of the tool holder (1), that is to say a traction in a first direction or in the opposite direction of said tool holder (1).

2. Tool holder (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said tool holder (1) comprises at least one device (7) for locking the pivoting beam (4) in a predetermined angular position relative to the rolling base (2).

3. Tool holder (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the locking device (7) comprises at least one axis positionable inside facing holes (72) provided respectively on the beam (4) and on the base (2).

4. Tool holder (1) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the pivoting beam (4) is a beam of adjustable length between a minimum length and a maximum length and in that the tool holder (1) comprises a device (8) for adjusting the minimum length of the beam (4).

5. Tool holder (1) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the pivoting beam (4) is a telescopic beam.

6. Tool holder (1) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the beam(s) (4), the first coupling system (5) and the base (2) form a U open towards the ground, and in that the second coupling system (12) is arranged outside the U.

7. Tool holder (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that the first coupling system (5) comprises at least two couplings (51, 52) arranged, one (51), inside the U, the other (52), outside the U.

8. Tool holder (1) according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the beam(s) (4) and the first coupling system (5) form a single-piece assembly.

9. Tool holder (1) according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the rolling base (2) comprises a column provided with a jack (9) for varying the length of said column.

10. Tool holder (1) according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that said tool holder (1) comprises, for a pivoting movement of the pivoting beam (4) on the base (2) around the so-called horizontal axis (XX') orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the beam (4), an actuator (6), such as a jack (9), arranged between the base (2) and the beam (4).

11. Tool holder (1) according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the rolling base (2) is equipped with an axle or a plurality of axles (10) with parallel axes.

12. Tool holder (1) according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that it comprises at least one sheath (11) extending from the first coupling system (5) to the base (2).

13. Soil working machine (20) comprising at least one tool holder (1) and at least one soil working and / or treatment tool (21) capable of being carried by the or at least one of the tool holders (1), characterized in that the or at least one of the tool holders (1) conforms to one of claims 1 to 12.

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