Abstract: A steerable suspension system for a vehicle, especially useful in a self-propelled vehicle that can include a worker-platform and optionally include pick-up, transport, and delivery apparatus for produce bins. The steerable suspension system includes independent pairs of parallel arms, each pair coupled to a single steerable drive-wheel, serving as both a suspension and as a shock absorber, with the parallel-acting pair of arms maintaining the steering-leg in its substantially vertical position relative to a ground surface. This steerable suspension system aids the steerable movement and suspension of the vehicle, while increasing safety and maneuverability, and helps to reduce the number of workers required to operate the vehicle.

Abstract: A harvester header support for supporting a header of an agricultural harvester, having a forward travel mode and a rearward travel mode. In the forward travel mode a first coupling element is in a forward travel position relative to a second coupling element, and in the rearward travel mode the first coupling element is in a rearward travel position relative to the second coupling element, wherein the first coupling element is moveable from the forward travel position to the rearward travel position and/or vice versa by pivoting the first coupling element relative to the second coupling element about the first pivot axis. An agricultural harvester having the harvester header support and a method for operating the agricultural harvester are disclosed as well.

Abstract: An agricultural tillage implement includes a main section including a hitch extending in a travel direction, a plurality of foldable wing sections coupled with the main section, a plurality of ground engaging tilling elements, and a plurality of lift and gauge wheel lift mechanisms. The tilling elements are coupled to the main section and wing sections. Each of the lift and gauge wheel lift mechanisms has a rear lift wheel actuator and a front gauge wheel actuator. A control system is configured to independently actuate the rear lift wheel actuators and the front gauge wheel actuators to control a depth of tilling elements in each of the sections when the implement is in a field configuration, and to level the implement front to rear and side to side.

Abstract: A lift system for an implement has the lift cylinder near the implement front end. A rocker link with three vertically spaced pivot holes is located rearward of the cylinder and connected to an implement frame by a pivot pin through the center one of the holes. The lift cylinder is connected to the lower pivot hole while two further links are connected to the top hole and extend longitudinally away from one another to control raising and lowering of front and rear wheels respectively. As the cylinder extends and retracts, the rocker pivots causing the front and rear wheels to raise and lower in synchronism with each other. Fore and aft leveling adjustment may be achieved by including a turnbuckle in one of the further links to vary the length thereof relative to the other.

Abstract: A tire cleaning device is provided that helps remove obstructions from the longitudinal grooves of a tire tread. The device can be configured to operate with different types of obstructions and with tires having longitudinal grooves incorporated within differing tread patterns. In certain exemplary embodiments, the device can be equipped to operate with a tire on vehicle that has a suspension system which allows the tire to move along the vertical direction during vehicle operation.

Abstract: An agricultural implement is provided that includes a hitch assembly configured to couple the agricultural implement to a tow vehicle, and a carrier frame pivotally coupled to the hitch assembly. The agricultural implement also includes a pair of wheel assemblies each rotatably coupled to the carrier frame by a respective pivot joint. The agricultural implement further includes an actuator assembly configured to rotate each wheel assembly about the respective pivot joint in a first direction by applying a first torque, and to rotate each wheel assembly about the respective pivot joint in a second direction, opposite the first direction, by applying a second torque. A magnitude of the first torque and a magnitude of the second torque are substantially equal.

Abstract: A hydraulic walking beam method of a pull-type implement, the method comprising: receiving hydraulic fluid at a first hydraulic cylinder associated with a first gauge wheel assembly from a second hydraulic cylinder associated with a second gauge wheel assembly, the first and second gauge wheel assemblies coupled to a frame of a pull-type implement; extending a cylinder rod associated with the first hydraulic cylinder responsive to receiving the hydraulic fluid; and retracting a cylinder rod associated with the second hydraulic cylinder concurrently with the extending.

Abstract: An agricultural tillage implement includes a center frame portion connected to one or more hinged wing frame portions. Both the center portion and the wing portions include separate hydraulically actuated lifting and self-leveling mechanisms. In each wing portion, one or more rear support wheels are pivotally connected to the implement frame via a rear torque tube which is also connected to the hydraulic lift such that the rear wheel is selectively pivotable relative to the frame to thereby raise and lower the frame with respect to ground level. A front gauge wheel is also pivotally connected to the frame via a front torque tube which is connected to the rear torque tube via a linkage arm and a pair of rocker arms such that the gauge wheel is pivoted in synchronism with the rear wheel to level the wing portion as it is raised and lowered.

Abstract: A partial width seeding attachment includes electronically controlled solenoids which activate hydraulic flow control valves connected to the hydraulic cylinders on respective implement sections. Switches in the tractor cab control the rockshaft of one or more selected sections independently of the other sections to raise the openers on the selected section or sections from contact with the soil. An electronically activated flow reversing valve is connected between the source of hydraulic fluid under pressure and the lift cylinder for each of the sections. Activation of a selected valve after the selective control valve on the tractor is moved to the normal field working position pressurizes the side of the cylinder that raises the openers on the section. The remaining cylinders operate normally to maintain preselected down pressure on the other openers. A master raise switch provides implement lift independent of the position of the individual rockshaft control switches.

Abstract: The linkage mechanism between the front and the rear wheels of a farming implement includes a front and a rear arm the free ends of which suspend the respective wheels. Each arm has a transverse bracket near its other end. The bracket defines, at its free end, a pivot joint of a normally generally horizontal connecting rod whose other end is similarly connected to the bracket of the other arm. Each arm is mounted in a respective bearing for swinging about a point to raise or to lower the frame of the implement. The three pivot points associated with each arm define a respective linkage triangle. The geometry of the linkage triangles is developed from a reference triangle, divided by a median into two triangles of which one corresponds to one of the linkage triangles and the other corresponds to or is similar to the other one of said linkage triangles. The invention facilitates the designing of the linkage.

Abstract: There is disclosed a carriage for an agricultural implement, particularly for a reversible plow, in which the wheels at each side of the carriage are mounted to the carriage with forks which are pivotally received on a main axle and which have lift arms interconnected to a lift assembly. The wheel lift assembly has lift levers fixedly secured at opposite ends of a lift shaft and these are connected to their respective lift arms on the wheel forks by lift links having adjustable pinned connections to the lift levers whereby the fulcrum of each lift lever can be changed by insertion of pins in preselected, aligned pairs of apertures between the link arm and lift lever. The fulcrum positions of the lift levers control the elevations of the wheels on the carriage.

Abstract: A farming implement is disclosed having a series of wheel subassemblies supporting a towed frame. Each subassembly has a front wheel, preferably a castor wheel, and a rear wheel arrangement. According to the invention, the rear wheel arrangement is secured to a trailing arm which is connected by a connecting rod with a front arm. The connecting rod, the pivot point of the rear and the front arms and the point at which the rear and the front wheels are secured to the respective arms form, in the preferred embodiment, identical right-angled triangles. The rear arm is operatively associated with a hydraulic cylinder for raising or lifting the trailing arm as the need arises. The movement of the trailing arm is transmitted through the linkage to the front wheel whereby the frame of the implement is maintained at a generally horizontal position at all times.

Abstract: An apparatus of the type designed to drill a plurality of equidistantly spaced bores of differing diameters in a lawn. The bores of smaller diameters are intended to aerate the lawn to provide holes into which seeds, water, and fertilizer can be deposited. Bores of larger diameters are intended to receive plugs of grass. The apparatus has the general appearance of a conventional lawnmower, having a planar in configuration base member and an insulated handle pivotally attached thereto. A linkage is provided to raise and lower the base member responsive to repositioning of the handle member. The drill bits are provided with welded ridges or heat treated flanges and are connected in driven relation to a motor mounted upwardly of the base member by a pulley and belt arrangement that differs depending upon the number of drill bits provided for a specific embodiment of the invention.

Abstract: A drawn moldboard plow includes a lift linkage for the rear furrow and ground wheels which improves ground penetration by causing the plow frame to roll as it is lowered so the share points contact the soil first. A hydraulic cylinder contained within a part of the frame operates both the furrow and the ground wheels through a linkage which, during retraction, raises the ground wheel at a faster rate than the rear furrow wheel so the plow frame rolls in the direction of the ground wheel. If the ground wheel reaches its plowing position determined by an adjustable stop before the furrow wheel, a lost motion connection allows continued retraction of the cylinder to further raise the furrow wheel to its plowing position.

Abstract: A land wheel assembly including dual wheels pivotally mounted on a vertically positionable arm of an implement such as a plow. When the arm is lowered and the plow is in the transport position the wheels can rock in a castering fashion about a pivotal axis having a substantial vertical component so that as the implement is turned around a corner, the wheels caster to reduce tire scuffing and stresses in the assembly. When the arm is raised to lower the implement to the ground-working position, the pivotal axis shifts, approaching a generally horizontal attitude and allowing the wheels to pivot up and down with respect to each other about the axis to provide an even plowing depth and reduce stresses throughout the assembly on uneven ground.

Abstract: An agricultural subsoil implement is described having a V-shaped tool bar with a plurality of subsoiler tools affixed thereto at desired intervals for projecting forward and downward through the topsoil into the subsoil. Each tool has a leading edge that extends along a parabolic curve to provide a positive downward draft without substantially increasing the pull required to draw the tools through the soil. The implement has two independent wheel assemblies mounted on the tool bar intermediate the apex and the outer ends. Each wheel assembly has a standard that exists upward to receive a hydraulic jack. The hydraulic jacks are operatively connected by a flow divider to uniformly apply equal amounts of fluid to each jack. A wheel strut extends forward and downward from the tool bar to axles that carry dual pneumatic tires. The wheel assemblies are aligned with corresponding subsoiler tools with the struts directly over the tool shank so that the shank tip may be raised between the tires.

Abstract: A mechanism for sowing seeds having a seed supply device which is carried by a sower frame. Front and rear wheels for supporting the frame are carried by arms pivotally coupled to the frame, which arms include lever arm appendages which are coupled together by a coupling rod of variable length pivotally coupled at opposite ends thereof to the lever arm appendages so as to provide for correlated movements of the front and rear arms.

Abstract: This invention relates to a transport wheel assembly for a tillage type agricultural implement having at least two pairs of ground support wheels mounted on the frame section of the implement. Each wheel of the pair is journaled in a separate axle mounted on the end of a pivot arm with the pivot arms being mounted in spaced shafts journaled on the implement frame. The shafts are separated longitudinally of the implement frame or across the width of the same to space the wheels longitudinally apart, and they are also separated in a fore and aft direction of the implement frame. The shafts of each pair are tied together through a hydraulic actuator which acts as a linkage to transmit motion from one wheel to the other when the implement traverses uneven terrain. The actuator in one position pivots the wheels in close proximity in the fore and aft direction for stability in turns and raising the implement and hence the ground working tools above ground level for transport.

Abstract: A towable seed drilling unit of the kind having a hopper-fed seed chamber whose base is constituted by a proportion of the lower run of an endless belt driven by a belt drive roller in a direction contrary to towing direction from a ground-contacting wheel and having regularly spaced holes therein for the containment of single seeds, a seed-repelling roller for agitating seed in the said chamber and a masking plate below the belt permitting release of seeds on a passage of holes therebeyond into a furrow formed ahead of temporarily unmasked holes by a coulter beneath the seed chamber and closed by a furrow closing member, wherein forward and rearward wheels supporting the unit are carried by arms pivotal about substantially horizontal axes and means are provided for adjusting the attitude of the arms relative to the remainder of the unit and thus the penetration depth of the coulter, and wherein a parallel linkage is provided by means of which the unit can be attached to a towing vehicle, said linkage being r

Abstract: A cultivating implement has an elongated frame portion with soil working tines rotatably mounted along the length of the frame portion. The implement is supported, at least in part, by a leading member and a rear member each of which bear on the ground in advance and to the rear of the soil working tines. The supporting members can be wheels, rollers, a row of rods, levelling bars or combinations thereof which are interconnected by at least one linkage. Each supporting member has a respective carrier that is pivoted to a strip or pair of strips secured to the frame portion. The carriers include upwardly extending arms or plates with holes at different levels that receive pins and the pins interconnect the upper portions of the carriers to an adjustable connecting member. When one supporting member is displaced upwardly or downwardly, the other member is displaced in an opposite direction.

Abstract: A disc harrow having a pair of spaced support wheels each having its own operating mechanism including a hydraulic actuator for raising and lowering the respective wheel, but wherein the mechanisms are mechanically linked together to ensure substantially simultaneous raising and lowering of the wheels. The interconnecting link includes a spring biased lost motion device whereby one of the hydraulic actuators can be adjusted to permit the wheels to assume different positions of elevation, while, nonetheless, preserving the substantially simultaneous operation feature.

Abstract: According to this invention there is provided a soil cultivating implement comprising a plurality of downwardly extending tines arranged in a transverse row and rotatable ground engaging members that are located in front of and behind the row of tines with respect to the intended direction of operative travel of the implement, at least one of the rotatable ground engaging members being in the form of a roller which is mechanically driven during operation, said roller being disposed to the rear of said row of downwardly extending tines and comprising a number of longitudinal elements which extend in the direction of the axis of rotation of the said roller.

Abstract: A slit trenching and cable laying device includes: a frame held above the ground by a support, preferably adjustable to various levels above the ground, a plow for digging a slit trench and laying a cable or line therein, the plow being mounted so as to be relatively movable with respect to the frame, a mechanism for imparting a digging motion to the plow, preferably, adjustable to impart a variable motion and being adapted to be driven by a vehicle towing the device, and another mechanism for imparting a motion to the plow for reducing surface contact and resultant drag between the plow and the sides of the trench, preferably adjustable for varying the magnitude of the motion as conditions warrant.