Mechanical soil sampler

Claim 1

Apparatus for collecting samples of surface soil comprising: a. a towable rigid support member having a forward end and a rear end; b. an axle rotatably mounted on said rigid support member; c. at least one ground wheel secured to the axlE to cause said axle to rotate as said wheel is rolled along the ground; d. an elongated lever extending in a generally forward and downward direction, said lever being pivotably mounted by one end thereof on the rigid support member rearward of the axle to pivot in a vertical plane and being provided at the other end with soil-digging means, said lever being of sufficient length to cause said soil-digging means to penetrate the surface of the soil; e. a pair of elongated parallel guide members mounted on the rigid support member, said guide members including therebetween said elongated lever; f. a lobed cam secured to the axle to rotate therewith in a vertical plane; g. a cam follower secured to the lever and so located as to lie in the plane of rotation of the lobed cam; h. a tension spring extending parallel to said pair of guide members, said spring having one end thereof secured to the lever and the other end secured to the ends of the pair of the guide members remote from the lever, said spring urging the cam follower into contact with the lobed cam; i. bumper means secured between said parallel guide members to limit the angle through which the lever can pivot, said bumper means being so positioned as to provide a sudden stop to the upward motion of the lever when the cam follower loses contact with a lobe of the cam; and j. soil-collecting means mounted on the rigid support member forward of the ground wheel and the soil-digging means, said soil-collecting means being adjustable angularly, laterally, and vertically whereby to receive a sample of soil dug by said digging means and thrown therefrom by the impact of the elongated lever against the bumper means when a lobe of the cam rotates out of contact with the cam follower.