Gauge wheel assembly for agricultural implements

Claim 2

In a tractor-implement combination in which the tractor has a power lift system including pivotally mounted trailing draft links, hydraulic motor means for raising and lowering the draft links, and a source of fluid pressure and a control valve for the motor means, and the implement includes a frame, means connecting the frame to the tractor draft links to be raised and lowered thereby, a plurality of gauge wheel assemblies, means mounting the frame on the wheel assemblies for generally vertical movement, each of the wheel assemblies including an extensible and retractable hydraulic cylinder means operable upon extension and retraction to raise and lower the frame on the wheel assemblies, fluid line means Connecting the cylinder means in series, and additional fluid line means connecting the hydraulic cylinder means to the tractor power lift system in series between the control valve and motor means, the improvement comprising: each of the gauge wheel assemblies including a mounting bracket secured to the frame, upper and lower elongated link means having corresponding ends pivotally connected to the mounting bracket at vertically spaced positions, a vertically extending elongated hub member, the opposite ends of the link means being pivotally connected to the hub member at vertically spaced positions, a caster wheel including a shaft journaled in the hub member, the hydraulic cylinder means having one end connected to a lower portion of the hub member, and means for selectively and releasably connecting the opposite end of the cylinder means to the mounting bracket at any one of a plurality of fixed positions which are spaced various distances from the point of connection between the mounting bracket and the lower elongated link means, whereby the tractor power lift system and gauge wheel assemblies will be operated simultaneously to thereby cooperate in raising and lowering the frame, and by varying the point of connection between the cylinder means and mounting bracket, the movement of the frame caused by the wheel assemblies can be made to correspond with the movement of the frame caused by the tractor power lift system.

Claim 3

The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein the means for selectively connecting the opposite end of the hydraulic cylinder means to the mounting bracket at various distances from the point of connection between mounting bracket and the lower elongated link means includes an anchor member secured to the mounting bracket and provided with a plurality of apertures spaced at various distances from the point of connection between the mounting bracket and the lower link means, an aperture provided in the opposite end of the cylinder means, and removable pin means extending through a selected one of the apertures provided in the anchor member and through the aperture provided in the opposite end of the cylinder means.

Claim 4

The combination set forth in claim 2 wherein the anchor is an elongated arm extending upwardly and outwardly from the mounting bracket toward the hub member, and the apertures provided in the arm are spaced along the length of the arm.

Claim 5

In combination with an implement having a frame adapted to be mounted on a tractor having a power-operated hitch including a pair of pivotally mounted trailing draft links, tractor-mounted hydraulic motor means for raising and lowering the draft links, and a source of fluid pressure for the motor means, a gauge wheel assembly comprising: a mounting bracket secured to the frame, a pair of upper and lower link means having corresponding ends pivotally connected to the mounting bracket at vertically spaced locations, a generally vertically extending sleeve member, means pivotally connecting the opposite ends of the link means to the sleeve member at vertically spaced locations, a wheel-mounting member having a shaft journaled in the sleeve member, a wheel rotatably mounted on the lower end of the mounting member, an extensible and retractable hydraulic cylinder means having one end connected to the sleeve member, means selectively connecting the opposite end of the cylinder means to the mounting bracket at any one of a plurality of fixed positions which are spaced various distances from the point of connection between the lower link means and the mounting bracket, fluid line means connected to the opposite ends of the cylinder means and in series between the source and motor means of the tractor whereby the tractor power-operated hitch and gauge wheel assembly will be operated simultaneously to thereby cooperate in raising and lowering the frame and by varying the point of connection between the cylinder means and mounting bracket, the movement of the frame caused by the wheel assembly can be made to corresPond with that caused by the tractor power-operated hitch.

Claim 6

In combination with an implement having a frame adapted to be mounted on a tractor having a power-operated hitch including a pair of pivotally mounted trailing draft links, tractor-mounted hydraulic motor means for raising and lowering the draft links, and a source of fluid pressure for the motor means, a gauge wheel assembly comprising: a mounting bracket secured to the frame, a pair of upper and lower link means having corresponding ends pivotally connected to the mounting bracket at vertically spaced locations, a generally vertically extending sleeve member, means pivotally connecting the opposite ends of the link means to the sleeve member at vertically spaced locations, a wheel-mounting member having a shaft journaled in the sleeve member, a wheel rotatably mounted on the lower end of the mounting member, an extensible and retractable hydraulic cylinder means having one end connected to the sleeve member, means selectively connecting the opposite end of the cylinder means to the mounting bracket at any one of a plurality of fixed positions which are spaced various distances from the point of connection between the lower link means and the mounting bracket, fluid line means connected to the opposite ends of the cylinder means and in series between the source and motor means of the tractor whereby the tractor power-operated hitch and gauge wheel assembly will be operated simultaneously to thereby cooperate in raising and lowering the frame and by varying the point of connection between the cylinder means and mounting bracket, the movement of the frame caused by the wheel assembly can be made to corresPond with that caused by the tractor power-operated hitch.

Claim 7

The combination set forth in claim 4 wherein the mounting bracket, sleeve member and link means form a four-bar-linkage, the one end of the cylinder means is pivotally connected to the sleeve member coaxially with the pivotal connection between the lower link means and sleeve member, and the means pivotally connecting the cylinder means to the mounting bracket includes an arm secured to the mounting bracket and provided with a plurality of apertures spaced at various distances from the pivotal connection between the lower link means and mounting bracket in both the horizontal and vertical directions, an aperture provided in the cylinder means, and removable pin means extending through a selected one of the apertures provided in the arm and the aperture provided in the cylinder means.

Claim 8

In a tractor-implement combination in which the tractor has a three-point hitch, hydraulic motor means for raising and lowering the hitch, and a source of fluid pressure and a control valve for the motor means, and the implement includes a series of rigid frames pivotally connected for vertical pivotal movement relative to one another, means integrally connecting one of the frames to the tractor three-point hitch to be raised and lowered thereby, a gauge wheel assembly mounted on and adjustably supporting each of the other frames, and extensible and retractable hydraulic cylinder means associated with each of the wheel assemblies and operable upon extension or retraction to vertically adjust their respective frames on the respective wheel assemblies, fluid line means connecting the cylinder means in series, and additional fluid line means connecting the cylinder means in series between the motor means and the control valve, the improvement comprising: each of the gauge wheel assemblies including a mounting bracket secured to one of the frames; upper and lower rigid link means having corresponding ends pivotally connected to the mounting bracket at horizontally spaced positions; the other ends of the upper and lower rigid link means being pivotally connected to an elongated vertically extending hub member at vertically aligned positions; the upper and lower rigid link means being positioned with respect to each other to converge toward the hub member; the lower link means having a length greater than the upper link means; a wheel-mounting member having a shaft journaled in the hub member; a wheel rotatably mounted on the lower end of the mounting member; the cylinder means being operably connected between the hub member and mounting bracket for vertically adjusting its associated frame upon extension and retraction; and means for selectively mounting the cylinder means at any one of a plurality of fixed positions with respect to the mounting bracket for varying the length of the stroke of the cylinder means needed to vertically adjust the associated frame through a given distance.

Claim 9

In a tractor-implement combination in which the tractor has a three-point hitch, hydraulic motor means for raising and lowering the hitch, and a source of fluid pressure and a control valve for the motor means, and the implement includes a series of rigid frames pivotally connected for vertical pivotal movement relative to one another, means integrally connecting one of the frames to the tractor three-point hitch to be raised and lowered thereby, a gauge wheel assembly mounted on and adjustably supporting each of the other frames, and extensible and retractable hydraulic cylinder means associated with each of the wheel assemblies and operable upon extension or retraction to vertically adjust their respective frames on the respective wheel assemblies, fluid line means connecting the cylinder means in series, and additional fluid line means connecting the cylinder means in series between the motor means and the control valve, the improvement comprising: each of the gauge wheel assemblies including a mounting bracket secured to one of the frames; upper and lower rigid link means having corresponding ends pivotally connected to the mounting bracket at horizontally spaced positions; the other ends of the upper and lower rigid link means being pivotally connected to an elongated vertically extending hub member at vertically aligned positions; the upper and lower rigid link means being positioned with respect to each other to converge toward the hub member; the lower link means having a length greater than the upper link means; a wheel-mounting member having a shaft journaled in the hub member; a wheel rotatably mounted on the lower end of the mounting member; the cylinder means being operably connected between the hub member and mounting bracket for vertically adjusting its associated frame upon extension and retraction; and means for selectively mounting the cylinder means at any one of a plurality of fixed positions with respect to the mounting bracket for varying the length of the stroke of the cylinder means needed to vertically adjust the associated frame through a given distance.

Claim 10

In a tractor-implement combination in which the tractor has a three-point hitch, hydraulic motor means for raising and lowering the hitch, and a source of fluid pressure and a control valve for motor means, and the implement includes a series of rigid frames pivotally connected for vertical pivotal movement relative to one another, means integrally connecting one of the frames to the tractor three-point hitch to be raised and lowered thereby, a gauge wheel assembly mounted on and adjustably supporting each of the other frames, and extensible and retractably hydraulic cylinder means associated with each of the wheel assemblies and operable upon extension or retraction to vertically adjust their respective frames on the respective wheel assemblies, fluid line means connecting the cylinder means in series, and additional fluid line means connecting the cylinder means in series between the motor means and the control valve, the improvement comprising: each of the gauge wheel assemblies including a mounting bracket secured to one of the frames; an elongateD vertically extending hub member; upper and lower rigid link means extending between and pivotally interconnecting the mounting bracket and the hub member; a wheel-mounting member having a shaft journaled in the hub member; a wheel rotatably mounted on the lower end of the mounting member; the cylinder means having one end connected to the hub member; and removable means pivotally connecting the opposite end of the cylinder means to the mounting bracket at any one of a plurality of fixed selected positions spaced at various distances from the point of pivotal connection between the lower link means and the mounting bracket, whereby the motor means and cylinder means will be operated simultaneously to thereby cooperate in vertically adjusting the frames, and by varying the connection between the cylinder means and mounting bracket, the length of the stroke of the cylinder means needed to move the respective frames through a given distance is varied so that the movement of the frames supported by the wheel assemblies can be made to correspond with the movement of the frame supported by the tractor three-point hitch.

Claim 11

In a tractor-implement combination in which the tractor has a three-point hitch, hydraulic motor means for raising and lowering the hitch, and a source of fluid pressure and a control valve for motor means, and the implement includes a series of rigid frames pivotally connected for vertical pivotal movement relative to one another, means integrally connecting one of the frames to the tractor three-point hitch to be raised and lowered thereby, a gauge wheel assembly mounted on and adjustably supporting each of the other frames, and extensible and retractably hydraulic cylinder means associated with each of the wheel assemblies and operable upon extension or retraction to vertically adjust their respective frames on the respective wheel assemblies, fluid line means connecting the cylinder means in series, and additional fluid line means connecting the cylinder means in series between the motor means and the control valve, the improvement comprising: each of the gauge wheel assemblies including a mounting bracket secured to one of the frames; an elongateD vertically extending hub member; upper and lower rigid link means extending between and pivotally interconnecting the mounting bracket and the hub member; a wheel-mounting member having a shaft journaled in the hub member; a wheel rotatably mounted on the lower end of the mounting member; the cylinder means having one end connected to the hub member; and removable means pivotally connecting the opposite end of the cylinder means to the mounting bracket at any one of a plurality of fixed selected positions spaced at various distances from the point of pivotal connection between the lower link means and the mounting bracket, whereby the motor means and cylinder means will be operated simultaneously to thereby cooperate in vertically adjusting the frames, and by varying the connection between the cylinder means and mounting bracket, the length of the stroke of the cylinder means needed to move the respective frames through a given distance is varied so that the movement of the frames supported by the wheel assemblies can be made to correspond with the movement of the frame supported by the tractor three-point hitch.

Claim 12

The combination set forth in claim 7 wherein the mounting bracket, hub member and link means of each wheel assembly form a four-bar linkage, the one end of the cylinder means is pivotally connected to the hub member coaxially with the pivotal connection between the lower link means and the hub member, and the positions for the pivotal connection between the cylinder means and mounting bracket are spaced at various distances from the point of pivotal connection between the lower link means and mounting bracket in both the vertical and horizontal directions.

Claim 13

The combination set forth in claim 8 wherein the means pivotally connecting the cylinder means to the mounting bracket includes an anchor arm secured to the mounting bracket and provided with a plurality of apertures spaced along its length, and aperture provided in the cylinder means, and removable pin means extending through a selected one of the apertures in the anchor arm and the aperture provided in the cylinder means.

Claim 14

The combination set forth in claim 9 wherein the pivotal connection between the hub member and the upper and lower link means are vertically aligned, the pivotal connections between the mounting bracket and upper and lower link means are offset horizontally, and the lower link means has a length greater than the upper link means.