Rotary hoe

Claim 2

A rotary hoe of the type to be arranged with a gang of similar rotary hoes on a common axis of rotation disposed at an angle other than 90* with respect to the normal direction of movement of the gang of hoes over the ground, said rotary hoe comprising a central hub, a plurality of spaced arcuate tines extending generally radially outwardly from said central hub and curved rearwardly with respect to their normal direction of rotation about said common axis and arranged to penetrate the ground and move through the ground in a direction generally across the direction of movement of the gang of hoes over the ground, each of said tines being approximately triangular in cross section with side surfaces of each of said tines being approximately of uniform width along their lengths and of approximately the same widths as each other and converging together with each other at an acute angle to form a leading edge, and with a back surface of decreasing width from the hub toward the end of the tine, said back surface being approximately parallel to the axis of rotation of said rotary hoe and converging together with said side surfaces to form side edges.

Claim 3

The rotary hoe of claim 1 and wherein the end of each tine is generally flat and disposed in a plane approximately tangent with said hub.

Claim 4

A rotary hoe of the type to be arranged with a plurality of similar rotary hoes on a common axis of rotation disposed at an angle other than 90* with respect to the normal direction of movement of the rotary hoes along the ground, said rotary hoe comprising a central hub, a plurality of ground penetrating tines radiating outwardly from said hub in a common plane with each tine curved along it length rearwardly away from its normal direction of rotation, each of said tines being approximately triangular in cross section along a major portion of its length with side surfaces of approximately uniform width from the hub to the end of the tine and with the side surfaces being approximately the same width and converging together with each other to form a leading edge, and with a back surface of decreasing width from the hub toward the end of the tine and converging at each of its sides with said side surfaces to form side edges, each of said side surfaces being progressivEly twisted along its length from the hub to the end of the tine and forming equal angles on opposite sides of the plane of rotation of said rotary hoe along the length of the tine progressively from the hub to the end of the tine, whereby said rotary hoe can be positioned with its plane of rotation at an angle of either side of the direction of movement of the plurality of rotary hoes and said leading edge initially penetrates the ground and one of said side edges subsequently wedges through the ground with the soil of the ground flowing generally on opposite sides of said one of said side edges about the back surface and the side surface adjacent said one of said side edges.

Claim 5

A rotary hoe of the type to be arranged with a plurality of similar rotary hoes on a common axis of rotation disposed at an angle other than 90* with respect to the normal direction of movement of the rotary hoes along the ground, said rotary hoe comprising a central hub, a plurality of ground penetrating tines radiating outwardly from said hub in a common plane with each tine curved along it length rearwardly away from its normal direction of rotation, each of said tines being approximately triangular in cross section along a major portion of its length with side surfaces of approximately uniform width from the hub to the end of the tine and with the side surfaces being approximately the same width and converging together with each other to form a leading edge, and with a back surface of decreasing width from the hub toward the end of the tine and converging at each of its sides with said side surfaces to form side edges, each of said side surfaces being progressivEly twisted along its length from the hub to the end of the tine and forming equal angles on opposite sides of the plane of rotation of said rotary hoe along the length of the tine progressively from the hub to the end of the tine, whereby said rotary hoe can be positioned with its plane of rotation at an angle of either side of the direction of movement of the plurality of rotary hoes and said leading edge initially penetrates the ground and one of said side edges subsequently wedges through the ground with the soil of the ground flowing generally on opposite sides of said one of said side edges about the back surface and the side surface adjacent said one of said side edges.

Claim 6

A rotary hoe of the type to be arranged with a gang of similar rotary hoes on a common axis of rotation disposed at an angle of 90* with respect to the normal direction of movement of the gang of hoes over the ground, said rotary hoe comprising a central hub, a plurality of spaced arcuate tines extending generally radially outwardly from said central hub and curved rearwardly with respect to their normal direction of rotation about said common axis and arranged to penetrate the ground and move through the ground in a direction generally across the direction of movement of the gang of hoes over the ground, each of said tines being approximately triangular in cross section with side surfaces converging together with each other at equal acute angles to a plane normal to the common axis of rotation to form a leading edge, and with a back surface being approximately parallel to the axis of rotation of said rotary hoe and converging together with said side surfaces to form side edges.

Claim 7

A rotary hoe of the type to be arranged with a gang of similar rotary hoes on a common axis of rotation disposed at an angle of 90* with respect to the normal direction of movement of the gang of hoes over the ground, said rotary hoe comprising a central hub, a plurality of spaced arcuate tines extending generally radially outwardly from said central hub and curved rearwardly with respect to their normal direction of rotation about said common axis and arranged to penetrate the ground and move through the ground in a direction generally across the direction of movement of the gang of hoes over the ground, each of said tines being approximately triangular in cross section with side surfaces converging together with each other at equal acute angles to a plane normal to the common axis of rotation to form a leading edge, and with a back surface being approximately parallel to the axis of rotation of said rotary hoe and converging together with said side surfaces to form side edges.