Agricultural folding tool bar with rigid cross frame

Claim 1

In a folding tool bar system for agricultural use, including a main frame adapted to be pulled by a traction vehicle; support wheels on said main frame; first and second wings pivotally mounted to said main frame adjacent the center thereof for movement between a use position in which the inboard ends of said wings are side by side and said wings extend outwardly of said main frame and transverse of the direction of travel of said vehicle, and a road travel position in which said wings extend rearwardly of said main frame and parallel to the direction of travel of said vehicle; and a plurality of ground engaging implements carried on said wings at equal lateral spacing, the improvement comprising a rigid cross frame rigidly secured to said main frame at a position forward of said folding wings and forward of said support wheels, a plurality of said implements attached to said cross frame such that the lateral spacing of adjacent ones of said implements is uniform across the entire width of said system, the innermost sections of said wings being free of said implements, whereby said wings may be folded rearwardly without interference between said support wheels and implements on said wings; first and second articulated link means for rigidly holding said wings alternatively in an extended use position or a folded road travel position, each of said link means including a first rigid link, a second rigid link pivotally connected to an associated wing, means for interconnecting said first and second links together while permitting articulation between them, and means for pivotally attaching said first link to said main frame at a position forward of said cross frame, and arranged such that said first link and said cross frame do not interfere when said wings are folded rearwardly in said road travel position.