Towable Attachment Leveling Assembly

Abstract

A towable attachment leveling apparatus, typically used on tractors, skid-steer, and other vehicles, with ability to independently vary the inclination of each side of an attachment, such as a turf box, about a centerline axis running substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of travel during use, as well as adjust the vertical elevation of the attachment and allow for additional adjustments to the pitch and/or yaw of the attachment.

Claims

1. An attachment leveling assembly comprising; a transport pivot axle assembly removably and rotatably attached to a towable attachment assembly, said transport pivot axle assembly comprising at least two transport axle portions configured to independently rotate about a lateral axis in response to motion of at least two independently operated hydraulic cylinders extending between the towable attachment assembly and the at least two transport axle portions; at least two wheel assemblies, wherein each wheel assembly is removably and rotatably attached to one of said at least two transport axle portions, said at least two wheel assemblies configured to independently rotate about a longitudinal axis within restraint limits, in response to ground contact and rotation of the transport axle assembly; wherein said at least two independently operated hydraulic cylinders are configured to respond to control signals from an attachment leveling assembly control system.

2. The attachment leveling assembly of claim 1, wherein the attachment leveling assembly is configured for being towed by a vehicle.

3. The attachment leveling assembly of claim 2, wherein the vehicle comprises at least one of a tractor, excavator, skid-steer, and all-terrain vehicle.

4. The attachment leveling assembly of claim 1, wherein the towable attachment assembly comprises at least one of a mould board, box blade, turf box, and turf planer.

5. The attachment leveling assembly of claim 1, wherein the restraint limits are imposed by at least one pivot restraint disposed on a wheel assembly yoke extending from the at least two wheel assemblies.

6. The attachment leveling assembly of claim 5, wherein the at least one pivot restraint comprises an adjustable stop mechanism configured to vary the stop position at the pivot restraint limits.

7. The attachment leveling assembly of claim 5, wherein the at least one pivot restraint allows free rotation of the wheel assembly within pivot restraint limits in the range of plus or minus 10 degrees from vertical.

8. The attachment leveling assembly of claim 1, further comprising an attachment leveling assembly control system.

9. The attachment leveling assembly of claim 8, wherein the attachment leveling assembly control system comprises at least one laser receiver.

10. The attachment leveling assembly of claim 8, wherein the attachment leveling assembly control system comprises at least one of an autograde sensor, an autodepth sensor, a slope sensor, and combinations thereof.

11. The attachment leveling assembly of claim 10, wherein the autograde sensor comprises a radar beam.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] A full and enabling disclosure, including the best mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth in the specification, which makes reference to the appended figures, in which:

[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates an isometric view of one embodiment of the leveling attachment, which can be towed by a vehicle.

[0020] FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded view of one embodiment of the leveling attachment.

[0021] FIG. 3 illustrates a top view of one embodiment of the transport axle assembly and wheel assembly.

[0022] FIG. 4 illustrates an isometric view of one embodiment of the wheel assembly.

[0023] FIG. 5 illustrates components of an embodiment of the wheel assembly pivot restraint.

[0024] FIG. 6 illustrates multiple views of the attachment leveling assembly without laser masts.

[0025] FIG. 7 illustrates multiple views of the attachment leveling assembly with laser masts.

[0026] FIG. 8 illustrates an isometric view of the transport pivot axle and wheel assembly with hydraulic cylinders.

[0027] FIG. 9 illustrates multiple views of an embodiment of the invention with control devices.

[0028] Repeat use of reference characters in the present specification and drawings is intended to represent the same or analogous features or elements of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0029] Reference will now be made in detail to present embodiments of the disclosure, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The detailed description uses numerical and letter designations to refer to features in the drawings. Like or similar designations in the drawings and description have been used to refer to like or similar parts of the disclosure.

[0030] Each example is provided by way of explanation of the disclosure, not limitation of the disclosure. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations can be made in the present disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit thereof. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment may be used on another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present disclosure covers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0031] The term “proximate” indicates a position on an element that is closest to the vehicle, whereas the term “distal” indicates a position on an element that is furthest away from the vehicle. Dual-headed arrows shown on the figures indicates the ability of a referenced element to change position in a direction generally parallel with the direction of the arrow.

[0032] The invention will be described with particular reference to a towable attachment leveling assembly without limit thereto. One of skill in the art would appreciate that the method of control could be utilized with other turf grading or contouring devices. As shown in the figures, the components of the towable attachment leveling assembly include the following:

TABLE-US-00001 Component Number Description  100 Attachment Leveling Assembly  102 Transport Pivot Axle Assembly  104 Wheel Assembly  106 Towable Attachment Assembly  108 Wheel Pivot Assembly  109 Wheel Assembly Yoke  110 Transport Axle Portion  112 Transport Axle Portion  114 Pivot Restraint  115 Wheel Assembly Yoke Sleeve  116 Wheel Pivot  118 Axle Pivot Bearing  120 Hydraulic Transport/Tilt Cylinder  122 Tandem Wheel Pivot  124 Adjustable Cylinder Tabs  126 Replaceable Cutting Edge  128 Hitch  130 Tires  132 Radar Beam  134 Cut Height  136 Cut Depth  200 Laser Receiver  201 Laser Beam  202 Proportional Hydraulic Valve  203 Laser Transmitter  204 Attachment Leveling Assembly Control System 1000 Controller Interface 1164 Autograde Sensor 1196 Autodepth Sensor 2044 Slope Sensor

[0033] FIG. 1 illustrates an isometric view of one embodiment of the attachment leveling assembly 100, which can be towed by a vehicle. The attachment leveling assembly 100 has a transport pivot axle assembly 102, at least two wheel assemblies 104, and a towable attachment assembly 106. The transport pivot axle assembly 102 is removably and rotatably attached to the towable attachment leveling assembly 100. The transport pivot axle assembly 102 has at least two transport axle portions (110, 112) configured to independently rotate about a lateral axis 600 in response to motion of at least two independently operated hydraulic cylinders 120 extending between the towable attachment assembly 106 and the at least two transport axle portions (110, 112). At least two wheel assemblies 104 are removably and rotatably attached to the at least two transport axle portions (110, 112), and the at least two wheel assemblies 104 are configured to independently rotate about a longitudinal axis 602, within restraint limits imposed by pivot restraint 114 (see FIG. 4), in response to ground contact and rotation of the transport axle assembly 102. The at least two independently operated hydraulic cylinders 120 are configured to respond to control signals from an attachment leveling assembly control system 204, typically using laser receiver 200 capable of receive a laser beam, 201, from a laser transmitter, 203. FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded view of the same embodiment of the leveling attachment assembly 100. FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded view of the attachment leveling assembly 100.

[0034] FIG. 3 illustrates a top view of one embodiment of the transport axle assembly 102 and two wheel assemblies 104. As shown, two transport axle portions (110, 112) are configured to independently rotate about a lateral axis 600 in response to motion of at least two independently operated hydraulic cylinders 120 extending between the towable attachment assembly 106 and the two transport axle portions (110, 112).

[0035] FIG. 4 illustrates an isometric view of one embodiment of a wheel assembly 104. The wheel assembly yoke 109 freely rotates inside the wheel assembly yoke sleeve 115 until it reaches the limits of the pivot restraint 114. This allows the wheel assembly 104 to easily recover from loss of ground contact and prevent relative positional binding of the at least two wheel assemblies 104.

[0036] FIG. 5 illustrates components of an embodiment of the wheel assembly 104 pivot restraint 114. The pivot restraint 114 is the part of the wheel pivot assembly 108 that prevents each wheel assembly yoke 109 from over-rotating around the wheel assembly yoke 109 center axis, thereby allowing the wheel assembly 104 to easily recover from loss of ground contact and prevent relative positional binding of the at least two wheel assemblies 104. Typically, the pivot restraint 114 allows free rotation of each wheel assembly 104 in the pivot range of about ±10 degrees from vertical. The pivot restraint 114 pivot range is adjustable, typically by a stop mechanism configured to vary the stop position at the pivot restraint limits.

[0037] FIG. 6 illustrates multiple views of the attachment leveling assembly 100 without laser masts used as part of the laser control system. Dual proportional control valves 202 independently control each hydraulic transport/tilt cylinder 120 in response to the attachment leveling assembly control system, thereby independently lifting and dropping each transport axle section (110, 112). FIG. 7 illustrates multiple views of the attachment leveling assembly 100 with laser masts used as part of laser receiver 200 of the attachment leveling assembly control system.

[0038] FIG. 8 illustrates an isometric view of the transport pivot axle assembly 102 and wheel assembly 104 with hydraulic cylinders 120 that attach to the towable attachment assembly 106 at adjustable cylinder tabs 124.

[0039] FIG. 9 illustrates embodiments of the invention. FIG. 9A is a top view, FIG. 9B is a top perspective view, FIG. 9C is a front view and FIG. 9D is a left side view. In FIG. 9 a controller interface, 1000, allows for integration of the various sensors with the hydraulic cylinders to provide control of the turf grading equipment as will be described more fully herein.

[0040] In FIG. 9 an autograde sensor 1164 determines a distance from the sensor to an adjacent surface thereby allowing the area being graded to match an adjacent surface without a deviation in height in the lateral 600 direction at the junction of the graded area and adjacent surface. A particularly autograde sensor 1164 is a radar sensor which generates a radar beam, 132. It is well known in the art that a radar sensor sends and receives a radar beam 132 with the time difference there between used to calculate the distance which is communicated to a controller as will be further described herein.

[0041] Also in FIG. 9, an autodepth sensor 1196 monitors the height of the wheels, 130, relative to the cut of the turf grading equipment, 134. If the cut depth, 136, exceeds a predetermined limit, based on the length of the autodepth sensor 1196, the control system 204 may increase the length of the hydraulic transport/lift cylinder, 120, integrated with the autodepth sensor 1196 to a point sufficient to decrease the cut depth 136. An example autodepth sensor measures a travel length of the hydraulic transport/lift cylinder, 120.

[0042] In FIG. 9, a slope sensor, 2044, determines the angle of the turf grading equipment relative to lateral direction 600 (see FIG. 1). The slope sensor 2044 provides a slope to the attachment leveling control system 204. The attachment leveling assembly control system 204 uses input from at least one of the autograde sensor 1164, the autodepth sensor 1196, and the slope sensor 2044 to control the pitch and yaw of the attachment leveling assembly.

[0043] This written description uses examples of the disclosure, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the disclosure is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they include structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.