Agricultural Disc and Process for Manufacturing an Agricultural Disc for Use in Agricultural Work

Abstract

This invention relates to an agricultural disc for use in agricultural work, such as to open furrows in the soil for sowing or to prepare the land for tillage and grinding, comprising two surfaces, a cutting circular perimeter edge and a plurality of notches located on a first surface of said agricultural disc, distributed in a circular matrix shape concentric to the agricultural disc, located adjacent to the perimeter edge. The invention also comprises the process for manufacturing the agricultural disc comprising a step of creating a plurality of undulations in a circular disc and a step of shaving or straightening via machining the crests generated on a second surface when the undulations are generated.

Claims

1. An agricultural disc for use in agricultural work, comprising two surfaces and a cutting circular perimeter edge, further comprising: a first plurality of concave notches located on a first surface of said agricultural disc, distributed in a circular matrix shape concentric to said agricultural disc, adjacent to said perimeter edge; wherein said first plurality of notches are spaced by a plurality of smooth separations located on said perimeter edge.

2. The agricultural disc according to claim 1, comprising a flat shape, said two surfaces being flat and parallel, and said agricultural disc being configured to open furrows in soil.

3. The agricultural disc, according to claim 2, comprising a second plurality of concave notches located on a second surface distributed in a circular matrix shape concentric to said agricultural disc, adjacent to said perimeter edge.

4. The agricultural disc according to claim 2, comprising a first bevel located on said first surface, on said perimeter edge.

5. The agricultural disc according to claim 1, comprising a curved shape which is configured for the tillage and clearing of farmland.

6. The agricultural disc, according to claim 5, comprising a shape selected from a group consisting of: curved frustoconical shape; completely curved shape; curved shape with a projection; and curved shape with a plate; wherein said first surface is curved towards an inside and said second surface is curved towards an outside.

7. The agricultural disc according to claim 1, comprising a fastening system in a central portion of the agricultural disc (1).

8. The agricultural disc, according to claim 7, wherein the fastening system of said central portion of said agricultural disc comprises at least one opening selected from a group consisting of: a through hole located in a center of said agricultural disc; two or more through bores in a circular matrix arrangement with respect to said center of said agricultural disc; and a combination of the above.

9. The agricultural disc according to claim 1, comprising a second bevel located on said second surface of said agricultural disc and adjacent to said perimeter edge.

10. The agricultural disc, according claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of notches comprises a cylindrical curved area, each of said plurality of notches comprising a constant radial cross section.

11. The agricultural disc, according to claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of notches comprises a conical curved area, with a cross section having a variable radius decreasing from said perimeter edge to said center of said agricultural disc, said perimeter edge comprising a scalloped circular shape.

12. The agricultural disc, according to claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of notches comprises: said cylindrical curved area, adjacent to said perimeter edge, oriented in the radial direction of said agricultural disc, each of said plurality of notches comprising said constant radial cross section, and said conical curved area, continuous to said cylindrical curved area, with said cross section having said variable radius decreasing from said cylindrical curved area to said center of the disc; said perimeter edge comprising said scalloped circular shape.

13. The agricultural disc, according to claim 10, wherein each of said plurality of notches comprises a straight axis of revolution of said curved area, wherein said axis comprises a radial direction of said agricultural disc, all the axes of each notch of a face coinciding in one central point of said agricultural disc.

14. The agricultural disc, according to claim 9, wherein each of said plurality of notches comprises said straight axis of revolution of said curved area, wherein said axis comprises a direction inclined at an angle comprised between 0 and 45° with respect to said radial direction of the agricultural disc, of each of said plurality of notches.

15. The agricultural disc according to claim 8, wherein said plurality of notches comprise a curved axis of revolution of said curved area.

16. The agricultural disc, according to claim 1, comprising a diameter comprised between 250 and 914 mm, a thickness comprised between 1.5 and 16 mm, a bevel width comprised between 5 and 25 mm, and a blade thickness of said cutting circular perimeter edge comprised between 0.4 and 12 mm.

17. The agricultural disc, according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of notches comprises between 6 and 50 notches, preferably between 17 and 30 notches.

18. The agricultural disc, according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of notches comprise a length measured from said perimeter edge towards said inside of said disc comprised between 10 and 100 mm, and an arc length measured on said perimeter edge comprised between 5 and 50 mm and, wherein the size of said plurality of separations between each notch comprises an arc length comprised between 15 and 180 mm.

19. The agricultural disc, according claim 18, wherein said arc lengths measured on said perimeter edge of all of said plurality of notches of said face are less than 50% of an entire length of said perimeter edge of said agricultural disc, preferably said lengths comprise between 25 to 50% of said perimeter edge.

20. A process for manufacturing an agricultural disc for use in agricultural work, comprising two surfaces and a cutting circular perimeter edge comprising the following steps: a) creating a plurality of undulations, in a flat circular disc, in a circular matrix shape concentric to said disc, said plurality of undulations being adjacent to said perimeter edge and spaced by a plurality of smooth separations, generating an undulated contour on said surfaces, comprising a plurality of crests on a second surface and a plurality of valleys on a first surface; and b) shaving, by means of a machining procedure for removing shavings, said plurality of crests of said plurality of undulations generated on said second surface.

21. The process for manufacturing an agricultural disc, according to claim 20, comprising a step of die-cutting a flat metal sheet to obtain said flat circular disc, before creating said plurality of undulations.

22. The process for manufacturing an agricultural disc, according to claim 20, wherein a step of creating said plurality of undulations is performed by means of a plastic forming of said circular disc, through a pattern comprising undulations, preferably in a cold forming.

23. The process for manufacturing an agricultural disc, according to claim 19, comprising a step of machining a first bevel on said perimeter edge of said second surface of said circular disc by means of said process for removing shavings.

24. The process for manufacturing an agricultural disc, according to claim 20, comprising a hot forming step in order to give a curvature to said circular disc after said step of creating said plurality of undulations.

25. The process for manufacturing an agricultural disc, according to claim 19, comprising a last step of integrally hardening said circular disc by means of a thermal tempering process.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0072] With the intention of helping to better understand the system developed and in relation to a practical and preferred exemplary embodiment thereof, a series of drawings is offered where the following has been represented:

[0073] FIG. 1a shows a perspective view of a circular disc, in this case being a flat disc, in a step after the creation of the plurality of undulations adjacent to the perimeter edge and before the step of shaving the crests of the undulations, seen from the second surface.

[0074] FIG. 1b shows a perspective view of the circular disc shown in FIG. 1a, seen from the first surface.

[0075] FIG. 2a shows a front view, seen from the first flat surface, of the circular disc shown in FIG. 1a.

[0076] FIG. 2b shows a side view of the circular disc shown in FIG. 1a, with undulations on the outer circular perimeter edge thereof.

[0077] FIG. 2c shows a lateral detail view of an undulation of the circular disc wherein the crest and valley of said undulation can be seen.

[0078] FIG. 2d shows a front detail view of an undulation of the circular disc, wherein a conical shape of said undulations can be seen.

[0079] FIG. 3a shows a perspective view of an agricultural disc with flat surfaces, seen from the second surface, wherein the scalloped perimeter edge, the fastening system, as well as the bevel of said second surface can be seen.

[0080] FIG. 3b shows a perspective view of the disc shown in the previous FIG. 3a, seen from the first surface, wherein the plurality of notches with a conical shape can be seen, as well as the circular matrix distribution thereof along the perimeter edge of the disc.

[0081] FIG. 4a shows a perspective view of a flat agricultural disc, seen from the second surface, wherein the scalloped perimeter edge as well as the bevel can be seen.

[0082] FIG. 4b shows a perspective view of the agricultural disc shown in FIG. 4a, seen from the first surface, wherein the plurality of notches with a conical shape can be seen, as well as the distribution thereof along the perimeter edge of the disc, wherein the notches have a smaller width and there are fewer of them than in the disc shown in FIG. 3b.

[0083] FIG. 5a shows a front view of a flat agricultural disc, seen from the first surface, with notches comprising a conical curved area on the perimeter edge thereof, the straight axis of revolution of said curved area being inclined with respect to the direction of the radius of the disc.

[0084] FIG. 5b shows a front view of a flat agricultural disc, seen from the first surface, with notches comprising a cylindrical curved area on the perimeter edge thereof, the straight axis of revolution of said curved area being inclined with respect to the direction of the radius of said disc.

[0085] FIG. 6a shows a front view of a circular disc, in this case being for a curved agricultural disc with a plate in an internal portion, in a step after the creation of the plurality of undulations adjacent to the perimeter edge, in a step before the step of shaving the crests of the undulations and before the formation of the curvature, seen from the second surface.

[0086] FIG. 6b shows a rear view of the circular disc shown in FIG. 6a, seen from the first surface, wherein the valleys of the undulations created can be seen.

[0087] FIG. 7a shows a perspective of a curved agricultural disc with a plate, seen from the second surface, wherein the scalloped perimeter edge as well as the bevel of said second surface can be seen.

[0088] FIG. 7b shows a perspective view of the curved agricultural disc with a plate, shown in previous FIG. 7a, seen from the first surface, where the plurality of notches can be seen, each one comprising a cylindrical curved area and a conical curved area, continuous to the cylindrical curved area, as well as the circular matrix distribution thereof along the perimeter edge of the disc.

[0089] FIG. 7c shows a side view of the agricultural disc shown in FIG. 7a, wherein the curvature of the disc, the bevel of the second surface and the perimeter edge can be seen.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0090] The preferred embodiment of the invention comprises both the process for manufacturing an agricultural disc (1), starting from a circular disc (20), showing in some of the intermediate steps thereof in FIGS. 1a-1b, 2a-2d and 6a-6b, as well as the agricultural disc (1) itself shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 and 7, from different perspectives and configurations.

[0091] Among the agricultural discs (1), two types stand out, the flat agricultural discs (1) shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, generated from a flat circular disc (20) as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and curved agricultural discs (1), such as those shown in FIGS. 7a-7c, these being specifically curved with a plate, generated from a flat circular disc (20) which has been curved in a step of the forming manufacturing process.

[0092] FIGS. 1a-1b and 2a-2d show a circular disc (20), for manufacturing a flat agricultural disc (1), in one of the steps of the manufacturing process, the circular disc (20) having been obtained with the two flat surfaces (8, 9) thereof, by die-cutting a metal sheet, as if it were a cylinder with a reduced thickness compared to the radius thereof, and having applied a plastic deformation to it in the shape of conical undulations (4), along the entire perimeter of the circular disc (20), said undulations (4) being adjacent to the perimeter edge (11).

[0093] Moreover, FIGS. 6a-6b show a circular disc (20), for manufacturing a curved agricultural disc (1), to which a plastic deformation has been applied in the shape of undulations (4), in this case with a combined cylindrical-conical shape, along the entire perimeter of the circular disc (20), said undulations (4) being adjacent to the perimeter edge (11).

[0094] In this situation, for both types of circular discs (20), whether they are intended for manufacturing flat or curved agricultural discs, on the first surface (9), the undulations (4) look like valleys spaced by flat separations (10), while on the second surface (8), the undulations look like small crests spaced by the same flat separations (10).

[0095] Once the plurality of undulations (4) has been created in the circular disc (20), a shaving is performed by means of a machining process via milling or lathing, which removes the crests of the undulations (4), smoothing the second surface (8) of the circular disc (20), while the first surface (9) continues to have notches (2) with the shape of the valleys of the undulations (4) which were created previously, turning it into a flat agricultural disc (1).

[0096] The manufacturing of the curved agricultural disc (1) comprises an additional hot forming step which enables the curvature to be provided to the agricultural disc (1), the curved agricultural disc (1) comprising a first surface (9) curved inwards, practically concave if it were not for the plate comprising a flat segment, and a second surface (8) curved outwards, practically convex, also if it were not for the plate, and also comprises a reduced thickness compared to the radius thereof.

[0097] In this manner, the agricultural disc (1) is left with a first plurality of notches (2) on the first surface (9), as shown in FIGS. 3b, 4b, 5a-5b, for flat agricultural discs (1), and completely smooth on the second surface (8), while for curved agricultural discs (1), it also comprises a first plurality of notches (2) on the first surface (9), as shown in FIG. 7b, and they are smoothed on the second surface (8).

[0098] Preferably, the process for manufacturing the agricultural disc (1) comprises the step consisting of making, by means of machining for removing shavings, a first bevel (7) along the perimeter edge (11) of said disc (1), on the second surface (8), thus remaining as shown in any of FIGS. 3a and 4a for flat discs (1) and as shown in FIGS. 7a and 7c, for curved discs (1).

[0099] The agricultural disc (1) shown in FIGS. 3a-5b also has a through hole (5) in the centre and four through bores (6) surrounding it, comprising the means for fastening said disc (1) to a drive machine. Both the through hole (5) and the through bores (6) are made by means of machining processes for removing shavings such as drilling or by die-cutting.

[0100] One step after the shaving of the crests of the undulations (4), and if it has been performed, also after the hole (5) and the through bores (6) have been made, consists of applying a thermal tempering treatment to the machined product, providing conditions of structural resistance and resistance to deterioration which are suitable for using the agricultural disc (1).

[0101] Once all the steps of the manufacturing process have been performed, an agricultural disc (1) like the one shown in FIGS. 3a-5b and 7a-7c is obtained. Said disc (1) comprises a circular shape and a plurality of notches (2) separated by a plurality of smooth separations (10), arranged in an alternating manner, in other words, each notch (2) is followed by a separation (10), said notches located on the first surface (9), such that said notches (2) are distributed in the shape of a circular matrix, concentric to the disc itself (1), being adjacent to the perimeter edge (11).

[0102] In FIGS. 3b and 4b, said notches (2) have a conical shape, with the ones shown in FIG. 3b being more conical than the ones in FIG. 4b.

[0103] This conicity implies that the perimeter edge (11) of the disc (1) is scalloped or undulated, in other words, that it comprises curved indentations (3) along the contour or edge thereof. The greater the conicity of the conical notches (2), the greater the undulations generated in the perimeter edge (11) will be.

[0104] In a non-preferred embodiment, the notches (2) have a cylindrical shape, as shown in FIG. 5b, wherein no scalloping or indentations (3) are seen, the notches only being visible from the first surface (9).

[0105] In the preferred embodiment of the curved discs (1), the notches (2) are like the ones shown in FIG. 7b, comprising a cylindrical area and a conical area after the cylindrical area.

[0106] The notches (2) do not have straight edges but are undulated, due to the forming manufacturing process with which they are made, and can have a straight orientation, as shown in FIGS. 3b, 4b, and 7b, wherein the axis of revolution of the curved surface has a radial direction of the disc (1), all the axes of each notch (2) coinciding in one central point of said disc (1), or they can have an inclined orientation with respect to said radial direction, as shown in FIGS. 5a-5b, wherein the axis of the curved area of each notch (2) is inclined 36° with respect to a radial direction, being a non-preferred embodiment.

[0107] On the second surface (8), shown in FIGS. 3a, 4a, 7a, and 7c, a bevel (7) can be seen which provides a blade to the perimeter edge (11) of the disc (1). Said bevel (7) is only preferably made on said second surface (8) but it can be made, in a non-preferable manner, also on the first surface (9) in flat agricultural discs (1).

[0108] The agricultural disc (1) is made of high-strength steel, preferably from a boron steel alloy.