Rotary cutter deck protection system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10433481-B2
Application number	US-201615377307-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 13, 2016
Priority date	Dec 13, 2016
Publication date	Oct 8, 2019
Grant date	Oct 8, 2019

Abstract

A protection system for a rotary cutter, with the rotary cutter including a deck and one or more blade assemblies extending below the deck for cutting vegetation. The protection system comprises a protection annulus associated with one of the blade assemblies, with the protection annulus secured to a bottom surface of the deck and positioned between the deck and the blade assembly. The protection annulus has a width extending from an inner radius of the protection annulus to an outer radius of the protection annulus. The protection annulus has a height extending vertically downward from the bottom surface of the deck. The width of the protection annulus is greater than the height of the protection annulus.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A protection system for a rotary cutter, wherein the rotary cutter includes a deck and one or more blade assemblies extending below the deck for cutting vegetation, wherein each blade assembly includes a blade carrier with a blade rotatably secured thereto, wherein the blade is configured to be positioned in both a collapsed configuration and an extended configuration, wherein the protection system comprises:
a protection annulus associated with one of the blade assemblies, wherein said protection annulus is secured to and protrudes from a bottom surface of the deck, such that said protection annulus is positioned between the deck and the blade assembly,
wherein said protection annulus has a width extending from an inner edge defined by an inner radius of said protection annulus to an outer edge defined by an outer radius of said protection annulus, and wherein said protection annulus has a height extending vertically downward from the bottom surface of the deck, wherein the height is no more than 2 inches;
wherein the width of said protection annulus is greater than the height of said protection annulus such that a ratio of the width to the height is at least 5:1,
wherein the width of said protection annulus is configured such that the inner edge of said protection annulus is positioned vertically above a tip of the blade when the blade is in the collapsed configuration and the outer edge of said protection annulus is positioned vertically above the tip of the blade when the blade is in the extended configuration.

2. The protection system of claim 1 , wherein a center of said protection annulus substantially coincides with a rotational axis of the blade assembly.

3. The protection system of claim 1 , wherein the ratio of the protection annulus's width and height is at least 10:1.

4. The protection system of claim 1 , wherein the width of said protection annulus is at least 5 inches and the height of said protection annulus is no more than 0.5 inches.

5. The protection system of claim 1 , wherein said protection annulus is fabricated from carbon steel.

6. The protection system of claim 5 , wherein said protection annulus is skip welded to the bottom surface of the deck of the rotary cutter.

7. The protection system of claim 1 , wherein the rotary cutter comprises a central section, a left wing section hingedly secured to the central section, and a right wing section hingedly secured to the central section, wherein the rotary cutter includes three blade assemblies, with one blade assembly associated with each of the central section, the left wing section, and the right wing section, and wherein said protection system comprises three protection annuluses, with one protection annulus associated with the blade assembly on each of the central section, the left wing section, and the right wing section.

8. The protection system of claim 7 , further comprising a pair of vertically-extending panels extending downward from the bottom surface of the deck, with one panel positioned adjacent to a hinged connection between the right wing section and the central section and one panel positioned adjacent to a hinged connection between the left wing section and the central section.

9. The protection system of claim 1 , wherein the height of said protection annulus is greater than a thickness of a bottom section of the deck of the rotary cutter, with the bottom section presenting the bottom surface of the deck.

10. A method of protecting and reinforcing a deck of a rotary cutter, wherein the rotary cutter includes one or more blade assemblies extending below the deck for cutting vegetation, wherein each blade assembly includes a blade carrier with a blade rotatably secured thereto, wherein the blade is configured to be positioned in both a collapsed configuration and an extended configuration, wherein said method comprises the steps of:
(a) fabricating a protection annulus comprising a generally cylindrical piece of material with a width extending from an inner edge defined by an inner radius to an outer edge defined by an outer radius and a height extending from a top surface to a bottom surface, wherein the width of the protection annulus is greater than the height of the protection annulus such that a ratio of the width to the height is at least 5:1, and wherein the height is no more than 2 inches; and
(b) securing the protection annulus to a bottom surface of the deck of the rotary cutter, wherein the protection annulus is secured to the bottom surface of the deck such that the protection annulus protrudes from the bottom surface of the deck and is positioned between the deck and one of the blade assemblies, and wherein the width of the protection annulus is configured such that the inner edge of the protection annulus is positioned vertically above a tip of the blade when the blade is in the collapsed configuration and the outer edge of the protection annulus is positioned vertically above the tip of the blade when the blade is in the extended configuration.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the protection annulus is fabricated from carbon steel.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein said fabricating of step (a) is performed by laser-cutting a sheet of carbon steel to fabricate the protection annulus.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein said securing of step (b) is performed by skip welding the protection annulus to the bottom surface of the deck of the rotary cutter.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein upon said securing of step (b) the protection annulus is positioned with its center coinciding with a rotational axis of the one of the blade assemblies.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the ratio of the protection annulus's width and height is at least 10:1.

16. The method claim 10 , wherein the rotary cutter comprises three blade assemblies, and wherein said fabricating of step (a) comprising fabricating three protection annuluses, and wherein said securing of step (b) comprises securing each of the three protection annuluses to the bottom surface of the deck of the rotary cutter, with one of the protection annuluses positioned between each of the blade assemblies and the deck of the rotary cutter.

Assignees

• Great Plains Mfg Inc

Inventors

• Welsh Jeff
• Thorsell Erik

Classifications

• A01D34/81 Primary

  Casings; Housings (A01D34/71 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A01D34/828

  Safety devices · CPC title

• A01D34/736

  Flail type · CPC title