High clearance adjustable sprayer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9737066-B2
Application number	US-201715438142-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 21, 2017
Priority date	Jul 30, 2013
Publication date	Aug 22, 2017
Grant date	Aug 22, 2017

Abstract

An agricultural sprayer assembly includes a wheeled carriage, a chassis, and a spray delivery system. The wheeled carriage has a number of adjustable support legs (e.g., four), each formed of hydraulically coupled and actuated upper and lower leg sections or members. The chassis is supported on the wheeled carriage, at an adjustable clearance height defined by the operational height of the support legs. The spray delivery system includes a spray boom coupled to a boom support, and an actuator coupled to the boom support and the chassis. The actuator is configured to adjust the height of the spray boom with respect to the clearance height of the chassis.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An agricultural sprayer comprising:
a wheeled carriage having adjustable support legs, each of the support legs comprising hydraulically coupled first and second leg sections, wherein one of the first or second leg sections is adjustable relative to the other, wherein an operational height of the support legs is defined between a ground surface and a top end of each of the support legs;
a chassis supported in part by the wheeled carriage, the chassis having an adjustable clearance height defined by adjusting a height of the first or the second leg sections, the chassis adjustable from a first position to a second position that is elevated relative to the first position;
a cab supported on and positioned above the clearance height of the chassis, the cab arranged below the operational height of the support legs in at least one of the first or second positions of the chassis;
a spray delivery system coupled to the chassis, the spray delivery system comprising a boom support and an actuator coupled thereto, wherein the actuator is configured to actuate the boom support in order to adjust a height of the boom support with respect to the clearance height of the chassis.

2. The sprayer of claim 1 , wherein one of the first or second leg sections is coupled to a wheel assembly and the other is coupled to the chassis.

3. The sprayer of claim 2 , wherein the first and second leg sections of the support legs are hydraulically coupled by a hydraulic cylinder, and wherein the hydraulic cylinder adjusts the clearance height of the chassis.

4. The sprayer of claim 1 , further comprising a steering mechanism configured to turn one or more of the support legs with respect to the chassis.

5. The sprayer of claim 4 , wherein the steering mechanism comprises a bearing assembly coupled to the chassis, the bearing assembly comprising a rotating pin member coupled to the one or more support legs.

6. The sprayer of claim 1 , wherein the clearance height of the chassis is defined below an operational height of the support legs.

7. The sprayer of claim 1 , wherein the cab defines an enclosure having a volume sufficient to house at least one operator.

8. The sprayer of claim 1 , further comprising a reservoir supported on the chassis, the reservoir fluidly coupled to the spray delivery system.

9. The sprayer of claim 1 , wherein the actuator coupled to the spray boom comprises one or more hydraulic cylinders for adjusting the boom support with respect to the chassis.

10. The sprayer of claim 9 , further comprising a spray boom coupled to the boom support.

11. The sprayer of claim 10 , wherein the clearance height is adjustable to at least six feet (or at least about 180 cm).

12. A high clearance sprayer comprising:
a wheeled carriage having a plurality of adjustable support legs, each of the support legs comprising first and second hydraulically coupled leg members, wherein one of the first or second leg members is adjustable relative to the other, wherein an operational height of the support legs is defined between a ground surface and a top end of each of the support legs;
a chassis supported in part by the first leg members, the chassis having an adjustable clearance height defined below the operational height of the support legs;
a wheel assembly supported by the second leg members;
a cab supported on and positioned above the clearance height of the chassis, the cab positioned at least in part below the operational height of the support legs; and
a spray delivery system supported on the chassis, the spray delivery system comprising a boom support and an actuator comprising a hydraulic cylinder configured to position the boom support relative to the clearance height of the chassis such that the boom support is movable independent of the chassis.

13. The high clearance sprayer of claim 12 , wherein the first and second hydraulically coupled leg members are coupled by a hydraulic cylinder.

14. The high clearance sprayer of claim 13 , wherein one of the leg members is nested within the other of the leg members.

15. The high clearance sprayer of claim 12 , further comprising a steering mechanism configured to turn a pair of the support legs with respect to the chassis.

16. The high clearance sprayer of claim 15 , wherein the steering mechanism comprises a pair of bearing assemblies coupled to the chassis, each of the bearing assemblies having a pin member coupled to one of the pair of support legs, and further comprising a pair of actuators configured to turn the pair of support legs by leveraged rotation of the pins within the bearing assemblies.

17. The high clearance sprayer of claim 12 , wherein the clearance height of the chassis is defined below an operational height of the support legs.

18. The high clearance sprayer of claim 12 , wherein the cab defines an enclosure having a volume sufficient to house at least one operator.

19. The high clearance sprayer of claim 12 , further comprising a reservoir supported on the chassis, the reservoir fluidly coupled to the spray delivery system.

20. The high clearance sprayer of claim 12 , wherein the actuator coupled to the spray boom comprises one or more hydraulic cylinders for adjusting the boom support with respect to the chassis.

21. The high clearance sprayer of claim 12 , further comprising a spray boom coupled to the boom support.

22. The high clearance sprayer of claim 12 , wherein the chassis is adjustable from a first position to a second position that is elevated relative to the first position, and wherein the clearance height of the chassis is at least six feet (or at least about 180 cm) in the second position.

23. An apparatus comprising:
a wheeled carriage comprising four adjustable support legs, each of the support legs comprising a first leg member coupled to a wheel assembly and a second leg member, wherein the first and second leg members are hydraulically coupled, wherein one of the first or second leg members is adjustable relative to the other, wherein an operational height of the support legs is defined between a ground surface and a top end of each of the support legs;
a chassis supported in part by the wheeled carriage by mechanical coupling to the second leg members at an adjustable clearance height of at least six feet (or about 180 cm), wherein the adjustable clearance height is defined by actuation of the hydraulic coupling;
an adjustable boom support coupled to the chassis, the boom support configured to receive a spray boom and to be movable independent of the chassis;
a cab supported on the chassis, wherein the cab is positioned at least in part below the operational height of the support legs and at least in part above the spray height defined by the spray boom.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 , further comprising:
an engine supported on the chassis, wherein the engine is configured to drive the wheel assemblies; and
a pair of bearing assemblies coupled to the chassis, the bearing assemblies configured to steer the wheeled carriage by turning a pair of the support legs.

Assignees

• Winfield Solutions Llc

Inventors

• Jones Matthew
• Anthofer Steve

Classifications

• A01C23/008

  Tanks, chassis or related parts · CPC title

• A01M7/0014

  Field atomisers, e.g. orchard atomisers, self-propelled, drawn or tractor-mounted · CPC title

• A01C23/047

  Spraying of liquid fertilisers · CPC title

• A01M7/0082

  Undercarriages, frames, mountings, couplings, tanks · CPC title

• A01M7/0053 Primary

  Mounting of the spraybooms · CPC title