Claims:
1. A machine (100) for pulverizing the surface of a field, said machine (100) comprising:
a frame (102) facilitating movement across a field, said frame (102) being drawn by a prime mover;
a plough unit (104) mounted below a forward portion of said frame (102), said plough unit (104) having a plurality of ploughs (104a) adapted to plough the soil as said frame (102) is moved through the field;
a pulverizing unit (106) flexibly mounted below said frame (102), to the rear of said plough unit (104), said pulverizing unit (106) extending along the width of said plough unit (104), adapted to pulverize the soil, said pulverizing unit (106) being biased downwardly but being limited as to downward movement and as to depth of soil penetration;
a soil levelling unit (108) flexibly mounted below said frame (102), to the rear of said pulverizing unit (106), said soil levelling unit (108) extending along the width of said plough unit (104), adapted to level the soil, said soil levelling unit (108) being biased downwardly but being limited as to downward movement and as to depth of soil penetration; and
a gear box assembly (110) mounted on the said frame (102) powered by the prime mover, said gear box assembly (110) driving said pulverizing unit (106) through a transmission arrangement (112) mounted in the side cover.
2. The machine (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pulverizing unit (106) comprising of a puddler shaft (106a), plurality of flanges (106b) and plurality of flat bars (106c), wherein said plurality of flanges (106b) are mounted on the puddler shaft (106a) at equiaxial distance, in which said plurality of flat bars (106c) are mounted through the flanges (106b) in a spiral arrangement.
3. The machine (100) as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said pulverizing unit (106) is connected to said transmission arrangement (112) through a hub holder assembly consisting of a bearing and an oil seal.
4. The machine (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein said end flanges (106b) are mounted at less than 4inches of gap from the either ends.
5. The machine (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said levelling unit (108) comprises a levelling bonnet (108a) with a plurality of adjuster tubes (108b) facilitating application of pressure on said levelling bonnet (108a).
6. The machine (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said transmission arrangement (112) comprising of a splined shaft (112a), a pair of sprockets including an upper sprocket (112b) and a lower sprocket (112c), and a chain drive (112d), wherein one end connected of the splined shaft (112a) is meshed with the gear box (110) and the other end is mounted with the upper sprocket (112b), the upper sprocket (112b) and the lower sprocket (112c) are connected through the chain drive (112d), wherein power from the gear box (112) is transferred to the shaft (112a) and in turn to the upper sprocket (112b), the upper sprocket (112b) rotates the lower sprocket (112c) through the chain drive (112d) for imparting rotational motion to said pulverizing unit (106).
7. The machine(100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the longitudinal attitude of said frame (102) being adjustable from said prime mover to facilitate independent adjustment of the elevation of the front of said frame (102) and the elevation of the rear of said frame (102).
8. The machine (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said prime mover is a tractor.
9. The machine (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said ploughs (104a) is a chisel plough or a cultivator tines.
, Description:F O R M 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
The Patent Rule, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10 and rule 13)

“MACHINE FOR PULVERIZING FIELD SURFACE”
by
Mahindra & Mahindra Limited
An Indian company
Mahindra Research Valley, Mahindra World City,
Plot No:41/1, Anjur P.O., Chengalpattu,
Tamilnadu – 603004, INDIA

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to an agricultural implement, more particularly to a machine for pulverizing the top layer of the soil, primarily in puddling/wet land operation.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventional methods of crop farming require that a field to be planted is pulverized. Pulverizing is the most important operation in agriculture. It is done mainly to loosen the upper layer of soil, to mix the soil with fertilizer and remove the weeds. As a result, the water, air, nutrient regime of the soil is improved which helps to growth of the crops.
The known method of pulverizing the land is ploughing with mouldboard ploughs followed by harrowing. In the process of ploughing, the soil layer is subjected to various deformations and is turned to the bottom of the groove and harrowing is a secondary tillage operation which is done to a shallow depth for smoothening and pulverizing the soil as well as to cut the weeds and to mix the materials with the soil.
However, using mouldboard ploughs the upper layer of soil is not always loosened to the desired extent. Because there is no control mechanism present in this type of plough attachments. Further, in this conventional implement, puddling is done by the puddler/ caged wheel etc in which metal spiral rotates freely due to forward motion of tractor i.e. the puddler is getting rotary motion through dragging behind tractor which creates the problem of clogging. Also, the efficiency of tillage is very low because the tractor requires considerable weight to provide necessary traction, and thus more power is required to overcome the wheel slip.
OBJECTIVE OF THE INVENTION
These objectives are provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This objective are not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
It is an object of the invention to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages and to provide a machine for pulverizing field surface.
Another object of the invention is to provide a pulverizing unit with a gearbox assembly to replace the existing puddling with mouldboard ploughs.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a new pulverizing unit which is powered through tractor PTO drive.
Further object of the invention is to provide better pulverizing quality with single pass of pulverizing roller when compared to single pass of counterpart puddling.
Object of the present invention is not limited to the above mentioned problem. Other technical problems that are not mentioned will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a machine for pulverizing the top layer of the soil primarily in puddling operation without clogging and choking.
According to an aspect of the invention, a machine for pulverizing the surface of a field comprising a frame facilitating movement across a field, said frame being drawn by a prime mover, a plough unit mounted below a forward portion of said frame, said plough unit having a plurality of ploughs adapted to plough the soil as said frame is moved through the field, a pulverizing unit flexibly mounted below said frame, to the rear of said plough unit, said pulverizing unit extending along the width of said plough unit, adapted to pulverize the soil, said pulverizing unit being biased downwardly but being limited as to downward movement and as to depth of soil penetration, a soil levelling unit flexibly mounted below said frame, to the rear of said pulverizing unit, said soil levelling unit extending along the width of said plough unit, adapted to level the soil, said soil levelling unit being biased downwardly but being limited as to downward movement and as to depth of soil penetration, and a gear box assembly mounted on the said frame powered by the prime mover, the gear box driving the pulverizing unit through a transmission arrangement mounted in the side cover.
Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention is illustrated by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is front view of the machine, according to present embodiment of the invention;
Figure 2 is isometric view of the machine from the front end, according to the present invention;
Figure 3 is rear view of the machine, according to the present invention;
Figure 4 is isometric view of the machine from rear end, according to the present invention; and
Figure 5 shows right side view of the machine, and 5a shows exploded view of the figure 5, according to the present invention.
Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.
Figures 1-5 shows different views of the machine, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The machine (100) according to the figures for pulverizing the field surface, comprising a frame (102), a plough unit (104), a pulverizing unit (106), a soil levelling unit (108) and a gear box assembly (110) with a transmission arrangement (112). The frame (102) is drawn by a prime mover and facilitates movement across the field. The longitudinal attitude of said frame (102) being adjustable from said prime mover to facilitate independent adjustment of the elevation of the front of said frame (102) and the elevation of the rear of said frame (102).
The plough unit (104) is mounted below a forward portion of said frame (102), said plough unit (104) having a plurality of ploughs (104a) adapted to plough the soil as said frame (102) is moved through the field. The plough (104a) can be a chisel plough, or it can be cultivator tines for performing primary tillage and thus to break the soil into chunky blocks.
The pulverizing unit (106) flexibly mounted below said frame (102), to the rear of said plough unit (104), said pulverizing unit (106) extending along the width of said plough unit (104), adapted to pulverize the soil, said pulverizing unit (106) being biased downwardly but being limited as to downward movement and as to depth of soil penetration. The pulverizing unit (106) is also called has a spiral puddler assembly, the spiral open cylindrical part at the bottom performs puddling operation, i.e. secondary tillage.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, said pulverizing unit (106) comprising of a puddler shaft (106a), plurality of flanges (106b) and plurality of flat bars (106c). The puddler shaft (106a) is made of mild steel having thickness 5-7mm and outer diameter 48-52mm on which mounted are the plurality of flanges (106b) at equidistance. The end flanges (106b) are mounted at less than 4inches of gap from the either ends. The flanges (106b) are made of SG iron. The plurality of flat bars (106c) which are made of mild steel mounted through the flanges (106b) are employed to make spiral arrangement in the pulverizing unit (106). The entire pulverizing unit (106) is connected to the transmission through a hub holder assembly consisting of a bearing and an oil seal.
The soil levelling unit (108) flexibly mounted below said frame (102), to the rear of said pulverizing unit (106), said soil levelling unit (108) extending along the width of said plough unit (104), adapted to level the soil, said soil levelling unit (108) being biased downwardly but being limited as to downward movement and as to depth of soil penetration. The soil levelling unit (108) comprises a levelling bonnet (108a) with a plurality of adjuster tubes (108b) facilitating application of pressure on bonnet (108a). The adjuster tube (108b) ensures that sufficient pressure is applied on bonnet (108a) for even levelling, whereas the levelling bonnet (108a) ensures the leveling of puddled land, ready for plantation.
The machine (100) comprises the gear box assembly (110) mounted on the said frame (102) powered by the prime mover, the gearbox assembly (110) drives the pulverizing unit (106) through the transmission arrangement (112) mounted in the side cover. More particularly, the gearbox assembly (110) drives the puddler shaft (106a) of the pulverizing unit (106) to impart rotary motion.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the transmission of power from gearbox assembly (110) to the pulverizing unit (106) is made through an transmission arrangement (112) comprising of a splined shaft (112a), a pair of sprockets including an upper sprocket (112b) and a lower sprocket (112c), and a chain drive (112d). The transmission arrangement (112) includes, the splined shaft (112a) with one end meshing with the gear box assembly (110) and the other end mounted with the upper sprocket (112b), the upper sprocket (112b) and the lower sprocket (112c) are connected through the chain drive (112d). During transmission power from the gear box assembly (110) is transferred to the shaft (112a) and in turn to the upper sprocket (112b), the upper sprocket (112b) rotates the lower sprocket (112c) through the chain drive (112d) to impart rotational motion to the puddler shaft (106a).
The prime mover according to the invention can be a tractor, a tiller or any other known movable power generating machine in the art. In an embodiment the pulverizing unit has a metal spiral assembly which is rotated by a single speed gearbox assembly which receives power from tractor PTO.
Since the pulverizing unit of this machine is open the puddler overcomes the problem of clogging, thus better puddling without choking. The machine also, provides better pulverizing quality with single pass of pulverizing roller. Optimum gap at the end flanges (i.e. less than 4inches) ensures desired pulverization quality with less load on tractor. Further advantages of the machine include less soil resistance due to less number of puddler flanges, operation without blades, light weight design and reduced possibility for mud accumulation. Other advantages include less power requirement, reduced cost, 10 – 15% less fuel consumption than the existing counterparts for the same level of puddling index, less RPM drop compared with existing counterparts.
While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described herein, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction herein disclosed, and the right is reserved to all changes and modifications coming within the scope of the invention.
Although there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made thereto which do not exceed the scope of the appended claims. Therefore, the scope of the invention is only to be limited by the following claims.