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Rake wheelRake wheel description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070163224, Rake wheel. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
RELATED U.S. APPLICATION DATA [0001] Divisional of application Ser. No. 11/311,014, filed on Nov. 3, 2005, which claims priority based on U.S. provisional application No. 60/654,940, filed on Mar. 17, 2005, and U.S. provisional application No. 60/662,382, filed on Feb. 23, 2005. FIELD OF INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates generally to wheel rakes and more particularly to rake wheels of wheel rakes. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] V-rakes have been found to be an effective farm implement for gathering cut agricultural materials into windrows. The V-rake generally includes a primary frame, with a front end adapted to be hitched to a tractor and a back end. A pair of rake arms, which are pivotally connected at the back end of the primary frame, are controlled such that they may be positioned adjacent the primary frame in a closed or traveling position or extended in the form of a V in the opened or raking position. The V-rake is supported by a number of rolling wheels mounted on the primary frame and on the rake arms. Further, each rake arm includes a number of rake wheels, which may be raised when the V-rake is in the traveling position, and lowered when the V-rake is in the raking position. [0004] Examples of rakes are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,093 issued Apr. 13, 1962 to van der Lely et al; U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,528 issued Nov. 19, 1971; U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,252 issued on Apr. 6, 1993 to Peeters; U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,643 issued Feb. 27, 1996 to Tonitti; U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,271 issued on Feb. 4, 1997 to Peeters; U.S Pat. No. 5,699,045 issued on May 4, 1999 to Rowse et al; U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,008 issued April 24 to Rowse et al and US Patent Publication 2004/0063265 published May 6, 2004 to Tonutti. [0005] In addition to the description of the basic rakes, these references also describe a variety of rake wheels, as well as control mechanisms for opening and closing the rakes, for raising and lowering the rake wheels, and for adjusting the rake to vary the width of the windrows. [0006] Though these rakes have been in use for some time, it has been found that they do not always satisfy the needs of farmers and ranchers in view of their inherent complexity of operation and their weaknesses. This is particularly true where the rake wheels and the spring assemblies for controlling the height of the rake wheels are concerned. It has also been found that existing mechanisms for adjusting the width of the windrow produced by the rake are ponderous. [0007] As an example, prior art rake wheel assemblies include a center disk with a hub opening and bolt holes by which the rake wheel assembly is attached to a hub. The rake wheel assembly further includes an outer ring with a series of holes equally spaced around its circumference for receiving rake teeth or tines. One end of each tine slides through one of the holes in the outer ring, while plates that are fixed to the center disk by bolts each sandwich the other end of a number of tines. When one of the tines in this rake wheel assembly has to be replaced, the retainer plate has to be removed. When the retainer plate is removed, all of the tines held by the plate become loose and can then fall out of the rake wheel assembly. This process can be very inconvenient, particularly in the field when the rake wheel assembly is in a vertical position. [0008] Further, it has been found that the material being raked has a tendency to wrap itself on the rake wheel assembly due to the spacing between the tines. Attempts have been made to remedy this situation by attaching a piece of hard plastic to the tines on the outside of the rake wheel assembly, however this is not found to be fully satisfactory. [0009] Therefore there is a need for an improved, reliable and easy to operate V-rake. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0010] In accordance with an aspect of the invention, a rake wheel comprises a center disk having a predetermined radius and adapted to be mounted on a hub, a number of rake tines and an outer ring having a substantially greater radius then the center disk and having holes at least equal to the number of rake tines. The holes in the outer ring are spaced about and passing radially through the outer ring, whereby each of the tines is positioned in a hole in the outer ring with one end of each tine fixed to the center disk. The center disk may have holes at least equal in number to the rake tines spaced about its periphery for receiving fasteners to individually fix the tines to the center disk. [0011] In accordance with a further specific aspect of the invention, the rake wheel includes a windguard positioned between the center disk and the outer ring. The windguard consists of an annulus having an outer radius approximately equal to the radius of the outer ring and an inner radius smaller then the radius of the center ring so as to overlap with the center ring. The inner periphery of the annulus has holes that match with the holes in the center disk, and the outer periphery of the annulus has tabs with holes that match with some of the holes in the outer ring, the tabs are substantially perpendicular to the surface of the annulus, whereby rake tines are located in the outer ring holes and matching tab holes. The windguard may be made from a light gauge galvanized metal with stamped indentations. [0012] Aspects and advantages of the invention, as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the invention, will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0013] The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: [0014] FIG. 1 illustrates in top view one embodiment of the V-rake while in the open position in accordance with the present invention; [0015] FIG. 2 illustrates in top view the V-rake of FIG. 1 while in the closed position; [0016] FIG. 3 illustrates the V-rake of FIG. 1 in side view; [0017] FIG. 4 illustrates in top view another embodiment of the V-rake positioned to produce a wide windrow; [0018] FIG. 5 illustrates in top view the V-rake of FIG. 4 positioned to produce a narrow windrow; [0019] FIG. 6 illustrates in top view a further embodiment of the V-rake positioned to produce a wide windrow; Continue reading about Rake wheel... Full patent description for Rake wheel Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Rake wheel patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Rake wheel or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Spring assembly for a wheel rake Next Patent Application: Agricultural implement attachment ball holder Industry Class: Harvesters ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Rake wheel patent info. IP-related news and info Results in 0.18 seconds Other interesting Feshpatents.com categories: Novartis , Pfizer , Philips , Polaroid , Procter & Gamble , 174 |
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