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Tillage blade assemblies comprising a coil spring with a horizontal spring axis to permit upward deflection of a concave tillage blade in response to impact with obstacles with a mounting assembly that provides for mounting the tillage blades in a particular orientation relative to the ground and th

Tillage blade assemblies comprising a coil spring with a horizontal spring axis to permit upward deflection of a concave tillage blade in response to impact with obstacles with a mounting assembly that provides for mounting the tillage blades in a particular orientation relative to the ground and the direction of travel of the implement. Forces acting on the tillage assembly due to movement of the blade through the soil are balanced such that there is little or no distortion of the coil spring relative to its spring axis. This prevents an off-axis load from acting on the spring when the assembly is in use and allows the blade to track through the soil at a desired angle. Impact with obstacles, such as rocks, is absorbed by deflection of the coil spring, thereby mitigating damage to the assembly. Tillage implements comprising the blade assemblies are able to operate at higher speeds than can usually be obtained for tillage implements, due to the absorption of impact energy by the spring.

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1. A tillage blade assembly comprising: a coil spring having a horizontal spring axis and first and second ends, the first end having a first shank extending tangentially therefrom and the second end having a second shank extending tangentially therefrom;the second shank having an upper portion prox

1. A tillage blade assembly comprising: a coil spring having a horizontal spring axis and first and second ends, the first end having a first shank extending tangentially therefrom and the second end having a second shank extending tangentially therefrom;the second shank having an upper portion proximal the spring and a lower portion distal from the spring, the lower portion comprising a shank axis, the upper shank portion and the lower shank portion offset from one another by an offset distance;the shank axis having a shank axis angle relative to a vertical direction perpendicular to the horizontal spring axis;the lower portion having mounted thereto a rotatable hub having a rotation axis passing therethrough, the rotation axis perpendicular to the shank axis, the rotation axis rotated about the lower shank axis by a rotation angle defined relative to the rotation axis being horizontal; and, a concave disc-shaped tillage blade attached to the rotatable hub concentric with the rotation axis,wherein the offset distance, the shank axis angle and the rotation angle are selected so as to balance the forces transmitted through the assembly to be substantially parallel to the horizontal spring axis when the assembly is in use on a tillage implement. 2. The tillage blade assembly according to claim 1, wherein the upper shank portion and lower shank portion are parallel to one another. 3. The tillage blade assembly according to claim 1, wherein the offset distance is horizontal. 4. A tillage implement comprising: a) an implement frame;b) at least two rows of tillage blade assemblies according to claim 1 mounted to the frame;c) one row of tillage blade assemblies comprising a first assembly with a coil spring that is wound clockwise;d) an adjacent row of tillage blade assemblies comprising a second assembly with a coil spring that is wound counter-clockwise; and,e) the concave sides of the blades of the first and second assemblies facing one another. 5. The tillage blade assembly according to claim 1, wherein the offset distance is from 0″ to 3″, the shank axis angle is from 130 degrees to +/−15 degrees and the rotation angle is from 20 degrees to +/−10 degrees. 6. The tillage blade assembly according to claim 5, wherein the disc blade has a concavity of from 730 mm+/−50 mm. 7. The tillage blade assembly according to claim 6, wherein the diameter of the disc blade is from 16″ to 24″. 8. The tillage blade assembly according to claim 7, wherein the spring has a Rockwell C hardness of from 30 to 55. 9. The tillage implement according to claim 8, wherein the number of coils in the spring, as seen in front view, is from 3 to 6. 10. The tillage implement according to claim 4, wherein the working depth is from 2″ to 8″. 11. The tillage implement according to claim 10, wherein the desired operational speed of the tillage implement is in excess of 6 mph. 12. The tillage implement according to claim 4, wherein the tillage blade assembly comprises: a coil spring having a horizontal spring axis and first and second ends, the first end having a first shank extending tangentially therefrom and the second end having a second shank extending tangentially therefrom; the second shank having an upper portion proximal the spring and a lower portion distal from the spring, the lower portion comprising a shank axis, the upper shank portion and the lower shank portion offset from one another by an offset distance; the shank axis having a shank axis angle relative to a vertical direction perpendicular to the horizontal spring axis; the lower portion having mounted thereto a rotatable hub having a rotation axis passing therethrough, the rotation axis perpendicular to the shank axis, the rotation axis rotated about the lower shank axis by a rotation angle defined relative to the rotation axis being horizontal; and, a concave disc-shaped tillage blade attached to the rotatable hub concentric with the rotation axis, wherein the offset distance, the shank axis angle and the rotation angle are selected so as to balance the forces transmitted through the assembly to be substantially parallel to the horizontal spring axis when the assembly is in use on a tillage implement. 13. The tillage implement according to claim 12, wherein the offset distance is from 0″ to 3″, the shank axis angle is from 130 degrees to +/−15 degrees and the rotation angle is from 20 degrees to +/−10 degrees. 14. The tillage implement according to claim 13, wherein the diameter of the disc blade is from 16″ to 24″. 15. The tillage implement according to claim 14, wherein the spring has a Rockwell C hardness of from 30 to 55. 16. The tillage implement according to claim 15, wherein the number of coils in the spring, as seen in front view, is from 3 to 6. 17. A tillage blade assembly comprising: a coil spring having a horizontal spring axis and first and second ends, the first end having a first shank extending tangentially therefrom and the second end having a second shank extending tangentially therefrom;the second shank having a shank axis;the shank axis having a shank axis angle relative to a vertical direction perpendicular to the horizontal spring axis;the lower portion having mounted thereto a rotatable hub having a rotation axis passing therethrough, the rotation axis perpendicular to the shank axis, the rotation axis rotated about the lower shank axis by a rotation angle defined relative to the rotation axis being horizontal;a concave disc-shaped tillage blade attached to the rotatable hub concentric with the rotation axis; and, the tillage blade, when in operation, having a point of intersection on its circumference where it initially penetrates a soil surface, the point of intersection being located between the first and second ends,wherein the point of intersection is between the midpoint between the first and second ends along the horizontal axis and the second end, andwherein the distance between the point of intersection and the midpoint, the shank axis angle and the rotation angle are selected so as to balance the forces transmitted through the assembly to be substantially parallel to the horizontal spring axis when the assembly is in use on a tillage implement. 18. A tillage implement comprising: a) an implement frame;b) at least two rows of tillage blade assemblies according to claim 17 mounted to the frame;c) one row of tillage blade assemblies comprising a first assembly with a coil spring that is wound clockwise;d) an adjacent row of tillage blade assemblies comprising a second assembly with a coil spring that is wound counter-clockwise; and,e) the concave sides of the blades of the first and second assemblies facing one another. 19. The tillage blade assembly according to claim 17, wherein the distance between the point of intersection and the midpoint is from 1″ to +/−0.75″, the shank axis angle is from 130 degrees to +/−15 degrees and the rotation angle is from 20 degrees to +/−10 degrees. 20. The tillage implement according to claim 18, wherein the distance between the point of intersection and the midpoint is from 1″ to +/−0.75″, the shank axis angle is from 130 degrees to +/−15 degrees and the rotation angle is from 20 degrees to +/−10 degrees.