AU2014204446B2

AU2014204446B2 - Self-Propelled Harvester Machine and Vehicle Combination

Info

Publication number: AU2014204446B2
Application number: AU2014204446A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Thilo Krause; Rene Middelberg
Original assignee: Claas Selbstfahrende Erntemaschinen GmbH
Current assignee: Claas Selbstfahrende Erntemaschinen GmbH
Priority date: 2013-07-19
Filing date: 2014-07-16
Publication date: 2018-08-02
Anticipated expiration: 2034-07-16
Also published as: AU2014204446A1; EP2829171A3; EP2829171B1; EP2829171A2; DE102013012027A1

Abstract

Abstract (to accompany Figure 2) A self-propelled harvester comprises a transfer device (7) for conveying of picked up and 5 processed crop material onto a transport vehicle (5) and a control unit (17) for controlling the transfer device (7) based on characteristic parameters of at least the transport vehicle (5). The characteristic parameters comprise the position of a receiving device (10) of the transport vehicle (5). The control unit (17) based on the recorded position of the receiving device (10) controls the position of the transfer device (7) in relation to the receiving device (10) to keep 0 the point of impact of the crop material (14) positioned on the receiving device (10). 1XI Tr moo... Ld

Description

TITLE

Self-Propelled Harvester and Vehicle Combination

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a self-propelled harvester as well as a vehicle combination wherein the harvester works in coordination with a transport vehicle.

BACKGROUND ART

The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that the prior art forms part of the common general knowledge.

Harvesters of the forage harvester type are as a rule not designed to store significant quantities of crop material on board; instead, the chopped crop material is continuously transferred to an adjacently running transport vehicle.

Although harvesters of the combine harvester type are mostly equipped with an inbuilt crop storage facility to avoid them having to be accompanied continuously by a transport vehicle, it is however also in such cases desirable to be able to transfer the contents from the crop storage facility during the harvesting run in order to avoid having to interrupt the harvesting process during the time required for the crop transfer.

When the harvester and the transport vehicle travel side by side for the purpose of the crop transfer, the distance between the two should be greater than the lateral range of action of a harvesting header of the harvester so that both vehicles are relatively freely manoeuvrable without having to fear a collision between the transport vehicle and the harvesting header.

The wider this harvesting header, the wider the range of action of a transfer device - such as a discharge chute or spout - should be to be capable of reaching the transport vehicle. The longer the discharge chute, the more it tends to sway due to the unevenness of the ground being travelled.

This does not only represent a significant mechanical stress for the transfer device, it also prevents a precise control of the impact point of the transferred crop in the transport vehicle. In the extreme case, crop material can be lost, because the flow of the transferred crop material may intermittently miss the transport vehicle.

From US2011/0318151A1 a transport vehicle is known, where a receiving device in the form of a conveyor is pivotally mounted and can be laterally swivelled out from a loading space of the transport vehicle. Since the transfer device of the harvester and the receiving device of the transporter jointly bridge the distance between the vehicles, this allows the transfer device to be of a shorter configuration. Although this considerably reduces the moment of inertia of the transfer device and consequently also its mechanical load due to swaying movements, however, since the surface at the receiving device onto which the crop must be deposited is significantly smaller than would be the case if a direct transfer were made into the cargo space, the risk remains, and is even increased, that crop material misses its target and is lost.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Advantageously there is provided a self-propelled harvester or a vehicle combination with such a harvester wherein the risk of crop losses during transfer is reduced.

With the foregoing in view, the present invention in a first form resides broadly in a self-propelled harvester having at least one transfer device for conveying picked-up and processed crop material onto a transport vehicle and one control unit for controlling the transfer device based on characteristic parameters of at least the transport vehicle, these characteristic parameters comprise the position of a receiving device of the transport vehicle and the control unit, based on the recorded position of the receiving device, controls the position of the transfer device in relation to the receiving device to keep the point of impact of the transferred crop material positioned on the receiving device.

To control the position of the transfer device in relation to the receiving device, the control unit can influence the speed of the harvester and/or the transport vehicle.

Furthermore, in order to control the position of the transfer device in relation to the receiving device, the control unit can influence the orientation of the transfer device at the harvester.

When the crop material is transferred on to a receiving device instead of directly into the loading space of a transport vehicle, losses can be incurred in that the crop material becomes piled up on the transfer device and slips off sideways.

To limit such risk without being forced to operate the receiving device continuously at high conveying speed, it can appropriately be proposed that the control unit monitor the crop throughput in the self-propelled harvester and emit a control signal representative of the crop throughput. Such a control signal can be used by the transport vehicle to control the speed of the transfer device.

The present invention in a further form resides broadly in a vehicle combination with a self-propelled harvester as described above and a transport vehicle. It is preferred in such a combination that the receiving device be movably attached at the transport vehicle. Since the control unit of the self-propelled harvester controls the position of the transfer device based on the recorded position of the receiving device in relation to the harvester, movements of the receiving device in relation to the transport vehicle are automatically adjusted, i.e. whilst the transfer device and the receiving device can practically not move against each other, a loading space of the transport vehicle can, in a sense, move under the receiving device without this having an influence on the transfer process itself. The decision of how the receiving device is to be positioned at the transport vehicle and which area of the loading space it therefore loads, can be autonomously made by a control unit of the transport vehicle. The control unit of the harvester therefore neither needs to know nor consider the geometry of the loading space; this allows the harvester to work in coordination with a variety of transport vehicle types.

The conveying direction of the receiving device is preferred to be in transverse orientation to the travelling direction of the transport vehicle in order to facilitate the crop transfer while the harvester and the transport vehicle travel side by side.

In order to be able to load different areas of the loading space of the transport vehicle, the receiving device is appropriately movable at least in the direction of travel of the transport vehicle.

The control unit of the transport vehicle is preferred to be designed to control the position of the receiving device based on the distribution of the transferred crop material in the transport vehicle. Since the control unit of the transport vehicle is required to only work with load sensors of the same transport vehicle, a simply structured control unit is adequate in order to avoid errors in assessing the loading condition and resulting faults in the crop transfer process.

In order to render the coordinated operation of the vehicle combination according to the invention more effective, the control unit of the transport vehicle can be designed such that the control unit signals a planned movement of the receiving device to the self-propelled harvester. Thus the control unit of the harvester can begin with an appropriate control of the position of the transfer device immediately upon the start of the movement of the receiving device or even earlier and is not dependent on the change of position of the receiving device becoming actually observable.

The receiving device can comprise, in particular, a conveyor belt.

The present invention in a further form resides broadly in a method for coordinating the transfer of crop material from a self-propelled harvester on to a transport vehicle with the following steps b) recording of the position of a receiving device of the transport vehicle c) based on the recorded position of the receiving device, control of the position of the transfer device in relation to the receiving device, in order to keep a point of impact of the transferred crop material positioned on the receiving device.

These steps can be preceded by a step a) shifting of the receiving device on the transport vehicle, in particular from an area of the transport vehicle having a low remaining cargo capacity to an area with high remaining cargo capacity.

Step a) is appropriately perfonned by a control unit of the transport vehicle; the steps b) and c) however by a control unit of the self-propelled harvester.

Furthermore, the following steps can be proposed: d) recording of the crop throughput at the self-propelled harvester and e) control of the speed of the receiving device based on the recorded throughput.

Definitions of the specific embodiments of the invention as claimed herein follow.

According to a first embodiment of the invention, there is provided a vehicle combination comprising a self-propelled harvester and a transport vehicle, wherein: the self-propelled harvester comprises a control unit and at least one transfer device for conveying picked-up and processed crop material onto the transport vehicle; the transport vehicle comprises a receiving device; the control unit controls the transfer device based on characteristic parameters of at least the transport vehicle; the characteristic parameters comprise the position of the receiving device of the transport vehicle relative to the harvester; based on a recorded position of the receiving device, the control unit controls the position of the transfer device in relation to the receiving device to keep the point of impact of the crop material positioned on the receiving device; the receiving device is movably attached to the transport vehicle for movement parallel with the travel direction of the transport vehicle; and the receiving device is capable of conveying crop material into the transport vehicle transversely of the travel direction of the transport vehicle.

According to a second embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method of coordinating the transfer of crop material in a vehicle combination comprising a self-propelled harvester and a transport vehicle, wherein: the self-propelled harvester comprises a control unit and at least one transfer device for conveying picked-up and processed crop material onto the transport vehicle; the transport vehicle comprises a receiving device; the control unit controls the transfer device based on characteristic parameters of at least the transport vehicle; the characteristic parameters comprise the position of the receiving device of the transport vehicle relative to the harvester; based on a recorded position of the receiving device, the control unit controls the position of the transfer device in relation to the receiving device to keep the point of impact of the crop material positioned on the receiving device; the receiving device is movably attached to the transport vehicle for movement parallel with the travel direction of the transport vehicle; and the receiving device is capable of conveying crop material into the transport vehicle transversely of the travel direction of the transport vehicle, said method comprising the steps: b) recording of the position of the receiving device of the transport vehicle; and c) based on the recorded position of the receiving device, controlling the position of the transfer device in relation to the receiving device, to keep a point of impact of the crop material positioned on the receiving device.

Further features and advantages of the invention are detailed in the following description of embodiment examples by reference to the attached figures.

Any of the features described herein can be combined in any combination with any one or more of the other features described herein within the scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Preferred features, embodiments and variations of the invention may be discerned from the following Detailed Description which provides sufficient information for those skilled in the art to perform the invention. The Detailed Description is not to be regarded as limiting the scope of the preceding Summary of the Invention in any way. The Detailed Description will make reference to a number of drawings as follows:

Fig. 1 shows a vehicle combination in accordance with the invention in use in the field;

Fig. 2 is a schematic front view of a transport vehicle of a combination in accordance with the invention; and

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the vehicle combination.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Fig. 1 shows, as an example for a vehicle combination in use in the field in accordance with the invention, a combine harvester 1 as a self-propelled harvester 2 and a tractor 3 with trailer 4 as the transport vehicle 5. The lateral range of action of a harvesting header 6 at the combine harvester 1 is greater than that of a discharge chute 7 which is pivotally mounted at the combine harvester 1 and shown here in a swiveled-out position for the transfer process.

In order to bridge the distance between a discharge end 8 of the discharge chute 7 and the trailer 4 transverse to the travel direction of combine harvester 1 and tractor 3, a receiving device 10, here in the form of a conveyor belt 11, is mounted at a side wall of the trailer 4. The receiving device 10 here extends transverse to the direction of travel of the combine harvester 1 and the tractor 3. For driving in road traffic it can be moved into a position where it extends fully along a loading surface 12 of the trailer 4 which is bounded by side walls and without projecting beyond any side walls.

In the transfer position shown, the receiving device 10 is adjustable in the longitudinal direction of the trailer 4 along the side wall 13 directed towards the combine harvester 1.

The receiving device 10 can furthermore be adjustable in the longitudinal direction transverse to the direction of travel, for instance, in that the conveyor belt 11 as a whole is adjustable in a transverse direction to the direction of travel, or in that the receiving device 10 is divided into a plurality of segments movable against one another.

In order to guide the flow of the crop material 14 transferred to the conveyor belt 11, the discharge chute 7 is also adjustable. Its degrees of freedom in a manner known per se comprise a rotation about a vertical axis extending through its base fixed to the harvester 2, a rotation about an axis extending horizontally through the base as well as a swiveling movement of a flap 15 at the discharge end 8. A camera 16 is mounted at the discharge chute 7 and set to follow the path of the discharged crop material.

The block diagram of Fig. 2 shows the camera 16, connected with a control unit 17 of the combine harvester 1. The control unit 17 is further connected with a radio interface 18 to send and receive data. Further control lines lead from the control unit 17 to the electric motor 19, which drives the rotation of the discharge chute 7 about the vertical axis, as well as to actuators 20, 21 for swiveling the discharge chute 7 about the horizontal axis or for swiveling the flap 15 respectively, as well as to a combustion motor 22, which drives the locomotion of the combine harvester 1.

The right hand side of Fig. 2 shows components of transport vehicle 5. This also has a control unit 23 which is connected with a radio interface 24, a sensor for assessing the crop material distribution on the loading surface 12 and motors 25, 26, 27. The sensor is shown in Fig. 2 as a second camera 28, arranged in an elevated position above the loading surface 12, the images of which enable the control 23 to assess at which point of the loading surface 12 the crop material is at which distance from the upper edge of the side walls.

The motor 25 drives the conveying movement of the conveyor belt 11. The motor 26 serves to adjust the receiving device 10 along the side wall 13, here for example by rotating a threaded rod 29, which extends along the side wall 13 and which engages an internal thread of the receiving device 10. The motor 27 is the drive motor of tractor 3.

During a transfer process of crop material from the combine harvester 1 to the transport vehicle 5, the camera 16 of the combine harvester 1 continuously monitors the flow of the transferred crop material 14 and the position of the receiving device 10 in relation to the flow of the crop material 14. A deviation of the actual position from a target position is detected by the control unit 17 and a decision is made as to which one of the diverse motors or actuators mentioned above is to be selected in order to restore the target position.

Since the control of the position of the discharge chute 7 at the combine harvester 1 via the electric motor 19 and the actuator 20 has play which is not to be disregarded, a minor deviation from the target position, which can occur in particular due to minor differences in the respective speed of the combine harvester 1 and the transport vehicle 5, is primarily corrected by influencing the speed of one of these two vehicles.

For this purpose the control unit 17 can activate directly the motor 22 of the combine harvester 1 or, via the radio interfaces 18, 24, the motor 27 of the tractor. Preferably the speed of the tractor 3 is controlled since a change in the speed of the combine harvester 1 would also influence the crop throughput inside the combine harvester and require an adjustment of parameters of the threshing unit.

During the transfer process, the camera 28 continuously monitors the filling level of the crop material on the loading surface 12. As long as the transfer device 10 is not shifted along the side wall 13, it downloads the crop material always in the same place on the loading surface 12. When the control unit 23, based on the images of camera 28, detects that at this place the filling level has reached a predetermined limit value, it selects a different place on the loading surface 12 where there is still loading capacity.

In accordance with one simple embodiment, the control unit 23 subsequently activates the motor 26 in order to move the receiving device 10 to the selected place. The resulting movement of the receiving device 10, also in relation to the flow of the crop material 14, is detected by the camera 16 and causes the control unit 17 of the combine harvester 1 to track and update the position of the discharge chute 7.

The shifting of the receiving device 10 along the side wall 13 can be significantly faster than the above mentioned drifting of combine harvester 1 and transport vehicle 5 in relation to each other, it may therefore be more appropriate for the correspondingly required fast tracking of the discharge chute 7, to adjust the discharge chute 7 at the combine harvester rather than substantially changing the speed of the combine harvester 1 or the transport vehicle 5. A control of the speed of combine harvester 1 or transport vehicle 5 is preferably not undertaken until the end of the adjustment process when the receiving device at the side wall 13 has come to a standstill and only fine corrections of the impact point of the crop material flow 14 onto the receiving device 10 are required or when the freedom of movement of the discharge chute 7 at the combine harvester 1 by itself is not adequate to enable it to follow the movement of the receiving device 10 along the side wall 13.

In accordance with a further developed embodiment, the control unit 23, after it has determined a new position for the receiving device 10, signals the direction and preferably the extent of the imminent movement of the receiving device 10 via the radio interfaces 24, 18 to the control unit 17. This facilitates a synchronizing of the movements of the receiving device 10 and the discharge chute 7. Therefore it is not necessary for a shifting of the receiving device 10 in relation to the discharge chute 7 to become detectable by a camera 16, before the control unit 17 begins to follow the position of the discharge chute 7; even at a high adjustment speed of the receiving device 10, the impact point of the crop material flow 14 onto the receiving device 10 can be held constant with good accuracy, and the risk of crop loss during transfer is minimized.

The combine harvester 1, as is customary according to the state of the art, has a grain tank from which the grain material to be transferred is conveyed to the discharge chute 7. The rate at which the grain is transferred across can therefore be largely arbitrarily selected and can be held constant during the entire transfer process. Consequently, the conveyor belt 11 can be driven by motor 25 at a constant speed adjusted to the transfer rate. A further type of harvester to which the present invention is applicable, is a forage harvester. Generally, such a harvester does not have a temporary storage space for the crop material, but the rate at which the crop material is transferred at the discharge chute 7 is the same at which it is picked up and processed by the forage harvester. The transfer rate is therefore dependent on the density of stand in the field and can fluctuate during the transfer process. To take account of this fact, the control unit 17 can be connected with a sensor 30 for detecting the crop material throughput and pass on its results via the radio interfaces 18, 24 to the control unit 23 of the transport vehicle 5. Control unit 23 thereupon determines the rotational speed of the motor 25 proportionally to the crop material throughput. Consequently, the higher the crop material throughput, the faster the conveyor belt 11 runs; therefore, the height of the piled up crop material on the conveyor belt 11 can be limited so that no crop material slides sideways off the conveyor belt 11 and is lost.

Fig. 3 is a front view of a combination of tractor 3 and trailer 4 with an alternative receiving device 10. The receiving device 10 here has a tubular housing 30 in which a spiral conveyor rotates. At an end of the housing 30 distant from the trailer 4, a hopper 31 is attached to catch the crop material 14 delivered by the discharge chute 7 and feed it to the spiral conveyor.

By virtue of the hopper 31, the transfer process is less sensitive to swaying movements of the discharge chute 7. The closed walled housing 30 prevents losses of crop material during transportation from the hopper 31 to the loading space. Its diameter can be significantly smaller than the dimensions of the hopper 31.

References 1 Mahdrescher combine harvester 2 Emtemaschine harvester 3 Traktor tractor 4 Anhanger trailer 5 Transportfahrzeug transport vehicle 6 Emtevorsatz harvesting header 7 Auswurfkriimmer discharge chute 8 Auswurfende discharge end 9 (missing as per original) 10 tibernahmeeinrichtung receiving device 11 Forderband conveyor belt 12 Ladeflache loading surface 13 Bordwand side wall 14 Emtegut crop material 15 Klappe flap 16 Kamera camera 17 Steuereinheit control unit 18 Funkschnittstelle radio interface 19 Elektromotor electric motor 20 Stellglied actuator 21 Stellglied actuator 22 Verbrennungsmotor combustion engine 23 Steuereinheit control unit 24 Funkschnittstelle radio interface 25 Motor motor 26 Motor motor 27 Motor motor 28 Kamera camera 29 Gewindestange threaded rod 30 Gehause housing 31 Trichter hopper

In the present specification, including the claims, the word ‘comprising’ and its derivatives including ‘comprises’ and ‘comprise’ include each of the stated integers but does not exclude the inclusion of one or more further integers.

In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described in language more or less specific to structural or methodical features. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to specific features shown or described since the means herein described comprises preferred forms of putting the invention into effect. The invention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications within the proper scope of the appended claims (if any) appropriately interpreted by those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A vehicle combination comprising a self-propelled harvester and a transport vehicle, wherein: the self-propelled harvester comprises a control unit and at least one transfer device for conveying picked-up and processed crop material onto the transport vehicle; the transport vehicle comprises a receiving device; the control unit controls the transfer device based on characteristic parameters of at least the transport vehicle; the characteristic parameters comprise the position of the receiving device of the transport vehicle relative to the harvester; based on a recorded position of the receiving device, the control unit controls the position of the transfer device in relation to the receiving device to keep the point of impact of the crop material positioned on the receiving device; the receiving device is movably attached to the transport vehicle for movement parallel with the travel direction of the transport vehicle; and the receiving device is capable of conveying crop material into the transport vehicle transversely of the travel direction of the transport vehicle.

2. The vehicle combination according to Claim 1, wherein the control unit, to control the position of the transfer device in relation to the receiving device, influences the speed of the harvester and/or the transport vehicle.

3. The vehicle combination according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit, in order to control the position of the transfer device in relation to the receiving device, influences the orientation of the transfer device relative to the harvester.

4. The vehicle combination according to Claim 3, wherein the control unit further monitors the crop throughput in the self-propelled harvester and emits a control signal representative of the crop throughput.

5. The vehicle combination according to Claim 1, wherein the receiving device is movable relative to the transport vehicle in its direction of travel.

6. The vehicle combination according to Claim 5, wherein a control unit of the transport vehicle is designed to control the position of the receiving device based on the distribution of the transferred crop material in the transport vehicle.

7. The vehicle combination according to Claim 6, wherein the control unit of the transport vehicle is designed to signal a planned movement of the receiving device to the control unit of the self-propelled harvester.

8. The vehicle combination according to Claim 5 or 6, wherein a conveying speed of the receiving device is variable corresponding to the crop throughput.

9. The vehicle combination according to any one of Claims 5 to 8, wherein the receiving device comprises a conveyor belt or a spiral conveyor.

10. A method of coordinating the transfer of crop material in a vehicle combination comprising a self-propelled harvester and a transport vehicle, wherein: the self-propelled harvester comprises a control unit and at least one transfer device for conveying picked-up and processed crop material onto the transport vehicle; the transport vehicle comprises a receiving device; the control unit controls the transfer device based on characteristic parameters of at least the transport vehicle; the characteristic parameters comprise the position of the receiving device of the transport vehicle relative to the harvester; based on a recorded position of the receiving device, the control unit controls the position of the transfer device in relation to the receiving device to keep the point of impact of the crop material positioned on the receiving device; the receiving device is movably attached to the transport vehicle for movement parallel with the travel direction of the transport vehicle; and the receiving device is capable of conveying crop material into the transport vehicle transversely of the travel direction of the transport vehicle, said method comprising the steps: b) recording of the position of the receiving device of the transport vehicle; and c) based on the recorded position of the receiving device, controlling the position of the transfer device in relation to the receiving device, to keep a point of impact of the crop material positioned on the receiving device.

11. The method according to Claim 10, further comprising the step: a) shifting of the receiving device relative to the transport vehicle, in particular from an area of the transport vehicle having a low remaining cargo capacity to an area with high remaining cargo capacity.

12. The method according to Claim 11, wherein the step a) is performed by the control unit of the transport vehicle and the steps b) and c) by the control unit of the self-propelled harvester.

13. The method according to Claim 11 or 12 further comprising the following steps: d) recording the crop throughput at the self-propelled harvester; and e) controlling a crop conveying speed of the receiving device based on the throughput recorded. Date: 8 May 2018