AU6546100A

AU6546100A - Sealed drive train

Info

Publication number: AU6546100A
Application number: AU65461/00A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Joseph Patane; Mark Trail
Original assignee: Trail Bros Steel & Plastic Pty
Current assignee: Trail Bros Steel & Plastic Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1999-10-11
Filing date: 2000-10-11
Publication date: 2001-04-12

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

S

5

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: "SEALED DRIVE TRAIN" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:

TITLE

SEALED DRIVE TRAIN FIELD OF THE INVENTION THIS INVENTION relates to a roller drive train for a harvester. In particular, this invention is directed to a sealed roller drive train which prevents ingress of dirt and debris into the drive train.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION ooooo Harvesters typically employ a series of as many as fifteen or more rollers which convey harvested material, such as sugarcane, to a chopper assembly which cuts the material into smaller pieces.

In use, the rollers are each driven by a respective drive train coupled to a motor. The drive train comprises a "male" member coupled to the motor and a "female" member which is coupled to a roller. The 00.

female member has splines located on an inner surface thereof, while the 15 male member has inner and outer splines. The inner splines of the male o:ooo 0 member engage splines on the motor drive shaft, while the outer splines of the male member engage the aforementioned splines of the female member. It is by this typical arrangement that the drive train converts rotation of the motor into roller rotation.

A particular feature of harvesters is that they encounter a considerable amount of dust, stones, small rocks, vegetation and other debris which can infiltrate moving parts of the harvester. This is a particular problem with roller drive trains, where debris becomes trapped between the splined male and female members of the drive train, leading 3 to wear and tear and a shortened lifespan of the drive train.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a roller drive train for a harvester which is less susceptible to ingress of debris.

It is another object of the invention to provide a seal for a roller drive train of a harvester.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one aspect, the invention provides a roller drive train for a :i harvester, said roller drive train comprising: :00% a male member; (ii) a female member; and lol* (iii) a sealing means; whereby in use, said sealing means co-operates with said female member to prevent ingress of debris into said roller drive train.

In another aspect, the invention provides a harvester which •includes the roller drive train of the first-mentioned aspect.

In a further aspect, the invention provides a sealing means for a roller drive train that comprises a male member and a female member, said sealing means co-operable with said female member to prevent ingress of debris into said roller drive train.

Preferably, in use the female and male members are coupled by splining.

Preferably, the sealing means has a sleeve and a seal.

Preferably the seal is an O-ring locatable within a groove which extends circumferentially around an inner surface of the sleeve.

In one embodiment, in use the sleeve is mounted to the male member. Preferably, the sleeve is mounted to the male member by welding. Alternatively, the male member and sleeve may be integrally formed during manufacture.

In another embodiment, in use the sleeve is mounted to a motor housing associated with the roller drive train. Preferably, the sleeve includes tapped apertures through which the sleeve is mountable, such eeee as by bolts, to aligned tapped apertures in the housing.

10 Suitably, the inner wall of the sleeve includes one or more steps complementary to an external shape and contour of the male and *female members.

Suitably, in use there is clearance between an inner wall of the sleeve and the female member.

15 According to the first-mentioned embodiment, clearance between the inner wall of the sleeve and the female member allows limited movement of the female member relative to the sleeve, thereby allowing for the fact that in use, harvester rollers undergo considerable vibration and other disturbances. By allowing limited movement between the sleeve and female member, less strain is placed on the sealing means.

According to the second-mentioned embodiment, clearance between the inner wall of the sleeve and the female member allows rotation of the drive train while the sleeve remains stationary through being connected to the motor housing.

In either case, the seal, such as in the form of an O-ring, provides an effective seal against the ingress of dust and debris into the drive train.

In light of the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the present invention provides a sealed roller drive train less susceptible to ingress of dust and debris than typical prior art roller drive trains.

Furthermore, the sealing means of the invention can be mounted to an *.existing roller drive train of a harvester with minimal modification to the 10 roller drive train components.

Throughout this specification, unless the context requires otherwise, "comprise", "comprises" and "comprising" are used inclusively rather than exclusively, in that one or more other integers of groups of ooo• integers may be included with a stated integer or group of integers.

15 So that the invention can be understood in more detail, the skilled person is referred to the following non-limiting preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 Perspective view of prior art roller drive train.

FIG. 2 Perspective view of roller drive train with sealing means.

FIG. 3 Half-sectional view of one embodiment of a roller drive train with sealing means, wherein the drive train is connected to a motor and a roller and the sleeve is mounted to the male member.

FIG. 4 Half-sectional view of another embodiment of a roller drive train with sealing means, wherein the drive train is connected to a motor and a roller and the sleeve is mounted to a motor housing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, a prior art roller drive train 10 is shown comprising male member 11 and female member 12. Female member 12 has hub 13 with splines 14 and flange 15 which includes circumferentially spaced apertures 16A-D. Male member 11 has annular portion 18 with oooo outer splines 19 and inner splines 20, reduced diameter portion 21, and terminal flange 22. In use, outer splines 19 of male member 11 engage 9 splines 14 of female member 12.

It will be appreciated that in use, this arrangement is susceptible to ingress of debris between splined male 11 and female 12 15 members.

ooooo 0:00 Referring now to FIG. 2, roller drive train 110 is as shown in FIG. 1, except that sealing means 123 comprising sleeve 124 and seal 125 in the form of an O-ring is provided. A cross-sectional view of sealing means 123 mounted to roller drive train 110 is provided in FIG. 3. It.

should also be noted that terminal flange 122 is removed from male member 111 to assist mounting of sealing means 123.

Sleeve 124 includes steps 126B and 126A in inner wall 127 which are complementary to, and thereby accommodate, the contour of hub 113 of female member 112 and outer rim 130 of male member 111 7 respectively. Circumferential groove 128 is provided in inner wall 127 of sleeve 124. In use, 0-ring 125 is seated substantially within groove 128 but bears against hub 113 of female member 112. Clearance 129 is provided between inner wall 127 of sleeve 124 and hubll3. This allows limited movement of sleeve 124 relative to hub 113, while maintaining an effective seal by O-ring 125.

Again referring to FIG. 3, sleeve 124 and outer rim 130 of oooeo S• reduced diameter portion 121 of male member 111 are connected by weld 131. It can therefore be seen with reference to FIG. 3 that in use, motor (not shown) in housing 134 drives rotation of drive train 110 via shaft 133 splined to male member 111. Male member 111 drives female member o*oo 112 which is bolted (not shown) through spaced apertures 115 to tapped apertures 141 in bracket 140 of roller 135, while sealing means 123 cooperates with male member 111 and female member 112 to prevent ingress of debris into drive train 110 during operation.

It will be understood that the placement of seal 125 and weld 131 may be varied while nevertheless maintaining the. sealing function of the sealing means 123 of the invention. Furthermore, sleeve 124 is susceptible to various modifications in structure which nevertheless retain function.

Now referring to FIG. 4, there is shown another embodiment where roller drive train 210 has sleeve 224 which includes tapped apertures 236, through which bolts 237 mount sleeve 224 via aligned tapped apertures 238A and 238B in motor housing 234. In this 8 embodiment, sleeve 224 is not welded to male member 211, in which case male member 211 includes terminal flange 222. A consequence of this arrangement is that in use, drive train 210 rotates within sleeve 224 which remains stationary through being bolted to housing 234, 0-ring 225 providing an effective seal. Lubricant may be supplied through nipple 239 and conduit 242 to lubricate drive train 210 and sealing means 223.

It will be appreciated that the present invention provides a sealed roller drive train and a sealing means which can be fitted to an existing roller drive train of a harvester with minimal modification to the roller drive train components, and which effectively prevent ingress of debris between the splined male and female members of the roller drive train.

It will also be appreciated by the skilled person that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described in detail 15 herein, and that a variety of other embodiments may be contemplated ooooi which are nevertheless consistent with the broad spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A roller drive train for a harvester, said roller drive train comprising: a male member; (ii) a female member; and (iii) a sealing means; whereby in use, said sealing means co-operates with said female member to prevent ingress of debris into said roller drive train.

The roller drive train of Claim 1, whereby in use, the female and oO.o male members are coupled by splining. o 10

3. The roller drive train of Claim 1, wherein the sealing means comprises a sleeve and a seal.

4. The roller drive train of Claim 3, whereby in use, the seal bears against an external wall of said female member.

5. The roller drive train of Claim 4, wherein the seal is an O-ring.

6. The roller drive train of Claim 5, whereby in use the O-ring is located within a groove which extends circumferentially around an inner surface of the sleeve.

7. The roller drive train of Claim 3, whereby in use, the sleeve is mounted to the male member.

8. The roller drive train of Claim 7, whereby in use, the sleeve is mounted to the male member by welding.

9. The roller drive train of Claim 3, wherein the male member and sleeve are integrally formed.

The roller drive train of Claim 3, wherein the sleeve is mountable to a motor housing associated with the roller drive train.

11. The roller drive train of Claim 10, wherein the sleeve includes tapped apertures through which the sleeve is mountable to aligned tapped apertures in the motor housing.

12. The roller drive train of Claim 3, wherein the inner wall of the sleeve includes one or more steps complementary to an external shape and contour of the male and female members.

13. The roller drive train of Claim 12, wherein there is clearance between an inner wall of the sleeve and the female member. 10

14. A harvester which includes one or more roller drive trains according to any one of Claims 1-13.

15. A sealing means for a roller drive train that comprises a male member and a female member, said sealing means co-operable with said Ce.. female member to prevent ingress of debris into said roller drive train. C

16. The sealing means of Claim 15, wherein said sealing means C...i S:o° comprises a sleeve and a seal, said sleeve comprising one or more steps in an inner wall thereof complementary to an external shape and contour of the male and female members.

17. The sealing means of Claim 13, wherein the seal is an O-ring.

18. The sealing means of Claim 14, wherein the O-ring is locatable within a groove which extends circumferentially around the inner wall of the sleeve.

19. The sealing means of Claim 16, wherein the sleeve includes tapped apertures through which the sleeve is mountable to alignable tapped apertures in a motor housing. DATED this Eleventh day of October 2000 on behalf of TRAIL BROS STEEL PLASTICS PTY LTD by its Patent Attorneys FISHER ADAMS KELLY **e oo