BE1024837B9 - ROTOR FOR EYE-STREST STREAKER WITH DIFFERENT SHAPED SHIPS - Google Patents

Abstract

A harvesting residual spreader (140) for an agricultural harvesting machine such as a combine harvester (20) includes a rotor (142) containing a series of blades (170, 172, 174, 176), a first blade (170) having a cross-section with a first shape and a second blade (172) has a cross-section with a second shape, the second shape of the cross-section of the second vane (172) being different from the first shape of the cross-section of the first vane (170). Different V shapes can be used for the shapes of the first and the second cross-section, with the openings of the V shapes facing a forward direction of rotation of the rotor (142).

Description

(30) Priority data:

(73) Holder (s):

CNH INDUSTRIAL BELGIUM NV

8210, ZEDELGEM

Belgium (72) Inventor (s):

DILTS Mark D.

17557 NEW HOLLAND PA United States of America

DE BAERE Reinout 9990 MALDEGEM Belgium (54) ROTOR FOR EYE REMAINING SPREADER WITH VARIOUS SHOVELS (57) A crop residue spreader (140) for an agricultural harvester such as a combine harvester (20) contains a rotor (142) containing a series of blades (170, 172, 174, 176), wherein a first blade (170) has a cross section with a first shape and a second blade (172) has a cross section with a second shape, the second shape of the cross section of the second blade (172) different from the first shape of the cross section of the first blade (170). Different V-shapes can be used for the shapes of the first and the second cross-section, the openings of the V-shapes pointing in a forward direction of rotation of the rotor (142).

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BELGIAN INVENTION PATENT

FPS Economy, K.M.O., Self-employed & Energy

Intellectual Property Office

Publication number: 1024837 Filing number: BE2016 / 5959

International classification: A01D 41/12 Date of issue: 23/07/2018

The Minister of Economy,

Having regard to the Paris Convention of 20 March 1883 for the Protection of Industrial Property;

Having regard to the Law of March 28, 1984 on inventive patents, Article 22, for patent applications filed before September 22, 2014;

Having regard to Title 1 Invention Patents of Book XI of the Economic Law Code, Article XI.24, for patent applications filed from September 22, 2014;

Having regard to the Royal Decree of 2 December 1986 on the filing, granting and maintenance of inventive patents, Article 28;

Having regard to the application for an invention patent received by the Intellectual Property Office on 22/12/2016.

Whereas for patent applications that fall within the scope of Title 1, Book XI, of the Code of Economic Law (hereinafter WER), in accordance with Article XI.19, § 4, second paragraph, of the WER, the granted patent will be limited. to the patent claims for which the novelty search report was prepared, when the patent application is the subject of a novelty search report indicating a lack of unity of invention as referred to in paragraph 1, and when the applicant does not limit his filing and does not file a divisional application in accordance with the search report.

Decision:

Article 1

CNH INDUSTRIAL BELGIUM NV, Leon Claeysstraat 3A, 8210 ZEDELGEM Belgium;

represented by

BEETZ Joeri, Leon Claeysstraat 3A, 8210, ZEDELGEM;

a Belgian invention patent with a term of 20 years, subject to payment of the annual fees as referred to in Article XI.48, § 1 of the Economic Law Code, for: ROTOR

FOR EYE REMAINING SPREADERS WITH VARIOUS SHAPES.

INVENTOR (S):

DILTS Mark D 976 W. Main St. # 1, 17557, NEW HOLLAND PA;

DE BAERE Reinout, Moerhuizestraat 62, 9990, MALDEGEM;

PRIORITY :

BREAKDOWN:

Split from basic application: Filing date of the basic application:

Article 2. - This patent is granted without prior investigation into the patentability of the invention, without warranty of the merit of the invention, nor of the accuracy of its description and at the risk of the applicant (s).

Brussels, 23/07/2018,

With special authorization:

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ROTOR FOR EYE REMAINERS SPREADER WITH DIFFERENT

SHAPED SHIPS

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to agricultural harvesters (hereinafter referred to simply as harvesters), such as combine harvesters, and more particularly to crop residue spreader spreading systems used in such combine harvesters.

The term combine harvester (or picker, combine in English) for a harvester has grown historically because this machine combines multiple harvesting functions in a single harvester such as picking, threshing, separating and cleaning in a single harvest. A combine harvester includes a mower that removes the crop from a field and a feeder housing that transports the crop material to a threshing section. In the threshing section, a threshing rotor rotates within a perforated housing, which may take the form of adjustable concaves and threshes the crop to separate the grain from other non-grain plant matter. The threshed grain falls through perforations in the concaves and on a grain bowl. From the grain bowl, the grain enters a cleaning system where shaking, airflow and sieves are used to further clean the grain. The cleaned grain is then transported to a grain tank on board the combine for temporary storage before being unloaded in transport vehicles. As part of the cleaning system, a cleaning fan blows air to drain straw, chaff and other debris to the rear of the combine.

During the harvesting process in a combine, the desired grain is collected and stored while crop material other than the desired grain is ejected from the combine. The non-grain crop or crop residues usually come from two zones in the combine, the threshing rotor and the cleaning system. The material ejected from the threshing rotor is generally referred to as straw and contains much larger parts of the plant such as stems, culms, leaves and the like as well as foreign material which is not a harvest material. The material ejected from the cleaning system is generally called chaff and contains much finer remnants of the plant material, such as pods, membranes, fragments and small particles. The combined streams of harvestable crop residues from the combine can be treated in several ways; however, the processes of depositing crop residues back on the field can generally be categorized as it

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BE2016 / 5959 swathing or spreading.

In a swath formation process, the crop residues on the stubble of the harvested crop are discharged in a continuous narrow stream or swath, which is much narrower than the width of the harvested swath. Collected in this way, the crop residues laid in swaths can easily be picked up for baling or other subsequent processing or use.

In a spreading process, a mechanical device distributes straw and / or chaff evenly across the cutting width of the combine's header. The material to be spread is usually chopped into short pieces so that the material will quickly break down after spreading and supply nutrients to the soil and / or be small enough to not interfere with subsequent tilling or sowing.

Leftover spreaders can be horizontal and vertical types. A horizontal spreader contains a rotor driven around a roughly vertical axis and a series of blades or blades on the rotor to propel debris into a wide swath behind the combine. The blades or blades are flat or slightly curved. Usually two such rotors are used, rotating in opposite directions within a house. After being chopped, the crop debris enters the rotor area through a vertical inlet into the spreader housing and, as the blades rotate about the axis, the debris slides along the surfaces of the blades and is advanced to a tangential outlet of the housing. It is known to use adjustable housing and exhaust structures to control the flow of material from the exhaust by adjusting the size and position of the exhaust and of the space between the rotor blades and the adjustable structures, in order to achieve an essentially even distribution of crop residues across the width of a swath distribution behind the combine. It is desirable to achieve an even material distribution for even more even and consistent breakdown of crop residues and to facilitate subsequent tillage and sowing.

A vertical spreader contains a rotor driven by a roughly horizontal axis and a series of blades or blades on the rotor to propel debris out of the spreader housing. But even now, two such rotors are usually used, which rotate in opposite directions.

One of the problems encountered with prior art spreaders is that the physical characteristics of the crop residues can change for a variety of reasons, including, for example, the harvested crop, the

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B E2016 / 5959 ripeness of the crop, the moisture content of the harvesting material including the wetness of the surface due to weather conditions, the volume of the material being processed and the like. Equipment surfaces may also change due to moisture, dust and dirt deposits. If these or other conditions change, the spreading pattern of the spreader may also change due to the changing interaction of the rotor blades with crop residues. For example, when crop residues are wet or heavy, they will react differently to the blades than when the material is light and dry, and both of these conditions can occur at different times of the same harvest day. In wetter conditions, dust and chaff can become tacky so that crop residues collect on the vanes in higher positions than in drier conditions when the material slides easily along the vanes to the lower positions before being thrown out through the vanes via the exhaust. The weight of the material, the density of the crop, deposits of crop residues and other factors can influence the speed at which crop residues move along the surfaces of the blades. In one circumstance, most crop residues can remain near the tips of the blades, and in other circumstances, most crop residues can quickly move near the bottoms of the blades before being thrown out of the blades through the exhaust . This can result in very different route patterns.

The changes described above can occur quickly and repeatedly under changing weather, field and crop conditions. While adjustments to the adjustable body and exhaust structures may result in a more even distribution as conditions change, such adjustments can be time consuming and require the operator to stop harvesting to make the adjustments. As a result, operators sometimes simply continue the harvesting operation without adjusting the spreader, either because they are unaware that the spreading conditions and performance have been changed, or because the operator does not want to stop harvesting to make the necessary adjustments . In either case, the result may be an uneven distribution of the material on the field.

Accordingly, what is needed here relative to the prior art is an efficient crop residue spreader that minimizes variations in the distribution pattern of the spread material even with crop material changes and

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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention provides a crop residual spreader with a rotor with vanes that distribute crop residues more evenly over a wide variety of crop and harvest conditions.

In one form, the crop residue spreader has a rotor with a range of vanes, including vanes with a V-shaped cross-section, so that the vanes capture and act on the crop material more consistently and effectively.

In another form, the crop residue spreader has a rotor with vanes with different V-shaped cross-sections, so that different vanes each receive and act upon certain material volumes as crop and harvest conditions change to achieve a more consistent distribution of the material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other features and advantages of this invention and the means of achieving them will become more apparent and the invention may be better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the invention together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a simplified side view of a combine harvester for agricultural applications that may include a crop residue spreader with a rotor impeller of many shapes as disclosed herein;

Figure 2 is a partial perspective view of a rear portion of the combine shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a partial side view of the harvester shown in Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a crop residue spreader with a blade spreader rotor as disclosed herein;

Figure 5 is a schematic representation of a part of the crop residual spreader as shown in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a schematic representation of the cross-sections of the vanes of the spreader rotor shown in Figures 4 and 5;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the rotor and vanes shown in Figures 4-6; and

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Figure 8 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a multi-blade rotor.

Corresponding references (numbers and / or letters) indicate corresponding parts throughout all the different views. The examples set forth herein illustrate embodiments of the invention and such examples should not be interpreted as if they would limit the scope of the invention in any way.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings, in particular Figure 1 shows a combine 20 representative of a wide variety of harvesters. Combine harvester 20 includes a threshing system 22 with a threshing rotor 24 which is rotatable in the known manner for separating the desired crop or grain and the straw, stems / stems and other vegetable residues. A threshing drum or chopper 26 is rotatable to propel or direct a stream of vegetable scraps, generally straw 28, named to the rear of the combine 20. When configured as a chopper 26, the straw and other coarser material are reduced in size. A cleaning system 30 receives the threshed crop parts from threshing system 22 and removes chaff and other debris such as seed pods, membranes and the like, commonly referred to as chaff 32, and directs a stream of chaff 32 towards the rear end of the combine 20. Straw 28 and chaff 32 pass through a recess 34 to a horizontal spreader assembly 36 at the bottom opening 38 of recess 34. The horizontal spreader assembly 36 is part of the crop residue spreader 40 with a rotor and vanes as described herein.

Referring now to Figures 2, 3 and 4, the horizontal spreader assembly 36 of the unit and system 40 includes laterally adjacent first and second spreading discs or rotors 42, 44 supported so that they can rotate in opposite directions as shown. by arrows R, around generally upright rotational axes 46, 48, respectively. Spreading discs or rotors 42, 44 are supported and driven in directions R by the first and second upright spreader drive units 50, 52 respectively above the spreading discs or rotors 42, 44 are positioned. An open area or space 54 is defined between the laterally positioned spreader drive units 50, 52. A chaff transfer scale 56 can be used to transfer part of the chaff flow 32 to the spreader assembly 36.

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At a rear end 60 of the combine harvester 20, the crop residue spreader 40 may also include a pivotally supported deflector 62 pivotable about an axis 64 to adjust a lower portion 66 of the deflector 62 relative to the open area 54 sandwiched between drive units 50, 52 of spreader assembly 52 is defined. Spreader assembly 36 can be supported to pivot about an axis 68 between a lower, operating position as shown in the drawings to receive the straw 28 and chaff 32 streams for spreading on a field, and an up or storage position (not shown) in which the spreader unit can be stored when it is not used for spreading. Accordingly, the crop residue spreader 40 further includes a frame 70 and first and second pivot arm 72, 74 movable about the first and second pivot points 76, 78, respectively, located on opposite sides of the combine 20 along the pivot axis 68, the arms 72, 74 are also connected to each other by a cross bar 106.

The first and second drive units 50, 52 may include upright shields 80, 82 which protect the first and second drive motors 84, 86 of drive units 50, 52, respectively. Drive motors 84, 86 are driven connected to the first and second spreading disc or rotor 42, 44 by first and second drive shafts 108, 110, respectively.

As shown in Figures 1-3, each counter-rotating spreading disc or rotor 42,44 includes a series of structures to receive and carry straw 28 and chaff 32 to forcefully eject the straw 28 and chaff 32 from the crop residue spreader 40 . In Figures 1-3, the structures are generically represented by arrays of blades 120, it is to be understood that they may comprise blades of different shapes, as will be described with reference to Figures 4-6.

With reference now more particularly to Figure 4, a crop residue spreader 140 is shown. The first and second spreading disc or rotor 142, 144 are rotatable about the first and second rotary axes 146, 148, respectively. A spreader housing 150 includes fixed parts 152, 154 which are essentially half the circumferences of the spreading discs or rotors, respectively. 142, 144, and a bottom 156 of the housing extends completely below the spreading discs or rotors 142, 144.

A material deflector 158 is between the first and second spreading disc or rotor

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142,144 and includes an adjustment system 160 that operates deflector plates 162 and 164, respectively. Deflector plates 162, 164 are operatively connected to fixed parts of housing 152,154, but can be raised from the positions shown in Figure 4 to allow crop residues such as straw 28 and chaff 32 to be there roughly in the center back from the combine. In the example shown in Figure 4, deflector plates 162, 164 surround even more parts of the contours of spreading discs or rotors 142, 144. Adjustment system 160 may also be used in such a way that the deflector plates are closer to or further from the outer edges of spreading discs or rotors 142, 144 are moved. Together, the spreader housing 150 and deflector plates 162, 164 define tangential output zones 166, 168 for each first and second spreading disc or rotor 142,144, respectively. By adjusting the deflector plates 162, 164 vertically and horizontally, the manner in which crop residues are ejected from the crop residue spreader 140 can be adjusted. Thus, the distribution can be more centered by raising deflector plates 162 164 higher, and the lateral distance for ejection of crop residues can be changed by horizontally adjusting deflector plates 162, 164. Use and operation of material deflector 158 is known to the person skilled in the art and will not be described in further detail here.

Both the first and second spreading disc or rotor 142, 144 include a series of vane wheels or vanes to carry the crop residues, for accelerating the material to be ejected from the tips of the vanes as the vanes pass beyond the open zones defined through tangential outlet zones 166, 168 and / or openings under deflector plates 162, 164 by raising the deflector plates. In general, the vanes have a cross section with more or less a V shape from the top to the bottom, with the opening of the V shape facing forward. The residue of the crop containing straw 28 and chaff 32 enters the open top of housing 150 and moves along the blades to collect in the depth of the V shape of each blade. When the setting of the material deflector 158 is optimized for the operating conditions of the machine, for the weather conditions and the crop condition, an essentially even distribution of the spreading can be obtained over the entire spreading width.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in

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Figures 4 and 7, the first spreading disc or rotor 142 includes a first blade 170 of cross section with a first shape, a second blade 172 of cross section of a second shape, a third blade 174 of cross section of a third shape, and a fourth vane 176 which is similar to the vane 172 and whose cross-section is the same as that of the second vane 172. Vanes 170, 172, 174 and 176 receive a stream of crop residues, including straw 28 and chaff 32 from a crop residue inlet 178 above the blades and roughly demarcated by spreader housing 150 and material deflector 158. A similar scrap inlet 180 is defined above the second spreading disc or rotor 144.

To better illustrate the vertical cross-sectional shapes of the first vane 170, the second vane 172, the third vane 174, and the fourth vane 176, schematic representations thereof are shown in Figures 5 and 6. As can be seen, the deepest point of the V-shape of the first vane 170 located near the top of the vane and the crop residues such as straw 28 and chaff 30 received through the leftover inlet 178 and carried by the first vane 170 will tend to stay close or migrate quickly to the depth of the V-shape near the top edge of the blade. The second blade 172 and the fourth blade 176 both have cross-sections of similar shape, with the deepest parts of the V-shapes located near the center of the blades between the top and the bottom. Accordingly, crop residues such as straw 28 and chaff 30 received through the scrap inlet 178 and carried through the second blade 172 or the fourth blade 176 will tend quickly to the deepest point of the V-shape midway between the top and the migrate from the bottom of the blade and stay close to it. The deepest point of the V-shape of the third blade 174 is near the bottom edge of the blade. Harvest remnants such as straw 28 and chaff 30 received through the scrap inlet 178 and carried through the third blade 174 will quickly migrate to the deepest point of the V-shape near the bottom of the blade and remain there, in near the bottom 156 of the house.

The use of vanes with relatively aggressive V-shapes promotes faster migration of the material along the surface of the vane to the deepest point of the V-shape, even if the various conditions change. Each vane responds more consistently to crop residues, even when crop, harvest atmospheric or other conditions change. As a result, the patterns of the trajectory of the crop residues flung from the exhaust remain,

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BE2016 / 5959 more consistent even if the different conditions change.

While the exemplary embodiment shown and explained with respect to Figures 4-7 includes four blades and three different cartridge shapes, it should be understood that more or fewer blades may also be used. For example, 3 blades can be used, each of which has one of the described shapes. Furthermore, more than four blades can be used, with two blades each having one of the two shapes and a fifth blade having the remaining shape. One can go even further and use six or more blades, two blades each having one of three different shapes. Figure 8 illustrates a rotor 182 similar to that shown in Figure 7, but with three pairs of blades, the two blades within a pair having a similar shape, but each having a different shape from the other pairs. Accordingly, rotor 182 includes a first blade 170, a second blade 172, a third blade 174, and a fourth blade 176 that are similarly shaped to the similarly numbered blades previously described herein. Rotor 182 further includes a fifth blade 184 similarly formed with the first blade 170 and a sixth blade 186 similarly shaped as the third blade 174. The similarly shaped blades of a pair are diametrically opposed to facilitate balancing.

It should also be understood that more than three blade shapes can be used. For example, vanes can also be used with V-shapes, the deepest parts of which lie between the shapes shown for the described embodiment. Five blades can be used, three of which have the first, second and third shapes, a fourth blade between the first and second shapes, and a fifth blade between the second and third shapes. Rotor 144 (Figure 4) is shown with five blades, which may be five differently shaped blades as just described, or may contain one or two pairs of similarly shaped blades. Still further variations and combinations can be made. As a further example, advantages can be obtained by using vanes with two different V shapes to promote the positioning of material in at least two height positions relative to the vanes. Furthermore, it is to be further understood that although the first spreading disc or rotor 142 is shown and described with vanes with multiple V-shaped cross sections, the second spreading disc or rotor 144 may also be equipped with a series of vanes with different shapes of

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BE2016 / 5959 cross-sections that are either the same as or different from the cross-sectional shapes of blades previously described and with more blades than rotor 142 as shown, or with the same number of blades or fewer blades than rotor 142. One or both rotors 142, 144 may are equipped with multiple vanes with a single V-shaped cross-section configuration and still provide advantages by achieving a more consistent location of the material in the deepest parts of the V-shapes, even if the crop, harvest atmospheric and / or change other circumstances.

While the embodiments shown and described by way of example had rotors enclosed by housings, it should be understood that rotors with different shaped blades than disclosed herein may also be used advantageously in more open arrangements without housings, which may include, for example, plates to guide the material. Furthermore, it is to be understood that although a material inlet has been shown and described in the vicinity of the vertical rotor, rotors with vanes of different shapes as disclosed here can be used advantageously in scrap spreader whose inlets are at different positions relative to the rotor.

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Claims (15)

CONCLUSIONS: 1. Harvest residual spreader (140) consisting of: a rotor (142) arranged to rotate about a vertical axis (146) and containing a series of radially extending blades (170,172,174, 176) to move crop residues (28, 32); the waste spreader being characterized in that: the radially extending series of blades includes at least a first blade (170) whose cross section has a first shape and a second blade (172) whose cross section has a second shape different from that of the first cross section. The crop residue spreader (140) according to claim 1, wherein the array of blades includes a third blade (176) the shape of the third cross section of which differs from the shape of the first and second cross sections. The crop residue spreader (140) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the array of vanes includes two vanes (172, 174) of cross section of the same shape. Harvest residual spreader as claimed in any one of claims 1-3 and the cross-sections have a roughly V-shape, the openings of the V-shapes facing the forward direction of rotation of the rotor (142). Harvest residual spreader (140) as recited in any one of claims 14, which includes a housing (150) that at least partially surrounds the rotor (142) and has an inlet for debris near the vertical axis and a tangential outlet (166); and an adjustable material deflector (158) adjustably connected to the tangential outlet (166). The crop residue spreader (140) of claim 5, wherein the adjustable material deflector (158) includes a deflector plate (162) that is horizontally adjustable relative to the rotor (142). 7. Crop residue spreader (140) according to claim 5, wherein the adjustable 53065 BE2016 / 5959 material deflector (158) includes a deflector plate (162) that is vertically adjustable relative to the rotor (142). The crop residue spreader (140) according to claim 7, wherein the deflector plate (162) is horizontally adjustable relative to the rotor (142). Harvest residual spreader (140) as recited in any of claims 1 to 8 containing a second rotor (144). The crop residue spreader (140) of claim 9, wherein the first rotor (142) and the second rotor (144) are configured and driven in opposite directions. Harvest residual spreader (140) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10, in combination with a combine (20) having a threshing section (22) to separate crop material and straw (28) around the straw (28) into the crop residue spreader (140). Harvest residual spreader (140) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10 in combination with a combine (20) with a cleaning system (30) to separate harvest material and chaff (32) and to separate the chaff (32). in the crop residual spreader (140). A crop residue spreader (140) in combination with a combine (20) according to claim 11, wherein the combine (20) further comprises a cleaning system (30) to separate crop material and chaff (32) and to unload the chaff (32) into the crop residue spreader (140). Harvest residual spreader (140) in combination with a combine (20) as claimed in any of claims 11 to 13, wherein the combine (20) further comprises a chopper (26) upstream of the harvest residual spreader (140) for harvested residues (28, 32) entering the crop residue spreader (140). 15. Harvest residue spreader (140) as specified in any of the foregoing 53065 BE2016 / 5959 claims, wherein the array of blades includes at least two pairs of blades (170, 184; 172,176; 174, 186), the blades being similarly formed in a pair and the blade pairs being different from each other. BE2016 / 5959 53065