CH646482A5 - PROCESS FOR CARRYING OUT THE BATTLE OF AN ELONGATE MEMBER AND DEVICE FOR CARRYING OUT THE METHOD. - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method according to the preamble of claim 1 and in particular relates to a method for carrying out the automatic threshing of an element such as a pile, a plank or the like, for example in the ground. The sheep can be formed for example by a bell or the like.

There are already known devices for driving a pile or a sheet pile, by free fall of a sheep suspended on a cable wound on a winch. In these devices, the control of raising the sheep and / or triggering the free fall of the sheep was manual. Consequently, these devices had great drawbacks. Indeed, the machinist had to be very attentive to the movement of the sheep so as to optimize the yield of the fall of the latter, which is a function of the speed and the height of ascent of said sheep as well as the rate of threshing. Mainly during a high rate of threshing, the attention of the machinist quickly became unbearable and resulted in a noticeable decrease in the efficiency of the machine.

The object of the present invention is to remedy all these drawbacks by proposing a method for automatically controlling the ascent of the sheep as well as the triggering of the free fall of the latter. The process must eliminate any intervention by the machi

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nist and allow to optimize the yield of the fall of the sheep, whatever the rate of threshing and the duration of this one.

To this end, the method is characterized by the characterizing part of claim 1.

According to a special embodiment of the invention, the detection of the instant of impact of the sheep on the element to be beaten controls the winding of the suspension cable with a cable winding force at most substantially equal to the weight of said sheep, the triggering of the ascent of the sheep being controlled by the detection of the instant of immobilization of the sheep on the element to be beaten.

Thus, according to this embodiment, the suspension cable is substantially maintained in the stretched position after the sheep has come into contact with the element to be beaten, without for this exerting a force on said sheep tending to raise it. Consequently, substantially all of the kinetic energy that the sheep has at the time of impact on the element to be beaten is transmitted to this element.

The present invention also relates to a device for implementing the method described above, this device being defined by the preamble of claim 3. The drive means can be formed, for example, by electric, thermal motors, hydraulic, pneumatic or the like. The device is characterized according to the invention by the characterizing part of claim 3.

Thus, this device makes it possible, on the one hand, to control the clutch of the winch with the drive means as soon as the sheep is in contact with the element to be beaten and, on the other hand, to control the disengagement of said winch to trigger the free fall of the sheep, as soon as it has been raised from a predetermined height relative to the element to be beaten. Therefore, the threshing is controlled automatically without the intervention of a machinist.

According to a special embodiment of the invention, the aforementioned means of detecting the instant of impact of said sheep on the element to be beaten comprise a load sensor measuring the load exerted by the suspension cable of the sheep on a guide pulley of said cable, fixed to the upper end of the threshing mast and a device for analyzing variations in the signal supplied by said sensor. This signal variation analysis device is composed of a signal analysis member and a control member of the aforementioned clutch means of the winch.

According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the means for detecting the aforementioned impact instant comprise sensors for position, speed or acceleration of the sheep during its free fall and a device for analysis of the value of the signal emitted by these sensors, said device comprising a member for analyzing said signal and a member for controlling the aforementioned clutch means of the winch.

The means for detecting the instant of impact of the sheep with the element to be beaten may include a sound sensor and a device for analyzing the signal emitted by the sensor, said analysis device being analogous to the analysis device. cited above.

The aforementioned means of detecting the height of ascent of the sheep may comprise a sensor of the angular displacement of the winch, and a device for analyzing and comparing the signal emitted by said sensor with a predetermined and adjustable value corresponding to a predetermined height of ascent sheep, said analysis and comparison device comprising a signal analysis and comparison member and a control member of the aforesaid means of disengaging the winch.

Advantageously, this winch angular displacement sensor comprises marks fixed on said winch substantially regularly in a circle, a detector emitting a signal for each passage of one of the aforementioned marks in front of at least one fixed mark, and a counter totaling these signals .

The aforementioned devices for analyzing the signals emitted by the various sensors are advantageously an assembly with electronic circuits.

According to a special embodiment of the invention, the device comprises a means of detecting the instant of immobilization of the sheep in contact with the element to be beaten, said means being connected via said control member for power to said clutch and declutching means, said clutch means comprising a first so-called pre-clutch position for transmitting a driving force to the winch at most substantially equal to the weight of the sheep, and a second so-called clutch position for transmitting a winch drive force allowing said sheep to rise.

Furthermore, the means for detecting the instant of impact of the sheep on the element to be beat emits a signal corresponding to this instant of impact, applied to the abovementioned power control member to control the passage of the means of clutch from their disengaged position in their first pre-clutch position, the aforementioned detection means of the instant of immobilization of the aforementioned sheep on the element to be beat emitting a signal corresponding to this immobilization applied to said power control member for controlling the passage of said clutch means from their first pre-clutch position to their second clutch position.

Advantageously, the means for detecting the instant of immobilization of the sheep is constituted by the means for detecting the height of the sheep's ascent, the signal emitted by these means being analyzed by a signal analysis device to determine the instant of zero speed of rotation of the winch and emit the aforementioned signal applied to the aforementioned power control member.

The invention will be better understood and the aims, characteristics, details and advantages thereof will appear more clearly during the explanatory description which follows, made with reference to the appended schematic drawings given solely by way of example illustrating two modes of realization of the invention and in which:

- fig. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a threshing machine comprising the automatic control device of said threshing, according to the invention;

- fig. 2 is a diagram representing the load exerted by the cable on the pulley as a function of time, during threshing, and

- fig. 3 is a diagram representing the speed of unwinding and winding of the cable on the winch as a function of time during threshing.

With reference to fig. 1, a threshing machine 1 of an elongated element 2 such as a pile, a sheet pile or the like in the ground 3 conventionally comprises a frame 4, a threshing mast 5 at the upper end of which is mounted a guide pulley 6. In addition, this threshing machine comprises a sheep 7 suspended from a cable 8 guided by the pulley 6 and winding on a threshing winch 9. This winch 9 is fixed to the chassis 4 of the threshing machine 1 and comprises drive means (not shown), for example hydraulic or pneumatic drive means. According to the invention, the connection between the winch 9 and these drive means is controlled by clutch or declutching means 11 shown diagrammatically and being constituted, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, by a system of hydraulic cylinders. In addition, according to the invention, these clutch or declutching means 11 are controlled and actuated by a hydraulic power control system 10, known per se and schematically comprising a distributor 10a, a pump 10b and a reservoir of hydraulic fluid. 10c. The different connecting lines, shown in strong lines, between the elements 11, 10a, 10b, 10c represent hydraulic connections.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the threshing machine 1 is equipped with an automatic pile threshing control system 2 in the ground 3. This automatic control device comprises a sensor 12 of the load exerted by the cable 8 on the pulley 6. This load sensor 12 is connected to a device 13 for analyzing the signal emitted by the sensor 12.

In addition, according to the invention, several marks 14 are fixed to the winch substantially regularly in a circle. During the rota5

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tion of the winch 9, these marks pass in front of two fixed marks 15a, 15b constituting a detection assembly 15 of the direction and the angular displacement of the winch. Indeed, each passage of a mark 14 in front of the marks 15a, 15b is detected and totaled by a pulse counter, the signal thus transmitted is transmitted to the above-mentioned analysis device 13. The analysis device 13 processing the signals emitted by the sensors 12 and 15 emits a control signal actuating the control member 10 for the power of the clutching or disengaging means 11 of the winch 9. For greater clarity, the lines purposes representing the links between the sensors 12, 15b, 15a, the analysis device 13 and the power control system 10 illustrate the signal transmission links between these different elements. According to the embodiment, these connections are electrical connections.

We will now indicate, with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the operation of the automatic threshing control device according to a first preferred embodiment of the invention.

With more specific reference to FIG. 2, which schematically represents the value of the load exerted by the cable 8 on the pulley 6, detected by the load sensor 12 during two threshing cycles, this signal will be analyzed to detect the instant of impact of the sheep 7 on the pile 2. This analysis corresponds to that performed by the analysis device 13 according to the invention. Indeed, by following the curve according to the diagram represented by the letters a, b, c, d, e, f, g, b ', we notice that, during the period ab, the signal is substantially constant and corresponds to a value high of the load exerted on the pulley 6; this period corresponds to the ascent of the sheep, therefore the winch 9 and the means for driving said winch are engaged. At this instant b, there is a rapid fall in the load, the period b-c corresponding to the initiation of the free fall of the sheep; there is then a significant stabilization of the load during the period c-d, and a further decrease at the point d of this load. This new decrease corresponds to the instant of impact of the sheep 7 on the pile 2; in fact, at this instant, the cable 8, by its inertia, continues to unwind and therefore has significant slack, reducing the load exerted on the pulley 6. The analysis device 13, constituted, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, by electronic circuits, comprises a member for analyzing the signal emitted by the load sensor and shown in FIG. 2 and a control member for triggering the system 10 for controlling the power of the clutch means 11. The abovementioned analysis member detects the reduction in the load occurring at point d and at this time excites the control member for trigger the power control system 10 of the clutch means 11. Thus, the part of the curve ef corresponds substantially to the winding of the slack in the cable 8, then the load increases suddenly from f to g, corresponding to the start of the ascent of the sheep 7, the part gb 'corresponding to the raising of the sheep 7 to a predetermined height.

Furthermore, according to the invention, the triggering of the free fall of the sheep 7, corresponding substantially to point b or b 'of the curve in FIG. 2, is controlled as a function of the signal emitted by the detection means 15 and received by the analysis device 13. In fact, the number of pulses totaled by the detection means 15b corresponds to the number of passages of the marks 14 in front of the detectors 15a, 15b, and thus the length of cable 8 wound around the winch 9, therefore at a height of ascent of the sheep 7 relative to the pile 2. This number of pulses is then analyzed and compared in an analysis member and comparison of the analysis device 13, with a predetermined and adjustable value corresponding to a predetermined height of ascent of the sheep 7. It is obviously understood that, when the number of pulses reaches this predetermined value, the analysis member and of comparison excites a control member for actuating the power system 10 of the declutching means 11 of the winch 9 and of the drive means, which automatically causes the free fall of the sheep 7.

Thus, the device of the invention makes it possible to automatically control the ascent of the sheep 7 to a predetermined height and its free fall, by a double detection of the instant of impact of the sheep 7 on the pile 2 and of its ascent height . Thus, the method and the device of the invention make it possible to use a threshing machine with an optimal yield from the fall of the sheep, whatever the rate of threshing, regardless of the qualification and the attention of a machinist. , because any manual control of the sheep movement is deleted.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the clutch means 11 comprise a disengaged position and two engaged positions: a first position, called the pre-clutch position, transmitting a driving force of the winch 9 which is at most substantially equal to the weight of the sheep 7, and a second, so-called clutch position, in which this clutch means 11 transmits a driving force to the winch 9 making it possible to raise the sheep 7.

In this embodiment, the device 15 for detecting the angular displacement of the winch 9 advantageously makes it possible, on the one hand, to detect the lifting height of the sheep 7 and, on the other hand, to detect the instant of immobilization of sheep 7 on the element to be beaten 2.

With particular reference to FIG. 3, the operation of the automatic threshing control device according to this second preferred embodiment is as follows: the curve in solid lines represents the variation of the winding speeds Ve and of the unwinding Vd of the cable on the winch 9 as a function of the time during a threshing cycle, the curve in broken lines corresponding to the variations of the speeds of unwinding Vd and winding Ve of the cable 8 during the following threshing cycle which is substantially identical to the curve in solid lines.

The threshing cycle according to this embodiment is as follows: at point a, the sheep being raised to a height corresponding to the predetermined height, the winch is disengaged to cause the free fall of the sheep corresponding to zone I, the speed of unwinding of the cable being represented by the curve segment ab.

At the instant of impact of the sheep 7 on the element to be beaten 2 detected by the load sensor 12 according to the invention, the clutch means 11 are moved into their first so-called pre-clutch position to drive the winch 9 according to a driving force at most substantially equal to the weight of the sheep 7. In FIG. 2, this part of the cycle corresponds to zone II. Therefore, the cable is wound around the winch 9 as long as it is not in the stretched position, which corresponds to the portion of curve b-c. As this winding force exerted on the cable 8 is not sufficient to raise the sheep 7, when the cable is in the stretched position, it will be unwound again to follow the movement of the sheep 7 downwards (cd). When substantially all of the kinetic energy acquired by the sheep 7 during its free fall is transmitted to the pile 2, the sheep 7 will immobilize on the upper end of the pile 2, which corresponds to the point d of the curve. According to the invention, this immobilization is detected by the sensor 15 of the angular displacement of the winch 9, since the cable 8 is always kept in the tensioned position, since the clutch means 11 are in their first pre-clutch position.

At this instant, the signal emitted by the zero angular displacement sensor 15 analyzed by the analysis device 13 transmits a control signal to the power control member of the clutch means 11 to cause them to pass from their first pre-clutch position to their second clutch position, in which the driving force transmitted to the winch 9 makes it possible to raise the sheep 7. This part III of the threshing cycle corresponds to the curve segment def.

The sheep is raised to a height determined by the angular displacement sensor 15 of the winch 9 corresponding to the predetermined height; the winch 9 is disengaged to start a new threshing cycle.

Thus, in this embodiment, the force exerted by the cable 8 on the sheep 7 after its instant of impact with the element 2 to be beaten is relatively small to simply allow the cable 8 to be held in the stretched position and, as a result in fact, substantially all of the kinetic energy acquired by the sheep 7 during its fall is transmitted to the element 2 to be beaten.

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The methods of the invention therefore make it possible to automatically control the threshing of an element to be beaten while increasing the efficiency of threshing.

In addition, it is obviously obvious that the invention includes any device making it possible to automatically detect the instant 5 of impact of the sheep 7 on the pile 2, for automatically controlling the ascent of said sheep. By way of nonlimiting example, mention may be made, as device for detecting the instant of impact, of position, speed or acceleration detectors of the sheep 7 during its free fall, or a sound sensor, all these sensors emitting a signal having a variation in their intensity as a function of the instant of impact of the sheep 7 on the pile 2, this variation being analyzed in an analysis device 13 for controlling a power control system of the winch clutch.

On the other hand, the means 15 for detecting the angular displacement of the winch are given only by way of nonlimiting example.

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Claims (13)

646,482 1. Method for threshing an elongated element by means of a threshing device of the free fall type of sheep, comprising the following steps: - drop, in free fall, the sheep on the element to be beaten, - raise the sheep to a predetermined height, adjustable relative to the element to be beaten, - repeat these operations, characterized in that the triggering of the free fall of the sheep and the ascent of said sheep is automatically controlled by detection, respectively, of the predetermined height of rise of said sheep and of its instant of impact on said element to be beaten. 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that said triggering of the ascent of the sheep is controlled by the detection of the instant of immobilization of the sheep on the element to be beaten, said detection of the instant of impact on said threshing element controlling the winding of the suspension cable of said sheep with a winding force of said cable at most substantially equal to the weight of said sheep. 2 3. Device for implementing the method according to one of claims 1 or 2, comprising a threshing apparatus or bell comprising a chassis, a threshing mast, a sheep suspended on a cable winding on a winch, said winch being connected by means of clutch and disengage to drive means, characterized in that it comprises means for detecting the instant of impact of said sheep on the element to be beaten, and means for detecting the ascent height of said sheep, said detection means being connected respectively via a power control system to said clutch and disengage means of said winch. 4. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that it comprises a means of detecting the instant of immobilization of the sheep (7) on the element to be beaten (2), said detection means emitting a signal corresponding to said instant of immobilization, for controlling via said power control member (10) the actuation of said means (11) for clutching and disengaging, said means (11) for clutching and disengaging comprising a first position said pre-clutch to transmit a driving force to the winch at most substantially equal to the weight of the sheep, and a second so-called clutch position to transmit a driving force to the winch for raising said sheep. 5. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that the aforementioned detection means (12) of the instant of impact of said sheep on the element to be beat emit a signal corresponding to this instant of impact which is applied to the power control member (10) above to control the passage of the aforementioned clutch and declutching means (11) from their disengaged position to their first aforementioned pre-clutch position, the aforementioned detection means of the immobilization instant of the sheep (7) on the element to be beaten (2) emitting a signal corresponding to this instant of immobilization, applied to said power control member to control the passage of the clutch and disengage means (11) from said position pre-clutch to their aforementioned second clutch position. 6. Device according to one of claims 3,4 or 5, characterized in that the means for detecting the instant of immobilization of the aforementioned sheep is constituted by the aforementioned means for detecting the height of ascent of said sheep (7 ). 7. Device according to one of claims 3 to 6, comprising a cable guide pulley fixed to the upper end of the aforementioned threshing mast, characterized in that the aforementioned means of detection of the instant of impact comprise a sensor of the load exerted by the cable on said pulley, and a device for analyzing the variations in the signal supplied by said sensor, said analyzing device being composed of a member for analyzing said signal and a control member connected to the aforementioned clutch means of the winch via the aforementioned power control member. 8. Device according to one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that the aforementioned means of detecting the instant of impact comprise position, speed or acceleration sensors of the sheep during its free fall, and a device for analyzing the value of the signal emitted by these sensors, said device for analyzing comprising a device for analyzing said signal and a control device connected to the aforementioned means for clutching the winch by means of the the aforesaid power control member. 9. Device according to one of claims 3 to 6 or 8, characterized in that the aforementioned means of detection of the impact instant comprise a sound sensor and a device for analyzing the signal emitted by the sensor, said analysis device comprising a signal analysis member and a control member connected to the aforementioned clutch means via the aforementioned power control member. 10. Device according to one of claims 3 to 9, characterized in that the aforementioned means for detecting the height of ascent of the sheep comprise a sensor of the angular displacement of the winch, and a device for analyzing and comparing the signal emitted by the sensor with a predetermined value for raising the sheep, said analysis and comparison device comprising a member for analyzing said signal and a control member connected to the above-mentioned means for disengaging the winch by means of the aforementioned member power control. 11. Device according to claim 10, characterized in that the aforesaid sensor of angular displacement of the winch comprises marks arranged on said winch, substantially regularly in a circle, a detector emitting a signal for each passage of one of said aforementioned marks in front of the minus a fixed mark, and a sensor for these signals. 12. Device according to one of claims 4, 5, 6, 10 or 11, characterized in that the aforementioned means of detection of the instant of immobilization of the sheep (7) on the element to be beaten (2) comprises the aforementioned sensors (15,14) of the angular displacement of the winch, a device for analyzing the signals emitted emitting in response the aforementioned signal corresponding to the instant of zero speed of rotation of the winch or to said instant of immobilization of the sheep. 13. Device according to one of claims 7 to 12, characterized in that it comprises at least two analysis devices which are formed by an assembly with electronic circuits.