CN113692221A

CN113692221A - Sugarcane harvester with improved cutter gearbox assembly

Info

Publication number: CN113692221A
Application number: CN202080024430.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 考希克·阿尼尔巴伊·达马尼
Original assignee: Tills Agricultural Technology Pte Ltd
Current assignee: Tills Agricultural Technology Pte Ltd; Tirth Agro Technology Pvt Ltd
Priority date: 2019-03-27
Filing date: 2020-03-17
Publication date: 2021-11-23
Also published as: WO2020194334A1; AU2020250175A1; MX2021011627A

Abstract

A sugar cane harvester having an improved cutter gearbox assembly. The present invention relates to a sugar cane harvester and more particularly to a sugar cane harvester having an improved cutter gearbox assembly. An improved segmenter gearbox assembly includes a segmenter unit (2). The cutter unit (2) comprises a gearbox with an input interface. The input interface is a reaming keyway connector configured to receive an output shaft of a hydraulic motor (24). The input interface is configured 10 such that rotational power received at the interface rotates the input chopper drive gear (7). The cutter drive gear (7) rotates two main gears (9, 10) and a cutter flywheel pinion shaft (5) which stores energy via a flywheel (23) connected to absorb load fluctuations received through load impacts obtained during operation of the sugar cane cutter 15.

Description

Sugarcane harvester with improved cutter gearbox assembly

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a sugar cane harvester, and more particularly to a sugar cane harvester having an improved cutter gearbox assembly.

Background

There are various types of sugar cane harvesters in the art that harvest growing sugar cane stalks by cutting the cane at the root of the cane and then transferring the cut cane to a collection vehicle such as a cane carriage or cane cart. The sugar cane harvester may include different types of harvesting devices. Harvesting apparatus for a sugar cane harvester may include components for cutting, chopping, sorting, transporting, and collecting and processing sugar cane plants. Typically, harvesting devices include crop separator assemblies, knock down roller assemblies, base cutter assemblies, feed rollers, cutting drums, and the like.

For dynamic crop harvesting, a harvester having the above harvesting apparatus may be moved along a field, wherein the harvesting apparatus performs collection and processing of material from a crop plant train. A typical front wheel steering, rubber tyred, steering arrangement on a sugar cane cutting harvester includes a steering wheel mounted on an axle, the steering wheel being supported for pivoting about a respective upright pivot structure located outside a laterally spaced, fore and aft extending main frame member. A pair of crop separators are mounted on the main frame in front of the pair of steerable wheels, respectively. To avoid interference with the frame members during steering operations, a larger space is provided between each pivot axis and the adjacent frame member.

With prior art slicer gearboxes, sugar cane harvesters have spur gears with surfaces in rolling contact but with straight cut teeth on the face; one or both teeth are always in contact with the other gear. This incomplete face engagement means that spur gears are more noisy and vibrate more than helical gears. Furthermore, cutter gearboxes with spur gears are cheaper and their service life is much shorter than that of helical gears. After about three years they are usually replaced. Frequent replacement requires more capital and increases maintenance, downtime, and waste disposal costs.

Yet another way to compare performance and efficiency is to look at quality. There are two common gear quality indicators. One is that the noise is too loud and generates vibrations, which means low accuracy and limited lifetime. Noisy and vibrating rotating machines can present a number of quality problems: the rotating parts are not properly balanced; the tolerance of the mating parts is too large; and the parts are not sufficiently rigid to bend under load and cause misalignment.

One of the prior art has been disclosed describing a cutter roller assembly for a sugar cane harvester. The prior art document US005622034A describes a slip clutch and cutter blade apparatus for a sugarcane stalk harvester, providing a frame with a cutting mechanism in the form of a cutter shaft powered by a hydraulic motor. The cutter shaft has a plurality of cutters thereon which, when the cutter shaft is rotated, sandwich the cane therebetween to cut the whole stalk of the cane into short segments. The flywheel is mounted on a flywheel shaft. The gear box connects the flywheel and the cutter blade. The freewheel clutch serves as an overload protection for the cutter system. If an overload occurs, the flywheel will slip, limiting the torque. The flywheel is placed on the bushing and clamped between the friction linings by means of thrust pads, disc springs, brake pads, brake pad covers and bolts. The more the belleville spring is compressed by the bolt; the greater the torque at which the flywheel slips.

Accordingly, there is a significant need to invent a sugar cane harvester having an improved cutter gearbox assembly to provide an efficient gear engagement as compared to the cutter gearbox assembly of conventional sugar cane harvesters.

Object of the Invention

It is a primary object of the present invention to overcome the problems associated with the cutter gearbox assembly of conventional sugar cane harvesters by providing an improved cutter gearbox assembly for proper harvesting in the field.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved segmenter gearbox assembly for mitigating loads on each tooth.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved segmenter gearbox assembly for creating a smooth transition of force from one tooth to the next.

It is, furthermore, another object of the present invention to provide an improved segmenter gearbox assembly that uses an optimal helix angle that is designed to be maintained.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention relates to a sugar cane harvester, and more particularly, it relates to a sugar cane harvester having an improved cutter gearbox assembly. An improved segmenter gearbox assembly includes a segmenter unit. The cutter unit includes a gearbox having an input interface. The input interface is a reamed keyway connector configured to receive an output shaft of the hydraulic motor. The input interface is configured such that rotational power received at the interface rotates the input cutter drive gear. The cutter drive gears rotate two main gears and a cutter flywheel pinion shaft that stores energy through a connected flywheel for absorbing load fluctuations received through load impacts obtained during the sugarcane cutting operation.

Drawings

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments when considered in conjunction with the drawings.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a cutter gearbox assembly of a sugar cane harvester according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the various parts of a cutter gearbox assembly of a sugar cane harvester according to the present invention.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram of various parts of a cutter assembly and gearbox assembly of a sugar cane harvester according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

Before the present invention is explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments than those described and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

It is also to be understood that the term "comprising" and its grammatical equivalents are used herein to indicate the optional presence of other elements, components, steps, etc. For example, an article that "includes" components A, B and C may consist of (i.e., contain only) components A, B and C, or may contain not only components A, B and C but one or more other components.

A sugar cane harvester having an improved cutter assembly is disclosed. Now, according to the invention, the sugar cane harvester is particularly directed to improving the functional overview of the cutter assembly as shown in the accompanying drawings. The sugarcane harvester includes: a detabber assembly for cutting leafy material of sugarcane stalks; an accumulation zone; a crop separator assembly for lifting and spanning a row of sugarcane stalks; a modular knock down roller and fin roller for helping to align the plant for feeding into the harvester throat; a pair of base cutters for cutting sugarcane stalks from a field; a feed zone comprising a feed roller system for further moving the cut sugarcane stalks in a rearward and upward direction without damaging or crushing the sugarcane; a cutter assembly for cutting the sugarcane stalks into bits in short segments; a cleaning chamber having a purge fan assembly (i.e., a primary purge fan) for separating dirt and foreign materials from the short section by blowing air onto the short section; a lifting system comprising a secondary de-aeration fan for removing remaining loose material as the sugar cane falls from the transport end; and an operation chamber for operating and controlling the harvester.

Now, the present invention is particularly directed to an improved chipper assembly comprising a chipper unit (2) and a chipper gearbox assembly (1) for operating the chipper unit, as shown in fig. 1.

Now, according to fig. 2, the segmenter gear box assembly comprises a hydraulic motor (24), a segmenter gear housing (3), a drive gear (7) operatively connected with the hydraulic motor (24) through an input interface, a main gear (9, 10) operated by the drive gear (7), a hub (18), a bearing housing (14) bolted with the hub, and a flywheel pinion (5). The gears (9, 10) are accommodated in a gearbox housing (3). Furthermore, the gears (9, 10) have an optimum helix angle designed to maintain and relieve the load on each tooth and to produce a smooth transition of force from one tooth to the next. Therefore, the vibration, abrasion and noise are less, and the service life is longer.

With continued reference to fig. 2, the input interface is a reaming keyway connector configured to receive an output shaft of a hydraulic motor (24). The input interface is configured such that rotational power received at the interface rotates the input cutter drive gear (7). The cutter drive gear (7) in turn rotates two main gears (9, 10) and a cutter flywheel pinion shaft (5) which stores energy through a connected flywheel to absorb load fluctuations received through load impacts obtained during the sugarcane cutting operation. Further, the bearing housing (14) is assembled to the hub (18). Between these two elements, a drum roller bearing (13) is provided which allows a smooth transition of the dynamic load. Once the bearing is assembled, a top ring (12) is bolted to the bearing housing (14). The input interface is configured such that rotational power is received at the interface by the hydraulic motor (24), which rotates the input drive gear (7). The drive gear (7) in turn rotates two main gears (9, 10) and a cutter pinion shaft (5).

Returning now to fig. 1, the cutter unit comprises a cutter roll (6) having a threaded interface bolted to a hub (18). Above the top ring (12), the adapter (11) and the hub portion (18) are fixed in line by bolts. The main gears (9, 10) are then bolted to these adapters (11).

With reference to the description above regarding fig. 2, the structural features of the rollers (6) allow the rollers to be assembled with the output interface of the cutter gear housing (3), which allows these rollers (6) to rotate. The two rollers (i.e., the upper roller and the lower roller) are rotated in opposite directions to each other. The ends of the rolls are bolted to the hub (18) and then assembled with the hub (18) of the cutter housing. The mechanical face seal (25) housing is assembled with the end of the cutter roll (6). There is also a hub (18) which is bolted to the other end of the cutter roll (6) and bears against the bearing portion.

Furthermore, the cutter drive gear (7) rotates two main gears (9, 10) and a cutter pinion shaft (5), which store or release energy by means of a connected flywheel (23) by absorbing load fluctuations received by load impacts obtained during sugarcane cutting.

Now, according to fig. 3, the pinion (5) rests on a crowned roller bearing (13), the gear teeth of which mesh with the two main drive gears (9, 10) at the crowned roller bearing (13). The drum roller bearing (13) arranged inside the cutter housing plate is then accommodated together with the adapter (11), the seal (25) being accommodated at the inner diameter of the adapter (11). The pinion shaft (5) is then supported by the clutch plate (19) and the wear plates (26, 27) with the flywheel (23) sandwiched in the middle. In the past there have often been spring washers (20) located at the end of the section supported by a nylon lock nut (21). Whenever a load impact occurs at the cutter roller (6), the flywheel (23) will slide between the wear plates (26, 27) to release the fluctuating load impact.

The invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments. It is to be understood that the above description is only illustrative of the present invention and is not intended to limit or restrict the present invention thereto. Many other specific embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing disclosure. All alternatives, modifications and variations of the present invention are readily acceptable within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined not with reference to the above description, but instead should be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

List of reference numerals:

gear box component (1)

Cutter unit (2)

Gear case shell (3)

Ring (4)

Section cutter pinion shaft (5)

Roller (6)

Cutter driving gear (7)

Gear case cover (8)

Main gear (9, 10)

Adapter (11)

Top ring (12)

Drum shaped roller bearing (13)

Bearing outer casing (14)

Bearing shell without bearing (15)

Gear hole (16)

Cylindrical roller bearing (17)

Hub (18)

Clutch plate (19)

Spring washer (20)

Nylon locking nut (21)

Lid (22)

Flywheel (23)

Hydraulic motor (24)

Face seal member (25)

Wear resistant plate (26, 27)

Bearing parts (28)

Claims

1. A sugar cane harvester with an improved cutter unit gearbox assembly comprising a cutter unit (2) and a cutter gearbox assembly (1) for operating the cutter unit (2);

characterized in that the cutter unit comprises a cutter roller (6) having a threaded interface screwed into a hub (18);

the segmenter gearbox assembly includes a hydraulic motor (24), a segmenter gear housing (3), a drive gear (7) operatively connected to the hydraulic motor (24) through an input interface, a hub (18), a bearing housing (14) threadably connected to the hub (18), and a flywheel pinion (5); the gears (9, 10) are accommodated in the gearbox housing (3).

2. The sugar cane harvester with improved cutter unit gearbox assembly of claim 1, characterized in that the gears (9, 10) with optimal helix angles are designed to maintain and relieve the load on each tooth and create a smooth transition of forces.

3. The sugar cane harvester with improved cutter unit gearbox assembly of claim 1, characterized in that an adapter (11) is threaded in line with a hub portion (18) and the main gear (9, 10) is threaded on the free end of the adapter (11).

4. The sugar cane harvester with improved cutter unit gearbox assembly of claim 1, characterized in that the pinion shaft (5) rests on a crowned roller bearing (13) where its gear teeth mesh with two main drive gears (9, 10).

5. The sugar cane harvester with improved cutter unit gearbox assembly of claim 1, characterized in that one end of the drum roller bearing (13) is coupled with a top ring (12) and the free end of the drum roller bearing (13) is threaded onto the bearing housing (14).