GB1568001A - Crop-harvesting machine notable for beets - Google Patents

Description

(54) CROP HARVESTING MACHINE NOTABLY FOR BEETS (71) We, WILLY JEROME LOUIS DEHONDT, and JEAN-MARY ELIE REMY DEHONDT, both French citizens residing at Crasville la Mallet, 76450, Cany Barville, France, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The present invention relates to a harvester of the carried or tractor-towed type, suitable for harvesting not only sugar-beets, red-beets or mangel wurzels, but also carrots, endives, salsifies or tuberculated plants.

In beet harvesting it is known to use machines carried or towed by a tractor, which may be provided with elevators for simultaneously loading the harvested beets into self-powered or trailed tip-lorries accompanying the machines during their field operation. These known machines comprise pick-up means which may be followed by an elevator. The pick-up means of such machines comprises a linear conveyor or so-called turbine or "sun" revolving grates, associated with skids or shoes disposed ahead for guiding the harvested products. The elevator, when provided, consists of a linear inclined endless-belt conveyor disposed in overhanging relationship to the other parts of the machine.

As a rule, these known machines are constructionally rather complicated and when they comprise an elevator the overhanging position of this device tends to create a state of unbalance in the machine and therefore for road transport the device has to be folded up or retracted, thus further complicating its construction.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a harvester of relatively simple construction capable, when required, of utilising an elevator substantially with minimal overhang.

According to this invention, the harvester comprises a first frame structure adjustable in the vertical direction and provided with ground-engaging wheels and at least one skid or shoe for guiding the crop material to be harvested; a second frame movable in relation to said first frame structure and connected through links thereto, said links being pivoted to horizontal pivots secured to said first and second frame, respectively, and also by means of adjustable springs; a first revolving grate for receiving the crop to be harvested, said first grate having a diameter greater than the width of the harvested area and mounted on a shaft rotatably carried by the second frame, the grate being disposed to lie adjacent the ground surface, and being inclined forwardly and downwardly in relation to the ground; a second revolving grate having a diameter substantially smaller than that of said first grate, and being disposed obliquely of, adjacent to and above the first grate, the second grate being mounted on a rotatable shaft carried by the second frame; a grid for guiding and cleaning the harvested crop material, which is secured to the second frame and surrounds partially the outer periphery of the revolving grates, and means for rotatably driving the first and second revolving grates.

By way of example and in order to facilitate the understanding of the present invention. typical embodiments thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like parts are indicated by like reference numerals and in which: Figure 1 illustrates partially in plan view a harvesting machine constructed according to the teachings of this invetion with parts omitted in the interests of clarity; Figure 2 is another plan view showing a modified form of the embodiment of Figure 1 with parts omitted in the interests of clarity; and Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the machine illustrated in Figure 2 but showing parts omitted in Figures 1 and 2.

Referring to the drawings, the harvester of the first embodiment comprises a first main frame 1 vertically adjustable with respect to the ground 2 on which the machine travels. This main frame 1 comprises a pair of front wheels 3 and a pair of rear wheels 4 disposed preferably outside the traces of the wheels of tractor towing or carrying the machine, the machine being coupled to the tractor for example through a conventional three-point coupling system 5.

The main chassis 1 is adjustable in relation to the ground 2, i.e. with respect to the ground-engaging wheels 3 and 4, by means of screw and nut mechanisms known per se and controlled by means of cranks 6, (shown in Figure 3). The main frame 1 is also provided with one or a plurality of skids or shoes 7 for guiding the crop material being harvested.

The machine also comprises a second frame 8 movable in relation to the main frame 1 and connected thereto by means of identical, parallel pins 10, 11 secured to the main frame 1 and movable frame 8 and adjustable coil springs 12 (see Figure 3) surrounding screw rods 13 pivoted to pins 11 and compressed by means of a crank handle 14 engaging each screw rod 13.

The machine further comprises a first crop-receiving revolving grate 15. This grate 15 has a diameter somewhat greater than the width of the harvested area and is mounted on a shaft 16 mounted in aligned bearings fitted in a case 17 rigid with the movable frame 8. The revolving grate 15 is disposed close to the ground 2 and its front portion is slightly inclined towards the ground. The mobility of the second or movable frame 8 in relation to the first or main frame 1 is such that the grate 15 can move back when it impinges aginst an obstacle. A second revolving grate 18 having a diameter substantially smaller than that of grate 15 is disposed obliquely in close vicinity of, and above, the first grate 15.

This second revolving grate 18 is mounted on a shaft 19 mounted in bearings disposed in a case 20 rigid with the second frame 8.

The machine also comprises a grid 21 (shown in dotted line) for guiding and cleaning the crop material. This grid 21 is secured to the movable frame 8 and partially surrounds the outer periphery of revolving grates 15 and 18.

The machine further comprises means for rotatably driving the revolving grates 15 and 18. These means comprise motor means (not shown) advantageously consisting of the power take-off (p.t.o.) of the tractor coupled to the machine; in this case the p.t.o. is coupled to a shaft 22 actuating, via a pinion and chain transmission 23, a shaft 24 comprising universal joints and driving through a transmission comprising a bevel gear mechanism 25, an output pinion thereof and a chain 26, the shaft 16 of the first revolving grate 15. The shaft 19 of the second revolving grate 18 is driven in the proper direction of rotation from shaft 16 via a pair of pulleys and a belt 27.

The above-described machine may be provided with beet lifting means such as ploughshares, pull-up discs or the like. Thus in a typical embodiment the front end of the machine may be provided with a set of pull-up discs 28, for example, six in number, associated with skids 7 or with skids 28a disposed in front of the pull-up discs and adapted to facilitate the beet lifting operation. These discs and skids are rigid with the main frame 1. A separator disc 29 rigidly assembled with the second or movable frame 8 is advantageously disposed above the revolving grate 15 in order to channel the crop towards either the right-hand or the left-hand side of the machine. The lifting or pull-up means are located ahead of the periphery of the first revolving grate 15. The guiding grid 21 is open at 30, that is, at the rear of the second revolving grate 18, this aperture 30 being provided with baffle or crop deflecting means 31 (indicated in outline). Thus, a lifting-cum windrowing machine is obtained. When coupled to and towed by a tractor, the machine travelling in the direction of the arrow F Figure 3 causes the beets or other crop to be lifted by the discs 28 and engage the first revolving grate 15 before they are thrown by the centrifugal force against the grid 21, thus cleaning the crop material. The crop material conveyed and centrifugated by the first grate 15 is collected by the second grate 18 which, in the form of embodiment illustrated in Figure 1, revolves in a direction opposed to that of grid 15. The rotational movement of this second grate 18 and the presence of the deflector 31 cause the harvested and cleaned crop to be ejected through the rear aperture 30 from which the crop falls upon the ground.

The machine according to this invention may be provided with an elevator 32 as shown by the modification illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 disposed above and secured to the first or main frame 1. This elevator 32 is preferably of the endless belt type and inclined as shown in the drawings, with its lower portion adjacent the second revolving grate 18; it is also disposed obliquely in relation to the longitudinal axis A-A of main frame 1. More particularly, the axis B-B of elevator 32 is inclined about 45O to the horizontal and in horizontal projection it is inclined about 60 to said axis A-A. With these angle values, given by way of illustration, not of limitation, the crop will rise rapidly up the elevator and the overhang of the elevator is kept to a minimum considering the general arrangement of the machine, so that the driver of the tractor coupled to the machine will clearly see the elevator output end. This elevator 32 is driven from a pulley 33 rigid with the shaft driven in turn by chain 23. A grate 34 comprising curved bars is provided for channelling the crop during the transfer thereof from the second revolving grate 18 to the inlet or lower end of elevator 32.

The pick-up-loading machine described in connection with Figures 2 and 3 may be provided with pull-up or lifting means simi ar to those mentioned in connection with Figure 1 in order to constitute a pull-uploading machine.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A harvesting machine comprising a first, vertically-adjustable main frame provided with ground-engaging wheels and at least one skid or shoe for guiding the crop to be harvested; a second frame movable in relation to the first main frame and coupled to said main frame by means of a plurality of links pivoted to fixed horizontal transverse pins carried by the first and second frames respectively, and by adjustable spring means interposed between said first and second frames; a first crop-receiving revolving grate having a diameter greater than the width of the harvested area mounted on a rotatable shaft carried by said second frame, the grate being disposed to lie adjacent the ground and inclined downwardly and forwardly; a second revolving grate of a diameter substantially smaller than that of said first revolving grate, the second grate being disposed obliquely of and above and adjacent to said first grate, a rotatable shaft carrying said second grate, the shaft being mounted on the second frame; a crop guiding and cleaning grid secured to the second frame and surrounding partially the periphery of the revolving grates, and means for rotatably driving said revolving grates on their respective shafts.

2. A machine according to claim 1, wherein plant pull-up means are provided disposed ahead of the periphery of the first revolving grate in the forward direction of the machine.

3. A machine according to claim 2, wherein the crop guiding and cleaning grid opens at the rear portion of the second revolving grate.

4. A machine according to claim 1, wherein an inclined, oblique elevator is disposed above the first frame and has its lower portion adjacent the second revolving grate.

5. A harvesting machine substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 and 3 of the accompanying drawings.

6. A harvesting machine substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings.

7. A harvesting machine according to claim 1 substantially as hereinbefore particularly described.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (7)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. inclined about 60 to said axis A-A. With these angle values, given by way of illustration, not of limitation, the crop will rise rapidly up the elevator and the overhang of the elevator is kept to a minimum considering the general arrangement of the machine, so that the driver of the tractor coupled to the machine will clearly see the elevator output end. This elevator 32 is driven from a pulley 33 rigid with the shaft driven in turn by chain 23. A grate 34 comprising curved bars is provided for channelling the crop during the transfer thereof from the second revolving grate 18 to the inlet or lower end of elevator 32. The pick-up-loading machine described in connection with Figures 2 and 3 may be provided with pull-up or lifting means simi ar to those mentioned in connection with Figure 1 in order to constitute a pull-uploading machine. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A harvesting machine comprising a first, vertically-adjustable main frame provided with ground-engaging wheels and at least one skid or shoe for guiding the crop to be harvested; a second frame movable in relation to the first main frame and coupled to said main frame by means of a plurality of links pivoted to fixed horizontal transverse pins carried by the first and second frames respectively, and by adjustable spring means interposed between said first and second frames; a first crop-receiving revolving grate having a diameter greater than the width of the harvested area mounted on a rotatable shaft carried by said second frame, the grate being disposed to lie adjacent the ground and inclined downwardly and forwardly; a second revolving grate of a diameter substantially smaller than that of said first revolving grate, the second grate being disposed obliquely of and above and adjacent to said first grate, a rotatable shaft carrying said second grate, the shaft being mounted on the second frame; a crop guiding and cleaning grid secured to the second frame and surrounding partially the periphery of the revolving grates, and means for rotatably driving said revolving grates on their respective shafts.

2. A machine according to claim 1, wherein plant pull-up means are provided disposed ahead of the periphery of the first revolving grate in the forward direction of the machine.

3. A machine according to claim 2, wherein the crop guiding and cleaning grid opens at the rear portion of the second revolving grate.

4. A machine according to claim 1, wherein an inclined, oblique elevator is disposed above the first frame and has its lower portion adjacent the second revolving grate.

5. A harvesting machine substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 and 3 of the accompanying drawings.

6. A harvesting machine substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings.

7. A harvesting machine according to claim 1 substantially as hereinbefore particularly described.