GB1578207A

GB1578207A - Agricultural crop gathering machine

Info

Publication number: GB1578207A
Application number: GB5220277A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: VEB Kombinat Fortschritt Landmaschinen Neustadt (Bestand)
Current assignee: VEB Kombinat Fortschritt Landmaschinen Neustadt (Bestand)
Priority date: 1976-12-31
Filing date: 1977-12-15
Publication date: 1980-11-05
Also published as: DD128901A1; BG30483A1; DE2753101A1; CS204177B1; SU908273A1; PL113614B1; PL202900A1; DD128901B1; FR2375817A1; FR2375817B3; HU176665B

Description

(54) AGRICULTURAL CROP GATHERING MACHINE (71) We, VEB KOMBINAT FORTSCHRITT LANDMASCHINEN NEUSTADT in Sachsen, of Schillerstrasse 1, 8355 Neustadt in Sachsen, German Democratic Republic, a corporation organised under the laws of the German Democratic Republic, 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 an agricultural crop gathering machine such as a harvesting machine and provided at its forward end with a crop pick-up means for picking up crop material lying on the soil.

Crop gathering machines provided with crop pick-up apparatus are known in which a rotatable pick-up drum is rigidly journalled in the pick-up apparatus and picks up crop material deposited in a swath and transfers it to a worm trough provided with a cross-conveyor worm disposed behind the pick-up drum.

The cross-conveyor worm conveys the crop material to a delivery opening, which is situated centrally in the rear wall of the trough and through which the crop material is fed to processing machinery, such as a chaff unit. These pick-up apparatus generally have a maximum working width of about 3 metres so the width of the pick-up apparatus always does not exceed the greatest width of the associated working machine. These pick-up apparatus have the disadvantage that they can pick up only swaths of limited width. The width of the pick-up apparatus is limited because otherwise there could be inadequate soil tracing.

If the width of known pick-up apparatus were increased, impermissibly high pick-up losses could arise since the tines of the pickup drum would not be able to seize crop material lying in soil troughs. In order to properly load the following process machinery such as a chaff unit, it becomes necessary to put together several crop material swaths containing small amounts.

This additional working step of swathing is very expensive and time consuming, and entails crop material losses. Furthermore, these known pick-up apparatus have the disadvantage that they cannot pick up crop material deposited on the entire field in a closed carpet. This is because the crop material, as a result of the entangling of the long stalks and the long lying time for the purpose of the drying forms a contiguous crop material layer. Matting and heaps occur at the sides of the pick-up apparatus since the crop material to be picked up cannot be separated from the remainder.

According to the present invention there is provided an agricultural crop gathering machine provided at its forward end region with crop pick-up apparatus, the crop pick up apparatus comprising drum means comprising at least two pick-up drums disposed substantially in line, transversely of the intended direction of motion of the machine, and individually pivotable about an axis substantially parallel to said direction.

Each pick-up drum may be provided with substantially equally spaced tines and the spacing between each pick-up drum and an adjacent pick-up drum may be equal to twice the spacing between each adjacent tine.

The machine may be further provided with crop material separating devices each disposed at a respective end of the pick-up drum means and comprising a drum provided with a helical worm and having a diameter substantially equal to the effective diameter of the tines.

Two adjacent pick-up drums may be pivotable about a common axis therebetween and the outer end of each of the two pick-up drums may be connected to a respective member which is slidably retained in a respective opening elongate in a substantially vertical direction.

The axis may pass through at least one of the pick-up drums in or near the centre of gravity thereof.

The axis may pass through at least one of the pick-up drums at or near the outer end thereof.

The machine may comprise two said pickup drums, the inner end of each pick-up drum of the two being connected to a respective member which is slidably retained in a common opening elongate in a substantially vertical direction.

The pick-up drum means may be provided with skids adapted to engage the ground.

The machine may be further provided with a cross-feed worm disposed behind the pick-up drum means.

The machine may be further provided with a trough extending behind the pickup drum means.

The machine may be further provided with a trough extending behind the pick-up drum means.

The machine may be further provided with a flexible cover disposed over a gap between the pick-up drum means and the trough and connected to support means supporting the pick-up drum means.

Stalk-shaped crop material deposited in a carpet is seized by the tines of the pick-up drums, conveyed upwardly and rearwardly to the trough and transferred through a central opening in the rear wall of the trough to, for example, a chaff unit. The crop material lying at the edge of the pick-up apparatus is conveyed by the material separating device, depending on the arrangement, i.e. left hand or right hand helix of the helical worm either to the pick-up drum or away from it. This provides a tidy separating region, whereby renewed picking up of crop material during the next operating step is assured. Also multiple swath picking up is possible with a wide pick-up apparatus. This is particularly advantageous in areas with low coverage and provides good loading of the succeeding processing machines, for example during chaffcutting.

Effective tracing of the soil profile is provided by the skids and the pivotable arrangement of the pick-up drums, the pickup losses thereby being reduced. The pickup apparatus may be so constructed and arranged that if the soil unevennesses are greater than the pivot range can accommodate, the position of the entire pick-up apparatus may be reset to the correct working height by a lifting device provided on the agricultural machine. The pivotal motion of the drums, in consequence of different soil profiles, provides a thrust between the pick-up apparatus and the pict- up drums. To prevent crop material building up in the region between the pickup drums and the piclc-up apparatus, a flexible cover overlapping the gap between pick- up drums and pick-up apparatus is mounted to the frame of the pick-up drums.

The cover is arranged to cover over the gap and rest on the wall of the trough even when the pick-up drums are pivoted to their greatest extent so that no thrust obstructing the flow of stock occurs.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be more particularly described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows an agricultural machine provided with pick-up apparatus; Fig. 2 shows a pick-up apparatus with centrally articulated pick-up drums, Fig. 3 shows a pick-up apparatus with externally articulated pick-up drums, Fig. 4 shows a pick-up apparatus with individually articulated pick-up drums, Fig. 5 shows a section through the connection of the pick-up drums shown in Fig.

4, Fig. 6 shows a pick-up drum with a material separating device disposed inside the trough, and Fig. 7 shows a pick-up drum with a material separating device disposed outside the trough.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a pick-up apparatus 3 disposed on a lifting device 2 which is disposed on an automotive agricultural machine 1. The pick-up apparatus 3 comprises a rigid trough 4, having opposed side walls 5 and 5'. In the trough is a cross-feed worm 6 and pick-up drums 7. Each pick-up drum 7 is pivotably fastened to the pick-up apparatus 3 by a respective carrier 8. In Figs. 1 and 2 each pick-up drum is pivotably mounted to a common centrally disposed axle 9, in Fig.

3 each pick-up drum 7 is pivotably mounted at its outer end to a respective axle 10 and in Fig. 4 each pick-up drum 7 is pivotably mounted at the centre thereof to an axle 11.

In Fig. 2 each pick-up drum 7 is guided at its outer end in a slide block 12 disposed at a respective wall 5 or 5' and in Fig. 3 each pick-up drum 7 is guided at its inner end in a slide block 13 attached to the trough. Disposed at the outer end of each pick-up drum 7 is a material separating device 14, comprising a drum 15 provided with a helical worm 16. Skids 17 and 17' are mounted to each pick-up drum 7 at the underside thereof and near the axial extremity of the drums. A gap 18, which is covered over by a flexible cover 19, exists between the pick-up apparatus 3 and the carrier 8 by reason of the pivotable arrangement of the pick-up drums 7.

Crop material deposited as a closed carpet or swaths is seized by circulating tines of the pick-up drums 7 and is conveyed upwardly and/or rearwardly over the cover 19 to the trough 4. There, the cross-feed worm 6 seizes the crop material and guides it centrally to a transfer opening at the rear wall of the trough and, from there, to processing machinery including, for example, a chaff unit. The material separating device 14 disposed at the side of the crop material conveys the crop material either to the pickup drums 7 as shown or back to the crop carpet depending on the direction of inclination of the helical worms 16. Good soil tracing is attained by the skids 17 and 17' disposed underneath the pick-up drums 7 in connection with the pendulating arrangement. The pivot range of the pickup drums is limited by the sliding blocks 12 and 13. If the soil is more uneven than the pivot range of the pick-up drums 7 can accommodate, the lifting device 2 takes over the necessary level compensation. Thus, comprehensive soil tracing is attained by the extremely wide pick-up apparatus 3 and pick-up losses are therefore reduced.

The above described exemplary embodiments have the advantage of adapting well to the soil profile and enabling extremely wide picking up of the crop material by reason of the pick-up drums being movably fastened to the worm trough. A further advantage is that by having a narrow arrangement of the pick-up drums, no strip of crop material remains therebetween and the pick-up losses are thereby reduced. The material separating device provides exact separation of crop material remaining on the soil and the formation of heaps at the outside of the pick-up is counter-acted. Also it is an advantage to be able to pick-up crop material deposited into one or more double swaths beside one another for the increase of through-put, especially on areas with low coverage.

Furthermore, the working width of the pick-up apparatus is substantially greater than 3 metres and enables widely lying crop material deposited in a closed carpet to be picked-up.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. An agricultural crop gathering machine provided at its forward end region with crop pick-up apparatus, the crop pick-up apparatus comprising drum means comprising at least two pick-up drums disposed substantially in line, transversely of the intended direction of motion of the machine, and individually pivotable about an axis substantially parallel to said direction.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein each pick-up drum is provided with substantially equally spaced tines and the spacing between each pick-up drum and an adjacent pick-up drum is at most equal to twice the spacing between each adjacent tine.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 2, further provided with crop material separating devices each disposed at a respective end of the pick-up drum means and comprising a drum provided with a helical worm and having a diameter substantially equal to the effective diameter of the tines.

4. A machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein two adjacent pick-up drums are pivotable about a common axis therebetween and the outer end of each of the two pick-up drums is connected to a respective member which is slidably retained in a respective opening elongate in a substantially vertical direction.

5. A machine as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the axis passes through at least one of the pick-up drums in or near the centre of gravity thereof.

6. A machine as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein the axis passes through at least one of the pick-up drums at or near the outer end thereof.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 6, comprising two said pick-up drums, wherein the inner end of each pick-up drum of the two is connected to a respective member which is slibadly retained in a common opening elongate in a substantially vertical direction.

8. A machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the pick-up drum means is provided with skids adapted to engage the ground.

9. A machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further provided with a cross-feed worm disposed behind the pickup drum means.

10. A machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further provided with a trough extending behind the pick-up drum means.

11. A machine as claimed in claim 10, further provided with a flexible cover disposed over a gap between the pick-up drum means and the trough and connected to support means supporting the pick-up drum means.

12. An agricultural machine substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of Figs. 1 to 7 of the accompanying drawings.

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

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. Crop material deposited as a closed carpet or swaths is seized by circulating tines of the pick-up drums 7 and is conveyed upwardly and/or rearwardly over the cover 19 to the trough 4. There, the cross-feed worm 6 seizes the crop material and guides it centrally to a transfer opening at the rear wall of the trough and, from there, to processing machinery including, for example, a chaff unit. The material separating device 14 disposed at the side of the crop material conveys the crop material either to the pickup drums 7 as shown or back to the crop carpet depending on the direction of inclination of the helical worms 16. Good soil tracing is attained by the skids 17 and 17' disposed underneath the pick-up drums 7 in connection with the pendulating arrangement. The pivot range of the pickup drums is limited by the sliding blocks 12 and 13. If the soil is more uneven than the pivot range of the pick-up drums 7 can accommodate, the lifting device 2 takes over the necessary level compensation. Thus, comprehensive soil tracing is attained by the extremely wide pick-up apparatus 3 and pick-up losses are therefore reduced. The above described exemplary embodiments have the advantage of adapting well to the soil profile and enabling extremely wide picking up of the crop material by reason of the pick-up drums being movably fastened to the worm trough. A further advantage is that by having a narrow arrangement of the pick-up drums, no strip of crop material remains therebetween and the pick-up losses are thereby reduced. The material separating device provides exact separation of crop material remaining on the soil and the formation of heaps at the outside of the pick-up is counter-acted. Also it is an advantage to be able to pick-up crop material deposited into one or more double swaths beside one another for the increase of through-put, especially on areas with low coverage. Furthermore, the working width of the pick-up apparatus is substantially greater than 3 metres and enables widely lying crop material deposited in a closed carpet to be picked-up. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. An agricultural crop gathering machine provided at its forward end region with crop pick-up apparatus, the crop pick-up apparatus comprising drum means comprising at least two pick-up drums disposed substantially in line, transversely of the intended direction of motion of the machine, and individually pivotable about an axis substantially parallel to said direction.