GB2079574A

GB2079574A - Forage harvester

Info

Publication number: GB2079574A
Application number: GB8118766A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Claas KGaA mbH
Current assignee: Claas KGaA mbH
Priority date: 1980-06-30
Filing date: 1981-06-18
Publication date: 1982-01-27
Also published as: GB2079574B; DE3024663A1; DE3024663C2; BE889192A

Abstract

A forage harvester comprises a discharge tower 8 projecting upwardly from a cutter device 5 and tapering in the direction of discharge, an ejection guide element 10 which is mounted on the discharge tower at the upper end thereof pivotally about a vertical axis having a horizontally directed discharge end, and an impeller 11 arranged in the discharge tower, the axis of rotation of the impeller extending transversely with respect to the axis of the discharge tower and outside of the internal cross-section thereof, and the receiving end of the ejection guide element being directed at least approximately in the same direction as the upper end of the discharge tower. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Forage harvester The invention relates to a forage harvester (field chaff cutter) for agricultural crop material.

A forage harvester is described in French patent application publication No 2 350 782. In this forage harvester, a discharge tower opens into an impeller housing which is mounted pivotally thereon and to which a substantially horizontal discharge pipe is tangentially connected. The axis of rotation of the impeller (bladed wheel) extends in a vertical plane transversely with respect to that of the discharge pipe. A motor, for example a hydraulic motor, is mounted on the impeller housing, for driving the impeller. Thus the chopped material undergoes an abrupt change in its direction of movement in the impeller housing. When this occurs, a part of the kinetic energy which is imparted thereto by the cutter drum is lost, without any use being made thereof.

The impeller must be of a relatively large construction, and its drive motor must be relatively powerful.

Another disadvantage with this forage harvester is that a certain amount of expenditure must be incurred for the power supply for the impeller drive motor mounted in the impeller housing, so that on the one hand the pivotability is not detrimentally affected and on the other hand the supply of power is ensured, in any possible pivotal position.

In another forage harvester (prospectus P-2001-A of the Canadian Company Dion Machineries), an impeller is arranged directly downstream of the cutter drum, the impeller having its axis of rotation parallel to the axis of the cutter drum and conveying the chopped material into the vertical discharge tower. The impeller and the cutter drum are driven in the same direction of rotation. The impeller is of the same length as the cutter drum, in the axial direction, and it is therefore comparatively expensive.

In another forage harvester (French patent application publication No. 2 346 961), an impeller is disposed downstream of the cutter drum, for conveying the chopped material into the discharge tower in which however conveyance of the material is effected exclusively pneumatically.

U.S. patent specification No. 2877 907 discloses a silo cutter in which there is a first impeller which conveys the material taken up out of the silo, upwardly into a discharge duct which is connected to the housing of the first impeller by way of a pivot joint with a vertical axis, and in which there is arranged a second impeller. It is driven by an electric motor which is secured to the discharge duct and which is connected to the second impeller by means of a belt transmission. Drives which are separate from each other are required because of the arrangement of the two impellers on both sides of the pivot joint.In addition, the conveying capacity of the second impeller which is arranged in the discharge duct is influenced by the respective pivotal position thereof, because the direction of the material which is passed into the discharge duct by the first impeller varies to a certain degree with pivotal movement.

It has been proposed, for the purposes of conveying bulk material in pneumatic conduits having a mechanicai accelerating means at the beginning of the conduit, for the material to be conveyed to be accelerated, in the course of its conveying movement, by one or more mechanical intermediate accelerating means disposed in the conduit, for example bladed wheels or impellers (German patent specification No. 967 399). This specification does not include any discussions of the specific problems which arise in connection with forage harvesters.

The invention arose from the problem of providing a forage harvester which ensures continuous satisfactory conveying movement of the chopped material, with simple means.

According to the invention, there is provided a forage harvester comprising a discharge duct which is connected to a cutter device and which comprises a discharge tower projecting upwardly from the cutter device and tapering in the direction of discharge, and an injection guide element which is mounted on the discharge tower at the upper end thereof pivotally about an at least substantially vertical axis and has an at least approximately horizontally directed discharge end, and further comprising an impeller which is arranged in the discharge duct in the vicinity of the upper end of the discharge tower, wherein the impeller is provided on the discharge tower, the axis of rotation of the impeller extends transversely with respect to the axis of the discharge tower and outside of the internal cross-section thereof, and the receiving end of the ejection guide element is directed at least approximately in the same direction as the upper end of the discharge tower.

Such a harvester permits a high degree of efficiency in regard to conveying movement of the chopped material. It permits the cutter drum and the impeller to be driven buy a common motor, for example by belt transmissions. In addition, the arrangement of the impeller in accordance with the invention, at the upper end of the discharge tower where the tower is narrow, permits the impeller be narrow so that the apparatus generally is light.

Other preferred features of the invention are set forth in the claims.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a side view in partial section of a self-propelled forage harvester, and Figure 2 shows a view in section taken along line Il-Il in Figure 1.

The forage harvester 1 is provided at its front end with a pick-up means 2 for agricultural crop material lying on the ground. The pick-up means 2 is secured to an intake passage 3 in which intake and prepressing rollers 4 are arranged. A cutter drum 5 having a horizontal shaft 6 which extends transversely with respect to the direction of movement is rotatably mounted downstream of the rollers 4. The drum 5 is enclosed laterally and in the region of its peripheral surface by a drum housing 7. In the front region, the drum housing 7 has a feed opening which extends over the entire width of the cutter drum 5, while in the rearward region, the drum hous ing 7 has a discharge opening which also extends over the entire width of the drum 5. A discharge tower 8 is substantially tangentially connected by its lower end to the discharge opening.The discharge tower 8 extends upwardly at a slightly rearward angle of inclination. The two lateral walls thereof extend at a slightly inclined angle towards each other, in an upward direction. At its upper end there is a pivot mounting 9, and a curved discharge duct 10 serving as an ejection guide element is connected thereby to the discharge tower 8, with a smooth transition.

A bladed projection wheel or impeller 11 is mounted on the discharge tower 8 at a small distance below the pivot mounting 9, and is rotatable about an axis of rotation 12 which is parallel to the axis 6 of the drum 5. For the purposes of mounting the impeller 11, the discharge tower 8 is provided at its rear with a suitably enlarged portion which forms the housing forthe impeller 11, only a portion ofthe impeller 11 projecting into the discharge passage of the discharge tower 8. The width of the impeller 11 corresponds to the width (which is reduced at this point) of the upper part of the discharge passage of the discharge tower 8.

In operation, the chopped material is conveyed into the discharge tower 8 by the drum 5. This is effected partly pneumatically and partly mechanically. In this operation, the drum 5 rotates in an anticlockwise direction, as shown in Figure 1. When the chopped material reaches the impeller 11, which rotates in the opposite direction, the chopped material is engaged by the blades which project into the discharge passage and, without being previously slowed down, is accelerated up to the speed required for the desired ejection action. The kinetic energy which is imparted to the chopped material by the drum 5 is not taken away but contributes further to the ejection action. Cooperation of the two conveyor members, namely the cutter drum and the impeller, permits the chopped material to be ejected satisfactorily and to the desired degree, with a comparatively low level of drive power. By virtue of the drum 5 which is arranged upstream of the discharge tower 8, and the impeller 11 which is arranged at the rear of the discharge tower 8, and also the substantially rearwardly or laterally directed curvature ofthe curved discharge duct 10, the chopped material moves in a gentle curve, without abrupt changes in its direction of movement. This also results in a low power consumption for ejecting the chopped material.

Claims

1. Aforage harvester comprising a discharge duct which is connected to a cutter device and which comprises a discharge tower projecting upwardly from the cutter device and tapering in the direction of discharge, and an ejection guide element which is mounted on the discharge tower at the upper end thereof pivotally about an at least substantially vertical axis and has an at least approximately horizontally directed discharge end, and further comprising an impeller which is arranged in the discharge duct in the vicinity of the upper end of the discharge tower, wherein the impeller is provided on the discharge tower, the axis of rotation of the impeller extends transversely with respect to the axis of the discharge tower and outside of the internal crosssection thereof, and the receiving end of the ejection guide element is directed at least approximately in the same direction as the upper end of the discharge tower.

2. A forage harvester according to claim 1 wherein the axis of rotation of the impeller is parallel to that of the cutter drum.

3. A forage harvester according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the impeller is provided on the side.

of the discharge tower which is remote from the cutter device.

4. A forage harvester substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.