GB2161054A

GB2161054A - Root crop harvester

Info

Publication number: GB2161054A
Application number: GB08511793A
Authority: GB
Inventors: William Peter Billington
Original assignee: National Research Development Corp UK
Current assignee: National Research Development Corp UK
Priority date: 1984-06-08
Filing date: 1985-05-09
Publication date: 1986-01-08
Also published as: GB8414605D0; GB8511793D0

Abstract

A sugar-beet harvester 10 comprises beet-lifting shares 15, 16 followed by transfer rotors 27, 28. These latter operate to convey ground-supported beets deposited by the shares 15, 16 onto a primary elevator in the form of a cyclone-type cleaner 30 with minimal transfer of soil thereto. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Root crop harvester The present invention relates to a harvester for sugar-beet and other root crops e.g. turnips.

Sugar-beet harvesters are already known in which a pair of inclined shares or lifting wheels are used to lift the beet from the ground onto a primary elevator which may, for example, be in the form of a forwardly inclined cyclone-type or rod-link type elevator.

In order that the transfer from shares to the primary elevator can take place efficiently, the beet-receiving top surface of the elevator must be at or near ground level and this poses problems. With a multi-row machine using a cyclone-type elevator, for example, if the beetreceiving surface of the elevator is at or near ground level for the two rows or outer two rows being lifted, then the forward inclination of the elevator will mean that this surface will be well below ground level between these two rows. This will increase the power requirement as well as resulting in significant amounts of soil being lifted into the harvester.

The resulting loss of efficiency and increase in running costs will be considerable.

Use of a rod-link type elevator instead of the cyclone-type elevator will not avoid the problem outlined above since for the heatreceiving surface of the elevator to be at or near ground level, the front web-supporting roller of the elevator will have to be mostly below ground level. Using known transfer devices to move the beet from the shares to the elevator will allow the front web-supporting roller to be raised above ground level but although this will reduce the power requirement, it will not generally result in a significant reduction in the amount of soil being fed to the harvester so that, as before, efficiency and running costs will suffer.

According to the present invention, a harvester for sugar-beet and other root crops comprises a crop-lifting mechanism followed by a primary elevator and a transfer device adapted to gather ground-supported crop lifted by the crop-lifting mechanism and to carry the crop to the primary elevator with minimal transfer of soil thereto.

Because the transfer device and the primary elevator do not receive the crop directly from the crop-lifting mechanism, there is no requirement that any part of substantial part of the primary elevator should be below ground level and hence the disadvantages of the known systems outlined above are minimised.

Conveniently, a depth control device is included which provides depth control for the transfer device independently of the depth setting of the crop-lifting mechanism.

A convenient form of transfer device for use in the harvester of the present invention would be a powered spoked-wheel or equivalent cage construction preferably dished and rotating about an axis so inclined and positioned as to encourage the transfer of groundsupported crop to the primary elevator.

Conveniently, the harvester includes a pivoted sub-frame supporting a height control wheel or other height-regulating device, the transfer device and the primary elevator. Alternatively, the transfer device could be mounted on the same frame as the crop-lifting mechanism.

The harvester preferably includes a secondary elevator adapted to receive crop from the primary elevator and having its leading end fixed relative to the primary elevator.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying somewhat diagrammatic drawings in which: Figures 1 and 2 are respectively side and plan views of a preferred design of 2-row sugar-beet harvester in accordance with the present invention; Figure 3 illustrates alternative designs of transfer mechanism for use at the front end of the harvester; and Figure 4 shows an alternative loading mechanism to that shown in the earlier Figures.

Thus referring first to Figures 1 and 2, a sugar-beet harvester 10 in accordance with the present invention comprises beet-topping rotors 12, 1 3 of the sort described in British Patent Application 821 7384 (NRDC) followed by beet-lifting shares 15, 1 6. These latter are vibrated about front pivots 1 8, 1 9 by an appropriate eccentric drive 20.

Reference numeral 21 indicates a sub-frame ground-supported at its front end on a height control wheel 23 and pivotally mounted at its rear end on a support shaft 25 secured to the main frame of the machine.

Closely following the height control wheel 23 are two transfer rotors 27, 28 for moving beet deposited on the ground by shares 15, 1 6 onto a primary elevator in the form of a cyclone-type cleaner 30.

The positions and inclinations of the transfer rotors and the cleaner 30 are both so chosen that only the lowest points of these items will be or near to ground level.

The preferred forms of transfer mechanism are best seen from Fig. 3 from which it will be observed that the rotors 27, 28 take the form of dished spoked-wheels or cage constructions rotating about suitably inclined and positioned rotation axes.

Downstream of the cyclone-type cleaner 30, the beet are discharged onto a second elevator 35 which later co-operates with a third elevator 37 to deposit the lifted beet onto a cross-conveyor 39 for transfer to an appropriate discharge location (not shown).

In operation, the harvester 10 will move forward at about 6 kilometers per hour, say, with the rotors 27, 28 and the cleaner 30 rotating at about 1 50 r.p.m. and 60 r.p.m.

respectively.

In a variation (not shown) of the illustrated device, the transfer rotor 28 is located further forward than is shown in Fig. 2 and a small inwardly-dished ground-driven disc coulter is added to improve the flow of root crop from rotor 28 on to the cyclone-type cleaner 30.

Referring now to Fig. 4 of the drawings, this illustrates a design modification in which the rotors 27, 28 form only a part of the transfer device which is completed by a floating draper trace 41 pivoted at 43. This latter operates to load the lifted beet onto an elevator-type cleaner 45 which replaces the cyclone-type cleaner 30 of the earlier embodiment.

Claims

1. A harvester for sugar-beet and other root crops comprising a crop-lifting mechanism followed by a primary elevator and a transfer device adapted to gather ground-supported crop lifted by the crop-lifting mechanism and to carry the crop to the primary elevator with minimal transfer of soil thereto.

2. A harvester as claimed in Claim 1 including a depth control device which provides depth control for the transfer device independently of the depth setting of the crop-lifting mechanism.

3. A harvester as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 in which the transfer device compries a powered spoked-wheel or equivalent cage construction.

4. A harvester as claimed in Claim 3 in which the spoked wheel or cage construction is dished and rotatable about an axis so inclined and positioned as to encourage the transfer of ground-supported crop to the primary elevator.

5. A harvester as claimed in any preced ing claim in which the harvester includes a pivoted sub-frame supporting the transfer device, the primary elevator and a height control wheel or other height-regulating device for the primary elevator.

6. A harvester as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 4 in which the transfer device is mounted on the same frame as the crop-lifting mechanism.

7. A harvester as claimed in any preced ing claim including a secondary elevator adapted to receive crop from the primary elevator and having its leading end fixed relative to the primary elevator.

8. A harvester substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and/or as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 or Fig. 4 of the accompanying drawings.