GB911361A - Improvements in or relating to mobile agricultural crop collecting and treating machines - Google Patents

Abstract

911,361. Combine-harvesters. MASSEYFERGUSON (UNITED KINGDOM) Ltd. March 6, 1959 [March 11, 1958], No. 7765/58. Class 6(3). In a crop-collecting machine of the type wherein the rate of collection is dependent on the forward speed of the machine (e.g. a combine-harvester) an interconnection is provided between a means for sensing the rate of collection of crop and a means for varying the ground-speed whereby an alteration in cropintake will result in a corresponding change in ground-speed. In Fig. 2 the sensing means 70 is associated with the slat-elevator 22 which follows the transverse auger 23 behind the cutter-bar 21. This elevator, which is floatingly pivoted about its upper pulley-shaft 30, rises and falls as the volume of crop varies and is connected by a pin and slot 72, 73 with a crank 71 on a shaft 74 connected by a hydraulic transmission 95, 96, 97 with a floating lever 103. The lever 103 has an adjustable fulcrum provided by a cam 107 and controls a valve 85 by which pressure-fluid is supplied to or vented from a ram 81. The ram 81 controls, by linkage 82, 83, 84 the movement of the two parts of an infinitely-variable belt-pulley 38 which transmits motion from the engine 15 to the ground-wheel 11. The fulcrum-cam 107 is adjustable initially by an operator, through a lever 110, to set a particular crop-intake rate; thereafter, variations in crop-intake are transmitted via the mechanisms 70, 95, 103, 81 to the pulley 38 to alter the ground-speed to restore the intake to its original value. In a modification, Fig. 7, the sensing means comprises a jockeypulley 221 bearing on the belt-drive 215 to the cutter-bar. The pulley is connected, by a spring-loaded rod 222 to a floating lever 231 the lower end of which presses on a pivoted lever 235 which operates the valve. A second floating lever 245 can also press on the lever 235 and is controlled by two cams 248, 247, the cam 247 being operable by a hand-lever 252 and the cam 248 being moved by the hydraulic ram 81a in altering the groundspeed. The arrangement is such that there is an exact correspondence-control between the position of the hand-lever and the groundspeed whereas with the arrangement in Fig. I, the ground-speed would increase indefinitely under no-load conditions unless corrected by the operator. In other modifications, Figs. 3, 4, 5 (not shown), the sensing element is connected to the threshing mechauism or to a rotary drive-shaft to another of the croptreating members.