IE42136B1 - A root crop harvester - Google Patents

Abstract

1529905 Root crop harvesters COMHLUCHT SIUICRE EIREANN TEORANTA 4 Nov 1976 [4 Nov 1975] 45969/76 Heading A1F A topping unit 200 comprising subframes 12a, 12b connected about a vertical pivot 19a, is mounted on the front of a tractor for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis 11a under the action of a ram 13. Rootfeeling arms 15 mounted on the subframe 12b have horizontal portions 15E, 15F for engaging opposite sides of untopped roots, and vertical portions 15c, 15d which turn in bosses 40a, 40b according to the deflection by the roots of the horizontal arm portions 15E, 15F. Radial arms 41a, 41b secured to the arms 15 are connected by a track rod 42 and biased into a central position by springs 43a, 43b. A further radial arm 44 secured to the arm portion 15c is operably connected, by means of a turnbuckle 46, to a valve 45 which controls a ram 26, connected between the sub frames 12a, 12b, to steer the sub frame 12b along the row of crop being topped. A lifter unit 300 follows the topping unit and roots are lifted by shares (not shown) or co-operating wheels 32 and flicked by rotating rubber flippers 33 onto a conveyor belt 35 having high-carbon steel cross rods; debris is removed from the roots by a spiked drum 36 which lifts them into an elevating bucket-conveyor 37 for discharge to a collector trailer (not shown). The unit 300 is automatically steered along a row by means of a "Y" shaped root-feeling member 49 the rotation of which operates a valve 45a which controls a steering ram (not shown) between the tractor and the unit 300.

Description

The present invention relates to a crop topper unit for use in a harvester for root crops, especially a sugar beet harvester, and of the kind comprising a tractor unit support ing at its front end the crop topper unit and having connected to its rear end a crop lifter/cleaner/loader unit.

Harvesters of this kind have the advantage of reducing the conventional three step process to a one step procedure and thus reducing the overall harvesting time and cutting harvesting costs in terms of both time and labour factors.

The crop topper of the present invention can be used in a harvester in the form of a one, two or three row harvester and which can lift and load 15 acres of beet per day using as a prime mover a conventional 70 H.P. tractor and requiring one operator and service tractors and trailers 15 as necessary.

According to the invention there is provided a crop topper unit for topping a root crop and adapted for mounting on the front end of a tractor so that it may be moved along rows of the root crop for topping at least one row at a 2o time, the topper unit comprising a main frame having first and second subframe members connected together by a pivot so that when the unit is mounted on the tractor the first and second subframe members may be moved relatively to each other about a substantially vertical axis, the first subframe 'member being adapted for connection to a support means on the tractor by a pivot having a substantially horizontal axis, a lifting ram adapted for connection between the first subframe member and the said support means for movement of the unit about the horizontal axis, crop topping means carried by the second subframe member, and an automatic steering mechanism carried by the main frame for steering the second subframe member along the row or rows, to be topped, the automatic steering mechanism comprising a row finder having a pair of spaced feeler arms including substantially horizontal arm portions for engaging opposite sides of the untopped root crop of a row and the feeler arms also including substantially vertical arm portions pivotally mounted on the second subframe member for movement about vertical axes, radial arms fixed to the said vertical arm portions, a track rod connecting the radial arms and provided with a spring engaging a fixed abutment for biasing the steering mechanism to the central position, a further radial arm fixed to the vertical arm portion of one of the feeler arms, a link connecting the further radial arm to a steering control valve, and a steering ram controlled by the valve and connected between the first and second subframe members, the steering mechanism functioning such that a lateral displacement of the horizontal arm portions of the feeler arms by engagement with a side or sides of an untopped root crop of a row causes the steering ram to pivot the second subframe member relative to the first subframe member to maintain the two feeler arms aligned with either side of the row.

An embodiment of the invention is hereinafter described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in Which:Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side view of a three-row sugar beet harvester, and Figure 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view looking in the direction of arrow A in Figure 1 of part of the crop topper unit showing the automatic steering mechanism. In Figure 2 only the pair of spring-loaded concave discs and the topper feeler drum relating to the middle one of the three rows are shown to simplify the drawing, but it will be understood that in a three-row harvester there are three pairs of discs and three feeler drums arranged side-by-side.

Referring to the drawings, the sugar beet harvester comprises a tractor 10, a front crop topper unit generally indicated by numeral 200 and a rear crop lifter/cleaner/loader unit generally indicated by numeral 300. The crop topper unit 200 is pivotally supported on a bracket 11 fixed to the front of the tractor and the crop lifter/cleaner/loader unit is connected to the rear of the tractor by a pin and bracket mounting 28 forming part of the tractor's three-point linkage.

The unit 200 comprises a main frame 12 consisting of subframe members 12a and 12b connected together by a pivot 19a having a substantially vertical axis. The subframe member 12a is supported by a bracket 11 secured to the tractor 10, the subframe member being connected to the bracket by a pivot 11a having a substantially horizontal axis. A lifting ram 13 connected between the bracket 11 and the subframe member 12a enables the unit 200 to be moved about the pivot 11a. An automatic steering mechanism generally indicated by numeral 14 causes the subframe member 12b to be moved about the pivot 19a to guide the unit 200 along the rows of untopped beet 47.

The automatic steering mechanism 14, as shown in greater 15 detail in Figure 2, comprises a row finder 15 including a pair of spaced feeler arms 15a, 15b having substantially horizontal arm portions 15E,15F for engaging opposite sides of the untopped beet 47 and having substantially vertical arm portions 15c, 15d pivotally mounted in bosses 40a, 40b fixed to the subframe member 12b. Radial arms 41a, 41b secured to the arm portions 15c, 15d are connected by a track rod 42 carrying steering bias springs 43a,43b for centralizing the steering. A further radial arm 44 secured to the arm portion 15c is connected to a steering control valve 45 by means of a turnbuckle 46 acting as a stroke adjuster. The valve 45 controls a steering ram 26 connected between the subframe members 12a, 12b, the valve and ram forming part of the tractor's hydraulic system.

In use, the feeler arms 15a, 15b of the row finder 15 are displaced conjointly to the right or left by engagement with one or both of the opposite sides of an untopped beet 47 or with the crown leaves of the beet which pass between them.

This displacement actuates the valve 45 through the linkage 44, 46 and act§ to maintain the unit 200 in alignment with the rows of beet by moving the subframe member 12b about the pivot 19a by means of the ram 26. In the three-row harvester shown the feeler arms 15a, 15b are associated with the middle one of the three rows.

The unit 200 also comprises three pairs of spring-loaded concave discs 27 carried at the leading end of subframe member 12b.

One pair of discs 27 is provided for each row of beets although only one pair is shown in Figure 2 as mentioned earlier. The discs, commonly called Coulter discs, are free running and serve to prevent trash build-up on spring-loaded topping knives 23, one knife being provided for each row.

They cut away loose plant material which would otherwise foul the arms 15, and form tracks for the knives 23.

A rotating light-weight drum 16 is associated with each knife 23, the drums having serrated surface and determining the crop topping depth of the knives. The knives 23 and drums 16 are carried by the subframe member 12b and the drums are hydraulically-driven from the power take-off 10a of the tractor 10 by a drive train having reference numerals 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22. The drive member 18 comprises a drive shaft having telescopic parts 18a, 18b and universal joints at its ends to enable the unit 200 to be pivoted on the bracket 11 about the pivot 11a. The numerals 19, 21, 22 denote conventional chain and sprocket drives and numeral 20 denotes a gear box.

Also mounted on the subframe member 12b are three sets of overlapping rubber flippers 24 secured to rotating shafts 25a driven by a shaft 25 from the shaft 18. A set of flippers 24 is provided for each row and the flippers serve to knock aside the cut tops of the beet 47.

The crop lifter/cleaner/loader unit 300 is of conventional construction and comprises a frame member 29 mounted on wheels 30 and attached to the tractor 10 by the pin and bracket mounting 28. The frame member 29 supports three conventional squeeze wheel crop lifters 32, one for each row of beet, and three rubber flippers 33 for diverting the topped beet 34 lifted by the wheels 32 onto a conveyor 35. The conveyor 35 may be of the chain type or be a belt conveyor with spaced apart high carbon steel cross rods, the conveyor also serving to clean the lifted crop. At the delivery end of the conveyor 35 the beet is engaged by a rotating spiked drum 36 and transferred onto a vertically-moving elevator 37 of the bucket type which lifts the beet to the desired height to deliver it into a collector trailer (not shown). The spiked drum 36 also acts as a cleaning drum in that it removes loose trash from the beet 34 before the beet is lifted by the elevator 37. Only a single conveyor 35 and elevator 37 is required for the three wheels 32 and flippers 33. In an alternative construction (not shown) the squeeze wheels are replaced by share type crop lifting means.

The elevator 37 is hydraulically-driven from the tractor power take-off 10a through a drive shaft 38 and chain drive 39. A drive take-off (not shown) from the mechanism 38, 39 serves to drive the conveyor 35 and spiked drum 36.

The unit 300 is automatically steered by a row finder comprising a Y-shaped feeler member 49 pivoted about a horizontal axis to a shaft 50 and biased by a spring 51 Into a ground-engaging and crop detecting position.

The shaft 50 is pivotally mounted on the frame member 29 and is rotated about a substantially vertical axis by the feeler member 49 when the latter is displaced sideways by engagement with a topped beet 34. The arms of the Y of the feeler member- 49 trail at ground level, in use, with the crotch of the Y being elevated above 2q the ground level so that misalignment of the unit 300 with the middle one of the three rows of beet causes a topped beet 34 to enter between the two arms of the Y off-centre and intercept one of the arms and thus displace the feeler member 49 sideways. The shaft 50 carries a radial arm 44a connected to a steering control valve 45a through a turnbuckle (not shown) acting as a stroke adjuster. The valve 45a controls a steering ram (not shown) connected between the tractor 10 and the frame member 29 to automatically steer the unit 300. - 8 42136 The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above which may be modified and varied without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

Claims (12)

1. I. A crop topper unit for topping a root crop and adapted for mounting on the front end of a tractor so that i't may be moved along rows of the root crop 5 for topping at least one row at a time, the topper unit comprising a main frame having first and second subframe members connected together by a pivot so that when the unit is mounted on the tractor the first and second subframe members may be moved relatively to 10 each other about a substantially vertical axis, the first subframe member being adapted for connection to a support means on the tractor by a pivot having a substantially horizontal axis, a lifting ram adapted for connection between the first subframe member and the said support 15 means for movement of the unit about the horizontal axis, crop topping means carried by the second subframe member, and an automatic steering mechanism carried by the main frame for steering the second subframe member along the row or rows,to be topped, the automatic steering mechanism 20 comprising a row finder having a pair of spaced feeler arms including substantially horizontal arm portions for engaging opposite sides of the untopped root crop of a row and the feeler arms also including substantially vertical arm portions pivotally mounted on the second 25 subframe member for movement about vertical axes, radial arms fixed to the said vertical arm portions, a track rod connecting the radial arms and provided with a spring engaging a fixed abutment for biasing the steering _ 1042136 mechanism to the central position, a further radial arm fixed to the vertical arm portion of one of the feeler arms, a link connecting the further radial arm to a steering control valve, and a steering ram controlled by the valve 5 and connected between the first and second subframe members, the steering mechanism functioning such that a lateral displacement of the horizontal arm portions of the feeler arms by engagement with a side or sides of an untopped root crop of a row causes the steering ram to 10 pivot the second subframe member relative to tne first subframe member to maintain the two feeler arms aligned with, either side of the row.
2. 2. A crop topper unit according to Claim 1, in which the crop topping means tops three rows at a time and the pair 15 of spaced feeler arms are adapted to engage the opposite sides of the untopped root crop of the middle row. ι
3. 3. A crop topper unit according to either preceding J claim, in which the said link is adjustable in length. i
4. 4. A crop topper unit according to Claim 3, in which the ί 20 said link comprises a turnbuckle. I
5. 5. A crop topper unit according to any preceding claim, in which the crop topping means comprises, for the or each row, a spring-loaded topping knife and a rotating ' drum with a serrated surface for determining the crop I I 25 topping depth of the associated knife. j
6. 6. A crop topper unit according to Claim 5, comprising, for the or each row, a set of rotating rubber flippers to 43136 knock aside the cut tops of the root crop.
7. 7. A crop topper unit according to Claim 5 or Claims 6, ih which the rotating drum or drums and/or the rotating set or sets of rubber flippers are driven hydraulically 5 from the power take-off of the tractor through a drive transmission.
8. 8. A drop topper unit according to Claim 7, in which the drive transmission includes a telescopic shaft provided at its ends with universal joints to permit the pivoted 10 movement of the unit about the said horizontal axis.
9. 9. A crop topper unit according to any one of Claims 5 to 8, in which a pair or pairs of spring-loaded concave discs is/are carried at the leading end of the second subframe member to prevent trash build-up on the topping 15 knife or knives, one pair of· discs being provided for each row.
10. 10. A crop topper unit for topping sugar beet constructed and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying 2o drawings.
11. 11. A harvester for root crops comprising a crop topper unit according to any preceding claim mounted on the front end of a tractor and a crop lifter/oleaner/loader unit connected to the rear.end of the tractor. 25
12. 12. A sugar beet harvester constructed and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings,