JP2006121952A - Combine harvester - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve unstabilization of automatic control in state of lodging cereal stems. <P>SOLUTION: The subject combine harvester has a tavelling apparatus 2 having a lateral pair of crawlers 3 and a reaping unit 5 set in front of the travelling apparatus 2 and reaping and transporting the cereal stems in a farm field. The reaping unit 5 is constituted to travel while correcting a direction by an automatic direction controlling mechanism S to pass each grass unit 10 through a cereal space between a cereal line K and another cereal line K in the farm field. The automatic direction controlling mechanism S recognizes the cereal line K of the cereal stems already cut by the reaping unit 5 by an image taken by a backward photo-taking photographic appliance 15 set in an arbitrary spot in the rear of a machine body such as a threshing device 4, a grain tank 6, or the like, and carries out the direction control by detecting deviation of the cereal line K from the machine body. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention particularly relates to directional control of a combine.

Conventionally, a configuration is provided in which a cutting unit is provided in front of a traveling device having a pair of left and right crawlers, and the traveling direction of the aircraft is corrected by a signal from a direction sensor that comes into contact with the grain culm provided in the cutting unit. It is known (see Patent Document 1).
Conventionally, a configuration in which a rear photographing device for photographing the rear of the aircraft is provided at the rear of the aircraft, and an image of the rear photographing device is displayed on a monitor of the control unit is known (see Patent Document 2).
JP-A-9-47110 JP-A-11-113362

Among the known examples, the former is a method of counting the number of times the sensor is touched by traveling a predetermined distance while the sensor is in contact with the rice straw in the field, and measuring how the machine is displaced. In this case, there is a problem that accurate direction control cannot be performed because the middle part of the lodging cereal other than the original strain of the cereal that contacts the sensor contacts the sensor.
Of the known examples, the latter only visually recognizes the rear of the aircraft with a monitor and cannot correct the traveling direction.
The present application is intended to enable an automatic direction control mechanism even in a situation difficult with a contact-type direction sensor.

The present invention includes a traveling device 2 having a pair of left and right crawlers 3 and a reaping portion 5 that harvests and conveys cereal grains in the field provided in front of the traveling device 2, and the reaping portion 5 is a field stock. The automatic direction control mechanism S is configured to travel while correcting the direction so that each weed body 10 passes between the stocks between the row K and the stock row K, and the automatic direction control mechanism S is configured with the threshing device 4 or From the image taken by the rear photographing equipment 15 provided at the rear part of an arbitrary body such as the Glen tank 6, the reaping line K which has already been cut by the reaping part 5 is recognized, and the deviation between the line K and the body is detected. The combine is configured to detect and control the direction, and when the weeding body 10 of the cutting unit 5 is aligned between the strains between the strains in the field and travels a predetermined distance, the cutting unit 5 cuts off. Grain line K appears in the rear of the aircraft, 15, the control unit 16 recognizes the stock row K of the cereals that the cutting unit 5 has already cut, and detects the deviation θ between the stock row K and the machine body. Control is performed to automatically correct the traveling direction of the aircraft, and the vehicle travels.
In the present invention, the rear photographic equipment 15 is a combiner configured to be able to send a rear image signal to the display monitor 20 provided in the control unit 7, and the rear photographic equipment 15 is switched by a display changeover switch. The aircraft rear image is displayed on the display monitor 20 provided in the control unit 7 based on the information, and the operator visually recognizes the state of the rear of the aircraft.
The present invention is a combine configured to discriminate the amount of subsidence of the crawler 3 from the aircraft rear image signal of the rear photographing equipment 15 and to change the output value of the direction correction based on the result. The subsidence amount of the crawler 3 is discriminated from the aircraft rear image signal of the equipment 15, and the direction correction output value is changed according to the result.
The present invention is a combine that is configured not to perform automatic direction control when it is determined that the horizontal cutting is performed based on the rear image signal of the aircraft body of the rear photographing equipment 15. Recognizing the difference in image density caused by the width of the interval and the like, it discriminates between row cutting and side cutting, and when it is determined that side cutting, the direction control is automatically stopped.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, even when the direction cannot be controlled by a contact-type direction sensor such as a fallen cedar, the traveling direction can be automatically controlled, so that the working efficiency can be improved and the control accuracy can be improved.
In the invention of claim 2, while making it possible to visually recognize the state of the rear of the machine body by the display monitor 20, it is possible to perform two of the rear visual recognition and the direction control by the image from one rear photographing equipment 15, and has a rational configuration, Can be cheap.
In the invention of claim 3, the direction control accuracy in the wet field can be improved.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to perform the on / off control of the direction automatically by performing the determination of the horizontal cutting of the strips with the rear photographing equipment 15 and improve the operability.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Reference numeral 1 denotes a combiner body frame, 2 a traveling device having a pair of left and right crawlers 3, 4 a threshing device provided above the body frame 1, and 5 a front side of the threshing device 4. The reaping part 6 is provided with a grain tank 6 provided at the side of the threshing device 4, 7 is a control part provided in front of the grain tank 6, and 8 is a driver's seat.
The mowing unit 5 is a well-known one, and although details are omitted, a weeding body 10 is provided at the foremost position, and a pulling device pulling device that causes cereals that have been weeded by the weeding body 10 on the rear side of the weeding body 10. A cutting blade for cutting the root of the raised culm is provided on the rear side of the pulling device, and a cereal conveying device (not shown) is provided behind the cutting blade to convey the chopped culm. .

Thus, the traveling device 2 controls the rotation transmitted to the left and right crawlers 3 to change the direction. However, the cutting unit 5 allows each weed body 10 to pass between the stocks between the stocks in the field. First, the weed body 10 is configured to travel a predetermined distance between the plants, and then advance by the automatic direction control mechanism S in accordance with the strain K of the field.
The automatic directional control mechanism S is used for the cereals that have already been cut by the reaping unit 5 based on the images taken by the rear photographic equipment (camera / CCD) 15 provided at the rear of any combine such as the threshing device 4 or the Glen tank 6. It is configured to recognize the stock line K, detect a deviation between the stock line K and the body (herbaceous body 10), and control the direction of the body.
That is, FIG. 3 omits the threshing device and the like and displays the left and right crawlers 3 as the airframe, and the straight line shown in FIG. 3 is the airframe direction line L serving as a reference of the airframe traveling direction. Direction control is performed by detecting a shift θ between L and an arbitrary stock row K in the stock row K photographed by the rear photographing equipment 15 and correcting this shift θ (FIG. 4).
Therefore, in the conventional corn straw contact-type direction sensor, in the case of the fallen cereal, it was not easy to distinguish between the stock line K and the tip of the fallen cereal, and the direction control was incorrect. Accurate direction control is possible even in the case of a fallen cereal.
Reference numeral 16 denotes a control unit.

In this case, the straight line direction formed by the stock line K in the set section of the plurality of stock lines K is calculated, and the direction is corrected so as to reduce the deviation θ between the straight line and the machine direction line L.
In this case, when direction control is performed so as to correct the deviation θ from the stock line K that is closest to the uncut land among the multiple stock lines K in the crossing direction with respect to the aircraft traveling direction, a cutter device that will be described later The discharge area of the cutting waste discharged by 18 can be widened (FIG. 5), which is preferable.

  Thus, when the rear photographing equipment 15 is configured to be able to send the rear image signal to the display monitor 20 provided in the control unit 7, the rear photographing equipment 15 can obtain the rear image and the direction control image signal. As a result, it becomes a rational configuration and can be made inexpensive.

Further, by determining the amount of subsidence of the crawler 3 from the rear image signal of the rear imaging equipment 15 and changing the output value of the direction correction according to the result, the direction control accuracy in the wet field can be improved. It is possible and suitable.
For example, in the case of a dry paddy, the cut rice cake is diffused over the entire surface as shown in FIG. 5, but in the wet paddy field, a picture 21 is taken after the step of the crawler 3 as shown in FIG.
That is, while traveling in the field, the slip rate of the left and right crawlers 3 differs depending on the state of the field, and the body turns from straight traveling or the turning radius changes. Since the output value of the direction correction can be changed by discriminating the subsidence amount of 3, the direction control accuracy can be improved.

Therefore, the direction control by the rear image signal of the rear photographing equipment 15 is performed at the time of so-called trimming, and when it is determined that the horizontal cutting is performed by the rear image signal of the rear photographing equipment 15, the control by the automatic direction control mechanism S is performed. Is not performed (off).
That is, the stock row K is more likely to be disturbed by the horizontal cutting compared to the row cutting, and the direction control by the rear photographing equipment 15 is difficult, so the automatic direction control is automatically stopped without performing the control by the automatic direction control mechanism S.
Therefore, every time one side of the grain culm group in the field is cut, transition between row cutting and side cutting is performed. At this time, it is not necessary to perform switching operation one by one, and the horizontal row determination is automatically performed in the rear photographing equipment 15. In addition, since the direction control is automatically performed when the line is cut, the operability is improved.

Thus, although the cutter device 18 for cutting the threshed waste after the threshing device 4 is provided, the cutting device 18 makes a stock line K that is not continuous in the strip direction, and this rear photographing equipment 15 The direction is automatically corrected by the deviation θ between the image recognition and the machine direction line L.
Therefore, it is possible to make an already cut stock row K on which the cutting bar does not ride reliably, and to automatically correct the direction by the deviation θ between the image recognition of the stock row K and the machine direction line L.

In this case, if the stock line K that is not continuous in the direction of the line is the leftmost line in the aircraft traveling direction (FIG. 8), not only will the automatic direction control be ensured, but also this rear shot will be performed in the next cutting operation. The cuttings can be diffused on the stock line K for image recognition of the equipment 15, and as a result, the cuttings can be uniformly distributed throughout the field.
That is, the automatic directional control is performed by the single stock row K, and the cutting rod is placed on the stock row K at the time of the next cutting operation, so that the entire surface can be dispersed.

Thus, the front photographing device 23 is provided at an arbitrary location such as the cutting unit 5 or the control unit 7, and the front leftmost row stock K is recognized by the front photographing device 23, and a plurality of the front photographing devices 23 are used. The straight line direction formed by the stock line K in the set section of the stock line K is calculated, and the deviation θ between the straight line direction of the stock line K calculated by both the rear photographing device 15 and the front photographing device 23 and the body direction line L is measured. The direction is corrected so as to reduce the deviation θ.
Therefore, it is possible to perform direction control by high-accuracy image recognition.

Thus, each of the rear photographing equipment 15 and the front photographing equipment 23 calculates the linear direction formed by the stock line K in the set section of the multiple stock lines K, and is calculated by both the rear photographing equipment 15 and the front photographing equipment 23. The direction is corrected so that the deviation θ between the stock line K and the airframe direction line L is reduced with reference to the stock line K having the larger deviation θ with respect to the airframe direction line L in the linear direction of the stock line K. To do.
Therefore, it is possible to perform direction control by high-accuracy image recognition.

The side view of a combine. Block Diagram. The cutting state top view before direction correction. The cutting state top view after direction correction. A plan view of the dry rice harvest. FIG. Cross section of a wetland. Cutting plan view. The side view of a combine. Block Diagram. The cutting state top view before direction correction.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Airframe frame, 2 ... Traveling device, 3 ... Crawler, 4 ... Threshing device, 5 ... Mowing part, 6 ... Glen tank, 7 ... Control part, 8 ... Driver's seat, 10 ... Herbaceous body, 15 ... Rear photography equipment, 16 ... Control unit, 18 ... Cutter device, 20 ... Display monitor, 21 ... Waddle, 23 ... Front photography equipment.

Claims (4)

A traveling device 2 having a pair of left and right crawlers 3, and a harvesting unit 5 that harvests and conveys cereal grains in the field provided in front of the traveling device 2, and the harvesting unit 5 includes a field stock K and a stock The automatic directional control mechanism S is configured to travel while correcting the direction so that each weed body 10 passes between the lines between the rows K. The automatic directional control mechanism S includes the threshing device 4 or the Glen tank 6 or the like. From the image taken by the rear photographic equipment 15 provided at the rear part of any machine body, the reaping line 5 recognizes the cereal line K that has already been cut, and detects the deviation between the line K and the body. A combine configured to perform control. The combine according to claim 1, wherein the rear photographing equipment 15 is configured to be able to send a rear image signal to the display monitor 20 provided in the control unit 7. 3. The combine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the combiner is configured to determine the amount of subsidence of the crawler 3 from the rear image signal of the airframe of the rear photographing equipment 15, and to change the output value of direction correction according to the result. 4. A combine according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein automatic direction control is not performed when it is determined that a side cut is to be made based on a rear image signal of the airframe of the rear photographing equipment 15.

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