JP2015065893A - Series hybrid combine-harvester - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a combine-harvester which adopts a motor driven only by electric power directly supplied from a generator driven by an engine, and mounts an engine speed controller which realizes reduction of engine noise and suppression of fuel consumption by use of a smallest possible engine.SOLUTION: A series hybrid combine-harvester comprises: a travel unit 1 which causes a vehicle to travel by use of rotation power from a motor 82 driven by electric power supplied from a generator 81 driven by an engine output; and an agricultural working device W. The series hybrid combine-harvester comprises: an engine target speed calculation unit which calculate a target rotational number of an engine 80 on the basis of an operation position of a vehicle speed setting operation tool 66; an actual loading acquisition unit which acquires an actual loading of the engine 80; a reference engine rotational number calculation unit which calculates a reference engine rotational number from the actual loading on the basis of the reference engine output characteristics; and an engine command rotational number calculation unit which calculates an engine command rotational number on the basis of the target rotational number and the reference engine rotational number.

Description

  The present invention includes an engine, a generator driven by the output of the engine, a motor (electric motor) driven by electric power from the generator, a traveling device that causes the vehicle to travel by rotational power from the motor, The present invention relates to a hybrid combine provided with an engine control unit for controlling the output of the engine and a farm work device for harvesting crops.

  An engine for transmitting power to the traveling device, an electric motor, a generator for generating electric power by driving the engine, a battery for storing electric power generated by the generator for driving the electric motor, and the electric motor or the internal combustion engine or its A hybrid combine comprising a working device driven by both is known from US Pat. This hybrid combine selects either a charging mode in which the electric power generated by the generator is stored in the battery or an assist mode in which at least a part of the electric power stored in the battery is used as power for the work device. Can drive. In such a hybrid combine, since the electric motor driven by the electric power from the battery charged when the engine has sufficient capacity can supplement the engine output, a smaller engine can be used. As a result, reduction of combustion exhaust gas emissions and engine noise can be realized. However, a large-capacity battery required for accumulating engine surplus power as electric power and a control device for feeding / charging control of the battery increase a cost burden.

  An electric motor for driving and harvesting that drives a traveling device and a harvesting processing device that harvests and conveys the crops backward, an electric motor for threshing that drives a threshing device that threshs the harvested crops, and power generation driven by an engine A hybrid combine equipped with a machine is known from US Pat. In this combine, since each of a traveling apparatus, a cutting processing apparatus, and a threshing apparatus is driven with an electric motor, the outstanding drive characteristic which an electric motor has can be used effectively. However, as long as the conventional engine is mounted and the generator is driven by the engine, no effect can be expected in terms of reducing engine noise and fuel consumption. On the contrary, when the electric power from the generator obtained by driving the engine under the most fuel-efficient condition is stored in a large battery and the electric motor is fed from this battery, even if the fuel consumption can be suppressed, The cost of the battery itself and the cost of battery charging / power feeding control are significant burdens.

  In the field of passenger cars, parallel hybrids that switch between an engine drive mode that a traveling device gives to use rotational power from an engine and a motor drive mode that uses rotational power from a motor depending on the situation are widespread. However, the parallel hybrid has a problem that the power switching mechanism between the engine driving mode and the motor driving mode becomes complicated, and the cost of the power transmission mechanism (transmission) increases.

JP 2004-242558 A JP 2013-70642 A

  In view of the above circumstances, an engine that employs a motor driven only by electric power directly supplied from a generator driven by the engine and uses a small engine as much as possible to reduce engine noise and fuel consumption. There is a demand for a hybrid combine equipped with a rotational speed control.

  A series hybrid combine according to the present invention includes an engine, a generator driven by the output of the engine, a motor driven by electric power from the generator, a traveling device that causes the vehicle to travel by rotational power from the motor, and an operation In order to set the vehicle speed according to the position, a vehicle speed setting operation tool, an engine control unit for controlling the output of the engine, and a farm work device for harvesting crops are provided. Further, an engine target speed calculation unit that calculates a target engine speed based on an operation position of the vehicle speed setting operation tool, an actual load acquisition unit that acquires an actual load of the engine, and a reference engine output characteristic are used. A reference engine speed calculator that calculates a reference engine speed from the actual load, and calculates an engine command speed based on the target speed and the reference engine speed, and based on the engine command speed And an engine command rotational speed calculation unit that outputs an engine control command to the engine control unit.

  According to this configuration, based on the operation position of the vehicle speed setting operation tool operated by the driver, first, the engine target rotation speed suitable for motor driving for realizing the vehicle speed corresponding to the operation position is calculated. . Next, an output when the engine rotates at the calculated engine target speed is obtained as a calculation load from the reference engine output characteristics. At the same time, the engine speed that can correspond to the current actual load (engine output) acquired by the actual load acquisition unit is derived from the reference engine output characteristic as the reference engine speed. Further, the engine command rotational speed is calculated based on the engine target rotational speed and the reference engine rotational speed, and finally, an engine control command output to the engine control unit is generated based on the engine command rotational speed. In other words, after comparing the target engine speed, which is the engine speed required by the driver, with the reference engine speed, which is the engine speed suitable for the actual load at that time, the appropriate engine command speed is calculated. Is done. Thus, the engine is driven at an engine speed that enables engine control in consideration of energy saving while avoiding instability in running such as unexpected engine stall.

  Since the reference engine output characteristic is created from the engine output characteristic in consideration of energy saving, the engine operation considering energy saving is realized by using this reference engine speed. As a particularly preferable example of such a reference engine output characteristic, in the present invention, a reference output characteristic showing a load value lower than the maximum output characteristic curve defined by the engine speed and the maximum output at the engine speed by a certain value. A curve is proposed. Specifically, 40 to 50% of the maximum output is output in the vicinity of the idling rotation, 90 to 95% of the maximum output is output in the vicinity of the maximum rotation speed, and one curve is obtained by proportionally interpolating between them. This is a preferred example.

  Although energy saving is important, engine stall must be avoided. Therefore, it is preferable that the larger one is used as the engine command rotational speed by comparing the target rotational speed and the reference engine rotational speed.

  In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, a load calculating unit that calculates a calculation load from the target rotational speed using the reference engine output characteristic is provided, and a difference between the calculation load and the actual load is provided. In the case of a predetermined value or less, the target rotation speed is used as the engine command rotation speed. The output (calculation load) that can be expected when the engine is rotated at the calculated target rotational speed can be obtained from the reference engine output characteristics. Therefore, in this configuration, when such a calculation load is compared with the actual load, and the difference is equal to or less than a predetermined value, engine stall is unlikely to occur, so the calculated target rotation speed is directly used as the engine command rotation speed. Used as

  In order to derive the target rotation speed from the operation position easily and quickly, it is preferable that an operation position-speed map in which the target rotation speed is derived using the operation position as an input parameter is used in the target speed calculation unit. In general, in a work vehicle such as a combine, a plurality of operation modes different depending on the operation are prepared, and an operation state required by the operation mode, for example, a required engine output is different. Therefore, it is preferable for the optimization of driving that the target speed calculation unit uses different operation position-speed maps for each of the plurality of driving modes. For example, as an operation mode that affects engine output, it is stored in a grain tank, a road traveling mode that travels without performing harvesting work by a farming device, a work traveling mode that travels while harvesting work by the farming device, and a grain tank. An unloader working mode is available for discharging the cereal grains. By using an appropriate operation position-speed map in each operation mode, engine control considering energy saving and drivability becomes possible.

  In a crawler type traveling device that is frequently used in a combine, the road surface resistance generated during turning due to the speed difference between the left and right crawlers becomes very large. Therefore, a larger output is required for the motor during turning, and consequently, for the engine than when traveling straight. In order to cope with such a problem, in the embodiment in which the traveling device includes a left crawler traveling body and a right crawler traveling body that are driven independently from each other, the operation position-speed map is the same as the left crawler traveling body. It is preferable that the larger target rotational speed is derived as the driving speed difference with the right crawler traveling body is larger.

It is a schematic diagram explaining the basic principle of this invention. It is a schematic diagram explaining the two modifications of the basic principle by FIG. It is a whole side view of a combine which is one of the concrete embodiments of the present invention. It is a whole top view of a combine. It is a vertical side view of a threshing apparatus. It is a schematic diagram which shows the power transmission mechanism which supplies the rotational power from an engine to a handling cylinder and a selection part. It is a schematic diagram which shows the power transmission mechanism which supplies the rotational power from a motor to the crawler traveling body arrange | positioned at the left and right of a vehicle body width direction, and a cutting process part. It is a functional block diagram which shows a power control system. It is a schematic diagram explaining the flow of vehicle speed control. It is a graph which shows a standard engine output characteristic and a maximum output characteristic curve.

Before describing a specific embodiment of a series hybrid combine according to the present invention, the basic principle of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
Note that this series hybrid combine is a battery-less serial hybrid vehicle and cannot be driven by power from the battery, so it is fed by a generator that generates electricity with a constantly rotating engine. It travels with a motor.

  FIG. 1 schematically shows power transmission and power control in a series hybrid combine (hereinafter simply referred to as a combine or vehicle) of the present invention. The starting point of power transmission is an internal combustion engine, here a diesel engine (hereinafter simply referred to as an engine) 80. The rotational speed of the engine 80 is controlled by an engine control unit 86 that employs an electronic governor system, a common rail system, or the like. A generator 81 that generates electric power using rotational power output from the engine 80 is connected to the engine 80 serving as a rotational power source. The electric power output from the generator 81 is converted into electric power by the electric power converter 84 controlled by the electric machine control unit 85, and drives the motor 82 as another rotational power source. The rotation speed and torque of the motor 82 are controlled according to the power conversion by the power conversion unit 84. The end point of the power transmission is the farm work device W composed of a device for harvesting crops and the traveling device 1 for running the combine.

  The farm work apparatus W includes an engine drive work apparatus WE that receives power directly from the engine 80 and a motor drive work apparatus WM that receives power directly from the motor 82. The traveling device 1 is composed of a pair of left and right traveling bodies that are driven independently of each other. Here, a crawler type left crawler traveling body 1a and right crawler traveling body 1b are employed. Between the motor 82 and the traveling device 1, there is provided a power transmission mechanism 50A including a transmission capable of transmitting speed change power at different rotational speeds to the left crawler traveling body 1a and the right crawler traveling body 1b.

  The engine-driven work device WE that receives the rotational power directly from the engine 80 and the motor-driven work device WM that receives the rotational power from the motor 82 are configured so that all the agricultural work devices W receive the rotational power from the motor 82. This is because the capacity of the motor 82 is increased, and as a result, the capacity of the generator 81 is also increased, and the weight of the body becomes too heavy or the cost balance is deteriorated. The traveling apparatus 1 employs a configuration that receives rotational power from the motor 82 because rapid acceleration / deceleration is required. Therefore, an agricultural machine that requires a driving speed according to the vehicle speed as much as possible, for example, a mowing work device, is configured as a motor-driven work device WM.

  Setting of the vehicle speed including turning (steering) of the vehicle due to the speed difference between the left crawler traveling body 1a and the right crawler traveling body 1b is performed by a vehicle speed setting operation device operated by the driver. Here, a vehicle speed setting operation tool 66 and a steering operation tool 61 are shown as the vehicle speed setting operation device. Thus, the vehicle speed setting operation device may be configured by a plurality of operation tools including an operation tool for setting turning (steering) and an operation tool for setting the speed of the vehicle, or only a common single operation tool. You may comprise. The operation position of the vehicle speed setting operation tool 66 and the steering operation tool 61, the shift state of the power transmission mechanism 50A, the drive state of the farm work device W, and the like are detected by the positions of various sensors and various switches, and the vehicle is based on the detection signals. A state is detected. The vehicle state includes a traveling drive state relating to traveling such as straight traveling, turning traveling, and road traveling, information indicating a working driving state such as during cutting, before and after cutting, and grain discharge.

  In the combine configured as described above, when a load is applied to the motor 82, electric power corresponding to the load is supplied from the generator 81 to the motor 82, but the generator 81 generates such electric power. In addition, a load corresponding to that is applied to the engine 80. That is, the fact that the motor 82 is loaded means that the engine 80 is loaded. Basically, since the output of the engine 80 increases with the rotational speed, the engine 80 may be rotated at the rated maximum rotational speed, but fuel consumption increases. Therefore, here, a reference output characteristic curve showing a load value lower than the maximum output characteristic curve defined by the engine speed and the maximum output at the engine speed by a constant value is used as the reference engine output characteristic.

  Various control function units are built in the ECU that is the core of the electronic control of the combine. This will be described later together with specific embodiments.

  The actual load of the engine 80 that corresponds to the load applied to the motor 82 is calculated by a known method. For example, the actual load can be obtained from the engine load factor based on the engine drop amount that is the difference between the target rotational speed used by the engine control unit 86 for engine control and the actual rotational speed. Or you may obtain | require an actual load from the signal sent from the sensor group and switch group which detect a vehicle state.

Next, engine control related to the engine speed will be described below.
First, when the vehicle speed setting operation tool (first operation tool) 66 shown here as a stroke operation type is operated by the driver, the operation position in the operation stroke is detected. Although not shown in FIG. 1, using the operation position as an input parameter, a motor command rotational speed, which is a rotational speed required for the motor 82, is derived from a map or a calculation formula and sent to the electric machine control unit 85. The electric machine control unit 85 generates a control signal based on the received motor command rotational speed and outputs the control signal to the power conversion unit 84. As a result, the required power is supplied from the power conversion unit 84 to the motor 82, the motor 82 is driven, and the vehicle speed of the combine becomes the vehicle speed set by the vehicle speed setting operation tool 66.

  In that case, it is important that the generator 81 is rotated by the engine 80 so that necessary electric power is supplied to the motor 82. For this reason, the operation position of the vehicle speed setting operation tool 66 is also used for rotation control of the engine 80. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the target engine speed, which is the target engine speed, is calculated based on the operation position. Here, an operation position-speed map that derives the target rotational speed from the operation position is used.

  In the case of an agricultural work vehicle such as a combine, an agricultural field, a saddle road, and the like are the main traveling locations, and in particular, in an agricultural field, there are many U-turn travelings, and straight traveling and turning traveling are repeated. The traveling surface in the field has a large uneven traveling resistance, and in particular, the traveling resistance during turning is large. Thus, since the running resistance varies depending on the running situation, the load of the motor 82, that is, the load of the engine also varies. Using this fact, the engine load can be estimated. For example, from the viewpoint of engine load, the driving state of the traveling device 1 composed of a pair of left and right traveling bodies can be divided into a straight traveling mode, a turning traveling mode, and a road traveling mode. It can be divided into a working mode, a before / after cutting mode, and a grain discharging mode. Since the engine load (motor load) differs depending on each mode, an appropriate engine speed is determined in accordance with each mode using this fact. In particular, when the pair of left and right traveling bodies are formed as crawler traveling bodies such as the left crawler traveling body 1a and the right crawler traveling body 1b, a larger engine load is applied during turning traveling than during straight traveling. Therefore, it is necessary to drive the engine 80 at a higher rotational speed in the turning traveling mode than in the straight traveling mode.

  As an example for dealing with this problem, the above-described operation position-speed map is appropriately selected according to the operation position of the steering operation tool 61 that commands the speed difference (steering) between the left and right crawler traveling bodies. That is, as the operation position-speed map, an operation position-speed map for straight traveling and an operation position-speed map group for turning travel are prepared. The operation position-speed map group for turning traveling includes a plurality of operation position-speed maps for turning traveling that differ depending on the degree of turning such as sudden turning and slow turning. Note that the operation position-speed map is a multidimensional map in which the input parameters are the operation position of the vehicle speed setting operation tool 66 and the operation position of the steering operation tool 61, so that the operation position-speed map is unified or It can be expressed as an arithmetic expression.

  As is apparent from FIG. 1, when the engine target speed is derived, the calculation load: Pc is obtained from the engine target speed: T-RPM using the reference engine output characteristics. Further, the reference engine speed: R-RPM is obtained from the actual load: Pr using the same reference engine output characteristics.

When the target engine speed: T-RPM and the reference engine speed: R-RPM are obtained, the engine required to generate an engine control command to be output to the engine control unit 86 based on the two engine speeds. Command rotational speed: EC-RPM is calculated. One method of calculating the engine command speed: EC-RPM is a method in which the larger of the engine target speed: T-RPM and the reference engine speed R-RPM is set to the engine command speed: EC-RPM. is there. In other words, as shown in FIG. 1, when the calculation load: Pc is larger than the actual load: Pr, the engine target speed: T-RPM is adopted as the engine command speed: EC-RPM. On the other hand, when the actual load: Pr exceeds the calculation load: Pc, the reference engine speed R-RPM is adopted as the engine command speed: EC-RPM. Such an engine command rotational speed calculation method can be expressed as follows in terms of a program.
If Pr <Pc then EC-RPM = T-RPM,
If Pr> = Pc then EC-RPM = R-RPM.

Two variations of the engine command rotational speed calculation method are shown in FIG.
In the first modification, the difference between the actual load: Pr and the calculation load: Pc: Δ = Pr−Pc is different from the previous example in that the dead zone: s is introduced. As long as the difference: Δ is in the dead zone, the target engine speed: T-RPM is adopted as the engine command speed: EC-RPM. That is, the engine command rotational speed calculation method of the first modification can be expressed as follows in terms of a program.
If Δ <s then EC-RPM = T-RPM,
If Δ> = s then EC-RPM = R-RPM.

The second modification is different from the first modification in that the dead zone: the value of s is taken into consideration. Regardless of which of the actual load Pr and the calculation load Pc is large, as long as the difference Δ is within the dead zone, the engine target rotational speed T-RPM is adopted as the engine command rotational speed EC-RPM. When the difference between the actual load: Pr and the calculation load: Pc is greater than the dead zone, the reference engine speed R-RPM is adopted as the engine command speed: EC-RPM. That is, the engine command rotational speed calculation method of the second modification can be expressed as follows in terms of a program.
If −s <Δ <s then EC-RPM = T-RPM,
If Δ> = s then EC-RPM = R-RPM,
If Δ <−s then EC-RPM = R-RPM.

  Next, one specific embodiment of a series hybrid combine (hereinafter abbreviated as a combine) according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a side view of the combine, and FIG. 4 is a side view.

  The combine includes a crawler type traveling device 1 including a left crawler traveling body 1a and a right crawler traveling body 1b, and an airframe 2 supported by the traveling device 1 on the ground. A cutting processing unit 3 is disposed in the front of the machine body 2. At the rear of the machine body 2, a threshing device 4 and a grain tank 5 are arranged side by side in the machine body crossing direction on the left and right sides in the machine body advance direction. Further, a boarding operation unit 7 is disposed in front of the grain tank 5.

  The mowing processing unit 3 can swing up and down around the horizontal axis P1 by operating the cylinder CY. The crops harvested by the mowing processing unit 3 are threshed by the threshing device 4, and the grains obtained by the threshing device 4 are stored in the grain tank 5. The harvesting processing unit 3, the threshing device 4, and the boarding operation unit 7 are attached to a body frame 6 constituting the body 2.

  The harvesting processing unit 3 includes a harvesting unit 8 positioned at the front of the vehicle body, and a vertical conveyance device 9 as a crop conveyance unit that conveys the crops harvested by the harvesting unit 8 toward the rear upper side of the vehicle body. The vertical conveying device 9 conveys the harvested cereal meal backward and delivers it to the feed chain 18. The cutting unit 8 includes a weeding tool 10 for weeding the harvested culm, a pulling device 11 for causing the planted culm to fall in a standing position, and a clipper for cutting the planted culm planted It has a type mowing device 12.

  Further, the cutting processing unit 3 is supported by the body frame 6 so as to be swingable up and down around the horizontal axis P1, and the vehicle body so as to open the normal working posture located at the front of the body 2 and the vehicle body front side of the body 2. The posture can be changed around the vertical axis Y1 (see FIG. 4) over the maintenance posture retracted laterally outward.

  Further, the cutting unit frame 13 provided in the cutting processing unit 3 is supported around the horizontal axis P1 by the relay support member 15 supported by the left and right support members 14R and 14L provided upright from the body frame 6. Is supported so as to be swingable up and down. The relay support member 15 that supports the reaper part frame 13 is supported by the machine body 2 so as to be rotatable about a longitudinal axis Y1 on a support body 14L located on the left side. That is, as a result, the entire cutting processing unit 3 is supported by the body 2 so as to be swingable around the longitudinal axis Y1. As shown in FIG. 4, the longitudinal axis Y <b> 1 on which the harvesting processing unit 3 is rotated to change the posture is located on the outer side in the vehicle body width direction on the opposite side of the boarding operation unit 7 in the vertical transfer device 9. Located in.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the threshing apparatus 4 includes a threshing unit 16 that threshs the harvested cereal and a sorting unit 17 that sorts the processed product threshed by the threshing unit 16 into grains and dust. .

  In the threshing unit 16, the harvested cereal mash is conveyed in a sideways posture in which the stock side is sandwiched by the feed chain 18. Further, in the handling chamber 19 through which the head side of the harvested cereal rice cake passes, a handling cylinder 20 that performs a handling process on the tip side of the harvested grain rice cake by being rotationally driven around the longitudinal axis of the machine body, and this handling processing. A receiving network 21 is disposed for allowing the obtained processed material to leak downward. In addition, a dust feed port 22 is formed on the lower side of the receiving net 21 in the processed material transfer direction to allow the processed material that has not leaked through the receiving net 21 to flow downward toward the lower side (rear side) of the sorting unit 17. Has been.

  The sorting unit 17 is located below the threshing unit 16 and has a swing sorting mechanism 23 that swings and sorts the processed material leaked from the receiving net 21, a drive shaft 24a, and a tang ridge 24 that generates a sorting wind. A collection unit 27, a second collection unit 30 and the like are provided. The No. 1 recovery unit 27 recovers the selected grain (No. 1) and the right end of the recovered No. 1 by the No. 1 screw 25 arranged at the bottom along the vehicle body width direction (left and right direction). It is conveyed toward the lifting screw conveyor 26 that is connected in communication. The No. 2 recovery unit 30 recovers a mixture (No. 2) such as cereal grains and straw scraps, and the No. 2 screw 28 provided at the bottom of the recovered No. 2 along the lateral direction of the vehicle body. Is conveyed toward the second reduction device 29 connected to the right end thereof.

  In the swing sorting mechanism 23, a swing sorting case 33, a chaff sheave 34 for fine sorting disposed in the swing sorting case 33, a Glen sheave 35, a Strollac 36, and the like are placed. The swing sorting case 33 is driven by an eccentric crank mechanism 32 whose front side is supported by a swing arm 31 and whose rear side is rotationally driven. Thereby, the swing sorting case 33 swings back and forth. Glen sieve 35 sorts grain from the leaked processed material. The Strollac 36 swings and transfers the straw scraps backward.

  The 1st thing conveyed with the 1st screw 25 is pumped by the lifting screw conveyor 26, is supplied to the grain tank 5, and is stored. The second product conveyed by the second screw 28 is rethreshed by the second reduction device 29 and then lifted and reduced to the swing sorting mechanism 23.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a grain discharging device 37 that discharges the grains stored in the grain tank 5 to the outside is provided. The grain discharging device 37 includes a bottom screw 38, a vertical screw conveyor 39, and a horizontal screw conveyor 41. The bottom screw 38 is provided along the groove-shaped bottom 5 a at the lower part of the grain tank 5. The vertical screw conveyor 39 conveys the grain upward from the conveyance terminal end of the bottom screw 38. The horizontal screw conveyor 41 conveys the grains in the horizontal direction from the upper part of the vertical screw conveyor 39 and discharges the grains from the discharge port 40 at the tip to a truck bed (not shown).

  The raising / lowering position of the horizontal screw conveyor 41 is changed by expansion and contraction of the hydraulic cylinder 42 provided across the vertical screw conveyor 39 and the horizontal screw conveyor 41. Furthermore, the vertical screw conveyor 39 can be swung around the vertical axis Y2 by a swivel motor 43 provided in the lower part thereof.

  Between the bottom screw 38 and the vertical screw conveyor 39 and between the vertical screw conveyor 39 and the horizontal screw conveyor 41 are interlocked and connected by bevel gear mechanisms 44 and 45, respectively. Accordingly, these conveyors are integrally rotated when power is supplied to the input pulley 46 provided at the front end of the bottom screw 38. As a result, the grain in the grain tank 5 is carried out to the outside.

  Next, two power transmission mechanisms mounted on the series hybrid combine will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 shows a first power transmission mechanism that supplies rotational power from the engine 80 to the handling cylinder 20, the sorting unit 17, and the like. In FIG. 7, a traveling device 1 is composed of a left crawler traveling body 1 a and a right crawler traveling body 1 b that are provided with rotational power from an electric motor (hereinafter simply abbreviated as “motor”) 82 on the left and right in the vehicle body lateral direction. The 2nd power transmission mechanism supplied to the cutting processing part 3 is shown.

  The traveling transmission 47 included in the second power transmission mechanism is arranged in the lateral direction of the boarding operation unit 7 in the lateral direction of the vehicle body and transmits power to the pair of left and right traveling devices 1. As is clear from FIGS. 3 and 4, a travel cutting motor 82 that supplies power to the travel transmission 47 is disposed at a position below the operation unit step 48 in the boarding operation unit 7. The output shaft 49a of the motor 82 and the input shaft 49b of the traveling transmission 47 are interlocked and connected via a joint.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in the transmission case 47 of the traveling transmission 47, a gear-type reduction mechanism 53, a hydraulically operated and gear-meshing auxiliary transmission 54, and the left crawler traveling body 1a and the right crawler traveling. A turning transmission mechanism 55 for turning traveling due to a speed difference from the body 1b is provided. Further, power is transmitted from the traveling transmission 47 to the cutting processing unit 3. A one-way clutch 63 that transmits only power for forward travel and a belt tension type cutting clutch 64 that intermittently transmits power are interposed in the power transmission path.

  That is, the motor 82 is a power source for the traveling device 1 and the cutting processing unit 3. Although the output control of the motor 82 will be described later, the command rotational speed for the motor 82 based on the operation position of the stroke operation type main transmission lever 66 which is one of the vehicle speed setting operation tools provided in the boarding operation unit 7. Is calculated. That is, when the stroke operation type main transmission lever 66 is in the neutral position, the main transmission lever 66 is stopped, and the forward travel speed increases as the operation displacement of the main transmission lever 66 toward the front increases. The reverse travel speed increases as the displacement increases. The operation position of the main transmission lever 66 is detected by the stroke sensor S4.

  A negative brake 67 that brakes when the driving of the motor 82 is stopped is disposed at an end of the input shaft 49 b of the traveling transmission 47 opposite to the connection portion of the motor 82. The negative brake 67 is urged into a braking state by a spring (not shown), and releases the braking state against an urging force of the spring by an electric or hydraulic actuator. The negative brake 67 is controlled by the main electronic unit 100 to be in a braking state when the motor 82 is in an operation stop state (a state where no running torque is generated), and to a brake release state when the motor 82 is in an operation state. . When the negative brake 67 is switched from the braking release state to the braking state, the braking force is gradually increased and the impact during braking is suppressed.

  A transmission 47 of the power transmission mechanism 50A schematically shown in FIG. 8 incorporates a hydraulically operated and gear-engaged auxiliary transmission 54. The sub-transmission device 54 has two shift speeds (high speed speed and low speed speed) in order to create three speed states of high speed, medium speed, and low speed in combination with the speed switching of the motor 82 described later. Due to the speed change of the motor 82 and the two speed stages of the auxiliary transmission 54, a medium speed state can be adopted when cutting in a standard farm field, and when the crop is lying down or when the crop is in a deep wet field, When it is large, the low speed state can be adopted, and when traveling on the road, the high speed state can be adopted.

  The gear position of the auxiliary transmission 54 can be selected by a second operating tool 57 and a third operating tool 56 which are one of the vehicle speed setting operating tools provided in the boarding operation unit 7 (see FIG. 4). That is, the three speed states are selected according to the operation states of the second operation tool 57 and the third operation tool 56. In this embodiment, both the second operation tool 57 and the third operation tool 56 are formed as operation switches. In the combine, the second operation tool 57 is also called a cutting shift switch, and the third operation tool 56 is also called an auxiliary transmission switch.

  The turning transmission mechanism 55 includes a slow turning clutch 58 for transmitting deceleration power to one of the left crawler traveling body 1a and the right crawler traveling body 1b, a deceleration brake 59 for applying a braking force to either one, The steering clutch 60 etc. which switch the power transmission state with respect to either to a straight-ahead state and a turning state (a deceleration state or a braking state) are included.

  The turning transmission mechanism 55 is linked to an operation lever (see FIGS. 3 and 4) 61 provided in the boarding operation unit 7 as a steering operation tool. Depending on the inclination angle from the neutral position of the operation lever 61 in the left-right direction, a turn from the straight traveling state of the traveling machine body 2 to the right or left is created. A turning lever sensor S3 is provided to detect the inclination angle from the neutral position of the operation lever 61 to the left and right. That is, the turning degree of the combine is calculated based on the operation displacement of the operating lever 61, and the detection signal of the turning lever sensor S3 is used for calculating the turning degree. Therefore, the operation position signal of the turning lever sensor S3 is input to the main electronic unit 100 and used for steering control and the like. Although not described in detail, the operation lever 61 is swingable in the front-rear direction, and the lifting operation and the lowering operation of the cutting processing unit 3 are realized by the swinging operation in the front-rear direction.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the third operation tool 56 and the second operation tool 57 are momentary switches operated by the driver's finger, and the switch is turned on when the push operation is performed, and the switch is turned off when the push operation is performed again. In this embodiment, the third operating tool 56 is provided in the grip portion of the main transmission lever 66 that is one of the speed setting operating tools of the motor 82, and the second operating tool 57 is the grip portion of the operating lever 61. Is provided. Of course, the 3rd operation tool 56 and the 2nd operation tool 57 can also be provided in other positions, for example, a control panel etc. Operation state signals (switch signals) of the third operation tool 56 and the second operation tool 57 and an operation position signal of the main transmission lever 66 by the stroke sensor S4 are input to the main electronic unit 100, and will be described later. 82 and the auxiliary transmission 54 are used for control.

  Next, a first power transmission mechanism that supplies the rotational power from the engine 80 directly to the handling cylinder 20 and the sorting unit 17 will be described. As can be understood from FIGS. 5 and 6, the power system for the sorting unit 17 receives rotational power directly from the engine 80. At that time, on the other hand, the power from the engine 80 is transmitted to the sorting section 17, specifically, the drive shaft 24 a of the carp 24 through the belt tension type sorting on / off clutch 71. Further, power is transmitted from the drive shaft 24 a of the carp 24 to the first screw 25, the second screw 28, the swing sorting mechanism 23, the feed chain 18, and the like via the transmission belt 72.

  On the other hand, the power from the engine 80 is supplied to the grain discharging device 37, specifically the bottom screw 38, via the belt tension type discharging on / off clutch 73, the bevel gear mechanism 74, and the belt transmission mechanism 75. It is transmitted to an input pulley 46 provided at the front side end. By the power supplied to the input pulley 46, the bottom screw 38, the vertical screw conveyor 39, and the horizontal screw conveyor 41 (divided into the first horizontal screw conveyor 41a and the second horizontal screw conveyor 41b) are rotationally driven, As a result, the grain in the grain tank 5 is carried out to the outside. The sorting on / off clutch 71 is switched between the on state and the off state by a sorting clutch motor (not shown). The discharge on / off clutch 73 is switched between an on state and an off state by a discharge clutch motor (not shown).

  As schematically shown in FIG. 8, the output shaft 80 a of the engine 80 is connected to a power transmission mechanism 50 </ b> B that functions as a power supply mechanism to the threshing unit 16 and the grain discharging device 37, and generates power. The power generation rotary shaft 81a of the machine 81 is also connected. The generator 81 and the motor 82 are connected to the electric machine control unit 85 via the power converter 84. In this embodiment, the motor 82 is a known three-phase AC induction electric motor that is used as a motor for driving the vehicle. The power converter 84 includes a power generating inverter that converts AC power generated by the generator 81 into DC power, a converter that converts DC power converted by the power generating inverter into AC power suitable for the motor 82, and the like. Power electronics equipment is included. Based on a command from a main electronic unit (generally called an ECU) 100 that has built a control algorithm for appropriately controlling this power electronics device, the electric machine control unit 85 sends a control signal to the power converter 84. give.

  The engine control unit 86 controls the output (rotation speed and torque) of the engine 80 by changing the fuel supply amount to the engine 80 based on the command from the main electronic unit 100. In this embodiment, the signal from the engine rotation sensor S2 that detects the engine speed is sent to the engine control unit 86 and / or the main electronic unit 100 via the vehicle state detection unit 90. Of course, the signal from the engine rotation sensor S2, including other signals, may be sent directly without passing through the vehicle state detection unit 90.

  In this combine, the power supply line between the generator 81 and the motor 82 is not provided with a battery (including a large capacitor), so the motor 82 directly uses the power generated by the generator 81. For this reason, the engine stop directly leads to the stop of the generator 81 and consequently the stop of the motor 82. Therefore, in order to prevent an inadvertent engine stop, both energy saving and engine load are considered in a balanced manner. Need to perform engine control. In this embodiment, engine control is controlled by the engine control unit 86 in an electronic governor manner. The engine control unit 86 is either droop control that slightly decreases the engine speed as the load of the engine 80 increases, or isochronous control that maintains the engine speed constant regardless of the load of the engine 80. Thus, the engine 80 can be controlled.

  The work device control unit 87 is incorporated in the engine drive work device W1 that uses the rotational power of the engine 80 as it is and the motor drive work device W2 that uses the rotational power of the motor 82 based on a command from the main electronic unit 100. A control signal is given to operating devices such as a clutch operating device and a hydraulic cylinder. The vehicle state detection unit 90 performs preprocessing such as conversion processing on signals input from various switches and sensors as necessary, and transfers the signals to the main electronic unit 100.

  The main electronic unit 100 is connected to other ECUs such as an engine control unit 86, an electric machine control unit 85, a work device control unit 87, and a vehicle state detection unit 90 through an in-vehicle LAN. It should be noted that not only the main electronic unit 100 but also other ECUs are configured in an easy-to-understand manner for the purpose of explanation. Accordingly, in practice, each ECU may be appropriately integrated or may be appropriately divided. In this embodiment, the main electronic unit 100 constructs an engine management module 110, an electric appliance management module 120, a vehicle management module 130, and the like as those particularly related to the present invention by hardware and software (computer program). Yes.

  The engine management module 110 sends various engine control commands to the engine control unit 86 in order to interact with other management modules and adjust the output of the engine 80. The electric machine management module 120 also cooperates with other management modules and sends an electric equipment control command to the electric machine control unit 85 so that the generator 81 and the motor 82 are appropriately driven via the power conversion unit 84. Based on the information (signal / data) sent from the engine control unit 86, the electric machine control unit 85, the work device control unit 87, and the vehicle state detection unit 90, the vehicle management module 130 executes the traveling state and working state of this combine. Confirm and manage.

  In the vehicle management module 130 of FIG. 8, a vehicle state determination unit 13a is constructed. Based on various state detection signals acquired from the vehicle state detection unit 90, the vehicle state determination unit 13a drives the left crawler traveling body 1a and the right crawler traveling body 1b, and the cutting processing unit 3, the threshing device 4, and the grain. The driving state of the agricultural work apparatus W such as the grain discharging apparatus 37 is determined.

The control of the motor 82 by the electric machine management module 120 and the electric machine control unit 85 of the main electronic unit 100 will be specifically described.
The stroke operation position in the front-rear direction of the main transmission lever 66 operated by the driver is detected by the stroke sensor S4 as a speed setting signal and sent to the main electronic unit 100. Similarly, the left / right inclination angle of the operation lever 61 operated by the driver is detected by the turning lever sensor S3 as a turning degree calculation signal (steering operation position) indicating turning (steering) of the airframe 2. Are sent to the main electronic unit 100. The electric machine management module 120 controls the rotational speed of the motor 82, and consequently the driving speed of the left crawler traveling body 1a and the right crawler traveling body 2b, based on detection signals from the stroke sensor S4 and the turning lever sensor S3. Is given to the electric machine control unit 85.

  The electric machine management module 120 calculates a motor command rotation speed that is a control target rotation speed of the motor 82 based on the operation position of the main transmission lever 66 and the operation lever 61, and outputs an engine control command to the electric machine control unit 85. .

  The electric machine control unit 85 controls power electronics devices such as an inverter and a converter included in the power conversion unit 84 based on a command from the electric machine management module 120. At that time, the output of the generator 81 and the motor 82 is changed and adjusted by controlling on / off the switching transistors provided in the three phases (u phase, v phase, w phase).

  In this embodiment, the motor rotation speed setting unit 12c built in the electric appliance management module 120 is in the first relationship selected by the traveling state that is the first operation state of the second operation tool 57, or in the second operation state. A motor command rotational speed is assigned to the operation position of the main speed change lever 66 using the second relationship selected according to a certain work state. The first relationship is configured to be assigned a motor command rotational speed that is faster than the second relationship. However, the actual vehicle speed also depends on the operating state of the auxiliary transmission 54 as described below.

The speed setting of the traveling machine body 2 performed by the operation of the main transmission lever 66, the third operation tool 56, and the second operation tool 57, which is executed by the motor rotation speed setting unit 12c, will be described below with reference to FIG. The speed setting for the forward travel and the speed setting for the reverse travel are basically the same, and therefore, in order to simplify the description, only the forward travel is handled in this description.
First, it is assumed that the stroke operation position of the main transmission lever 66 is x, and the range taken by x (stroke operation range) is 0-100. Although the set speed of the motor 82 is assigned to an arbitrary stroke operation position: x, there are two types of assignment methods that can be switched by the second operation tool 57. In other words, if the set speed is s, the two allocation methods (first relation) are F (x) as the first relation (here function) and G (x) as the second relation (here function), The set speed of the motor 82 is
It can be represented by s = F (x) and s = G (x).
For example, when x = 0-100, the range taken by F (x) is 0-3000 rpm, and the range taken by G (x) is 0-1500 rpm, the second operation is performed at the same stroke operation position of the main shift lever 66. Depending on the operating state of the tool 57, the vehicle speed can be doubled or halved. Here, the two operating states of the second operating tool 57 are a working state (low speed) and a traveling state (high speed). In the working state, F (x) is selected, and in the traveling state, G (x) is Selected. Note that F (x) and G (x) are not limited to linear, and may be nonlinear. Further, in the main electronic unit 100, it may be handled as an arithmetic expression or a map (table).

Further, when the high speed stage and the low speed stage of the auxiliary transmission device 54 are combined, the following four items are selected depending on the operation state of the third operating tool 56 and the second operating tool 57 at any stroke operation position of the main transmission lever 66. Three different speed settings are realized (see table in FIG. 9).
(1) The speed assignment is the first relationship, and the auxiliary transmission 54 is a high speed stage.
(2) The speed assignment is the first relationship, and the auxiliary transmission 54 is in the low speed stage.
(3) The speed assignment is the second relation, and the auxiliary transmission 54 is the high speed stage.
(4) The speed allocation is the second relationship, and the auxiliary transmission 54 is in the low speed stage.
However, in this embodiment, since (2) is practically unnecessary, its use is omitted. That is, the transition from the speed setting states (1), (3), and (4) to the speed setting of (2) is prohibited. As a result, a high speed state in (1), a medium speed state in (3), and a low speed state in (4) can be realized.
The transition of these three speed states (high speed state, medium speed state, and low speed state) is schematically shown in FIG. That means
Transition A: In the low speed state, the second operating tool 57 is switched to shift from the low speed state to the high speed state.
Transition B: In the medium speed state, the second operating tool 57 is switched to shift from the medium speed state to the high speed state.
Transition C: In the high speed state, the second operating tool 57 is switched to shift from the high speed state to the medium speed state.
Transition D: In the medium speed state, the third operating tool 56 is switched to shift from the medium speed state to the low speed state.
Transition E: In the low speed state, the third operating tool 56 is switched to shift from the low speed state to the medium speed state.
It should be noted here that, in the transition A, the second operation tool 57 is switched from the second relationship to the first relationship by the switch operation and the auxiliary transmission device 54 is simultaneously switched from the low speed stage to the high speed stage. It is that.

  This combine is a battery-less serial hybrid vehicle, and since the vehicle cannot be driven by power from the battery, it is driven by a motor that is driven by power from a generator that is generating power by a constantly rotating engine. Run. Therefore, it must be avoided that the engine 80 is stopped due to overload or the like, but driving the engine 80 with an output more than necessary leads to deterioration of fuel consumption. From this, the engine management module 110 appropriately manages the operation of the engine 80 in consideration of the engine load. In order to achieve this object, the engine management module 110 adopts either the basic principle described with reference to FIG. 1 or the two basic principles (modified example 1 and modified example 2) described with reference to FIG. can do. Alternatively, it is possible to employ all of them or a partial combination thereof so that selection can be made therefrom. In this embodiment, the principle of Modification 1 of FIG. 2 is adopted. In any case, the engine management module 110 includes, as particularly relevant to the present invention, a reference engine speed calculation unit 11a, an engine command speed calculation unit 11b, an engine target speed calculation unit 11c, a load calculation unit 11e, an actual load. The acquisition unit 11f is mainly configured by a computer program.

  The engine target speed calculation unit 11 c calculates the target rotational speed of the engine 80 based on the operation positions of the main transmission lever 66 and the operation lever 61. The actual load acquisition unit 11 f acquires the actual load of the engine 80. The reference engine speed calculation unit 11a calculates the reference engine speed from the actual load using the reference engine output characteristic. The load calculation unit 11e calculates a calculation load using the reference engine output characteristic from the target rotational speed calculated by the engine target speed calculation unit 11c. The engine command rotational speed calculation unit 11b calculates the engine command rotational speed based on the target rotational speed and the reference engine rotational speed described above, and the actual load and calculation load, and outputs an engine control command based on the engine command rotational speed. Output to the engine control unit 86.

  The engine command rotational speed calculation unit 11b in this embodiment calculates the engine command rotational speed based on the principle of the first modification of the engine command rotational speed calculation method described with reference to FIG. Therefore, the description thereof is omitted here. Further, the calculation of the target engine speed, the reference engine speed, the calculation load, and the actual load, which is executed prior to that, is performed using the reference engine output characteristic graph illustrated in FIG. In FIG. 10, the reference output characteristic curve indicating the reference engine output characteristic is indicated by a dotted line, and the maximum output characteristic curve of the engine 80 is indicated by a solid line. This reference output characteristic curve is defined to be 1150 rpm when the load factor with respect to the maximum output characteristic curve is less than 45%, and 2300 rpm when the load factor is 90% or more. Interpolated by the method.

[Another embodiment]

(1) In the above-described embodiment, the traveling device 1 is composed of a crawler traveling body composed of the left crawler traveling body 1a and the right crawler traveling body 1b. May be adopted.
(2) The third operation tool 56 and the second operation tool 57 may be configured by an operation lever operated by a driver and a sensor that detects an operation displacement of the operation lever.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be applied to a self-removal type or a normal type combine in which crops are harvested and threshed as the vehicle body travels.

1: Traveling device 1a: Left crawler traveling body 1b: Right crawler traveling body 2: Airframe (traveling airframe)
3: reaping processing unit 4: threshing device 5: grain tank 7: boarding operation unit 8: reaping unit 12: reaping device 16: threshing unit 17: sorting unit 37: grain discharging device 54: auxiliary transmission device 56: third Operation tool 57: Second operation tool 61: Operation lever (steering setting operation tool)
66: Main transmission lever (first operation tool: vehicle speed setting operation tool)
80: Engine 81: Generator 82: Motor (electric motor)
84: Power conversion unit 85: Electric control unit 86: Engine control unit 87: Work device control unit 90: Vehicle state detection unit 100: Main electronic unit 110: Engine management module 11a: Reference engine speed calculation unit 11b: Engine command rotation Number calculation unit 11c: Engine target speed calculation unit 11e: Load calculation unit 11f: Actual load acquisition unit 11d: Load estimation unit 120: Electricity management module 12c: Motor rotation speed setting unit 130: Vehicle management module 13a: Vehicle state determination unit WE : Engine-driven work device WM: Motor-driven work device S2: Engine speed sensor S3: Swivel lever sensor S4: Stroke sensor

Claims (8)

An engine, a generator driven by the output of the engine, a motor driven by the electric power from the generator, a traveling device for traveling the vehicle by rotational power from the motor, and a vehicle speed corresponding to the operation position are set. A series hybrid combine comprising a vehicle speed setting operation tool, an engine control unit for controlling the output of the engine, and a farm work device for harvesting crops,
An engine target speed calculator for calculating a target engine speed of the engine based on the operation position;
An actual load acquisition unit for acquiring an actual load of the engine;
A reference engine speed calculator for calculating a reference engine speed from the actual load using a reference engine output characteristic;
An engine command rotational speed calculation unit that calculates an engine command rotational speed based on the target rotational speed and the reference engine rotational speed, and outputs an engine control command based on the engine command rotational speed to the engine control unit;
Series hybrid combine equipped with.   The series hybrid combine according to claim 1, wherein the target rotational speed is compared with the reference engine rotational speed, and the larger one is used as the engine command rotational speed.   A load calculating unit that calculates a calculation load from the target rotation speed using the reference engine output characteristic is provided, and when the difference between the calculation load and the actual load is a predetermined value or less, the target rotation speed is the engine command The series hybrid combine according to claim 1 or 2, which is used as a rotational speed.   The series hybrid combine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the engine target speed calculation unit includes an operation position-speed map for deriving the target rotational speed from the operation position. Different driving states of the vehicle are defined by a plurality of driving modes,
The series hybrid combine according to claim 4, wherein the engine target speed calculation unit uses a different displacement-speed map for each of the plurality of operation modes.   The operation mode includes a road traveling mode for traveling without performing a harvesting operation by the agricultural work device, a work traveling mode for traveling while performing the harvesting operation by the agricultural work device, and the grains stored in the grain tank are discharged. The series hybrid combine according to claim 5, wherein an unloader working mode is included.   The traveling device includes a left crawler traveling body and a right crawler traveling body that are driven independently of each other, and the operation position-speed map has a large driving speed difference between the left crawler traveling body and the right crawler traveling body. The series hybrid combine according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the series hybrid combine is configured to derive the target rotational speed that is as large as possible.   The reference engine output characteristic is a reference output characteristic curve showing a load value lower than a maximum output characteristic curve defined by an engine speed and a maximum output at the engine speed by a constant value. The series hybrid combine described in one item.

Images