JP2758294B2 - Combine cutting height control device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pair of left and right traveling devices, a pair of body lifting / lowering driving means for vertically driving the grounding portion of each of the traveling devices, and a cutting unit lifting / lowering drive for driving a cutting unit up and down. Means relate to a combine cutting height control device provided in an airframe.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When cutting crops that have been grained from a portion very close to the ground, such as soybeans, it is necessary to cut the crop as close to the ground as possible so as not to generate uncut waste. Conventionally, in a conventional combine harvester for harvesting such crops, a grounding-type sensor (cutting height detecting means) is provided in the cutting unit, and based on the detection signal, the cutting unit adjusts the ground height of the cutting unit to a predetermined value. Height control for driving up and down was performed.

[0003] The combine is usually provided with a pair of right and left traveling devices such as a crawler traveling device, and is provided with a body lifting / lowering driving means for vertically driving the grounding portions of each of the traveling devices. Thus, the level of the aircraft can be maintained even when the ground is inclined.

[0004]

In the case of the above-mentioned relatively small-sized ordinary combine, the weight ratio of the mowing portion to the total weight is large. Therefore, if the reaping unit is frequently moved up and down for the purpose of controlling the cutting height, the machine body shakes greatly, which adversely affects running stability and riding comfort.

Therefore, it is conceivable to perform the mowing control by controlling the body elevating drive means for elevating the pair of right and left traveling devices. However, since only the elevating of the traveling device does not provide the necessary elevating stroke of the reaper,
It is necessary to use together with a mowing unit raising / lowering driving means for raising and lowering the body of the mowing unit. However, the simultaneous parallel driving of both lifting and lowering driving means has drawbacks in terms of hydraulic power limitations and compatibility with hydraulic circuits of conventional models.

Therefore, for example, the body lifting drive means is preferentially driven, and when the ground height of the reaper does not reach a predetermined value even when the driving range is reached, the reaper lifting drive means is moved to the body. A method of driving the lifting drive means in a direction to release the limit state may be considered. However, in this case, the control is discontinuous, and the control is delayed since the body lifting drive unit drives the mowing unit lifting drive unit only after reaching the limit of the operation range.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object the purpose of controlling the cutting height by using both the machine lifting / lowering driving means and the mowing unit lifting / lowering driving means. An object of the present invention is to avoid a control delay caused by reaching a limit of an operation range.

[0008]

The cutting height control device of the combine according to the present invention is characterized by a pair of right and left traveling devices, and a pair of body lifting / lowering driving means for vertically driving the grounding portions of each of the traveling devices. A mowing unit lifting / lowering driving unit that drives the mowing unit up / down is provided on the body, and the mowing height detecting unit that detects the ground height of the mowing unit is separated in the left-right direction of the mowing unit. A plurality is provided, and monitoring means for monitoring the current position of the body lifting drive means with respect to the drive range is provided, based on detection values from the plurality of cutting height detection means, and detection values from the monitoring means. The ground height of the reaping unit becomes a predetermined value, the reaping unit is substantially parallel to the ground, and the left and right
Intermediate value of current position for each drive range
However , a control means configured to control the body lifting drive means and the mowing unit lifting drive means is provided so as to maintain a substantially intermediate position in the drive range.

[0009]

According to the above-mentioned characteristic configuration, the control means, based on the detection values from the plurality of cutting height detection means provided apart from the cutting unit in the left-right direction and the detection values from the monitoring means, The ground height of the reaping unit becomes a predetermined value, the reaping unit is substantially parallel to the ground, and the right and left
The vehicle body elevating drive unit and the mowing unit elevating drive unit are controlled such that an intermediate value of the current position with respect to each drive range of the moving unit maintains an approximately intermediate position of the drive range.

[0010]

As described above, since the body lifting drive means does not reach the limit of the operating range, the control of the body lifting drive means and the mowing unit lifting drive means can be performed while avoiding the control delay in the limit state. Can obtain a large lifting stroke as compared with a case where the sole is operated alone, and can realize a smooth mowing control in which the mowing part follows the unevenness of the ground.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the general type combine shown in FIG. 10 will be schematically described. A pair of left and right crawler traveling devices 2L and 2R is provided at the lower part of the body 1 of the combine, a reaper 3 is provided in front of the body 1, and a threshing unit 4 is provided at the upper part of the body 1.

The ground contacting portion of the left crawler traveling device 2L is driven up and down by a body lifting drive unit (hereinafter referred to as a body lifting cylinder) 5L composed of a hydraulic cylinder or the like provided on the body 1. Similarly, the right crawler traveling device 2R
Is driven by the body lifting cylinder 5R. That is, the grounding portions of the left and right crawler traveling devices 2L and 2R can be individually driven up and down with respect to the machine body 1.

The cutting unit 3 includes a rotary scraping reel 3a for scraping crops such as soybeans, a clipper-type cutting device 3b,
Auger 3 that moves the harvested crop from the left and right to the approximate center
c, a feed conveyer 3d for conveying the crop upward, a rotary beater 3e for discharging the conveyed crop onto the supply conveyor 4a of the threshing unit 4, and the like. The reaping unit 3 is mounted such that the rear portion is pivotally attached to the machine body 1 with a horizontal axis P1 and the front portion is driven up and down by a reaping unit lifting / lowering driving means (hereinafter referred to as a reaping unit lifting / lowering cylinder) 6.

A grounding type sensor as a cutting height detecting means for detecting the height of the cutting unit 3 with respect to the ground is provided behind the cutting device 3b. More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a pair of left and right bent plate members 7L and 7R and potentiometers 8L and 8R are provided. Plate members 7L, 7
R has a front portion rotatably supported around a horizontal axis P2,
Swing up and down with the rear part touching the ground.

The potentiometers 8L and 8R are connected to the plate member 7
The rotation angles of the L and 7R around the horizontal axis P2 are converted into resistance values. Therefore, the ground height of the horizontal axis core P2, that is, the ground height of the reaper 3 can be detected from the resistance values of the potentiometers 8L and 8R. Moreover, the left and right plate members 7L,
7R swings independently, and the respective rotation angles, that is, the heights to the ground, can be separately detected from the left and right potentiometers 8L and 8R.

That is, two grounding type sensors are provided in a state of being separated from each other in the left-right direction of the mowing unit 3, and based on the detection information, not only the ground height of the mowing unit 3 but also the ground parallelism is detected. It is configured to be able to. FIG.
Reference numeral 19 in 1 denotes a hydraulic cylinder that lifts and holds the plate members 7L and 7R when it is not necessary to detect the ground height.

The threshing unit 4 comprises a supply conveyor 4a, a threshing rotor 4b, a sorting device 4c and the like. The crop supplied from the supply conveyor 4a is threshed by the threshing rotor 4b or the like, and is sorted by the sorting device 4c. Sorted processed grains (first thing)
Are collected from the screw auger 4d the most. The processed material (No. 2) mixed with immature grains and straw chips is further wrung out by the No. 2 processing rotor 4e, sorted and collected from the No. 2 screw auger 4f.

Next, the cutting height control will be described. The cutting height control here is a control in which the ground height of the cutting unit 3 is a predetermined value and the cutting unit 3 is substantially parallel to the ground. As shown in FIG. 1, a control device H using a microcomputer is provided, and the cutting height is controlled by controlling the driving of the body lifting cylinders 5L, 5R and the mowing unit lifting cylinder 6 based on detection information from a grounding sensor or the like. Control. Note that the control device H also manages traveling control, threshing control, and the like, but FIG. 1 shows only the cutting height control for simplification.

The control device H includes detection information hsl and hsr from the grounding type sensors (potentiometers) 8L and 8R, and detection information m from the crawler height sensors 9L and 9R.
sl and msr are also input. Crawler height sensor 9L,
9R is a potentiometer provided on each of the left and right body lifting cylinders 5L and 5R.
This corresponds to monitoring means for monitoring the current position of the L, 5R drive range. Each detection information hsl, hsr, msl, msr, which is a voltage corresponding to the resistance value of the potentiometer,
The data is input to the control device H and converted into an 8-bit digital value.

As shown in FIG. 1, the output signal relating to the cutting height control of the control device H includes a signal HUP for driving the cutting unit lifting cylinder 6 to raise the cutting unit 3 and a signal HDN for lowering the cutting unit 3 as well. , Aircraft lifting cylinder (left)
Signal MLU for driving 5L to raise reaper 3
P, a signal MLDN for lowering, a signal MRUP for driving the body lifting cylinder (right) 5R to raise the mowing unit 3, and a signal MRDN for lowering the same.
Is output.

As shown in FIG. 1, the mowing section lifting cylinder 6 and the machine body lifting cylinders 5L, 5R
Is also used. The hydraulic circuit is configured such that the drive of the mowing unit elevating cylinder 6 has priority. In other words, when the solenoid valve 11 for switching the machine body lifting / removing section ascending by the signal HUP is excited to the upside of the mowing section, that is, when the cutting section elevating cylinder 6 is driven to rise, the oil is supplied to the body elevating electromagnetic valve 12, 13 does not flow, so that the body lifting cylinders 5L and 5R cannot be driven.

When the solenoid valve 11 for switching the machine body up / down / cutting section ascending is excited to the machine body up / down side, oil flows to the machine body elevating solenoid valves 12 and 13, so that the machine body up / down cylinder 5L is driven by the signal MLUP or the signal MLDN. Can be moved up and down with respect to the body 1 of the left crawler traveling device 2L. Similarly, the ground lift of the right crawler traveling device 2R can be raised and lowered with respect to the body 1 by driving the body lifting cylinder 5R by the signal MRUP or the signal MRDN. The lowering of the mowing unit lifting / lowering cylinder 6 is performed by exciting the mowing unit lowering solenoid valve 14.

[0023] The input-output configuration as described above, the control unit H is grounded sensor 8L, detection information hsl from 8R,
hsr, the ground height of the reaping unit 3 is set to a predetermined value, and the reaping unit 3 is made substantially parallel to the ground, and the detection information m from the crawler height sensors 9L and 9R.
left and right airframe lifting cylinders 5L based on sl and msr ,
The machine body lifting cylinders 5L and 5R and the mowing unit lifting cylinder 6 are driven so that the intermediate value of the current position with respect to the respective driving ranges of the 5Rs is maintained substantially at the intermediate position of the driving range.

The control device H performs drive speed control by fuzzy control when controlling the drive of each lifting cylinder.
That is, the cylinder driving speed as the consequent variable is obtained by fuzzy inference using the deviation between the cutting height data obtained from the detection information hsl and hsr and the target value and the differential value of the cutting height data as the antecedent variable. ing. Hereinafter, description will be added based on the flowchart of the cutting height control shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

First, an average value of five consecutive detection information (8-bit digital values) hsl and hsr from the grounding type sensors 8L and 8R is obtained, and the cutting height data HSL and HSL are obtained.
SR (process (a)). Next, differential values (difference values) DHSL and DHSR are obtained from the difference from the previous value (process (b)). Similarly, the average values of the detection information msl and msr from the crawler height sensors 9L and 9R for five consecutive times are respectively obtained, and are used as the body height data MSL and MSR (process (c)). Further, the sum MLR of MSL and MSR is obtained. These aircraft height data MSL, MSR
For the drive range of each of the airframe lifting cylinders 5L and 5R
Corresponds to the current location information.

Of the above calculated values, DHSL, DHSR
Is used to determine the driving speed of each cylinder by fuzzy inference as described later. And HSL, HS
R and MLR are such that the ground height of the reaper 3 is a predetermined value, and
Make the reaper 3 almost parallel to the ground and left
For the drive range of each of the right airframe lifting cylinders 5L and 5R
In order for the intermediate value of the current position to maintain a substantially intermediate position of the drive range, the three lifting cylinders 5L, 5L
It is used to determine which of R and 6 should be driven as follows.

First, as shown in the processing (e), the ground parallelism of the reaper 3 is determined by comparing the left and right cutting height data HSL and HSR. That is, HSR and HSL
If the absolute value of the difference (HSR-HSL) is less than or equal to a predetermined value (for example, 5), it is determined that they are substantially parallel, and the process proceeds to (f). (HSR-HSL) is a predetermined value (for example,-
If it is less than 5), it is determined that the right side is low, and the process proceeds to (g). If (HSR-HSL) exceeds a predetermined value (for example, 5), it is determined that the left is low, and the process proceeds to (h).

In the process (f), one of the left and right cutting height data (here, the right cutting height data) HSR
Is compared with the target height H0, and the result is controlled so that the ground height of the mowing unit 3 becomes a predetermined value. Here, the target height H0 can be manually set separately. (HSR
−H0) is equal to or less than a predetermined value (for example, 5),
It is determined that the ground height of the mowing unit 3 is substantially a predetermined value, and in this case, the process returns to the main routine without driving any cylinder.

(HSR-H0) is a predetermined value (for example, -5)
If it is less than the predetermined value, it is determined that the ground height of the reaper 3 is lower than the predetermined value, and the process proceeds to (i). Conversely, if (HSR-H0) exceeds a predetermined value (for example, 5), it is determined that the ground height of the reaper 3 is higher than the predetermined value, and the process proceeds to (nu).

In the process (i), the sum MLR of the body height data MSL and MSR based on the detection information from the left and right crawler height sensors 9L and 9R is calculated as an intermediate value M0 (for example, a range that the sum MLR can take). 255) as compared with the current drive range of each of the body lifting cylinders 5L and 5R.
It is determined whether or not the intermediate value of the position is substantially at the intermediate position of the driving range. Then, the subroutine HUP is executed when the vehicle is substantially at the intermediate position or when the body lifting cylinders 5L and 5R are higher than the intermediate position, that is, when (MLR-M0) is equal to or more than a predetermined value (for example, -5).

In the subroutine HUP, the control device H excites the machine body elevating / cutting section ascending switching solenoid valve 11 to the side of the ascending section ascending, and also controls the excitation of the cutting section descending electromagnetic valve 14 by duty control to control the cutting section ascending and descending cylinder. 6 is driven to rise at a variable speed. The duty ratio is obtained by fuzzy inference as described later. Thereby, the reaper 3
It will rise to a predetermined height above ground while maintaining parallelism to the ground.

(MLR-M0) is a predetermined value (for example, -5)
Less than if it is, the aircraft lift cylinder 5L, 5R are respectively
Means that the intermediate value of the current position with respect to the drive range is lower than the intermediate position of the drive range. In this case, the machine lifting cylinders 5L and 5R are driven up to raise the mowing unit 3 to a predetermined ground height. Execute subroutines MLUP and MRUP.

In subroutine MLUP, control device H
Controls the excitation of the ascending / descending solenoid valve (left) 12 on the ascending side to control the duty of the ascending / descending cylinder 5L at a variable speed. In the subroutine MRUP, the excitation of the body lifting electromagnetic valve (right) 13 to the rising side is duty-controlled to drive the body lifting cylinder 5R up at a variable speed. The duty ratio is obtained by fuzzy inference described later.

In the following processing, the same judgment is made when lowering the mowing unit 3 to a predetermined ground height, contrary to the above case, and the subroutine HDN or the machine body for lowering the mowing unit up / down cylinder 6 is driven. Lifting cylinder 5
Subroutines MLDN and M for lowering L and 5R
RDN is performed.

In the processing after (g) and the processing after (h), in order to adjust the parallelism of the reaper 3 to the ground and to make the reaper 3 a predetermined height, the same as the above-mentioned judgment is performed. Is divided according to the judgment of (1). Then, subroutines HUP and HDN for raising and lowering the mowing unit raising and lowering cylinders 6 according to the cases, and subroutines MLUP and MLD for driving the body lifting and lowering cylinders 5L up and down.
N, any one of subroutines MRUP / MRDN for driving up / down the body lifting cylinder 5R is executed.

As described above, the left and right cutting height data H
Based on a comparison between SL, HSR and the target cutting height H0, and a comparison between the sum MLR of the right and left body height data and an intermediate value M0, the ground height of the cutting unit 3 is a predetermined value, and The reaping unit 3 is made substantially parallel to the ground, and the current position with respect to the driving range of each of the body lifting cylinders 5L and 5R.
The vertical movement of each of the cylinders 5L, 5R, and 6 is performed so that the intermediate value of (1) maintains the substantially intermediate position of the driving range.

Next, a description will be given of a process for obtaining the cylinder drive speed by fuzzy inference in the up / down drive control of each of the cylinders 5L, 5R and 6. First, the deviation hel between the left and right cutting height data HSL, HSR and the target cutting height H0,
Ask for her. That is, hel = HSL-H0 her = HSR-H0

The deviations hel and her are -128 to 127
Can be taken as shown in FIG. 4A.
The values are divided into 11 levels of 5 to 5 and are defined as hdl and hdr.
The aforementioned differential value DHS of the cutting height data HSL, HSR
L and DHSR can take values of -255 to 255, which are also divided into eleven values of -5 to 5 as dhdl and dhdr, as shown in FIG. 4B. In the following description, hdl and hdr are deviation data, dhdl and dhdr.
Is called differential data.

For example, when executing the subroutine HUP for raising and lowering the mowing unit raising / lowering cylinder 6 through the processing (f) to the processing (i) in FIG. 3 described above, in the processing (f), (HSR-H0) Is smaller than a predetermined value (for example, -5), which means that the deviation data hdr is smaller than a predetermined value (for example, 0). Then, the drive speed of the mowing unit lifting / lowering cylinder 6 when the subroutine HUP is executed is obtained by fuzzy inference using the deviation data hdr and the differential data dhdr as antecedent variables. The description will be continued below.

Deviation data hdl, hd as variables of the antecedent part
The membership functions of r and the differential data dhdl, dhdr are determined as shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b). The consequent variable, that is, the required cylinder drive speed is shown in FIG.
It is defined as shown in (a) and (b). However,
FIG. 6A shows the driving speed of the machine body lifting cylinders 5L and 5R, and FIG. 6B shows the driving speed of the mowing unit lifting cylinder 6.

The control rules are all as shown in the table of FIG. In the fuzzy inference by the actual microcomputer, in order to shorten the calculation time, based on the membership function and the control rule, a configuration in which possible combinations are referred to a table in which a possible combination is calculated in advance and the cylinder driving speed is obtained. I have. That is, FIG.
Based on the table shown in FIG.
The drive speeds of L and 5R are obtained, and the drive speed of the mowing unit elevating cylinder 6 is obtained based on the table shown in FIG.

The driving speed of each cylinder is changed by changing the duty ratio when exciting the body lifting electromagnetic valves 12 and 13, the body lifting / removing section raising switching electromagnetic valve 11, and the cutting section lowering electromagnetic valve 14. The value (%) obtained from the tables shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B represents the duty ratio. 9A to 9C show the relationship between each duty ratio (%) and the actual on / off time (ms) of the output signal from the control device H.

FIG. 9A shows the solenoid valves 12 and 13 for lifting the body.
Excitation output signals MLUP, MLDN, MRUP, NR
Shows the on / off time of each of the DNs. FIGS. 9B and 9C show ON / OFF of the excitation output signals HUP and HDN of the body lifting / lowering switching electromagnetic valve 11 and the cutting unit lowering electromagnetic valve 14 when the cutting unit lifting cylinder 6 is driven up and down. Indicates off time.

Hereinafter, another embodiment will be described. In the above-described embodiment, a pair of right and left ground-type sensors for detecting the ground height and the parallelism to the ground of the mowing unit are provided. However, the present invention is not limited to this. You may comprise so that it may detect with a sensor. In this case, for example, a pair of right and left ground-type sensors detects the parallelism of the reaper to the ground, and a central ground-type sensor detects the ground height of the reaper.

The ground height of the mowing part (and the ground parallelism)
Is not limited to the grounding type sensor as in the embodiment, and for example, a pair of left and right ultrasonic sensors may be provided.

The monitoring means for monitoring the current position with respect to the driving range of the body lifting drive means is not limited to the one which directly detects the rotation angle of the rotating part of the body lifting drive means with a potentiometer as in the embodiment. An ultrasonic sensor or the like for detecting the distance to the grounding portion of the traveling device may be provided on the body.

Incidentally, reference numerals are provided in the claims for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the attached drawings by the entry.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a combine cutting height control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of cutting height control.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of cutting height control (continued)

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing numerical processing of detected data in cutting height control;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a membership function of an antecedent variable in fuzzy inference for obtaining a cylinder drive speed.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a membership function of a consequent part variable.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a control rule.

FIG. 8 is a table for directly obtaining a cylinder driving speed based on fuzzy inference.

FIG. 9 shows duty ratio (%) and excitation on / off time (m).
Comparison table with s)

FIG. 10 is a side view (partially perspective view) of the combine according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a schematic configuration diagram (side view) of a cutting height detecting unit.

FIG. 12 is a schematic configuration diagram (plane) of a cutting height detection unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Body 2L, 2R Traveling device 3 Cutting part 5L, 5R Body lifting drive means 6 Cutting part lifting drive means 8L, 8R Cutting height detection means 9L, 9R Monitoring means H control means

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A pair of left and right traveling devices (2L, 2R),
A pair of body lifting / lowering driving means (5L, 5R) for vertically driving each of the grounding portions of the traveling devices (2L, 2R) separately for left and right.
And a cutting section elevating drive means (6) for driving the cutting section (3) up and down is a combine cutting height control device provided in the body (1), and detects a ground height of the cutting section (3). A plurality of cutting height detecting means (8L, 8R) are provided in a state of being separated from each other in the left-right direction of the cutting unit (3), and monitor a current position of the body lifting drive means (5L, 5R) with respect to a driving range. Monitoring means (9L, 9R) are provided, and based on the detection values from the plurality of cutting height detection means (8L, 8R) and the detection values from the monitoring means (9L, 9R), the cutting unit The ground height of (3) becomes a predetermined value, and the reaping unit (3) is substantially parallel to the ground, and the right and left body lifting drive means (5L, 5R)
The apparatus is configured to control the body lifting / lowering driving means (5L, 5R) and the reaping section lifting / lowering driving means (6) so that the intermediate value of the current position with respect to each driving range maintains substantially the intermediate position of the driving range. Harvesting height control device provided with a controlled control means (H).