JPS6158123B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic forward control device required in a combine harvester that automatically reaps and threshes grain culms of rice, wheat, etc.

Recently, small-sized combine harvesters suitable for small-scale agriculture in Japan have been developed and are gradually being used for general use, but the following structures are generally used.

In other words, a grass cutting body supported by a rod-shaped grass cutting rod is fixed and protrudes forward, and as the combine moves forward, grain culms pushed apart by the grass cutting body move along the grass cutting rod and reach just before the combine. The grain is harvested by a clipper-like reaping section installed immediately below the combine, transported to the upper part of the combine by a chain-shaped grain conveyance device, and then supplied to a separately installed grain conveyance chain, after which the grain is rotated. The grain is inserted into the threshing section by the threshing machine, and the ears are threshed by a rotating handling cylinder similar to a general threshing machine.

In addition, it is necessary to always control the forward direction of the combine in accordance with the planting status of the grain culms so as not to leave any uncut material.For this purpose, it is necessary to detect the contact of the grain culms with the tips of the left and right outer dividing rods. A sensor is provided to control the forward direction depending on the contact status of the grain culm.

However, when reaping with a combine harvester, there are two types: vertical mowing, in which grain culms planted in rows are harvested along the rows, and horizontal mowing, in which the grain is harvested in a direction perpendicular to the rows. There is also the case of scattered mowing for scattered plantings that are scattered all over the area without standing upright, and in order to control the direction according to each of these mowing situations, the mowing mode must be instructed to the control circuit by manual operation in advance. Otherwise, the configuration of the control circuit must be complicated to automatically follow changes in the cutting mode, resulting in cumbersome manual operation, or the complicated circuit configuration may make the device expensive. It led to shortcomings.

The present invention has the purpose of eliminating such drawbacks of the conventional methods at once, and provides a combine harvester that automatically reaps and threshes grain culms as it moves forward. A side sensor that detects grain culm contact to the side, a double-sided sensor that separately detects grain culm contact to both sides of one outside and the other outside, which is installed near the tip of the branching culm on the other outside, and this double-sided sensor. When the number of times of contact with the grain culm on each side by the double-sided sensor is equal within a predetermined time from the start of reaping, a horizontal mowing determination is output, and the number of times of contact with the grain culm on each of both sides by the double-sided sensor is not equal within the predetermined time. A judgment circuit generates a judgment output for vertical mowing, and when this judgment circuit generates a judgment output for vertical mowing, the forward direction is controlled based on the detected force of the side sensor and the detected force of both sides by the double-sided sensor. It also includes a control circuit that performs forward direction control based on the force detected by the side sensors and the force detected on the outer side by the double-sided sensor when a judgment output for horizontal mowing occurs, and the control circuit controls the direction appropriately according to the mowing mode. The present invention provides an extremely effective directional control device for a combine harvester.

Hereinafter, details of the present invention will be explained with reference to figures showing examples. FIG. 1 is a plan view of the combine harvester 1, showing a case where vertical mowing is performed, and a clipper-like cutting section 2 is provided just below the combine harvester 1, and at the same time, it is provided with a clipper-like cutting section 2 that protrudes forward with grass dividing rods 3a to 3e. Supported weeding rods 4a to 4e are provided, and a side sensor 5 is attached near the tip of the weeding rod 3a on one outer side, that is, the right outer side, and its actuator 6 protrudes inward, Grain culm to 7
In addition, a double-sided sensor 8 is installed near the tip of the other outer side, that is, the left outer weeding rod 3e, and an actuator 9 protruding to the left and right sides causes the grain culm 7 to be moved to the left and right sides. It is designed to detect each contact individually.

In addition, as shown in the same figure, the planted grain culm rows 7a to 7
In contrast to e, when mowing is performed normally with the other harvested side on the right side, the actuator 9 of the double-sided sensor 8 is located between the grain culm rows 7d and 7e, and does not come into contact with the grain culm rows 7d or 7e in principle. However, the actuator 6 of the side sensor 5 is in constant contact with the grain culm row 7a, thereby determining that the combine harvester 1 is moving forward in the normal direction. However, in the horizontal mowing mode or scattered mowing mode shown in FIG. It is not possible to determine whether the forward direction is correct or not based on the detected force of the double-sided sensor 8, and whether the forward direction is correct or not is determined mainly based on the detected force of the side sensor 5. will be judged.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the detection operation of the double-sided sensor 8. Even when the actuator 9 rotates from a horizontal state to the left or right within the range of angle A due to contact with the grain culm 7, no detection is performed, and the actuator 9 rotates further to the left. When it reaches the range of angle B, the switch LRC of the double-sided sensor 8 is turned on, and when it rotates to the right and reaches the range of angle C, the switch LLC of the same sensor 8 is turned on, and the state is non-contact. Now, actuator 9 returns to the position shown in the same figure, and each switch LRC, LLC
Both are off.

FIG. 4 shows the detection operation of the side sensor 5. When the actuator 6 rotates within the range of angle A, the switch RRA of the side sensor 5 is on, and the switch RRA of the side sensor 5 is on.
When the actuator 6 is in the range of angle C, the switch RRA is turned off, while when the actuator 6 rotates to the range of angle C, the switch RRC is turned on, and if the actuator 6 is in the range of angle B, the switch RRA and
Both RRCs are off, which means that the grain culm 7 is normally brought into contact with the actuator 6, and it is detected that good reaping is being performed.

Note that in the non-contact state, the actuator 6 returns to the position shown in the figure.

Figure 5 shows each of the aforementioned switches RRC, RRA,
A circuit diagram of a control circuit that controls the forward direction of the combine harvester 1 based on the detected forces by LRC and LLC is shown, in which the actuator 6 of the side sensor 5 is in the range of angle A, and the actuator 9 of the double-sided sensor 8 is also in the range of angle A. At the same time, the grain culm sensor switch SSF, which is installed near the above-mentioned threshing section entrance and turns on when it detects that the supplied grain culm has reached the threshing section, is also activated. It is shown as a detection state.

In the figure, each switch RRC, RRA,
One end of LRC, LLC, and SSF is grounded, and the output side of the other end is connected to the power supply B via resistor r.
is applied, and when these are off, the output is at a high level (hereinafter referred to as "H"), but when turned on, the output is grounded and turns to a low level (hereinafter referred to as "L").

Also, the outputs R and L of transistors Q ₁ and Q ₂
leads to the solenoid valve that drives the hydraulic cylinder for operating the direction control clutch or brake, and if the automatic control switch SW is turned on, the combine 1 is turned to the right by turning on the transistor _Q1 . The combine 1 rotates, and when the transistor _Q2 is turned on, the combine 1 rotates to the left, and direction control is performed.

In addition, the judgment circuit JUD determines whether the harvested grain culm reaches the entrance of the threshing section and the grain culm sensor switch SSF is turned on after reaping has started, and whether it is vertical reaping as shown in Fig. 1 or horizontal reaping as shown in Fig. 2. It is for determining whether
Based on the judgment output, the operation of the control circuit is made appropriate for vertical or horizontal mowing.

Initially, each switch RRC, LRC, LLC, SSF
is off, switch RRA is on, and the output of the switch that is off is “H” and the output of the switch that is on is “L”, so the inverter
The outputs of IV ₁ and the inverting input AND gates G ₁ and G ₂ are “L”, and even if the automatic switch SW is on, the transistors Q ₁ and Q ₂ are off, and the combine 1 moves straight. Start entering the grain culm rows 7a to 7e.

Due to the approach of combine harvester 1, the vertical mowing shown in Figure 1 is
Assuming that the harvested field, that is, the area without grain culms 7, started on the right side, and the direction of approach was to the left, then the grain culm row 7a in Fig. 1 would be the part of the weeding rod 3a.
4, the actuator 6 of the side sensor 5 rotates to angle C in FIG.
RRC is turned on.

Then, in Fig. 5, the input of the inverter IV ₁ becomes "L" and its output changes to "H", and is transferred to the transistor Q ₁ via the loop blocking diode D ₃ and the current limiting resistor R ₈ . In order to apply a forward bias of “H” and turn on transistor _Q1 , the combine 1 is controlled to rotate clockwise.
The forward direction is corrected to the normal direction, and the side sensor 5
The actuator 6 returns to the angle B shown in FIG. 4, and the clockwise rotation control ends when the switch RRC is turned off, and the vehicle enters a straight-ahead state.

On the other hand, the judgment circuit JUD receives the output "H" of the switch SSF at its input 3 and is in the operating state.
If the forward direction of the combine 1 is offset, the actuator 9 of the double-sided sensor 8 will come into contact with the grain culm row 7d or 7e as the combine 1 moves forward.
The switch LRC or LLC is turned on, and the judgment circuit JUD receives this "L" output to inputs 1 and 2 and counts each one.
Depending on the number of "L" outputs from the LLC, the mowing mode, vertical or horizontal, is determined.

That is, in the case of vertical mowing as shown in Fig. 1, since the double-sided sensor 8 moves along the row direction with respect to the grain culm rows 7d and 7e, the actuator 9 repeatedly moves to either the grain culm rows 7d or 7e. The probability of contact increases, and the number of times that the switch LRC or LLC produces an "L" output is greater than that of the other switch. On the other hand, in the case of horizontal mowing or scattered mowing as shown in Fig. 2, the contact of the grain culm 7 on both the left and right sides of the actuator 9 occurs with the same probability as described above, and the "L" output of each of the switches LRC and LLC occurs. When the number of times becomes equal and the number of times the "L" output is generated is counted as the number of times of contact of the grain culm 7 to the left side and the right side of the double-sided sensor 8 within a predetermined time, the reaping mode is determined.

Therefore, in the example shown in Fig. 5, the period from the start of reaping to when the switch SSF of the grain culm sensor is turned on is used as the predetermined time, and the threshing circuit JUD is turned on by the "L" output when the switch SSF is turned on. The operation is stopped and the current state of the output OUT is held. In addition, in this case, the judgment circuit JUD
is “L” for either switch LRC or LLC
When the output occurs two or more times during the above-mentioned predetermined time and the other "L" output occurs less than once during the same time, vertical cutting is determined, the output OUT is set to "L", and the switches LRC and LLC When both output “L” twice or more within a predetermined period of time, it is determined that horizontal mowing is being performed.
The output OUT is set to “H”.

Note that the predetermined time may be regulated by a timer, etc., but the time from the start of reaping until the switch SSF of the grain culm sensor is turned on corresponds to the working speed of combine harvester 1, and this working speed is Since it is proportional to the forward speed of grain culm 1, it means that the grain culm 7 moves forward by a substantially constant distance during this period, and as a result, the actuator 9 of the double-sided sensor 8 always comes into contact with a substantially constant number of grain culms 7. As a result, the number of samplings for the grain culms 7 for determining the reaping mode is equalized, and the reaping mode can be reliably determined.

The mowing mode is determined as described above, and in the case of vertical mowing, the determination output from the determination circuit JUD becomes "L", so the input 2 of the inverting input AND gate _G1 becomes "L", and at the same time the switch SSF Since the input 3 is also "L" due to the on state, when the combine 1 moves to the left and the actuator 9 of the double-sided sensor 8 rotates to the angle B shown in FIG.
When LRC is turned on, the input 1 of the inverting input AND gate _G1 also changes to "L", and the output of the same gate _G1 becomes "H".
Therefore, the transistor _Q1 is turned on via the diode _D4 for blocking the loop, and clockwise rotation control is performed.

Further, when the combine 1 moves to the right and the actuator 9 of the double-sided sensor 8 rotates to the angle C, contrary to the above, the switch LLC turns on, so the input 2 of the inverting input AND gate G ₂ becomes "L".
If switch RRA is on, input 1 is also “L” and input 3 is also “L”, so
The output of the gate _G2 changes to "H", turns on the transistor _Q2 via the current limiting resistor R9, and performs counterclockwise rotation control.

On the other hand, if the judgment circuit JUD judges horizontal cutting, the judgment output becomes "H", so the inversion input
The output of the AND gate _G1 is fixed to "L", and the output from the switch LRC of the double-sided sensor 8 is blocked, and the left rotation control by the switch LLC of the sensor 8 and the switch RRA of the side sensor 5, and the Only clockwise rotation control is performed by switch RRC. The same applies to scatter cutting.

That is, in the vertical mowing mode, each sensor 5, 8
Directional control based on the detected force is reliable, but in horizontal mowing mode, the detected force from the switch LRC of the double-sided sensor 8 is generated by causes other than deviation in the forward direction, so this is disabled and Reliable directional control is performed using only the detection force of the side sensor 5 and the detection force of the right side, that is, the outer side, by the switch LLC of the double-sided sensor 8, and the control circuit operates according to the judgment output of the above-mentioned judgment circuit JUD. The operation is appropriate depending on the reaping mode.

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, when reaping from the right side of the grain culm 7 with the already harvested field on the right side, the left side of the combine 1 causes uncut parts, so right rotation control is performed using the switch RRC of the side sensor 5. shall be given priority. Also, each switch
Resistors R ₁ to R ₇ , capacitors C ₁ to C ₅ , diodes D ₁ and D ₂ , etc. inserted to the output side of RRC, RRA, LRC, LLC, and SSF give delays to these output changes. This is to prevent instantaneous changes in output due to chipping or chattering, and to stabilize the operation of the control circuit.

Figure 6 is a circuit diagram showing details of the judgment circuit JUD in Figure 5, and includes switches LRC, LLC, SSF.
The output from the output is applied to the clock pulse input C and the reset input R of the shift registers SR ₁ and SR ₂ via inverters IV ₂ to IV ₄ , and the power supply B is applied to the data input D via the resistor r. Therefore, if switch SSF is initially off and the output of inverter IV ₃ is "L", shift registers SR ₁ and SR ₂ will be in the operating state, and the switch will be turned off.
Invert the “L” output from LRC and LLC
According to the number of occurrences of "H" inverted by IV ₂ IV ₄ , the outputs Q ₁ to Q _o are sequentially shifted to "H",
Flip-flop circuits (hereinafter referred to as FFC) FF ₁ and FF ₂ are set by the "H" level of the output Q ₂ .

Therefore, by the time switch SSF is turned on and reset, each shift register _SR1 , _SR2
When the output Q ₂ of becomes “H”, FFC・FF ₁ and FF ₂ are set and the output becomes “L”, so
The output of NOR gate G ₃ becomes "H", and the differential pulse obtained by differentiating this with capacitor C ₇ and resistor R ₁₀ sets D-type FFC/FF ₃ , and its output Q becomes "H" and the horizontal Sends the mowing mode judgment output to output OUT.

On the other hand, if only one of the outputs Q ₂ becomes "H" before the shift registers SR ₁ and SR ₂ are reset, the output of the NOR gate G ₃ remains "L". FFC/FF ₃ is not set and outputs “L” as a judgment output for vertical cutting mode.
Send to OUT.

Note that the power supply B is applied to the input of the inverter IV ₅ through the resistor r, and since the input is "H", the output is always "L", but when the switch SSF
After the inverter is turned on, the inverter is
When the output of IV ₃ turns “L”, capacitor C ₆
By charging, the input of inverter IV ₅ becomes "L" momentarily, and the output "H" at this time causes FFC/
FF ₁ , FF ₂ , and FF ₃ are being reset.

In addition, in the above explanation, the side sensor 5 was installed on the outer right grass dividing rod 3a, and the double-sided sensor 8 was installed on the left outer dividing rod 3e. This is a case in which reaping is performed from the right side of 7, and when reaping is performed from the opposite direction, the same effect can be obtained by switching the positions of side sensor 5 and double-sided sensor 8. Further, the same effect can be achieved even if two sets of double-sided sensors 8 similar to the side sensors 5 are prepared and used in combination with the actuator 6 protruding to the opposite side. It goes without saying that the configurations shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 can be modified in various ways, and counters may be used in place of the shift registers SR ₁ and SR ₂ , and any combination may be used depending on the type of logic circuit. All you have to do is select.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the reaping mode is automatically determined using a simple configuration, and appropriate direction control is performed based on this, so that no unmown grain is left on the grain culm, and the reaping mode is automatically determined. Great effects can be obtained when applied to combine harvesters that perform directional control.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figures show an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 1 is a plan view of a combine harvester for vertical mowing, Fig. 2 is a plan view for horizontal mowing, and Fig. 3 shows the detection operation of the double-sided sensor. Figure 4 is a diagram showing the detection operation of the side sensor, Figure 5 is a circuit diagram of the control circuit, and Figure 6 is a diagram showing the detection operation of the side sensor.
This figure is a circuit diagram showing details of the determination circuit in FIG. 5. 1... Combine harvester, 3a-3e... Grass cutting rod, 5
... Side sensor, 6 ... Actuator, 7 ... Grain culm, 8 ... Double-sided sensor, 9 ... Actuator,
RRC/RRA, LRC, LLC, SSF...Switch,
IV ₁ to IV ₅ ... Inverter, G ₁ , G ₂ ... Inverting input
AND gate, Q ₁ , Q ₂ ...transistor, SR ₁ ,
SR ₂ ...Shift register, FF ₁ ~ FF ₃ ...FFC
(flip-flop circuit), G ₃ ...NOR gate,
JUD...judgment circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a combine harvester that automatically reaps and threshes grain culms as it moves forward, a side sensor is installed near the tip of one outer culm to detect contact with the grain culm on one side, and A double-sided sensor is provided near the tip of the culm and detects contact with the grain culm on both sides of the one outer side and the other outer side, respectively, and the number of times the double-sided sensor detects contact with the grain culm on each of the two sides is determined for a predetermined period of time from the start of reaping. a determination circuit that generates a determination output for horizontal mowing when the numbers are equal within the predetermined time period, and outputs a determination output for vertical mowing when the number of times of grain culm contact detection on both sides by the double-sided sensor is unequal within the predetermined time; When a judgment output for vertical mowing is generated, forward direction control is performed based on the detected force of the side sensor and the force detected on both sides by the double-sided sensor, and when a judgment output for horizontal mowing is generated, the side sensor 1. A direction control device for a combine harvester, comprising: a control circuit that performs forward direction control based on the detected force of the outer side and the detected force of the one outer side by the double-sided sensor.