JPS6327538Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a direction sensor device for automatically causing a combine harvester to follow grain culm rows.

In general, in combine harvester work, there are two types of work: row mowing, in which work is done along the rows, and so-called horizontal mowing, in which work is done in a direction perpendicular to the rows. When using a direction sensor, especially when the combine width of cut is wider than the total width between the rows of grain culms, the swing of the machine may cause the row of grain culms on the left to be cut or left unmown, leading to the next crop being cut. This makes it difficult for the right direction sensor to follow the rows of grain culms during this work. Therefore, during row mowing work, it is preferable to use the left direction sensor provided in the uncut side divider section to follow the rows of grain culms on the left side of the cutting width. In addition, when a combine harvester performs horizontal mowing work, the rows of grain culms are not aligned, so the left direction sensor cannot control the direction, and the right direction sensor, which follows between the cut and uncut sections, is used to control the direction. It is necessary to control the direction. Therefore, an automatic direction control device has been proposed in which direction sensors are provided in each of the left and right divider sections, and control is performed based on the left sensor during row mowing and based on the right sensor during horizontal mowing. but,
Since the sensor arms of the two-way sensors in the automatic direction control device are configured to have approximately the same length, during horizontal cutting, the rows of grain culms are not aligned and form a zigzag pattern, as shown in Figure 4. For this reason, the so-called hunting phenomenon, in which the combine harvester is driven in a zigzag pattern, tends to occur. In addition, half of the grain culms at the side of the already cut area had been cut off during the previous mowing operation, and due to weeding operations such as dividers, the rising force of the grain culms was weakened, and the sensor arm of the right sensor was If the arm is biased to the upright position with the same operating force as the left sensor, even if the arm touches the grain culm during horizontal mowing, it may push down the grain culm and issue a false signal, or the arm may cause the arm to Pushing down the culm caused uncut and high mowing, which also led to untreated crops.

Due to the above-mentioned circumstances, the present invention makes it possible to widen the range of straight movement by reducing the amount of rotation of the sensor arm by configuring the sensor arm of the right direction sensor to be longer than the sensor arm of the left direction sensor. It is an object of the present invention to provide a direction sensor device for a combine harvester that reduces the biasing force toward the position and eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the combine 1 has a large number of dividers 2 at the front of the machine, and a plowing device (not shown) is disposed slightly behind the dividers 2. Further, a cutting blade 5 is arranged behind it,
A grain culm conveying device 6 is provided behind it, and a driver's seat 7 is arranged on one side thereof. A left direction sensor 9 is installed at the left end, that is, at the uncut end of the divider 2a during normal counterclockwise mowing work, and the sensor 9 is biased to the upright position as shown in the figure. The sensor arm 10 has a sensor arm 10. When the arm 10 is in the upright position, the sensor 9 issues a clockwise turn command via a timer that forms a dead zone for a predetermined period of time to prevent it from transmitting signals due to gaps between plants or missing plants. Issue a left turn command at the position. Further, a right sensor 12 is installed at the right end, that is, the cut end of the divider 2b, and a sensor arm 13 is biased so that the sensor 12 is in the upright position as shown in the figure.
have. The sensor 12 issues a left turn command via a timer forming a dead zone when the arm 13 is in its upright position, and issues a right turn command when the arm 13 is in a reclined position beyond its moderate rotation position.
Further, both sensor arms 10 and 13 protrude inward from the body, and the arm 13 of the right sensor is longer than the arm 10 of the left sensor. On the other hand, a main sensor 15 that is activated by the reaped grain culm is arranged in the grain culm conveying device 6, and a side clutch lever 1 is installed in the driver's seat 7.
Lever switch 1 opened by manual operation of step 6
7 is provided. The sensor 15 and the switch 17 are connected in series with the battery 19.
Furthermore, it is connected in series to a direction automatic switch 20. The automatic directional switch 20 is connected to a pilot lamp 21 that indicates that the combine 1 is in automatic directional control, and is connected to a left sensor 9.
and the right-hand sensor 12, and both sensors 9, 12 are further connected to the control unit 22. The control unit 22 is connected to a solenoid valve 25 that controls a clutch cylinder 24 that operates the left and right crawler clutches 23, and is capable of rotating the combine 1, as well as a rotation sensor 26.
The dead time of the timer when the sensors 9 and 12 are in the upright position can be adapted to the traveling speed of the combine harvester 1. Furthermore, the control unit 2
2 is connected to a direction sensitivity switch 27, which adjusts the transmission position of the left and right turning commands in the bidirectional sensors 9 and 10, that is, the interval between the straight command sections,
It is possible to adapt to the spacing of plants and the degree of curvature of the rows. Note that the control unit 22 controls the right sensor 1.
2, the command to go straight and turn to the right gives priority to controlling the combine 1 to go straight and to the right, respectively, and depending on the command to turn to the left from the right sensor 12, the left sensor 9 is activated, and the left sensor The circuit is set to control the combine harvester 1 in the corresponding direction with reference to 9.
-Refer to No. 159544). Moreover, in FIGS. 2 to 4, 30 is a grain culm, and 30a is a cutting mark.

Since the present invention has the above configuration, the second
As shown in the figure, when the combine 1 performs row cutting work, the cutting width of the combine is usually set wider than the total width between the rows of grain culms, so the right sensor 12 is in the upright position and turned to the left. A command is transmitted, and the direction of the combine 1 is controlled along the row at the left end of the cutting width using the left sensor 9 as a reference. That is, if the sensor arm 10 does not contact the grain culm 30 or its tip slightly contacts, the left sensor 9 issues a clockwise turning command, energizes the solenoid 25, and turns the combine 1 to the right. . Further, when the arm 10 deeply contacts the grain culm 30 and rotates significantly, the sensor 9 issues a counterclockwise rotation command, and the combine harvester 1 is rotated to the left. Further, when the arm 10 is appropriately contacted with the grain culm 30 and the arm 10 is rotated appropriately, the sensor 9 does not issue a turning command and the combine 1 moves forward. At this time, since the sensor arm 10 of the left sensor 9 is configured to be short to match the row spacing, the amount of rotation due to contact with the grain culm 30 is large, resulting in high sensitivity and good followability to the rows. Even if the rows are curved, they can be tracked and controlled reliably. In addition, since the arm 10 is short, the rotational torque of the arm 10 due to contact with the grain culm 30, that is, the urging force of the arm 13 to the upright position is large, and therefore the sensor 9 is prevented from coming into contact with grandchild plants or weeds, etc. The mower does not rotate, so it detects these and turns to the left, which prevents uncut areas from being left uncut.

Next, as shown in Figure 3, when the combine harvester 1 performs horizontal mowing work, the distance between the plants along the rows is _greater than the distance between the rows.
l ₂ is narrower, so arm 1 of left sensor 9
0 always rotates greatly and issues a left turn command. Therefore, based on the right sensor 12, the direction of the combine harvester 1 is controlled along the uncut grain culm 30 at the cut end. That is, when the arm 13 does not contact the grain culm 30 or slightly contacts the grain culm 30, the right sensor 12 issues a left turning command, which causes the left sensor 9 to be activated, but the left sensor 9 has already been activated.
Since the combine harvester 1 issues a left turn command, the combine harvester 1 is turned to the left. In addition, the arm 13 is the grain culm 3.
When the arm 13 rotates significantly due to deep contact with the rotor 0, the sensor 12 issues a clockwise rotation command and rotates the combine 1 to the right. Further, when the arm 13 appropriately contacts the grain culm 30 and rotates appropriately, the sensor 12 does not issue a turning command and the combine 1 moves straight. At this time, as shown in Fig. 4, the rows of grain culms at the end of the cut side are not aligned like rows, but are arranged irregularly, but the sensor arm 13 of the right sensor 12 measures the total between the rows. Since it is configured to be as long as the margin of the cutting width of the combine 1 relative to the width, it is possible to detect even irregular rows of grain culms and control the combine 1, and furthermore, the rotation angle of the sensor arm 13 due to contact with the grain culms 30 can be adjusted. is small, allowing for a wide straight-line range and good straight-line performance.
Hunting phenomenon can be prevented. Also,
Since the row spacing l ₁ is wider than the plant spacing l ₂ , the number of times the sensor arm 13 contacts the grain culm 30 during horizontal cutting work is reduced, but since the arm 13 is long, the contact time can be increased, and the straight movement range is Therefore, the timer time constituting the dead zone can be set short, and reliable direction control with less delay operation can be performed. Furthermore, since the arm 13 is long, the rotational torque of the arm 13 due to contact with the grain culm 30, that is, the force urging the arm 13 to the upright position is small, and therefore the grain culm 3 has a weak upright force.
0, it can be easily rotated, and it is possible to prevent the generation of erroneous signals, uncut mowing, unhandling, etc.

In the above embodiment, the left sensor 12 is prioritized based on the right sensor 9 to automatically switch between row mowing and horizontal mowing, but this can be switched by a manual switch provided in the driver's seat 7. It's okay. Furthermore, although the left and right sensors 9 and 12 are provided on both divider sections, the right sensor 12 may be provided at the rear of the plowing device, and further, both sensors 9 and 12 may be provided at the rear of the plowing device.

As explained above, according to the present invention, during row mowing, the uncut side direction sensor 9 can properly control the direction along the row, and during horizontal mowing, the uncut side direction sensor 9 can properly control the direction along the row. side sensor 1
2, it is possible to detect even unregulated rows of grain culms, and the rotation angle of the sensor arm 13 due to contact with the grain culms 30 is reduced, allowing a wide range of straight travel, resulting in good straight travel performance, and preventing the hunting phenomenon. In addition, the contact time between the grain culm 30 and the sensor arm 13 can be increased, the straight travel range is increased, the timer time constituting the dead zone can be set short, and reliable direction control with less delay operation can be performed. I can do it.
Furthermore, an appropriate biasing force is applied to the sensor arm of the uncut side direction sensor 9 so as not to detect weak erect culms such as grandchild plants or weeds, making it possible to perform accurate direction control along the row. In addition, a weak biasing force acts on the sensor arm 13 of the already-cut side direction sensor 12 so as to detect weak plants such as half-stubbles or plants that have been previously divided with dividers. Accurate direction control can be performed without causing such problems.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the combine harvester according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the working state during row cutting, Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the working state during horizontal cutting, and Fig. 4 is a plan view showing the working state during horizontal cutting. It is a perspective view showing grain culm rows at the time of horizontal cutting. 1... Combine harvester, 9... Uncut side direction sensor,
10...Sensor arm, 12...Already cut side direction sensor, 13...Sensor arm.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model claims] The front left and right sides of the machine have sensor arms that protrude inward, and each sensor arm is equipped with an uncut side direction sensor and a cut side direction sensor that detect three areas at a distance from the grain culm. In a combine harvester that can perform automatic direction control exclusively by an uncut side direction sensor during mowing and by an already cut side direction sensor during horizontal mowing, the sensor arm of the already cut side direction sensor is connected to the sensor arm of the uncut side direction sensor. A direction sensor device for a combine harvester, wherein the sensor arm of the already-cut side direction sensor is configured to be longer, and the urging force of the sensor arm of the already-cut side direction sensor to the upright position is set to be smaller than that of the sensor arm of the un-cut side sensor.