WO2020194332A1

WO2020194332A1 - A sugarcane harvester with improved topper assembly

Info

Publication number: WO2020194332A1
Application number: PCT/IN2020/050242
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kaushik Anilbhai DAMANI
Original assignee: Tirth Agro Technology Pvt. Ltd.
Priority date: 2019-03-25
Filing date: 2020-03-17
Publication date: 2020-10-01
Also published as: CN113660852A; WO2020194332A4; MX2021011559A; AU2020247625A1; BR112021018893A2

Abstract

A Sugarcane Harvester with Improved Topper Assembly The present invention relates to a sugarcane harvester and more 5 particularly relates to an improved topper assembly (100) of sugarcane harvester capable of severing upper leafy part of sugarcane stalks and discharging the severed upper leafy part on either side of the harvest area. The said topper assembly (100) comprises parallel twin arms (16, 17) to support said topper assembly (100) by holding the topper drum 10 bracket (14) which follows an arcuate path that houses contra‐rotating in running twin gathering drums (1, 2) and includes plurality of V‐shaped gathering fins (3, 15). The said parallel twin arms (16, 17) can be vertically adjusted by retracting or extending the said hydraulic cylinder (20) which offers an extended mast that allows severing of 15 upper leafy part of the tallest sugarcane varieties.

Description

A SUGARCANE HARVESTER WITH IMPROVED TOPPER ASSEMBLY

Field of the invention The present invention relates to a sugarcane harvester and more particularly relates to an improved topper assembly of sugarcane harvester capable of severing upper leafy part of sugarcane stalks and discharging the severed upper leafy part on either side of the harvest area Background of the invention

There are several types of sugarcane harvesters available in the public domain. The primary function of the sugarcane harvesters is to harvest the growing sugarcane stalks by cutting the cane at its base, and then transferring the cut sugarcane to a collector vehicle such as a cane wagon or cane cart. The sugarcane harvester may include different types of harvesting devices. The harvesting devices for a sugarcane harvester can include assemblies for cutting, chopping, sorting, transporting, and gathering and processing sugarcane plants. Generally, the harvesting devices include topper assembly, crop divider assembly, knockdown roller assembly, base cutter assembly, feed rollers, cutting drums, extractor fan assembly and so on.

Topper assembly provides the function of severing the leafy upper part of sugarcane stalks since it does not contain a worthwhile amount of sugar. Conventional topping devices operate such that the upper leafy part of the sugarcane stalk is severed and thrown into the furrow adjacent to the row being harvested. The transport vehicle runs upon the discarded upper leafy part on the next pass through the field.

It is desirable that the topper assembly should be capable of ejecting the severed upper leafy part to either one side or the other so that, whichever way the harvester is traveling, the upper leafy part will be thrown onto the area already harvested and not onto the standing sugarcane.

Conventionally, various topper assemblies have been developed heretofore. One such topper assembly has been disclosed in patent no. US3398515 describing a topping mechanism for a sugarcane harvester comprising a rotary cutter, a pair of gathering devices projecting forwardly of the cutter, each having a plurality of fingers constrained to move along respective pre-determined paths to direct the cane tops inwardly and rearwardly between the gathering devices to the cutter, a reversible motor drive coupled to the cutter so that the rotation of the cutter is reversed with reversing of the motor, two drive shafts coupled to each other to rotate in opposite directions and driving the gathering devices, an endless driving member coupling each shaft to the motor through respective one way clutch mechanisms arranged to drive one or the other of the shafts in mutually opposite directions in response to reversal of the direction of movement of the endless driving member upon reversal of the motor.

However, in practice, a reasonable proportion of the severed upper leafy part remain within the influence of the gathering device remote from the selected discharge side of the harvester, and are hence discharged from the other side into the standing crop, and interfere with the subsequent harvesting thereof. Furthermore, the drive transmission to permit reversal of the direction of rotation of the cutter is expensive to manufacture.

Hence, it is needed to have topper assembly that solve aforesaid problem and to have a sugarcane harvester topper mechanism capable of severing upper leafy part and discharging the severed tops on either of the harvest area.

Object of the invention

The main object of the present invention is to overcome the problem associated with conventional topper assembly of sugarcane harvester by providing an improved topper assembly for proper harvesting of sugarcane fields.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved topper assembly to avoid accumulation of severed upper leafy part onto the standing sugarcane.

Further object of the present invention is to provide an improved topper assembly so that it can be raised or lowered to suit the height of sugarcane being harvested. Summary of the invention

The present invention relates to a sugarcane harvester and more particularly relates to an improved topper assembly of sugarcane harvester capable of severing upper leafy part of sugarcane stalks and discharging the severed upper leafy part on either side of the harvest area. The said topper assembly comprises parallel twin arms to support said topper assembly by holding the topper drum bracket which follows an arcuate path that houses contra-rotating in running twin gathering drums and includes plurality of V- shaped gathering fins. The said parallel twin arms can be vertically adjusted by retracting or extending the said hydraulic cylinder which offers an extended mast that allows severing of upper leafy part of the tallest sugarcane varieties.

Brief descriptions of the drawings

A preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a sugarcane harvester according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of an improved topper assembly according to the invention,

Fig. 3 is a front view of an improved topper assembly according to the invention, and

Fig. 4 shows constructional features of an improved topper assembly in detail. Detail description of Invention

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompany drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiment, as depicted in different figures as described above and of being practiced or carried out in a variety of ways. It is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

It is to be also understood that the term "comprises" and grammatical equivalents thereof are used herein to mean that other components, ingredients, steps, etc. are optionally present. For example, an article "comprising" (or "which comprises") components A, B, and C can consist of (i.e., contain only) components A, B, and C, or can contain not only components A, B, and C but also contain one or more other components.

In Fig.l, a sugarcane harvester is shown which comprising a topper assembly (100) to cut upper leafy part of sugarcane stalks, a gathering area (101), a crop divider assembly (102) for lifting and straddling a row of sugarcane stalks, a modular knock down roller (not shown) and finned roller (not shown) to assist in aligning the plants for feed into the throat of harvester, a pair of base-cutter (103) to cut the sugarcane stalks from the field, a frame section (104a, 104b), a feeding area (105) including a feed roll system to move the cut sugarcane stalks further in a rear upward direction without spoiling or crushing the cane, a chopping system or chopper drum (106) to cut the sugarcane stalks into small pieces in the form of billets, an improved cleaning chamber (107) having an extractor fan assembly (not shown) viz. primary extractor fan to remove dirt and extraneous material from the billets by blowing air on to the billets, an elevator system (108) including a secondary extractor fan to remove the remaining loose materials as the cane falls from the end of the transport, an operator cabin (109) to operate and control the harvester machine, a pair of hydraulic cylinders (110), and a discharge area (111) to discharge the harvested sugarcane stalk billets.

The present invention particularly discloses an improved topper assembly for sugarcane harvesters capable of discharging the severed upper leafy part of sugarcane stalks on either side of the harvest area as shown in accompanying drawings.

Referring fig. 2 to 4, the improved topper assembly (100) according to the present invention is hydraulically connected by parallel twin arms (16, 17) to support said topper assembly (100). The said parallel twin arms (16, 17) are telescopically mounted at the front bottom side of the operator cabin (109) through a single acting hydraulic cylinder (20). The said twin arms (16, 17) are vertically adjustable by retracting or extending the said hydraulic cylinder (20) connected between the frame of the harvester (not shown) and the lower pole arm (17), pivoted at mounting junction (19) to offer an extended mast that allows severing of upper leafy part of the tallest sugarcane varieties..

The improved topper assembly as shown in fig. 4 comprises a topper drum bracket (14) connected to the said parallel twin arms (16, 17) at the pivoted mount joints (16A', 17A') and (16A, 17A) by using bolt connection (18), receptacle arms (6, 13) extends in a 'U' shaped curved configuration from the said topper drum bracket (14), twin contra-rotating gathering drums (1, 2) are mounted on the said receptacle arms (6, 13) respectively, hydraulic motors (5, 7) are provided, one for each said gathering drums to power the same and a central cutter disc (10) is connected to the cutter drum (11) aiding an adapter flange (8) which is internally splined to get in mesh with the splined shaft of hydraulic motor (12) and is rotatable in a plane above the bottom plates wherein plurality of removable serrated knives (9) are mounted on the said central cutter disc (10) intermittently around its circumference. The said hydraulic motor (12) is reversible so that the said central cutter disc (10) may rotate in clockwise or anti-clockwise direction, as per the need of harvesting operation. The said topper drum bracket (14) follows an arcuate path that houses said twin contra-rotating in running gathering drums (1, 2) extending axially and has weldment with reinforcement members (4, 4') as shown in fig. 2. The said twin gathering drums include plurality of V-shaped gathering fins (3, 15) connected to bottom section of the said twin gathering drums (1, 2), adapted to direct the upper leafy part inwardly and rearwardly between the twin gathering drums (1, 2) towards the said central cutter disc (10).

Along with rotation of said twin gathering drums (1, 2) and said central cutter disc (10) severed upper leafy part of sugarcane gets ejected to either side of the harvester so that the upper leafy part will be thrown onto the area already harvested and not onto the standing sugarcane.

The invention has been explained in relation to specific embodiment. It is inferred that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the present invention and it is not intended that the invention be limited or restrictive thereto. Many other specific embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art from the foregoing disclosure. All substitution, alterations and modification of the present invention which come within the scope of the following claims are to which the present invention is readily susceptible without departing from the spirit of the invention. The scope of the invention should therefore be determined not with reference to the above description but should be determined with reference to appended claims along with full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. List of reference numerals

1, 2 Gathering drums

3, 15 V- Shaped gathering fins

4, 4' Reinforcement members

5, 7 Hydraulic motors for gathering drums

6, 13 Left and right hand arm receptacle pipe

8 An adapter flange

9 Removable serrated knives

10 Central cutter disc

11 Cutter drum

12 Reversible hydraulic motor for central cutter disc 14 Topper drum bracket

16, 17 Parallel twin arms

16 A, 17A, 16A', 17A', 16B, 17B Mount joints

18, 21, 22, 23 Bolt connection

19 Mounting junction

20 Hydraulic cylinder for parallel twin arms

100 Improved topper assembly

101 Gathering area

102 Crop divider assembly

103 Base-cutter

104a, 104b Frame section

105 Feeding area

106 Chopper drum 107 Cleaning chamber

108 Elevator system

109 Operator cabin

110 Hydraulic cylinders 111 Discharge area

Claims

We Claim:

1. A sugarcane harvester with improved topper assembly (100), comprising:

an improved topper assembly (100) to cut upper leafy part of sugarcane stalks;

a crop divider assembly (102) for lifting and straddling a row of sugarcane stalks;

a modular knock down roller and finned roller to assist in aligning the plants for feed into the throat of harvester;

a pair of base-cutter (103) to cut the sugarcane stalks from the field; a feeding area (105) including a feed roll system to move the cut sugarcane stalks further in a rear upward direction without spoiling or crushing the cane;

a chopping system or chopper drum (106) to cut the sugarcane stalks into small pieces in the form of billets;

a cleaning chamber (107) to separate the extraneous matter, leaves and dirt from the chopped sugarcane by blowing air on to the billets;

an elevator system (108) including a secondary extractor fan to remove the remaining loose materials as the cane falls from the end of the transport;

an operator cabin (109) to operate and control the harvester machine; and a discharge area (111) to discharge the harvested sugarcane stalk billets,

charaterized in that the improved topper assembly comprises a topper drum bracket (14), receptacle arms (6, 13) extending in a 'U' shaped curved configuration from the topper drum bracket (14), twin contra rotating gathering drums (1, 2) mounted on the receptacle arms (6, 13) respectively, hydraulic motors (5, 7) for each of the gathering drums (1, 2) and a central cutter disc (10) connected to a cutter drum (11) aiding an adapter flange (8) which is internally splined to get in mesh with a splined shaft of a hydraulic motor (12) and is rotatable in a plane above bottom plates.

2. The sugarcane harvester with improved topper assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the improved topper assembly (100) is hydraulically connected by parallel twin arms (16, 17).

3. The sugarcane harvester with improved topper assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the parallel twin arms (16, 17) are telescopically mounted at the front bottom side of the operator cabin (109) through a single acting hydraulic cylinder (20).

4. The sugarcane harvester with improved topper assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the topper drum bracket (14) is connected to the parallel twin arms (16, 17) at pivoted mount joints (16A', 17A') and (16A, 17A) by using a bolt connection (18).

5. The sugarcane harvester with improved topper assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the twin gathering drums (1, 2) include plurality of V-shaped gathering fins (3, 15) connected to bottom section of the twin gathering drums (1, 2), adapted to direct the upper leafy part inwardly and rearwardly between the twin gathering drums (1, 2) towards the central cutter disc (10).

6. The sugarcane harvester with improved topper assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein plurality of removable serrated knives (9) are mounted on the central cutter disc (10) intermittently around its circumference.

7. The sugarcane harvester with improved topper assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hydraulic motor (12) is reversible.