This application claims priority to Canadian Patent Application No. 3,166,180 entitled Air Delivery System For Assisting Grain Crop Harvesting filed on Jun. 30, 2022, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The present disclosure relates to grain crop harvesting technology, and more particularly to a pressurized air delivery system for assisting grain crop harvesting by providing a pressurized air flow to assist cutting of grain crop and delivery of the cut grain crop towards a feeder house of a combine harvester.
Present-day grain crop harvesters utilize a combine harvester having a harvesting header mounted to a front end thereof. Harvesting headers are provided in different forms adapted for harvesting different grain crops and, in particular, for cutting the grain crop and/or handling the cut grain crop. From the header the grain crop is then delivered to the feeder house of the combine for transporting the same to the thrashing area where the usable grain crop is separated from stalks, vines, etc.
Since the 1980s systems have been devised for delivering a pressurized air flow to assist the cutting of the grain crop and for delivery of the cut grain crop towards the feeder house of the combine harvester. Pressurized air is provided through nozzles placed in proximity to the ground to situate the grain crop optimally for cutting and to advance the cut grain crop at a continuous flow volume to the feeder house of the combine for further processing.
Present-day harvester headers have a substantial span between the left hand side and right hand side thereof ranging from 30 ft to 60 ft. In order for the delivery of the pressurized air flow to work effectively, it is necessary that the air streams exiting the nozzles are substantially the same across the complete width of the harvester header, i.e. the air flow pressure has to be substantially constant across the complete width of the harvester header. Variations in the air pressure results in uneven grain crop delivery and/or localized accumulation and, consequently in inefficient combine operation and loss of usable grain crop.
Different designs of air delivery system have been devised and are currently in use. In a first design, a single air flow fan provides the air flow to a single manifold with associated nozzles extending along the complete span of the harvester header. Unfortunately, such an arrangement results in a substantial variation of the air flow pressure along the manifold extending along the large span of the present-day harvester headers.
In order to overcome this drawback another design utilizes two separate air flow fans with each being connected to a respective manifold extending half the span of the harvester header. Unfortunately, this design results in a substantially more complicated and cost intensive system requiring two air flow fans to be mounted to the harvester header and connected to the drive means of the combine. Furthermore, the two separate air flow fans draw substantially more power from the combine than a single air flow fan which can compromise the combine's ability to operate efficiently. Yet further, there might still be some variation in the air flow pressure since the two separate air flow fans must be synchronized which is difficult to achieve and maintain.
In a third design, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,462,750 and 9,480,203, a manifold extending the complete width of the harvester header is provided with an air flow from both ends via tubing forming a closed loop which is connected to a single air flow fan via a “T” or “Y” connector. Unfortunately, also this design results in a variation of air flow pressure along the manifold requiring a baffle being disposed in the manifold. Furthermore, the provision of the air flow from both ends of the manifold results in turbulence due to the merging air flows, thus causing substantial losses in the air flow.
It may be desirable to provide an air delivery system for assisting grain crop harvesting that is capable of providing an air flow having a substantially constant air pressure across the span of the harvester header.
It also may be desirable to provide an air delivery system for assisting grain crop harvesting that is simple and cost efficient.
It also may be desirable to provide an air delivery system for assisting grain crop harvesting that utilizes a single air flow fan.
It also may be desirable to provide an air delivery system for assisting grain crop harvesting that has substantially reduced air flow losses.
Accordingly, one advantage of the present disclosure is to provide an air delivery system for assisting grain crop harvesting that is capable of providing an air flow having a substantially constant air pressure across the span of the harvester header.
Another advantage of the present disclosure is to provide an air delivery system for assisting grain crop harvesting that is simple and cost efficient.
Another advantage of the present disclosure is to provide an air delivery system for assisting grain crop harvesting that utilizes a single air flow fan.
Another advantage of the present disclosure is to provide an air delivery system for assisting grain crop harvesting that has substantially reduced air flow losses.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a pressurized air delivery system for assisting grain crop harvesting. The system comprises a left hand side manifold and a right hand side manifold adapted for being mounted to a harvester header. Each manifold is connected to a plurality of nozzles disposed along the respective manifold. Each manifold is adapted for receiving a pressurized air flow at a first end thereof and for providing the pressurized air flow to the nozzles. Each manifold is closed at a second opposite end thereof. The left hand side manifold and the right hand side manifold span approximately from a left hand side of the harvester header to a right hand side of the harvester header. An air flow source provides the pressurized air flow. An air conduit is connected to: the air flow source; the first end of the left hand side manifold; and the first end of the right hand side manifold. The air conduit comprises a divider for: receiving the pressurized air flow from the air flow fan; dividing the pressurized air flow; and providing the divided pressurized air flow to the left hand side manifold and the right hand side manifold.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a pressurized air delivery system for assisting grain crop harvesting. The system comprises a left hand side manifold and a right hand side manifold adapted for being mounted to a harvester header. Each manifold is connected to a plurality of nozzles disposed along the respective manifold. Each manifold is adapted for receiving a pressurized air flow at a first end thereof and for providing the pressurized air flow to the nozzles. Each manifold is closed at a second opposite end thereof. The left hand side manifold and the right hand side manifold span approximately from a left hand side of the harvester header to a right hand side of the harvester header. An air flow source provides the pressurized air flow. An air conduit is connected to: the air flow source; the first end of the left hand side manifold; and the first end of the right hand side manifold. The air conduit comprises a divider for: receiving the pressurized air flow from the air flow fan; dividing the pressurized air flow; and providing the divided pressurized air flow to the left hand side manifold and the right hand side manifold. The first end of the left hand side manifold is placed in proximity to the left hand side of the harvester header and the first end of the right hand side manifold is placed in proximity to the right hand side of the harvester header. The air conduit comprises a left hand side air conduit section interposed between the divider and the left hand side manifold and a right hand side air conduit section interposed between the divider and the right hand side manifold.
According to an aspect, there is provided a pressurized air delivery system for assisting grain crop harvesting. The system comprises a left hand side manifold and a right hand side manifold adapted for being mounted to a harvester header. Each manifold is connected to a plurality of nozzles disposed along the respective manifold. Each manifold is adapted for receiving a pressurized air flow at a first end thereof and for providing the pressurized air flow to the nozzles. Each manifold is closed at a second opposite end thereof. The left hand side manifold and the right hand side manifold span approximately from a left hand side of the harvester header to a right hand side of the harvester header. An air flow source provides the pressurized air flow. An air conduit is connected to: the air flow source; the first end of the left hand side manifold; and the first end of the right hand side manifold. The air conduit comprises a divider for: receiving the pressurized air flow from the air flow fan; dividing the pressurized air flow; and providing the divided pressurized air flow to the left hand side manifold and the right hand side manifold. The second end of the left hand side manifold is placed in proximity to the left hand side of the harvester header and the second end of the right hand side manifold is placed in proximity to the right hand side of the harvester header. The divider is directly connected to the first end of the left hand side manifold and to the first end of the right hand side manifold.
According to an aspect, there is provided a pressurized air delivery system for assisting grain crop harvesting. The system comprises a left hand side manifold and a right hand side manifold adapted for being mounted to a harvester header. Each manifold is connected to a plurality of nozzles disposed along the respective manifold. Each manifold is adapted for receiving a pressurized air flow at a first end thereof and for providing the pressurized air flow to the nozzles. Each manifold is closed at a second opposite end thereof. The left hand side manifold and the right hand side manifold span approximately from a left hand side of the harvester header to a right hand side of the harvester header. An air flow source provides the pressurized air flow. An air conduit is connected to: the air flow source; the first end of the left hand side manifold; and the first end of the right hand side manifold. The air conduit comprises a divider for: receiving the pressurized air flow from the air flow fan; dividing the pressurized air flow; and providing the divided pressurized air flow to the left hand side manifold and the right hand side manifold. The first end of the left hand side manifold and the first end of the right hand side manifold both face the left hand side of the harvester header or the right hand side of the harvester header.
An advantage of the present disclosure is that it provides an air delivery system for assisting grain crop harvesting that is capable of providing an air flow having a substantially constant air pressure across the span of the harvester header.
A further advantage of the present disclosure is that it provides an air delivery system for assisting grain crop harvesting that is simple and cost efficient.
A further advantage of the present disclosure is that it provides an air delivery system for assisting grain crop harvesting that utilizes a single air flow fan.
A further advantage of the present disclosure is that it provides an air delivery system for assisting grain crop harvesting that has substantially reduced air flow losses.
An embodiment of the present disclosure is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention belongs. Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention, certain methods and materials are now described.
Referring to
Each manifold 108L,108R is connected to a plurality of nozzles 110 disposed along the respective manifold 108L,108R. Each manifold 108L,108R receives a pressurized air flow at a first end 108L.1, 108R.1 thereof and provides the pressurized air flow to the nozzles 110. The nozzles 110 are placed in proximity to the ground such that the pressurized air flow exiting the nozzles 110 is directed towards the head cutting knife to situate the grain crop optimally for cutting and to advance the cut grain crop at a continuous flow volume to the feeder house of the combine. Each manifold 108L,108R is closed at a second opposite end 108L.2, 108R.2 thereof via, for example, an end cap mounted thereto. The left hand side manifold 108L and the right hand side manifold 108R span approximately from a left hand side 10L of the harvester header 10 to a right hand side 10R of the harvester header 10.
The pressurized air flow is generated by air flow source 102 such as, for example, a conventional centrifugal air flow fan assembly, mounted to the harvester header 10. The air flow source 102 comprises an air inlet 102A for receiving ambient air and an air outlet 102B for providing the pressurized air flow.
The pressurized air flow is provided to the first end 108L.1 of the left hand side manifold 108L and the first end 108R.1 of the right hand side manifold 108R via an air conduit connected to the air outlet 102B of the air flow source 102. The air conduit comprises a divider 104 for: receiving the pressurized air flow from the air flow fan; dividing the pressurized air flow; and providing the divided pressurized air flow to the left hand side manifold 108L and the right hand side manifold 108R, as indicated by the arrows in
As illustrated in
The pressurized air delivery system 100 is easily adapted for being mounted to various harvester headers 10 with the air flow source 102 being placed, for example, between the center 14 and the right hand side 10R of the harvester header 10, as illustrated in
Optionally, the manifolds 108L and 108R may be provided having different lengths to compensate for different pressure losses of the air flow due to different lengths of the air conduit sections 106L and 106R.
The pressurized air delivery system 100 is capable of providing an air flow having a substantially constant air flow pressure along large spans of present-day harvester headers 10. By utilizing a single air flow fan 102 the pressurized air delivery system 100 is simple and cost efficient, while also overcoming synchronization problems encountered when employing two air flow fans. Furthermore, air flow losses are substantially reduced compared to prior art systems by reducing the average air velocity in the manifolds and/or reducing turbulence, for example, caused by re-merging air flows in different directions.
In an example implementation, the pressurized air delivery system 100 has been adapted for being mounted to combine harvester headers 10 having a span between 30 ft and 60 ft with the number of nozzles 110 varying between 30 and 60. The manifolds 108L and 108R and the flexible hose 116 have a diameter between 8″ and 10″, while the nozzles 110 have a diameter between 1.25″ and 1.5″. The pressurized air delivery system 100 has been designed to operate at an air flow rate between 4000 scfm and 6000 scfm at an air pressure between 20″ H2O and 35″ H2O. The manifolds 108L and 108R have been manufactured from extruded aluminum, while the nozzles 110 have been made of extruded or formed aluminum tubing with die-cast aluminum mounting saddles. The mounting brackets 112 have been made of fabricated/welded steel. The flexible hose 116 has been made of a Urethane compound with steel wire reinforcement.
Referring to
Depending on the design of the harvester header 10 the air flow source 102 is placed, for example, between the center 14 and the right hand side 10R of the harvester header 10, as illustrated in
Referring to
The divider 104 can be directly connected to the outlet 102B of the air flow fan 102. Air conduit sections 306L and 306R are interposed between the divider 104 and the first end 108L.1 of the left hand side manifold 108L and the first end 108R.1 of the right hand side manifold 108R, respectively, thus the pressurized air flow in the manifolds is directed towards the left hand side 10L of the harvester header 10 where the closed or capped ends 108L.2, 108R.2 of the manifolds 108L, 108R are placed. The air conduit sections 306L and 306R can be connected to the respective manifolds 108L and 108R via elbow elements 107. The air conduit sections 306L and 306R can each comprise a flexible hose portion 116 to enable movement of the manifolds 108L and 108R with changes in the reel position of the harvester header 10.
Referring to
Referring to
It is noted that the concept of dividing a manifold into a plurality of sections and connecting the sections with flexible couplers may also be employed in the pressurized air delivery systems 100, 200 and 300 hereinabove.
The pressurized air delivery systems 200 to 500 provide the same advantages and are implementable in a similar manner as the pressurized air delivery systems 100 described hereinabove.
The present invention has been described herein with regard to certain embodiments. However, it will be obvious to persons skilled in the art that a number of variations and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as described herein.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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3166180 | Jun 2022 | CA | national |