Patent Application
20100016045
The present invention relates to agricultural harvesters, and, more particularly to grain tanks in such harvesters.
Agricultural harvesters, such as combines, include a head and a feeder housing which remove the crop material from the field, gather the crop material and transport the crop material to a separator in the harvester. The separator removes the grain crop material from the non-grain crop material. The grain is cleaned and deposited in a grain tank on the harvester. When the grain tank becomes full, the combine is positioned adjacent a vehicle into which the grain is to be unloaded, such as a semi-trailer, gravity box, straight truck, or the like; and an unloading system on the combine is actuated to transfer the grain into the vehicle.
It is known to provide a door at the bottom of a grain tank on a harvester and a conveyor adjacent to the door opening for transporting grain from the grain tank to an auger also on the harvester, for subsequent transport by the auger to the vehicle. It is known to drain the grain by gravity flow from the grain tank onto the conveyor. It is known to slope the walls and the floor of the grain tank to promote gravity flow of the grain through the door opening.
A trend in agricultural machines is for the size of the machines to become larger, reducing the number of passes required to cover a field. As the harvester width is increased, more grain is harvested during each pass over the field. Accordingly, it is desirable to increase the grain tank capacity to maximize productive crop harvesting time between unloading events. In many situations it is necessary to stop the harvester for unloading. Accordingly, it is desirable to reduce the frequency of unloading and to increase unloading efficiency to minimize the time required for unloading, and thereby maximize harvesting efficiency.
Providing sloped sides and a sloped floor reduces the grain tank storage volume for the footprint of the grain tank on the harvester. Grain tank capacity can be increased by simply increasing the height of the grain tank. However, this raises the center of gravity, which is undesirable.
Unloading by gravity flow can be unreliable and inefficient. The grain tanks do not always empty completely, and it may be necessary to clean the grain tank manually when switching between different crops. Further, as the grain tank empties, the discharge rate from the grain tank decreases, and considerable time may be required to remove a small volume at the end of the emptying cycle when emptying the grain tank by gravity flow.
What is needed in the art is a grain tank on a harvester with increased capacity for the footprint of the grain tank on the harvester, and a grain tank that empties quickly and reliably.
The present invention provides a grain tank with an active floor that can be actuated to transport grain in the grain tank toward the door opening in the grain tank.
The invention in one form is directed to a grain tank for an agricultural crop harvester having a plurality of sides defining a space in which grain is accumulated. A door is operable in an opening of the grain tank in one of the sides to selectively cover and uncover the opening. An active floor between the sides is selectively operable to transport grain on the floor toward the opening.
The invention in another form is directed to a method for emptying a crop harvester grain tank. The method has steps of: opening a door near the bottom of the grain tank; draining grain from the grain tank by gravity flow through the open door; operating an active floor at the bottom of the grain tank; and moving grain toward the open door by operating the active floor.
The invention in still another form is directed to a crop harvester with a harvesting head and a body in which a crop is processed. A grain tank on the body receives processed grain. An opening is provided in the grain tank, and a door on the grain tank is operable to cover and uncover the opening. A conveyor adjacent the opening moves grain received through the opening away from the grain tank. An active floor in the grain tank moves grain in the grain tank toward the opening.
Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to
Grain tank 16 receives grain from an auger 24, and may include a plurality of covers 26, 28 over the top thereof. A cross conveyor 30 at an end of grain tank 16 receives grain from grain tank 16 and transports the grain to unloading auger 18.
A simplified illustration of a grain tank 40 of the present invention is shown in
With reference now to the cross-sectional views of
Belted conveyor floor 50 is a looped endless belt conveyor having an endless belt 62 supported about rollers 64 and support members 66. Support members 66 span the distance from one side wall to an opposite side wall of tank 40, and are disposed between upper and lower runs of looped endless belt 62. Support members 66 provide support to endless belt 62 having grain loaded thereon.
Belted conveyor 50 extends through opening 58 and has a discharge end 68 thereof positioned over cross conveyor 54. As can be seen in
During an unloading operation, it is not necessary to operate an active floor of the present invention during the entire unloading process. The unloading operation is commenced by opening the door and draining grain from the grain tank by gravity flow through the door opening. For opening, the door is slid in the channels to uncover the opening and allow grain to drain from the grain tank by gravity flow. The grain tank discharge rate, which is the flow rate of grain from the grain tank, decreases as the grain tank empties. When the discharge rate decreases a significant amount, the active floor can be operated to transport grain thereon toward and through the grain tank opening to be dumped onto the cross-conveyor. Even only a slow, steady rotation of the endless belt will improve the grain tank emptying efficiency by actively moving the grain on the floor toward and through the door opening.
The walls of the grain tank can be angled inwardly slightly to promote flow and emptying; however, the walls need not be severely sloped nor need the floor be sloped toward the door opening. The active floor can be positioned substantially horizontally at the bottom of the sidewalls. Accordingly, in comparison to previously known grain tank designs with angled walls and an angled floor, the capacity of the grain tank of the present invention is increased without increasing the foot print of the grain tank on the harvester, and without increasing the grain tank height. Accordingly, capacity is increased while at the same time reducing the center of gravity in that the increased tank volume is achieved at the bottom of the grain tank. Since the grain in the grain tank is actively transported to the opening and does not rely completely on gravity drainage, emptying the grain tank is both efficient and thorough.
Having described the preferred embodiment, it will become apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims.
