BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic top plan view of the general flowpath of root crops through a prior art harvester;
FIG. 2 is a schematic top plan view of the general flowpath of root crops through another prior art harvester;
FIG. 3 is a schematic top plan view of the general flowpath of root crops through yet another prior art harvester;
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a root crop harvester, generally corresponding to the harvester of FIG. 1, with a flow assist system according to an aspect of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a schematic side elevational view of the flow of crops through the harvester shown in FIG. 4, illustrating multiple stagnation reduction devices;
FIG. 6 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the header assembly of FIG. 4;
FIG. 7 is a left side elevational view of the assembly of FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is a schematic top plan view of another root crop harvester, generally corresponding to the harvester of FIG. 2, with a flow assist system according to an aspect of the present invention;
FIG. 9 is a schematic top plan view of yet another root crop harvester, generally corresponding to the harvester of FIG. 3, with a flow assist system according to an aspect of the present invention; and
FIG. 10 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the conveyor assembly of FIG. 8.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriate manner.
Equipment and methods of the types described herein are for harvesting crops that grow within the ground, at times referred to as root crops. From time to time herein, these are referred to by terms such as “beets,” “sugarbeets,” “row crops,” and “root crops.” These terms are used substantially interchangeably, insofar as the invention has generally equal applicability to any such crops.
The general structure and operation of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in FIG. 4 may be understood with reference to the above description of FIG. 1. Structures common to both FIGS. 1 and 4 are identified with the same reference numerals. A more detailed discussion of the general structure and operation of a harvester according to FIG. 4 is included in U.S. Patent Application Publication No 2005/0257939, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. The beet harvester 12 includes a header assembly, generally designated at 10, a short conveyor assembly, generally designated at 16, a grabroller assembly, generally designated at 18, an elevator assembly, generally designated at 20, a tank conveyor assembly generally designated at 26, and an offloading conveyor assembly, generally designated at 28. These components are transfer assemblies that define a portion of a flowpath through the harvester 12 and move beets downstream. It will be appreciated that a harvester may include different transfer assemblies without departing from the scope of the present invention. Carrier wheels 30 and a holding tank 32 also are provided. A tongue assembly, generally designated at 34, and a lifting assembly 14 are positioned at a front portion of the header assembly 10. All of the preceding components are affixed to a frame assembly 36 that is transportable over the ground when pulled by a tractor or other transport vehicle, which is not illustrated.
The flowpath of beets through the harvester 12 is generally illustrated in FIG. 5. The beets 38 are unearthed by lifter wheels 40 of the lifting assembly 14 and then are contacted and moved downstream by rotating paddles 42. The header assembly 10 includes a plurality of header rollers 22 as a transfer surface that passes the beets downstream and funnels them into the relatively narrow short conveyor assembly 16. The stagnation problem associated with this funneling action is substantially eliminated by a movable stagnation reduction member 44 associated with the header assembly 10. The structure and operation of the multiple movable members that are illustrated in FIG. 5 will be described in greater detail herein.
After the beets have been funneled into the short conveyor assembly 16, which may include another movable member 46, they are moved downstream to the grabroller assembly 18. The beets travel the length of the grabrollers 48, which drop the beets into the elevator assembly 20 at the rear of the harvester 12. The elevator assembly 20 may also include a movable stagnation reduction member 50 associated with an inlet portion. The elevator assembly 20 lifts the beets and drops them onto the tank conveyor assembly 26, which may include a movable member 52 at a receiving portion generally adjacent to the elevator assembly 20. The tank conveyor assembly 26 drops the crops into a holding tank 32. The beets are finally removed from the harvester 12 by the offloading conveyor assembly 28 to a waiting truck or other appropriate vehicle. In order to prevent or minimize any stagnation and to assist the flow of beets up a steep incline, the offloading conveyor assembly 28 may be provided with at least one movable member 54.
The movable stagnation reduction member 44 is best illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. The general operation and structure of the other movable members of FIG. 5 are in accordance with the following description, unless noted otherwise. In the illustrated embodiment, the movable member 44 comprises a pair of disks 56 that are each mounted on opposite sides of a central support 58 of the header assembly by an axle 60 and a bearing 62. Unless stated otherwise, it is understood that a mounting assembly similar to the one illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 is suitable for use with any movable member and transfer assembly described herein. Those having ordinary skill in the art will also recognize that other mounting assemblies are possible and may be practiced without departing from the scope of the present invention.
The disks 56 are generally adjacent to the header rollers 22, such that beets moved toward the center of the header rollers will contact the disks 56, which generally occupy the transition area A illustrated in FIG. 1. In a preferred embodiment, the disks 56 are in rolling or frictional contact with the header rollers 22, which causes the disks 56 to rotate in the opposite direction of the header rollers 22, as shown in FIG. 7. These need not be driven. Alternatively, the disks 56 may be driven typically by a mechanical or hydraulic system that is separate from or coupled to the header roller drive system. Of course, if the movable member 44 is driven or powered, then it may be placed in rolling contact with a transfer surface to drive that surface or to at least assist in driving that surface.
The disks 56 may be provided with one or more paddles or striking members 64 to strike the beets and force them downstream. Even without the striking members 64, the disks 56 effectively create a “moving wall” that prevents or reduces stagnation by occupying the transition area A and providing a movable surface to address stagnation, such as by urging the beets downstream.
If the movable stagnation reduction members such as the disks 56 can be mounted for rotation about an axis substantially parallel to a rotational axis of the transfer surface, as is the case with all of the movable members of FIG. 5, then the present invention may be very easily implemented. For example, it has been found that a pair of automobile spare tires provides suitable disks for use in the header assembly of a twelve-row, 22-inch row Art's Way model 6812 beet harvester. Of course, the size and composition of a movable member depends on several factors, such as the nature of the associated transfer surface, the location of suitable mounting structures, field and crop conditions, etc. It is contemplated that the movable members are removably mounted, such that they may be removed to service the harvester or to simplify replacement or to allow interchangeability.
As for the other movable stagnation reduction members of FIG. 5, the short conveyor assembly 16 preferably includes a movable member 46 generally disposed at each transition area C of FIG. 1. The short conveyor assembly 16 is narrower than the header assembly 10, so a bottleneck effect may be substantially prevented by the use of movable members 46. The stagnation region B associated with the inlet of the elevator assembly 20 is preferably occupied by a plurality of movable members 50. A comparable configuration may be seen in FIG. 9, which shows two movable members 226 in the flowpath through an elevator assembly 218. In addition to enhancing flow and preventing or reducing stagnation at the inlet of the elevator assembly 20, the movable members 50 may be driven and placed in rolling contact with the elevator assembly 20 to help power it.
The tank conveyor assembly 26 preferably includes at least one movable member 52, because the crops are forced to change transfer assemblies and to change direction after falling from the elevator assembly 20. The tank conveyor assembly 26 may be provided with a plurality of movable members, not illustrated, disposed at opposite lateral sides of the tank conveyor assembly 26 and/or a plurality of movable members at different downstream points along the tank conveyor assembly 26.
The movable members 54 associated with the offloading conveyor assembly 28 serve a similar purpose to the movable member(s) 52 associated with the tank conveyor assembly 26 and can also help convey crops if the offloading conveyor assembly 28 is relatively steep. It will be appreciated that movable stagnation reduction members having substantially horizontal rotational axes may be preferred for transfer surfaces having an upward incline, because such movable members tend to impart downstream and upward motion to the sugar beets.
In other applications where the transfer surface does not have an upward incline, the generally upward lift provided by the stagnation reduction device can provide improved stagnation reduction action. This can be illustrated in the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7. The curved arrow line in FIG. 7 illustrates lifting action that is important to root crops that engage and are moved by the disks 56. This lifting action is imparted even more forcefully and directly by the striking member 64, when provided. However lifting action is imparted, when same is imparted to row crops it adds a direction of movement to combat stagnation.
FIG. 8 illustrates various movable stagnation reduction members associated with the transition regions of a harvester 110 according to FIG. 2. Structures common to both FIGS. 2 and 8 are identified with the same reference numerals. The movable members 128 and 130 at regions B and F, respectively, each rotate about an axis substantially parallel to a rotational axis of the associated transfer surface, so they can be easily understood with reference to the preceding discussion of FIGS. 4-7.
However, movable stagnation reduction members according to the present invention may instead be orientated to rotate about an axis that is not parallel to a rotational axis of the associated transfer surface. For example, FIG. 8 illustrates movable members 132 and 134 associated with the header assembly 114 and with the grabroller assembly 118, respectively. The grabroller assembly 118 is illustrated with two associated movable members 134, but it will be appreciated that a single movable member or more than two movable members may be provided, depending on the needs of the particular harvester. This is also true for the other movable members described and illustrated herein, in that one having ordinary skill in the art can determine the proper number of movable members to include in a given stagnation region.
The movable member 132 associated with the header assembly 114 rotates about an axis at an acute angle to the rotational axes of the header rollers 126, while the movable members 134 associated with the grabroller assembly 118 rotate about axes substantially perpendicular to the rotational axes of the grabrollers 124. Thus, it will be appreciated that such movable members 132 and 134 are preferably at least slightly spaced above the associated transfer surface, because they may not be rotated by rolling contact with the associated transfer surface. On the contrary, such movable members 132 and 134 typically must be driven by a unit, such as a mechanical or hydraulic system, that is separate from or coupled to the drive system of the associated transfer surface. The design and selection of suitable drive systems are within the ability of one having ordinary skill in the art.
Alternatively, movable members that can function as stagnation reduction devices according to the present invention may be mounted to be slightly above the associated transfer surface, rather than being in contact with the same, and be provided without a driving mechanism. Such a free-rotation mounting configuration typically is best suited for a movable member that rotates about an axis that is at an angle with respect to a rotational axis of the associated transfer surface, such as the movable member 132 associated with the header rollers 126 of FIG. 8. For the illustrated movable member 132, it will be seen that the generally right-to-left flow of crops will contact the movable member 132 and cause it to rotate so as to urge the crops further downstream. It has been found that even a slight rotation improves flow through the harvester, so non-powered movable members may be preferred for their effectiveness and ease of implementation.
FIG. 9 illustrates various movable members associated with the transition regions of a harvester according to FIG. 3. Structures common to both FIGS. 3 and 9 are identified with the same reference numerals. All of the illustrated movable stagnation reduction members 224, 226, and 228 rotate about axes substantially parallel to a rotational axis of the associated transfer surface, so their general operation may be understood with reference to the above description of the movable members of FIGS. 4-7. The illustrated movable members 224 associated with the stagnation region G behind the wall 214 are arranged in a shingled pattern that may be useful over a longer distance or to optimize capacity and flow. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that a variety of other configurations are possible and within the scope of the present invention.
While the movable members illustrated in FIGS. 4-9 are associated with stagnation regions and/or transition areas, it is believed that the use of movable members can improve flow at virtually any portion of the flowpath through the harvester. For example, transfer assemblies are typically provided with guardrails to prevent crops from falling out of the harvester. These guardrails are stationary walls and may slow the flow of crops that come into contact therewith. It will be appreciated that the provision of “moving walls” to overlay these existing stationary walls will assist the downstream flow of crops through a harvester by eliminating potential stationary contact points.
While other stagnation reduction devices shown herein provide movable wall action, FIG. 10 illustrates a particular unit that has a more wall-like appearance. FIG. 10 illustrates the conveyor assembly 122 of FIG. 8 with a movable stagnation reduction member 136 embodied as a modified draper chain that may substantially replace a guardrail typically disposed along a side of the conveyor assembly 122. Any of the movable stagnation reduction members or devices according to the present invention may be provided as a movable draper chain or according to similar conveyor configurations. Draper chain assemblies are of a structure generally known in the art. Such configurations are generally preferred for use along the outer edges of the flowpath.
It will be understood that the embodiments of the present invention which have been described are illustrative of some of the applications of the principles of the present invention. Numerous modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention, including those combinations of features that are individually disclosed or claimed herein.
Patent Application
20070266690
