The invention described and claimed hereinbelow is also described in German Patent Application DE 10 2010 009 163.4 filed on Feb. 24, 2010. This German Patent Application, whose subject matter is incorporated here by reference, provides the basis for a claim of priority of invention under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d).
The present invention relates to a mounting component for securing a crop handling element to a separator rotor, in which the mounting component is embodied as a profile-section component, with side walls facing toward one another and extending in some portions in the circumferential direction of the separator rotor.
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,245, a mounting component for securing a thresher element to an axial thresher-separator rotor is known. The mounting component, on which the thresher element is detachably located, is embodied as a profile-section component, with side walls parallel to one another that extend in some portions in the circumferential direction of the separator rotor. The side walls of the mounting component have finlike portions, parallel to the jacket face of the thresher-separator rotor, with which portions the mounting component is joined to the thresher-separator rotor by spot welding. The L-shaped thresher element is mounted on the mounting component and is exposed directly to the stream of crop material to be processed.
It proves disadvantageous in the mounting component of U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,245 that with increasing radial length of the mounting component and/or of the thresher element located on it toward the jacket face of the separator rotor, the forces acting on it increase because of what becomes an unfavorable lever ratio, so that a secure hold of the mounting component welded to the jacket face of the separator rotor cannot be ensured. Detachment of the mounting component from the jacket face causes severe damage to the separator grate, which adversely affects its performance.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to further develop a mounting component of the type defined at the outset such that a longer service life of the separator grate as well as greater load-bearing capacity of the mounting components and of the crop handling element located on them is achieved.
Accordingly, it is proposed that for securing the support element to the surface of the separator rotor, each of the side walls of the support element has a longitudinal weld seam, extending essentially parallel to the side wall, with a weld seam portion extending beyond the length of the respective side wall. The lengthening of the longitudinal weld seam beyond the length of the side wall, and the embodiment deviating from the aligned continuation of the weld seam portion, leads to a reduction in the peak tensions in the longitudinal weld seams, which occur during operation of the separator rotor, on the side walls of the mounting element via the weld seam portions that protrude past the side walls.
The weld seam portion, going beyond the length of the respective side wall, can be embodied at an angle to the respective side wall.
Preferably, the weld seam portion of the longitudinal weld seam, which weld seam portion goes beyond the length of the respective side wall, should extend in the direction of rotation of the separator rotor. The moment to be absorbed by the mounting element during operation of the separator rotor, which moment is exerted on the mounting element via the crop material coming into contact with the crop handling element, is introduced into the weld seam portions that are lengthened in the force exertion direction, and as a result the peak tensions in the vicinity of the base of the mounting element, which is the transition region from the mounting element to the jacket face of the separator rotor, are reduced.
In an advantageous refinement, the axial spacing of the weld seam portions of the longitudinal weld seams from one another can increase in the direction of rotation of the separator rotor, which favors the reduction in the peak tensions.
In particular, the mounting component can be embodied as a U-profile section.
Advantageously, the side walls of the mounting component can be adapted, on their side toward the surface of the separator rotor, to the cylindrical contour of the separator rotor.
Furthermore, the side walls can have a cutout. The cutout in the side walls can serve, if a sudden load occurs on the crop handling element, to achieve yielding of the mounting element in the direction of rotation of the separator rotor, to prevent the mounting element from being ripped off the jacket face of the separator rotor, which can make the separator rotor unusable. Conversely, the mounting element that has been buckled inward can be replaced comparatively simply.
The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the present invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
The invention will be described in further detail below in terms of an exemplary embodiment shown in the drawings.
The combine harvester 1 schematically shown in
The crop material 9 cut by the cutting mechanism 3 proceeds via an oblique feed conduit 10 to a thresher device 4 that operates on the tangential principle. This thresher device comprises a threshing drum 11 and an associated threshing basket 12. The crop material components separated at the threshing basket 12 are carried via a feeder floor 13 to a cleaning device 5 comprising a housing 14 and an upper and lower screen 15, 16. The grain and short straw mixture, leaving the threshing basket 12 in the tangential direction, is fed into the axial separator 2. The feeding operation is reinforced by a rotating inverter drum 17, located parallel to the threshing drum 11.
The axial separator 2 is located in the longitudinal direction of the combine harvester 1 and essentially comprises a fixed cylindrical housing 18, rising in the feed direction FR, and a rotatably driven separator rotor 19 is supported in this housing. The housing 18 has a lower region with separator grates 20 and a closed, upper cover region 21, with conducting devices located on the inside to reinforce the feeding motion of the crop material. The circumferential region of the separator rotor 19 is provided with variously embodied crop handling elements 34, such as paddles 35, or strips 29, which intensify the separation process.
At the separator grates 20, the grains and components of short straw and chaff contained in the mixture of crop material are separated out and fed to the cleaning device 5 via the return floor 22 located beneath them. Via a feed worm 23 and an elevator 24, the cleaned grains reach the grain bin 6. Inside the axial separator 2, the straw is fed in the direction of the output region 25, and from there, distributed over an outlet width 26, it reaches the straw chopper 8, which is secured, transversely to the travel direction to a frame below the straw outlet hood 27.
The illustration in
The side walls 31 of the mounting element 30 are provided with cutouts 33, which if a sudden load on the paddle 35 occurs on an order of magnitude that exceeds a threshold value for the impact of a foreign body, such as a rock or the like, and that could lead to ripping of the mounting element 30 from the jacket face 29 of the separator rotor 19, make yielding of the mounting element 30 possible. The mounting element 30 buckles inward or inclines counter to the direction of rotation DR, in the direction of the jacket face 39, so that ripping off of the mounting element 30 from the jacket face 29 of the separator rotor 19 by the impact can be avoided.
In
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.
While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a mounting component for securing a crop handling element to a separator rotor, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.
Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
10 2010 009 163 | Feb 2010 | DE | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
1450935 | Anderson | Apr 1923 | A |
3203428 | Ausherman | Aug 1965 | A |
3848609 | Mortier et al. | Nov 1974 | A |
4136704 | Dyke | Jan 1979 | A |
4192322 | Wilson | Mar 1980 | A |
4248248 | De Busscher et al. | Feb 1981 | A |
4280541 | Reimler et al. | Jul 1981 | A |
4422463 | West | Dec 1983 | A |
4505279 | Campbell et al. | Mar 1985 | A |
4889517 | Strong et al. | Dec 1989 | A |
4936810 | Strong et al. | Jun 1990 | A |
4946419 | Cromheecke et al. | Aug 1990 | A |
4964838 | Cromheecke et al. | Oct 1990 | A |
5125871 | Gorden | Jun 1992 | A |
5192245 | Francis et al. | Mar 1993 | A |
5192246 | Francis et al. | Mar 1993 | A |
5413531 | Tanis | May 1995 | A |
5919086 | Derry | Jul 1999 | A |
6190252 | Makeeff | Feb 2001 | B1 |
6261176 | Welch | Jul 2001 | B1 |
6325714 | Tanis et al. | Dec 2001 | B1 |
6375564 | Amann et al. | Apr 2002 | B1 |
6494782 | Strong et al. | Dec 2002 | B1 |
6749002 | Grinberg et al. | Jun 2004 | B2 |
7022013 | Van Quekelberghe et al. | Apr 2006 | B1 |
7390252 | Tanis et al. | Jun 2008 | B1 |
7632180 | Farley et al. | Dec 2009 | B2 |
20020002068 | Welch | Jan 2002 | A1 |
20060128451 | Ricketts et al. | Jun 2006 | A1 |
20070026913 | Kuchar | Feb 2007 | A1 |
20070049366 | Pope | Mar 2007 | A1 |
20080167100 | Farley et al. | Jul 2008 | A1 |
20080167101 | Farley et al. | Jul 2008 | A1 |
20080207286 | Farley et al. | Aug 2008 | A1 |
20090011807 | Becker et al. | Jan 2009 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20110207511 A1 | Aug 2011 | US |