A01D43/10

CROP PROCESSOR AND A MANUFACTURING PROCESS FOR A CROP PROCESSOR

A crop processor for cracking kernels in a forage harvester, the crop processor including: a housing having an inlet and an outlet; and a first and a second comminuting roll mounted inside the housing, the comminuting rolls being arranged in parallel to define an opening between the rolls, the comminuting rolls being configured to rotate, during use, in opposing rotation directions to transport a flow of harvested crop, received from the inlet, through the opening towards the outlet, wherein the first comminuting roll is configured to rotate at a greater speed than the second comminuting roll; wherein the first and second comminuting rolls each include a plurality of teeth arranged on a circumferential surface of the comminuting roll, each of the plurality of teeth includes a leading edge which faces in the rotation direction of that comminuting roll.

CROP PROCESSOR AND A MANUFACTURING PROCESS FOR A CROP PROCESSOR

A crop processor for cracking kernels in a forage harvester, the crop processor including: a housing having an inlet and an outlet; and a first and a second comminuting roll mounted inside the housing, the comminuting rolls being arranged in parallel to define an opening between the rolls, the comminuting rolls being configured to rotate, during use, in opposing rotation directions to transport a flow of harvested crop, received from the inlet, through the opening towards the outlet, wherein the first comminuting roll is configured to rotate at a greater speed than the second comminuting roll; wherein the first and second comminuting rolls each include a plurality of teeth arranged on a circumferential surface of the comminuting roll, each of the plurality of teeth includes a leading edge which faces in the rotation direction of that comminuting roll.

WINDROWER WITH CONTROLLER TO AUTOMATICALLY DEFINE CONDITIONER SETTINGS

A windrower system includes: a windrower including: a chassis; a cutter carried by the chassis and configured to cut crop material; and an adjustable conditioner carried by the chassis behind the cutter and configured to condition crop material cut by the cutter; and a controller operably coupled to the conditioner and including a memory. The controller is configured to: receive a crop type signal corresponding to a crop type; recall at least one conditioner operating parameter from the memory based at least partially on the received crop type signal; and output a conditioner adjustment signal to the conditioner to adjust the conditioner to the recalled at least one conditioner operating parameter.

WINDROWER WITH CONTROLLER TO AUTOMATICALLY DEFINE CONDITIONER SETTINGS

A windrower system includes: a windrower including: a chassis; a cutter carried by the chassis and configured to cut crop material; and an adjustable conditioner carried by the chassis behind the cutter and configured to condition crop material cut by the cutter; and a controller operably coupled to the conditioner and including a memory. The controller is configured to: receive a crop type signal corresponding to a crop type; recall at least one conditioner operating parameter from the memory based at least partially on the received crop type signal; and output a conditioner adjustment signal to the conditioner to adjust the conditioner to the recalled at least one conditioner operating parameter.

Conditioner unit

A conditioner unit (6) for conditioning crop material comprises a rotor (17) having a shaft (18) that carries a plurality of conditioning elements, a drive mechanism for driving rotation of the rotor (17) about an axis, and a deflector element having a working surface (26) that surrounds at least part of the circumference of the rotor (17) to define a conditioning passage through which crop material is transported by rotation of the rotor (17). An adjusting mechanism (30) is provided for adjusting the position of the deflector element relative to the rotor (17), the adjusting mechanism (30) including an actuator (50), a sensor for sensing an operational condition of the conditioning unit (6) and a control system (56) that receives a sensor signal from the sensor and controls actuation of the actuator (50) in response to said sensor signal to provide a desired level of conditioning during operation of the conditioner unit (6).

Conditioner unit

A conditioner unit (6) for conditioning crop material comprises a rotor (17) having a shaft (18) that carries a plurality of conditioning elements, a drive mechanism for driving rotation of the rotor (17) about an axis, and a deflector element having a working surface (26) that surrounds at least part of the circumference of the rotor (17) to define a conditioning passage through which crop material is transported by rotation of the rotor (17). An adjusting mechanism (30) is provided for adjusting the position of the deflector element relative to the rotor (17), the adjusting mechanism (30) including an actuator (50), a sensor for sensing an operational condition of the conditioning unit (6) and a control system (56) that receives a sensor signal from the sensor and controls actuation of the actuator (50) in response to said sensor signal to provide a desired level of conditioning during operation of the conditioner unit (6).

Controlling a machine based on cracked kernel detection
11564349 · 2023-01-31 · ·

An image capture device captures an image of crop after it has been processed by a kernel processing unit on a forage harvester. A size distribution indicative of the distribution of kernel fragment sizes in the harvested crop is identified from the image captured by the image capture device. A control system generates control signals to control a speed differential in the speed of rotation of kernel processing rollers based on the size distribution. Control signals can also be generated to control a size of a gap between the kernel processing rollers.

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONTROLLING WINDROW SIZE
20220386533 · 2022-12-08 ·

Systems and methods for controlling formation of a windrow in response to a single control input are disclosed. The single control input represents a desired windrow width. The single control input is used to determine positions of components of a cutter implement, such as side shields and a swath flap, that are used to form a windrow having the desired windrow width represented or that is otherwise associated with the single control input.

Hydraulic sickle knife drive on a combine header
11503764 · 2022-11-22 · ·

A sickle knife drive for an agricultural vehicle generally includes a first pump, a first motor, a second motor and a drive manifold having a plurality of connections used for connecting to other devices of the sickle knife drive and/or to devices outside of the sickle knife drive. Operation of the first pump in a forward direction causes the first motor to drive a sickle knife gearbox to cut a crop. During the forward direction, the second motor provides cooling to the fluid circuit. When the first pump direction is reversed, the agricultural vehicle supplements a fluid flow to the fluid circuit to clear any jammed crop from the sickle knives.

PRECONDITIONER NOZZLE MOUNT FOR SWATHER
20230054177 · 2023-02-23 ·

A nozzle mount for a swather includes a mounting plate configured for attachment to the swather, a nozzle head extending from one side of the mounting plate, and a nozzle shield attached to the mounting plate and configured to at least partially enclose the nozzle head to protect the nozzle head from impact damage while allowing the nozzle head to direct preconditioner fluid flow into the swather. The nozzle head is configured for attachment to a fluid source, such as a hay preservative, that can be sourced from a locally mounted tank.