A COMBINE HARVESTER AND A METHOD FOR THRESHING HARVESTED CROP MATERIAL

Abstract

Disclosed is a combine harvester (1) comprising, a crop material conveyor (2) arranged to convey harvested crop material (3) in a conveying direction (CD) towards a threshing apparatus (4). The threshing apparatus (4) comprising a thresher plate (5) and a rotating thresher (6) arranged to rotate around a thresher rotation axis (7) 5 extending in a transverse direction in relation to the conveying direction (CD). The thresher plate (5) partly encircles the rotating thresher (6) such that the harvested crop material (3) is beat against the thresher plate (5) by the rotating thresher (6). An apex (8) of the crop material conveyor is arranged above the thresher rotation axis (7), so that the harvested crop material (3) is deposited to the threshing apparatus (4) from 10 above the thresher rotation axis (7).

Claims

1. A combine harvester comprising, a crop material conveyor arranged to convey harvested crop material in a conveying direction towards a threshing apparatus, said threshing apparatus comprising a thresher plate and a rotating thresher arranged to rotate around a thresher rotation axis extending in a transverse direction in relation to said conveying direction, wherein said thresher plate partly encircles said rotating thresher such that said harvested crop material is beat against said thresher plate by said rotating thresher; wherein an apex of said crop material conveyor is arranged above said thresher rotation axis, so that said harvested crop material is deposited to said threshing apparatus from above said thresher rotation axis.

2. The combine harvester according to claim 1, wherein said thresher plate encircles said rotating thresher in an arc angle of between 120 and 250 degrees.

3. The combine harvester according to claim 1, wherein said crop material conveyor is arranged to form a conveyor angle of between −20 and +20 degrees.

4. The combine harvester according to claim 1, wherein a grain tank extends at least partly under said threshing apparatus.

5. The combine harvester according to claim 1, wherein said crop material conveyor is arranged with a front side facing the front of the combine harvester and a back side facing the back of said combine harvester, and wherein said crop material conveyor is arranged to convey said harvested crop material along said front side.

6. The combine harvester according to claim 5, wherein said back side forms part of a back side channel.

7. The combine harvester according to claim 1, wherein said combine harvester comprises a stone container arranged at the lower end of said crop material conveyor.

8. The combine harvester according to claim 1, wherein a vertical distance between said apex and said thresher rotation axis is between 10 mm and 500 mm.

9. The combine harvester according to claim 1, wherein a front edge of said thresher plate facing said crop material conveyor is arranged in a front edge angle of between 50 and 150 degrees.

10. A method for threshing harvested crop material in a combine harvester, said method comprising the steps of: conveying said harvested crop material via a crop material conveyor in a conveying direction towards a threshing apparatus, depositing said harvested crop material from an apex of said crop material conveyor, said apex being arranged above a thresher rotation axis such that said harvested crop material is deposited to said threshing apparatus from above said thresher rotation axis.

11. The combine harvester according to claim 1, wherein said thresher plate encircles said rotating thresher in an arc angle of between 140 and 230 degrees.

12. The combine harvester according to claim 1, wherein said thresher plate encircles said rotating thresher in an arc angle of between 160 and 210 degrees.

13. The combine harvester according to claim 1, wherein said crop material conveyor is arranged to form a conveyor angle of between −10 and +10 degrees.

14. The combine harvester according to claim 1, wherein a vertical distance between said apex and said thresher rotation axis is between 70 mm and 350 mm.

15. The combine harvester according to claim 1, wherein a vertical distance between said apex and said thresher rotation axis is between 120 mm and 250 mm.

16. The combine harvester according to claim 1, wherein a front edge of said thresher plate facing said crop material conveyor is arranged in a front edge angle of between 60 and 140 degrees.

17. The combine harvester according to claim 1, wherein a front edge of said thresher plate facing said crop material conveyor is arranged in a front edge angle of between 70 and 130 degrees in relation to a vertical plane.

Description

FIGURES

[0038] The invention will be described in the following with reference to the figures in which

[0039] FIG. 1. illustrates a combine harvester comprising a slanted crop material conveyor,

[0040] FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the combine harvester comprising a substantially vertical crop material conveyor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] FIG. 1 illustrates a combine harvester 1 comprising a slanted crop material conveyor 2. The figure illustrates one embodiment of the invention as to how the combine harvester 1 may collect the crops 17 and thresh the crop material. As the combine harvester 1 drives along the field on the underlying ground 20, the crops 17 are oriented and directed by the reel bar 30 towards the cutter bar 18 of the header 29 whereby the crop material is cut. The header 29 may comprise augers (not shown) which convey the cut crops 17 towards the center of the header 29 such that the material is gathered at the center and conveyed to the crop material conveyor 2. This figure illustrates only the part of the crop material conveyor 2 preceding the threshing apparatus. However, the crop material conveyor 2 may also extend down to the cutter bar 18 for receiving the cut crop material 3 directly or there could be an intermediate conveyor positioned in between the cutter bar 18 and the crop material conveyor 2. The harvested crop material 3 may then be conveyed in a conveying direction CD upwards towards the threshing apparatus 4 onto which it is deposited from an apex of the conveyor 2 and from a vertical distance D1 between the apex 8 and thresher rotation axis 7 The threshing apparatus comprises a rotating thresher 6 and a thresher plate 5. The rotating thresher 6 beats and threshes the crop material against the thresher plate 5 such that crop yields 15 are released from the stalks.

[0042] In this embodiment, the vertical distance D1 is 150 mm. However, in another embodiment, the distance D1 could be 50 mm, 200 mm or larger or smaller.

[0043] In this embodiment the crop material conveyor 2 is arranged as two parallel-running chains driven by conveyor drivers 27. In this embodiment, the conveyor drivers 27 are sprocket wheels, but in another embodiment the conveyor drivers 27 could be pulleys, belt drive, gear mechanism or other kind of mechanism for driving the crop material conveyor 2. The conveyor drivers 27 could be driven by a dedicated motor or connected to the combine harvester engine (not shown) either directly or via a gearing to provide a gearing ratio between the engine rotation speed and the rotation speed of the conveyor drivers 27.

[0044] Crop material drivers 28 may extend between the chains such as to drive the crop material upwards. In this embodiment the crop material drivers 28 are simple steel plates such that the crop material drivers 28 may carry the crop material. However, in another embodiment, the crop material drivers 28 could be spikes, cups, paddles, teeth or other kind of crop material driver for meshing with the crop material 3 such that it is carried in the conveying direction CD.

[0045] In this embodiment, the crop material conveyor 2 is arranged at a conveyor angle β of 0 degrees such that the harvested crop material 3 may be conveyed substantially vertically (i.e. β=0). However, in another embodiment, the crop material conveyor 2 could be arranged in a conveyor angle β of −20 degrees or +20 degrees (see FIG. 2), or at larger or smaller angles. At the upper part of the crop material conveyor 2 the harvested crop material 3 is deposited at the threshing apparatus 4.

[0046] As the harvested crop material passes from the crop material transporter 2 to the beating apparatus 4, stones, which have a larger density than the crop material, may naturally fall downwards and along the backside channel 12 which channels the stones into the stone container 13. The crop material beaters 21 may also aid in the separation of stones in that they may strike the stone 16 such that it is directed backwards and towards the backside channel 12. The stone container 13 may comprise a sensor (not shown) and an alarming unit (not shown) for alerting the operator when the stone container 13 is filled with stones. The sensor unit could be any type of sensor such as acoustic, optic, ultrasonic or any other suitable sensor for sensing if the stone container is filled. The sensor could communicate with a receiving unit located e.g. in the driver cabin 22 and such that the operator may be alerted by means of e.g. audio signal, visual signal from a user interface, an alerting alarm or other kind of alerter.

[0047] The stone container 13 may also comprise a hatch (not shown) such that the operator may empty the stone container regularly, e.g. when the alarming unit alerts the operator to do so. In this embodiment, the stone container 13 is arranged at a lower position of the crop material conveyor 2 such that the operator may reach the stone container 13 from the ground without having to climb up on the combine harvester. This is convenient for the operator as opposed to other alternatives where the stone collector may be arranged high above the ground.

[0048] Since the crop material conveyor 2 may comprise parallel-running chains wherein crop material drivers 28 extend between the chains with a regular interval, it is possible that stones 16 may be located in the space between the front side 10 and back side 11. However, a shielding plate (not shown), which could be positioned between the front side of the crop conveyor 10 and the back side channel 12, may prevent the stones 16 from moving back into the front side channel 31.

[0049] In this embodiment, the harvested crop material 3 is conveyed along the front side 10 of the crop material conveyor. However, in another embodiment, the crop material 3 could be conveyed along the back side channel 12 of the crop material conveyor, i.e. the direction of rotation of the conveyor wheels 27 would be reversed such that they would run in a counter-clockwise direction (i.e. the reverse direction in relation to the clockwise rotation as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2).

[0050] To reduce the bending of the crop material stalks as the crop material passes from the crop material conveyor 3 to the threshing apparatus 4 the conveyor angle β and the front edge angle γ may be selected such that the tangent T at the point of separation i.e. at the point at which the crop material conveyor 2 “slips” the crop material 3, is also a tangent T at the point of entry in the threshing apparatus 4. However, it should be noted that this does not restrict the invention to a selection of front angle γ and conveyor angle β such that such a tangent line may be drawn. Any combination of front angle γ and conveyor angle β (and also arc angle α) may be combined depending on specific purposes.

[0051] In an embodiment, the diameter of the rotating thresher 6 may be adjusted so as to adjust the size of the gap between the crop material beaters 21 and the thresher plate This is advantageous in that the degree of beating may be adjusted to the specific crop material being harvested and threshed whereby the threshing efficiency may be increased.

[0052] In this embodiment, the thresher plate 5 is a meshed grill which is shaped as a concave and encircles the rotating thresher 6 in an arc angle α of 190 degrees. However, in another embodiment, the thresher plate 5 could encircle the rotating thresher 6 in an arc angle α of, for example, 120 or 180 degrees or smaller or greater arc angle α.

[0053] In this embodiment, the crop material beaters 21 are illustrated as teeth protruding from the circumference of the rotating thresher 6. Such teeth may be advantageous for threshing e.g. rice. However, in another embodiment, the crop material beater 21 comprises rasp bars for beating and conveying the crop material. The rasp bars may comprise serrations (not shown) for increasing the surface area and for easier engagement into the crop material for conveying it. The serrations may also be angled in relation to the conveying direction and the serrations of the rasp bars may alternate between left-handed and right-handed orientation such that the crop material is well distributed along the length of the threshing apparatus 4 and not consistently pushed to one side only.

[0054] The cleaning unit 23 is in this embodiment formed as a “walker-sieve” which comprises straw walkers 24 and sieves 25 integrated in one part. In another embodiment, the cleaning unit 23 could be formed by separate straw walkers 24 and sieves 25. Also, the cleaning unit may also comprise a blower (not shown) for generating an airflow up and through the sieves and/or straw walkers such that the separation of grain material from straw material and debris is aided. Such a blower could be an axial-flow fan, cross-flow fan, mixed flow fan, centrifugal blower, compressor or other type of device for generating an airflow.

[0055] The cleaned grain 15 (or other type of crop yield) may fall directly to a grain tank 9 which may be positioned below the threshing apparatus 4 and cleaning unit 23. The grain tank 9 may comprise augers (not shown) at the bottom of the grain tank 9 and extending in a longitudinal direction such that crop yield 15 is conveyed towards the front or the back of the combine harvester where a vertical auger may convey the grain upwards and discharge the grain 15 from the grain tank 9 and onto e.g. a tractor driving next to the combine harvester for receiving the grain 15. The combine harvester may also unload the grain 15 directly into a stationary grain tank after the harvesting is completed.

[0056] In an embodiment of the invention, the thresher plate 5 may be adjustable in the vertical direction such that the clearance between the concave 5 and the rotating thresher 6 can be adjusted depending on the type of crop, rate of material feed, degree of threshing or other parameters which influence the threshing efficiency.

[0057] FIG. 2 illustrates a combine harvester 1 comprising a substantially vertical crop material conveyor 2.

[0058] A blower (not shown) is arranged to establish an adequate flow of air such that the debris 12 are separated from the grains 11. The blower could be a radial flow fan, axial flow fan, cross-flow fan, mixed flow fan, centrifugal blower, compressor or any other type of apparatus which may be used for generating an airflow. Furthermore, the blower could establish the airflow continuously or in portions/pulses.

[0059] For improving the discharging of the crop material from the threshing apparatus 4, the combine harvester may comprise a rear beater 27 which aids in pulling the crop material 3 away from the threshing apparatus 27. The rear beater 26 may also aid in streamlining and evening out the crop material being discharged from the threshing apparatus 4 such that it is easier cleaned in the cleaning unit 23.

[0060] After threshing and cleaning the harvested crop material 3, the straw material 19, which at this point should not contain any grain or other kind of crop yield, is discharged from the rear part of combine harvester 1. The straw material 19 may be discharged directly onto the ground after being cut and chopped into smaller pieces by a straw material chopper (not shown) or it may be baled up prior to being discharged from the combine harvester. The straw material 19 may also be baled up afterwards by a machine suitable for this. The baled up straw material 19 may then be used for animal bedding, building insulation or for other purposes.

[0061] In this embodiment, the arc angle α is substantially 180 degrees. However, in another embodiment, the arc angle α could be 120 degrees or it could be 220 degrees or smaller or larger.

[0062] The invention has been exemplified above with reference to specific examples of arc angle α, conveyor angle β, crop material conveyor 2, rotating thresher 6 and other. However, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular examples described above but may be designed and altered in a multitude of varieties within the scope of the invention as specified in the claims.

LIST

[0063] 1. Combine harvester [0064] 2. Crop material conveyor [0065] 3. Harvested crop material [0066] 4. Threshing apparatus [0067] 5. Thresher plate [0068] 6. Rotating thresher [0069] 7. Thresher rotation axis [0070] 8. Apex of crop material conveyor [0071] 9. Grain tank [0072] 10. Front side of crop material conveyor [0073] 11. Back side of crop material conveyor [0074] 12. Back side channel [0075] 13. Stone container [0076] 14. Front edge of thresher plate [0077] 15. Grain [0078] 16. Stone [0079] 17. Crops [0080] 18. Cutter bar [0081] 19. Straw material [0082] 20. Ground [0083] 21. Crop material beater [0084] 22. Driver cabin [0085] 23. Cleaning unit [0086] 24. Straw walkers [0087] 25. Sieves [0088] 26. Rear beater [0089] 27. Conveyor drivers [0090] 28. Crop material driver [0091] 29. Header [0092] 30. Reel bar [0093] 31. Front side channel [0094] α. Arc angle [0095] β. Conveyor angle [0096] γ. Front edge angle [0097] CD. Conveying direction [0098] D1. Vertical distance