Plant vine chopper assembly

Abstract

A plant vine chopper rotor drum assembly has a plurality of rotor rings spaced along, encircling, and attached to the longitudinal outer surface of a rotatable main drum tube. Each rotor ring has one or more pairs of angled mounting tabs that alternate to the left and to the right to the general plane of respective rotor ring; and the rotor rings are distributed in a cutting zone along and surrounding the longitudinal rotational axis of the drum tube with each mounting tab having a generally planar cutting blade attached. The angled blades distributed around the outer circumference of the ring cooperate one with another during operational rotation of the drum to guard each blade and the drum against the wrapping of clogging fibrous strands and other clogging material around the drum.

Claims

1. A plant vine chopper rotor drum assembly comprising: a rotor drum tube having two rotor hubs attached coaxially one hub within each end of said drum tube; a main rotor drum shaft inserted through and retained in said hubs and said drum tube by two rotor bushings with one rotor bushing at each end of said drum tube; a plurality of generally planar rotor rings attached to said drum tube, said plurality of rings selectively distributed along said drum tube within cutting zone with said rings evenly spaced one from another; each said ring having a central drum aperture perpendicular to the general plane of said ring and having one or more pairs of angled blade mounting tabs extending outward from and distributed along the circumference of said ring and across the center of the ring with one tab of the pair being a leftward angled tab and the other tab of the pair being a rightward angled tab, and having one or more rotor comb slots distributed around the periphery of said aperture, said comb slots preferably radiating outward from and away from said aperture, a generally planar cutting blade attached generally coplanar to each angled tab; and one or more rotor combs distributed and attached to said drum tube around the outer circumference of drum tube and each said rotor comb having a plurality of spaced sequential ring slots.

2. A plant vine chopper rotor drum assembly according to claim 1 wherein said leftward angled tab having a selected leftward angle from the general plane of said ring selected from a range of ten (10) to forty-five (45) degrees and said rightward angled tab having a selected rightward angle from the general plane of said ring selected from a range of ten (10) to forty-five (45) degrees.

3. A plant vine chopper rotor drum assembly according to claim 1 wherein said leftward angled tab having a selected leftward angle of 22.5 degrees from the general plane of said ring and said rightward angled tab having a selected rightward angle of 22.5 degrees from the general plane of said ring.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

(1) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plant vine chopper rotor drum assembly 10 (cutting blades not shown);

(2) FIG. 2 is a side view of the rotor drum assembly shown in FIG. 1;

(3) FIG. 3 is a side view of a rotor comb rail 44 having a plurality of ring slots 45 for registering the positions of rotor rings during fabrication;

(4) FIG. 4 is a partial, perspective view of a drum assembly during fabrication showing a rotor ring placed on and aligned in one sequential ring slot of the comb;

(5) FIG. 5 is a partial, perspective view of a drum assembly during fabrication showing a rotor ring placed on and aligned in one sequential ring slot 45 of the comb and showing a plurality of rotor combs aligned to receive additional rotor rings and provisionally aligned to receive the set of combs and rings that will serve to complete the full set of rings and combs that then will be translated onto and around the rotor drum tube and attached to the tube;

(6) FIG. 6 is an axial view of an eight tab rotor ring 30 mounted with eight blades that around the circumference of the ring alternative upward or downward to the general central plane of the central portion of the ring;

(7) FIG. 7 is a side view of the eight tab rotor ring shown in FIG. 6 showing two selected leftward angles (Angle A) from the general plane of said ring of the leftward angled tab selected from a range of ten (10) to forty-five (45) degrees during fabrication of each said ring, preferably the angle is twenty-two and half (22.5) degrees and showing a selected reference line rightward angle (Angle B) from the general plane of said ring of the rightward angled tab selected from a range of ten (10) to forty-five (45) degrees during fabrication of each said ring that will be swept by the rightward blade, preferably the angle is twenty-two and half (22.5) degrees (view is oriented transverse to one pair of angled blade mounting tabs);

(8) FIG. 8 an axial view of a six tab rotor ring 31 mounted with six blades that around the circumference of the ring alternative upward or downward to the general central plane of the central portion of the ring;

(9) FIG. 9 is a side view of the six tab rotor ring shown in FIG. 8 showing a selected leftward angle (Angle A) from the general plane of said ring of the leftward angled tab selected from a range of ten (10) to forty-five (45) degrees during fabrication of each said ring, preferably the angle is twenty-two and half (22.5) degrees and showing a selected rightward angle (Angle B) from the general plane of said ring of the rightward angled tab selected from a range of ten (10) to forty-five (45) degrees during fabrication of each said ring that will be sweep by the rightward blade, preferably the angle is twenty-two and half (22.5) degrees (view is oriented transverse to one pair of angled blade mounting tabs);

(10) FIG. 10 is a side view of a plant vine chopper rotor drum assembly 10;

(11) FIG. 11 is an enlarged circled portion of the side view of the plant vine chopper rotor drum assembly 10 shown in FIG. 10 and showing spaced reference lines L and R that indicate the rotational planes of the respective tips of the blades and shows that the tips overlap a distance O that can be selected during manufacture by selecting a separation distance D between adjacent rings (can be accomplished by varying distances between or among the comb rail slots;

(12) FIG. 12 is an axial view of an eight tab rotor ring 30 mounted with eight blades that around the circumference of the ring alternative leftward or rightward to the general central rotational plane C of the central portion of the ring.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(13) Referring to FIGS. 1 to 12, the present invention is a novel organic material and plant vine chopper rotor drum assembly 10 for a chopping machine that uses a rotating chopper rotor drum. The organic material and plant vine chopper rotor drum assembly 10 can be appropriately sized to advantageously replace a less effective chopper rotor drum.

(14) The elements of the invention, an organic material and plant vine chopper rotor drum assembly 10 to be incorporated into a chopper machine having a

(15) cutting zone along the length of a rotor drum tube comprises:

(16) a rotor drum tube 20 having

(17) two rotor hubs 22 attached coaxially one hub within each end of the drum tube;

(18) two hub to drum collars 24 (if required to accommodate the diameter of the drum tube are mounted between the inside of the tube and the hub); a

(19) main rotor drum shaft 26 inserted through and retained in said hubs and said drum tube by two rotor bushings 28 (SK style appropriate)(one rotor bushing at each end of the drum tube)(or another drum mounting means known in the art could be used);

(20) a plurality of generally planar rotor rings 30 attached to said drum tube, said plurality of rings selectively distributed along said drum tube within said cutting zone as shown in FIG. 10 with preferably the rings evenly spaced one from another;

(21) each said ring having

(22) a central drum aperture 32 perpendicular to the general plane of said ring and having one or more pairs of angled blade mounting tabs extending outward and across the center of the ring with one tab of the pair being

(23) a leftward angled tab 34 and the other tab of the pair being

(24) a rightward angled tab 36, and having

(25) one or more rotor comb slots 38 distributed around the periphery of said tube aperture, said comb slots preferably radiating outward toward the outer edge of the ring and sized to cooperate with adjacent one or more comb rails 44

(26) a generally planar cutting blade 40, 42 attached generally coplanar to each angled tab preferably using nuts and bolts with appropriate apertures in said angled tab and said blade having cutting edges along two of the three sides of the blade, preferably said cutting blade is a generally triangularly shaped sickle blade, and one or more
rotor comb rails 44 having a plurality of spaced sequential ring slots 45 attached to the tube and to the rings preferably by welding.

(27) In FIGS. 7 and 9, Angle A is a selected leftward angle from the general plane of said ring of the leftward angled tab selected from a range of ten (10) to forty-five (45) degrees during fabrication of each said ring, preferably the angle is twenty-two and half (22.5) degrees.

(28) In FIGS. 7 and 9, Angle B is a selected rightward angle from the general plane of said ring of the leftward angled tab selected from a range of ten (10) to forty-five (45) degrees during fabrication of each said ring, preferably the angle is twenty-two and half (22.5) degrees.

(29) A majority of the structural components of the invention are preferably made from sheet steel stock and round steel tubing stock, or other suitable materials used in making high strength agricultural equipment. Means of joining or attaching of elements of the invention one to another preferably may include welding and nuts and bolts.

(30) The Separation Distance D shown in FIG. 11 of one ring to the next in the fabrication of the drum assembly can be uniform or could be selectively varied.

(31) The preceding description and exposition of a preferred embodiment of the invention is presented for purposes of illustration and enabling disclosure. It is neither intended to be exhaustive nor to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Modifications or variations in the invention in light of the above teachings that are obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art are considered within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted to the breath to which they are fairly, legitimately and equitably entitled.