Collector for collecting harvested material

Abstract

The invention relates to a collector (10) for harvested material having at least three movement devices (12) and at least one yoke (16) interconnecting the movement devices (12). Supporting elements (18) are additionally provided which are connected to the yoke (16) and/or the movement devices (12) and which have a shaft bushing (20) within which a shaft (22) is guided on which pick-up tools (24) for picking up harvested material are mounted. At least one additional movement device (12) is provided between two outer movement devices (12), the yoke (16) being elastically deformed so as to allow a vertical movementwith respect to the yolk axisof the additional movement device (12) relative to said outer movement devices (12).

Claims

1. A collector for collecting harvested material comprising: at least three movement devices and at least one yoke interconnecting said movement devices; supporting elements connected to said yoke and said movement devices which include a shaft bushing, a shaft, supported by the shaft bushing being connected to pick-up tools for picking up harvested material, wherein at least one additional movement device is provided between two outer movement devices, said yoke being elastically deformable for allowing a relative movement of said additional movement device with respect to said two outer movement devices in a vertical direction relative to an axis of said yoke, wherein said yoke being elastically deformable likewise allows relative movement of said bushing of said at least one additional movement device with respect to said two outer movement devices in said vertical direction relative to said axis of said yoke.

2. The collector of claim 1, wherein the supporting elements are mounted on said yoke and/or on said movement devices.

3. The collector of claim 1 wherein said yoke is elastically deformable to an extent which allows said yoke to bend by at least 2 cm in a central position of said yoke, having a total length of 3 m in a vertical direction relative to the yoke axis.

4. The collector of claim 1, wherein a single elastically deformable yoke interconnects said movement devices.

5. The collector of claim 1, wherein the elastic deformability of said yoke is determinable by adjustment of a cross section and material thereof.

6. The collector of claim 1, wherein the shaft is an elastically deformable shaft.

7. The collector of claim 1, wherein the shaft is assembled from individual shaft parts.

8. The collector of claim 1, further comprising strippers mounted on said yoke, located between axially adjacent pick-up tools.

9. The collector of claim 8, wherein said strippers are mounted on said yoke individually or in groups.

10. The collector of claim 1, wherein said pick-up tools are mounted on said shaft individually or in groups.

11. The collector of claim 1, wherein said yoke is in the form of a flat section.

12. The collector of claim 1, wherein said yoke is in the form of a multi-layer flat section.

13. The collector of claim 1, wherein said movement devices are interconnected by a stabilizer.

14. The collector of claim 1, wherein said pick-up tools are tined disks having a plurality of tines.

15. The collector of claim 1, further comprising a frame for guiding said collector having at least one support point, and wherein said shaft, said yoke and the at least one support point of the frame extend substantially in a same plane.

16. The collector of claim 1, further comprising a stabilizer that interconnects said movement devices which extends substantially in a same plane as said shaft and said yoke.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further advantages, features and potential applications of the present invention may be gathered from the description which follows, in conjunction with the embodiments illustrated in the drawings.

(2) Throughout the description, the claims and the drawings, those terms and associated reference signs will be used as are notable from the enclosed list of reference signs. The drawings include:

(3) FIG. 1 a perspective partial view of a collector for harvested material according to the present invention;

(4) FIG. 2 a perspective detailed view of the yoke of the collector for harvested material according to the present invention;

(5) FIG. 3 a perspective detailed view of the shaft of the collector for harvested material according to the present invention;

(6) FIG. 4 a perspective view of the strippers of the collector for harvested material according to the present invention;

(7) FIG. 5 a schematic lateral view of a collector for harvested material, and

(8) FIG. 6 an illustration of a collector for harvested material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(9) FIG. 1 shows a collector 10 for harvested material which is equipped with seven skids 12 as devices to facilitate its movement. Each of said skids 12 is connected to a bearing bracket 14. For improved clarity of the illustration, not all bearing brackets 14 for the skids 12 are shown in this drawing. All the bearing brackets 14 of the skids 12 are connected to the yoke 16. The yoke 16, which in this application example takes the form of a flat steel section, ensures that the bearing brackets 14 and the skids 12 can be slid relative to each other in the vertical direction z. In the other directions x and y, the bearing brackets 14 with the skids 12 will essentially remain fixed in position at a defined distance from each other. By providing a certain flexibility of the yoke 16 in the direction z, the skids 12 may be at different height levels at a given time.

(10) Furthermore, supporting elements 18 are provided which are also connected to the bearing brackets 14 and the yoke 16. Naturally, because of this arrangement, the supporting elements 18 will be made to move in the same way as the skids 12 attached to them. Each of said supporting elements 18 contains shaft bushings 20 which rotatably support a driven shaft 22.

(11) For collecting harvested material, pick-up tools 24 with spring-loaded tines are mounted on said shaft 22. The design of the pick-up tools 24 is illustrated in more detail in FIG. 2. As the tines rotate about the shaft 22, they will pick up harvested material from the ground and convey it into a collection zone which is located behind the drive shaft, as seen from the direction of travel. As can be seen in a first segment 26 which is formed between two skids 12, a plurality of pick-up tools 24 is mounted between two supporting elements 18.

(12) For improving the stability of the collector 10 for harvested material, a stabilizer 28 is provided at the rear end of the collector 10, as seen from the direction of travel. This stabilizer 28 interconnects the rear ends of the skids 12 and thus increases the stability of the collector in the x and y directions, but still allows a relative vertical movement of the elements with respect to each other in the direction z.

(13) The cross-section of the stabilizer 28, as well as of the yoke 16, in particular its cross-sectional dimension and cross-sectional shape, and its material have been chosen such that it will be capable of performing this function. A particularly simple design with which this can be achieved is a flat steel section as shown in FIG. 1.

(14) The arrangement according to the invention thus ensures that the individual segments 26 situated between two skids 12 will adapt to any unevenness in the ground contours. In this way, the pick-up tools 24 located between the skids 12 will always be guided at a fixed distance near the ground. As the design of the invention allows a precisely defined distance to be maintained from the ground, dirt ingress and performance losses as a result of the pick-up tools 24 engaging the soil will be avoided.

(15) Strippers 30 are additionally mounted between the pick-up tools 24 so as to ensure that the harvested material picked up by the pick-up tools 24 is conveyed via the shaft 22 to the collection zone of the collector 10 with as little loss as possible. The alternating arrangement of strippers 30 and pick-up tools 24 results in a comb-like structure, in the interstices of which the tines 34 of the pick-up tools 24 rotate with only a small distance between tines 34 and strippers 30 and thus convey the harvested material along said strippers 30 and into the collection zone.

(16) FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail of the collector 10 for harvested material of the present invention, which shows a skid 12 which is connected to the yoke 16 and the supporting element 18 via its bearing bracket 14. As can clearly be seen in this view, the strippers 30 are individually mounted on said yoke 16. Mounting them individually will preserve the flexibility of the yoke and at the same time ensure stable attachment of the individual strippers 30.

(17) Advantageously, the individual strippers 30 are connected to the flat section in a form-locking manner via a U-shaped recess. In order to also firmly mount them in the direction of travel, they can also be screwed to the yoke 16. The strippers 30 are designed so as to loosely surround the shaft 22, thus ensuring that the shaft 22 can freely rotate without hitting the strippers 30.

(18) FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the collector 10 for harvested material in which a hexagonal shaft 22 extends through the shaft bushings 20 pressed into the supporting elements 18.

(19) This view shows the pick-up tool 24 very clearly. The latter essentially comprises a tined disk 32 which has spring-loaded tines 34 projecting from along its periphery. The tined disk 32 itself has a hexagonal opening to match the design of the shaft 22 through which the hexagonal shaft 22 extends in a form-locking manner. It can clearly be seen in this view that the shaft 22 is formed of individual shaft parts 22a, 22b. Especially for pick-up tools 24 that can only be slid onto the shaft, this has the advantage that whenever such a tool needs to be repaired or replaced, only certain individual segments of the shaft will have to be removed.

(20) FIG. 4 is a top view of the collector for harvested material from which all components have been removed except for the strippers 30. This view is an excellent illustration of the arc-shaped elastic deformation of the collector when the skids 12 are vertically displaced.

(21) FIG. 5 is a schematic lateral view of a collector 10 of harvested material of FIG. 1. It can clearly be seen from this view that the shaft 22, the yoke 16 and the stabilizer 28 all extend in the same plane. This affords additional stabilization of the collector both in and transversely to its direction of travel, and at the same time allows it to deform in the vertical direction, thus ensuring optimal following of the ground contours.

(22) FIG. 6 is an illustration of a collector for harvested material which uses a connector 36 for mounting it on a fixed frame which will stabilize it appropriately. The dotted line here also clearly shows that the connector 36 act to stabilize the collector but still allow a deformation in the vertical direction, since the shaft 22 and the yoke 16 extend in the same plane as the connector.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

(23) 10 collector for harvested material

(24) 12 skid

(25) 14 bearing bracket

(26) 16 yoke

(27) 18 supporting element

(28) 20 shaft bushing

(29) 22 shaft

(30) 22a shaft part

(31) 22b shaft part

(32) 24 pick-up tool

(33) 26 segment

(34) 28 stabilizer

(35) 30 stripper

(36) 32 tined disk

(37) 34 tines