Chopper blade with hard face

Abstract

A chopper blade for use in an agricultural harvester chopper to chop crop residue includes a blade body and a hard face. The blade body includes a cutting edge of the chopper blade. The hard face is applied to a surface of the blade body and is harder than the blade body. The hard face includes a sawtooth pattern along the cutting edge such that during use of the chopper blade, the cutting edge wears to the sawtooth pattern to match the sawtooth pattern, thereby forming corresponding sawteeth in the cutting edge, and the sawtooth pattern becomes part of the cutting edge of the chopper blade.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to a shredder for agricultural harvesters, and more particularly to shredder blades for such a shredder. Background Technology

[0002] Agricultural harvesters harvest crops from fields and process the harvested crops to separate grain from crop residues. Agricultural harvesters typically have a crop residue management system for returning crop residues to the field. This system usually includes a shredder that breaks the crop residues into smaller pieces for spreading or otherwise piling on the field. The shredder has multiple shredder blades that wear down over time with use. Summary of the Invention

[0003] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a shredder blade for chopping crop residues in an agricultural harvester is disclosed. The shredder blade includes a blade body and a hardened face. The blade body includes a cutting edge of the shredder blade. The hardened face is applied to the surface of the blade body and is harder than the blade body. The hardened face includes a serrated pattern along the cutting edge, such that during use of the shredder blade, the cutting edge wears down to match the serrated pattern, thereby forming corresponding serrations in the cutting edge, and the serrated pattern becomes part of the cutting edge of the shredder blade.

[0004] The above and other features will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0005] For a detailed description of the accompanying drawings, please refer to the drawings (not drawn to scale), in which:

[0006] Figure 1 This is a side view showing an agricultural harvester with a shredder mounted towards the rear of the harvester;

[0007] Figure 2 This is a side view showing a shredder with multiple shredder blades for chopping crop waste;

[0008] Figure 3 This is a side view showing a shredder blade having a blade body and a serrated hardened surface applied to the surface of the blade body, the blade body including a cutting edge shown as before wear to the hardened surface; and

[0009] Figure 4 It is an enlarged side view showing the cutting edge of the blade body being worn to match the serrated pattern of the hardened surface;

[0010] Figure 5This is an end view showing the hardened surface applied to the blade body and the cutting edge of the blade body worn to the hardened surface; and

[0011] Figure 6 This is a side view showing a second embodiment of a serrated hardened surface applied to the surface of the blade body, the hardened surface having a serrated shape. Detailed Implementation

[0012] refer to Figure 1 An agricultural harvester 10 is configured to move in a forward direction of travel 12 over a field 14 to harvest crops from the field 14. The harvester 10 processes the crops, thereby separating the grain from crop residues (e.g., straw, stalks, corn cobs, leaves, chaff). The harvester 10 includes a residue management system 16 for returning crop residues derived from the harvested crops to the field 14.

[0013] Typically, a harvester 10 may include: an implement 18 for cutting, collecting, and transporting crops backward; a feed chamber 20 for propelling crops received from the implement 18 into the body of the harvester 10; a threshing and separating section 22 for threshing the crops and further separating the grains from crop impurities; a cleaning section 24 including one or more screens and sieves to separate the grains from chaff or other relatively small pieces of crop material; a clean grain elevator 26 for lifting the clean grains to a storage bin 28; an unloader 30 for unloading the clean grains from the storage bin 28 to another location; and a beater 34 for beating impurities (e.g., straw, stalks, corn cobs, leaves) received from the threshing and separating section 22 that have not been passed to the cleaning section 24. A person can control the harvester 10 from the operator station 32. The harvester 10, including these components, can be configured in a variety of ways.

[0014] The waste management system 16 includes a chopper 36 and a waste distributor 38. The chopper 36 chops waste products from crops harvested from field 14 by the harvester 10. The waste distributor 38 is positioned behind the chopper 36. In some examples, the waste distributor 38 may be mounted to pivot relative to the chopper 36 between a dispersing position and a piling position, wherein the dispersing position is for dispersing the crop waste received from the chopper 36 onto field 14, and the piling position is for piling the crop waste received from the waste distributor by the harvester onto field 14. In other examples, the waste distributor 38 may be mounted in a fixed position relative to the chopper 36.

[0015] refer to Figure 2The shredder 36 can receive crop residues from the threshing and separating section 22 and the cleaning section 24. In some examples, the harvester 10 includes a door that is closed when the residue distributor 38 is in the dispersing position to guide crop residues from the threshing and separating section 22 and the beater 34 to the shredder 36 for chopping. When the residue distributor 38 is in the stacking position, the door is closed to guide crop residues from the threshing and separating section 22 and the beater 34 to the top of the residue distributor 38, thereby stacking the crop residues into a pile on the field 14. In some examples, in one or both of the dispersing and stacking positions, the shredder 36 can receive crop residues from the cleaning section 24, for example, in the form of chaff.

[0016] The chopper 36 includes a housing 39, a rotor 40, and a set of counterknife blades 42. The rotor 40 is mounted to the housing 39 and positioned within an internal region 44 of the housing 39 to rotate relative to the housing 39 about a rotation axis 46. The rotor 40 includes chopper blades 48 that interact with the set of counterknife blades 42 to chop crop residues as the rotor 40 rotates along a chopping direction 50 about the rotation axis 46. The blades 48 are mounted to the periphery of a hub 52 of the rotor 40. In the illustrated example, the rotor is a flail rotor, such that the blades 48 are flail blades.

[0017] The shredder 36 includes an inlet 54 and an outlet 56. Crop residues from the threshing and separating section 22 and the beater 34 enter the shredder 36 through the inlet 54 into the inner region 44. The crop residues exit the shredder 36 from the inner region 44 through the outlet 56 and reach the residue distributor 38.

[0018] In some examples, the waste distributor 38 includes a right distributing device and a left distributing device laterally adjacent to the right distributing device. Each distributing device is configured to distribute crop waste onto the field 14 when the waste distributor 38 is positioned in a distributing position. The distributing devices can be configured and operated in a variety of different ways. For example, illustratively, the distributing device includes an impeller having a rotating disk and blades suspended from the rotating disk for distributing crop waste from the waste distributor 38.

[0019] refer to Figures 3 to 5 Each shredder blade 48 includes a blade body 58. The blade body 58 includes an attachment point 60 that is attached to a hub 52 of the rotor 40. The attachment point 60 may be configured as, for example, a through hole.

[0020] The blade body 58 includes a proximal portion 62 and a distal portion 64. The proximal portion 62 includes an attachment point 60. The distal portion 64 includes an end edge 66 that is longitudinally away from the attachment point 60 in the blade body 58. The blade body 58 includes a first lateral side 67 and a second lateral side 68 opposite to the first lateral side 67. The lateral sides 67 and 68 are illustrated to have a constant thickness, but in other examples, the lateral sides 67 and 68 may gradually narrow laterally outward in thickness.

[0021] The insert body 58 includes a cutting edge 69 of the insert 48. The cutting edge 69 is positioned on a first transverse side 67. The cutting edge 69 extends longitudinally in the insert body 58. Before use, the cutting edge 69 may be straight and without serrations. With use, the cutting edge 69 may begin to wear.

[0022] The shredder blade 48 includes a hardened face 70. The hardened face 70 is applied to the surface 72 of the blade body 58 and is harder than the blade body 58 to improve the life of the blade 48. The hardened face 70 may be positioned on a first transverse side 67. The hardened face 70 extends longitudinally along the cutting edge 69 of the blade body 58.

[0023] The hard surface 70 can be applied to the surface 72 in a variety of different ways. For example, the hard surface 70 can be applied by laser cladding. In another example, the hard surface 70 can be applied by thermal spraying. The hard surface 70 can be applied in a single pass or multiple passes.

[0024] The hardened surface 70 includes a serrated pattern 76. The serrated pattern 76 extends longitudinally along the cutting edge 69 of the insert body 58, such that during use of the insert 48, the cutting edge 69 wears down to match the serrated pattern 76, thereby forming corresponding serrations 78 in the cutting edge 69, wherein the serrated pattern 76 becomes part of the cutting edge 69. Therefore, the insert 48 can be self-serrated.

[0025] During manufacturing, the serrated pattern 76 is formed in the hardened surface 70, rather than in the insert body 58. Therefore, the machining or stamping process required to form the serrated pattern 76 in the insert body 58 is avoided. Instead, a simpler grinding process can be used to form the serrated pattern 76 in the hardened surface 70.

[0026] A hardened face 70 is applied as a continuous surface layer in both the longitudinal and transverse directions of the insert body 58. This continuous layer reinforces the insert body 58 not only in the longitudinal direction but also in the transverse direction along the cutting edge 69. As shown herein, the cutting edge 69 of the insert body 58 can wear down to the hardened face 70. Over time, the insert body 58 can continue to wear down slightly transversely beyond the hardened face 70, as indicated by line 79. Thus, the insert 48 can be self-sharpening. However, continued wear may begin to slightly expose the hardened face 70 and cause it to peel off at its first transversely outer edge 84. Even with such peeling, the transversely continuous construction of the hardened face 70 provides transversely continuous reinforcement to the insert body 58 against wear.

[0027] Since the blade body 58 is continuous in both the longitudinal and transverse directions, the width 80 of the hardened face 70 (in the transverse dimension of the blade body 58) can be substantially greater than the thickness 82 of the hardened face 70. The width 80 can vary or be substantially constant. The thickness 82 can be substantially constant or can vary (e.g., the thickness 82 along the edge of the hardened face 70 can be circular, tapered, or otherwise varied). For example, but not limitingly, the width 80 of the hardened face 70 can be about 17 mm or more or less, while the thickness 82 of the hardened face 70 can be between about 0.2 mm and about 0.8 mm.

[0028] exist Figures 3 to 5 In the illustrated example, the hardface 70 has a varying width 80 and a substantially constant thickness 82. The hardface 70 extends longitudinally from the end edge 66 in the blade body 58. The hardface 70 includes a laterally outward first edge 84 and a laterally inward second edge 86, the first edge 84 defining a serrated pattern 76, and the second edge 86 being spaced apart from the first edge 84 in a laterally inward direction in the blade body 58. The first edge 84 and the second edge 86 extend longitudinally in the blade body 58, and the second edge 86 is straight. The hardface 70 may cover the corner region 88 of the blade body 58 defined between the end edge 66 and the cutting edge 69 to reinforce the corner region 88.

[0029] refer to Figure 6 The hardened surface 70 is implemented to have a substantially constant width 80. The first edge 84 and the second edge 86 are parallel to each other and extend in a serrated manner in the longitudinal direction of the blade body 58 according to the serration pattern 76. Figure 6 The example of blade 48 is similar in other respects. Figures 3 to 5 Example of blade 48.

[0030] refer to Figure 3 and Figure 6The insert 48 can be configured to be reversible. In this case, the insert 48 can have a second hardened face 70 on the second transverse side 68 of the insert body 58. If the cutting edge 69 on the first transverse side 67 becomes too worn (hardened face 70 and / or insert body 58), the insert 48 can be flipped to expose the cutting edge 69 on the second transverse side 68 for use.

[0031] Although exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, these descriptions should not be construed as limiting. Rather, other variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A chopper blade, used in an agricultural harvester chopper to chop crop residues, the chopper blade comprising: The blade body includes the toothless cutting edge of the chopper blade; A hardening surface is applied to the surface of the blade body, the hardening surface being harder than the blade body, the hardening surface being a continuous layer along the blade body, the hardening surface including a serrated pattern along the cutting edge, such that during use of the shredder blade, the cutting edge wears down to the serrated pattern to match the serrated pattern, thereby forming corresponding serrations in the cutting edge, and the serrated pattern becoming part of the cutting edge of the shredder blade.

2. The shredder blade according to claim 1, wherein, The hardened surface extends longitudinally along the cutting edge of the insert body.

3. The shredder blade according to claim 2, wherein, The blade body includes an attachment point and an end edge, the attachment point being for attachment to the rotor of an agricultural harvester shredder, the end edge being located longitudinally away from the attachment point of the blade body, and the hardened surface extending longitudinally from the end edge of the blade body.

4. The shredder blade according to claim 1, wherein, The hardened surface includes a first edge and a second edge, the first edge defining the serrated pattern, the second edge being spaced apart from the first edge in the transverse direction of the blade body, the first edge and the second edge extending in the longitudinal direction of the blade body, and the second edge being straight.

5. The shredder blade according to claim 1, wherein, The hardened surface includes a first edge and a second edge, the first edge defining the serrated pattern, the second edge being spaced apart from the first edge in the transverse direction of the blade body, and the first edge and the second edge extending in a serrated manner in the longitudinal direction of the blade body according to the serrated pattern.

6. An agricultural harvester shredder, comprising the shredder blade according to claim 1.

7. The agricultural harvester shredder according to claim 6, wherein, The shredder blade is a flail-type shredder blade.

Images