Mowing and intake device for a machine for mowing stalk-like crops with means to prevent cob losses

Abstract

Mowing and intake device (12) for a machine (10) for harvesting stalk-like crops, comprising a lower cutting disc (14), a drum (20) arranged above it which is rotatable about a vertical axis (26) and which is provided with several conveying discs (16) arranged one above the other with recesses (18) distributed around their circumference for receiving plant stalks, an upper cover (32) which extends transversely to the forward direction from a divider tip (30) adjacent to the conveying discs (16) and which, in harvesting operation, covers the forward-rotating areas of the conveying discs (16) provided with the recesses (18) upwards and forms a front edge (44), behind which a ramp-like, rearwardly rising element (42) is arranged on the cover (32), characterized in that the height of the element (42) is higher than the plane of the upper cover (32).To prevent a piston (54) of a plant (52) lying on the element (42) that has fallen forward out of the plant stream taken up by the machine (10) and is caught and pulled along by the stream of harvested plants from being stripped off at the front edge (44), the piston (54) must be at least twice the diameter of a piston (54) and thus be dimensioned so high that the piston (54) of said plant (52), whose stem lies on the element (42), does not come into contact with the edge (44) or with the conveying discs (16) rotating below it, even when the piston (54) is located below the stem.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONThe invention relates to a mowing and drawing-in device for a machine for harvesting stalk-like crop material, having a lower cutting disc, a drum arranged above it and capable of being rotated about a vertical axis, which drum is provided with a plurality of conveyor discs arranged above one another with recesses distributed around their circumference for receiving plant stalks, an upper cover which extends transversely to the forward direction from a divider tip adjacent to the conveyor discs and which covers the regions of the conveyor discs which rotate forwardly in the harvesting operation and are provided with the recesses upwardly and forms a front edge, rearwardly of which a ramp-like element rising rearwardly is arranged on the cover, and a corresponding machine.Prior ArtMachines of the type mentioned at the beginning are used in agriculture in order to cut stalk-like crop material, for example maize plants, from the bottom of a field and to feed it to a field chopper carrying the machine, in which the plants are chopped and discharged onto a loading container on a trailer. Such machines have a number of laterally juxtaposed mowing and drawing-in devices operating independently of each other in rows in the form of conveyor drums rotating about the vertical axis, with drivers distributed around their edge, in which the plant stalks are received, and mowing discs mounted below the conveyor discs, which serve for cutting off the plant stalks from the ground. The plants are then transported away to the rear by the conveyor drums and are moved to the center of the machine by the rear sides of the conveyor drums and / or separate transverse conveyors, from where they are conveyed by deflecting conveyors into the intake channel of a forage harvester.Accordingly, the plants are supported and conveyed in their lower regions. Under unfavourable circumstances it may happen that individual plants do not find a correct hold and fall out of the plant stream towards the front. These plants then come to lie on the mowing and intake device and are captured and taken along earlier or later by the stream of harvested plants. In such situations, there is the risk that pistons of the plants become caught on parts of the mowing and intake device, are stripped from the plant now being intaketed, and finally fall onto the ground in front of the machine and the harvesting process is lost. One such location where pistons may be inadvertently stripped is at the front edge of a cover between a divider tip and the placement of a front curved piston catcher above the conveyor drums. There, the conveying drum rotates forwardly. The pistons can be caught there by the front edge of the cover or by the conveyor drum and separated from the plant. Although the application of a slightly elevated, roof- or pyramid-shaped scraper to the upper side of the covering which is flat per se has been proposed at this point (cf. DE 10 2008 044 007 A1 considered to form the generic type), its low height is not sufficient to avoid the piston losses described to a considerable extent. In this connection, reference is made to the diagram of FIG. 4, in which the known scraper is identified by the reference numeral 42 and the cover by the reference numeral 32. The relatively flat scraper 42 cannot prevent the piston 54 of the corn plant 52 lying on the scraper 42 from being separated from the plant 52 at the front edge 44 or by the upper conveyor disc of the mowing and intake device rotating to the left underneath.Object Setting Up To AchieveThe object on which the invention is based is to provide a mowing and drawing-in device for a machine for mowing stalk-like crop material, in which the described disadvantages are avoided or reduced.Invention: InventionThis object is achieved according to the invention by the teaching of claim 1, features being listed in the further claims which develop the solution in an advantageous manner.A mowing and drawing-in device for a machine for harvesting stalk-like crop material comprises a lower cutting disc and a drum arranged above it, which can be rotated about a vertical or at least approximately vertical axis. The drum is equipped with a plurality of conveyor disks arranged one above the other with recesses distributed around its circumference for receiving and conveying away plant stalks. An upper cover extends transversely to the forward direction from a divider tip adjacent to the conveyor disks and covers the cut-out regions of the conveyor disks rotating forward in harvesting operation upwards and forms a front edge, rearward of which a ramp-like element rising rearward is arranged on the cover, the height (and shape) of which element is dimensioned so high that scraping of a piston of a plant lying on the element at the front edge is avoided.In other words, the element is so high that the pistons of a corn plant lying on the element do not come to bear against the front edge or the cut-out regions of the conveyor disks rotating forward during harvesting operation and are therefore not separated from the plant in an undesired manner.At least one driver projecting upward beyond the drum can be attached to the top side of the drum, which driver extends radially beyond the outer edge of the top side of the drum. The element projects upwards beyond the driver.The element preferably comprises a rearwardly rising leading flank and a rearwardly falling trailing flank. The rear flank is particularly steeper than the front flank. The element may form a ridge extending transversely to the forward direction between the leading flank and the trailing flank.Exemplary EmbodimentThe drawings illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the invention described in more detail below. It shows: FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of a mowing and intake device according to the invention and the areas of a machine for harvesting stalk-like crop material adjacent to it, FIG. 2 is a rear view of the mowing and drawing-in device of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the scraper and the areas of the machine adjacent to it, FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of an element of a known machine with a plant lying thereon, and FIG. 5 shows a schematic side view of an element of the machine according to the invention with a plant lying thereon.The figure shows a partial area of a machine 10 for harvesting stalk-like crop material, in particular corn, in a schematic top view. For harvesting operation, the machine 10 is fastened to an intake duct, equipped with pre-pressing rollers, of a self-propelled forage harvester, which is not shown in the figure, and is moved by it in harvesting operation in a direction of travel V over a field to be harvested. In the following, directional information, such as front and rear, refers to the forward direction V. The machine 10 comprises a mowing and drawing-in device 12 which is composed of a rotatable lower cutting disk 14 and rotatable conveying disks 16 arranged coaxially above it, with recesses 18 distributed around its circumference for receiving plant stalks, wherein the conveying disks 16 are fastened to a circular cylindrical drum 20 (see FIG. 2 ) which consists of a plurality of tubular sections of different diameters, between which the conveying disks 16 are respectively arranged. The top of the drum 20 is formed by a lid 22.Unlike the illustration in FIG. 1, the machine 10 generally comprises a plurality of mowing and intake devices 12 arranged laterally next to one another. The crop material is transferred in each case on the rear sides of the mowing and intake devices 12 by the latter or in cooperation with transverse conveyor drums and / or inclined conveyor drums (see DE 195 31 918 A1) to the intake duct of the field chopper.The cutting disc 14 and the drum 20 with the conveyor discs 16 are in driving connection with a gear 24 which, in harvesting operation, is driven by the forage harvester through an associated drive train and causes the cutting disc 16 and the drum 20 to rotate about a vertical axis 26 (or slightly inclined forward with respect to the vertical), wherein the cutting disc 16 rotates as a rule at a higher rotational speed than the drum 20, namely in the opposite or the same direction. The gear 24 is mounted on a frame (not shown) of the machine and further supports a tube 28 which carries a divider tip 30 and a cover 32 disposed laterally adjacent the drum 20. The cover 32 is furthermore connected to a curved piston catcher 34, which extends in the front region of the mowing and intake device 12 in a part-circular manner around the cover 22 and projects above the latter in the upward direction.A total of three followers 36 are mounted above the cover 22, although more or less than three followers 36 could be used. The one-piece drivers 36 each comprise an outer section 38 (cf. FIG. 3 ) which extends obliquely outwards and upwards from the outer edge of the cover 20, in the embodiment shown at an angle of approximately 45°. An inner portion 40 of the follower 36 extends parallel to the lid 22 and is permanently but releasably connected to the lid 22 by screws or other fasteners extending through holes in the inner portion 40. In the embodiment shown, the two sections 38, 40 of the driver 36 are trapezoidal in plan view, wherein the outer edges are each shorter than the region of the driver 36 connecting the two sections 38, 40.The cover 32 forms (with respect to the lateral direction) between the divider tip 30 and the plunger catcher 34 a front edge 44 that extends transversely to the forward direction V. Mounted rearward and above this edge 44 directly adjacent to the edge 44 toward the rear is a ramp-like element 42 which has a front flank 46 rising toward the rear and a rear falling flank 48, between which a ridge 50 oriented transversely to the forward direction V is formed. The element 42 projects upwards beyond the upper edges of the drivers 38. The rear flank 48 includes a small bend 49.As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the piston catcher 34 may be laterally contiguous with the member 42 but could also be laterally spaced therefrom. It also does not necessarily have to be cylindrical and produced as a tube, but could be solid and / or have a rectangular cross section, as shown in DE 10 2008 044 007 A1. It would also be conceivable to arrange a scraper (not shown) similar to DE 10 2008 044 007 A1 (denoted there by 42) laterally next to the element 42, rearward of the rear end of the piston catcher 34.The operation of the ramp-like element 42 is shown in FIG. 5. Since the element 42 is substantially higher than the scraper 42 of the prior art (cf. FIG. 4 ), a piston 54 of a plant 52, which falls out of the stream of plants conveyed by the machine 10 and comes to lie on the element 42, does not come into contact with the edge 44 and also not with the conveying disks 16 rotating beneath it. The height of the element 42 may be twice the diameter of a piston 54 or even greater. Thus, unintentional piston losses are avoided. The plant 52 is finally carried by the flow of plants conveyed by the machine 10.

Claims

A mowing and intake device (12) for a machine (10) for harvesting stalk-like crop material, comprising a lower cutting disc (14), a drum (20) arranged above it and capable of being rotated about a vertical axis (26), which drum is provided with a plurality of conveyor discs (16) arranged above one another and having recesses (18) distributed around their circumference for receiving plant stalks, an upper cover (32) which extends transversely to the forward direction from a divider tip (30) adjacent to the conveyor discs (16) and which in harvesting operation covers the forwardly rotating regions of the conveyor discs (16) provided with the recesses (18) upwards and forms a front edge (44), behind which a ramp-like element (42) rising rearwardly is arranged on the cover (32), characterised in that, the height of the element (42) relative to the plane of the top cover (32) in order to avoid a stripping of a piston (54) of a plant (52), which has fallen forward out of the plant stream taken up by the machine (10) and is lying on the element (42) and is taken up by the stream of harvested plants, at the front edge (44), corresponds at least to twice the diameter of a piston (54) and is therefore dimensioned so high that the piston (54) of said plant (52), the stalk of which lies on the element (42), does not come into contact with the edge (44) and also not with the conveyor disks (16) rotating underneath it, even if the piston (54) is located beneath the stalk.Mowing and drawing-in device (12) according to claim 1, wherein at least one driver (36) protruding upwards beyond the drum (20) is attached to the upper side of the drum (20), which driver extends radially beyond the outer edge of the upper side of the drum (20), and wherein the element (42) protrudes upwards beyond the driver (36).A mowing and retraction device (12) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the element (42) comprises a rearwardly rising front flank (46) and a rearwardly falling rear flank (48).The mowing and retraction device (12) according to claim 3, wherein the rear flank (48) is steeper than the front flank (46).A mowing and retraction device (12) according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the element (42) forms between the front flank (46) and the rear flank (48) a ridge (50) extending transversely to the forward direction.Machine (10) for harvesting stalk-like crop material, having a mowing and intake device (12) according to one of the preceding claims.

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