Self-propelled forage harvester

Abstract

The invention relates to a self-propelled forage harvester (2) comprising at least one chopping device (6) and a re-shredding device (13), which is arranged downstream of the chopping device (6) as seen in the crop flow direction of a crop stream (5), wherein the re-shredding device (13) has two rollers (18, 19) which delimit a passage gap, wherein one of the rollers (18, 19) is assigned adjustable stops (27, 29) for changing a passage width of the passage gap between a minimum passage width and a maximum passage width, wherein an actuator (38) is provided and configured directly or indirectly for adjusting the stops (27, 29), wherein a control device (39) is provided and configured for controlling and / or regulating the actuator (38), wherein the control device (39) controls and / or regulates the actuator (38) in such a way,so that in a defined operating situation of the forage harvester (2) the maximum passage width of the passage gap is set.,

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a self-propelled forage harvester according to the preamble of claim 1.

[0002] EP 0 990 384 A1 discloses a forage harvester with a chopping device and a post-accelerator arranged downstream of the chopping device in the direction of crop flow. A post-shredding device is arranged in the crop flow between the chopping device and the post-accelerator. The post-shredding device is used when the forage harvester is processing maize.

[0003] The secondary shredding device comprises two rollers, also called cracker rollers, which define a passage gap between them. In the intended operating state of the secondary shredding device, a crop stream is passed through the passage gap. The passage gap is adjusted so that the corn kernels contained therein are broken down as the crop stream passes through. For adjusting the passage gap, EP 0 990 384 A1 discloses an adjustment device that can be operated manually or by means of an actuator.

[0004] A disadvantage is that crop debris can accumulate and harden in a housing section that partially surrounds the cracker rollers. Such accumulations of crop debris can cause increased wear on the rollers. To prevent this, manual removal of the debris is necessary.

[0005] It is therefore an object of the invention to avoid the described disadvantages of the prior art and in particular to reduce wear phenomena on at least one roller of the secondary shredding device.

[0006] This object is achieved according to the invention by the characterizing features of claim 1. Advantageous further developments are the subject of the dependent claims.

[0007] According to claim 1, a self-propelled forage harvester is proposed, comprising at least one chopping device and a secondary shredding device, which is arranged downstream of the chopping device as seen in the direction of crop flow of a crop stream, wherein the secondary shredding device has two rollers which delimit a passage gap, wherein adjustable stops for changing a passage width of the passage gap between a minimum passage width and a maximum passage width are assigned to one of the rollers, wherein an actuator is provided and configured directly or indirectly for adjusting the stops, wherein a control device for controlling and / or regulating the actuator is provided and configured, wherein the control device controls and / or regulates the actuator in such a way that the maximum passage width of the passage gap is set in a defined operating situation of the forage harvester.

[0008] By setting the maximum adjustable clearance between the rollers in the defined operating situation, any accumulation of crop components in a housing section that partially surrounds at least one of the rollers is removed before they harden and become stuck. This prevents additional wear on the rollers caused by hardened crop components in the housing section. In other words, when the maximum clearance is reached, any crop components in the housing section are removed by the rotating roller.

[0009] An advantageous further development provides that the defined operating situation is a grinding process of the chopping device. During grinding of the chopping device, the crop flow is interrupted, so that no crop is fed to the secondary shredding device in this operating situation. Thus, when the maximum throughput is reached in this operating situation, the harvest result remains unaffected.

[0010] A further advantageous development provides that the stops comprise a fluid-loaded plunger guided in the cylinder, and that the cylinders are fluidly connected to a single multi-chamber pump equipped with a piston. According to this development, the stops can be adjusted synchronously using a single pump.

[0011] An advantageous embodiment provides that the number of chambers of the multi-chamber pump corresponds to the number of cylinders to be controlled, and that the piston is designed in such a stepped manner that the same amount of fluid always flows out of or into the chambers when the piston is moved. As a result, all retracting or extending plungers are moved by the same amount.

[0012] A further advantageous embodiment provides that the piston of the multi-chamber pump is drivingly connected to the actuator. Thus, the piston can be moved by means of the actuator, with the piston simultaneously moving the tappets for adjusting the stops and thus the roller.

[0013] A further advantageous embodiment provides that the actuator is an electric motor drive.

[0014] A further advantageous embodiment provides that at least one of the rollers is clamped to the stops by tension or compression springs. This allows the roller to release from the stop in the event of crop flow fluctuations, allowing the through gap to be automatically adjusted to the crop flow.

[0015] The present invention is explained in more detail below with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings. Fig. 1 a schematic representation of a self-propelled forage harvester in side view; Fig. 2 a secondary shredding device in a side view; Fig. 3 one of the Fig. 2 corresponding top view; Fig. 4 a schematic representation of the rollers of a secondary crushing device, wherein a second position of one of the rollers is shown in dashed lines.

[0016] Fig. 1 schematically shows an agricultural machine 1 designed as a forage harvester 2, which accommodates a harvesting attachment 3 in its front area. In the rear area of ​​the harvesting attachment 3, so-called intake and pre-compression rollers 4 are assigned to it, which receive the crop flow 5 coming from the harvesting attachment 3, compact it, and transfer it in their rear area to a chopping device 6. The chopping device 6 comprises a chopping drum 7 equipped with chopping knives 8 of a chopping knife arrangement 9. The rotating chopping knives 8 are moved in the intake area 10 of the chopping drum 7 past a so-called counter-blade 11, over which the crop flow 5 to be shredded is conveyed. In the rear area of ​​the chopping drum 7, the shredded crop 5 is then transferred to a post-shredding device 13 designed as a so-called cracker 12 and subsequently to a post-acceleration device 14.While the post-shredding device 13 further shreds the granular components of the crop stream 5, such as corn kernels, the post-accelerator 14 accelerates the crop stream 5 in such a way that it is moved through a discharge chute 15 and can exit the forage harvester 2 at the end in the area of ​​a discharge flap 16 and be transferred to a transport vehicle (not shown).

[0017] The Fig. The arrangement shown in Figure 2 schematically shows a detailed view of a secondary shredding device 13. The conveyor channel 17 forming the conveyor path through which the crop stream 5 is guided is indicated in dash-dotted lines. Two rollers 18, 19 of the secondary shredding device 13, designed as cracker rollers, partially protrude into this conveyor channel 17. These rollers 18, 19 are used when the forage harvester 2 is used to harvest corn. The rollers 18, 19 are intended to break up the grains, i.e., partially crush them. The rollers 18, 19 are driven in opposite directions in a manner not explained in detail. The roller 19 on the left in the illustration is stationary, while the roller 18 on the right in the illustration is mounted on both sides in rockers 21, which can pivot about a horizontal axis 22.When grass or the like is harvested with the forage harvester, the housing block 23 with the rollers 18, 19 is removed and replaced with a simple housing that closes the conveyor line. Levers 24 are hinged to the lateral rockers 21. The adjustable roller 18 is pulled toward the roller 19 by tension springs 36. The distance between the roller 18 and the roller 19, and thus also the clearance between these two rollers 18, 19, is determined by two lateral tappets 25, 26, which form stops 27, 28 for the rockers 21. The tappets 25, 26 are slidably arranged in cylinders 29, 30. These two cylinders 29, 30 are fluidly connected to a multi-chamber pump 33 via two pressure lines 31, 32. For this purpose, the multi-chamber pump 33 is provided with two connections 34 and 35.

[0018] As can be seen from the Fig. 3, the multi-chamber pump 33 in this case contains two chambers 42, 43 with different diameters. The number of chambers 42, 43 of the multi-chamber pump 33 depends on the number of connected cylinders 29, 30. The individual chambers, however, are continuous, since in the multi-chamber pump 33 a piston 37 is moved which is stepped according to the diameters of the chambers 42, 43. The chambers 42, 43 and the piston 37 are designed in such a way that when the piston 37 moves, the same amount of fluid, preferably hydraulic oil, is pressed from both chambers 42, 43 into the cylinders 29, 30, or that when the piston 37 moves in the opposite direction the same amount of fluid can flow into the chambers 42, 43. As a result, the two plungers 25, 26 are always moved in synchronism. The piston 37 is moved by an actuator 38.Here and preferably, the actuator 38 can be designed as an electric motor or a piston-cylinder unit.

[0019] The actuator 38 is driven by a Fig. 3 schematically illustrated control device 39. The control device 39 is configured such that, in a defined operating situation of the forage harvester 2, it automatically controls the actuator 38 to move the roller 18. In the defined operating situation, the roller 18 is automatically moved into a position corresponding to the maximum passage width adjustable by means of the stops 27, 28 or tappets 25, 26. The defined operating situation is a grinding process of the chopping device 6, wherein the chopping knives 8 arranged on the chopping drum 7 are ground in a manner known per se by means of a grindstone movable along the width of the chopping drum 7.

[0020] Fig.4 shows a schematic representation of the conveyor channel 17 and the rollers 18, 19 of the secondary shredding device 13. The roller 18 is shown in a first position 40, in which the roller 18 has moved into a position corresponding to the minimum passage width adjustable by means of the actuator 38. The dashed circle shows a second position 41 of the roller 18, which corresponds to the maximum passage width between the rollers 18, 19 adjustable by means of the actuator 38. In the second position 41, the roller 18 is brought closer to a housing section 20 that radially surrounds the roller 18 in sections on the outside. The invention has recognized that crop components accumulate and become stuck in the housing section 20 during normal operation of the secondary shredding device 13.The crop components accumulating there form a particularly hardened and difficult-to-remove deposit over time, which can lead to increased wear on the roller 18. To prevent this, the roller 18 is regularly moved closer to the housing section 20 in a previously defined operating state in order to remove the crop components accumulating there before they become stuck and hardened. Moving to the second position 41 during a grinding process of the chopping device 6 offers the particular advantage that the harvesting process is already interrupted for the grinding and thus no additional interruption of the harvesting process is necessary to remove crop components accumulating on the housing section 20. List of reference symbols: 1 agricultural work machine 2 forage harvesters 3 Harvesting header 4 feed and pre-press rollers 5 Crop flow 6 Chopping device 7 Chopper drum 8 chopping knives 9 Chopping knife arrangement 10 catchment area 11 Counter blade 12 crackers 13 Post-shredding device 14 Post-acceleration device 15 discharge spout 16 Discharge spout flap 17 conveyor channel 18 rollers 19 roller 20 Housing section 21 Swingarm 22 Axis 23 Housing block 24 levers 25 pestles 26 tappets 27 stop 28 stop 29 cylinders 30 cylinders 31 pressure line 32 pressure line 33 Multi-chamber pump 34 connection 35 connection 36 tension spring 37 pistons 38 Actuator 39 Control device 40 First Position 41 Second Position 42 Chamber 43 Chamber QUOTES CONTAINED IN THE DESCRIPTION

[0000] This list of documents submitted by the applicant was generated automatically and is included solely for the convenience of the reader. This list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions. Cited patent literature

[0000] EP 0 990 384 A1 [0002, 0003]

Claims

[1] Self-propelled forage harvester (2) comprising at least one chopping unit (6) and a secondary shredding unit (13) which is arranged downstream of the chopping unit (6) in the direction of crop flow of a crop stream (5), wherein the secondary shredding unit (13) has two rollers (18, 19) which define a passage gap, wherein one of the rollers (18, 19) is assigned adjustable stops (27, 29) for changing the width of the passage gap between a minimum and a maximum width, wherein an actuator (38) is provided and configured, directly or indirectly, for adjusting the stops (27, 29), characterized by, that a control device (39) is provided and set up for controlling and / or regulating the actuator (38), wherein the control device (39) controls and / or regulates the actuator (38) in such a way that in a defined operating situation of the forage harvester (2) the maximum passage width of the passage gap is set. [2] Self-propelled forage harvester (2) according to claim 1, characterized by , that the defined operating situation is a grinding process of the shredding device (6). [3] Self-propelled forage harvester (2) according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized by , that the stops (27, 28) each comprise a fluid-actuated plunger (25, 26) guided in cylinders (29, 30), and that the cylinders (29, 30) are fluid-conductingly connected to a single multi-chamber pump (33) equipped with a piston (37). [4] Self-propelled forage harvester (2) according to claim 3, characterized by, that the number of chambers (42, 43) of the multi-chamber pump (33) corresponds to the number of cylinders (29, 30) to be controlled, and that the piston (37) is designed in such a stepped manner that when the piston (37) moves, the same amount of fluid always flows out of or into the chambers. [5] Self-propelled forage harvester (2) according to one of claims 3 to 4, characterized by , that the piston (37) of the multi-chamber pump (33) is drivenly connected to the actuator (38). [6] Self-propelled forage harvester (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized by , that the actuator (38) is an electromechanical drive. [7] Self-propelled forage harvester (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized by , that at least one of the rollers (18, 19) is clamped to the stops (27, 28) by means of tension or compression springs (36).

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