COMBINE HARVESTER WITH SEPARATOR

Description

Combine harvester with separator

[0001] The invention relates to a combine harvester with a separating device comprising at least a pair of axial rotors arranged parallel to one another, and with a feed drum arranged upstream of the separating device according to the preamble of claim 1 (DE 10 2016 124582 A1).

[0002] Such combine harvesters often comprise two axial rotors arranged parallel to one another, operating according to the axial flow principle. A threshing mechanism is arranged upstream of the axial rotors. The threshing mechanism usually comprises a threshing drum and a feed drum arranged between the threshing drum and the axial rotors. The threshing drum first processes a crop stream taken up from a field and then feeds it via the feed drum to the axial rotors in two partial streams, with one partial stream being fed to each of the axial rotors. The threshing mechanism also usually comprises an acceleration drum arranged upstream of the threshing drum, which serves to accelerate the crop and feeds the crop stream to the threshing drum.

[0003] The feed drum reaches its limits when dividing the crop flow into two partial flows in difficult crop flow conditions, particularly with crops with long stalks. This results in increased power consumption of the threshing unit's working elements. The acceleration drum and the feed drum can each be connected to the threshing drum by means of a belt drive, so that torque is transmitted from the threshing drum via one belt to the acceleration drum and via another belt to the feed drum. Excessive load on the feed drum or the acceleration drum can lead to excessive wear on the respective belt or even to the belt breaking.To assist in dividing the crop flow into two sub-flows, it is therefore known that a knife is placed in the inlet area of ​​the axial rotors. The knife acts on the crop flow in an area centrally located upstream of the axial rotors and preferably cuts long-stemmed straw located in this area. Such a knife is described in EP201 75334. The disadvantage of EP201 75334 is that it does not have an actuator, whereby the actuator allows the knife to be automatically adjusted, allowing a quick response to changing crop flow conditions. Manually adjusting the knife position using a mechanical pivoting device is time-consuming and can be perceived as annoying and disruptive. Furthermore, adapting the knife position to the crop flow conditions is particularly useful with regard to knife wear.

[0004] It is therefore an object of the invention to avoid the described disadvantages of the prior art and, in particular, to provide a combine harvester with a separation device comprising at least one pair of axial rotors arranged parallel to one another, which has a separating element to assist in the separation of a crop flow to be fed to the axial rotors, the position of which can be adapted to the prevailing crop flow conditions.

[0005] This object is achieved according to the invention by the characterizing features of claim 1.

[0006] According to claim 1, a self-propelled combine harvester is proposed with a separating device which comprises at least one pair of axial rotors arranged parallel to one another, and with crop processing elements arranged upstream of the separating device, which have at least one feed drum for feeding a crop flow into the separating device, wherein in an inlet region arranged upstream of the separating device, a separating element, in particular a knife, is pivotably arranged to assist in separating the crop flow into two partial flows.According to the invention, it is provided that an actuator is set up and provided for pivoting the separating element, wherein a control device automatically controls the actuator as a function of a load state of at least one of the crop processing elements in such a way that when the load applied to the at least one crop processing element is high, the separating element is in a first position and when the load applied to the at least one crop processing element is low, the separating element is in a second position, wherein a distance of the separating element from the feed drum is smaller in the first position than in the second position.

[0007] The invention has many advantages. A high load on a crop processing element, in particular a high load on the feed drum, is often caused by a crop flow with a high proportion of long-stemmed crop. The long-stemmed crop hinders the division into the partial flows fed to the axial rotors and the crop therefore builds up in front of the separating device. The small distance of the separating element in such a load condition results in the separating element extending far into the crop flow and severing the stalks of the crop in an area located in front of the separating device. The division of the crop flow is thus supported by the separating element. When cultivating a field, long-stemmed crop may occur in certain sections, so that support for separating the crop flow by the separating element is only required in such sections.To prevent excessive wear on the separating element, it is particularly advantageous for the separating element to protrude less into the crop flow or to be at a greater distance from the feed drum outside of fields with a high proportion of long-stemmed crops. This is ensured by the automatic load-dependent control of the actuator. The automatic control of the actuator relieves the driver's workload.

[0008] Preferably, the actuator can be designed as a double-acting hydraulic cylinder.

[0009] In an advantageous embodiment, the separating element can be continuously adjustable from the first position to the second position by means of the actuator, wherein the separating element extends at least partially into the crop flow in the first position and is pivoted completely out of the crop flow in the second position. This is particularly advantageous because wear on the separating element is minimized in a low-load condition.

[0010] The combine harvester preferably has a belt drive for driving the at least one crop processing element and a sensor device, wherein the sensor device is designed and provided to determine the load state of the at least one crop processing element as a function of a belt tension, wherein the sensor device is preferably designed such that it determines the belt tension based on a position of an element resting on the belt, in particular the position of a tensioning pulley resting on the belt. As the load on the crop processing element increases, the belt tension in the slack side decreases. A tensioning pulley is pressed against the belt so that the belt is subjected to a substantially constant tension. The position of the tensioning pulley is thus dependent on the load state of the crop processing element. The position can be easily determined using a sensor and assigned to a load state.

[0011] In an advantageous embodiment, a threshold value and a time interval can be adjustable and / or preset in the control device, wherein the control device controls the actuator in such a way that the separating element is pivoted from the second position to the first position as soon as the threshold value is exceeded for a period corresponding to the time interval, and if the threshold value is undershot for a period corresponding to the time interval, the separating element is pivoted from the first position to the second position. Because the threshold value must first be exceeded or undershot for a period defined by the time interval before the position of the separating element changes, hectic back-and-forth swinging of the separating element during brief load peaks can be avoided.A preset threshold and the time interval can be adjusted preferably by the driver to adapt them to the crop conditions or different crop types.

[0012] It is particularly advantageous if the actuator can be controlled both manually and automatically. In this case, the load-dependent automatic control of the actuator can be superimposed on a manual control of the actuator, whereby in manual control, a vehicle driver adjusts the position of the separating element.

[0013] In an advantageous development, a vehicle driver can specify a control input for manually controlling the actuator, wherein the control input preferably comprises a selection between the first position and the second position. The driver can thus easily manually control the position of the separating element as soon as he notices uneven running behavior of the crop processing elements.

[0014] The combine harvester can preferably have a holding device and a pivoting device, wherein the holding device holds the separating element, wherein the pivoting device is configured to pivot the holding device and interacts with the actuator. Holding the separating element by means of a holding device allows the separating element to be releasably held in a simple manner.

[0015] In order to facilitate replacement of the separating element, the holding device and the separating element can be designed to be complementary to one another in sections, wherein the separating element is fixed in the holding device by means of a detachable fastening element, in particular a screw, bolt or cotter pin.

[0016] Preferably, the separating device can have an inlet head housing, and the axial rotors can extend with a first end partially into the inlet head housing, wherein the holding device is pivotally mounted on the inlet head housing. This allows the separating element to be easily pivoted into the crop flow to assist in the separation into two partial flows.

[0017] Preferably, the pivoting device can comprise at least a first lever arm and a shaft, wherein the first lever arm is arranged on the shaft in a rotationally fixed manner, and the first lever arm is arranged on the holding device at its end facing away from the shaft. Thus, the separating element can be pivoted by means of a rotational movement of the shaft.

[0018] In an advantageous development, the shaft can extend transversely to a longitudinal side of the combine harvester, and the actuator can be operatively connected to the shaft in a force-transmitting manner at an end facing the longitudinal side. This is particularly advantageous because the actuator is arranged at a distance from the crop flow, so that in the event of a leak in an actuator designed as a hydraulic cylinder, no hydraulic fluid enters the crop.

[0019] Further advantageous embodiments are the subject of further subclaims and are described below with reference to an embodiment illustrated in several figures. They show: Figure 1 shows a section of a combine harvester with a threshing mechanism and a separating device in a schematic side view; Figure 2a shows a schematic side view of a threshing drum, a feed drum, and an inlet head housing with a separating element pivoted into the crop flow; Figure 2b shows a schematic side view of a threshing drum, a feed drum, and an inlet head housing with a separating element pivoted out of the crop flow; Figure 3 shows a front view of an inlet head housing; Figure 4 shows a rear view of an inlet head housing with a pivotable separating element; Figure 5 shows a side view of a belt drive, the belt drive connecting the threshing drum and feed drum, and a schematically illustrated sensor device for determining a load condition of the feed drum, as well as a control device for controlling an actuator.

[0020] Figure 1shows a schematic side view of a section of a combine harvester 1 with a threshing unit 2 and a separating device 3. The separating device 3 comprises two axial rotors 4 arranged parallel to one another. In the schematic representation shown here, only the axial rotor 4 located on the left side of the vehicle in the direction of travel FR is visible.

[0021] The combine harvester 1 has a front end 5, on which a driver's cab 6 for an operator (not shown) is arranged. Also arranged on the front end 5 is a cutting unit (not shown), which receives crop material (not shown). The cutting unit guides the crop material into an inclined conveyor 7 arranged below the driver's cab, via which the crop material is fed as a crop flow 8 into the threshing unit 2 of the combine harvester 1.

[0022] In the illustrated embodiment, the threshing mechanism 2 has three crop processing elements 9, 10, 11, namely an acceleration drum 9, which is arranged upstream of a threshing drum 10, the threshing drum 10, and a feed drum 11 arranged downstream of the threshing drum 10. The acceleration drum 9 is provided for accelerating and pre-threshing the crop and for feeding the crop to the threshing drum 10. The threshing drum 10 threshes the crop. The crop processing elements 9-11 of the threshing mechanism 2 are arranged transversely to the direction of travel FR. A threshing concave 12 is arranged below the acceleration drum 9 and the threshing drum 10. The threshing concave 12 separates loosened grain (not shown) from the crop stream 8.

[0023] The feed drum 11 transfers the crop to one of these downstream inlet head housings 13 of the separating device 3, wherein the inlet head housing 13 forms an inlet area 14 for the crop conveyed from the feed drum 11 to the axial rotors 4. The axial rotors 4 are mounted on a front inlet end of the inlet head housing 13. The feed drum 11 is designed as a separating drum, which divides the crop flow 8 into two partial flows 15, each of which is fed to one of the two axial rotors 4. Furthermore, an inlet segment 16 can be arranged below the feed drum 11. The inlet segment 16 has a larger diameter than the feed drum 11 and at least partially surrounds the feed drum 11. It forms an extension of the inlet area 14 into the separating device 4.

[0024] In Fig. 2a section of the combine harvester 1 with the threshing drum 10, the feed drum 11 and the inlet head housing 13 is shown schematically. Furthermore, the Fig. 2 a separating element 17 according to the invention, wherein the separating element 17 is designed as a knife. The separating element 17 is pivotally mounted on the inlet head housing 13 in a manner to be explained in more detail below and can be automatically and continuously pivoted from a first position 20 to a second position 21 by means of a pivoting device 18, to be explained in more detail below, and an actuator 19 cooperating with the pivoting device 18. Fig. 2ashows the separating element 17 in the first position 20, wherein the separating element 17 is pivoted into the crop stream 8 through a slot-shaped recess 22 on the surface of the inlet head housing 13 towards the feed drum 11. Counter-blades can be provided on the feed drum 11, which enclose the separating element 17 longitudinally and interact with the separating element 17 in a scissor-like manner. Fig. 2b shows the separating element 17 in the second position 21, wherein the separating element 17 is pivoted completely out of the crop stream 8. In this second position 21, the separating element 17 is located below a surface of the inlet head housing 13 facing the feed drum 11, so that it does not come into contact with the crop and wear on the separating element 17 is avoided. The distance 57 of the separating element 17 from the feed drum 11 is smaller in the first position 20 than in the second position 21.

[0025] Fig. 3shows the inlet head housing 13 in a schematic front view. The inlet head housing 13 forms the inlet area 14, which extends across the width of the respective axial rotor 4 and serves to feed the respective partial flow 15 to the respective axial rotor 4. A ramp-shaped housing section 23 is located centrally in the inlet area 14. The ramp-shaped housing section 23 has a substantially concave profile. The slot-shaped recess 22 is provided on the ramp-shaped housing section 23, through which the separating element 17 can be pivoted into the crop flow 8 to assist in separating the crop flow 8 into the two partial flows 15.Above the inlet area 14, the inlet head housing 13 comprises two substantially circular recesses 24, wherein one recess 24 is arranged on the right side and the further recess 24 is arranged on the left side of the ramp-shaped housing section 23 and above the inlet area 14 and is provided for supporting the axial rotors 4.

[0026] Fig. 4 shows a schematic view of the rear of the inlet head housing 13 with the separating element 17 and the pivoting device 18. A holding device 25 holds the separating element 17, wherein the holding device 25 is arranged pivotably about an axis 26 extending substantially transversely to the forward direction of travel FR of the combine harvester 1 on the rear side of the inlet head housing 13 facing the axial rotors 4.

[0027] The holding device 25 comprises two parallel and spaced-apart side walls 27 which form an intermediate space in which the separating element 17 is held. The holding device 25 has sections 31, 28 which are complementary to the separating element 17. The complementary sections 31, 28 enable the separating element 17 to be easily removed or replaced from the holding device 25. The complementary sections 31, 28 comprise a guide rail 28 along which the separating element 17 is guided when being removed from or inserted into the holding device 25 and in a Fig. 4illustrated fastened state in the holding device 25. The separating element 17 has a substantially rectilinear section 29 on the underside, which rests against the guide rail 28 in the operating state and along which the separating element 17 slides when replaced. Furthermore, the separating element 17 comprises a recess 30, wherein the recess 30 partially encloses a holding element 31, which is preferably designed as a bolt and is located on the holding device 25, as soon as the separating element 17 is fully inserted into the position provided for the operating state in the holding device 25. In the operating state of the separating element 17, the separating element 17 is secured against detachment from the holding device 25 exclusively by means of a fastening element 32, which is preferably designed as a screw.In an alternative embodiment, the fastening element 32 can also be designed as a bolt, cotter pin, or similar, easily removable fastening element 32. The cutting edge 33 of the separating element 17 is serrated and in the manner shown in . Fig. 4 shown first position 20 through the recess 22 in the inlet area 14 into the crop stream 8. Furthermore, the separating element 17 has a recess designed as a handle 34 at an end facing an end face. The recess 34 essentially describes the shape of an oval and is provided for easy handling when replacing the separating element 17.

[0028] The pivoting device 18 comprises a first lever arm 35, which is arranged in a rotationally fixed manner on a shaft 36. The shaft 36 is rotatably mounted on the rear of the inlet head housing 13 on an axis 37 extending transversely to the forward direction of travel FR. At its end facing away from the shaft 36, the first lever arm 35 for pivoting the separating element 17 is arranged on the holding device 25. For this purpose, the holding device 25 has an elongated recess 38, in which the first lever arm 35 is guided during pivoting in order to prevent wedging. By rotating the shaft 36, the separating element 17 can be pivoted from the first position 20 to the second position 21 and vice versa by means of the first lever arm 35 and the pivotally mounted holding device 25.

[0029] The shaft 36 of the pivoting device 18 extends from the first lever arm 35 to an area facing a longitudinal side 39 of the combine harvester 1. At the end of the shaft 36 facing the longitudinal side 39, the actuator 19, designed as a double-acting hydraulic cylinder, is preferably arranged on the shaft 36 by means of a second lever arm 40 such that, upon actuation of the actuator 19, the shaft 36 performs a rotary movement about the axis 37 and pivots the holding device 25 with the separating element 17 via the first lever arm 35. In an alternative embodiment, the actuator 18 can also be designed as an electric linear actuator.

[0030] Fig. 5shows a section of the combine harvester 1 with the threshing drum 10 and the feed drum 11 in a schematic side view. A belt drive 41 is provided for driving the feed drum 11. For this purpose, a first pulley 42 is located on one end of the feed drum 11 and a second pulley 43 is located on one end of the threshing drum 10. A belt 44 spans the first and second pulleys 42, 43 so that they are drivingly connected to one another. The belt 44 transmits a drive torque from the threshing drum 10 to the feed drum 11. The threshing drum 10 is driven by a separate drive means not explained in detail here. A tensioning device 45 is arranged in the slack side of the belt 44 in order to apply tension to the belt 44. The tensioning device 45 comprises a tensioning roller 46 resting on the belt 44 and a tensioning cylinder 47 which presses the tensioning roller 46 against the belt 44 with a defined force.

[0031] As the load applied to the feed drum 11 increases, the tension of the belt 44 on the slack side decreases, with the tensioning roller 46 being pressed further into the belt 44 by the tensioning cylinder 47, so that the belt 44 is continuously subjected to a substantially constant tension, at least on the slack side. The position of the tensioning roller 46 thus changes depending on the load condition of the feed drum 11.

[0032] A sensor device 48 is assigned to the tensioning device 45, wherein the sensor device 48 is designed and provided for detecting the position of the tensioning roller 46. For this purpose, the sensor device 48 comprises an angle sensor 49 which detects the position of the tensioning roller 46 directly or indirectly using a sensor 50, for example designed as a cable or rod. In the exemplary embodiment, the tensioning roller 46 is mounted for rotation about an axis 52 by means of a first lever 51. The tensioning cylinder 47 is operatively connected to the tensioning roller 46 by means of a second lever 53. The second lever 53 is also mounted for rotation about the axis 52 and is arranged in a rotationally fixed manner on the second lever 53. To detect the position of the tensioning roller 46, the sensor 50 is assigned to the second lever 53. In an alternative embodiment, the sensor 50 can also detect the position of the first lever 51 or be directly assigned to the tensioning roller 46.

[0033] A position signal determined by the sensor device 48, which describes the load state of the feed drum 11 or is proportional to the load state, is transmitted to a control device 54, wherein the control device 54 is set up and provided to control the actuator 19. The control device 54 controls the actuator 19 automatically depending on the position signal. For this purpose, a threshold value 55 and a time interval 56 are stored in the control device 54, wherein it can additionally be provided that the vehicle driver manually sets or changes the threshold value 55 and the time interval 56. In this case, a load state that is greater than the threshold value 55 is defined as a high load applied to the feed drum 11 and a load state that is lower or smaller than the threshold value is defined as a low load applied to the feed drum 11. As soon as the load state orIf the position signal corresponding to the load state exceeds the threshold value 55 for a duration corresponding to the time interval 56, the control device 54 controls the actuator 19 such that it pivots the separating element 17 from the second position 21 to the first position 21. If the position signal falls below the threshold value 55 for a duration corresponding to the time interval 56, the control device 54 controls the actuator 19 such that the separating element 17 is pivoted from the first position 20 to the second position 21.

[0034] In an alternative embodiment, the load state of one of the other crop processing elements 9, 10, 11, in particular a load state of the acceleration drum 9, can also be determined by means of a sensor device 48, which has already been explained in more detail above. Analogous to the feed drum 11, a further belt drive is provided to drive the acceleration drum 9, wherein the acceleration drum 9 is drivingly connected to the threshing drum 10 by means of a belt (not shown here). A sensor device 48 can, in the same way as for the feed drum 11, determine a load-dependent position signal, wherein the position signal is used to control the actuator 19 in the manner explained above.

[0035] In addition to or as an alternative to the automatic control of the actuator 19, manual control of the actuator 19 can be provided. In this case, the vehicle driver has a selection of control specifications available, with the selection including the first position 20 and the second position 21. The control device 54 controls the actuator 19 according to the control specification. List of reference symbols: 1 Combine harvester 34 Handle 2 threshing machine 35 First lever arm 3 Separation device 36 Wave 4 axial rotor 37 axis 5 Front 38 Elongated recess 6 Driver's cab 39 long side 7 Inclined conveyor 40 Second lever arm 8 Crop flow 41 Belt drive 9 acceleration drum 42 First pulley 10 threshing drum 43 Second pulley 11 Feed drum 44 belt 12 threshing concave 45 clamping device 13 Inlet head housing 46 Tension pulley 14 Inlet area 47 clamping cylinder 15 Partial flow 48 Sensor device 16 Inlet segment 49 Angle sensor 17 Separating element 50 button 18 Swivel device 51 First lever 19 Actuator 52 axis 20 First position 53 Second lever 21 Second position 54 Control device 22 Slot-shaped recess 55 Threshold 23 Ramp-shaped housing section 56 Time interval 24 Circular recess 57 Distance 25 holding device FR Direction of travel 26 axis 27 side wall 28 guide rail 29 Straight section 30 Recess separating element 31 Supporting element 32 Fastening element 33 Cutting edge

Claims

1. A self-propelled combine harvester (1) with a separating device (3), which comprises at least one pair of axial rotors (4) disposed parallel to one another, and with material processing means (9-11) disposed in front of the separating device (3), which have at least one feed drum (11) for feeding a flow of harvested material (8) into the separating device (3), wherein, in an inflow region (14) disposed in front of the separating device (3), a separating element (17), in particular a blade, is pivotably disposed in order to support a division of the flow of harvested material (8) into two partial flows (15), characterized in that an actuator (19) is provided for pivoting the separating element (17), wherein a control device (54) automatically controls the actuator (19) as a function of a load status of at least one of the material processing means (9-11) in a manner such that, in the case of a high load being applied to the at least one material processing means (9-11), the separating element (17) is located in a first position (20) and in the case of a low load being applied to the at least one material processing means (9-11), the separating element (17) is located in a second position (21), wherein a distance (57) from the separating element (17) to the feed drum (11) in the first position (20) is smaller than in the second position (21).

2. The self-propelled combine harvester (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the actuator (19) is constructed as a double-acting hydraulic cylinder.

3. The self-propelled combine harvester (1) according to one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that the separating element (17) can be adjusted from the first position (20) to the second position (21) in a stepless manner by means of the actuator (19), wherein in the first position (20), the separating element (17) protrudes at least in part into the flow of harvested material (8), and in the second position (21), it is pivoted away completely out of the flow of harvested material (8).

4. The self-propelled combine harvester (1) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the combine harvester (1) has a belt drive (41) for driving the at least one material processing means (9-11) and a sensor device (48), wherein the sensor device (48) is provided for determining the load status of the at least one material processing means (9-11) as a function of a belt tension, wherein preferably, the sensor device (48) is configured in a manner such that it determines the belt tension with the aid of a position of an element fitted on the belt, in particular the position of a tensioning roller (46) fitted on the belt.

5. The self-propelled combine harvester (1) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that a threshold value (55) and a time interval (56) can be set and / or are preset in the control device (54), wherein the control device (54) controls the actuator (19) in a manner such that the separating element (17) is pivoted into the first position (20) starting from the second position (21) as soon as the threshold value (55) is exceeded over a period corresponding to the time interval (56), and in the case in which the threshold value (55) is fallen short of over a period corresponding to the time interval (56), the separating element (17) is pivoted into the second position (21) starting from the first position (20).

6. The self-propelled combine harvester (1) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the actuator (19) can be controlled manually and automatically.

7. The self-propelled combine harvester (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that for the manual control of the actuator (19), a vehicle driver specifies a control instruction, wherein preferably, the control instruction comprises a selection between the first position (20) and the second position (21).

8. The self-propelled combine harvester (1) according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the combine harvester (1) has a retaining device (25) and a pivoting device (18), wherein the retaining device (25) retains the separating element (17), wherein the pivoting device (18) is configured for pivoting the retaining device (25) and cooperates with the actuator (19).

9. The self-propelled combine harvester (1) according to claim 8, characterized in that the retaining device (25) and the separating element (17) are complementary to each other in sections, wherein the separating element (17) is fixed in the retaining device (25) by means of a detachable fastening element (32), in particular a screw, pin or split pin.

10. The self-propelled combine harvester (1) according to one of claims 8 to 9, characterized in that the separating device (3) has an inflow head housing (13) and the axial rotors (4) protrude into the inflow head housing (13) with sections of a first end thereof, wherein the retaining device (25) is pivotably disposed on the inflow head housing (13).

11. The self-propelled combine harvester (1) according to one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that the pivoting device (18) comprises at least one first crank arm (35) and a shaft (36), wherein the first crank arm (35) is disposed on the shaft (36) in a torsion-proof manner and the end of the first crank arm (35) facing away from the shaft (36) is disposed on the retaining device (25).

12. The self-propelled combine harvester (1) according to claim 11, characterized in that the shaft (36) extends transversely to a longitudinal side of the combine harvester (1) and an end of the actuator (19) facing the longitudinal side (39) is operatively connected to the shaft (36) in a force-transmitting manner.