AGRICULTURAL HARVESTING MACHINE

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to an agricultural harvesting machine with a wrapping table for a bale of harvested crop, wherein the wrapping table is mounted to be tiltable about a tilting axis and a weighing device is provided for weighing the bale of harvested crop on the wrapping table.

[0002] Determining the weight of harvested crop bales can be useful for various reasons, such as recording yield per unit area or controlling settings on the wrapping device or baler. Measuring bale weight at the wrapping table is already a known practice; see, for example, NL 2 010 169 C, EP 2 000 785 B1, EP 1 034 695 B1, or EP 2 745 675 B1.

[0003] The wrapping tables, on which the weight of the harvested crop bales is measured, can be part of a wrapping device that is downstream of a baler, allowing the baler to place the bales directly onto the wrapping table. However, standalone wrapping devices, separate from the baler, can also incorporate such wrapping tables with a weight measuring device.

[0004] DE 10 2016 124 902 A1 shows an agricultural harvesting machine of the type mentioned above, wherein the wrapping table can be tilted when traveling downhill or uphill and a weighing device weighs the bale, wherein a control device adjusts the ejection speed of the bale.

[0005] With existing bale wrapping tables equipped with a weighing device, the accuracy of determining the weight of the harvested crop bales is limited. Furthermore, the weighing devices are often quite complex and their sensors are sensitive. To protect the weight sensors from the harsh conditions of agricultural operations, covers and similar components are sometimes installed, which adds extra effort and weight.

[0006] The present invention therefore aims to create an improved agricultural harvesting machine of the aforementioned type, which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art and advantageously develops the latter further. In particular, a simple, protected sensor system should enable precise measurement of the bale weight without requiring major modifications to the mechanical design of the wrapping table and its installation environment.

[0007] According to the invention, the aforementioned problem is solved by an agricultural harvesting machine according to claim 1. Preferred embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

[0008] It is therefore proposed to perform the weight measurement in the tilting bearing of the changing table, taking into account the tilt of the changing table relative to the horizontal or the direction of gravity in order to compensate for any influence on the measurement result caused by tilting of the changing table. According to the invention, the weighing device comprises a force-measuring bolt that forms the tilting axis of the changing table, as well as a tilt angle compensation device. This device includes an inclination sensor for determining the tilt of the changing table relative to the horizontal and is designed to bring the changing table into a defined measuring position relative to the horizontal for receiving the measurement signal from the force-measuring bolt. Additionally, the tilt angle compensation device can also be designed to correct a measurement signal from the force-measuring bolt by the tilt of the changing table determined by the inclination sensor.

[0009] The tilt angle compensation device is based on the premise that the absolute position or orientation of the winding table is relevant for achieving reproducible measurements with the force measuring bolt. The influence of the absolute position or orientation of the winding table is determined by the tilt sensor, allowing the tilt angle compensation device to correct the measurement signal from the force measuring bolt accordingly and / or to position the winding table in a defined position relative to the direction of gravity for receiving the force measuring bolt's signal.

[0010] Simultaneously, the use of the force-measuring bolt in the tilting bearing of the wrapping table allows for simple integration of the weighing device into the wrapping table or its surrounding environment. This protects the sensors and requires no major modifications to the wrapping table's design or its surroundings. If necessary, the weighing device can also be retrofitted to suitable harvesting machines without requiring extensive modifications.

[0011] In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the aforementioned tilt sensor can comprise a gyroscopic sensor that can be attached to the changing table or a tilting attachment to it, in order to follow the tilting movements of the changing table and provide a sensor signal indicating the tilt of the changing table relative to the horizontal. Here, the tilt relative to the horizontal does not necessarily refer to the actual angle relative to the horizontal, but rather generally to the direction of gravitational acceleration. Therefore, the tilt angle of the changing table relative to the vertical or to the horizontal can be measured and indicated, since both equally characterize the influence of the tilt on the weight measurement.

[0012] Alternatively or additionally to such a gyroscopic sensor, the tilt sensor system can also include an inertial measurement unit (IMU) with acceleration and rotation rate sensors. These sensors provide acceleration and rotation rate signals from which the orientation of the winding table relative to gravity can be determined. Such an IMU can determine the position and changes in position of the winding table with absolute precision in space.

[0013] Such an inertial measuring device can be attached directly to the changing table or to an associated attachment that follows the tilting or tipping movements of the changing table.

[0014] The aforementioned tilt angle compensation device can process the signals from the tilt sensor with the signals from the force measuring bolt. In particular, the tilt angle compensation device can include a calculating unit to take into account the inclination or tilt of the winding table relative to the horizontal and to correct the measurement signal from the force measuring bolt, or the weight determined from it, accordingly, in order to eliminate the influence of the inclination or tilt and to determine the actual bale weight.

[0015] Alternatively or additionally, the tilt angle compensation device can use the signal from the tilt sensor, or the sensor-detected tilt or inclination of the wrapping table, to control an actuator to bring the wrapping table into a defined orientation relative to the horizontal or the direction of gravity. For this purpose, the tilt angle compensation device can include a control unit for driving a tilting mechanism to tilt the wrapping table. Depending on the signal from the tilt sensor, the control unit can drive the tilting mechanism so that the wrapping table is moved into a defined measuring position or orientation. Once this defined measuring position of the wrapping table is reached or set, the signal from the force-measuring bolt can be recorded, and the weight of the harvested crop bale can be determined from this signal.The defined measuring position of the changing table mentioned above can, in particular, be an approximately horizontal orientation of the changing table to largely eliminate the influence of inclination from the outset. However, it would also be possible, in principle, to perform the measurement with the force-measuring bolt in a different, non-horizontal position of the changing table. As long as the position is defined or known, the measurement signal from the force-measuring bolt can be easily converted into the weight of the bale.

[0016] Advantageously, the tilting axis formed by the force measuring bolt can be centrally located, in particular approximately in the middle under or on the changing table.

[0017] The tilting axis formed by the force-measuring bolt for the wrapping table can be horizontally oriented when the harvester is standing on a horizontal surface. This tilting axis can also be oriented perpendicular to the direction of travel in order to utilize the tilting motion around the axis for unloading the bale.

[0018] The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to a preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings. The drawing shows: Fig. 1: an agricultural harvesting machine in the form of a baler with a wrapping device downstream of the bale forming chamber for wrapping the harvested crop bale, which includes a tilting wrapping table.

[0019] How Figure 1As shown, the harvesting machine can be designed as an attachment for mounting on a tractor. Independently of this, the harvesting machine can be designed as a baler, which uses a receiving device 2 to pick up crop from the ground and forms it into bales in a bale-forming unit 3. A wrapping table 4 of a wrapping device 5 is arranged in the discharge area of ​​the bale-forming unit 3, so that the bale-forming unit 3 can deposit formed bales onto the wrapping table 4. For example, the wrapping table 4 can be attached to the machine frame of the baler via a mounting frame 6 or can have its own separate machine frame.

[0020] The winding table 4 is mounted on the attachment or machine frame 6 by means of a tilting bearing 7, whereby the tilting axis 8 defined by the tilting bearing 7 can extend horizontally transversely to the direction of travel in order to be able to tilt the winding table 4 backwards from an approximately horizontal winding position into an inclined laying position, cf. Figure 1 .

[0021] The wrapping device 5 can have wrapping means known per se around or above the wrapping table 4 for wrapping the bale with film, a net or a cord or another wrapping material.

[0022] The tilting axis 8 mentioned above can be arranged approximately centrally under the winding table 4, wherein the tilting axis 8 mentioned above is formed by a force measuring bolt 9, which can form the main receiving bolt of the bearing of the winding table 4 or be integrated therein.

[0023] The changing table 4 is further equipped with a tilt sensor 10, which can determine the tilt of the changing table 4 relative to the horizontal. This tilt sensor 10 can, for example, comprise a gyroscope sensor and / or an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and can advantageously determine the absolute tilt of the changing table 4 in space.

[0024] Advantageously, the tilt sensor 10 or its gyroscope sensor and / or inertial measuring device can be attached to the changing table 4 in order to follow its tilting movements.

[0025] In principle, it would also be possible to split the determination of the inclination, so to speak, and to use an inclination sensor to detect the inclination of the machine frame 6 in space and additionally to measure the relative inclination of the winding table 4 to the machine frame with another inclination sensor, in order to then determine the absolute inclination or tilt of the winding table 4 in space from these two quantities.

[0026] The weighing device 11, which includes the force-measuring bolt 9, comprises an evaluation unit 12, which may include a computing unit. The evaluation unit 12 evaluates, on the one hand, the signals from the force-measuring bolt 9 and, on the other hand, the signals from the tilt sensor 10 in order to determine the tilt of the winding table 4 and, so to speak, "know" at which tilt of the winding table 4 the signal from the force-measuring bolt 9 was recorded.

[0027] The aforementioned evaluation device 12 can correct the force measuring bolt signal taking into account the inclination signal of the inclination sensor 10 in order to eliminate the influence of a tilting of the changing table 4 on the weight measurement.

[0028] Alternatively or additionally, the weighing device 11 can also include a control device 13, which may, for example, include a microprocessor and a program storage device, whereby, regardless of this, the aforementioned control device 13 can be configured to control an actuator for tilting the wrapping table 4 depending on the signal from the tilt sensor 10, so that the wrapping table 4 is brought into a defined measuring position, in which the signal from the force measuring bolt 9 is then received in order to determine the weight of the harvested crop bale from the force measuring bolt signal determined in this way.

[0029] In particular, the control device 13 can control the tilting drive of the winding table 4 so that the winding table 4 is brought into a largely horizontal orientation when or before the force measuring bolt signal is recorded and used to determine the weight of the bale.

Claims

1. Agricultural harvesting machine having a wrapping table (4) for a crop bale (14), wherein the wrapping table (4) is mounted so as to be tiltable about a tilting axis (8) and a weighing device (11) is provided for weighing the crop bale on the wrapping table (4), which comprises a tilt angle compensation device (15) having a tilt sensor (10) for determining the tilting of the wrapping table (4) relative to the horizontal, characterised in that the weighing device (11) comprises a force measuring pin (9) that forms the tilting axis (8) of the wrapping table (4) and / or is integrated therein, and the tilt angle compensation device (15) is designed to tilt the wrapping table (4) into a defined measuring position with respect to the horizontal in order to receive the measuring signal of the force measuring pin (9).

2. Agricultural harvesting machine according to the preceding claim, wherein the tilt sensor system (10) comprises a gyroscope sensor.

3. Agricultural harvesting machine according to either one of the preceding claims, wherein the tilt sensor system (10) comprises an inertial measuring device with an acceleration and rotation rate sensor means for providing acceleration and rotation rate signals representing the acceleration and rotation rates of the wrapping table (4).

4. Agricultural harvesting machine according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tilt sensor system (10) is mounted on the wrapping table (4) and / or an attachment connected thereto and follows tilting movements of the wrapping table (4).

5. Agricultural harvesting machine according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tilting axis (8) formed by the force measuring pin (9) is mounted centrally, approximately in the centre under / on the wrapping table, and in particular is aligned horizontally when the harvesting machine is in a horizontal position.

6. Agricultural harvesting machine according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tilt angle compensation device (15) has a computing unit designed to calculate the signals of the force measuring pin (9) and the tilt sensor system (10) and to determine the weight of the crop bale (14) by calculation from the signal of the force measuring pin (9) and the signal of the tilt sensor system (10).

7. Agricultural harvesting machine according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tilt angle compensation device (15) has a control device (13) for controlling a tilting actuator for tilting the wrapping table (4), wherein the control device (13) is designed to move the wrapping table (4) into the defined measuring position by the tilting actuator before the measuring signal of the force measuring pin (9) is recorded.

8. Agricultural harvesting machine according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tilt angle compensation device (15) is designed to adjust a measuring signal of the force measuring pin (9) by the tilting of the wrapping table (4) determined by the tilt sensor system (10).