Combine harvester with cutter composed of two half

Abstract

The invention relates to a harvesting machine, in particular a harvesting and threshing machine, with a header device consisting of tiltable parts and having at least one separation point, where at least one of the tiltable parts can be tilted about an axis from a working position to a transport position, where the tiltable parts each have a reel half (9, 10), which is rotatably mounted with its front side and is arranged longitudinally displaceable on the tiltable support arm (19, 20) by means of a drive. The essence of the invention is that both reel halves (9, 10) are designed to be positively connected to each other in the operating position by means of a transmission element assigned to the central separation point, but can be automatically releasably connected to each other, and that the sliding shoes on the support arms (19, 20) belonging to the central separation point are mechanically arranged to be automatically disconnected from each other in the operating position of the reel halves (9, 10).

Description

The invention relates to a harvesting machine, in particular a harvesting and threshing machine, with a header device consisting of tiltable parts and having at least one separation point, where at least one of the tiltable parts can be tilted from a working position about an axis to a transport position, where the tiltable parts always have a reel half, which is mounted rotatably with its front side and is arranged longitudinally displaceable on the tiltable support arm by means of a drive. A harvester of this type is known from DE 38 30 908 Al. In addition to the reel formed by two reel halves, a front device designed as a cutting unit also has a two-part cutting knife and a two-part intake screw, which transport the cut crop to the middle area, from where it can be fed to the inclined conveyor by means of an inclined conveyor. When the two cutter halves are tilted from the operating position to the transport position, the vertical distance of the two driven wheel axles to the wheel axle increases. As a result, the two knife halves are located on the outside of the cutter halves. Consequently, the axes of rotation of the reel halves are approximately parallel to each other. The tiltability of the reel holding arms and the longitudinal displacement of the reel halves are necessary so that the reel can be adjusted in relation to the cutting knife during harvesting and can be adjusted to different heights.If the cutting unit has to be tilted from the operating position to the transport position, the reel is first moved towards the inclined conveyor channel so that the outer teeth do not protrude beyond the cutting blade. The reel is usually moved as close as possible to the inclined conveyor channel. The reel is adjusted in height by means of four hydraulic cylinders, which are each hinged on a reel support arm. In order to be able to move the sliding shoe on the reel support arm, a linear drive is arranged on each sliding shoe, in the form of a hydraulic cylinder. The two reel halves are always driven by a drive train in known harvester-threshing machines. However, this harvester, which is designed in itself, has a very high construction cost, especially due to the drive of the two reel halves and the longitudinal displacement on the reel support arms. This, in turn, has a very negative impact on the economy and usability of the known solutions. The aim of the invention is to further develop the harvesting and threshing machine of the type mentioned in the introduction to such an extent that the construction effort in the case of the reel drive and the longitudinal movement of the sliding shoes is significantly reduced. The invention therefore relates to a harvesting machine, in particular a harvesting and threshing machine, with a header device consisting of tiltable parts and having at least one separation point, where at least one of the tiltable parts can be tilted about an axis from a working position to a transport position, where the tiltable parts always have a reel half, which is rotatably mounted with its front side and is arranged longitudinally displaceable on the tiltable support arm by means of a drive. According to the invention, the task is achieved by the fact that both reel halves are designed to be positively connected to each other in the operating position by means of the transfer element assigned to the central separation point, but positively connected to each other in the operating position by means of the auto-transfer element, but automatically releasably, and that the sliding shoes that can be moved on the support arms belonging to the central separation point are mechanically arranged to be automatically disconnected from each other in the operating position of the reel halves. The transmission elements in the region of the separation point of the cutting unit halves and thus in the region of the separation point of the reel halves eliminate the need for a drive chain for the reel halves. This means that numerous components and structural parts are eliminated or can be saved. Since the transmission elements are positively connected, synchronous heating of the two reel halves is ensured. Since they can be automatically and releasably connected to each other, the operator does not have to perform any special operations or work when the cutting unit is to be tilted from the operating position to the transport position or vice versa. The same applies to the sliding shoes that are to be connected to each other at the separation point of the cutting unit. Since these sliding shoes are located at a relatively small distance from each other and are connected to each other, they perform the same movement in the longitudinal direction of the reel support arms. This eliminates the need for a linear drive, such as a hydraulic cylinder. A very advantageous, simple design of the transmission elements is achieved by the fact that the transmission elements are formed by a plurality of pins, which are equidistant from the axis of rotation of the connected reel halves and which overlap each other in the operating position of the cutting unit halves. By arranging the pins in this way, it may be expedient to arrange them in a pot-shaped housing, which is always open towards the other cutting unit. The housings may have different diameters and thus be able to fit into each other. The pins can be used to implement the connection and disconnection in a very simple manner. It is also advantageous if the pins have a point at their free ends, so that the front edges cannot come into contact with each other. A simple structural solution for the positive connection of the two sliding shoes in the region of the cutting unit separation point is provided if the coupling elements of the two sliding shoes have at least one pin axially parallel to the axis of rotation of the associated reel half and are located in the sliding shoe and a hole formed in the other sliding shoe, into which the pin extends in the operating position of the cutting unit halves. The connection and disconnection of two sliding shoes also takes place automatically and thus the machine operator does not need to perform any separate operations. Due to this rigid connection, a separate linear drive, such as a hydraulic cylinder, is not required for one of the sliding shoes. In this way, the reel half, which can be shifted by a linear drive, i.e. a hydraulic cylinder, is suitably secured in the transport position and one of the sliding shoes, carried by the driven sliding shoe, is tilted in a tilting manner. HU 221 377 Β1 is secured by a movable handle and by a stop gripped by the handle. Since the part of the reel support arm gripped by the sliding shoe is more or less tilted relative to the ground in each tilting position it can occupy, the position of the reel on the roller-free support arm must be secured in the transport position as well. Therefore, it is advisable to arrange the stop and the tiltable handle on the reel support arm on the appropriate sliding shoe. In order to reduce the distance between the inner teeth on the two reel halves to the smallest possible size, it is advisable that the two middle reel support arms, due to their own design and the design of the sliding shoes, lie one above the other in the operating position of the reel halves. (Fig. 5) This ensures optimum pulling in of the plants in the area of ​​the cutting unit separation points. The invention is described in detail with reference to an exemplary embodiment, based on the drawings, where a cutting unit designed as a feeder device, which can be tilted about an essentially vertical axis, is shown. However, the invention is in no way limited to this solution, but also applies to other tiltable feeders, for example to cutting units that can be tilted one above the other, or to solutions that are equipped with a tiltable pickup. In the drawings, the Figure 1 is a front view of an embodiment of the device according to the invention, where the cutting unit is in an intermediate position, the Figure 2 is a schematic top view of the cutting unit according to Figure 1, in its operating position, Figure 3 is a schematic top view of the cutting unit according to Figure 2, in its transport position, Figure 4 is a front view corresponding to Figure 3, on a larger scale, Figure 5 is a section taken along line VV in Figure 2, illustrating the connection of the reel halves and the sliding shoes, Figure 6 shows the connection and securing of the two sliding shoes in a bottom view, Figure 7 shows a cross-section of a mechanically secured sliding shoe, while the Figure 8 is a top view corresponding to Figure 7. The cutting unit shown schematically in Figure 1 consists of a left-hand cutting unit 1 and a right-hand cutting unit 2, which are arranged as a front attachment on the front side of a combine harvester, not shown in detail. The left-hand cutting unit 1 is on the right and the right-hand cutting unit 2 is on the left, seen in the forward direction of the combine harvester. Each of the cutting units 1 and 2 has a cutting trough 3, 4, a feed screw half 5, 6 mounted therein and driven rotatably, and two knife edges 7, 8. Each of the cutting units 1, 2 has a reel half 9, 10, which are only indicated by a dotted circle for the sake of clarity and thus only their front surfaces are symbolized. In the operating position shown in Figure 2, the feed screw halves 5, 6, the knife halves 7, 8 and the reel halves 9, 10 are connected to each other. The connection of the reel halves 9, 10 is explained in more detail in Figures 5, 6.Each cutting unit half 1, 2 is suspended on a supporting arm 11, 12 bent at an angle. The ends of these supporting arms opposite the cutting unit half 1, 2 are mounted rotatably about a vertical axis on an inclined transport channel 13 of a combine harvester. At their other ends, however, they are rotatably connected to the upper edges of the cutting unit troughs 3, 4. The cutting unit consisting of the two cutting unit half 1, 2 thus has a central separation point, where at this separation point there are two corner hinges 14, 15 for connecting the halves. With the help of a piston-cylinder unit 16, the cutting unit half can be tilted either from the operating position according to FIG. 2 to the transport position according to FIG. 3, or vice versa, from the transport position to the operating position.The support arms 11, 12, which are kinematically designed by means of the vertical axis 17 defined by the corner hinges 14, 15 and by means of the piston-cylinder unit 16, are such that the cutting unit halves 1, 2 can perform a 90° tilting movement in opposite directions. The reel halves 9, 10 are mounted on the reel support arms 18, 19, 20, 21 bent at an angle on the front side. Sliding shoes 22, 23, 24, 25 are displaceably arranged on the reel support arms 18, 19, 20, 21 (Fig. 3), which will be described in more detail later. For the displacement of the sliding shoes 22, 24, 25 arranged on the reel support arms 18, 20, these shoes are always connected to a piston-cylinder unit 26. The sliding shoe 23 arranged on the reel support arm 19 is carried by the sliding shoe 24 of the reel support arm 20 lying adjacent to it in the operating position, which will also be explained in detail.To tilt the reel or the two reel halves 9, 10, a piston-cylinder unit 27 is arranged on the reel support arms 18 and 21 around an axis parallel to the driven wheel. Figure 2 shows a schematic top view of the cutting unit. In this position, the feed screw halves 5, 6, the knife halves 7, 8 and the reel halves 9, 10 lie in line. In the exemplary embodiment, the reel half 9 is rotated by the driven reel half 10 in a manner described later, or is carried along for rotation and / or displacement. Fig. 2 also shows that in this position the vertical or nearly vertical tilting axis defined by the hinges 14, 15 is in the region of the inlet side of the inclined transport channel 13. If the two cutting unit halves 1, 2 are to be tilted in a horizontal or nearly horizontal plane into the transport position according to Fig. 3, the piston-cylinder unit 16 is put under pressure so that its piston rod moves. In the final position, the knife halves 7, 8 then stand on the outside perpendicular to their working position. By means of this tilting movement, the axis defined by the hinges 14, 15 is moved forward, i.e. is spaced apart from its previous position, so that space corresponding to the width of the cutting unit halves 1, 2 is thus available. When the cutting unit halves 1, 2 are tilted back into the operating position, the piston-cylinder unit 16 must be put under pressure in the opposite direction. Figures 2 and 5 illustrate how the spool holders 19, 20 are HU 221 377 The blocks lie one above the other in the operating position. This ensures that the gap between the central end faces of the coil halves 9, 10 is relatively small in the region of the separation point of the cutting unit. Figure 4 shows the cutting unit halves 1 and 2 in the transport position, namely in front view. This is due to the fact that the two reel support arms 19, 20 are formed from two legs forming an obtuse angle with each other. In addition, one leg of these support arms is always parallel or nearly parallel to the upper edge of the respective half of the cutting unit trough 3, 4. The sliding shoes 23, 24 are mounted on these legs. The corresponding sliding shoes 22, 25 are mounted on the reel support arms 18, 21 lying behind them. The legs assigned to the rotation axis and running at an angle are connected to the piston-cylinder unit 27 in order to adjust the reel halves 9, 10 in the vertical direction. Figure 4 illustrates that in this embodiment, only the sliding shoe 24 mounted on the right-hand reel support arm 20 is connected to a piston-cylinder unit 26. This piston-cylinder unit 26 can be used to move the reel half 10 into the position shown in dotted lines marked ΙΟ'.In addition, the sliding shoe 24 is moved to the illustrated position 24'. The sliding shoes 22, 23, 24, 25 are designed in such a way that the places for the bearing of the reel halves 9, 10 are also designed on them. The two sliding shoes 23, 24 are provided with transmission elements 28, 29, which still engage with each other in the operating position in the manner described later. Thus, a special drive for the left-hand reel half 9 can be omitted. In addition, the piston-cylinder unit required for the displacement is also omitted. The transmission elements 28, 29 are designed in such a way that they automatically engage with each other and can be separated from each other without any intervention. By placing the cylinder-piston unit 26 under pressure, the reel half 9 moves synchronously with the reel half 10. Figure 5 shows the separation point of the reel halves 9, 10, which are connected to each other in a rotationally transmitting and displaceable manner. In the illustrated embodiment, the right-hand reel half 10 is driven in a manner not described in detail. When it rotates, it carries the left-hand reel half 9 with it. The drive can of course be carried out in the opposite manner. Pot-shaped housings 30, 31 are mounted on the sliding shoes 23, 24, which are open on their sides facing each other. Inside this housing, there are transmission elements 28, 29, which act together in the operating position shown in Figure 5. In the illustrated embodiment, the transmission elements consist of pins 28a, 29a, which are at the same distance from the axis of rotation of the reel halves 9, 10. In the exemplary embodiment, two pins 28a and 29a, respectively, offset by 180° relative to each other, are arranged in each pot-shaped housing 30, 31. The pins 28a and 29a are sharpened on their sides facing each other.This ensures that they never collide with each other, but rather overlap each other. If they collided, the joining of the cutting unit halves 1, 2 would be blocked in the operating position. FIG. 5 also shows that the two reel support arms 19, 20, which are assigned to the separation point of the cutting unit, lie one above the other in the operating position. Since in the illustrated embodiment only the sliding shoe mounted on the upper reel support arm 20 is in a moving connection with the piston-cylinder unit 26, a projection 34 extending towards the lower reel support arm 19 is attached to the sliding shoe 24. This projection 34 carries the pot-shaped housing 31 and carries a pin 35 extending towards the other reel half 9, which, in the illustrated operating position, engages in a bore of the sliding shoe 23 mounted on the reel support arm 19. This causes the sliding shoe 23 to move synchronously with the sliding shoe 24 when the piston-cylinder unit 26 is pressurized.The free end of the pin 35 is formed into a point to ensure that it engages in both aligned holes of the sliding shoe 23. It can be seen from Figures 6, 7 and 8 that a tiltable locking latch 38 is mounted on the transmitted sliding shoe 23, which automatically swings into its locking position by means of a spring 33. The associated reel holding arm 19 has a fixed stop 39, behind which the locking latch 38 can grip when the two reel halves 9, 10 are in the transport position. A release pin 41 is arranged on the fixed part of the driven reel half 10 for the locking latch 38, which, in the operating position shown in Figures 2, 5 and 6, presses the locking latch 38 against the action of the spring 32 into a position ensuring the displacement of the reel. This is indicated by a solid line in Figure 6. To eliminate friction between the sliding shoes 22, 23, 24 and the reel support arms 18, 19, 20, 21, sliding pieces 40, which may be made of plastic, are fixed between the upper and lower surfaces of the sliding shoes 22, 23, 24, 25. In order to tilt the cutting unit halves 1 and 2 from the operating position shown in FIG. 2 to the transport position shown in FIG. 3, the reel consisting of the reel halves 9, 10 must first be driven back, namely against the direction of travel A towards the driver's cabin (not shown). This is done by retracting the piston rods of the piston-cylinder unit 26. According to the invention, only three piston-cylinder units are required to shift the two reel halves 9, 10, since the reel half 9 carried with it (FIG. 4) is connected to a piston-cylinder unit only on its outer side and is in mechanical connection with the reel half 10 in the middle and is supported by it. The driven reel half 10 is moved from its formal working position to its position 10', while simultaneously carrying the reel half 9 with it. The unlocking pin 41 meanwhile presses the locking latch 38 against the effect of the spring 32 6.in the figure, marked with a solid line, so that it can move along the stationary stop 39. As soon as it reaches a position where it can tilt behind the stop 39, it is indicated to the operator by a switch 33, and then a piston-cylinder unit 16 can be operated to move the cutting tool halves 1 and 2 to the. 3. Immediately after starting the tilting process, the locking latch 38 is released from the unlocking pin 41 and thus the HU 221 377 Bl spring, it jumps behind the stop 39. This prevents the reel half 9 from shifting on the reel holding arms 18,19 when the cutting unit halves 1, 2 are disconnected. It is also ensured that when the cutting unit halves 1, 2 are tilted from the transport position to the working position, the reel halves 9, 10 are brought together in a reliable manner in the reverse way. To do this, the cylinder-piston unit 16 must first be operated in the opposite direction. After the cutting unit halves 1, 2 have been connected, the reel halves 9, 10 can be moved into the optimal working position opposite to the direction of travel A. The locking pin 41 holds the locking catch 38 in the unlocked position. In the case of ballasts with multiple tilting options, the design of the switching and transmission elements for transmitting rotary and linear motion is the same at all separation and tilting locations.

Claims

1. Harvesting machine, in particular a combine harvester, with a header device consisting of tiltable parts and having at least one separation point, wherein at least one of the tiltable parts can be tilted about an axis from a working position to a transport position, wherein the tiltable parts each have a reel half, which is mounted rotatably with its front side and is arranged longitudinally displaceable on the tiltable support arm by means of a drive, characterized in that both reel halves (9, 10) are designed to be positively connected to each other in the operating position by means of a transmission element (28, 29) assigned to the central separation point, but can be automatically released, and that sliding shoes (23, 24) on the reel support arms (19, 20) assigned to the central separation point are mechanical, automatically disengageable coupling elements - the reel halves (9, 10) are arranged in the operating position in position - they are arranged so that they can be connected to each other.

2. Harvesting and threshing machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the transmission elements (28, 29) are formed by several pins (28a, 29a) located at the same distance from the rotation axis of the interconnected reel halves (9, 10), which overlap each other in the operating position of the cutting unit halves (1, 2).

3. A harvester-threshing machine according to claim 2, characterized in that the pins (28a, 29a) are arranged in a pot-shaped housing (30, 31) which is always open towards the other cutting tool half (1, 2).

4. Harvesting and threshing machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the coupling element for both sliding shoes (23, 24) of the separation point consists of a pin (35) arranged on the sliding shoe (24) parallel to the axis of rotation of the associated reel half (9, 10) and a hole in the other sliding shoe (23), into which hole the pin (35) extends in the operating position of the two reel halves (9, 10) or cutting unit halves (1, 2).

5. Harvesting machine according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that the sliding shoe (23) driven by the linear drive, preferably a piston-cylinder unit (26), is secured in the transport position of the reel halves (9, 10) by a tiltable locking latch (38) and a stop (39).

6. Harvesting and threshing machine according to claim 5, characterized in that the locking latch (3) is arranged on the transmitted sliding shoe (23) and the stop (39) is arranged on the reel holding arm (19).

7. A combine harvester according to any one of claims 1-6, characterised in that the two central reel support arms (19, 20) lie one above the other in the operating position of the reel halves (9, 10) by means of a suitable design and the sliding shoes (23, 24) adapted thereto.