Agricultural work machine

Abstract

To prevent generation of a bridge in a hopper.SOLUTION: An agricultural work machine 1 includes a hopper 2 having wall parts surrounding four sides. At least one pair of wall parts 22 facing each other of the hopper 2 have different inclination angles facing an axial core 28 extending vertically passing through a center of an exhaust port of the hopper 2 although there may be a region where the angles are perpendicular to each other in a part. As being close to the exhaust port 25 of the hopper 2, the angles change.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an agricultural machine equipped with a hopper. [Background technology]

[0002] Hopper-equipped implements include reaper / shredder harvesters that cut and shred forage crops such as dent corn, sorghum, and pasture grass, as well as shredder-type bale wrappers that store shredded harvested material in a hopper and form it into roll bales. Furthermore, the contents stored in the hopper may be granular fertilizer, as in a fertilizer broadcaster. There are various agricultural machines that put contents into a hopper. For example, the exemplified reaping / shredding harvester, as described in Patent Document 1 below, is known to have crawlers operated by an engine mounted on the vehicle body, a harvester with a chute from the front to the rear of the vehicle body, a driver's seat, a hopper, and a forming unit. The harvested material is cut and shredded in the forming chamber and formed into rolls. The rolled bale is covered with a net or the like and released from a release gate at the rear of the vehicle body.

[0003] With this type of round baler, the harvested forage crops are chopped as they move along, and the chopped crops are dumped into a hopper through a chute. Below this hopper is a conveyor, and the forage crops that fall from the hopper are received on the belt of the conveyor, and then carried on to another conveying device and dumped into the forming section. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5276403 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In these types of harvesters, a phenomenon known as bridging occurs, where the forage crops in the hopper get stuck and cannot fall onto the conveyor. Agitators or other devices are sometimes installed to break up the bridges, but even hoppers with agitators can sometimes experience bridges. Bridging can occur frequently, particularly depending on the degree of lodging of the harvested crop (which affects the shape of the shredded material) and the dryness (wetness) of the harvested crop. Each time this occurs, the operator must stop the engine and destroy the bridge, which is time-consuming. Even hoppers equipped with agitators that destroy bridges cannot completely prevent bridging, so there was a need for agricultural machinery that is less likely to cause bridging. An object of the present invention is to prevent bridging from occurring in a hopper. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present invention solves the problem by providing an agricultural machine that includes a hopper having walls surrounding it on all four sides, and at least one opposing wall of the hopper has an inclination angle that varies toward an axis that extends vertically and passes through the center of the hopper's discharge outlet, although there may be some areas where the walls are perpendicular to each other, and the angle changes as it approaches the hopper's discharge outlet. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] The hopper of the agricultural machine of the present invention reduces the formation of bridges compared to conventional hoppers. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a reaping / shredding harvester. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a top view of the hopper. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a front view of the area including the hopper. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a left side view of the area including the hopper. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram in which the front view of FIG. 5 and the left side view of FIG. 6 are arranged side by side, and is an explanatory diagram for explaining the positions of the upper and lower boundaries of the upper wall portion and the lower wall portion. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The same reference numerals in different drawings indicate parts with the same function, and duplicated explanations in each drawing will be omitted as appropriate. In addition, some drawings intentionally omit certain components for the sake of explanation. In the following embodiment, a reaping, shredding and harvesting machine 1 is used as an example of an agricultural work machine, but the present invention is applicable to any agricultural work machine that is equipped with a hopper 2.

[0010] [Example] (Overall structure) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a reaping, shredding, and harvesting machine (agricultural work machine) 1. The left and right directions are those seen from the direction of travel of the reaping, shredding, and harvesting machine (agricultural work machine) 1. The reaping, shredding, and harvesting machine (agricultural work machine) 1 has a reaping and shredding unit 11 at the front, which is a device that reaps and shreds forage crops from the roots. The traveling unit 8 is equipped with a traveling device such as a crawler, and moves forward while reaping the forage crops. The reaping and shredding unit 11 is divided into a reaping unit at the front and a shredding unit at the rear, and forage crops reaped from the roots by the reaping unit at the front are sent to the shredding unit. The shredding unit is equipped with a cutter head that rotates at high speed, and shreds the forage crops that have been reaped. The harvested material shredded by the shredding unit is blown up into the hopper 2 through a chute 12 by the air flow generated by the rotation of the cutter head. The rear end of the chute 12 is inserted into a chute connection port 21 at the front of the hopper 2, and the shredded harvested material is forcefully sent into the hopper 2. The shredded harvested material (contents) that enters the hopper 2 is temporarily stored in the hopper 2 and then sent to the molding chamber 7 via the conveyor belt conveyor 41 in the conveying section 4 located below the hopper 2. The forming chamber 7 rotates the chopped crop and forms it into a roll bale. Once the roll bale has been formed to a specified size, it is wrapped in netting by the netting device 72. The release gate is then opened, and the roll bale wrapped in netting is released into the field.

[0011] (Top of hopper) FIG. 2 is a top view of the hopper 2. The hopper 2 has a hatch 24 on its top surface. When a bridge forms inside the hopper 2, the operator opens the hatch 24 to destroy the bridge. The hopper 2 has a chute connection port 21 that opens at the top front. The chute connection port 21 is an opening to which the tip of the chute 12 is connected, and shredded harvest material is forcefully released from the tip of the chute 12 toward the chute connection port 21. The spill guard 23 catches shredded harvest material that bounces around inside the hopper 2 due to the force of the air released from the chute 12, preventing the shredded harvest material from flying out of the hopper 2.

[0012] (Vertical cross section of hopper) Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in Figure 2. Hopper 2 is surrounded on all four sides by walls 22 and has a discharge port 25 at its lowest end. The chopped crop forcefully transported together with air from chute 12 is dumped into hopper 2 through chute connection port 21 opened in upper front wall 221. Air escape hole 29 is provided in upper left wall 224 to allow air blown out from chute 12 to escape.

[0013] The shredded harvest material is temporarily stored in hopper 2, then discharged from discharge outlet 25 onto conveyor belt 41 and transported rearward. The shredded harvest material discharged from hopper 2 is unevenly distributed on conveyor belt 41 when it drops from discharge outlet 25 onto conveyor belt 41. Rotor 45 is provided above the rear end of conveyor belt 41 and smooths out the unevenly distributed shredded harvest material. The chopped harvested product is sent from the rear end of the transport belt conveyor 41 to the forming chamber 7 by a separate transport mechanism (not shown).

[0014] (Tilt angle) Hereinafter, axis 28 refers to a perpendicular line that passes through the center of discharge port 25 of hopper 2 and extends vertically up and down. The angle at which wall portion 22 faces axis 28 is referred to as the inclination angle. The inclination angle, i.e., the angle between the wall 22 and the axis 28, is positive on one side and negative on the other for the right and left, front and rear wall 22, but the "magnitude of the inclination angle" is expressed as an absolute value, i.e., all are positive. The area of ​​the discharge outlet 25 is always smaller than the area of ​​the top of the hopper, and the wall 22 of the hopper 2 is designed to gradually slope toward the discharge outlet 25. Therefore, as the slope approaches vertical (tilt angle of 0°), the shredded harvest material around the wall 22 flows faster toward the discharge outlet 25. Conversely, shredded harvest material around the wall 22 with a larger tilt angle flows more slowly toward the discharge outlet 25.

[0015] (Cause of bridge) The reason for the formation of bridges is that friction between the chopped crops reduces their fluidity, causing arches to form. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 2. The arrows indicate the flow direction of the shredded harvest material flowing near the wall 22. Near the wall 22, the shredded harvest material flows along the inclination angle of the wall 22, but as it approaches the axis 28 of the hopper 2, it begins to flow vertically. As shown in FIG. 3, the axis 28 of the hopper 2 extends vertically through the center of the discharge opening 25. The rear wall 227 in FIG. 3 is uniformly inclined from top to bottom, but the inclination angles of the upper front wall 221 and the lower front wall 226 on the front side of the wall 22 are different, as indicated by the arrows. Furthermore, the inclination angles of opposing walls 22 toward the axis 28 are different, as indicated by the arrows.

[0016] By varying the inclination angle of a pair of opposing walls 22, the loss of fluidity that can lead to bridging can be prevented. The closer the inclination angle of the walls 22 is to vertical (0°), the higher the fluidity and the faster the product flows. The inclination angles of the opposing walls 22 toward the axis 28 are set to different values. The closer the inclination angle of one wall 22 is to vertical (0°), the faster the shredded crop flows from the other wall 22, resulting in a difference in flow rate between the opposing walls 22. Bridges are formed between the opposing walls 22 when the shredded crop supports each other. If even one part of the bridge remains fluid, bridge formation is suppressed. Changes in fluidity near the walls 22 suppress bridge formation. By changing the fluidity of the opposing wall parts 22, even if a bridge is about to be formed between one of the wall parts 22, the periphery of the other opposing wall part 22 flows faster, causing the bridge to collapse from the wall part 22 side, thereby suppressing the formation of the bridge.

[0017] Furthermore, in the hopper 2 of the embodiment, even with the same wall portion 22, the inclination angle changes in the vertical direction, changing the fluidity and preventing bridge formation. In the upper part of the wall portion 22 of the hopper 2 of the embodiment, the upper left wall 224 and the upper front wall 221 both have an inclination angle of vertical (0°), which makes the fluidity high and makes bridging difficult. In the lower part, the inclination angle of the lower front wall 226 becomes gentler, which reduces the fluidity. However, the inclination angle of the rear wall 227 is smaller than that of the lower front wall 226, making the fluidity high. In the embodiment, the region that makes bridges more likely to collapse (region where fluidity is high) changes depending on the height of the hopper 2, making it easier to suppress bridge formation.

[0018] In addition, the agitator 3 is installed in a position where bridges are likely to form, and suppresses the formation of bridges even if the fluidity changes due to the degree of lodging of the harvested product (which affects the shape of the shredded product) or the dryness (wetness) of the harvested product.

[0019] (cross section of hopper) FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. The angle of inclination of upper left wall 224 toward axis 28 is vertical (0°) and is smaller than the angle of inclination of upper right wall 225 opposite upper left wall 224 toward axis 28. The lower right wall 229 is inclined perpendicularly (0°) toward the axis 28, while the lower left wall 228 is inclined at a larger angle toward the axis 28. Since the fluidity of the chopped crop near the wall 22 differs between the right and left walls in the height direction, the fluidity near the end (wall 22) of the bridge that is about to be formed is switched, suppressing the formation of the bridge.

[0020] (Front of the hopper) 5 is a front view of the area including the hopper 2. From this view, the inclination angles of the right and left wall portions 22 can be clearly seen. Below the hopper 2, there is a conveying unit 4, and a conveyor belt conveyor drive shaft 42, a rotor drive shaft 451, and an agitator drive shaft 33 are provided on the lower right wall 229. In the right wall of the wall portion 22, the inclination angle of the upper right wall 225 is larger than that of the lower right wall 229, and the inclination angle of the lower right wall 229 is vertical (0°). Furthermore, with regard to the left wall of the wall portion 22, the inclination angle of the upper left wall 224 is vertical (0°), which is smaller than the inclination angle of the lower left wall 228. The upper right wall 225 and the opposing upper left wall 224 have different inclination angles, and the lower right wall 229 and the opposing lower left wall 228 have different inclination angles. Because the opposing walls 22 have different inclination angles, the fluidity of the wall 22 at the end of the bridge to be formed is higher on the side with the smaller inclination angle, which causes an imbalance in the fluidity between one end of the bridge and the other end, making it difficult to form a bridge supported by one wall 22 and the other of the opposing walls 22.

[0021] (Left side of hopper) 6 is a left side view of the area including the hopper 2. Because a spill guard 23 is attached to the upper front side of the hopper 2, the upper front wall 221 at the back cannot be seen directly, but as shown in the figure, the upper front wall 221 is located at the base of the spill guard 23. The rear wall 227 does not change in inclination angle between the top and bottom, but the inclination angle of the upper front wall 221 is vertical (0°). The inclination angle of the lower front wall 226 is larger than that of the rear wall 227 that faces the lower front wall 226. The formation of a bridge that is about to be formed is further suppressed because the magnitude of the inclination angle of the opposing wall portions 22 at the upper and lower portions changes.

[0022] A portion of the lower left wall 228 where the agitator drive shaft 33 is provided serves as an agitator mounting recess 32. In order to mount the agitator drive shaft 33, the interior of the hopper 2 has a gentler slope at the top only in this area, as shown in Figure 4, and the angle of inclination is different from that of the lower left wall 228. At first glance, it may appear that this will impede the flow of chopped crop. However, the agitator 3 rotates in the hopper 2 near the agitator mounting recess 32, and there is no risk of a bridge forming in this area, so there is no effect from the agitator mounting recess 32.

[0023] (When opposing walls are perpendicular to each other) When the opposing walls 22 are perpendicular to each other (inclination angle 0°), bridging is unlikely to form in that region only. However, the longer the region where the opposing walls 22 are perpendicular to each other continues, the more the inclination angle of the walls 22 near the discharge outlet 25 at the bottom of the hopper 2 must become gentler, and although the effect of changing the inclination angle is not eliminated, it inevitably weakens. Nevertheless, compared to a hopper 2 where the opposing walls 22 have a long region where the opposing walls 22 are perpendicular to each other and the inclination angle of the opposing walls 22 does not change, bridging is suppressed.

[0024] On the other hand, areas where the inclination angles of the opposing walls 22 are perpendicular to each other (0°) contribute to increasing the capacity of the hopper 2. The area where opposing walls 22 of a moderate length are perpendicular to each other is also the area where the chopped harvest product flows most quickly and where bridges are less likely to form. The hopper 2 may have some areas where the inclination angles are perpendicular to each other (0°), but the inclination angles toward the axis 28 extending vertically through the center of the discharge outlet of the hopper 2 may be different from each other, and the angle may change as it approaches the discharge outlet 25 of the hopper 2.

[0025] In particular, the uppermost portion of the hopper 2 is an area where the chopped harvest material is hardly subjected to compressive force due to its own weight, and is an area where there is no risk of bridges being formed due to compressive force. Therefore, the uppermost portion of the hopper 2 may be an area where the opposing walls 22 are perpendicular to each other.

[0026] (Upper and lower boundary positions) FIG. 7 is a diagram juxtaposing the front view of FIG. 5 and the left side view of FIG. 6, and is an explanatory diagram for explaining the position of the upper and lower boundary 26 of the upper wall portion 22 and the lower wall portion 22. Except for the rear wall 227, the hopper 2 has front, left and right wall portions 22 which are divided into upper and lower portions. FIG. 7 illustrates the upper and lower boundary 26 connecting the upper right wall 225 and the lower right wall 229, the upper and lower boundary 26 connecting the upper left wall 224 and the lower left wall 228, and the upper and lower boundary 26 connecting the upper front wall 221 and the lower front wall 226. The positions (heights) of these three upper and lower boundaries 26 are different from one another. Therefore, the chopped harvest material flowing from top to bottom of the hopper 2 is subjected to a change in fluidity each time it passes through the upper and lower boundaries 26 of the front wall 22, right wall 22 and left wall 22, which significantly inhibits the formation of bridges.

[0027] (Variation) In this modified example, the agricultural machine is a fertilizer spreader. The contents to be put into the hopper are granular or powdered fertilizer, which is prone to forming bridges. However, by adopting the hopper 2 as in the embodiment, the formation of bridges is suppressed.

[0028] Although the embodiments have been described above, it is possible to combine them by utilizing each other's technologies as long as there are no particular contradictions or problems with the purpose and configuration, such as changing the inclination angle of the wall portion 22, the position of the upper and lower boundary 26, or even creating an intermediate portion between the upper and lower portions and changing the inclination angle. [Explanation of symbols]

[0029] 1. Harvesting machine (agricultural machinery) 11 Cutting and shredding section 12 shots 2 Hopper 21 Chute connection port 22 Wall 221 Upper front wall 224 Upper left wall 225 Upper right wall 226 Lower front wall 227 Back wall 228 Lower left wall 229 Lower right wall 23 Spill guard 24 Hatch 26 Upper and lower boundaries 25 Outlet 28 Axis center 29 Air release hole 3 Agitator 32 Agitator mounting recess 33 Agitator drive shaft 4. Conveyor 41 Conveyor belt 42 Conveyor belt drive shaft 45 rotors 451 rotor drive shaft 7 Molding room 72 Network equipment 8 Running part

Claims

1. a hopper having a wall portion surrounding the periphery; At least one of the opposing wall portions of the hopper has an inclination angle that varies toward an axis that extends vertically and passes through the center of the hopper's discharge outlet, although there may be some areas where the inclination angles are perpendicular to each other, and the angle changes as the wall portions approach the hopper's discharge outlet.

2. 2. The agricultural work machine according to claim 1, wherein the contents of said hopper are continuously supplied during operation.

3. 3. The agricultural work machine according to claim 1, wherein the hopper is for storing chopped harvested material.

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