Agricultural harvester with shakeable positive transport conveyor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12324372-B2
Application number	US-202117559252-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 22, 2021
Priority date	Dec 22, 2021
Publication date	Jun 10, 2025
Grant date	Jun 10, 2025

Abstract

A cleaning system for an agricultural harvester includes: at least one sieve; a cleaning blower directed at the at least one sieve and configured to supply a cleaning air flow directed at the at least one sieve; and a conveyor assembly configured to supply crop material to the at least one sieve. The conveyor assembly includes: a conveyor frame; a shaker coupled to the conveyor frame and configured to shake the conveyor frame; and an endless conveyor carried by the conveyor frame and including a conveyor loop with a substantially solid surface and a conveyor driver coupled to the conveyor loop, the conveyor driver being configured to selectively rotate the conveyor loop.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cleaning system for an agricultural harvester, comprising:
(a) at least one sieve;
(b) a cleaning blower directed at the at least one sieve and configured to supply a cleaning air flow directed at the at least one sieve;
(c) a conveyor assembly configured to supply crop material to the at least one sieve, the conveyor assembly comprising:
(i) a conveyor frame;
(ii) a shaker coupled to the conveyor frame and configured to shake the conveyor frame; and
(iii) an endless conveyor carried by the conveyor frame and comprising a conveyor loop comprising a substantially solid surface and a conveyor driver coupled to the conveyor loop, the conveyor driver being configured to selectively rotate the conveyor loop; and

(d) a controller operably coupled to the conveyor driver and configured to cause selective activation of the conveyor driver to rotate the conveyor loop,
wherein the conveyor driver is configured to rotate in a first rotation direction and a second rotation direction opposite the first rotation direction, wherein rotation of the conveyor driver in the first rotation direction causes the conveyor loop to rotate in a first conveyance direction that extends from a front end of the conveyor frame toward a rear end of the conveyor frame and rotation of the conveyor driver in the second rotation direction causes the conveyor loop to rotate in a second conveyance direction that extends from the rear end of the conveyor frame toward the front end of the conveyor frame.

2. The cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the shaker is configured to shake the conveyor frame fore-to-aft such that crop material is supplied to the at least one sieve from the conveyor loop without rotating the conveyor loop.

3. The cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the surface comprises a plurality of rabbets formed therein, each of the rabbets comprising a pair of steps coupled to one another by an angled portion of the surface.

4. An agricultural harvester comprising a chassis, a threshing and separating system carried by the chassis, and the cleaning system of claim 1 .

5. The cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine an angle of inclination of the conveyor frame has changed and responsively cause a change in a driving velocity of the conveyor loop by the conveyor driver.

6. The cleaning system of claim 5 , wherein the controller is configured to at least one of:
cause the driving velocity to increase responsively to determining the angle of inclination has changed so the rear end of the conveyor frame is raised above the front end of the conveyor frame; or
cause the driving velocity to decrease responsively to determining the angle of inclination has changed so the front end of the conveyor frame is raised above the rear end of the conveyor frame.

7. The cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine a feed rate of crop material to the conveyor is less than a defined value and responsively cause an increase in a driving velocity of the conveyor loop by the conveyor driver.

8. The cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to cause the conveyor driver to rotate in the second rotation direction responsively to determining an angle of inclination has changed so the front end of the conveyor frame is raised above the rear end of the conveyor frame by a defined amount.

9. The cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine a feed rate of crop material to the conveyor is greater than a defined value and responsively cause a decrease in a driving velocity of the conveyor loop by the conveyor driver.

10. An agricultural harvester, comprising:
a chassis;
a threshing and separating system carried by the chassis, the threshing and separating system comprising a threshing rotor that is rotatable within a concave; and
a cleaning system comprising:
(a) at least one sieve;
(b) a cleaning blower directed at the at least one sieve and configured to supply a cleaning air flow directed at the at least one sieve;
(c) a conveyor assembly configured to receive crop material from the threshing and separating system and convey received crop material to the at least one sieve, the conveyor assembly comprising:
(i) a conveyor frame;
(ii) a shaker coupled to the conveyor frame and configured to shake the conveyor frame; and
(iii) an endless conveyor carried by the conveyor frame and comprising a conveyor loop comprising a substantially solid surface and a conveyor driver coupled to the conveyor loop, the conveyor driver being configured to selectively rotate the conveyor loop; and

(d) a controller operably coupled to the conveyor driver and configured to cause selective activation of the conveyor driver to rotate the conveyor loop,
wherein the conveyor driver is configured to rotate in a first rotation direction and a second rotation direction opposite the first rotation direction, wherein rotation of the conveyor driver in the first rotation direction causes the conveyor loop to rotate in a first conveyance direction that extends from a front end of the conveyor frame toward a rear end of the conveyor frame and rotation of the conveyor driver in the second rotation direction causes the conveyor loop to rotate in a second conveyance direction that extends from the rear end of the conveyor frame toward the front end of the conveyor frame.

11. The agricultural harvester of claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to determine a feed rate of crop material to the conveyor is less than a defined value and responsively cause an increase in a driving velocity of the conveyor loop by the conveyor driver.

12. The agricultural harvester of claim 10 , wherein the shaker is configured to shake the conveyor frame fore-to-aft such that crop material is supplied to the at least one sieve from the conveyor loop without rotating the conveyor loop.

13. The agricultural harvester of claim 10 , wherein the surface comprises a plurality of rabbets formed therein, each of the rabbets comprising a pair of steps coupled to one another by an angled portion of the surface.

14. The agricultural harvester of claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to determine a feed rate of crop material to the conveyor is greater than a defined value and responsively cause a decrease in a driving velocity of the conveyor loop by the conveyor driver.

15. The agricultural harvester of claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to determine an angle of inclination of the conveyor frame has changed and responsively cause a change in a driving velocity of the conveyor loop by the conveyor driver.

16. The agricultural harvester of claim 15 , wherein the controller is configured to at least one of:
cause the driving velocity to increase responsively to determining the angle of inclination has changed so the rear end of the conveyor frame is raised above the front end of the conveyor frame; or
cause the driving velocity to decrease responsively to determining the angle of inclination has changed so the front end of the conveyor frame is raised above the rear end of the conveyor frame.

17. The agricultural harvester of claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to cause the conveyor driver to rotate in the second rotation direction responsively to determining an angle of inclination has changed so the front end of the conveyor frame is raised above the rear end of the conveyor frame by a defined amount.

Assignees

• Cnh Ind America Llc

Inventors

• Becker Justin
• Garrett Robert
• Wenger Michael
• Walker Eric L
• Harmon Zachary
• Abreu Brian

Classifications

• A01D41/1274

  for drives · CPC title

• A01F12/446

  Sieving means · CPC title

• A01D75/282

  acting on the grain cleaning and separating device (grain cleaners, separators per se A01F12/44) · CPC title

• A01D61/02

  Endless belts · CPC title

• A01F12/44

  Grain cleaners; Grain separators · CPC title