Beater roller configuration in a harvester vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12568889-B2
Application number	US-202318118557-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 7, 2023
Priority date	Jun 28, 2022
Publication date	Mar 10, 2026
Grant date	Mar 10, 2026

Abstract

One or more techniques and/or systems are disclosed for accumulating harvested crop that includes an accumulator for a harvester vehicle having a plurality of meter rollers aligned along a first axis and a plurality of beater rollers aligned along a second axis. The first axis is different than the second axis, and one roller of the plurality of beater rollers is aligned along the first axis. The one roller of the plurality of beater rollers aligned along the first axis is coupled with the plurality of beater rollers and not coupled to the plurality of meter rollers.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An accumulator for a harvester vehicle, the accumulator comprising:
a plurality of meter rollers aligned along a first axis; and a plurality of beater rollers aligned along a second axis, the first axis being different than the second axis, and one roller of the plurality of beater rollers being aligned along the first axis, wherein the one roller of the plurality of beater rollers aligned along the first axis is coupled with the plurality of beater rollers and not coupled to the plurality of meter rollers.

2 . The accumulator of claim 1 , wherein the one roller of the plurality of beater rollers aligned along the first axis is not physically coupled to the plurality of meter rollers.

3 . The accumulator or claim 1 , wherein the one roller of the plurality of beater rollers that is aligned along the first axis is a lowermost roller.

4 . The accumulator of claim 1 , wherein the one roller of the plurality of beater rollers that is aligned along the first axis is a converted roller converted from a meter roller to a beater roller.

5 . The accumulator of claim 4 , wherein the converted roller is not changed in structure.

6 . The accumulator of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of meter rollers includes three meter rollers and the plurality of beater rollers includes three beater rollers, and a speed of rotation of each of the three beater rollers is in a range of 30 RPM to 700 RPM.

7 . The accumulator of claim 1 , wherein a first spacing between each roller of the plurality of beater rollers is equal, wherein a second spacing between each roller of the plurality of meter rollers is equal, and wherein the first spacing is different than the second spacing.

8 . The accumulator of claim 1 , wherein the first axis is in a first plane and the second axis is in a second plane, and the first plane is transverse to the second plane.

9 . The accumulator of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of meter rollers rotate at a first speed and the plurality of beater rollers rotate at a second speed, wherein the first speed is different than the second speed, and wherein the plurality of meter rollers and the plurality of beater rollers rotate in a same direction.

10 . The accumulator of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of beater rollers are configured to cooperate with the plurality of meter rollers to transfer a crop to a module builder at a feed rate, wherein the crop is cotton, and wherein the plurality of meter rollers are individually controllable to control a speed of a flow of a mass of cotton to the plurality of beater rollers that are individually controllable to de-clump or break-up the mass of cotton from the plurality of meter rollers, and wherein a configuration of the plurality of meter rollers is based at least in part on the feed rate.

11 . A harvester vehicle comprising:
an accumulator configured to receive a harvested crop, the accumulator including three meter rollers and three beater rollers, the three meter rollers and one of the three beater rollers being aligned along a first axis, the three meter rollers having a speed of rotation less than or equal to 60 RPM, and the one roller of the three beater rollers that is aligned along the first axis has a speed of rotation greater than or equal to 200 RPM; a module builder configured to build a module of the harvested crop; and a controller configured to coordinate control of the three meter rollers and coordinate control of the three beater rollers, wherein control of the three meter rollers is separate from control of the three beater rollers.

12 . The harvester vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the three meter rollers are coupled together and the three beater rollers are coupled together.

13 . The harvester vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the coupling is a physical coupling.

14 . The harvester vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the three beater rollers are aligned along a second axis, the first axis being different than the second axis.

15 . The harvester vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the one roller of the three beater rollers that is aligned along the first axis is coupled with the other two rollers of the three beater rollers and not coupled to the three meter rollers.

16 . A method for controlling accumulation of a harvested crop, the method comprising:
configuring a plurality of meter rollers to be aligned along a first axis; configuring a plurality of beater rollers to be aligned along a second axis, the first axis being different than the second axis, and one roller of the plurality of beater rollers being aligned along the first axis, wherein the one roller of the plurality of beater rollers aligned along the first axis is coupled with the plurality of beater rollers and not coupled to the plurality of meter rollers; and controlling operation of the plurality of beater rollers separate from operation of the plurality of meter rollers to accumulate the harvested crop.

17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising at least one of:
rotating the plurality of beater rollers at a speed faster than a speed of any of the plurality of meter rollers; and adjusting one of an angle or distance between one or more rollers of the plurality of beater rollers to coordinate beater operation of the plurality of beater rollers.

18 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising configuring the one roller of the plurality of beater rollers that is aligned along the first axis to be a lowermost roller.

19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the first axis is in a first plane and the second axis is in a second plane, and the first plane is transverse to the second plane.

20 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of beater rollers includes three rollers and the plurality of beater rollers includes three beater rollers, and a speed of rotation of each of the three beater rollers is in a range of 30 RPM to 700 RPM.

Assignees

• Deere & Co
• Univ Iowa State Res Found Inc

Inventors

• Wigdahl Jeffrey S
• Askey Jeffrey C
• Weber Scott D
• Hummel Justin E

Classifications

• A01D46/08

  of cotton · CPC title

• A01F15/106 Primary

  for round balers · CPC title

• A01D41/1208 Primary

  Tanks for grain or chaff (for threshing machines A01F12/60) · CPC title