Combine harvester with adjustable cleaning shoe arrangement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9693506-B2
Application number	US-201414775368-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 11, 2014
Priority date	Mar 12, 2013
Publication date	Jul 4, 2017
Grant date	Jul 4, 2017

Abstract

A combine harvester has a driving shoe arrangement. The driving shoe includes a preparation pan and one or more sieves, coupled to a drive mechanism for driving a reciprocating movement of the pan and sieves. The stroke of the reciprocating movement of the pan and/or sieves is adjustable, through the application of a drive mechanism including one or more pivotably mounted support arms for supporting the pan or sieve, and a drive arm connected to one of the support arms through an adjustable connection link. The adjustable connection link can be a variable length actuator whose length determines the stroke of the pan or sieve. The stroke of the pan or sieve can be adjusted during a harvesting run, thereby allowing a fast adjustment to changing external conditions such as the slope of the terrain.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A combine harvester comprising:
a cleaning shoe arrangement comprising a preparation pan, one or more sieves, and at least one drive mechanism, said at least one drive mechanism driving said preparation pan and said one or more sieves such that said preparation pan and said one or more sieves perform a reciprocating movement with respect to a harvester chassis, said at least one drive mechanism comprising:
a pivotable support arm, said support arm being pivotable about a horizontal axis, said support arm carrying and being coupled to said preparation pan at a first rotation point,
a drive arm coupled to a drive means for subjecting said drive arm to a reciprocating movement with a constant stroke,
a connecting link coupled between the drive arm and the support arm so that said reciprocating movement of the drive arm drives a swinging motion of said support arm about said horizontal axis, a portion of said connecting link being coupled to said support arm at a second rotation point paced apart and separate from said first rotation point,

wherein said connecting link is adjustable during operation of the combine harvester to modify the amplitude of said swinging motion and thereby the stroke of said preparation pan.

2. Combine harvester according to claim 1 , wherein said connecting link comprises a variable length actuator.

3. Combine harvester according to claim 2 , wherein said connecting link comprises an auxiliary arm pivotably connected:
to said support arm at a third rotation point located opposite from the preparation pan with respect to said horizontal axis,
to said drive arm at a fourth rotation point,
to one end of said variable length actuator at a fifth rotation point, and wherein the other end of said variable length actuator is pivotably connected to said support arm at the second rotation point, the second rotation point being located between the horizontal axis and the third rotation point.

4. Combine harvester according to claim 1 , wherein said one or more sieves comprises an upper sieve, wherein the reciprocating movement of said upper sieve is driven by a driving rod, itself driven by a crank shaft, and wherein said upper sieve is connected to said drive arm, so that the reciprocating movement of the upper sieve is transferred to the drive arm, which in turn transfers said reciprocating movement to said support arm.

5. Combine harvester according to claim 1 , wherein the connecting link comprises a first connecting link positioned on one side of the combine harvester and further comprising a second connecting link positioned on an opposed side of the combine harvester, wherein a connecting rod is mounted between said first and second connecting links.

6. Combine harvester according to claim 1 , wherein said drive arm is coupled to a sieve of said one or more sieves at a third rotation point and is coupled to a portion of said connecting link at a fourth rotation point spaced apart from the third rotation point such that a straight reference line is defined between the third and fourth rotation points and a linear distance is defined between the straight reference line and a fifth rotation point defined between a portion of said connecting link and said support arm, wherein said linear distance is essentially the same when said support arm is located at both a maximum stroke position and a minimum stroke position.

7. Combine harvester according to claim 1 , wherein said drive arm is coupled to a sieve of said one or more sieves at a third rotation point and is coupled to a portion of said connecting link at a fourth rotation point spaced apart from the third rotation point such that a straight reference line is defined between the third and fourth rotation points and a linear distance is defined between the straight reference line and a fifth rotation point defined between a portion of said connecting link and said support arm, wherein said linear distance differs when said support arm is located at a maximum stroke position and a minimum stroke position.

8. Combine harvester according to claim 7 , wherein said linear distance is larger when said support arm is located at the minimum stroke position than when said support arm is located at the maximum stroke position.

9. A combine harvester comprising:
a cleaning shoe arrangement comprising a preparation pan, one or more sieves, and at least one drive mechanism, said at least one drive mechanism driving said preparation pan and said one or more sieves such that said preparation pan and said one or more sieves perform a reciprocating movement with respect to a harvester chassis, said at least one drive mechanism comprising:
a pivotable support arm, said support arm being pivotable about a horizontal axis, said support arm carrying said preparation pan at a rotation point,
a drive arm coupled to a drive means for subjecting said drive arm to a reciprocating movement with a constant stroke,
a connecting link coupled between the drive arm and the support arm so that said reciprocating movement of the drive arm drives a swinging motion of said support arm about said horizontal axis, said connecting link comprising a variable length actuator and an auxiliary arm, said variable length actuator being adjustable during operation of the combine harvester to modify the amplitude of said swinging motion and thereby the stroke of said preparation pan, said auxiliary arm being pivotably connected:
to said support arm at a first rotation point located opposite from the preparation pan with respect to said horizontal axis,
to said drive arm at a second rotation point,
to one end of said variable length actuator at a third rotation point, and

wherein the other end of said variable length actuator is pivotably connected to said support arm at a further rotation point located between the horizontal axis and the first rotation point.

10. Combine harvester according to claim 9 , wherein said one or more sieves comprises an upper sieve, wherein the reciprocating movement of said upper sieve is driven by a driving rod, itself driven by a crank shaft, and wherein said upper sieve is connected to said drive arm, so that the reciprocating movement of the upper sieve is transferred to the drive arm, which in turn transfers said reciprocating movement to said support arm.

11. Combine harvester according to claim 9 , wherein the connecting link comprises a first connecting link positioned on one side of the combine harvester and further comprising a second connecting link positioned on an opposed side of the combine harvester, wherein a connecting rod is mounted between said first and second connecting links.

12. Combine harvester according to claim 9 , wherein said drive arm is coupled to a sieve of said one or more sieves at a fourth rotation point spaced apart from the second rotation point such that a straight reference line is defined between the second and fourth rotation points and a linear distance is defined between the straight reference line and the first rotation point, wherein said linear distance is essentially the same when said support arm is located at both a maximum stroke position and a minimum stroke position.

13. Combine harvester according to claim 9 , wherein said drive arm is coupled to a sieve of said one or more sieves at a fourth rotation point spaced apart from the second rotation point such that a straight reference line is defined between the second and fourth rotation points and a linear distance is defined between the straight reference line and the first rotation point, wherein said linear distance differs when said support arm is located at a maximum

Assignees

• Cnh Ind Belgium Nv
• Cnh Ind America Llc

Inventors

• De Smet Tom
• Baert Matthias
• Tallir Frederik
• Missotten Bart M A
• Duquesne Frank R G
• Yde Luc
• Devriese Thierry E

Classifications

• A01F12/448 Primary

  Sieve adjusting means · CPC title

• A01F12/32 Primary

  with shaker screens or sieves · CPC title

• A01F12/58

  Control devices; Brakes; Bearings · CPC title