Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080290198 | Knife bank assembly of a counter knife assembly of an integral chopper assembly of a combine harvester - An improved knife bank assembly of a counter knife assembly of an integral chopper assembly of a combine harvester that includes an elongated bracket member that extends between opposed knife bank end plates and has a plurality of spaced retainment mounts securable therealong, with at least one, and preferably two, knife blades being removably connectable to each retainment mount in a side-by-side arrangement. The bracket member is preferably mounted to a shaft member that extends between concave pan side plates to be slidable along such shaft member to permit adjustable positioning of the knife bank assembly and the knife elements thereof relative to the slots of the grate portion, and the retainment mounts are preferably removably securable to the bracket member. The knife elements are removably connectable to the retainment mounts at first and second space mounting points, preferably in such a way that the knife elements are maintained in an extended position by application of a biasing force at the second mounting point but are rotatable about the first mounting point to a displaced or relaxed position if a sufficient force is applied to the leading edge of the knife element to overcome the biasing force. | 11-27-2008 |
20080293460 | Knife blade covers for a rotary chopper element of an integral chopper assembly of a combine harvester for converting the integral chopper assembly to a beater construction - A knife blade cover for converting the rotary chopper element of an integral chopper assembly of a combine harvester to operate as a beater instead of as a chopping construction, which knife blade cover includes a cover member mountable over one or more mounted assemblies of the rotary chopper element of an integral chopper assembly of a combine harvester, which mounted assemblies include a mounting lug and one or more blades fixedly attached thereto, to envelop such mounted assemblies within the cover member while presenting to the residue flowing through the integral chopper assembly a relatively broad and blunt surface that acts to beat, instead of chopping, such residue, and connection hardware for mounting the cover member to the rotary chopper element. A plurality of knife blade covers may be provided with connection hardware as a kit for converting the rotary chopper element to operate as a beater construction. | 11-27-2008 |
20080293461 | Rotary chopper element of an integral chopper assembly of a combine harvester - A rotary chopper element for an integral chopper assembly of a combine harvester, which rotary chopper element includes a cylindrical rotary member having a plurality of ring portions axially aligned in an ordered side-by-side arrangement along the longitudinal axis of the rotary member, with each ring portion having disposed annularly therearound a plurality of mounting lugs, each of which mounting lugs is designed to support or to have affixed thereto at least one knife blade. The mounting lugs on each succeeding ring portion are rotated or offset radially from the lugs of the preceding ring by a predefined amount and the knife blades are attached to the mounting lugs to form mounted assemblies that have beveled leading edges that extend substantially continuously from adjacent to the outer surface of the rotary member to the tips of the knife blades. The knife blades of such mounted assemblies define a plurality of spaced helical arrays that extend along and wrap around the rotary member. The rotary chopper element is configured to be mountable generally parallel to the grate portion of a counter knife assembly of the integral chopper assembly to define a material flow path between the grate portion and the rotary member and to be operable to transport crop residue past the integral chopper assembly. | 11-27-2008 |
20080293462 | Concave pan portion of an integral chopper assembly of a combine harvester - A concave pan portion of an integral chopper assembly that includes a concave pan shell portion with a separate grate portion that may be easily installed into and removed from an intermediate opening in such concave pan portion for replacement in the event of undesirable wear thereto, and a separate interruption plate installable downstream from the slots in the grate portion for the purpose of effecting a lower mean length of chop (LOC) as the integral chopper assembly operates. The separate grate portion is configured to be installable to fill the intermediate opening in the concave pan shell portion, with a plurality of slots therethrough positioned side-by-side in the crossways direction to accommodate knife elements that are part of the counter knife assembly. Preferably, such separate grate portion may be crossways adjustable to some degree within the intermediate opening. The interruption plate is configured to extend generally crossways across the concave pan portion, downstream from the slots of the grate portion to project upwardly into and across the passageway between the rotary chopper element and the concave pan portion so as to interrupt the flow of residue past the integral chopper assembly to permit the residue to be chopped into shorter pieces, resulting in a lower mean length of chop (LOC) as the integral chopper assembly operates. | 11-27-2008 |
20080293463 | Insertion tool for a rotary chopper element of an integral chopper assembly of a combine harvester - An insertion tool for installing rotary chopper elements in integral chopper assemblies in combine harvesters, which insertion tool includes an elongated open-ended trough-like bed portion of a length, breadth, and depth to sufficiently accommodate the rotary chopper element therewithin, with lift brackets along the sides thereof configured to accommodate the prongs of lifting forks of a forklift. The rotary chopper element may be positioned to rest within the bed portion of the insertion tool for transport to adjacent to the access and installation window of a harvester and for slidable insertion by the insertion tool through such window for installation within the harvester. | 11-27-2008 |
20080305842 | Reversable counter knife bank - A counter knife bank or knife rank for use with a stationary knife assembly, such as by attachment to a knife mounting assembly of the stationary knife assembly, of a chopper assembly of an agricultural combine, including a plurality of individual double-sided knife blades or elements joined together, such as by a spline connector that extends through aligned openings in the base body portions of the knife blades or elements, in an aligned columnar arrangement to form a knife formation that is connected to a support member, such as to an underlying member having an inverted U-shape, that is removably connectable to a depending side wall of the knife mounting assembly to permit initial use of the first cutting edges of the knife blades or elements, easy reversal of the counter knife bank or rank at a later time, and subsequent use of the second cutting edges of the knife blades or elements. | 12-11-2008 |
20090156277 | Crop residue chopping and spreading system for an agricultural combine - A system for chopping and spreading crop residue produced by an agricultural combine wherein the spreader is advantageously disposed directly rearwardly of a cleaning system of the combine for receiving chaff and other crop residue directly therefrom, without aid of a mechanism to convey the chaff to the spreader, and wherein the chopper is disposed just above and/or rearwardly of the spreader and is configured for discharging crop residue from the threshing system of the combine into the spreader for spreading thereby with the chaff. | 06-18-2009 |
20100229520 | Rotor tine and rotary element configuration for crop residue treatment systems - A rotor tine construction for a rotary element of a crop residue treatment system for effecting improved transport of crop residue along a material flow path and, if a counter knife assembly is spaced from the rotary element across the material flow path, for also effecting improved shear cutting of such crop residue by the knife elements of the counter knife assembly and more efficient operation of the crop residue treatment system, which rotor tine construction includes a base portion generally mountable to the rotary member of the rotary element, at least one rotor tine extending outwardly from such base portion and including three distinct blade edges, one of which forms a trailing edge and the other two of which are upper and lower edge portions forming a leading edge, with the lower and upper edge portions configured and intersecting with one another to form a notch-like indentation along the leading edge at an intersection point P defined to be the point of cut contact position, such that, as the rotary member rotates forwardly the rotor tine is rotated through the material flow path to engage and concentrate engaged lengths of crop residue near intersection point P for an improved cut as such material is moved past the knife elements of the counter knife assembly. | 09-16-2010 |
20110053667 | SUPPORT ASSEMBLY FOR MOVEABLE MEMBERS OF AN AGRICULTURAL COMBINE AND DEVICES THEREOF - A support assembly for supporting a moveable member of an agricultural combine is provided. The support assembly includes a moveable member, such as a foldable chaff pan assembly for spreading chaff and other crop residue from the rear of an agricultural combine, a support member and a resilient member connected to the support member for supporting the moveable member. The resilient member can be configured as an arched shaped or cylindrically shaped member. | 03-03-2011 |
20110130181 | REGULATOR OF RESIDUE FLOW FOR SPREADING DEVICES ON AGRICULTURAL COMBINES - An agricultural combine having an adjustable spreader assembly is provided that includes a spreader with one or a pair of regulators. The spreader includes a discharge opening about its lateral side. The regulator is pivotably connected to the lateral side of the spreader such that the regulator is in fluid communication with the discharge opening. The regulator can be configured to move from a retracted position to an extended position or to vary the direction of discharge of crop residue. The spreader can be a vertical spreader, a horizontal spreader, or a spread board. | 06-02-2011 |
20120056024 | SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING COUNTER KNIFE BANK INSERTION POSITION - A chopper assembly for a combine includes a rotary chopper element, a chopper grate assembly spaced from the rotary chopper element to form a passageway for crop residue and a knife bank adjustably connected to the chopper grate assembly. The knife bank is movable between a first position where the knife bank is fully inserted into the passageway and a second position where the knife bank is full retracted from the passageway. An actuating mechanism is used to move the knife bank between the first position and the second position. A position sensor is used to measure the position of the actuating mechanism and determine the position of the knife bank relative to the passageway. | 03-08-2012 |
20120172097 | Support Assembly For Moveable Members Of An Agricultural Combine And Devices Thereof - A support assembly for supporting a moveable member of an agricultural combine is provided. The support assembly includes a moveable member, such as a foldable chaff pan assembly for spreading chaff and other crop residue from the rear of an agricultural combine, a support member and a resilient member connected to the support member for supporting the moveable member. The resilient member can be configured as an arched shaped or cylindrically shaped member. | 07-05-2012 |