Patent ID: 11895951
Assignee: DEERE & COMPANY
Field: Engines, pumps, turbines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC A  F | IPC A  F

Claim 19:
20. A method for improving crop capture in a harvesting machine, comprising:
providing a harvesting head, a processing assembly with an extractor assembly, the extractor assembly comprising a fan assembly comprising a fan hub comprising blades cantilevered from a radially inner end to the fan hub and extending radially away from the fan hub, the fan assembly having an inlet side and being selectively powered by a motor to rotate about a rotation axis and a hub cover positioned along the rotation axis and extending at least partially into the inlet side of the fan assembly, the hub cover configured to be variably sized to accommodate different crop conditions;
adjusting the hub cover to alter a volume of displacement along the inlet side to agitate crop and debris presented to the inlet side of the fan assembly;
wherein, the adjusting the hub is configured to be performed one or more of manually, through user inputs on a user interface, or automatically by a controller responsive to inputs from sensors on the harvesting machine;
wherein, the hub cover is positioned along the rotation axis so the fan assembly draws air and other debris from an inlet side of the fan assembly along the rotation axis, past the hub cover, and to an exhaust side of the fan assembly along the rotation axis, the exhaust side being opposite of the inlet side relative to the hub cover along the rotation axis.