Patent ID: 6422937
Filing Date: 2002-07-23
Classification: A01D,A01F,B07B,B08B

Abstract:
A method of harvesting and cleaning a plant crop, wherein the crop is cut from a field area and harvested in a mobile harvesting unit to produce stalks that are returned to the field area and â€œgraffâ€ , a mixture including grain, chaff and weed seeds, which is collected within the harvesting unit; the collected graff is transferred periodically from the harvesting unit to at least one vehicle and transported by said at least one vehicle to a cleaning mill, and the graff is cleaned by the cleaning mill to produce a cleaned grain product and â€œmillingsâ€ , a mixture including chaff and weed seeds; wherein the method is operated to avoid storage of the graff prior to cleaning by said cleaning mill, at least in part by, emptying an entire graff load from said at least one vehicle by direct dumping of the entire graff load into a graff receiving unit of said cleaning mill, and directly feeding graff from the dumped load into the graff entrance of the cleaning mill, by removing graff from a lowermost layer of the dumped load over substantially an entire transverse width of said dumped load, by positioning the load on a surface and moving the surface, or elements extending across the surface, beneath the load, to avoid interruptions of graff feed caused by binding, blocking, or bridging of the graff with the load, said directly feeding of graff being carried out at a rate at which the graff can be continuously cleaned by the mill, until all of said load has been fed into the cleaning unit, wherein said surface is inclined upwardly towards the graff entrance of the cleaning mill, and the load is kept in contact with the inclined surface by raising a floor of the graff receiving unit to form a downwardly inclined chute that urges the load against the upwardly inclined surface.