Patent ID: 6709329
Filing Date: 2004-03-23
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 threshed 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 said graff, after harvesting of said crop, is transferred directly from said harvesting unit to said vehicle to form a vehicle load of said graff, which load is transported to the cleaning mill, the vehicle load is dumped en masse directly from said vehicle into an integral graff receiving unit of said cleaning mill, and the dumped load is then fed directly and continuously by the receiving unit into the cleaning mill for separation of grain from the graff, thereby avoiding temporary storage of said graff subsequently to unloading of said vehicle and prior to cleaning of said graff by said cleaning mill.