Abstract:
A cane harvester including a support member and a basecutter assembly carried by the support member. The basecutter assembly has at least one rotating basecutter and a plurality of blades coupled thereto. The plurality of blades are not sharp.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to cane harvesters, and, more particularly, to basecutters used in cane harvesters. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Sugarcane harvesting or cut operations require a certain degree of precision for good crop yield. Ideally, the cut height should be substantially close to the surface of the ground so as to harvest the optimal crop without damage to the equipment and at minimal cost. 
         [0005]    It is also important to ensure next year&#39;s crop by cutting near the ground without damaging or pulling out the stools of the cane. If the harvest cut is made above the ideal cut height, the higher than desirable cut will result in harvest losses in the form of unharvested raw material, perhaps occasioning the need for an additional harvesting cut to try to recover the remaining unharvested raw material, with additional expenditures of time and additional wear and tear upon the harvesting equipment, or the loss of revenue from the unharvested raw material. 
         [0006]    If the harvest cut is made below the ideal cut height, various, other, undesirable consequences may result. A harvest cut below the ideal height will not only result in increased damage to the plant, thereby decreasing the long term productivity of the cane plantation, but also in higher mineral levels in the harvested cane, and will cause increased damage to the base cutter knives, resulting in accelerated wear of the knives due to the constant wear against the soil. 
         [0007]    It is desirable to minimize the undesirable escape of cane in relation to the feed rollers, of obviating losses due to cane that drops to the soil and is not picked up by the cane harvester, and of avoiding high indices of minerals in the raw material processed by the cane harvester. 
         [0008]    What is needed in the art is a way to effectively move the cane to the transport rollers while minimizing blade wear and protecting the cane stools. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The present invention provides inventive blades to enhance cane harvesting. 
         [0010]    The invention in one form is directed to a cane harvester including a support member and a basecutter assembly carried by the support member. The basecutter assembly has at least one rotating basecutter and a plurality of blades coupled thereto. The plurality of blades are not sharp. 
         [0011]    The invention in another form is directed to a basecutter assembly for use with a cane harvester with a support member, the basecutter assembly being carried by the support member. The basecutter assembly has at least one rotating basecutter and a plurality of blades coupled thereto. The plurality of blades are blunt. 
         [0012]    An advantage of the present invention is that the sugarcane is facilitated in its entrance into the transporter rollers. 
         [0013]    Another advantage is that the blades catch the sugarcane more closely to the ground. 
         [0014]    Yet another advantage is that the blades avoid a second base cutting of the sugarcane. 
         [0015]    Still yet another advantage of the present invention is that the features of the blades contribute to decreased field losses of the sugarcane. 
         [0016]    Further still another advantage is that the blades are mountable to the discs of the original basecutter mechanisms. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0017]    The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention will be better understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0018]      FIG. 1  is a partial side view depicting, partly in representational form, a sugarcane harvester having an embodiment of a basecutter constructed in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0019]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a basecutter assembly used in the cane harvester of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0020]      FIG. 3  is a front view of the basecutter assembly of  FIGS. 1 and 2 ; 
           [0021]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of one of the blades used by the basecutter assembly of  FIGS. 1-3 ; and 
           [0022]      FIG. 5  is a side view of the blade of  FIG. 4 . 
       
    
    
       [0023]    Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplification set out herein illustrates one embodiment of the invention, in one form, and such exemplification is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0024]    Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a cane harvester  10 , which generally includes a chassis  12 , a cab  14 , a topper  16 , a basecutter assembly  18 , a pair of front wheels  20  and a pair of rear wheels  22 , upon a ground surface  24 . A support member  26  couples basecutter assembly  18  to chassis  12 . 
         [0025]    Although sugarcane harvester  10  is depicted having wheels  20  and  22 , it will be appreciated that tracks or other support mechanisms could be equally as well employed and are not considered critical to the present invention or its practice. 
         [0026]    Now, additionally referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , there is shown additional details of basecutter assembly  18 . Basecutter assembly  18  is shown in  FIG. 1  as being connected to chassis  12  by way of support member  26 . In the preferred embodiment depicted, basecutter assembly  18  includes a basecutter  28  and a basecutter  30  configured to function in a counter rotating manner. Basecutters  28  and  30  are driven by a hydraulic motor (not shown), which is operatively coupled through a gear box to drive rotary cutter discs  34  equipped with blades  36 . The hydraulic motor is operatively connected to a hydraulic pump, typically positioned proximate to the engine of harvester  10 . 
         [0027]    Now, additionally referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , there are shown more details of blades  36 . The use of the term “basecutter” herein is for convenience and not to infer that the basecutter cuts the cane. Contrary to the prior art, blades  36  are not sharp, rather they have blunt edges to facilitate the entrance of the sugarcane to the transporter rollers. A separate cutting mechanism is responsible for the actual cutting of the cane. Blades  36  include mounting holes  38 , and edges  40 ,  42 , and  44 . Edges  40 ,  42  and  44  are, at least partially, a convex radiused edge having a radius  46  that is approximately one half of the thickness of blade  36 . As can be seen in the figures, edges  40  and  44  may be a tapered radiused edge where the portion closest to edge  42  is thicker in nature and it tapers off as the edge departs from edge  42 . An angle  48  defines a transition from a mounting portion  50  of blade  36  to a crop engaging portion  52  of blade  36 . Angle  48  is shown as being a 35 degree angle as a departure angle from being a straight blade, thus blade  36  is a non-straight blade. 
         [0028]    Mounting holes  38  allow blades  36  to be fastened to discs  34 , with mounting holes being located in a mounting portion  50  of blade  36 . Crop engaging portion  52  has edges  40 ,  42 , and  44  formed by way of a welding process to add material to the metal resulting in the blunt, non-sharp, more wear resistant, radiuses of crop engaging portion  52 . 
         [0029]    Advantageously, blade  36  has a bent shape and does not have a sharp edge, each of these features being absent in the prior art. These features present at least 3 advantages. First, as mentioned previously, the sugarcane is facilitated by blades  36  in their entrance to the transporter rollers. Secondly, blades  36  catch the sugarcane more closely to the ground. Thirdly, the use of blades  36  avoids a second base cutting of the sugarcane. The features of blade  36  contribute to decreased field losses of the sugarcane. Yet another advantage is that blades  36  are mountable to the discs of the original basecutter mechanisms. 
         [0030]    While this invention has been described with respect to at least one embodiment, the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.