Abstract:
A mechanism for manually and automatically adjusting the front support drum of an endless conveyor within the feederhouse of an agricultural combine. The front drum is rotatably affixed to the remote end of a pivot arm that is pivotably affixed to the side sheet of the feederhouse. The relative position of the drum to the floor of the feederhouse is manually adjustable by manipulation of a cam that moves the pivot arm toward and away from the floor to preset positions. In combination with the adjustment mechanism, is a pivot mounting for the pivot arm that allows the drum to move upwardly and rearwardly when a bulk or lump of crop material enters the opening between the drum and the floor, thereby preventing damage to the components of the feederhouse.

Description:
This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/285,141 filed on Apr. 1, 1999, now U.S. Patent No. 6,116,008. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     1. Field of Art 
     This invention relates to the improvement of a feederhouse on an agricultural combine. More specifically, the invention allows for the adjustment of the front drum of the feederhouse, the adjustment of a pivoting faceplate on the feederhouse and the adjustment of a stone roll in a feederhouse. 
     2. Description of Prior Art 
     Mechanical harvesting of grain has taken place for decades. However, efforts continue in the attempt to make harvesting operations more efficient and effective. A combine harvester generally includes a header, which cuts the crop. The header then moves the cut crop into a feeder house. The feeder house lifts the cut crop into the threshing and separation areas of the combine. The grain is separated from the stalk by a rotor or threshing system. The grain is then moved and stored in a grain tank. The chaff and trash are deposited from the rear of the combine. The grain stored in the grain tank is eventually discharged through a grain tank unload tube. An operator usually runs these various operations from a glass-enclosed cab. Typically, the cab is located above and behind the header and feederhouse. There are a variety of agricultural combine harvesters and their operations are well known in the art. For examples of such harvesters reference U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,198 which illustrates the conventional and twin rotor threshing and separating systems of a harvester as well as other major systems of the harvester. See also the New Holland Super Conventional Combines TX™ 66, TX™ 68, the New Holland TWIN ROTOR® combines TR® 89 and TR® 99 for examples of existing conventional and twin rotor harvesters. U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,262 also illustrates the primary systems of a conventional harvester. For further details regarding various agricultural harvester systems review U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,522,553, 4,800,711, 4,866,920, 4,907,402, 4,967,544 and 5,155,984. See also the New Holland corn head model 996 and the New Holland grain belt header model 994 for details regarding headers. 
     The previously mentioned a feederhouse typically consists of a conveying chain which pushes the cut crop from the header to the front of the threshing system. The conveying chain has several cross pieces to assist in moving the crop and to ensure proper spacing. The conveying chain is powered and also positioned by a front drum and a rear drum. The front drum is positioned approximately behind the header and the rear drum is positioned approximately in front of the threshing system. As seen in FIG. 1, the drums rotate in a counter-clockwise fashion. The cut crop flow or crop mat is pushed by conveyor chain upwards along the floor of the feederhouse and towards the threshing system. Besides lifting or elevating the cut crop to the threshing and separating systems, the feederhouse provides several other functions. First, the feederhouse helps to properly position the header relative to the ground. Second, the feederhouse can be the location of a stone detection and removal means. Frequently, during farming operations, the header will inadvertently receive a stone. If the stone enters the threshing system in the combine, expensive damage will result to the threshing components. It is a critical function of a stone detection and removal system to prevent a stone from damaging the threshing system. A typical stone detection and removal system is a cylindrical stone beater or stone roll positioned near the mid-point of the feederhouse. The stone roll rotates allowing the crop mat to continue towards the rear drum and threshing system. A stone that is too large is forced from the feederhouse through a stone trap door beneath the stone roll. 
     Unfortunately there are several deficiencies to the current feederhouse design. For instance, it is difficult to accurately position the feederhouse relative to the header. Furthermore, it is difficult to properly adjust the position of the front drum of the feederhouse. Frequently it is desirable to adjust the position of the front drum depending on the crop and farming conditions. By adjusting the distance of the front roll from the bottom of the feederhouse, the thickness of the crop mat flowing through the feederhouse may be increased or decreased. It is also difficult to adjust the stone roll. Depending on the crop and field conditions, it is desirable to move the stone roll either closer or farther from the feederhouse floor. If the stone roll is moved too close to the feederhouse floor, the amount of crop able to be elevated to the threshing system could be undesirably decreased. Conversely, if the stone roll is positioned too high, then a stone may enter the threshing system catastrophically damaging the combine. 
     An invention that could resolve these issues would represent an improvement to the art. 
     OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a pivoting faceplate between the feederhouse and header. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of adjusting the faceplate between the feederhouse and header. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a pivoting faceplate that would allow an operator to determine the adjustment being made concerning the position of the faceplate. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a front drum adjustment mechanism for a feederhouse. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of adjusting the front drum of a feederhouse. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a front drum adjustment mechanism that would allow an operator to determine the position of the front drum. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a front drum adjustment mechanism that allows for slight changes in the size of the crop flow. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a stone roll mount plate to which a stone roll is attached. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a method to adjust a stone roll mount plate. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a stone roll plate that would allow an operator to determine the position of the stone roll. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is an improvement to the feederhouse on an agricultural combine. The invention consists of a pivoting faceplate positioned between the feederhouse and header. The faceplate is pivotally attached to the sidewall of the feederhouse. A faceplate adjustment rod rotates the faceplate about the pivot. There are several faceplate position indicia that are viewed through an indicator aperture to assist an operator in positioning the faceplate correctly. The invention also includes a method for adjusting the faceplate. The invention further includes a front drum adjustment mechanism. The front drum of the feederhouse is rotationally mounted on a drum arm. The drum arm is pivotally attached to the sidewall. There is an arm pivot mount that has a drum arm spring allowing the drum arm to adjust to minor position changes in the crop flow. There is a cam attached to the sidewall that slideably contacts and positions an adjustment plate that is attached to the drum arm. This adjustment allows the position of the front drum to be adjusted by viewing several cam position indicia on the cam. The invention also discusses a method for adjusting the position of the front drum. The invention further consists of a stone roll mount plate. The stone roll is attached to the mount plate. Several plate bolts attach the mount plate to the sidewall. A roll adjust rod allows the stone roll mount plate and attached stone roll to be moved either closer or further from the feederhouse floor. There is a pointer that may be aligned with a stone roll position indicia to properly adjust the stone roll. The invention further reveals a method to adjust the stone roll position. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     The advantages of this invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed disclosure of the invention, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is an over-all side elevation of a combine equipped with a feederhouse and a header. 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the feederhouse. 
     FIG. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged view of the pivoting faceplate on the front portion of the feederhouse showing it pivoted counter-clock wise to the maximum header tilt down position. The faceplate position indicia ‘1’ shows in the indicator aperture. 
     FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 3, but shows the pivoting faceplate tilted clockwise to the tilt the header up to where the faceplate position indicia ‘4 &amp; 5’ are showing in the window. 
     FIG. 5 is a fragmentary enlargement of a front portion of the feederhouse seen in the previous figures with the pivoting faceplate broken away to better show the pivot arm, the cam and arm pivot mount. 
     FIG. 6 is a detailed sectional view of the cam taken on the line  6 — 6  of FIG.  5 . 
     FIG. 7 is a side elevation of the structure of FIG. 6 showing two positions of the cam. 
     FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of the pivot arm taken on the line  8 — 8  of FIG. 5 showing the drum arm spring and arm pivot mount. 
     FIG. 9 is an enlarged side elevation of the portion of the feederhouse involving the stone trop door with the stone roll mounted on the stone roll mount plate. The stone roll mount plate is set at the lowest setting. The view shows a rock path through the feederhouse flexing the conveyor chains upwardly until the stone encounters the stone roll which forces the conveyor chain down to open the stone trap door. 
     FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9, but with the stone roll mount plate at its top position (the pointer is aligned with the stone roll position indicia ‘7’). The stone roll is raised higher and would require a bigger stone to open the stone trap door. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to the drawings, it is possible to observe the major elements and general operation of the present invention. Left and right references are used as a matter of convenience and are determined by standing at the rear of the combine and facing the forward end in the normal direction of travel. Likewise, forward and rearward are determined by normal direction of travel of the combine. Upward or downward orientations are relative to the ground or operating surface. Horizontal or vertical planes are also relative to ground. 
     As seen in FIG. 1, the invention is located on a typical twin rotor combine  1  having a pair of front wheels  8  (only one shown) and a pair of rear wheels  9  (only one shown) for providing movement over the ground. At the front of the combine is a header  12  for cutting a crop. As the combine  1  and header  12  are moved forward, the header  12  cuts the grain and stalk. The header  12  moves the grain into an auger trough  14 . A transverse auger  15  pushes the grain and stalk in the auger trough  14  to the center of the header. The header  12  illustrated in FIG. 1 is a wheat or similar small grain header. The header  12  may be positioned and re-positioned relative to the ground. The header  12  may also be tilted to the left or right or may be positioned relatively high or low to the ground. These features are constantly being adjusted depending on the terrain and crop conditions. The header reel  13  may also be positioned relative to the header  12 . The position and rotation of the header reel  13 , again depends on the terrain and crop conditions. Moveable headers and header reels are well known and established in the art. Located at the center of the header is the feederhouse  21  or elevator. The feederhouse  21  moves the grain and stalks rearward into the threshing  3 , separation  4  and cleaning systems of the combine  1 . After processing and separation, the processed grain is stored in a grain tank  5  located near the top of the combine  1 . The grain is removed from the grain tank  5  by an unloading auger (not shown) through the grain tank unload tube  6 . Usually during the harvesting operations, the unloading auger remains off and the grain tank unload tube  6  remains positioned by the grain tank  5 . However, the combine can be unloaded ‘on the go’. A separate vehicle such as a truck or tractor-pulled grain cart follows the operator. The processed grain is discharged while the combine and separate vehicles are moving. After sufficient grain has been accumulated in the grain tank  5 , the operator activates the unload tube  7 . The operator  11  then positions the end of the unload tube  6  over a receptacle. Unloading augers and unload auger grain tubes are well known and established in the art. The trash or chaff is ejected from the rear of the combine by a chaff spreader  10 . The operator  11  controls the combine  1  from the cab  2  located behind the header  12  and at the front of the combine. From the cab the operator can observe most the various combine functions. The cab  2  usually has a large glass window or several windows which afford the operator the maximum ability to monitor the header  12 . The combine  1  and various systems are powered by an engine  7  generally positioned at the rear of the combine  1 . Most of the major systems in a combine are discussed and well known in the prior art. 
     The invention is located proximate to the feederhouse  21  of the combine  1 . The pivoting faceplate  40  can be seen generally in FIG.  2  and more specifically in FIGS. 3 and 4. The pivoting faceplate  40  is located between the feederhouse  21  and the header  12 . The pivoting faceplate  40  allows the header  12  to be repositioned relative to the ground. This is illustrated by observing the position of the auger trough  15  and sicklebar cutter  17  relative to the ground as viewed in FIGS. 3 and 4. The description of the faceplate  40  that follows is oriented towards the left side of the feederhouse  21 , however an identical structure exists on the right side. For brevity purposes only the one side is discussed. The faceplate  40  is pivotally attached to the sidewall  25  of the feederhouse  21  by a pivot  44 . The faceplate  40  can rotate about the pivot  44  and relative to the sidewall  25 . There are a series of clamping means  43  which in this embodiment is a threaded bolt that are inserted into an arcuate slot  47 . There are several arcuate slots  47  positioned on the sidewall  25  of the feederhouse. The curved nature of these slots relative to the pivot  44  allows for the faceplate to be adjusted to a variety of positions and clamped into a desirable angle. To properly adjust the faceplate  40 , there is a faceplate adjustment rod  46 . This rod  46  has an end pivotally affixed to the faceplate  40 . The opposite end of the rod  46  inserted through a bracket affixed to the sidewall  46 . In the illustrated preferred embodiment, the rod  46  is threaded and a matching nut is affixed to the bracket on the sidewall  25 . After loosening the clamping means  43 , the faceplate adjustment rod  46  may be rotated to adjust the position of the faceplate  40 . Also present on the faceplate  40  is an indicator aperture  45 . On the sidewall  25  there are a series of faceplate position indicia  48 . A single indicia  48  can be viewed through the indicator aperture  45  when the aperture  45  is aligned with an indicia  48  on the sidewall. This allows an operator to easily determine the position of the faceplate  40  relative to the feederhouse  21 . The indicia  48  illustrated in FIGS. 2,  3  and  4  are the numerals  1  through  5 , however other descriptive indicia could be used. Attached at the front of the feederhouse  21  and pivoting faceplate  40  is the header  12 . The faceplate  40  has a header cradle  41  supporting the top frame  18  of the header  12 . A trough pin attach  42  on the faceplate  40  attaches to a trough pin  20 . The trough pin  20  is affixed to the header frame  16 . Attached to the header frame  41  are the trough frame and the auger trough  14 . Attached to the auger trough is the previously mentioned sicklebar cutter  17 . Above the auger trough  14  is the previously discussed transverse auger  15 . While the header described is a small grain or wheat header, other types of header such a corn header can be used with the pivoting faceplate  40  without any significant modification to the header cradle  41  or trough pin attach  42 . To adjust the position of the faceplate  40 , the clamping means  43  are loosened. The adjustment rod  46  and nut are adjusted allowing the faceplate to rotate about the pivot  44 . The operator can observe the position of the faceplate  40  by viewing the faceplate position indicia  48  through the indicator aperture  45 . When a proper position indicia  48  is observed through the indicator aperture  45 , the clamping means are tightened thus securing the faceplate  40  in a desirable position. 
     The front drum adjustment mechanism  60  can be generally observed in FIG.  2  and specifically seen in FIGS. 5,  6 ,  7  and  8 . The front drum adjustment mechanism  60  allows the front drum and the conveyor chain  23  to be positioned either closer or further to the feederhouse floor  25 A. The front drum adjustment mechanism also has a drum arm spring  69  which acts to allow slight movement in the position of the front drum  22  to adjust to various inconsistencies in the crop flow moving through the feederhouse  21 . The front drum adjustment mechanism  60  consists of a drum arm  67  that is pivotally attached to the sidewall  25  of the feederhouse  21 . The front drum  22  is rotationally attached to the drum arm  67 . To adjust the position of the drum arm  67  there is a cam  61  attached to the sidewall  25  by a cam bolt  63 . The cam contacts an adjustment plate  54 . The adjustment plate  54  is attached to the drum arm  67 . By rotating the cam, the adjustment plate  64  alters the position of the drum arm  64 . By raising or lowering the drum arm  64 , the front drum  22  is repositioned. There are additional features and components that will be described in greater detail later. Opposite from the front drum  22  on the drum arm  67  is the arm pivot mount  68 . As seen in FIG. 8, the drum arm  67  has an arm pivot  69 . The arm pivot  69  passes through the pivot aperture  75  and through the wall plate aperture  72 A. The arm pivot  69  is rotationally attached to the pivot plate  73 . The pivot plate is affixed to the wall plate  72 . The wall plate  72  is affixed to the sidewall  25 . Inserted into the pivot plate  73  is the threaded spring bolt  71  which secured by a nut. The spring bolt  71  also passes through the tension bracket  76 . Between the tension bracket  76  and the end of the spring bolt  71  is the drum arm spring  69 . The spring bolt  71  allows the arm pivot mount  68  to adjust to minor inconsistencies in the crop flow which would otherwise damage the front drum  22  or conveyor chain  23 . If the front drum  23  or conveyor chain was to shift, the pivot plate  73  could move to either the left or right (when viewed FIG.  5 ). The drum arm spring  69  would allow this brief position change and then return the arm pivot  69  to its normal position. If a more permanent adjustment is desired, the cam  61  can be adjusted. The cam  61  has several cam position indicia  62 . It the preferred embodiment, the number  1 - 8  are used as indicia  62 . However, other symbols may be used. Furthermore, the cam  61  is eight-sided, but the shape of the cam  61  may be varied. The cam  61  is secured to the sidewall  25  by a cam bolt  63  which is inserted into the nut  61 B welded to the sidewall  25 . There is a bolt guide  61 A (seen in FIG. 6) which allows the easy insertion of the cam bolt  63  into the cam without marring the cam position indicia  62 . The edge of the cam  61  slideably contacts the adjustment plate lip  64 . The adjustment plate lip  64  is integral with the adjustment plate  64 . The adjustment plate  64  is secured to the drum arm  67  by a plate attach means  63 . In this embodiment, the attach means  63  is a threaded bolt inserted in the plate nut  65 . The plate nut  65 B is welded to the drum arm  67 . The plate nut  65  and plate attach means  65  are inserted through the adjustment aperture  74  in the sidewall  25 . Obviously, there are several means available to affix the adjustment plate to the drum arm  67 . To insure that the adjustment plate  64  remains in slideable contact with the cam  61 , there is a tensioning spring  66  secured to the adjustment plate lip  64 A and the sidewall  25 . The tensioning spring  66  forces the adjustment plate  64  into contact with the cam  61 . To adjust the front drum position, the cam bolt  61  is loosened and the cam  61  is rotated to align a single cam position indicia  62  with the adjustment plate lip  64 A on the adjustment plate  64 . In the present embodiment, a single side of eight-sided cam  61  is brought into flush contact with the lip  64 A. The cam bolt is then tightened. While the front drum adjustment mechanism  60  described and illustrated above is located on the left side of the feederhouse  21 , there is the identical mechanism on the right side. For brevity purposes, only the mechanism on the left side has been discussed. 
     The stone roll mount plate  80  can be generally observed in FIG.  2  and specifically seen in FIGS. 9 and 10. Attached to the stone roll mount plate  80  is the stone roll  27 . By raising or lowering the stone roll mount plate, the stone roll  27  is positioned either further or closer to the feederhouse floor  25 A. The position of the stone roll  27  will adjust the size of a stone  30  which is pushed by the stone roll  27  through the stone trap door  26 . The stone roll mount plate is affixed on the sidewall  25  by a series of plate bolts  84 . A plate bolt  84  is inserted through a plate slot  82  in the stone roll mount plate  80 . In the preferred embodiment, there are six plate slots which each receive a single plate bolt  84 . The stone roll mount plate  80  covers the stone roll aperture  86  in the sidewall  25 . The stone roll  27  is inserted through the stone roll aperture  86  and is rotationally attached to the stone roll mount plate  80 . There is a roll adjust rod  81  which adjusts the position of the stone roll mount plate  80  and the attached stone roll  27 . The rod  81  is threaded and inserted into a roll nut  81 B. The roll nut  81 B is welded to the stone roll mount plate  80 . The opposite end of the rod  81  is attached to the sidewall  25  by the roll bracket  81 A. As mentioned previously, the stone roll  27  deflects the conveyor chain  23 . When a stone  30  which is too large to pass between the compressed conveyor chain  23  and the feederhouse floor  25 A, the stone trap door  26  pivots open discharging the stone  30  (as seen in FIG.  9 ). The stone trap door  26  is pivotally attached to the feederhouse  21  beneath the sidewall  25 . There is a door linkage attached to the stone door pivot  26  A. The door linkage  28  is controlled by the door spring linkage  29 . One end of this linkage  29  is attached to the door linkage  28  and the sidewall  29 . The stone roll  27  forces the stone  30  out of the feederhouse  21 , the door linkage  28  and door spring linkage  29  pull the stone trap door  26  shut. To help adjust the position of the stone roll  27 , there are a series of stone roll position indicia  87  affixed on the sidewall  25 . In the preferred embodiment, the indicia are the numerals  1  through  7 . However, several different indicia are possible. On the upper left corner of the stone roll mount plate  80  is a pointer  83 . The pointer could also be re-configured to be an aperture as the indicator aperture  45  on the pivoting faceplate. To adjust the position of the stone roll  27 , the operator loosens the plate bolts securing the stone roll mount plate  80  to the sidewall  25 . The roll adjust rod  81  is rotated so as to align the pointer  83  with a single stone roll position indicia  87 . When the proper adjustment is complete, the plate bolts are tightened so as to secure the stone roll mount plate  80  to the sidewall  25 . Again, the stone roll mount plate  80  discussed and illustrated is viewed from the left side of the feederhouse  25 . However, identical components exist on the right side. For brevity only the left is discussed. 
     It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention and the invention is not to be considered limited to what illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification.