Abstract:
A combination of a harvesting machine, a crop picking head, and a vehicle to support the crop picking head. The vehicle features a mount and at least one wheel extending down from the mount that supports the crop picking head and alleviates the weight on the front wheels of the self-propelled harvesting machine when driving on the road. The vehicle is attached to the crop picking head when driving on the road and detached from the crop picking head when harvesting a field. The crop picking head includes a support frame which supports the harvesting equipment. In the preferred design, the mount is connected such that the support forces of the vehicle pass directly to the support frame rather than load more fragile components of the crop picking head.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention generally relates to agricultural machinery for the harvesting of fields. More specifically, the invention relates to mounting a removable support vehicle to a crop picking head used on a self-propelled harvester. 
   2. Description of Related Art 
   Crop picking heads for harvesting and gathering crops are necessary attachment on self-propelled harvesting machines. Recently, due to the increased performance of harvesting machines ever wider and heavier crop picking heads are being used. While cutting tools for combine harvesting machines are usually rigid and must be separated from the combine harvesting machine and placed on a trailer for road transport, there are also foldable cutting tools for combine harvesting machines. In addition, corn pickers for combines and corn picker heads for field choppers are normally designed to fold. Thus, the exterior side parts of the crop picking heads are swung into a transport position, usually upward or inward and they remain fastened to the front part of the harvesting machine during road transport. However, this can mean the maximum legal load permissible on the front wheels of the harvesting machine may be exceeded. 
   In U.S. Pat. No. 6,282,875, a suggestion was made to provide an additional wheel to support the crop picking head, which can come into contact with the ground during road transport of the harvesting machine. This provides additional support, which eases or facilitates compliance with the legal regulations. In one embodiment, the additional wheel is attached to a separate vehicle that may be pushed under the crop picking head and fastened there. The fastening of the vehicle, and therefore the introduction of supporting forces, takes place on a transmission housing of a mowing and feeder drum, which extends forward from a lower support frame of the crop picking head, as well as on the underside of the feeder housing of the harvesting machine. 
   The above configuration is problematical since the transmission housing of a crop picking head as well as the feeder housing of harvesting machines are not designed for absorbing road transport loads. In order to withstand the stresses caused by road transport, particularly those caused by uneven stretches often found near agricultural areas, these housing would require significant reinforcements, causing increases in weight and cost. 
   In view of the above, it is apparent that there exists a need to attach a vehicle to a combination harvester and crop picking head that does not transfer loads through the transmission and feeder housings. Therefore, it is an objective of this invention is to provide a vehicle wherein the weight of the crop picking head is supported independently of the transmission and feeder housings. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   In satisfying the above need, as well as overcoming the enumerated drawbacks and other limitations of the related art, the present invention discloses a vehicle, for the support of a crop picking head on a self-propelled harvester for over-the-road transport, designed to transfer the support loads to a support frame of the crop picking head itself. 
   More specifically, the invention concerns the combination of a harvesting machine, a crop picking head, and a vehicle to support the crop picking head wherein in the vehicle features a mount and at least one wheel extending downward from the mount. The vehicle supports the crop picking head and alleviates the weight of the crop picking head on the front wheels of the self-propelled harvesting machine during road travel. The vehicle is also detachable from the crop picking head for harvesting operations in a field. The crop picking head includes a support frame which interfaces with the harvesting machine and to which the vehicle is attached. This configuration facilitates the task of providing a vehicle for supporting the crop picking head in a stable manner during road transport. 
   The support frame of the crop picking head directly or indirectly supports the equipment for the harvesting of crops. The support frame is designed to be strong enough to support the individual elements of the crop picking head, and therefore is also suitable for absorbing the supporting forces of the vehicle. It is proposed to transfer the supporting forces that the vehicle exerts on the crop picking head during road travel, directly from the mount to the support frame without using other elements of the crop picking head. 
   Although it is conceivable to have elements of the mount engage directly from below on the support frame, for which U-shaped shells or brackets could be used that embrace the support frame from below or engage into an opening in the support frame, it is proposed in a preferred embodiment of the invention to fasten, in particular to weld, one or several brackets to the support frame, with which the mount of the vehicle interacts. An advantage therein is that the vehicle can be fixed by the brackets not only in a vertical and forward direction, but also in a lateral direction. 
   The mount of the vehicle can be made up of a front part and a rear part. On its underside, the front part supports the wheel connected thereto, normally in a rigid or trailingly steerable manner, while the rear part is positioned behind and lower than the front part. In the mounted state, i.e. during the road travel, the harvesting equipment of the crop picking head is found above the rear part. The front part can accommodate and support the separator tips of the crop picking head. Through this arrangement, a relatively large and therefore easy-running wheel can be used without having to lift the crop picking head to a greater extent for road transport. 
   Current support frames of crop picking heads normally comprise an upper cross bar and/or a lower cross bar. An upper cross bar extends horizontally and transverse to the forward direction, above a feed opening of a feeder housing of the harvesting machine, either over the entire width of a middle part of the crop picking head (equipped with foldable side parts) or over only a part thereof. In the former case, which is used in particular in foldable crop cutting tools (see EP 0 789 990 A) the upper cross bar normally supports the feeder equipment of the crop picking head. In the latter case (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,225) the upper cross bar is normally connected to a lower cross bar, which extends horizontally and transverse to the forward direction underneath the loading opening of the feeder housing of the harvesting machine and on its end supports the feeder equipment. Here, the upper cross bar is for mounting the crop picking head supporting structures, against whose underside complementary supporting structures of the feeder housing rest when the crop picking head is placed on the harvesting machine. The vehicle according to the invention preferably acts together with the described upper cross bar and/or lower cross bar. 
   An upper cross bar may be connected to the mount of the vehicle by a brace. This brace is in particular fastened in a swiveling manner to the front part of the vehicle, e.g., around an axis running horizontally and transverse to the forward direction. It can be moved between a transport position, where it is above the feeder equipment of the crop picking head, and an out-of-service position, where it is swung forward and facilitates easy positioning of the crop picking head above the vehicle. 
   A lower cross bar is, on the other hand, preferably connected to the rear part of the vehicle. In another embodiment, a cradle frame mounted in pendulum fashion on the crop picking head consists of the upper support and vertical supports positioned on both sides of a feeder housing of the harvesting machine. The vertical support may be connected to the rear section of the rear part. 
   The above mentioned and other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description of the invention in combination with the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a harvesting machine with a crop picking head attached; 
       FIG. 2  a side view of a vehicle embodying the principles of the present invention, 
       FIG. 3  a top view of the vehicle seen in  FIG. 2 ; and 
       FIG. 4  a side view of the vehicle coupled to the harvesting machine and the crop picking head seen in  FIG. 1 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   An agricultural harvesting machine  10  is shown in  FIG. 1  in the style of a self-propelled forage harvester and is comprised of a chassis  12  supported by front and rear wheels  14  and  16 . The front wheels  14  serve as main drive wheels, while the rear wheels  16  are steerable. The harvesting machine  10  is operated from an operator&#39;s cabin  18 , from where a crop picking head  20  is visible. Crops, such as corn, sunflower or sorghum, picked by means of the crop picking head  20  are fed via a feeder housing  30  to a chopping drum (not shown) inside the harvesting machine  10 , which chops the crop into small pieces and loads it onto conveying machinery (not shown) within the machine  10 . The crop is then emptied from the harvesting machine  10  via a rotatable discharge chute  28  into a trailer driving alongside or behind. A secondary crusher, not shown in the drawing, may be positioned between the chopping drum and the conveying machinery. Although the invention is being shown on a field chopper, it may also be used on combine harvesting machines with appropriate crop picking heads, such as cutter bars or maize pickers, or other machines. In the following, directions such as in front, behind, laterally and above, refer to the forward direction of the harvesting machine  10  and the crop picking head  20 , which is to the left in  FIG. 1 . 
   As indicated above, the crop picking head  20 , fastened in the forward direction on the front end of the harvesting machine  10 , picks up the harvested crops. In the embodiment shown, the crop picking head  20  is a known corn picker head, comprising a middle part  38  and two side parts  40  laterally positioned to the left and right of the middle part  38 . For road transport, the side parts  40  are attached on pivots to the middle part  38  and can be raised hydraulically. For harvesting, the side parts  40  can be lowered to run parallel with the middle part  38 . Afterwards, they can be raised again.  FIG. 1  illustrates the side parts  40  in the raised state. 
   In the illustrated construction, four mowing and feeder drums  32  are positioned on the center part  38 , while two mowing and feeder drums  32  are positioned on each of the two side parts  40 . In general, the crop picking head  20  is equipped in a known manner with outer dividers  36 , the mowing and feeder drums  32 , separator tips  34  and covers and conveyors that feed the harvested crop to the chopping drum of the harvesting machine  10 . During operation, the crop picking head  20  pulls in the stalks of the cut crop in an upright position, cuts them and feeds them to the feeder housing  30  and subsequently to the chopping drum of the harvesting machine  10 . 
   The above components of the crop picking head  20  are mounted to a support frame, which has a hollow lower cross bar  42  and an upper cross bar  44 . The lower cross bar  42  extends underneath the rear of the crop picking head  20  and includes three segments, of which one is positioned as the center part  38  and one on each side part  40 . Transmission housings  46 , which each drive a mowing and feeder drum  32 , are bolted onto the front part of the lower cross bar  42 . A drive shaft  48 , driven by a power take off of the harvesting machine  10 , extends laterally within the lower cross bar  42  and powers the conveyors of the crop picking head  20  and the mowing and feeder drums  32  via gears in the transmission housing  46 . 
   The upper cross bar  44  extends laterally across the width and above the entrance of the feeder housing  30 . Hook-shaped supporting members  50  and  52  are provided on the top side of the feeder housing  30  (shown in  FIG. 4 ), which support the upper cross bar  44  and fasten the crop picking head  20  to the harvesting machine  10 . The upper cross bar  44  is connected to the lower cross bar  42  via roller bearings and by means of vertical supports  54  and connecting plates  56 , so that the lower cross bar  42  is pivotable with respect to the upper cross bar  44  about an axis running horizontally and in the direction of motion, approximately through the center point of the feeder housing  30 . 
   The cross bars  42 ,  44 , the vertical supports  54  and the connecting plates  56 , as well as side supports  57 , form the support frame of the crop picking head  20  that supports all the above elements of the crop picking head  20 . The upper cross bar  44  is connected on both sides of the feeder housing  30  to the side supports  57  running vertically downward, which may be connected at their lower end to the underside of the feeder housing  30 . The upper cross bar  44  and the side supports  57  thus form a cradle frame that allows the crop picking head to swing about the described axis running in the direction of motion. 
   In  FIG. 2 , a side view of the vehicle  60  for supporting the crop picking head  20  during road travel is shown. It is made up of a mount  62  and a wheel  64 . The mount  62  includes a rear part  66 , which spreads out in a triangular fashion toward the back and is connected to a front part  70  via approximately vertically running braces  68 , and wheel carriers  72  positioned beneath the front part  70 , between which the wheel  64  is rotatably mounted on a shaft extending laterally. On the side of the front part  70  facing the rear part  66  is a vehicle positioning mechanism  74 , which has a pocket or bag-like opening, shown directed to the right in  FIG. 2 , whose underside extends diagonally toward the back and downward as far as rear part  66 . The vehicle positioning mechanism  74  is for automatically orienting the vehicle  60  with respect to the crop picking head  20 . Rear supports  76  support the rear part  66  of the mount when resting on the ground.  FIG. 3  shows a top view of the vehicle  60 . In the illustrated embodiment, the wheel  64  is coupled in a trailingly steerable manner on the mount  62  around an approximately vertical pivot  78 . 
   In  FIG. 4 , the vehicle  60  is shown below the crop picking head  20 , which is attached to the harvesting machine  10 , and fastened to the support frame of the crop picking head  20 . This configuration allows the vehicle  60  to take up a part of the weight of the crop picking head  20  in order to relieve the load on the wheels  14 ,  16  of the harvesting machine  10  during road travel. 
   The connection and load transmission between the support frame of the crop picking head  20  and the vehicle  60  occur at three locations. Two brackets  80  welded on the underside of the side supports  57  of the cradle frame are correspondingly connected to supports  84  fastened outside on the rear top side of the rear part  66  by means of removable spring-loaded pins  82 . The spring-loaded pins  82  each extend through coaxial openings in the bracket  80  and in the support  84 . In addition, the upper cross bar  44  is enclosed by two brackets  86  bolted thereto, positioned laterally side by side. Each bracket  86  further supports a receiving device  88 . Bearing on each receiving device  88  is the rear end of one of two braces  90  (see  FIG. 3 ) arranged laterally side by side and coupled at their front end around a horizontal shaft  92  running transverse to the forward direction on top of the rear portion of the front part  70  of the vehicle  60 . Two latches  96 , pivotably coupled to the receiving device  88  around a shaft  94 , running horizontally and transverse to the forward direction, enclose from above a pin  98 , which also runs horizontally and transverse to the forward direction, fastened to the rear of each brace  90 . 
   The supports  84  direct the supporting forces of the vehicle  60  via the spring-loaded pins  82  and the brackets  80  directly into the side supports  57 . The braces  90  pass their retention forces via the pin  98 , the latch  96 , the receiving device  88 , and the brackets  86  directly into the upper cross bar  44 . Through the chosen fastening of the vehicle  60  onto the support frame of the crop picking head  20 , the force is led from the wheel  64  directly into the support frame. The mowing and feeder drums  32  and their respective transmission housings  46  are not in any way burdened by the vehicle  60 . Oscillation of the crop picking head  20  is prevented by causing the lower cross bar  42  (or a plate on its under side) to bear on the rear part  66 . 
   For simpler installation when mounting the vehicle  60  on the crop picking head  20 , a single lever  2  is provided. The vehicle  60  can be fastened to the crop picking head by moving only the lever  2 . The lever  2  is attached to the front part of the vehicle  60  around a shaft  3  running horizontally and transverse to the forward direction. Above the shaft  3 , two rods  4  are pivotably coupled to lever  2 , the rods being connected at their other end to an additional bracket  5 , each fastened to the brace  90 . In addition, a cable  6  is attached to the underside of the braces  90 , the cable being connected via deflection pulleys  7  to the spring-loaded pins  82  and being used for their unlocking and locking. As a result, it becomes possible to place the braces  90  onto the pick-up device  88  by a movement of the lever  2  and at the same time to close the lower locks using the pins  82 . Similarly, through a movement of the lever  2  in the opposite direction, the braces  90  can be swung upward and the pins  82  can be loosened. 
   When the vehicle  60  must be separated from the crop picking head  20  for the harvesting operation, the crop picking head  20  is raised by operating suitable hydraulic cylinders of the harvesting machine  10  to unburden the wheel  64 . The latches  96  are loosened by the operator in the cabin  18  by means of a cable pull (not shown), which extends from at least one latch  96  into the cabin  18 . Afterwards, the lever  2  is swung forward to lift the braces  90  and to bring the pins  82  into the released position. The harvesting machine  10  then moves backward. Attaching the vehicle  60  is done in the reverse sequence. To avoid having the operator leave the operator&#39;s cabin  18  to attach or remove the vehicle  60  from the crop picking head  20 , locking devices actuated by an external force, e.g., hydraulic cylinders that can be controlled from the operator workstation in the operator&#39;s cabin  18 , may also be provided to move the spring-loaded pins  82 , the latch  96 , and the braces  90 . 
   The foregoing disclosure is the best mode devised by the inventor for practicing this invention. It is apparent, however, that methods incorporating modifications and variations will be obvious to one skilled in the art of agricultural machinery. Inasmuch as the foregoing disclosure is intended to enable one skilled in the pertinent art to practice the instant invention, it should not be construed to be limited thereby but should be construed to include such aforementioned obvious variations and be limited only by the spirit and scope of the following claims.