METHOD AND REAPING MACHINE FOR REAPING WHOLE STRAW

Abstract: In a method and a reaping device for whole straw reaping the majority of the grains are threshed out immediately before the corn is chopped up into small pieces. According to a preferred embodiment the corn is chopped up by means of a number of knives on a rotating cylinder against a fixed cutter device (27), while the majority of the grains immediately therebefore is threshed out by means of a number of beater shoes (25) on the same cylinder, the corn without cutting being beaten against the fixed cutting device by the beater shoes. The chopped mixed corn is thrown to an accumulator container or other receiver, wherein the beaters or the carrier of the beaters effectively contribute to the throwing function.

Description: METHOD AND REAPING MACHINE FOR REAPING WHOLE STRAW TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relate to a method for whole straw reaping of corn or other crops, that is to say the reaping of grain and straw and husks o the corresponding growth components of crops which do not com¬ prise cereals, in which a machine is provided to cut the corn which is fed into a chopper, in which the corn is chopped up into short lengths. The invention also relates to a reaping machine for the carrying out of the method. BACKGROUND ART At present conventional reaping methods consist fundamentally of the following working sequence. The corn is cut off by a cutting device and transported across a cutting table via an elevator to a cylinder with beater shoes. By means of the rotating beater shoes the grain is threshed out, after which the grain is separated from the straw and husks in straw shakers and cleaning mechanisms. Sub- sequently the straw can be processed in different ways, e.g. it can be laid back on the field, possibly after fine chopping, or packed into bales. It has also been proposed, and practiced to some extent, that an alternative method be employed for reaping cereals and similar crops. The basis of this method is to utilise the whole of the straw in the reaping machine and in conjunction therewith to chop the corn into short, even lengths so that in a terminal the corn can be separated into its various fractions, i.e. the grain on its own, the husks on their own and the straw portions on their own. In the machines which have been used for this new reaping method the corn has been chopped at an initial stage in machine. The drawback of this method and of the machine which has been developed for the method is, however, that also a significant portion of the grains is chopped into pieces by the chopper and hence is more or less i.strove.. Machines moloved Her t also have some other practical inconveniences. For example it has in prior art not been proposed any good solution on the problem of regrinding (sharpening) the knives in the chopper. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The purpose of the invention Is to provide a method and a reaping machine which l a rgely eliminate the problems mentioned above and the restrictions imposed by existing methods and machines. In accor¬ dance with the Invention this can be achieved in that the majority of the grains, when the corn is threshably is threshed out immediately prior to chopping the corn into small pieces. For example the corn may be chopped into pieces by means of a nu ber of knives on a rota¬ ting cylinder against a fixed cutter blade, while the majority of the grains are threshed out by means of a number of beater shoes on the same cylinder, the corn without cutting being beaten against the fixed cutter blade by the beater shoes. The reaping machine herein comprises a rotatably cylinder with an horizontal axes, a number of knives and at least the same number of beater shoes di¬ stributed around the periphery of the cylinder such that at least °ne beater shoe and preferably several beater shoes are provided between each of adjacent knives, and wherein the beater shoes ex¬ tend in the radial direction slightly less then the knifes do, and a fixed cutter blade is provided as a counter knife for the knives as these by shering cut the corn and as a dolly as the beater shoes beat the corn in the direction of rotation of the cylinder. In order to facilitate the regrinding and to avoid long machine- sta d-stills the knives are conveniently arranged in replaceable holders on the cylinder, such that they arranged in their holders may be reground to the desired knife height outside the machine. Further aims and characteristics of the invention are described in the claims and also by the following description of a preferred embodiment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the following description of a preferred embodiment reference will be made to the appended diagrams in ' which Fig. 1 gives a side view which illustrates the machine in accordance with the invention, Fig. 2 gives a side view of a threshing and chopping cylinder forming part of the machine, Fig. 3 shows on a larger scale and in sectional view a por¬ tion of the said cylinder viewed i the axial direction, and Fig. 4 provides a view IV-IV in Fig. 3. In the diagrams certain details have been omitted so as to provide improved understanding of the essentials of the invention. BEST MODE OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION With reference initially to Fig. 1 a machine housing is generally designated as 1. In the machine housing 1 there is a cylinder 2 with horizontal rotating shaft, the cylinder hub being designated as 3. On the underside of the cylinder 2 there is a piece of plate 4 which forms the base of the machine housing. Two girders for mounting the machine housing 1 on a working vehicle have been de¬ signated as 5 and 6. In the feeder portion 7 of the machine hous¬ ing 1 two feeder rolls 8 and 9 are provided. The upper roll 8 is provided with teeth whilst the lower roll 9 has a smooth surface, all with the objective of providing more efficient feeding. Further on in the feeder section 7 there is an elevator 10 of conventional design. A base plate in the elevator 10 is designated as 11, a number of endless chains provided with fingers are designated 12 and a guide roll is designated 13. The cylinder 2 is divided up intc a number -if se tio s A-F, vhi BAD ORIGINAL O PI are separated by end plates 14 and intermediate walls 15, Fig. 2. The plates 14, 15 are welded to the hub 3. In each section A-F between the end plates 14 and the adjacent intermediate walls 15, or between adjacent intermediate walls 15, six knife holders 16 are provided. The knife holders 16 are screwed to lugs 17 on the sides of the intermediate walls 15 of end plates 14 by means of bolted connections 18, Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. The knife holders 16 consist of an element of essentially parallel- epipedic shape and with a length which extends over the length of the cylinder section. A pair of holes for the screw connections 18, also a groove 19 for a knife 20 and a ten= ; oning wedge 21, also three holes for screws 22 arranged to interact with the tensioning wedges 21 so as to clamp the knives 20 firmly extend through the knife holders 16. The knife holders 16b in the section B are some¬ what displaced in relation to the knife holders 16 in section A. The knife holders 16c are displaced in a corresponding manner with respect to the knife holders 16b etc., as indicated in Fig. 2. The location of the knife holders 16 in the cylinder 2 is defined by reference planes 31 and 32 which are plane surfaces in pairs of common planes on lugs 17 which are related pair-wise. In the axial plane in relation to the axis of rotation of cylinder 2 the location of the knives is governed by threaded holes provided for the screws 18. To ensure precise and well-defined location of the knife holders 16 in the cylinder 2, this is so manufactured that the line of intersection 34 is parallel with the axis of rotation of cylinder 2, which signifies that also the reference planes 31 and 32 and the corresponding surfaces of the lugs 17 are so machined that they are parallel with the axis of rotation of cylinder 2. In Fig. 3 a dash-dotted line symbolises an imaginary plane 33 which includes the line of intersection 34 and the axis of rotation of cylinder 2. To obtain a well-defined positioning of all knife hol- ders 16 in the radial plane in relation to the axis of rotation of cylinder 2 and in relation to the fixed cutting oladc 27 it is necessary that the angles α and β in Fig. 3 are identical for all knife holders 16. Here the angle α is the angle which is formed between the reference plane 32 and the imaginary plane 33. The angle β is the angle between the reference plane 31 and the imaginary plane 33. In Fig. 3 the distance between the reference plane 31 and the edge of knives 20 is designated as d_. The distance d. can, in conjunc¬ tion with the grinding of the knives which during this are mounted in the holders 16, be maintained without difficulty so that the distance d_ is kept within close tolerances. In each section A-F there are also arranged a number of beaters or beater shoes 25. According to the embodiment there are provided twice as many beater shoes 25 as there are knives 20. The beater shoes 25 consist of radial plate sections welded between the in¬ termediate walls 15 or end plates 14 and the adjacent intermediate wall 15 resembling fan blades in an impeller. The radial extent of the beater shoes 25 is somewhat less than the radial extent of the knives 20. The difference in the radial direction has been designa¬ ted as d_, Fig. 3. In the machine housing 1 a fixed cutter blade 27, Fig. 1, is also provided which can be removed through an aperture 28 in the end wall of the machine housing 1. A knife holder is designated as 29. The functioning of the reaping machine is as follows. The co is initially inserted in a known manner against a knife table, not shown, with an elevator and is cut off close to the ground sur- face by a knife. The cut off corn is then fed towards the centre of the machine, which can take place using devices which form part of state of the art, after which the corn which is concentrated towards the centre is fed upwards in the elevator 10 by means of the endless chains and their fingers, which press the corn against the baseplate 11 in elevator 10. In the feeder section 7 the corn is fed with the ears first into the roll nip 30 between the two feeder rolls 8 and 9, and from the roll nip 30 the corn is fed, still with the ears, first, outwards across the fixed knife 27. When the ears have passed the knife 27 in the majority of cases they meet some of the threshing shoes 25 and are beaten by this threshing shoe, the threshing effect being amplified in that the ear is also affected by the oppositely-directed impact force from the fixed cutter 27. The beater shoe 25 then passes by the edge of the fixed cutter blade 27 which faces the cylinder without the grain in the ear being damaged. The cutting off of the ear and of the remaining portions of the straw then takes place only after one of the knives cuts off the ear/straw against the fixed cutter blade 27. Thus by arranging the beater oes between the knives it is possible to reduce the risk that the ears will first be encoun¬ tered by one of the knives and cut off so that also the grain will be damaged, and this risk can also be further reduced in that the beater shoes 25 are arranged more closely together and/or by arrang¬ ing a further beater shoe directly in front of each knife. When a knife is to be reground (sharpened) the complete knife holder 16 is released, and then a spare knife holder with a new or reground knife can be inserted immediately in place of the first knife and knife holder. The arrangement of releasable knife holders facilitates the possibility of grinding the knives outside the machine to the right height relative to the fixed cutting blade and by this means pre-adjusting the cutting blade to a fixed dimension. This means that outrage times on the part of the machine can be reduced con¬ siderably, whilst at the same time the power demand can be reduced because of the high precision achievable as regards the setting of the cutters. As the reaped material is threshed and cut by beater shoes and knives, gradually the material is thrown upwards through a dis¬ charge pipe 31, the beaters/beater shoes 25 functioning as the impelling device. Since the knives 16a, 16b, 16c, etc. in the various sections A-F are mutually displaced, the mode of opera- tion of the machine is extremely smooth, which also contributes towards reducing the power demand.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. Method for whole straw reaping of corn or other crops, that is to say the reaping of grain and straw and husks or the corresponding growth components of crops which do not comprise serials, wherein a machine is provided to cut the corn which is fed into a chopper, in which the corn is chopped up into short lengths, c h a r a c t e ¬ r i s e d in that the majority of the grains is threshed out immediately prior to chopping the corn into small pieces. 2. Method as in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the corn is chopped into pieces by means of a number of knives on a rotating cylinder (2) against a fixed cutter device (27) , and that the majority of the grains is threshed out by means of a αumber of beater shoes (25) on the same cylinder, the corn without cutting being beaten against the fixed cutter device by the beater shoes. 3. Method as in any of claims 1 and 2, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the corn is continouesly fed towards the cylinder, the knives of which shop up the corn into short essentially even lengths. 4. Method as in any of claims 1-3, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the chopped mixed corn is thrown to an acumulater container or other receiver, said beater shoes or the carriers of same effecti¬ vely contributing to the throwing action. 5. Reaping machine for carrying out the method according any of claims 1-4, c h a r a c t e r i s e d by a rotatable cylinder (2) with horizontal axes, a number of knives (20) and at least the same number of beater shoes (25) distributed around the periphery of the cylinder such that at least one beater shoe, and preferably several beater shoes, are provided between each of adjacent knives, and wherein the beater shoes extend in the radial direction slightly less than the knives do, and a fixed cutter device is provided as a counter knife for the knives as these by shearing cut the corn and as a dolly as the beater shoes beat the corn in the direction of rotation of the cylinder. 6. Reaping machine as in claim 5, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the knives are provided in replaceable and preradjustable holders (16) on the cylinder in order that the knives provided in their holders may be reground outside the reaping machine to the desired knife height and hence make possible better accuracy in the setting up of the knives contributing towards reducing the power demand. 7. Reaping machine as in claim 5 or 6, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the knives are arranged in sections (A-F) side by side such that the knives in sections beside each other are somewhat dis placed in the tangential direction with reference to each other so that the operation of the machine is smoothed and the power demand therethrough is reduced.

Inventors: HIELM ODD W, HIELM, ODD, W.
Applicants: SCANDINAVIAN FARMING AB, SCANDINAVIAN FARMING AKTIEBOLAG
Application year: 1982
Main classification: A01D91
IPC codes: A01D43, A01F29