TWO TRAILER COMBINATION TO HAUL COMBINE HEADERS AND GRAIN

Abstract: Trailers that are used to haul grain and grain harvesting equipment. Individual trailers for carrying grain and for transporting combine headers are known, but they must be hauled from field to field separately. The present invention involves a more compact loading arrangement for over the road transport including two trailers (30, 40) that can be towed with the smaller trailer (40) riding piggyback inside the bed of the larger trailer (30). The larger trailer has a box type bed (10) for grain hauling or for carrying two combine headers. The larger trailer has a grain auger (21, 22) within the bottom of the bed to move grain horizontally in a forward or reverse direction to discharge doors (13, 20) or to a vertical auger (23) for transfer to another trailer. The larger trailer also has a sideboard assembly (28) at the top to increase the grain carrying capacity and hinged divider doors (11) to partition the hopper into separate grain bins. The smaller trailer has load straddling legs (41, 42) and can pick-up rotate and carry combine headers (60). The trailer would be used to transport the headers over the road between field locations. A load handling hoist (70) mountable to the front of the combine (57) is disclosed. This combine mounted hoist would be used to load the headers and smaller trailer onto the larger trailer for over the road piggyback transport.

Description: Two Trailer Combination to Haul Combine Headers and Grain Field of the Invention This invention relates to a combination of two trailers to carry grain and grain harvesting headers for combines. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved header trailer that can move combine headers between field locations and can be carried piggyback in over the road transport within the grain bed body of a piggyback transport trailer. This invention relates also to a powered hoist that can be mounted on the combine and used to lift the improved header trailer. Background of the Invention .Trailers with grain bed type bodies have been manufactured for many years. These grain bed type trailers have sometimes also been equipped with grain augers that can transfer grain or other bulk cargo to bin storage or another vehicle. The type of grain transfer trailer of this invention is novel because of the use of divider doors in combination with the under belly auger. This provides a trailer with partitioned bins that can be used to haul two or more grain loads that must be handled separately. The use of sideboards has been common for years. But most types have not been designed for quick removal . The sideboard assembly of this invention provides a quick means to fold the sideboards to provide a lower side for easy loading or unloading of the trailer. Trailers to haul combine headers have been used for many years. The type of trailer used has been one with a structure beneath the header. This invention places the trailer structure over the header so that a hoist can be used to pick-up and rotate the header. A novel feature of this invention is to carry the header trailer piggyback inside the grain bed body of the grain transfer trailer. A hoist mounted to the front end of the combine is necessary. Hoists have been mounted on combines for many years. The design of prior art hoists, however, is not adequate to safely lift a combine header and header trailer for piggyback transport on the grain transfer trailer. The combine hoist of this invention has an extendable foot. This foot protects the combine from being tipped over when lifting a heavy load on the front end hoist. In view of the foregoing, it should be appreciated that improvements in trailers to transport headers and to transport and transfer grain could be useful. Summary of the Invention This invention provides an improved system for transportation of headers. By carrying the headers within the bed of a grain transfer trailer a more compact loading of field harvesting equipment in over the road transport is facilitated. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a grain transfer trailer which can carry two combine headers and a header trailer within the grain bed body thereof. It is another object of this invention to provide an improved header trailer that can be towed by a pick-up truck and quickly engaged and lift a grain header. The header can then be positioned beneath the horizontal overhead structure of the trailer by means of a turntable which rotates the header lifting hoist. It is still another object of this invention to provide a grain transfer trailer with a bed that can be partitioned into separate bins to carry a plurality of grain loads which must be handled separately. It is yet another object of this invention to provide a sideboard assembly which can be quickly retracted from the large capacity grain load or extended position to a position which will permit grain loading of the trailer from a combine auger extending over a single side of the trailer. It is still another object of this invention to provide a powered hoist that can be mounted on the front end of the combine and can lift the improved header transfer trailer of this invention to load it and a header held within its structure into position on the grain transfer trailer. It is yet another object of this invention to provide a support structure to hold the combine mounted hoist in a vertical position when removed from the combine. With these and other objects in view, which will become apparent to one skilled in the art as the description proceeds, this invention resides in the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter described and more particularly defined by the appended claims, it being understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of the herein disclosed invention are meant to be included as come within the scope of the claims. Brief Description of Drawings Fig. 1 Is a side view of the grain transfer trailer with items above shown in loading order sequence. Fig. 2 Is a side view of the grain transfer trailer loaded with two headers and overhead pick-up header trailer. Fig. 3 Is a side view of the combine with front end hoist removing overhead pick-up header trailer from the grain transfer trailer. Fig. 4 Is a top view of the grain transfer trailer with divider doors closed and sideboards in the closed position. Fig. 5 Is a top view of the grain transfer with divider doors closed and sideboards in the extended position. Fig. 6 Is a side view of the overhead pick-up header trailer with rear-wheeled assembly and dolly jack-stands elevated trailer is being backed into position to pick-up header. Fig. 7 Is a top view of the overhead pick-up header trailer with dolly jack-stands lowered and with front-wheeled assemblies and rear-wheeled assemblies elevated. Fig. 8 Is a side view of the overhead pick-up header trailer lifting a header for over the road transport. Fig. 9 Is a side view of the overhead pick-up header trailer carrying a header in over the road transport-. Fig. 10 Is a rear view of the overhead pick-up header trailer with dolly jack-stands partially elevated. Fig. 11 Is a top view of the header hoist and turntable for the header pick-up trailer. Fig. 12 Is a side view of the header attachment bracket with lower header cradle shown above. Fig. 13 Is a side view of the front end combine hoist stowed in an upright position using horizontal support members. ■ Fig. 14 Is a side view of the front end combine hoist with the feet retracted and the lifting platform folded inward and lowered. Operation of the Preferred Embodiment The grain transfer trailer 30 is pulled by a semi-tractor in over the road operation. At a harvest location the grain transfer trailer would be loaded with grain in the field and carry this cargo to a storage location. The grain transfer trailer 30 would carry two combine headers 60 and the ovehead pick-up trailer 40 to the harvest location. FIG. 1 shows the sequence in which the cargo to be carried to the harvest location is loaded into the grain transfer trailer 30. First a header 60 is loaded into the lower portion of the grain transfer trailer. A second header 60 rides above, carried within the body of the overhead pick-up header trailer 40 which is mounted piggyback on the grain transfer trailer 30. The headers 60, and the overhead pick-up header trailer 40 are removed from the grain transfer trailer 30 as shown in FIG. 3. The front-end mounted overhead hoist 70 is mounted on the combine 57. First the overhead pick-up header trailer 40, and combine header 60 are removed as one load from their piggyback position and set on the ground. Then a header 60 is removed from the grain transfer trailer 30. When the grain transfer trailer 30 is unloaded the front- end mounted overhead hoist 70 is removed from the combine 57 and stowed in an upright position. The extendable support members 66 hold the front end mounted overhead hoist 70 in the upright position. The header 60 can then be attached to the combine 57 to perform harvesting operations. The front-end mounted hoist 70 can be mounted on the combine 57 quickly if needed to provide towing power by use of the horizontal pulling winch 75. This towing power could be used to assist another vehicle that has lost traction in soft ground. During harvesting operations the overhead pick-up header trailer would be used to move combine headers 60 from field location to field location. The overhead pick-up header trailer 40 could lift and rotate the overhead pick-up trailer to be carried under its structure in over the road transport between field locations. The grain transfer trailer 30 could receive grain directly from the combine 57 with sideboard assembly 28 folded. With the sideboard assembly 28 in the extended position the grain carrying capacity of the grain transfer trailer 30 could be increased. With the sideboard assembly 28 in the extended position the grain transfer trailer 30 could be loaded by a second grain transfer trailer 30 or similar vehicle. Detailed Description of the Invention The grain transfer trailer 30 is shown in FIG. 1. Its structure includes grain bed body 10, ground engaging wheels 29 and king pin 34 for attachment to semi-tractor. The grain transfer trailer 30 is used to haul grain during harvesting operations and transfer grain to other vehicles by using overhead auger 24, fed by vertical auger 23, powered by vertical and overhead auger drive motor 37. When used in the grain transfer mode the grain bed body 10 is divided into three bins by grain bed body divider doors 11. With the sideboard assembly 28 folded as shown in Fig. 4, the grain transfer trailer 30 could receive grain directly from the combine 57. The sideboard assembly 28 could be extended by rotating sideboard scissor jack drive shaft 14 causing sideboard scissor mechanism 15 to open. As sideboard scissor mechanism 15 opens front sideboard door 16, rear sideboard door 19, and sideboard divider doors 12 extend across grain bed body 10. The grain from the grain bed body 10 is unloaded by underbelly auger 22 driven by underbelly auger drive motor 36. Flow of grain from the forward part of the trailer is controlled by large bin hopper door 25. Flow of graii. from the rear part of the trailer is controlled by medium bin hopper door 26. Flow of grain from the center part of the trailer is controlled by small bin hopper door 27. When 'the underbelly auger 22 is turned in one direction grain moves forward and is unloaded out of the forward grain discharge door 20. When the underbelly auger 22 is turned in the opposite direction grain is unloaded out of the rear grain discharge door 13 or is fed to the vertical auger 23 for overhead transfer. When grain is unloaded from the forward part of- the grain bed body 10 the upper bin auger 21 is turned by upper bin auger drive motor 35. The grain discharged from the upper bin auger 21 flows through large bin hopper door 25. The overhead pick-up header trailer 40 is used to move combine headers from one field location to another. Fabric belts extending from the header hoist and turntable 43 are used to lift the lower header cradle 31 or upper header cradle 32 which is mated to the header attachment bracket 33. The header attachment bracket 33 is connected to the header 60. On some combine headers the header attachment bracket could remain on the header 60 when it was mounted on the combine 57. On other models it might be necessary to remove the header attachment bracket 33 when using the header 60 to harvest grain. To pick up a header 60, the overhead pick-up header trailer 40 is backed with dolly jack stands 46 and 47 and rear-wheeled assembly 42 elevated as shown in Fig. 6. When the trailer 40 is over the header 60 the left dolly jack-stand 46 and the right dolly jack-stand 47 are lowered to engage the ground. The front-wheeled assembly 41 is elevated by front wheel lift cylinder 68. The header cradle 31 or 32 is lowered to mate with header attachment bracket 33. The header attachment ball 18 is inserted into the header cradle hitch 17. The hoist drive motor 45 rotates the hoist interconnect shaft 86 which lifts the header cradle 31 or 32 by means of four fabric belts working over hoist belt rollers 87 attached to turntable frame 90. Once the header 60 has been lifted clear of the ground the header hoist and turntable 43 can be rotated by the turntable drive motor 44. The drive wheels 82 are rotated by drive shafts 84 which receive power from differential gearbox 83. Rolling wheels 85 provide horizontal stability for turntable frame 90. The track wheels 81 rolling against the turntable track 80 cause the turntable frame 90 to rotate about its center. When the header hoist and turntable 43 has rotated the header 60 into position underneath the overhead pick-up header trailer the front-wheeled assembly 47 is lower by the double action hydraulic lift cylinder 68 and the rear-wheeled assembly 42 is lowered by hydraulic lift cylinder 69. The left dolly jack- stand 46 and the right dolly jack-stand 47 can then be elevated to a horizontal position and the trailer 40 can move the header 60 in over the road transport. The front-end mounted overhead hoist 70 can be attached to the combine 57 by means of attachment to combine mounts 58. When not in use the front-end hoist 70 can be stowed with its load handling hoist chassis 50 in a vertical position. The extendable support members 66 which are attached to the ground engaging foot 65 by means of extendable support member hinges 64 are rotated to extend outward from the front-end mounted overhead hoist 70 to hold it in an upright position when removed from the combine 57 as shown in Fig. 13. With the front-end mounted overhead hoist 70 mounted on the combine 57 the horizontal pulling winch 75 can be used to pull another vehicle that has lost traction in soft ground. The hoist support wheels 63 are unlocked so that ground engaging foot 51 can engage the ground and prevent the combine from moving forward when the horizontal pulling winch 75 is being used. The front-end mounted hoist 70 mounted on the combine 57 can lift the header 60 and header trailer 40 by means of hoist cradle 55 as shown in Fig. 3. The overhead hoist platform 54 is lifted to a horizontal position by hoist lift cylinder 56. The overhead hoist platform 54 is then locked into place by overhead hoist platform locking member 59. The overhead hoist platform can be moved upward vertically by hoist lift cylinder 56 causing primary extension 52 and secondary extension 53 to telescope out of load handling hoist chassis 50. Loads can also be lifted vertically by overhead hoist drive motor 71 rotating overhead hoist shaft 91 which pulls fabric belts over overhead hoist belt rollers 92. When the lower header cradle 31 and header 60 are to be carried in the grain transfer trailer 30 they are lifted by the front-end mounted overhead hoist 70 mounted on the combine 57. The lower header cradle access door 38 is opened by rotating it about its hinges 61. The header 60 is lowered from the overhead hoist platform 54 of the front end mounted hoist 70. When the header 60 and lower header cradle 31 can be reached through the header cradle access door 38, fabric belts extending from the lower header cradle winches 62 are fastened to the lower header cradle 31. The belts are drawn tight by manual power to the winches 62 to hold the header 60 in position as shown in Fig. 2. The belts are passed over lower header coupling rollers 67. The overhead pick-up header 40 trailer is loaded as shown in Fig. 3. The dolly jack stands 46 and 47 are lowered and the front-wheeled assembly 41 and rear-wheeled assembly 42 are elevated. The left dolly jack-stand 46 is inserted into receiver 48 and the right dolly jack-stand 47 is inserted into receiver 49. The header trailer hitch 95 is mated with the hitch ball for the header trailer 39. As an aid to correlating the terms of the claims to the exemplary drawing, the following catalog of elements is provided: 10. grain bed body 11. grain bed body divider doors 12. sideboard divider doors 13. rear grain discharge 14. sideboard scissor jack drive shaft 15. sideboard scissor mechanism 16. front sideboard door 17. header cradle hitch 18. header attachment ball 19. rear sideboard door 20. grain discharge door 21. upper bin auger 22. underbelly auger 23. vertical auger 24. overhead auger 25. large bin hopper door 26. medium bin hopper door 27. small bin hopper door 28. sideboard assembly 29. rear wheeled assembly 30. grain transfer trailer 31. lower header cradle 32. upper header cradle 33. header attachment bracket 34. king pin 35. upper bin auger drive motor 36. underbelly auger drive motor 37. vertical and overhead auger drive motor 38. lower header cradle access door 39. hitch ball for header trailer 40. overhead pick-up header trailer 41. front-wheeled assembly 42. rear-wheeled assembly 43. header hoist and turntable 44. turntable drive motor 45. hoist drive motor 46. left dolly jack-stand 47. right dolly jack-stand 48. receiver for left dolly jack-stand 49. receiver for right dolly jack-stand 50. overhead hoist chassis 51. ground engaging foot 52. primary extension 53. secondary extension 54. overhead hoist platform 55-. hoist cradle 56. hoist lift cylinder 57. combine 58. attachment to combine mounts 59. overhead hoist platform locking member 60. header 61. cradle access door hinges 62. lower header cradle winches 63. hoist support wheel 64. extendable support member hinge 65. ground engaging foot 66. extendable support members 67. lower header coupling rollers 68. front-wheeled assembly lift cylinder 69. rear-wheeled assembly lift cylinder 70. front-end mounted overhead hoist 71. overhead hoist drive motor 75. horizontal pulling winch 80. turntable track 81. track wheels 82. drive wheels 83. differential gearbox 84. drive shaft 85. rolling wheels 86. hoist interconnect shaft 87. hoist belt roller 90. turntable frame 91. overhead hoist shaft 92. overhead hoist belt roller 95. header trailer hitch This invention having been described here in its preferred embodiment, it is clear that it is susceptible to numerous modifications and embodiments within the ability of those skilled in the art without the exercise of the inventive faculty. Accordingly, the scope of this invention is defined by the scope of the following claims..

Claims: What is claimed is: 1. A combination of two trailers, each having (i) a horizontally disposed rigid chassis (ii) a plurality of ground engaging wheels (iii) a hitch member for coupling to a draft vehicle wherein the first or piggybacked trailer is transportable within the body of the second or piggyback transport trailer and the piggybacked trailer has a plurality of legs rotationally affixed to said horizontally disposed rigid chassis thereby permitting pivotal movement about an axis substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said piggybacked trailer the combination of the two trailers comprising: at least one downwardly depending rigid support member extending from said piggybacked trailer a means on said piggyback transport trailer to receive and engage said downwardly depending rigid support member extending from said piggybacked trailer. 2. In a trailer having a rectangular horizontally disposed bed with a plurality of sides substantially vertical to carry bulk cargo, hitch means connected to the chassis for connecting the trailer to a draft vehicle a plurality of ground engaging wheels a horizontally disposed bulk cargo auger within the lower portion of said trailer the improved structure for discharging bulk cargo from the trailer comprising in combination with the above (i) a drive means for said bulk cargo auger capable of rotating the auger in both clockwise and counter-clockwise directions (ii) a discharge door at the forward end of said bulk cargo auger (iii) a discharge opening at the rear end of said bulk cargo auger. The invention as defined in claim 2 with the additional limitations of at least one rotational hinged divider door that can be affixed in a transverse position to divide said rectangular horizontally disposed bed into a plurality of bulk cargo bins at least one door moveable in a substantially horizontally plane which can control the flow of cargo from said bulk cargo bins into the said bulk cargo auger. The invention as defined in Claim 2 with the additional limitation of a discharge door at the rear end of said bulk cargo auger. The invention as defined in Claim 2 with the additional limitation of a means at the rear end of said bulk cargo auger to transfer said bulk cargo to an auger or other elevator device to lift said bulk cargo for overhead transfer. The invention as defined in Claim 3 with the additional limitation of an auger within said rectangular horizontally disposed bed positioned above said bulk cargo auger. The invention as defined in Claim 6 with the additional limitation of hydraulic drive means for said bulk cargo auger. A load handling hoist having a vertically disposed rigid chassis mountable to a carriage vehicle such as a combine or industrial truck said load handling hoist comprising: (i) a rigid platform with a load lifting hoist connected to said vertically disposed rigid chassis and pivotally moveable in a vertical plane (ii) a locking mechanism to lock said rigid platform in a fixed position of its pivotal arc (iii) a means for attachment to said carriage vehicle. 9. In a method of lifting loads with a combine mounted lifting mechanism having a vertically disposed rigid chassis mountable to the front end of the combine the improvement 'characterized by the use of a lifting mechanism with structural members that telescope vertically from said vertically disposed rigid chassis thereby increasing the height to which the load can be lifted. 10. In a method of lifting loads with a combine mounted lifting mechanism mountable to the front end of the combine the improvement characterized by the use of a lifting mechanism with structural member or members that engage the ground in front of the wheels of the combine thereby increasing the weight of the load that can be lifted without causing the combine to tilt forward about an axis through the center of its drive wheels. 11. The improved method of Claim 10 wherein said structural member or members that engage the ground have at least one wheel with its rotational axis substantially parallel to the rotational axis of the combine drive wheels. 12. In a method of lifting grain harvesting headers from a flat surface with a lifting mechanism mounted on a vehicle the improvement characterized by the use of a header attachment bracket, having (i) a rigid surface extending through a horizontal plane above the ground contacting surface of the header (ii) a least one point of attachment to said header (iii) a means of attachment to an overhead lifting surface. 13. The improved method of Claim 12 wherein said means of attachment to an overhead lifting device is a quick disconnect hitch. 14. In a trailer with means- to lift and transport loads having (i) a horizontally disposed rigid chassis (ii) a plurality of ground engaging wheels (iii) a hitch member for coupling to a draft vehicle the improved structure for attaching said wheels to said chassis comprising in combination with the above: (i) a shaft rotationally mounted to said horizontally disposed rigid chassis (ii) a leg with one end affixed to said rotationally shaft and with a wheeled assembly at the opposite end of said leg. 15. The invention as defined in Claim 14 with the additional limitation of at least one ground engaging support member pivotally mounted to said horizontally disposed rigid chassis. 16. The invention as defined in Claim 14 wherein a load-lifting hoist is mounted within the horizontally disposed rigid chassis of said trailer. 17. The invention as defined in Claim 14 wherein a rotationally moveable turntable in the horizontal plane is mounted within the horizontally disposed rigid chassis of said trailer. 18. A sideboard assembly to increase the cargo carrying capacity of a grain bed body, comprising: a rigid side attached to the upper edge of said grain bed body a moveable side substantially parallel to said side attached to said grain bed body a scissor apparatus with the one point of attachment to said moveable side and the one point of attachment to said side attached to said grain bed body. 19. The sideboard assembly as defined in Claim 18 with the additional limitation of at least one side structure with a plurality of hinges and with one end of said side structure attached to said rigid side structure and the opposite side thereof attached to said moveable side. 20. The sideboard assembly as defined in Claim 18 with the additional limitation of a threaded shaft positioned substantially parallel to said moveable side and said threaded shaft provides the drive means to open and close said scissor apparatus. 21. The invention as defined in Claim 17 wherein a powered hoist is connected to said rotationally moveable turntable. 22. In a trailer having a horizontally disposed rigid trailer chassis having longitudinal chassis members and transverse chassis members, at least one structure with means to carry loads beneath said structure a plurality of ground engaging wheels connected to said horizontally disposed rigid trailer chassis the improved structure comprising in combination with the above (i) at least one ground engaging support extendable from said horizontally disposed rigid trailer chassis (ii) at least one structural member connected to each ground engaging wheel providing a means to vertically lift said ground engaging wheel above the surface. 23. In a lifting mechanism with mounts for attachment to a carriage vehicle having a vertically disposed rigid chassis the improved structure for holding the lifting mechanism in a substantially vertically position when detached from the carriage vehicle comprising in combination with the above at least one rigid structural member extendable in the horizontal plane from said vertically disposed rigid chassis on the side opposite of said mounts for attachment to tha carriage vehicle. 24. The invention as defined in Claim 23 with the additional limitation of said rigid structural member connected to a downwardly extendable member within said vertically disposed rigid chassis. 25. The invention as defined in Claim 24 with the additional limitation of said rigid structural member rotationally hinged to said .downwardly extendable member within said vertically disposed rigid chassis.

Inventors: RIGGIN STEVEN, RIGGIN, STEVEN
Applicants: RIGGIN STEVEN, RIGGIN, STEVEN
Application year: 1986
Main classification: B60P1
IPC codes: B60P3