Method and apparatus for adjusting a shearbar relative to a cutterhead

Abstract: In a crop processing device which has an automatically adjustable shearbar mechanism for adjusting the distance between the shearbar and a rotating cutterhead, rotation of the cutterhead is determined by the use of essentially steady state signals without substantial transient components.

Description: The present invention relates generally to crop processing devices, such as forage harvesters, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for automatically adjusting the position of a shearbar, so that it is parallel to a rotating cutterhead, no operator intervention being required except for actuating a switch to initiate the adjustment operation. In US-A-4 799 625, there is disclosed a method and apparatus in which the adjustment between a rotating cutterhead and a shearbar in a forage harvester is achieved automatically under the control of a microprocessor. According to this prior art patent, insofar as relevant for this application, the adjustment process is controlled in part by sensors and procedures which assure that no adjustment process is allowed to proceed unless the sensors have determined that the cutterhead is rotating at or above a predetermined minimum. As pointed out in this US patent, the adjustment mechanism may damage either itself or the cutterhead if the cutterhead is not rotating. In US-A-4 799 625, the rotation of the cutterhead is determined by a tachometer which generates a pulse-train to indicate rotation of the cutterhead. Electrical signals which represent such pulse-trains, even at relatively low repetition rates, contain significant high-frequency components and these high-frequency signal components, even at relatively low power levels, will tend to "leak" from their assigned signal paths into adjacent signal paths and components. Such leakage may effect the operation of adjacent components and cause erratic functioning of certain circuit elements. In the case of agricultural equipment, such as forage harvesters, which operate under difficult environmental conditions of vibration, temperature, and dirt, the problems are compounded. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to improve the method and apparatus for adjusting a shearbar relative to a cutterhead which is not based on pulse electrical signals to determine rotation of the cutterhead, to thereby eliminate malfunctioning due to signal leakage. In the forage harvester described in US-A-4 799 625 the cutterhead is driven (through a selectively engagable clutch) from the prime mover of the forage harvester. To assure that the cutterhead is rotating, it is therefore a necessary element that the prime mover be rotating. Rotation of the prime mover can be inferred from a number of sensors, some of which generate pulse trains (e.g. an alternator) and some of which generate a more or less steady state signal without appreciable transients (e.g. oil pressure sensors). In accordance with one aspect of the present invention a crop processing device is provided, having a prime mover, coupled through clutch means to a rotatable member and also having means for establishing rotation of the rotatable member prior to initiating a control action. This device is characterized in that said rotation establishing means comprise: first signal means for producing a first steady state electrical signal substantially free of transients to indicate motion of said prime mover; second signal means for producing a second steady state signal substantially free of transients to indicate engagement of said clutch means to drive said rotatable member in rotation; and means for combining the steady state signals from said first signal means and said second signal means so that rotation of the rotatable member is established when both steady state signals are present. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the first signal means comprises an oil pressure sensor in an oil supply system of the prime mover to establish one of the two necessary conditions to indicate rotation of the rotatable member, which may be a cutterhead. The other necessary condition to determine rotation is that the clutch means, interposed in the power train between the prime mover and the rotatable member, has been actuated, which may thereby operate a switch which provides a second steady state signal. The two steady state signals are combined so that when both are present, cutterhead rotation is established. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the combination of the two steady state signals may be achieved either in software form through a sequence of program steps, or may be achieved in hard-wired form through an AND circuit. According to another aspect of the present invention a method is provided for establishing rotation of rotatable member in a crop processing device, having a prime mover, coupled through clutch means to said rotatable member. This method is characterized in that it comprises the steps of: producing a first steady state signal substantially free of transients to indicate rotation of the prime mover; producing a second steady state signal substantially free of transients to indicate that the said clutch means are engaged to drive said rotatable member in rotation; and combining the first and the second steady state signals so that rotation of the rotatable member is established when both steady state signals are present. In a further step a control action may be inhibited when no rotation of the rotatable member is established. An apparatus for adjusting a shearbar relative to a cutterhead in accordance with the present invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 comprises a partial circuit diagram of the electrical controls used in US-A-4 799 625 for controlling the shearbar adjustment; Figure 2 is a partial flowchart showing one portion of the routine according to US-A-4 799 625 in which the invention is utilized; and Figure 3 shows the schematic diagram of how the prior art sensing and logic routines are modified in accordance with the invention. With reference to Figure 1, the shearbar adjusting apparatus described in US-A-4 799 625, Col. 3, line 28 to Col. 17, line 42, includes a versatile interface adaptor (VIA) (not shown) which connects the two ports of the VIA by way of two buses collectively designated 231. The bus 231 is connected, among others, to receive the outputs of a plurality of amplifiers 241-244. Amplifier 241 has one input connected to the 5V logic supply voltage and a second input connected through two resistors 248 and 250 to the 12V power supply. The junction between resistors 248 and 250 is connected through a switch 252 to ground. As long as switch 252 is closed the amplifier applies a logic 0 signal to the bus but when switch 252 is open the amplifier applies a logic 1 signal to the bus. The switch 252 is associated with an engage lever (not shown) which is actuated so that a chain drive (not shown) causes a cutterhead to rotate. Switch 252 is thus closed when drive power is applied to the cutterhead. Amplifiers 242-244 are arranged in the same manner as amplifier 241 with switches 254 and 256 being associated with amplifiers 242 and 243, respectively and switches 258 and 260 being associated with amplifier 244. These switches are limit switches for sensing when the ends of the shearbar have reached their limits of travel toward or away from the cutterhead. Switches 254 and 256 are actuated when respective ends of the shearbar are at their limit of travel away from the cutterhead. Switches 258 and 260 are connected in series so that amplifier 244 produces a logic 1 output when either switch is open i.e. when either of the two ends of the shearbar is at its limit of travel toward the cutterhead. The limit switches 254, 256, 258, 260 are incorporated within the housing of motors (not shown) and are actuated by mechanical bi-directional counter mechanisms which count rotations of lead screws driving the respective ends of the shearbar. In accordance with US-A-4 799 625, Col. 6, lines 23-34, a tachometer (not shown) produces a sequence of output pulses at a rate proportional to the speed of rotation of the cutterhead. These pulses are applied over a lead 262 to one input of a comparator amplifier 264. A voltage divider comprising two resistors 266 and 268 is connected between 5 volts and ground, and this reference voltage is applied from the junction of the resistors to a second input of amplifier 264. When the tachometer produces an output pulse exceeding the magnitude of the reference voltage, amplifier 264 applies a logic one signal to bit position of the VIA bus 231. These pulses are then subsequently counted by a counter (not shown). In operation, this portion of the prior art circuitry establishes cutterhead rotation when switch 252 is actuated and when the comparator amplifier 264 applies a logic one signal to the VIA bus 231. The presence of pulses on lead 262 may lead to cross talk between adjacent circuit components and thereby cause erroneous actuation of the shearbar. With reference to Figure 2, there is shown a partial flowchart of how the apparatus per US-A-4 799 625 utilizes circuitry partially shown in Figure 1, to go through a control routine to adjust the respective ends of a shearbar towards, or away from, the cutterhead. Briefly, the adjust routine controls at least one, preferably two, motors (not shown) and begins at step 1200 where the busy flag is set and the ready light flag is reset so that indicators (not shown) will properly indicate the status of the system. The location TIMS is set to 2. If energizations of the several motors result in impact between a rotating cutterhead, the shearbar TIMS is decremented and when TIMS equals 0, the adjustment is complete. Certain flags are also cleared at step 1200. At step 1201 a routine EOTIN is tested to see if one of the switches 258 or 260 is actuated because one end of the shearbar is at its limit of travel toward the cutterhead. If neither switch is actuated, step 1202 checks the RPMOK flag to be sure that the cutterhead is rotating faster than a pre-determined minimum speed, in the manner described before. Assuming that the rpm is satisfactory, the program clears the flag for setting the rpm indicator (not shown) to proceed with further routines 1203, 1204, 1205, 1206, 1207, 1208, 1209 and 1210, all as described in more detailed in Col. 14, lines 14-32 of the aforesaid patent. From a review of the partial flowchart of the routine in Figure 2, it is clear that the adjust routine cannot proceed without a satisfactory RPMOK test performed in step 1202. As noted before, the RPMOK routine of the prior art utilizes the simultaneously condition of switch 252 being closed and the presence of a sufficient number of tach pulses on lead 262 (Figure 1). With reference now to Figure 3, the RPMOK routine is established, not through the presence of pulses with their undesirable effects, but through a sensor 114' which, instead of being a tach pulse generator, is the generator of a steady state signal reflecting the presence of oil pressure in the prime mover. The signal from sensor 114' is applied via lead 262' to one of the inputs of a comparator amplifier 264' which has as its other input a reference signal. Whenever the steady state signal of the oil pressure sensor 114' exceeds the reference signal provided to amplifier comparator 264', the amplifier comparator 264' will generate a steady state voltage signal, as illustrated, on its output lead. The presence of such a steady state voltage level on the output terminal of comparator amplifier 264' establishes one of the necessary conditions to indicate cutterhead rotation. It is noted that while an oil pressure sensor will yield a somewhat varying signal dependent upon prime mover rpm and oil temperature, the signal produced is an essentially steady state signal free of any substantial transient components. The other necessary condition to establish that the cutterhead RPMOK routine is satisfied is provided via a switch 252' the closure of which indicates engagement of the clutch interposed in the power train between the prime mover and the cutterhead. The closed switch feeds one of the two inputs of an amplifier 241', so that when switch 252' is closed the amplifier 241' provides a second logic one signal to the AND operation A which may be achieved through either software programming or through a logical AND circuit. When both inputs to the AND circuit/operation A are at logic one levels, the operation A will produce an RPMOK signal on its output terminal B to provide a signal so that may be used in step 1202 described with reference to Figure 2 to initiate further control action. The absence of pulse signals with their attendant high frequency components thus eliminates one possible cause for erroneous shearbar adjustment. As noted before, the replacement of a pulse signal by a steady state signal is preferably accomplished according to the invention, by the utilization of an oil pressure sensor 114'. However, it is also possible, and within scope of the invention, to derive a steady state signal indicating prime mover rotation through utilization of other monitoring devices such as e.g. a current monitor to indicate flow of current from an alternator which is conventionally a part of the prime mover of a forage harvester. The invention can also be used for establishing rotation of the cutterhead prior to other automatic controls, such as the operation of a device for sharpening the cutterhead knives.

Claims: A crop processing device, having a prime mover, coupled through clutch means to a rotatable member and also having means for establishing rotation of the rotatable member prior to initiating a control action, characterized in that said rotation establishing means comprise: first signal means (114', 264') for producing a first steady state electrical signal substantially free of transients to indicate motion of said prime mover; second signal means (252', 241') for producing a second steady state signal substantially free of transients to indicate engagement of said clutch means to drive said rotatable member in rotation; and means (A) for combining the steady state signals from said first signal means (114', 264') and said second signal means (252', 241') so that rotation of the rotatable member is established when both steady state signals are present. A crop processing device, according to Claim 1, characterized in that said first signal means (114', 264') comprises an oil pressure sensor (114') for indicating the presence of oil pressure in an oil supply system of the prime mover. A crop processing device, according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said second signal means (252', 241') comprises a switch (252') to indicate engagement of said clutch means. A crop processing device, according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that said combining means comprises an AND circuit (A). A crop processing device, according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that said combining means comprises a software program. A crop processing device, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said control action comprises the movement of another member relative to said rotatable member. A crop processing device, according to Claim 6, characterized in that said rotatable member is a cutterhead and said other member is shearbar or a sharpening device. A method for establishing rotation of rotatable member in a crop processing device, having a prime mover, coupled through clutch means to said rotatable member, characterized in that it comprises the steps of: producing a first steady state signal substantially free of transients to indicate rotation of the prime mover; producing a second steady state signal substantially free of transients to indicate that the said clutch means are engaged to drive said rotatable member in rotation; and combining the first and the second steady state signals so that rotation of the rotatable member is established when both steady state signals are present. A method according to Claim 8, characterized in that producing said first steady state signal includes measuring the oil pressure in an oil supply system of the prime mover. A method according to Claim 8 or 9, characterized in that producing said second state signal includes the operation of a switch (252') to indicate engagement of the clutch means. A method according to any of the Claims 8 to 10, characterized in that said first and second steady state signals are provided to an AND circuit (A). A method according to any of the Claims 8 to 11, characterized by the further step of: inhibiting a control action when no rotation of the rotatable member is established. A method according to Claim 12, characterized in that said rotatable member is a cutterhead and said control action comprises the movement of another member relative to said rotatable member. A method according to Claim 13, characterized in that said rotatable member is a cutterhead and said other member is shearbar or a sharpening device.

Inventors: FACKLER ROBERT L, FACKLER, ROBERT L.
Applicants: FORD NEW HOLLAND NV, NEW HOLLAND BELGIUM N.V.
Application year: 1995
Main classification: A01F29
IPC codes: A01F29