Abstract:
An extendable belt conveyor system designed to be installed under a self-propelled windrower between the front and the rear wheels suitable for multiple windrowing operations. The self-propelled windrower with the extendable belt conveyor system deliver a swath at a variable distance from the windrower, either on left or on the right, as the machine moves through the field. The conveyor can be directed on the left or on the right at variable distances with no need to manually change a part. The extendable belt conveyor system has at least two conveyors disposed one above the others and are connected with a trolley between each conveyor. The extendable belt conveyor system is driven by a single driving means and by a single reversible motor.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   There are no cross-related applications. 
   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is particularly suited to be used in a windrower and, more particularly, to windrower equipment of the type that is capable of producing multiple adjacent swaths to make the most efficient use of the high capacity available in large equipment to collect severed crop materials. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   High capacity machines such as a big square baler or a forage harvester have a very high capacity to ingest a large amount of severed crop materials during each pass through the field. However, most existing harvesting machines are not able to create enough quantity of severed crop materials to use the maximal capacity of big square balers or forage harvesters. The problem underlying with this small quantity is that too many operating steps are required to collect the severed crop materials. 
   Thus, multiple adjacent swaths lead to a higher efficiency when collecting the severed crop materials. However, in the case where the ground is inclined or in mountainous environment, the harvesting has to be made in only one direction. The methods developed at this time to make multiple adjacent swaths imply that each pass are made in opposite directions and this is not convenient for the ground types mentioned above. 
   Furthermore, in prior art equipment, each conveyor needs to have its own reversible motor, thus increasing the cost and time for the equipment and its maintenance. 
   There is therefore a need for a self-propelled harvester that improves the efficiency of the collection of severed crop materials, and which is usable for fields located in mountainous environment or inclined ground. 
   OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
   One important object of the present invention is to provide a windrowing machine in which multiple (preferably quadruple) adjacent swaths can be formed by the same windrower. 
   Another object of the present invention is to provide a conveyor capable of delivery on both sides. 
   A further object of the present invention is to provide delivery at a variable distance from the vehicle. 
   A still further object of the present invention is to provide an extendable belt conveyor system driven by a single driving means. 
   Another object of the present invention is to provide an extendable belt conveyor system driven by a single motor. 
   Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiments about to be described or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention provides an extendable system conveyor that is particularly useful when used for side delivery of severed crop materials at different distances. However, this conveyor can be used in other applications other than the harvesting field, where a conveyor is needed with similar characteristics. The invention will be described when it is used with a self-propelled windrower and as a free standing conveyor. 
   According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a self-propelled windrower having an extendable belt conveyor system that is capable of moving to either side of the windrower, and being extended at variable lengths. The severed crop materials can therefore be sent on either side of the vehicle by using a reversible motor. Because the extendable belt conveyor system is using only one driving means for all the conveyor elements, the rotation of all the conveyors is changed by reversing the motor rotation. This can be of a particular interest for fields located in mountains or on inclined ground because the passes can be made only in one direction for the stability of the vehicle. So there is no need to change the equipment to send the severed crop materials on other side of the vehicle. The driving means may be a driving belt or a driving chain. It is to be noted that the conveying belt transporting the material could also act both as a conveying belt and as a driving belt. 
   The procedure explained above is for a field on an inclined ground where the vehicle can be driven in only one direction but it should be understood that the procedure can be made with passes done alternatively in opposite directions. During a first pass in the procedure, the operator positions the machine at a distance inwardly from the uncut edge of the standing crop materials, such distance preferably being approximately the same or slightly less than the width of cut normally taken by the header. As the first pass is made, the conveyor is maintained in a position so that severed crop materials is issued on the right of the vehicle without passing over the border created on the right. This produces a first deposit of severed crop materials and creates the first swath. 
   The second pass is then made in the same direction on the left side of the first pass. Thus, as the second pass is carried out, the severed crop materials are sent on the right of the vehicle by the conveyor, now further extended to the right. This second swath is disposed at the left of the first swath or over it. 
   The third pass is made on the left side of the first swath, the left side of the header following the right border of the first swath. The severed crop materials are now sent to the left side of the vehicle, on the right of the first swath or over it. 
   Finally, the fourth swath is made at the right of the third swath, the left side of the header following the right border of the third swath. The severed crop materials are then sent to the left side of the vehicle, on the right of the third swath or over it. The conveyor is more extended than for the third pass to deliver the severed crop materials farther on the left. With these four passes, a larger swath has been created by the accumulation of four swaths and this larger swath can be ingested by equipment such as a big square baler in only one pass. 
   In the present invention, the severed crop materials can be delivered at variable length on both side of the self-propelled windrower with the extendable belt conveyor system fixed under the vehicle with only one reversible motor. This is possible with the use of a single driving means to drive all the conveyors. 
   In one form of the invention, an extendable belt conveyor system is composed by two belt conveyors driven by a single means, an upper conveyor and a lower conveyor. Both conveyors are connected by a single driving means passing into a trolley located between these two conveyors. 
   The trolley has two functions in the extendable belt conveyor system, first it acts as a tensioning system to keep the tension in the belt with tensioning means, and secondly it allows the relative movement of the conveyors to each other. The trolley has two idler rollers, which can be adjusted to control the tension of the belt. Furthermore, while the extendable belt conveyor system is extending, the idler rollers allows the displacement of a conveyor relatively to its adjacent conveyor. 
   The trolley can move freely between the idler rollers of the upper conveyor in a parallel way. However, the trolley cannot go farther on the left or on the right than the extremity or the upper conveyor. The movement of the trolley allows the lower conveyor to extend on the both sides or extremities of the lower conveyor. More than two conveyors can be installed, with a trolley between consecutive conveyor, if needed, following the same principles. 
   In another form of the invention, still with two conveyors one above the other, the driving means is still the same for the upper and the lower conveyor but each conveyor has its own conveyor belt to transport the material. As the precedent embodiment, a trolley between the conveyors allows the assembly to extend laterally on both sides of the upper conveyor. The torque required to operate the conveyor is provided to the sprocket wheels at the extremities of the idler rollers by the driving means (which can be a chain, an endless belt or any other suitable device). With this configuration, an engaging device (clutch) can be used to activate the second conveyor only when needed. 
   The trolley between the conveyors may be fixedly attached to one of the conveyors if the extension is needed on only one side. The extension is made on the side (right or left) were the trolley is fixed, the belt passing through both conveyors. 
   Even with a fixed trolley between the conveyors, two independents belts can be used to carry the material and the driving means is connected to sprocket wheels at the extremities of the idler rollers of the conveyors, still using only one driving means. 
   The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIGS. 1   a ,  1   b ,  1   c  and  1   d  are schematic top plan views illustrating a quadruple windrowing method in accordance with the principles of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an embodiment of the extendable belt conveyor system being extended to the right. 
       FIGS. 3   a ,  3   b  and  3   c  are side views of a first embodiment of the invention having a single belt acting as a conveyor belt and as a drive belt,  FIG. 3   a  showing a central position,  3   b  a right side extension and  3   c  a left side extension. 
       FIGS. 4   a ,  4   b  and  4   c  are side views of a second embodiment of the invention having two independent conveyor belts and a single driving means,  FIG. 4   a  showing a central position,  4   b  a right side extension and  4   c  a left side extension. 
       FIGS. 5   a ,  5   b ,  5   c  are side views of a third embodiment of the invention, having a four conveyor assembly,  FIG. 5   a  showing a central position,  5   b  a right side extension and  5   c  a left side extension. 
       FIGS. 6   a  and  6   b  are side views of another embodiment of the invention, with a fixed trolley on the upper conveyor,  FIG. 6   a  showing a central position and  6   b  the right side extension. 
       FIGS. 7   a  and  7   b  are side views of another embodiment of the invention, with a fixed trolley on the left of the lower conveyor,  FIG. 7   a  showing a central position and  7   b  the right side extension. 
       FIGS. 8   a  and  8   b  are side views of another embodiment of the invention, wherein the lower conveyor is driven with the driving means of the upper conveyor through a fixed trolley,  FIG. 8   a  showing a central position and  8   b  the right side extension. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   The present invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, some possible embodiments are presented. 
     FIGS. 1   a ,  1   b ,  1   c  and  1   d  illustrate a procedure to group four swaths  17 ,  20 ,  22 ,  24  together with the extendable belt conveyor system  16  attached to a self-propelled windrower  13 . The self-propelled windrower  13  comprises a self-propelled vehicle  15 , a header  14  attached to the front of the self-propelled vehicle  15  and an extendable belt conveyor system  16  for the side delivery of the swaths. 
   In  FIG. 1   a , the self-propelled windrower  13  is shown doing the first of the four passes in a field  10  of standing crop materials. The field  10  is delimited by the border  12  which separate the cut part  25  and the uncut part. For the first pass, the operator positions the windrower  13  essentially one header width inwardly from border  12  thus the distance between the border  12  and the left extremity of the header  14  is no greater than the cutting width of header  14 . The conveyor  16 , which is transversally fixed under the windrower  13 , will send the severed crop materials on the right side of the windrower  13  as the latter is moving forwardly. The first swath  17  is then delivered on the left side of the border  26  and a band  19  of standing crop materials is created at the left of the self-propelled windrower  13 . 
   In  FIG. 1   b , the second pass is shown where the self-propelled windrower  13  passes over the uncut band  19  and delivers the severed crop materials into a second swath  20  on the left side of the first swath  17 . The severed crop materials are delivered with the conveyor  16 , which is extended to the right side of the windrower  13  to create the second swath  20  over the swath  17  or on the left border of the first swath  17  without passing over the first swath  17 . 
   The third pass is shown in  FIG. 1   c , where the operator positions the self-propelled windrower  13  on the right border  26  of the first swath  17 . The header  14  is thus following this border  26  to cut the standing crop materials on the right side of the swath  17  and to create a third swath  22  and a border  27 . The conveyor  16  is now extended on the left side of the windrower  13  to deliver the severed crop materials over the swath  17  (not shown) or on the right border  26  of the first swath  17 . 
   The fourth pass is shown in  FIG. 1   d , the windrower being positioned to cut the uncut part  23 . The left side of the header  14  follows the border  27  and the conveyor  16  is extended on the left side of the windrower  13  to deliver the severed crop materials over the third swath  22  (not shown) or on the right side of the third swath  22 . After the fourth pass has been done, a swath composed with the swaths  17 ,  20 ,  22  and  24  has been created. 
   The extendable conveyor  16  is shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3   a, b, c . It comprises two conveyors, the upper conveyor  30  and the lower conveyor  31 . Both conveyors are driven by the same belt  34  operated by a reversible motor  33 . There is also a trolley  42  connecting both conveyors  30  and  31  with the belt, composed by two belt idlers rollers  40  and  41 . In this case, the belt  34  acts as conveying belt and as a driving means. 
   Still in  FIG. 2 , the sides  43  of the upper conveyor  30  act as a support for the slides  44  of the conveyor support  32  of the lower conveyor  31 . The sides  45  of the lower conveyor  31  also act as slides with the sides  44  and  43  of the upper conveyor  30 . The lower conveyor can be slide through the right side of the upper conveyor  30  (as seen in  FIG. 3   b ) and through the left side of the upper conveyor  30  (as seen in  FIG. 3   c ). 
   Now referring to  FIG. 3 , it can be seen that the lower conveyor  31  may extend from both extremities of the upper conveyor  30 . The driving means  34  is moving between the tensioning idler rollers  35  and  36  and is supported by the support rollers  37 . The same belt  34  pass under the idler roller  36  toward the idler roller  41  and then around the tensioning idler rollers  38  and  39 . Finally, the belt  34  goes over the idler roller  39 , passes by the idler roller  40  and return toward the idler roller  35 . 
   The trolley  42  can move freely between the idler rollers  35  and  36  parallely to conveyors  30  and  31 . However, the idler roller  40  cannot go farther on the left than the idler roller  35  (as seen in  FIG. 3   c ) and the idler roller  39  (as seen in  FIG. 3   b ) and, similarly, the idler roller  41  cannot go farther on the right than the idler roller  36  (as seen in  FIG. 3   b ) and the idler roller  38  (as seen in  FIG. 3   c ). 
   The  FIGS. 4   a ,  4   b  and  4   c  are showing an embodiment where an assembly of two superposed conveyors  50  and  51  are driven by the same driving means  134  but having their own conveyor belts, respectively  52  and  53 . The movement of the conveyor is induced with a driving means  134  (for example a chain or an endless belt) acting on sprocket wheels  135 ,  136 ,  138  and  139  fixed on the extremities of the axles  58 ,  59 ,  60  and  61  of the idler rollers  54 ,  55 ,  56  and  57 . The driving means  134  is moving between the tensioning idler rollers  135  and  136 . The driving means  134  passes under the idler roller  136  toward the idler roller  141  and then around the tensioning idler rollers  138  and  139 . Finally, the driving means  134  goes over the idler roller  139 , passes by the idler roller  140  and return toward the idler roller  135 . The trolley  142  can move freely between the idler rollers  135  and  136  parallely to both conveyors. 
   A clutch can be used on the sprocket wheels  135  or  136  (not shown) to engage the lower conveyor  51  only when necessary. 
   The  FIGS. 5   a ,  5   b  and  5   c  show a four level conveyor system  62  having a first conveyor  63 , a second conveyor  64 , a third conveyor  65  and a fourth conveyor  66  all driven by the same belt  70 , acting both as a driving belt and as a conveying belt. They are separate with trolleys  67 ,  68  and  69 , each conveyor interacting with the upper and/or lower conveyor via the trolleys. 
   The  FIGS. 6   a  and  6   b  show two conveyors  71  and  72  driven by the same belt  73 , acting both as a driving belt and as a conveying belt, with a fixed trolley  180  attached to the upper conveyor  71 . With the fixed trolley  180  located on the right side, the conveyor  79  can be extended only on the right side. The belt  73  of the upper conveyor  71  is moving between the tensioning idler rollers  74  and  75 . The same belt  73  passes under the idler roller  75  toward the idler roller  76  and then around the tensioning idler rollers  79  and  78 . Finally, the belt  73  goes over the idler roller  78 , passes by the idler roller  77  and return toward the idler roller  74 . 
     FIG. 7   a  and  7   b  show two conveyors  80  and  81  driven by the same belt  73 , acting both as a driving belt and as a conveying belt, with a fixed trolley  182  attached to the lower conveyor  81 . With the fixed trolley  182  located on the left side, the conveyor  80  can be extended only on the left side. The belt  73  of the upper conveyor  71  is moving between the tensioning idler rollers  74  and  75 . The same belt  73  passes under the idler roller  75  toward the idler roller  76  and then around the tensioning idler rollers  79  and  78 . Finally, the belt  73  goes over the idler roller  78 , passes by the idler roller  77  and return toward the idler roller  74 . 
   In  FIGS. 8   a  and  8   b , the conveyor  171  and the conveyor  172  are driven by the belt  173 . The belt  173  is connected to the idler rollers  175 ,  176 ,  177 ,  178  and  179  of the conveyor  171  which induce the movement.  FIG. 8   b  shows the conveyor  172  completely extended to the right. The conveying belt (not shown) of the conveyor  171  would circulate between tensioning idler roller  173  and  174 . The belt  173  convey the material falling onto the conveyor  172 . 
   Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in detail herein and illustrated in the accompanying figures, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these precise embodiments and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein without departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention.