Abstract:
An arrangement for detection of the sharpness of chopper knives that can be moved relative to a shear bar includes a sensor that detects the effective cutting forces directly or indirectly and an evaluation arrangement connected to the sensor. The evaluation arrangement integrates the measured values of the sensor over time in order to generate information concerning the sharpness of the chopper knives.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The invention concerns arrangements and a processes for the determination of the sharpness of agricultural chopper knives that can be moved relative to a shear bar and more particularly to such arrangements having a sensor for the determination of a magnitude depending on the cutting force and an evaluation arrangement connected to the sensor. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    In agricultural forage harvesters the sharpness of the chopper knives is a significant factor in the quality of the cut and is also a factor in the spacing between the shear bar and the chopper knives, and the power required for the cutting operation, since the cutting force increases significantly with dull chopper knives. Usually the operator of the forage harvester recognizes from the cutter sounds, the rotational speed of the drive motor and/or the quality of the chopper cut the time at which a grinding process is required, in order to sharpen the chopper knives again. Here it is seen as a disadvantage that the recognition of the sharpness of the chopper knives by the operator is subject to subjective influences and determinations and accordingly is not very exact. Since the sharpness of the chopper knives at the beginning of the grinding cycle is not known precisely, the determination of the duration of the grinding is also problematic, so that in many cases either too much or too little material is ground off the chopper knives, which leads in the first case to unnecessary wear, and in the second case to inadequate sharpness of the chopper knives. 
         [0003]    In order to improve the accuracy of the recognition of the sharpness of the chopper knives and to control the grinding process automatically, various procedures have been described. 
         [0004]    DE19903153C1 proposes measuring the forces applied by the chopper knives to the shear bar in the radial, as well as the tangential direction, and to form a quotient from these that represents a measure of the sharpness of the chopper knives. 
         [0005]    According to DE10235919A1 the acceleration of the shear bar is detected and subjected to a frequency analysis. On the basis of the harmonic wave spectrum a determination can be made whether the chopper knives are still sufficiently sharp or not. 
         [0006]    Moreover, DE4133043A1 proposes that the number of cutting operations in a cutting machine be detected in order to initiate a grinding process and to initiate a grinding process after reaching a predetermined number of cutting operations. 
         [0007]    Finally US 2007/0209344 A1 describes a lawn mower in which the drive power of the cutting spindle is detected. If it exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the operator is advised to perform a grinding operation. 
         [0008]    In the state of the art it is seen as detrimental that the procedure based on the detection of the cutting angle, according to DE19903153C1 and DE10235919A1, does not always operate accurately enough, since the cutting forces depend not only on the sharpness of the chopper knives and their distance from the shear bar, but also upon mechanical properties of the chopped harvested crop and its through put. A direct determination of the number of cutting processes according to DE4133043A1 is not feasible in the case of a forage harvester, while a detection of the drive power requirement analogous to US 2007/0209344 A1 would also not lead to sufficiently accurate measurement values due to the effect of the material properties of the harvested crop and the spacing between the shear bar and the chopper knives. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The purpose underlying the invention is seen in the need to make available an improved arrangement for the determination of the sharpness of the chopper knives as against the state of the art described above. 
         [0010]    In each cutting process of the chopper knives forces are applied to the shear bar that lead to the chopping of the harvested crop but also to the wear or the process of dulling the chopper knives. The magnitude of the cutting forces or the cutting energy as well as the number of cutting processes performed by the cutting knives is decisive for the wear of the chopper knives. The underlying idea of the present invention lies in the fact that the wear of the knives is correlated with a time integral of the cutting forces or the cutting energy. Therefore a sensor measures a magnitude dependent upon the cutting forces applied to the chopping of the harvested crop and a signal dependent upon the magnitude detected is integrated over time by an evaluation arrangement, in order to generate information regarding the sharpness of the chopper knives. 
         [0011]    The information so generated can be used by a preferred embodiment of the invention to determine the duration of grinding and/or a number of grinding processes, with which the chopper knives can again be brought into a sharpened condition. This process has the advantage that the grinding process can occur at any desired, appropriate time, for example, during operation on public roads, and conforms automatically to the actual condition of sharpness of the chopper knives. 
         [0012]    The evaluation arrangement calculates the duration of grinding and/or the number of grinding processes preferably in such a way that after the grinding process a sharpened condition of the chopper knives has been reached that corresponds to the condition of the chopper knives after the last, previous grinding process or a reference sharpness value. 
         [0013]    In order to be able to consider properties of the harvested crop or other effects, the duration of the grinding recommended by the evaluation arrangement or the number of grinding cycles can be varied upward or downward by a correction factor provided as input to the evaluation arrangement. 
         [0014]    In another embodiment the evaluation arrangement can compare the information thus won regarding the sharpness of the chopper knives with a threshold value, so that if a sharpness of the chopper knives, provided as input, is not reached it can automatically initiate a grinding process, in which it informs the operator correspondingly and/or it activates the grinding process automatically, after the flow of the harvested crop has been interrupted by the operator or by other forces. 
         [0015]    Preferably the effective cutting forces are detected by a vibration measurement. A single vibration sensor can be used that is sensitive in the direction of the effective cutting forces, or at least one vibration sensor is used that is sensitive in two directions different from each other, for example, orthogonal to each other. In the second case the resulting cutting forces are determined, in which the signals that can be superimposed vectorally in two different directions in such a way that the resulting signal is a measure of the vibrations extending in the direction of the cut. For this purpose the signals associated with the various directions of the vibration sensor can be added vectorally, in that they are raised to the second power, the squares added and finally the square root drawn from the result. In place of a vibration measurement the effective cutting forces, however, can also be detected by force sensors that are arranged, for example, between the shear bar and the bed of the shear bar supported on the frame of the forage harvester. 
         [0016]    The vibration sensor or the vibration sensors can be attached directly to the shear bar or to the bed of the shear bar or at any desired other location in the forage harvester at which the vibrations generated by the cutting process can be detected, for example on the bearing support of the chopper drum. 
         [0017]    The signals of the sensor are preferably filtered before the integration in order to eliminate disturbing effects as far as possible. The limiting frequencies of the filtration can be provided as fixed or variable input. A spectral analysis of the vibrations generated by the chopper knives can be performed during the design of the evaluation arrangement or automatically by it during the operation, in order to establish a limiting frequency as close as possible, so that the filters permit the passage of only the vibrations generated by the chopper knives. 
         [0018]    Moreover, the form of the enveloping curve of the signal can be considered by the evaluation in order to detect the impact of the cutting process. For this purpose in particular, the peak factor of the enveloping curve can be determined. This is then integrated by the evaluation arrangement, in order to attain information regarding particularly hard impacts experienced by the chopper knives that are associated with particular wear of the chopper knives and thereby affect the sharpness of the chopper knives. Alternately or in addition the cutting energy is determined in that the thickness of the mass of harvested crop is multiplied with the cutting force and its product is then integrated over time. In both these evaluation processes an analysis can be made, that is a consideration of the rotational speed of the chopper drum, and the signals of the individual cutting processes. 
         [0019]    In a preferred embodiment a characteristic of the invention is summed up or integrated over time that is proportional to the immediate rate of wear of the knives and is formed on the basis of the spectral resolution of the vibrations generated by cutting process. For this purpose the amplitudes of the vibrations detected by the vibration sensor in a narrow band about the cutting frequency of each knife (that is, the number of cutting processes performed by the knife in a unit of time) as well as the amplitudes of the integral multiples (harmonics) of the cutting frequencies. For this purpose filtering of the signals of the vibration sensor can be performed (over time), or a Fourier transformation is performed, in order to transform and analyze the signals in the frequency range. The aforementioned amplitudes can be weighted and summed up in order to calculate the characteristic, that is, a weighted factor is associated with the fundamental frequency and each harmonic, with which the immediate amplitudes is multiplied, and then the individual products are summed up, in order to determine the characteristic. In addition to the pure amplitude spectra, spectra derived from these also apply, such as the spectral power density, (PSD power spectral density that defines the energy distribution of the signal upon the frequencies detected) and logarithmic amplitude or a logarithmic power density. 
         [0020]    Finally a characteristic may be stored in memory of the evaluation arrangement, with which the latter compensates for a non-linear course between the time integral of the sensor signals so far detected and the sharpness of the chopper knives. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0021]    The several embodiments of the invention are described in greater detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: 
           [0022]      FIG. 1  is a schematic side view of a harvesting machine, to which the arrangement, according to the invention, is applied; 
           [0023]      FIG. 2  is a schematic illustration of the arrangement, according to the invention; 
           [0024]      FIG. 3  is a schematic illustration of the chopper drum with other possible attachment points for the vibration sensors; 
           [0025]      FIG. 4  is a first embodiment of an integration arrangement for the determination of the cutting force integral; 
           [0026]      FIG. 5  is a second embodiment of an integration arrangement for the determination of the cutting force integral; 
           [0027]      FIG. 6  is a third embodiment of an integration arrangement for the determination of the cutting force integral; 
           [0028]      FIG. 7  is a fourth embodiment of an integration arrangement for the determination of the cutting force integral; 
           [0029]      FIG. 8  is a fifth embodiment of an integration arrangement for the determination of the cutting force integral; 
           [0030]      FIG. 9  is a sixth embodiment of an integration arrangement for the determination of the cutting force integral; 
           [0031]      FIG. 10  is a seventh embodiment of an integration arrangement for the determination of the cutting force integral; and, 
           [0032]      FIG. 11  is a flow chart according to which the evaluation arrangement of the arrangement operates. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0033]    A harvesting machine  10 , shown in  FIG. 1 , in the form of a self propelled forage harvester is supported by a frame  12  that is carried by front and rear wheels  14  and  16 . The harvesting machine  10  is controlled from an operator&#39;s cab  18 , from which a harvested crop take up arrangement  20  in the form of a pick-up can be controlled visually. Crop taken up from the ground by means of the harvested crop take-up arrangement  20 , for example, grass or the like, is conducted to a chopper drum  22  equipped with chopper knives  48 , that chops it into small pieces and delivers it to a conveyor arrangement  24 . The crop is discharged from the harvesting machine  10  to a trailer operating alongside via an outlet duct  26  that can be rotated. A post chopper reduction arrangement  28  is located between the chopper drum  22  and the conveyor arrangement  24  through which the crop that is to be conveyed is conducted tangentially to the conveyor arrangement  24 . Between the harvested crop take-up arrangement  20  and the chopper drum  22  the crop is transported by lower pre-pressing rolls  30 ,  32  and upper pre-pressing rolls  34 ,  36 . 
         [0034]    Now reference will be made to  FIG. 2 , on the basis of which it can be seen that the chopper knives  48  that are distributed around the chopper drum  22  interact with a shear bar  38  in order to chop the harvested crop. The shear bar  38  is equipped with an adjusting arrangement  40  (see  FIG. 2 ) that is arranged for the movement of the shear bar  38  in the horizontal direction towards the chopper drum  22  and away from it. It is used to adjust the size of the cutting gap. A vibration sensor  42  is arranged at both side ends of the shear bar bed  58  that supports the shear bar  38  on the frame  12 . 
         [0035]    The vibration sensor  42  fastened to the shear bar bed  58  is a component of an arrangement to determine the sharpness of the chopper knives, that is shown as a whole in  FIG. 2 . The vibration sensor  42  includes a mass  52  supported on springs  50  whose position can be determined by a position sensor  54  that operates, for example, capacitively or inductively. If the shear bar  38  is accelerated then the housing  56  of the vibration sensor  42  is also accelerated, the housing is preferably removable, while the mass  52  initially remains stationary due to its inertia, and is brought into motion with a time delay as a result of its suspension on springs  50 . The relative motion between the housing  56  and the mass  52  is detected by the position sensor  54 . The vibration sensor  42 , as seen in  FIG. 2 , detects vibrations that extend at an angle to the front and downward along a surface of the shear bar bed  58  adjacent to the chopper drum  22 , since the springs  50  extend at an angle downward and to the front. Accordingly, the sensitive direction of the vibration sensor  42  extends approximately parallel to the diagonal of the shear bar  38 . The intention is that the sensitive direction of the vibration sensor  42  extends parallel to the direction in which cutting forces developed during the cutting of the harvested crop are oriented on the shear bar  38 , so that the vibration sensor  42  provides information about these cutting forces. The position of the vibration sensor  42  or of at least the spring  50  and the mass  52  may be adjustable, in particular about the longitudinal axis of the shear bar bed  58  or an axis extending parallel thereto, in order to orient the sensitive direction of the vibration sensor  42  as precisely as possible in the direction of the cutting forces. As indicated in the drawing the vibration sensors  42 ,  42 ′ may be arranged at both ends of the shear bar bed  58  (or at any desirable location in between). The output signals of the position sensors  54  of the vibration sensors  42 ,  42 ′ are conducted to an evaluation arrangement  46  that could be arranged, for example, in the operator&#39;s cab  18 . The evaluation arrangement  46  includes an amplifier  44 , an analog/digital converter  62 ; an integration arrangement  64  and an evaluation switch arrangement  66 . The amplifier  44  amplifies the incoming signals of the vibration sensor  42  and, if necessary,  42 ′, while the analog/digital converter  62  converts the amplified output signals of the amplifier into digital quantities. The integrator  64  and the evaluation switch arrangement  66  are accordingly provided as digital switch arrangements in the form of a micro processor  68 , although they could also be provided in another embodiment as an analog switch or discrete digital switches. 
         [0036]      FIG. 3  shows alternative attachment possibilities and configurations for the vibration sensors  42 ″,  42 ″′. A possible attachment is on the surface of the shear bar  38  facing away from the chopper drum  22 , at whose center the vibration sensor  42 ″ is fastened to a retaining arrangement  60 . A further attachment possibility for the vibration sensor  42 ″′ is located at a bearing support  74 , with which the chopper drum  22  is supported on the frame  12 , free to rotate. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the vibration sensors  42 ″ and  42 ″′ include in each case two masses  52  and position sensors  54 , whose sensitive directions extend orthogonally to each other, although they may also include another, different angle from 0° to 180°. As also shown in  FIG. 2 , vibration sensors of the type with two masses and position sensors, in each case with sensitive directions in the orthogonal (or including any other desired angle) direction can also be fastened to the shear bar bed  58 . As a rule, the arrangement for the determination of the sharpness of the chopper knives  48  includes only a single vibration sensor  42 ,  42 ′,  42 ″,  42 ″′, although two or more of the vibration sensors  42 ,  42 ′,  42 ″,  42 ″′ could also be used, in order to improve the accuracy and in the case of failure of one of the vibration sensors  42 ,  42 ′,  42 ″,  42 ″′ sufficient redundancy is available. During the evaluation the signal of the two position sensors  54  of a vibration sensor  42 ″,  42 ″′ could be superimposed vectorally, in that the signal x, y of the vibration sensor are squared and added and finally the square root is determined: (x 2 +y 2 ) 1/2 . 
         [0037]      FIG. 4  shows a first embodiment of an integration arrangement  64  to determine the integral of the cutting forces, in which the signal of the vibration sensors  42 ,  42 ′,  42 ″ or  42 ″′ are initially conducted optionally through a band pass filter  76 . Then the signals are conducted through an averaging device  78  that can be performed in known manner by a rectifier and a condenser. Finally the averages of the signals are integrated over time in an integrator  80 . 
         [0038]      FIG. 5  shows a second embodiment of an integration arrangement  64  for the determination of the cutting force integral, with which the signals of the vibration sensors  42 ,  42 ′,  42 ″, or  42 ″′ are initially conducted to a Fourier transformation arrangement  82 . Then the signals that have been transformed by the Fourier transformation are optionally conducted through a band pass filter  84 . Finally the averages of the signals that have been Fourier transformed are integrated over time and over the frequency in an integrator  86 . 
         [0039]      FIG. 6  shows a third embodiment of an integration arrangement  64  for the determination of the cutting force integral, in which the signals of the vibration sensors  42 ,  42 ′,  42 ″,  42 ″′ are initially conducted optionally through a band pass filter  76 . Then they are conducted to a converter  88 , that converts their arrangement in time into an angular arrangement, based on the rotational speed information regarding the rotational speed of the chopper drum  22 , that is conducted to it over a CAN bus. These signals are then conducted to a Fourier transformation arrangement  90 . Then the Fourier transformed signals are conducted optionally through a further band pass filter  92 . Finally the average values of the Fourier transformed signals are integrated up over time and over the frequency in an integrator  86 . 
         [0040]      FIG. 7  shows a fourth embodiment of an integration arrangement  64  for the determination of the cutting force integral, in which the signals of the vibrations sensors  42 ,  42 ′,  42 ″,  42 ″′ are initially conducted optionally through a band pass filter  76 . Then they are conducted to a converter  88  that transforms its variation with time into an angular variation, that is based on a rotational speed information regarding the rotational speed of the chopper drum  22  that is conducted to it over a CAN bus. 
         [0041]    These signals are conducted to a Hilbert transformation arrangement to extract the enveloping curve, and finally conducted to a Fourier transformation arrangement  90 . Then the Fourier transformed signals are conducted optionally further through a band pass filter  92 . Finally the averages of the Fourier transformed signals are integrated in an integrator  86  over time and over the frequency. The integral is a measure for the impact to which the chopper knives  48  have been subjected. 
         [0042]      FIG. 8  shows a fifth embodiment of an integration arrangement  64  for the determination of the cutting force integral, in which the signals of the vibration sensors  42 ,  42 ′,  42 ″ and  42 ″′ are initially conducted optimally through a band pass filter  76 . Then they are conducted to a first integrator  94 . The integration of the signals of the vibration sensors  42 ,  42 ′,  42 ″ and  42 ″ results in a velocity, since the vibration sensor  42 ,  42 ′,  42 ″ and  42 ″′ for their part detect the accelerations. This velocity is then squared in a squaring device  96  in order to determine the kinetic energy, which is then finally integrated over time in a further integrator  98 . 
         [0043]      FIG. 9  shows a sixth embodiment of an integration arrangement  64  for the determination of the cutting force integral, in which the signals of the vibration sensors  42 ,  42 ′  42 ″ or  42 ″ are multiplied by a magnitude h and then integrated over time in the integrator  114 . The magnitude h corresponds to the thickness of the layer of the chopped harvested crop mass and is detected, for example, by means of a sensor that detects the distance between the upper pre-pressing rolls  34 ,  36  and the lower pre-pressing rolls  30 ,  32 . Here the cutting energy is determined, that results from multiplication of the path h (thickness of the layer) with the cutting force. The latter is measured here on the basis of the acceleration that is proportional to it that is detected by means of the vibration sensors  42 ,  42 ′,  42 ″ and  42 ′. 
         [0044]      FIG. 10  shows a seventh embodiment of an integration arrangement  64  for the determination of the cutting force integral. Analogous to the embodiment according to  FIG. 6  the signals of the vibration sensors  42 ,  42 ′,  42 ″,  42 ″ are conducted initially optionally through a band pass filter  76 . Then they are conducted to a converter  88 , that converts a timely arrangement into an angular arrangement, based upon the rotational speed information concerning the rotational speed of the chopper drum  22 , that is conducted to it over a CAN bus. These signals are then conducted to a Fourier transformation arrangement  90 . A calculating arrangement  116  then has a signal x(f) available, that reproduces the immediate amplitude x of the detected vibration at the frequencies f. The cutting interference or knife contact frequency, that is, the number of the cutting processes that each of the chopper knives  48  performs per unit of time, is designated as f 1 , while the second, third or n-multiple of the cutting frequency (that is the higher harmonics) are denoted as f 2 , f 3 , and f n . In the calculating arrangement  116 , the amplitude x 1  at the cutting factor f 1  is multiplied by a weighting factor a 1 . Furthermore, the amplitude x 2  at the second harmonic f 2  of the cutting frequency is multiplied by a weighting factor a 2  and added to it, as well as the amplitude x 3  at the third harmonic f 3  of the cutting frequency multiplied by a weighting factor a 3  and added to it. This summation is performed up to an upper harmonic n, that may for example, amount to 5 or 12. In this way a characteristic K is determined in the calculating arrangement  116  that is then integrated upward in an integrator  118  over time in order to determine the cutting force integral. 
         [0045]    In the following the method of operation of the evaluation arrangement  46  is explained on the basis of the flow chart shown in  FIG. 11 . After the start in step  100 , in the following step  102  the integrator  64  is set to zero, so that the cutting force integral that was stored in memory there is initially set back. In the following step  104  the incoming vibration signals from the vibration sensors  42 ,  42 ′ are integrated upward in the integration arrangement  64 , for example, that are shown or described on the basis of one or more or all of  FIGS. 4 through 9 . 
         [0046]    Step  106  follows, in which the micro processor  68  inquires whether an input has occurred according to which a calculation of the duration of the grinding process is to be performed. If this is not the case, step  104  again follows, while on the other hand, step  108  is performed, in which the signals that were integrated in the integration arrangement  64  are utilized by the evaluation arrangement  66 , in order to calculate an adequate grinding duration, that makes it possible to provide an adequate sharpness of the chopper knives  48  by means of a grinding arrangement. Accordingly the possibility is offered to perform the grinding process at an appropriate time, for example, during operation on public roads or during a pause in the harvesting process in order to calculate the proper duration of the grinding process automatically. Here the results of the integration arrangement  64 , according to one or more or all of the  FIGS. 4 through 10  can be used individually or in any combination, where in step  108  for example in every case the integrated signal of  FIGS. 4 through 10  is used for the calculation of the duration of the grinding process that results in the longest grinding duration, or an average is used among the results of the integration arrangement  64  of the  FIGS. 4 through 10 . 
         [0047]    In the individual case a calculation can be performed as to how long a grinding stone of the grinding arrangement  72  is to be moved back and forth across the width of the chopper drum  22 , or the number of movements across the width of the chopper drum  22  is determined, where a fixed movement velocity is defined as the starting point. The time of the grinding process across the width of the chopper drum  22  can also be selected differently, in order to take into account more or less wear in the area of the center of the chopper drum  22  in contrast to the outer sides. For this purpose reference should be made to DE10035742A1, whose disclosure is incorporated by reference into the present document. Moreover, a correction factor can be provided as input by means of the operator input arrangement  70 , in order to affect the recommended number of grinding operations or the duration of grinding upward or downward in order to account for, for example, material properties such as the hardness of the harvested crop or the quality of the chopper knives  48 . Furthermore, a calibration characteristic provided as input into the evaluation arrangement  66  can be used to compensate for a non-linear relationship between the signal detected by the vibration sensor  42  and the sharpness of the chopper knives  48 . Finally, step  108  considers the degree of sharpness the chopper knives  48  should reach after the grinding process. This information is recalled from a memory that applied during a previous course through the flow chart of  FIG. 3  that has been associated with a value for the signals of the vibration sensors  42  immediately after a grinding process (compare step  112 ). Alternatively information about the sharpness that is to be reached could be provided as a fixed input and stored in memory. 
         [0048]    If the micro processor  68  should not be in a position to integrate simultaneously further signals of the cutting force (step  104 ) during step  108 , the signals received during the time for step  108  can be interpolated statistically. Then in step  110  a grinding process is performed by means of the grinding arrangement  72  that can be controlled automatically by the evaluation arrangement  46 . Moreover, the number and/or the duration of the total number of grinding processes that are to be performed, that have been performed or missing grinding processes are displayed on the operator&#39;s input arrangement  70 . Step  112  follows step  110 , in which, during a subsequent grinding process a signal of the cutting force is detected over a sufficiently long period of time and is stored in memory. This value stored in memory is required in the following step  108 . Then step  102  again follows. 
         [0049]    Having described the preferred embodiment, it will become apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims.