Abstract:
Repair of a broken finger of a harvester reel pickup tine is accomplished by positioning a repair finger having a cavity over the broken finger stub so that the broken finger stub of the harvester reel pickup tine is received in the cavity of the repair finger, and the repair finger is then fastened adjacent one end to the pickup tine when the broken finger stub is in the cavity.

Description:
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention is directed to the repair of broken harvester reel pickup tine fingers.  
         [0002]     Combines used in the harvesting for example of wheat, soy beans and small grains typically have a rotating cylindrical harvester reel at the forward leading end of the combine to sweep the crop which is to be harvested into the combine apparatus. These reels include a plurality of spaced horizontally extending support shafts which rotate with the reel and which have a plurality of pickup tines attached in side by side relationship to each other along the length of the support shafts. These pickup tines are typically molded in one piece integral construction of a durable plastic, such as for example, nylon, acetal or homopolypropylene, and include a clamp for clamping the pickup tine to the support shaft and an elongate curved finger of a approximately 7½ inches long which extend from the clamp so as to sweep the crop to be harvested into the harvester reel and combine.  
         [0003]     In view of the rather severe environment in which these pickup tines operate and their functional purpose, the fingers of the tines are subject to breakage due to contact with rocks and other objects as well as the crop which itself is being harvested all of which are encountered while the rotating harvester reel is moving over the field being harvested. Various approaches have been employed to minimize to the extent possible such breakage. However, breakage of the fingers will invariably occur.  
         [0004]     Once a sufficient number of tine fingers have been broken to impair the efficient operation of the harvester reel, it is necessary to stop the harvester and manually unscrew and remove the broken pickup tines from the support shaft and replace them with new tines. This obviously is wasteful of both time and effort, requires the use of a tool, and maximizes the time which the combine is out of service.  
         [0005]     The present invention substantially reduces such waste of time, effort and downtime by permitting a broken tine finger to be easily and rapidly repaired without the need for tools or the need to remove the pickup tine from the support shaft and replace it with a new tine. In the present invention a new hollow finger is simply slipped over the remaining portion of the broken finger and is fastened in place to the existing tine without the need to remove the existing tine with its broken finger from the support shaft or the need for tools to do so. Moreover, if the hollow finger itself subsequently becomes broken, it may easily be replaced simply by removing it from the preexisting pickup tine and replacing the hollow finger with a new hollow finger.  
         [0006]     In one principal aspect of the present invention, a finger for receiving a finger of a harvester reel pickup tine comprises an elongate hollow finger having a cavity therein opening to at least one end of the finger and extending over at least a portion of the length of the finger, the cavity being constructed and arranged to receive at least a portion of a finger of the harvester reel pickup tine therein, and at least one fastener adjacent the one end for fastening the hollow finger over the portion of the finger of the pickup tine when the portion is in the cavity.  
         [0007]     In another principal aspect of the present invention, a harvester reel pickup tine comprises a clamp for clamping the pickup tine to a support shaft of a harvester reel, and a first elongate finger extending from adjacent the clamp. A second elongate hollow finger having a cavity therein opens to at least one end of the second hollow finger and extends over at least a portion of the length of the second finger, the cavity being constructed and arranged to receive at least a portion of the first finger therein. At least one fastener adjacent the one end fastens the second hollow finger over the portion of the first finger when the portion is in the cavity.  
         [0008]     In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the hollow finger is curved.  
         [0009]     In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the hollow finger is smaller in cross section toward the end opposite said one end.  
         [0010]     In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the shape of the elongate hollow finger is a substantial replicate of the finger of the harvester reel pickup tine.  
         [0011]     In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the cavity of the hollow finger is constructed and arranged to receive a remaining broken portion of a broken finger of the pickup tine to repair the broken finger.  
         [0012]     In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the fastener is constructed and arranged to frictionally engage the pickup tine to fasten the one end of the hollow finger to the pickup tine.  
         [0013]     In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the fastener comprises a split ring, and preferably a pair of split rings.  
         [0014]     In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the pickup tine includes at least one wing extending from the first finger at an angle thereto, and the clamp, first elongate finger and wing are formed in integral one-piece relationship.  
         [0015]     In still another principal aspect of the present invention, a method of repairing a broken finger of a harvester reel pickup tine comprises positioning an elongate hollow finger having a cavity therein opening to at least one end of the hollow finger and extending over at least a portion of the length of the hollow finger so that at least a portion of a remaining portion of the broken finger extends into the cavity; and fastening the elongate hollow finger over the remaining portion of the broken finger when the portion extends into the cavity.  
         [0016]     In still another principal aspect of the present invention, in the method the elongate hollow finger is frictionally fastened to the pickup tine.  
         [0017]     In still another principal aspect of the present invention, in the method the elongate hollow finger is fastened to a wing of the pickup tine.  
         [0018]     In still another principal aspect of the present invention, in the method the elongate hollow finger is snapped onto the pickup tine.  
         [0019]     In still another principal aspect of the present invention, in the method substantially all of the remaining portion of the broken finger is positioned in the cavity.  
         [0020]     In still another principal aspect of the present invention, in the method the repair is accomplished without removing the pickup tine from the harvester reel.  
         [0021]     These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood through a consideration of the following detailed description. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0022]     In the course of this description reference will be frequently made to the attached drawings in which:  
         [0023]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a harvester reel shown mounted on the front of a harvester combine, and which incorporates the pickup tines in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0024]      FIG. 2  is a broken perspective enlarged view of one of the support shafts of the harvester reel substantially as shown in  FIG. 1 , and upon which three pickup tines are mounted, one of which has been broken;  
         [0025]      FIG. 3  is a partially broken perspective view of the broken pickup tine substantially as shown in  FIG. 2  and with a hollow repair finger in accordance with the invention in the process of being installed;  
         [0026]      FIG. 4  is a partially broken front elevation view of the broken pickup tine with the hollow repair finger in place; and  
         [0027]      FIG. 5  is a partially broken side elevation view of the broken pickup tine as shown in  FIG. 4  with the hollow repair finger in place. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0028]     A combine  10  for harvesting a crop is partially shown in  FIG. 1  having a harvester reel  12  at the forward end thereof for picking up the crop to be harvested for processing by the combine. Such crops typically include wheat, soybeans and other small grains. The harvester reel  12  is comprised of a plurality of horziontally extending spaced apart support shafts  14  which rotate as the reel  12  is rotated. Each of the support shafts  14  has a plurality of pickup tines  16  spaced at approximately equal distances from each other along the length of the support shaft  14  as best seen in  FIGS. 1 and 2 .  
         [0029]     Each of the pickup tines  16  comprises a clamp  18  at one end which is preferably formed by a split ring which may be opened by flexing to present a pair of jaws  20  and  22  as seen in  FIGS. 4 and 5  which may be further flexed to separate from each other to permit passage of the clamp  18  onto and around the support shaft  14 . Once the clamp  18  has been positioned on the support shaft  14 , the jaws  20  and  22  may be drawn together by the threading of a screw  24  through a hole  26  in the jaw  20  and into a threaded hole  28  in the jaw  22  to draw the split rings into clamping arrangement with the support shaft  14 , as best seen in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . The clamp  18  is also preferably recessed at  30  to accommodate and protect the head of the screw  24  in use.  
         [0030]     The clamp  18  of the pickup tine  16  also preferably includes an upwardly extending projection  32 , as best seen in  FIG. 5 , which fits into an opening (not shown) in the support shaft  14  to ensure that the pickup tine  16  does not rotate relative to the support shaft  14  when in use.  
         [0031]     The pickup tine  16  also includes an elongate curved finger  34  which extends downwardly from the clamp  18  to produce the crop gathering and pickup effect for which the harvester reel is provided as the fingers are rotated with the reel as shown by the arrows in  FIG. 2 . The finger  34  is typically solid in cross section. The length of the finger  34  is typically between about 7 and 8 inches. It will be appreciated that the length of the finger may vary without departing from the principles of the invention.  
         [0032]     The pickup tine  16  may also include one or more wings  36 ,  38  which extend at an angle to the finger  34  and in a direction generally parallel to the support shaft  14 . Wings  36 ,  38  also preferably include stiffeners  40 ,  42  which extend along the edges of the wings in order to strengthen the wings  36 ,  38 . As shown in the drawings, the upper stiffener  40  is formed in a generally concave shape to accommodate the curvature of the support shaft  14 , and the lower stiffener  42  is generally cylindrical in shape. It will be appreciated, however, that the stiffeners  40  and  42  may assume different shapes without departing from the principles of the invention. The stiffener  42  at one side of the pickup tine  16  may also include a projection  44  which fits upwardly into a downwardly facing slot  46  in the other wing of the next adjacent pickup tine as seen in  FIGS. 3 and 4  to interlock adjacent pickup tines together along the length of the support shaft  14 .  
         [0033]     The entire pickup tine  16  including its clamp  18 , finger  34  and wings  36 ,  38  may be formed in one-piece integral form by molding from a suitable material, such as for example, nylon, acetal or homopolyproplylene.  
         [0034]     The pickup tine  16  thus far described is conventional and known in the art. The difficulty with such pickup tines is that during use the fingers  34  frequently break somewhere along their elongate length and typically intermediate the ends of the finger  34  to result in a stub S. As shown in  FIGS. 2-5 , this remaining finger stub S is generally too short to serve any substantial function in the gathering and pickup of the crop to be harvested. When enough of the tine fingers  34  have been broken, the combine  10  and its harvester reel  12  must be stopped, and the pickup tines  16  which have broken fingers  34  must be manually removed and replaced by a new pickup tine  16  in order to restore the effectiveness of the harvester reel  12 . This necessitates the use of a tool to unscrew the screw  24 , removal of the clamp  18  from the support shaft  14  together with its wings  36 ,  38 , the repositioning of the clamp  18  and wings  36 ,  38  of a new pickup tine  16  with an unbroken finger  34 , and manipulation of the screw  24  to clamp the new unbroken pickup tine  16  to the support shaft  14 . Obviously, this replacement procedure is both time consuming and labor intensive and can result in considerable combine downtime.  
         [0035]     In the present invention the pickup tine  16  which has broken its finger  34  may be rapidly and easily repaired without the need for tools, or the need to remove the pickup tine  16  from the support shaft  14  and replace it with a new unbroken pickup tine.  
         [0036]     In the present invention an elongate curved hollow repair finger  48  is provided which is of the same general shape and size as the original pickup tine finger  34 , and which preferably is formed of the same material, but may be formed of a different material. The hollow repair finger  48  is hollow because it includes a cavity  50  which extends over at least a portion of the length of the repair finger  48 , and which is constructed and arranged to receive the remaining stub S of the broken finger  34 , as seen in  FIGS. 3-5 . If desired, the cavity  50  may be sized and shaped to receive the entire finger  34  of an unbroken tine. The cavity  50  also includes an opening  52  at its top end to receive substantially the entire length of whatever the length of pickup tine is to be inserted into the cavity  50 .  
         [0037]     In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a pair of fastener split rings  54  straddle the opening  52  and frictionally engage the stiffener  42  by snap fit when the repair finger  48  has been finally positioned on the pickup tine  16  to fasten the repair finger  48  to the pickup tine  16 . Although the remaining finger stub S may be too short to efficiently function in the crop gathering for which it was originally intended, it is typically of a sufficient length to ensure a firm fixation and support of the hollow repair finger  48  to the pickup tine  16  when it is positioned in the cavity  50 .  
         [0038]     Although the original tine finger  34  and the repair finger  48  are disclosed as tapering to a smaller cross sectional dimension toward their distal ends, it will be appreciated that they may be of unchanging, flaring or increasing cross sectional dimension over their length without departing from the present invention. Whatever their cross sectional shape or dimension over their length, it is generally preferred that the shape of the original tine finger is substantially replicated by the repair finger to the extent possible.  
         [0039]     If in future use the hollow repair finger  48  itself becomes broken, all that need be done is to disengage it from the pickup tine  16  by unsnapping and removing the split rings  54  from the stiffeners  42 , and replacing the broken repair finger with a new unbroken repair finger.  
         [0040]     It will be understood that the preferred embodiment of the present invention which has been described is merely illustrative of the principles of the present invention. Modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirt and scope of the invention.