Abstract:
A forage harvester is equipped with a safety device which incorporates controls that monitor various operating conditions including an operator&#39;s presence and apply a brake for stopping any possible rotation of the cutting drum whenever an unsafe condition for the operator exists.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The invention concerns a safety arrangement of a harvesting machine including a crop processing arrangement driven in rotation and whose rotation can be stopped by a brake.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     In self-propelled forage harvesters, the chopper drum, due to its rather large moment of inertia, has a relatively long run-down time after the drive has been turned off. In case an operator should rely on the chopper drum being stopped and open the protection arrangement of the chopper drum shortly after the drive is turned off in order to remove a crop jam or in order to clean the machine, the operator is thereby exposed to a high potential danger. It has been proposed that an alarm signal be given when the chopper drum is rotating in order to call the operator&#39;s attention to the fact that the chopper drum is still rotating. However, such alarm signals are given when the operator does not intend to obtain any access to the chopper drum, and therefore are sometimes regarded as disturbing. Furthermore, they do not remove the danger emanating from the chopper drum.  
         [0003]     DD 219 651 A proposes a drive for chopper arrangements that includes a brake for the supply arrangement and the drive of the front attachment, which also acts upon the chopper arrangement. The brake is automatically actuated by a foreign object signaling arrangement. Hence, it is used only to protect the chopper drum against foreign object intrusion. It cannot counteract the danger originating from the chopper arrangement, when the operator turns off the drive, since then the chopper arrangement continues to rotate without any braking.  
         [0004]     U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,711 A describes the control of the brake and the clutch of a lawn mower. In view of the considerably smaller moment of inertia of the knives of the lawn mover, anyone skilled in the art cannot see a reason for the use of this control for an agricultural harvesting machine of the type described initially from this publication.  
         [0005]     The problem underlying the invention is seen in the need to define a solution that makes possible an access without any danger to the operator after turning off the drive of a crop processing arrangement of a harvesting machine.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     According to the present invention, there is provided an improved safety arrangement for permitting safe access to a cutting drum after the power to it has been cut off.  
         [0007]     An object of the invention is to provide a brake for stopping the cutting drum whenever a condition is sensed where the brake should be applied.  
         [0008]     It is proposed that the brake be coupled with a control arrangement that detects whether an operator safety condition has been fulfilled. Only when the operator safety condition has been fulfilled, which is the case when the conclusion can be reached that no danger to the operator can originate form the crop processing arrangement, then the control arrangement permits the release of the brake, otherwise the brake is in the applied position.  
         [0009]     In this way, the result is that the crop processing arrangement is stopped by the brake as long as the operator safety condition is not fulfilled so that the risk of danger to the operator is reduced.  
         [0010]     It is appropriate to insert a clutch between the crop processing arrangement and its drive, that is also controlled by a control arrangement detecting the operator safety condition. The control arrangement disengages the clutch when it applies the brake and engages the clutch when it releases the brake. The result is that the brake does not have to overcome the drive torque of the drive. The shift processes of clutch and brake can be performed synchronously or with a certain time delay.  
         [0011]     The operator safety conditions can be considered as fulfilled when the operator is located at a position in which the operator is not endangered by the crop processing arrangement, for example, in an operator&#39;s cab, and when the operator has engaged the operation of the crop processing arrangement, since then the assumption can be made that the operator does not rely on the fact that the crop processing arrangement is at rest. Therefore, an obvious solution is to couple the control of the brake with the operating witch of the crop processing arrangement, in order to determine whether the operator intends an operation of the crop processing arrangement. Analogously, the control arrangement can be connected with an ignition switch, in particular, of a self-propelled harvesting machine or one controlling the movement of the carrier vehicle. Only when the ignition switch is turned on is a release of the brake useful. Alternatively, or in addition, a switch indicating the presence of an operator may be provided at the operating place of an operator, as a rule, in an operator&#39;s cab or an open operator&#39;s platform. The switch indicating the presence of an operator may, for example, be a seat switch that is actuated only when a load is applied to the operator&#39;s seat and is turned on only when the operator is located at this operating position. Only then does the control arrangement permit a release of the brake. If the operator stands up from his operating place, the brake is activated automatically and the crop processing arrangement is stopped, even though he has not turned off the crop processing arrangement and/or the ignition switch, so that the operator cannot injure himself.  
         [0012]     The brake is preferably actuated hydraulically. In order to assure that the crop processing arrangement stops, for example, during an unintended drop in hydraulic pressure in the on-board hydraulic system or during the stopping of the drive engine, it is useful to pre-load the brake by a spring into its braking position and to release it hydraulically. Thereby, the brake reaches the braking position automatically when the hydraulic pressure drops.  
         [0013]     In various harvesting machines, there is only very little space to accommodate the brake in the vicinity of the crop processing arrangement. In that way, in forage harvesters with chopper drums installed transverse to the direction of operation and in combines with thresher drums also arranged transverse to the direction of operation, there is barely space available alongside the crop processing arrangement, since the total width of the harvesting machines are fixed by the traffic regulations on public roads, and the crop processing arrangements occupy a large proportion of the width remaining between the wheels. Therefore, it has been shown to be advantageous to arrange the brake at a distance from the crop processing arrangement and to connect it through an appropriate drive connection.  
         [0014]     Such a drive connection can be provided by a belt drive that can deflect under tension. In a preferred embodiment, the hydraulic cylinder providing the tension is connected with an accumulator, that assures the continuation of the drive connection even after a pressure drop in the pressure supply for a time interval sufficient to stop the crop processing arrangement. Such an accumulator can also be used for other separable drive connections, that represent a drive clutch, for example, hydraulically actuated disk clutches.  
         [0015]     The safety arrangement according to the invention is appropriate for all harvesting machines in which crop processing arrangements are driven. Examples are thresher drums and thresher and/or separator rotors of combines, chopper drums of forage harvesters, cutting rotors of self-loading forage boxes, and balers.  
         [0016]     The drawings show an embodiment of the invention that shall be described in greater detail in the following. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]      FIG. 1  is a schematic left side view of a harvesting machine.  
         [0018]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram showing the drive of the chopper drum and the safety arrangement of the harvesting machine. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0019]      FIG. 1  shows a harvesting machine  10  in the form of a self-propelled forage harvester. The forage harvester is supported on a frame  12 , that is carried by front wheels  14  and steerable rear wheels  16 . The forage harvester is controlled from an operator&#39;s cab  18  from which a crop take-up arrangement  20  can be viewed and controlled. Crop taken up from the ground by means of the crop take-up arrangement  20 , such as corn, grass or the like are conducted over supply rolls that are arranged within an intake housing, to a chopper drum  22  that chops the crop into small pieces in the interaction with a shear bar and delivers the chopped crop to a conveyor or blower arrangement  24 . The crop leaves the forage harvester to an accompanying transport vehicle or trailer through a discharge duct  26  that is mounted for rotating about an upright axis. A post chopper reduction arrangement or kernel processor  28  is located between the chopper drum  22  and the conveyor arrangement  24  throught which th crop to be conveyed is conducted tangentially to the conveyor arrangement  24 .  
         [0020]      FIG. 2  schematically shows the drive of the chopper drum  22 . A drive engine  30 , as a rule a Diesel engine or other internal combustion engine, provides drive energy that is required for the forward propulsion and the drive of the harvesting arrangements of the harvesting machine  10 . The output shaft  32  of the drive engine  30  drives a hydraulic pump  36  over a gear pair  34 . The hydraulic pump is used for the supply of the on-board hydraulics of the harvesting machine  10  with pressurized hydraulic fluid. This hydraulic pump or another hydraulic pump also generates the hydraulic flow for hydraulic forward propulsion motors that drive the wheels  14 ,  16 . Furthermore, the output shaft  32  is connected so as to drive a belt pulley  40  over an electrically controlled clutch  38 . The clutch  38  could also be shifted hydraulically. A drive belt  42  runs over the belt pulley  40  that furthermore interacts with belt pulleys  44  and  46 . The belt pulley  44  is connected so as to drive the conveyor arrangement  24 , while the belt pulley  46  is connected so as to drive the chopper drum  22 . A tensioning pulley  47  can be brought into a position by a hydraulic cylinder  48  in which it applies tension to the drive belt  42  in such a way that it provides a drive connection between the belt pulleys  40 ,  44 , and  46 .  
         [0021]     After starting the drive engine  30 , the hydraulic pump  36  provides pressurized hydraulic fluid into the hydraulic system that actuates the hydraulic cylinder  48  in order to bring the tensioning pulley  47  into such a position that the drive belt  42  establishes the drive connection between the belt pulleys  40 ,  44 ,  46 . The hydraulic cylinder  48  is buffered by the accumulator  50 .  
         [0022]     The chopper drum  22 , as well as the conveyor arrangement  24  and the drive belt  42 , represent a considerable potential for danger in their rotating condition ofr an operator that comes close to their operating region, in order, for example, to remove jams. To improve the operating safety of the operator, a safety arrangement is provided with a brake  52 , a valve arrangement  62  and a control arrangement  64 . The brake  52  is provided with a body  54  coupled to the conveyor arrangement  24  so as to transmit torque, and brake shoes  56  arranged within it. The brake shoes  56  are pre-loaded by a spring  58  into their braking position. A brake air cylinder  60  is arranged to draw the brake shoes  56  towards each other in order to draw them away from the body  54  and to release the brake  52 . The attachment of the brake  52  on the shaft of the conveyor arrangement has the advantage that there is sufficient space available at this location, while in the region of the chopper drum  22  considerably less space remains, since it is wider than the conveyor arrangement  24 .  
         [0023]     The brake air cylinder  60  is connected so as to conduct hydraulic fluid with the valve arrangement  62 , which for its part is connected with the hydraulic pump  36 . The valve arrangement  62  can be actuated electromagnetically by the control arrangement  64  arranged to detect an operator safety condition. Furthermore, the control arrangement  64  is electrically connected with a control electromagnet  66  of the electrically controlled clutch  38 . Input of the control arrangement  64  is connected with an ignition switch  68 , a chopper drum operating switch  70  and an operator presence sensor  72 . The ignition switch  68  is used to start the drive engine  30  and to stop it, and is coupled by connections known in themselves with the drive engine  30 , not shown for the sake of clarity. The chopper drum operating switch  70  is arranged, as is the ignition switch  68 , in the operator&#39;s cab  18  and is used to activate the harvesting and chopper operation, and to end it. The operator presence sensor  72  is arranged to detect whether the operator is located in the operator&#39;s cab  18 . It can be configured in the form of a seat switch that detects the load on the seat. But the use of a light barrier, an infra-red sensor or a camera is also conceivable to determine whether or not the operator is located in the operator&#39;s cab  18 .  
         [0024]     The operation of the harvesting machine  10  with the safety arrangement proceeds as follows, where the initial assumption is that the drive engine  30  is stopped at first. If an operator in the operator&#39;s cab  18  actuates the ignition switch  68 , the drive engine  30  is started. The hydraulic pump  36  provides a sufficient pressure in the on-board hydraulic system so that the hydraulic cylinder  48  brings the tensioning pulley  47  into its tensioning position. The drive belt  42  is thereby tensioned, as long as the drive engine  30  is running. Due to the action of the spring  58 , the brake  52  is in the braking position. As long as the operator is located at the operating position in the operator&#39;s cab  18 , so that the operator presence sensor  72  signals the control arrangement  64  that the operator is present, and if the operator activates the chopper drum operating switch  70 , then the control arrangement  64  arranges for the valve arrangement  62  to apply hydraulic fluid, provided by the hydraulic pump  36 , to the brake air cylinder  60 . Therefore, the brake air cylinder  60  is loaded only when the ignition switch  68  and the chopper drum operating switch  70  are turned on and the operator presence sensing switch detects the operator at the operating station. When the brake air cylinder  60  draws the brake shoes  56  away from the body  54  of the brake  52 , the body  54  can rotate freely. After that or simultaneously, the control arrangement  64  arranges for the control electromagnet  66  of the electrically shifted clutch  38  to engage the clutch  38 , so that the chopper drum  22  and the conveyor arrangement  24  are brought into rotation by the drive belt  42 . The conveying elements of the harvested crop take-up arrangement  20 , that are to be driven, and the supply rolls, are driven mechanically by the chopper drum  22  in a manner known in itself and/or by separate hydraulic motors.  
         [0025]     In case the operator now turns off the chopper drum operating switch, then the control arrangement  64  arranges for the control electromagnet  66  to disengage the clutch  38 . Simultaneously or shortly thereafter, the control arrangement  64  arranges for the valve arrangement  62  to drain the pressure from the brake air cylinder  60 . Thereby, the spring  58  presses the brake shoes  56  into the braking position and the brake retards the chopper drum  22  over the drive connection with the conveyor arrangement  24 . In this way, the chopper drum  22  is stopped in a short time. If the operator has stopped the chopper drum  22  because he has discovered a crop jam or some other trouble, he can now investigate the chopper drum  22  and the other conveyor elements without encountering any danger. Analogously, the control arrangement  64  arranges for the clutch  38  to be disengaged and activates the brake  52  on the basis of the signal of the operator presence sensor  72  when the operator leaves the operator&#39;s cab  18 , even though the chopper drum operating switch  70  is still turned on and the chopper drum accordingly still rotates. When the ignition switch  68  is turned off, the control arrangement  64  also arranges for the clutch  38  to be disengaged and the brake  52  to be applied. Furthermore, the hydraulic pressure of the hydraulic pump  36  then drops off, which leads to the fact that the pressure in the brake air cylinder  60  also drops off whereupon the spring  58  brings the brake  52  into the braking position. It should be noted that in the case that the operator is not present, as indicated by the sensor  72 , the control arrangement  64  can generate an acoustic and/or optical alarm during the time interval in which the chopper drum  22  rotates or could rotate.  
         [0026]     The accumulator  50  provides assurance that after turning off the ignition switch or when the drive engine  30  is stopped for other reasons, for example, due to overload or running out of fuel in the fuel tank and the resulting stoppage of the hydraulic pump  36 , a sufficiently strong hydraulic pressure is applied to the hydraulic cylinder  48  for a sufficiently long time interval, so that the tensioning pulley  47  remains in its operating position and the drive connection between the chopper drum  22  and the brake  52  is maintained. It could be useful to provide appropriate stop valve, not shown in the drawing, between the accumulator  50  and the remaining elements of the on-board hydraulic system, so that in this case, the on-board hydraulic system does not absorb the pressure of the accumulator  50 .  
         [0027]     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.