Abstract:
A crop harvester header includes a plurality of intake and mowing drums mounted in side-by-side relationship to each other across the width of the header. Located to the rear of the intake and mowing drums for receiving crop delivered to the rear by them are a pair of slope conveyor drums respectively located on opposite sides of a longitudinal center plane of the header and at opposite sides of an inlet passage leading to feed rolls for introducing the crop into a chopper drum of the harvester. The pair of slope conveyor drums are respectively located adjacent an inner pair of the intake and mowing drums that are respectively located on opposite sides of the center plane and located between, and at least nearly along a line of centers of, each slope conveyor drum and an intermediate intake and mowing drum located outwardly of an adjacent inner intake and mowing drum, is a transverse conveying drum having tooth-shaped drivers disposed in overlapping relationship to tooth-shaped drivers of the slope conveyor and intermediate intake and mowing drums.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The invention concerns a crop harvester header for mowing stalk-like crop, the header including several intake and mowing drums mounted to the header frame in side-by-side relationship to each other for cutting and conveying the harvested crop, and further including deflecting conveying drums arranged behind the intake and mowing drums, in the direction of operation, that are arranged to take over and convey the harvested crop centrally into an intake channel of a harvesting machine, as well as transverse conveying drums arranged behind the intake and mowing drums that are provided to take over the harvested crop from at least one of the intake and mowing drums and to convey it further to the deflecting conveying drum, where the enveloping circle of each of the transverse conveying drums and the enveloping circle of a respective one of the intake and mowing drums overlap.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    DE 40 02 344 A proposes a header or front attachment implement that is composed of conveying drums with vertical axes of rotation preceded by several supply rolls. The supply rolls cut the crop. At their rear sides of the supply rolls, the cut crop is taken over by the conveying drum which conducts it to the intake rolls of a chopper drum of a forage harvester in interaction with the supply rolls that follow downstream. In another embodiment, four conveying drums are mounted in side-by-side relationship to each other and operate to transfer the cut crop to a transverse screw conveyor. The enveloping circles of the conveyor drums and the supply rolls, as well as adjoining supply rolls, overlap.  
           [0003]    DE 199 53 521 A shows a cutting and conveying arrangement for stalk-like cereal crop that is provided with four cutting and conveying rotors arranged in side-by-side relationship to each other. The crop taken up by the cutting and conveying rotors is extracted by rotating clean-out devices from the pocket-shaped recesses of the cutting and conveying rotors. A transverse screw conveyor transports the crop to the center of the machine from which it is conducted to a chopper drum of a forage harvester. Intermediate conveying rotors are arranged between the outer cutting and conveying rotors and the transverse screw conveyor, whose enveloping circle overlaps the enveloping circle of the rotating clean-out devices.  
           [0004]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,225 discloses a header for the mowing of stalk-like harvested crop in which several intake and mowing drums are distributed over the operating width. The crop is transported inward on the rear side of the intake and mowing drums along the rear wall, where it is conveyed by transverse conveying drums in the valley region between adjoining intake and mowing drums, the conveying drums including driver elements that extend through slots in the rear wall. The inner intake and mowing drums transfer the crop to a slope conveyor drum whose axis of rotation is inclined forward, that bridges the vertical distance between the plane of the operation of the intake and mowing drums and the plane of the intake passage of the following chopper drum of a forage harvester.  
           [0005]    EP 1 008 291 A proposes a machine for mowing stalk-like cereal crop that is equipped with several drum-shaped take-up elements distributed over the operation width that take up and convey the harvested crop. The crop is conducted by the take-up elements to an independent transverse conveyor that is arranged behind the take-up elements as seen in the direction of operation. The transverse conveyor conveys the crop along a guide wall that is arranged immediately behind the take-up elements. The transverse conveyor uses conveyor belts or conveyor drums that are equipped on their circumference with driver elements in the shape of a set of gear teeth. The enveloping circles of adjoining driver elements overlap. The conveyor drums arranged furthest inward deflect the crop to the rear and convey it into the intake channel of the chopper drum of a forage harvester.  
           [0006]    The machine disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,225 has the advantage of a short configuration due to the fact that the transverse conveying drums interact with the intake and mowing drums, so that the chopper drum of a forage harvester carrying it need absorb only a relatively small amount of torque. Due to the fact that the transverse conveyors operate independently of the intake and mowing drums, the machines according to EP 1 008 291 A and DE 199 53 521 A are considerably longer and apply a greater load to the chopper drum of a forage harvester. The configuration according to DE 40 02 344 A cannot be used with machines that have operating widths such as those of the aforementioned machines.  
           [0007]    The problem underlying the invention is seen in the need to improve the flow of the crop in a compact machine for the mowing of stalk-like harvested crops.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    According to the present invention, there is provided a header for the mowing of stalk-like crop equipped with a plurality of side-by-side intake and mowing drums deflecting conveying drums located behind the intake and mowing drums, as well as transverse conveying drums arranged behind the intake and mowing drums so as to take over the harvested crop from at least one of the intake and mowing drums, with the enveloping circle of a given transverse conveying drum overlapping the enveloping circle of an associated deflecting conveying drum.  
           [0009]    In this way, the result is an improvement of the transport of the crop. The transfer of the crop from the transverse conveying drums to the respective associated deflecting conveying drums is performed without any problems.  
           [0010]    The deflecting conveying drum can operate as a crop take-out or stripping device for the associated transverse conveying drum, that is, it extracts the crop from it. Thereby a separate crop take-out or stripping device for each of the transverse conveying drums can be omitted.  
           [0011]    The deflecting conveying drum is, in particular, a slope conveyor drum, that is provided with an axis of rotation inclined slightly forward and that raises the crop into the intake channel of the header. However, the use of an endless conveyor equipped with tensioning means (chains or belts) as a deflecting conveying unit is also conceivable. A slope conveyor drum is preferably equipped with conveyor disks arranged one above another, about whose circumference drivers are distributed. These drivers may be provided with an aggressive conveying performance in order to attain the result that the crop is actively extracted from the transverse conveying arrangement. For this purpose, the drivers may be provided with a surface leading in the direction of rotation that extends approximately radially.  
           [0012]    The transverse conveying units are each preferably a transverse conveying drum with an approximately vertical axis of rotation, although the use of an endless conveyor equipped with tensioning means (chains or belts) would also be possible. The transverse conveying drum can also be equipped with conveyor disks arranged one above another, that are provided with drivers. Most appropriately, the drivers of the transverse conveying drums are provided with a rejecting conveying performance so that the deflecting conveying unit can easily extract the crop from the associated transverse conveying drum. Such a performance can be attained by a curvature of the drivers trailing opposite the direction of rotation. The overlap of the enveloping circles of the associated deflecting and conveying drums can be attained by having the drivers of each arranged with an offset to each other vertically and/or azimuthally. The drivers for the deflecting conveying unit and/or the transverse conveying arrangement as described can also be applied to headers for the mowing of stalk-like harvested crop whose transverse conveying drums do not overlap the enveloping circle of the associated deflecting conveying drums and/or one of the intake and mowing drums where the transverse conveying drum and/or the deflecting conveying drum may be configured as endless conveyors instead of drum conveyors, if desired.  
           [0013]    The header, according to the invention, is provided with at least two intake and mowing drums. As a rule, an inner intake and mowing drum is arranged directly alongside the longitudinal center plane of the header and a second intake and mowing drum on the same side of the machine is arranged further outward and beside the inner intake and mowing drum. The transverse conveying drum is preferably arranged in such a way that its enveloping circle overlaps the enveloping circle of the second intake and mowing drum from the center of the header. It is conceivable that, in addition, it could also overlap the enveloping circle of the inner intake and mowing drum. The enveloping circle of the deflecting conveying drum may also overlap the enveloping circle of the inner intake and mowing drum. In particular, if the header is provided with an uneven number of intake and mowing drums, the intake and mowing drum characterized here as the inner intake and mowing drum may be offset to the side with respect to the longitudinal center plane of the header. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]    The drawings show three embodiments of the invention that shall be described in greater detail in the following.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 1 is a plan view of a crop harvesting header of a forage harvester for mowing stalk-like crop constructed in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 2 is a plan view of a crop harvesting header for mowing stalk-like crop constructed in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 3 is a plan view of a crop harvesting header for mowing stalk-like crop constructed in accordance with a third embodiment of the invention.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along the lines  4 -- 4  of FIG. 3. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0019]    Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a header  10  for the mowing of stalk-like crop which includes six intake and mowing drums  11 ,  12 ,  13  at each side of, and arranged symmetrically about, a longitudinal center plane  14  of the header. The mowing drums  11 ,  12 ,  13  are supported on a frame  15 .  
         [0020]    The intake and mowing drums  11 ,  12 ,  13 , that operate independent of rows, are each composed of a lower cutting disk  16  that rotates about an approximately vertical axis and conveying disks arranged coaxially above the cutting disk  16 , whose circumference is equipped with pocket-shaped recesses. The cutting disks  16  separate the upper parts of the harvested crop from the stubble remaining in the ground. The stalks of the harvested crop, which usually is corn, are taken up and retained in the pocket-shaped recesses of the conveyor disks.  
         [0021]    The intake and mowing drums  11 ,  12 ,  13  are preceded by stalk dividers  18 . Between the rear side of the intake and mowing drums  11 ,  12 ,  13  and a rear wall  20  of the header  10  that conforms to the shape of the intake and mowing drum  12 , a transverse conveying channel is formed through which the crop harvested by the intake and mowing drums  11 ,  12 ,  13  is transported to the side towards the center of the header  10 .  
         [0022]    The two outer intake and mowing drums  11  are brought into rotation in such a way that the harvested crop is conveyed first to the side in the direction towards the longitudinal center plane  14  and then to the rear against the direction of operation V of the header  10 . There, the harvested crop is taken over by the adjacent intake and mowing drums  12 . This intake and mowing drum  12  rotates in the opposite direction to the adjoining outer intake and mowing drum  11 , so that it conveys the harvested crop first to the outside, and following that, to the rear. On its side facing the outer intake and mowing drum  11 , the intake and mowing drum  12  takes over the harvested crop from the outer intake and mowing drum  11 . A crop take-out or stripping device  22 , composed of sheet metal parts which intrude into the enveloping circle of the outer intake and mowing drum  11  and extract the harvested crop from the pocket-shaped recesses of the outer intake and mowing drum  11 , performs the transfer of the harvested crop to the intake and mowing drum  12 , on whose rear side the harvested crop is conveyed to the inside in interaction with the rear wall  20  in the direction towards the longitudinal center plane  14 .  
         [0023]    Following this, the harvested crop is extracted by a crop take-out or stripping device, not shown, from the pocket-shaped recesses of the intake and mowing drum  12  and taken over by a rotating transverse conveying drum  24  with an approximately vertical axis of rotation that is used as a transverse conveying arrangement. The transverse conveying drum  24  is composed of a cylindrical body with conveyor disks fastened in it one above another, about whose circumference drivers  25  are distributed for the conveying of the crop. The drivers  25  are provided with a surface that is leading in the direction of rotation which is curved opposite to the direction or rotation. Therefore, it has a rejection-conveying performance or characteristic. In place of the tooth-shaped drivers  25 , fingers could also be used. Each of the transverse conveying drums  24  on both sides of the machine is arranged in the valley region between the rear sides of the central intake and mowing drum  12  on each side of the header  10  and the inner intake and mowing drum  13 . The drivers  25  located upstream of the axis of rotation of the transverse conveying drums  24  penetrate slots in the rear wall  20 . The rear wall  20  ends in the vicinity of the cylindrical body of the transverse conveying drum  24 .  
         [0024]    In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the inner intake and mowing drums  13  rotate in the same direction as the adjoining intake and mowing drums  12 . The harvested crop taken up by them is therefore also conveyed first to the outside and then to the rear. It is thereby conveyed further in interaction with the transverse conveying drum  24 , whose enveloping circle overlaps the enveloping circle of the inner intake and mowing drums  13  and the next outer intake and mowing drums  12 .  
         [0025]    Behind the two inner intake and mowing drums  13 , as seen in the direction of operation V, slope conveyor drums  26 , that are provided as deflecting conveying units, are arranged that have axes of rotation inclined forward that convey the harvested crop to the rear into an intake channel  28  of the chopper drum of a forage harvester with intake rolls  30  arranged therein one above another. The slope conveyor drums  26  are composed of cylindrical bodies with conveyor disks arranged thereon one above another that are equipped with drivers  27  for the transport of the crop. The surfaces of the drivers  27  of the slope conveyor drums  26 , that are leading in the direction of rotation, are arranged approximately radially, resulting in an aggressive conveying performance or characteristic. In place of the tooth-shaped drivers  27 , fingers could also be used. A control of the drivers  25  and/or  27  is also conceivable that performs a radial shifting and/or an azimuthal rotation of the drivers  25  and/or  27 , in order to improve the transfer and conveying of the crop.  
         [0026]    The enveloping circle of the transverse conveying drum  24  and the enveloping circle of the slope conveyor drum  26  overlap in order to optimize the transfer of the crop. The result is that the slope conveyor drum  26  takes over the harvested crop from the transverse conveying drum  24 , where separate crop take-out or stripping devices for the transverse conveying drum  24  are not required. Furthermore, the enveloping circle of the slope conveyor drum  26  overlaps the enveloping circle of the adjoining inner intake and mowing drum  13 . The intake and mowing drums  12  are provided with flat coverings  34 .  
         [0027]    The deflection of the harvested crop to the rear by the slope conveyor drums  26  is simplified by arc-shaped deflecting skids  36  that are arranged at the bottom of the header  10  between the slope conveyor drums  26  and by a covering  32  arranged above it. The forward ends of the deflecting skids also operate as crop take-out or stripping devices on the inner intake and mowing drums  13 . Downstream of the slope conveyor drums  26 , crop take-out or stripping devices  36  are provided that extract the harvested crop from the slope conveyor drums  26  and perform a transfer into the intake channel  28  without any friction.  
         [0028]    The drive of the intake and mowing drums  11 ,  12 ,  13 , the transverse conveying drums  24 , and the slope conveyor drums  26  is performed by means of appropriate gearboxes from the chopper drum of a forage harvester. During the harvesting process, the header  10  is moved across a field in the direction of operation V. The stalk-like crop to be harvested, if necessarily deflected to the side by stalk dividers  18 , is cut by the intake and mowing drums  11 , 12 ,  13  and conveyed into the transverse conveying channel having the rear wall  20 . Due to the conveying action of the rear sides of the intake and mowing drums  12 , which follow the outer intake and mowing drums  11  downstream, and due to the transverse conveying drums  24  as well as the slope conveyor drums  26 , the harvested crop reaches the rear side of the two inner intake and mowing drums  12 , where it is deflected to the rear by the deflecting skids and the covering  32 . The slope conveyor drums  26  conduct the harvested crop to the intake rolls  30  of the chopper drum of a forage harvester, where it is chopped and deposited in a wagon.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 2 shows one-half of a second embodiment of a machine for the harvesting of stalk-like crop that is configured symmetrically about a longitudinal center plane  14 . Elements corresponding to the configuration of FIG. 2 are identified with identical number call-outs. The header  10  shown in FIG. 2 is provided with a greater operating width than the machine shown in FIG. 1, since two additional intake and mowing drums  12  are inserted. In each valley region between adjoining intake and mowing drums  12 , a transverse conveying drum  24 ′ is arranged whose conveyor disks extend through slots in the rear wall  20 . A desired enlargement of the operating width is possible by the addition of further intake and mowing drums  12  and transverse conveying drums  24 ′.  
         [0030]    In contrast to the first embodiment, the slope conveyor drum  26  according to this embodiment does not overlap the enveloping circle of the inner intake and mowing drum  13 , but is arranged at a greater distance from the inner intake and mowing drum  13  compared to the first embodiment. In FIG. 2, a deflecting skid  35  can also be seen that is arranged downstream of the inner intake and mowing drum  13  and that deflects the crop to the rear. Such deflecting skids can also be utilized in the other embodiments.  
         [0031]    In contrast to the remaining embodiment, the drivers  25 ′ of the transverse conveying drums  24  and the drivers  27 ′ of the slope conveyor drums  26  are triangular in shape in plan view and are configured symmetrically about a radial axis.  
         [0032]    The operation of the header  10 , according to FIG. 2, corresponds to that of the machine shown in FIG. 1. The crop, harvested by the intake and mowing drums  11 ,  12 , 13 , is conveyed through the transverse conveying channel through the rear sides of the intake and mowing drums  12  and through the front sides of the transverse conveying drums  24 ,  24 ′, and then transported through the rear sides of the inner intake and mowing drums  11  and by means of the deflecting skids  36  and the slope conveyor drums  26  as well as a crop take-out or stripping device associated with it, not shown, into the intake channel  28 . Each of the individual intake and mowing drums,  12  and  13 , add to the flow of the crop mowed by them in the transverse conveying channel.  
         [0033]    A third embodiment of a machine for harvesting stalk-like crop is shown in FIG. 3. Elements corresponding to those shown in FIG. 1 are identified by corresponding number call-outs. As in the case of the first embodiment, this embodiment can also be modified in the aforementioned manner into embodiments with greater operating width.  
         [0034]    The configuration and the operation of the outer and next inner intake and mowing drums  11  and  12  correspond to that of the first embodiment. The harvested crop is conveyed by the outer intake and mowing drum  11  at first inward and then to the rear, where it is then extracted by a crop take-out or stripping device and taken over by the rear side of the next inner intake and mowing drum  12 , which rotates in such a way that the crop is conveyed first to the outside and then to the rear. On the output side, the crop is extracted by a further crop take-out or stripping device from the intake and mowing drum  12  and taken over by a transverse conveying drum  24  arranged behind it. The transverse conveying drum  24  is composed of a cylindrical body with toothed conveyor disks arranged on it one above another. The enveloping circle of the transverse conveying drum  24  overlaps the enveloping circle of the intake and mowing drum  12 . The transverse conveying drum  24  does not interact with the rear side of the inner intake and mowing drum  13 , but conveys the crop along a fixed wall  38  located ahead of it in the direction of operation V (or a wall that can be moved against a force) that is arranged underneath a covering  40  that covers the intake and mowing drum  12  and the inner intake and mowing drum  13 . The crop is then taken over by a slope conveyor drum  26  that is composed of a cylindrical body with toothed conveyor disks arranged above one another. The slope conveyor drums  26  are each provided with an axis of rotation inclined forward and convey the crop to the rear into the intake channel  28  of the chopper drum of a forage harvester with the intake rolls  30  arranged therein above one another. The slope conveyor drums  26  also interact in each case with a wall  42  that is arranged ahead of them and is fixed or can be moved against a force, which is formed by an element fastened to the bottom of the header  10  and which also forms a crop take-out or stripping device  46  for the inner intake and mowing drums  13 . A crop take-out or stripping device  36  extracts the crop from the output side of the slope conveyor drum  26 .  
         [0035]    Thereby, the transverse conveying drum  24  and the slope conveyor drum  26  form a conveying channel for the crop harvested by the outer intake and mowing drums  11 ,  12  that is separated from the inner intake and mowing drums  13  and is independent of these. In order to attain this conveying channel, without having to deflect the flow of the crop therein in an undesirable manner, and without having to increase the length of the machine as measured in the direction of operation V significantly, at least in the region of the central and outer intake mowing drums  11 ,  12 , the axis of rotation of the inner intake and mowing drums  13  is offset forward in the direction of operation V compared to the other intake and mowing drums  11 , 12 .  
         [0036]    The inner intake and mowing drums  13  rotate in the opposite direction from that of the next outer intake and mowing drums  12 , so that they convey the crop at first inward, in the direction toward the longitudinal center plane  14  of the header  10 , and then to the rear. The crop harvested by the inner intake and mowing drums  13  is extracted by the crop take-out or stripping devices  46  from the pocket-shaped recesses, flows along a central, approximately lozenge-shaped guide element  44  that is arranged at the bottom of the header  10 , and is combined to the side slightly ahead of the slope conveyor drums  26  with the flow of the crop in the conveying channel that originated with the outer intake and mowing drums  11 , 12 . Following this, the combined flow of crop reaches the intake channel  28 .  
         [0037]    The enveloping circles of the conveyor disks of the transverse conveyor drum  24  and the enveloping circles of the conveyor disks of the slope conveyor drum  26  overlap so that the latter extracts the harvested crop from the transverse conveying drum  24 . A separate crop take-out or stripping device for the transverse conveying drum  24  can be eliminated. The cross section shown in FIG. 4, through the transverse conveying drum  24  and the slope conveyor drum  26 , clarifies their arrangement to each other and shows that the transverse conveying drum  24  is composed of a cylindrical body  48  and conveyor disks  50  fastened to it and arranged above one another. The slope conveyor drum  26  is provided with a lower cylindrical body  52  and an upper body  54  with a diameter reduced from that of the lower body  52 . Conveyor disks  56 ,  58 ,  60  with diameters reduced upward step by step are attached to the bodies  52 ,  54 . The axis of rotation  62  of the slope conveyor drum  26  is inclined through an angle of approximately 5° towards the transverse conveying drum  24 . The conveyor disks  50  of the transverse conveying drum  24  are each arranged vertically between conveyor disks  56  or  58  of the slope conveyor drums  26 . The arrangement of the transverse conveying drums  24  and the slope conveyor drums  26  shown in FIG. 4 can also be applied to the embodiments according to FIGS. 1 and 2.  
         [0038]    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.