Abstract:
Disclosed is an improved articulated combine of a forward grainhead carried by a forward bogey devoid of grain storage and operated by an operator and a rear grain storage bogey. The rear bogey carries a grain unload arm. A diagonal grain auger assembly is disposed within the rear bogey and transfers grain from at least the front area of the rear bogey into the grain unload arm. A grain unload arm assembly is carried by the rear bogey and is composed of a moveable upper grain unload arm and a fixed lower grain unload arm whose proximal end is at a corner of the rear bogey, not at the center which lowers the angle, and which is connected by a slew bearing assembly matable to a rack for rotating. A grain unload auger is disposed within each of the upper grain unload arm and a lower grain unload arm.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/756,338 filed Jan. 24, 2013. 
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH 
       [0002]    Not applicable. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    The present disclosure relates to a system and method to unload grain from a grain tank on an agricultural harvester to a transport vehicle, and specifically to the use of a diagonally-disposed drag auger and gravity sump for more evenly unloading grain from the grain tank. 
         [0004]    The subject of an articulated harvester, some of which are based on current commercial grain harvester designs, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,317,326, 4,428,182, 6,012,272, 6,125,618, 6,339,917, 6,604,351, 6,606,844, 6,604,995, 6,604,350, 6,484,485, 6,612,101, 6,233,911, 6,240,711, 6,167,982, 7,553,228, 8,286,984, 8,292,008, and 8,435,104. A harvester/grain cart combination can be converted to an “articulated” combine as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,910,845. Various grain handling and grain unloading techniques are disclosed, inter alia, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,143,863 and 7,198,449. The disclosures of these patents are expressly incorporated herein by reference. 
         [0005]    Most of the articulated combines cited above exhibit compromised design features due to the design basis being limited to current commercial grain harvester designs. For example, current commercial grain harvester designs have an onboard grain bin with the forward bogey along with grain heads, cleaners, etc. That does not make such designs faulty, as they represent a substantial advancement in the harvester art for manufactures that want to maintain current grain harvester architecture. 
         [0006]    Current features for today&#39;s agricultural harvesters can be based on features disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,286,984, 8,292,008, and 8,435,104. 
         [0007]    The presently disclosed articulated combine is based on obtaining more even grain outflow from the grain bin, provision for a side-discharge chaff spreader assembly, a unique unloading arm assembly, and additional features disclosed herein. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY 
       [0008]    Disclosed is an improved articulated combine of a forward grainhead carried by a forward bogey devoid of grain storage and operated by an operator and a rear grain storage bogey. The rear bogey carries a grain unload arm. A diagonal grain auger assembly is disposed within the rear bogey and transfers grain from at least the front area of the rear bogey into the grain unload arm. A grain unload arm assembly is carried by the rear bogey and is composed of a moveable upper grain unload arm and a fixed lower grain unload arm whose proximal end is at a corner of the rear bogey, not at the center which lowers the angle, and which is connected by a slew bearing assembly matable to a rack for rotating. A grain unload auger is disposed within each of the upper grain unload arm and a lower grain unload arm. 
         [0009]    The moveable upper unload arm assembly is lifted from a storage position and rotates via the slew bearing assembly to mate with the lower fixed grain unload arm assembly. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    For a fuller understanding of the nature and advantages of the present method and process, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  is an overhead view of the disclosed articulated harvester and a grain hauling semi vehicle with the rear harvester bogey crabbed for unloading grain into the grain hauling semi vehicle and showing the proximity sensors and cameras carried by the disclosed harvester; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a rear view of the disclosed harvester and a grain hauling semi vehicle of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the rear bogey of the harvester of  FIG. 1  with the unload arm in a folded, storage position; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is an exploded cut-away view of the elbow joint of the unload arm shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  is a side view of the rear bogey of  FIG. 3  with the unload arm in an unfolded, grain discharge position; 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  is a front view of the rear bogey of  FIG. 3  with the unload arm in an unfolded, grain discharge position; 
           [0017]      FIG. 7  is a top view of the rear bogey of  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0018]      FIG. 8  is a sectional view along line  8 - 8  of  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0019]      FIG. 9  is a front view of the rear bogey of  FIG. 3  with the front wall of the rear bogey partially cut away; 
           [0020]      FIG. 10  is a rear view of the rear bogey of  FIG. 3  with the unload arm in a folded, grain storage position; 
           [0021]      FIG. 11  is a sectional view taken along line  11 - 11  of  FIG. 7 ; 
           [0022]      FIG. 12  is an exploded cut-away view of the discharge end of the diagonal drag auger in the grain bin of the rear bogey of  FIG. 11 ; 
           [0023]      FIG. 13  is a sectional view taken along line  13 - 13  of  FIG. 7 ; and 
           [0024]      FIG. 14  is a sectional view taken along line  14 - 14  of  FIG. 7 . 
           [0025]    The drawings will be described in greater detail below. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0026]    The articulated agricultural harvester or combine (these terms being synonymous and used interchangeably) in the drawings is a Tribine™ harvester (Tribine Industries LLC, Logansport, Ind.) having a grain bin capacity of 1,000 bushels of clean grain and unloads the clean grain at a rate of 500 bushels per minute. Normal grain removal from an elevated grain bin uses an unload auger running from the back to the front of the grain bin for transferring grain to the unload arm assembly. When grain is unloaded from the grain bin in this fashion, grain preferentially is removed from the rear of the grain bin; thus, leaving the remaining grain in the front of the grain bin. This can cause weight on the tongue (articulation joint) to increase from near zero to around 8,600 lbs. The disclosed diagonal drag auger evens out grain removal so that the grain is removed fairly uniformly from the front as well as the rear of the grain bin; thus, not placing any significant increase on the tongue. 
         [0027]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 , an articulated harvester, combine, or harvesting combine,  10 , is fitted with a 16-row cornhead,  12 , and consists of a forward bogey,  14 , and rear bogey,  16 . While combine  10  is fitted with wheels, it could be a tracked combine. Forward bogey  14  is fitted with an operator cab, engine, grain cleaning and handling, and similar capability, but for grain storage, which it is devoid of. Instead, rear bogey  16  is fitted with a grain bin and unloading capability, for example, a grain-unloading arm,  18 , housing a conveyor (e.g., a screw conveyor), such as is described in commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 8,286,984. 
         [0028]    Adjacent to combine  10  is a grain hauling vehicle,  20 , consisting of a forward cab with engine,  22 , towing a grain trailer,  24 , capable of holding 1,000 bushels of clean grain. Such vehicle also could be a grain cart, gravity wagon, or other grain storage vehicle. As is typical for modern day combines, combine  10  unloads its clean grain from rear bogey  16  while the combine is in the field harvesting grain; thus, the need to unload its grain bin very rapidly. In order to accomplish this grain unloading, vehicle  20  is parked next to combine  10  and combine  10  moves over adjacent to semi vehicle  20 . Rear bogey  16  then can be crabbed to move its unloading arm  18  to a position such that the discharge end,  26 , is centered over grain trailer  24  and clean grain unloading proceeds. Since the combine operator needs to steer combine  10  while simultaneously pulling over close to vehicle  20  and crabbing rear bogey  16 , anything to aid the combine operator in knowing precisely where forward bogey  14  and rear bogey  16  are relative to grain hauling semi vehicle  20  would be greatly appreciated by the combine operator. 
         [0029]    In order to give this additional position information to the combine operator in rear time, forward bogey  14  is fitting with cameras,  28 , on its unload left side and optionally on its right side. Rear bogey  14  also is fitted with camera,  32 , at its upper front center looking into the grain storage bin. Each of these cameras feeds a video image to the combine operator so he can see grain hauling semi vehicle disclosed harvester and a grain-hauling vehicle  20 . 
         [0030]    Rear bogey  16  also is fitted with a proximity sensor,  34 , at its left rear. Discharge end  26  of grain unloading arm  18  also is fitted with a camera,  38 . An additional camera,  39 , is carried by rear bogey  16  at its upper rear. Finally cornhead  12  is fitted with a proximity sensor,  40  at its left side. All proximity sensors also feed their data to the combine operator. For example, the cameras may be Agcam cameras (Dakota Micro, Inc., Cayuga, N. Dak.) and the sensors may be Senix TSPC-155 ultrasonic distance sensors (Senix Corporation, Hinesburg, Vt.). Harvesting combine  10  unloads clean grain only on its left side in the embodiment in the drawings. It will be recognized that the cameras and sensors could be located only on the right side for unloading clean grain on the right side or located on both sides for providing unloading of clean grain on both sides. The use of such proximity sensors and cameras is disclosed in commonly-owned application identified by Attorney Docket No. DIL2015PC, filed on even date herewith. 
         [0031]    Referring now also to  FIG. 3 , unloading arm is seen to consist of a moveable upper section,  18 A, and a fixed lower section,  18 B, connected by a slew bearing assembly,  44 , seen in an exploded view in  FIG. 4  wherein bellows,  49 , has been removed. The slew bearings rotate against a rack assembly,  47 , when unloading arm  18 A is raised by a cylinder assembly,  46  (see  FIG. 2 ), with rotation of upper unload arm  18 A powered by a rotation hydraulic motor,  49  (see  FIG. 5 ). Thus, upper unload arm  18 A must be both lifted up and rotated to mate with lower unload arm  18 B. Slew bearings, collectively,  51 , rotate against rack assembly  47  when upper unload arm  18 A rotates after being lifted into position. Importantly, the upper end of fixed lower unloading arm  18 B is fixed at an upper corner of rear bogey  16 . Moveable upper unload arm assembly  18 A is lifted from a storage position and rotates via slew bearing assembly  44  to mate with the lower fixed grain unload arm assembly  18 B. 
         [0032]    An auger,  48  ( FIG. 4 ), disposed in upper unloading arm  18 A has a bearing,  50 , at its lower end that seats against a bearing,  52 , disposed at the upper end of an auger,  68  (see  FIG. 14 ), inside lower unloading arm  18 B. Thus, power supplied by motor  54  (see  FIG. 2 ), to the unseen auger in lower unloading arm  18 B transfers its rotation to auger  48  in upper unloading arm  18 A for unloading of grain. 
         [0033]      FIGS. 5 and 6  show unload arm  18  is an extended position for unloading of grain from rear bogey  16  in which harvested grain is stored. Chaff spreaders,  56 A and  56 B, receive chaff from forward bogey  14  and distribute the chaff sideways from the direction of travel of harvesting combine  10 . Wheels,  58 A and  58 B, are turned to the side, as rear bogey  14  is in a crabbed position for unloading of grain (see  FIG. 1 ). A tongue,  57 , is connected to an articulation joint assembly, not specifically seen in the drawings. Articulation cylinders,  60  and  62  (see  FIG. 9  also), are part of the articulation joint assembly, as more fully described in the commonly-owned patents cited above.  FIGS. 9 and 10  show rear bogey  16  with unload arm assembly  18  in a stowed position. 
         [0034]    Referring now to  FIGS. 7 and 8 , rear bogey  16  is seen from above to reveal diagonal grain movement auger assembly with a fixed upper cover or hogback,  64 , in position in  FIG. 7  and removed in  FIG. 8  to reveal diagonal drag auger,  66 . Hogback  64  covers the top and upper sides of diagonal drag auger  66 ; thus, permitting grain to enter diagonal drag auger  66  at the lower side areas. 
         [0035]    Diagonal auger  66  draws grain from the front of rear bogey  16  to even out grain removal both front and back. The front pitch of diagonal auger  66  is closer together and the pitch opens up or widens towards the rear. The close pitch will only hold so much grain. When the pitch widens, diagonal drag auger  66  picks up more grain; thus, an even discharge of grain front to back. If the pitch were the same all along diagonal auger  66 , the grain bin would empty from the front first because the auger pitches would be full; rather, then a more even emptying of grain front to back. The auger in lower unload arm  18 B also draws grain from a sump (lowest area in rear bogey  16 ) at the rear of rear bogey  16 . Thus, rear bogey  16  grain removal system consists of the sump auger that draws grain from the rear are of the grain bin and diagonal drag auger  66  that draws grain from the front area of the grain bin; thus, resulting in even grain removal from the grain bin carried by rear bogey  16 . A framework assembly,  68 , supports auger  66 , as seen in  FIGS. 11 and 12 . 
         [0036]    Referring now to  FIG. 13 , the connection of auger  66  or port into lower unload arm  18 B is seen. In  FIG. 14 , much of the underside of rear bogey  16  is revealed. 
         [0037]    While the apparatus and method have been described with reference to various embodiments, those skilled in the art will understand that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope and essence of the disclosure. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the disclosure without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the disclosure not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but that the disclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims. In this application all units are in the metric system and all amounts and percentages are by weight, unless otherwise expressly indicated. Also, all citations referred herein are expressly incorporated herein by reference.