Abstract:
A rotor includes a tube having an outer cross section which is non-circular onto which is assembled one-piece drivers provided with central openings of the same shape and size as the outer circumferential surface of the tube and thereby create a connection, fixed against rotation, between these parts. The rotor is shown used in a crop reducing arrangement of a large round baler.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The invention concerns a rotor with drivers as part of a separating arrangement of an agricultural machine.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Cutting arrangements in the take-up region of crop recovery machines are equipped with rotors with attached fingers, that grasp crop and draw it over stationary knives through which it is reduced. Since high forces are applied to the fingers or other drivers particularly upon the entry of foreign objects, a multitude of solutions are proposed in the state of the art according to which the fingers are fastened to the rotor and can be exchanged if they are damaged—see, for example, DE A 195 41 561, DE U 93 16 378, DE A 43 23 214, WO A 84/02252.  
           [0003]    The problem underlying the invention is seen in the fact that in each case in which the envelope of a circular cylindrical tube openings is introduced, the drivers are equipped with noses and suspended in the openings and subsequently are welded or bolted together. All these manufacturing operations are costly.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    According to the present invention, there is provided an improved crop-feeding rotor.  
           [0005]    An object of the invention is to provide a crop-feeding rotor including a center drive member having a non-circular profile on which is received complementary shaped openings of fingers or other drivers. In this way, the openings and the noses prevalent in the prior art rotors and drivers can be omitted; rather permanent locking is performed on the basis of the non-circular profile of the tube, in particular a profile with edges, where in place of a tube a solid body could be used and is specifically included in the scope of this invention. In this way the tube can be equipped with three, four, five, six, seven, eight or more edges. A tube with, for example, a cross-shaped profile or the like could also be selected, the important point being that the outer profile is non-circular. The drivers can be configured individually and combined into a ring or manufactured as a ring that is then slid axially onto the tube. Here it is sufficient that the drivers or the ring have only point contact with the circumference of the tube as long as a retention is attained, that is not subject to rotation. While in the simplest case the drivers are configured as fingers, teeth or the like, they can also be used as fixed knives, such as, for example, that of a straw chopper.  
           [0006]    Large cost reductions are attained if the number of drivers around the tube per row are combined into a one-piece ring, for example, stamped from a steel plate, machined or flame cut. Particularly with stamping, high strength and short manufacturing time can be attained. With cutting or flame cutting, particularly using laser technology very close tolerances can be attained, that can result in retention of the rings on the tube practically without any play.  
           [0007]    While the drivers can be provided with attached driver elements configured as tines, teeth or the like, a simple manufacture is nevertheless possible if the ring or the components of an assembled ring are configured as a multiple-sided polygon whose corners or points form each of the particular driver elements.  
           [0008]    If the contact surfaces of drivers following each other are offset to different degrees relative to the driver elements, then the points, that is, the driver elements of the applied drivers, follow a helical shape so that load spikes are avoided. All drivers applied to a tube are brought together as a set and marked, if necessary, so that the drivers applied to the tube extend, for example, in a helical pattern.  
           [0009]    An alternative configuration to the offset contact surfaces lies in the arrangement in which the contact surfaces of the drivers and of the tube are in an even-numbered relationship to each other. In this way a large number of identical drivers can be manufactured but applied to the tube in differing positions. Thereby not only a helical pattern is possible, but any number of other possible distributions can be selected.  
           [0010]    While the drivers could be provided with shoulders or the like, in order to provide a space for strippers located opposite the rotor to slide through; a simpler approach would be to provide loose spacers that are inserted between the drivers and secured by them or retained by the tube. For example, the sides of the drivers facing each other could contain openings into which pins with heads are inserted. Or shells or the like could be welded or applied to the tube with adhesive.  
           [0011]    Spacers with a rounded outer contour have the advantage that the crop being conveyed can slide along or over these components. The configuration as a ring makes it possible to slide them onto the tube, if necessary together with the drivers arranged as rings and to bring them into contact with each other.  
           [0012]    A further possibility in the distribution of the drivers along the length or around the circumference consists in a variation of the number of spacers.  
           [0013]    The drivers and, if necessary, the spacers can be fastened to the tube in a simple manner by providing a retaining plate in at least one end region of the rotor that is clamped by means of screws or the like. Two retaining plates could also be used, that is, at each end region, that are clamped by means of tensioning bolts.  
           [0014]    Manufacturing costs can be reduced in an exemplary manner by providing in one or both end plates bearing journals configured as stub shafts for the support of the rotor in bearings in a frame or the like.  
           [0015]    As an alternative to stub shafts, a shaft could be selected that extends through the tube and the retaining plates and fastens the entire assembly together, for example, by means of tensioning nuts or a tensioning nut and a shoulder. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]    The drawing shows an embodiment of the invention that shall be described in greater detail in the following.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1 is a schematic, right side view of an agricultural machine with a crop reducing arrangement.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a part of a rotor.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a complete rotor.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 4 is a front view of a complete rotor. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0021]    An agricultural machine  10 , shown in FIG. 1, is configured as a large round baler, which is, however, intended only as an example. Rather, instead other types of agricultural machines could be included, such as a self-loading forage box, another type of baler, cutting arrangements of a combine, for example, a straw chopper or machines of this type, in which crop is reduced.  
         [0022]    The machine  10  shown, known for its type, contains a binding arrangement  12 , a frame  14 , wheels  16 , a draft tongue or towbar  18 , a baling chamber  20 , rolls  22 , a crop inlet  24 , a pivoted housing part  26 , a fixed housing part  28 , a pick-up  30 , and a reducing or separating arrangement  32 , all of which are known in themselves and do not require any more detailed description.  
         [0023]    The separating arrangement  32  is provided with a rotor  34 , knives  36 , and strippers  38 , as are also known in themselves. Since the invention concerns the rotor  34 , reference here is made to FIGS. 2 through 4.  
         [0024]    In FIG. 2, parts of the rotor  34  can be recognized, particularly a tube  40 , drivers  42 , a spacer  44 , a retaining plate  46 , and a shaft  48 .  
         [0025]    In this embodiment, the tube  40  is configured with a square outer cross section with rounded corners. This is not mandatory; rather the outer cross section could have three, four, five, six, seven, eight, or more corners or be oval or cross-shaped. The rounded corners are useful for an assembly without jamming. The tube  40  of the separating arrangement  32 , when used in a large round baler, is approximately as long as the width of the baling chamber  20 . The tube  40  is made from a relatively heavy-walled steel and is drawn or welded.  
         [0026]    In the present embodiment, the drivers  42  are each configured generally as a three-cornered uniform polygon that is stamped, machined or otherwise punched out of a plate as a ring. The driver elements  66  resulting from the corners of the polygon are relatively pointed, with pointed angles, so that the feet of the legs involved are not blended directly with each other. Rather, an arc-shaped region extends between them. The center of the driver  42  is provided with a square recess  50 , which is provided with four contact surfaces  52  which are configured with a minimum of play to the outer circumferential surfaces of the tube  40 . There should, however, be enough play that the drivers  42  can be slid onto the tube  40  without excessive effort. The illustration of FIG. 2 shows the recess  50  and the contact surfaces  52  of the driver  42  with reference to a spacer  44 , since these are congruent in shape and size.  
         [0027]    Each spacer  44  is also configured as a ring whose outer circumferential surface is cylindrical and whose center is also provided with a recess  50  and contact surfaces  52  of the same size and shape as those of the drivers  42 . In the preferred embodiment, the diameter of the spacers  44  is selected in such a way that a clearance still exists to the radially innermost circumferential surface of the drivers. As can be seen from FIG. 4, the spacers  44  are somewhat thicker than the drivers  42 . The spacers  44  may be made of metal (steel, aluminum) but also of plastic.  
         [0028]    As can be seen from FIGS. 3 and 4, a multitude of spacers  44  and drivers  42  are distributed over the length of the tube  40 . According to FIG. 4, three spacers  44  are located between each of two groups of drivers  42 , while between the drivers  42  of a group one spacer  44  each is located. Furthermore, at each end there is an additional spacer  44 . As an alternative, spacers  44  of differing widths could also be provided.  
         [0029]    The retaining plates  46  are configured as circular cylinders and are provided with shoulders or grooves, not visible, by means of which they are centered on the ends of the tube  40 . The retaining plates  46  are provided with contact surfaces  54  that press against the outer driver  42  or the outer spacer  44  in the assembled condition. Each of the retaining plates  46  is provided with a central hub  56 , through which the shaft  48  extends. The outer diameter of the retaining plate  46  generally corresponds to that of a spacer  44 .  
         [0030]    The shaft  48  is longer than the tube  40  and extends beyond the tube on both sides. On the right side, as seen in the figures, the shaft  48  is provided with a multi-tooth profile  60  that engages a drive pulley or drive shaft and with a shoulder  62 . The shoulder  62  is dimensioned in such a way that it can be brought into contact with the outer side of the right retaining plate  46 . On the left side, as seen in the drawing, the shaft  48  ends in a bearing seat  64  that is followed on the inward side by a receptacle, not shown, for the tensioning nut  58  with which the left retaining plate  46  is pressed against the tube  40  or the last spacer  44  or the last driver  42 . In an alternative embodiment, not shown, two stub shafts are provided in place of the shaft  48  and are fastened to the retaining plates  46 , with the retaining plates  46  being drawn together by tensioning bolts or the like. Beyond that, further configurations are conceivable. For example, the retaining plates  46  could be bolted to the tube  40 . It could also be possible to weld one or both retaining plates  46 .  
         [0031]    On the basis of the above description, the rotor  34  is completed in such a way that drivers  42  and spacers  44  are slid onto the tube  40  in a certain sequence, that the retaining plates  46  are brought into contact with the end faces of the tube  40  and the shaft  48  is slid through the hub  56  and is secured by the tensioning nut  58  or by the contact of the shoulder  62  on the right retaining plate  46 . Depending on the position of the recess  50  relative to the corner regions of the drivers  42 , the result is a straight-line, an offset or helical pattern of the driver elements  66  of the drivers  42 .  
         [0032]    In an alternative embodiment, not shown, the deviation from circularity of the tube  40  is attained by axial ribs, moldings or the like that are applied to a round tube by bolting, welding or riveting.  
         [0033]    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.