Patent Publication Number: US-2012042618-A1

Title: Tilting Crop Stalk Chopper

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims the benefit of co-pending U.S. provisional application entitled “CORN HEADER (P0921)”, having Ser. No. 61/375,196, filed Aug. 19, 2010; of co-pending U.S. provisional application entitled “TILTING CROP STALK CHOPPER (P1177H)”, having Ser. No. 61/426,090, filed Dec. 22, 2010; of co-pending U.S. provisional application entitled “CANTILEVERED GATHERING AUGER FOR CORN HEADER (P119314)”, having Ser. No. 61/425,804, filed Dec. 22, 2010; of co-pending U.S. provisional application entitled “PIVOTING GATHERING AUGER FOR CORN HEADER (P1171H)”, having Ser. No. 61/425,836, filed Dec. 22, 2010; of co-pending U.S. provisional application entitled “CROP CAPTURING MEMBER FOR CORN HEADER WITH GATHERING AUGER (P117211)”, having Ser. No. 61/425,887, filed Dec. 22, 2010; of co-pending U.S. provisional application entitled “GATHERING AUGER WITH INDEPENDENT SPEED (P1173H)”, having Ser. No. 61/425,907, filed Dec. 22, 2010; of co-pending U.S. provisional application entitled “COMBINATION DRIVEN AND IDLER SNAP ROLLS FOR CORN HEADER (P1174H)”, having Ser. No. 61/425,920, filed Dec. 22, 2010; of co-pending U.S. provisional application entitled “SPRING LOADED SNAP ROLL FOR CORN HEADER (P1175H)”, having Ser. No. 61/425,935, filed Dec. 22, 2010; of co-pending U.S. provisional application entitled “HELICAL ACTING SNAP ROLL FLUTES FOR CORN HEADER (P1176H)”, having Ser. No. 61/426,072, filed Dec. 22, 2010; of co-pending U.S. provisional application entitled “REMOVABLE CORN HEADER SNOUT (P117811)”, having Ser. No. 61/426,119, filed Dec. 22, 2010; of co-pending U.S. provisional application entitled “OFFSET SNAP ROLLS FOR CORN HEADER (P1179H)”, having Ser. No. 61/426,141, filed Dec. 22, 2010; of co-pending U.S. provisional application entitled “DUAL IDLER ROLLS FOR CORN HEADER (P118011)”, having Ser. No. 61/426,167, filed Dec. 22, 2010; of co-pending U.S. provisional application entitled “SNAP ROLLS WITH HELICAL FLUTES FOR CORN HEADER (P1181H)”, having Ser. No. 61/426,193, filed Dec. 22, 2010; of co-pending U.S. provisional application entitled “SMOOTH IDLER ROLL FOR CORN HEADER (P1182H)”, having Ser. No. 61/426,213, filed Dec. 22, 2010; of co-pending U.S. provisional application entitled “OFFSET STRIPPER PLATES FOR CORN HEADER (P1183H)”, having Ser. No. 61/426,234, filed Dec. 22, 2010; of co-pending U.S. provisional application entitled “METHOD FOR URGING CROP STALKS INTO A GATHERING AUGER FOR A CORN HEADER (P1184H)”, having Ser. No. 61/426,263, filed Dec. 22, 2010; of co-pending U.S. provisional application entitled “HELICAL ACTING STRAIGHT SNAP ROLL FLUTES FOR CORN HEADER (P1185H)”, having Ser. No. 61/426,277, filed Dec. 22, 2010; of co-pending U.S. provisional application entitled “TWISTED STALK CHOPPING KNIVES FOR CORN HEADERS (P1190H)”, having Ser. No. 61/426,300, filed Dec. 22, 2010; which are all incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention relates to cutting and gathering stalk crops such as corn with a header coupled to an agricultural vehicle. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Agricultural harvesters such as combines are typically equipped with a harvesting header. Corn headers are specifically designed to pick corn and vary in size from two-row units to twelve-row units or more. As the harvester moves through the field, each row-unit passes between rows of corn. Corn header row units typically use gathering chains to covey crop material and ears rearward toward a cross auger. A set of driven snap rolls, which rotate based on the speed of the harvester, grabs the corn stalks and forces them downward between stripper plates. The ears of corn are snapped free of the stalk and the cross auger passes the ears to the feeder housing of the harvester. If the snap rolls are operated too fast or too slow, ears of corn may be lost or entire corn stalks may be passed to the cross auger and feeder housing. 
     Known row units require two gathering chains and two tensioners which are heavy, expensive and wear out easily. Furthermore, the gathering chains create a complicated drive mechanism because the axes of the drive sprockets driving the chains are at right angles to the axes of the snap rolls. Also, the gathering chains do not effectively convey a large mass of crop in conditions when material other than ears of corn, such as stalks and leaves, are severed from the ground. What is needed is a simpler and more cost effective row unit that is capable of conveying a large mass of crop. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate various embodiments of the present invention. In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a corn header having a plurality of row units for an agricultural vehicle; 
         FIG. 2  shows a top view of the header of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  shows a close-up view of a portion of the header of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  shows a portion of the bottom of the header of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  shows a close-up view of a portion of the bottom of the header of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  shows a perspective view of a frame which forms part of a live row unit and part of an adjacent dead row unit; 
         FIG. 7  shows a side view of a row unit of the header having a tiltable gear box and chopper; and 
         FIG. 8  shows a close-up view of the gearbox moveably coupled to the frame of the header. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS 
     The present invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms. While the drawings illustrate and the specification describes certain preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that such disclosure is by way of example only. There is no intent to limit the principles of the present invention to the particular disclosed embodiments. References hereinafter made to certain directions, such as, for example, “left” and “right”, are made as viewed from the front looking rearward. 
     The exemplary header  100  selected for illustration in  FIGS. 1-5  has a cross auger  110  with spiral flighting  112  for sweeping the ears of corn toward the center of the header  100 . Large cross augers  110  may also have paddles  130 , fingers  132  or some other means to facilitate the delivery of the crop rearward to the feeder housing of a harvester. The header  110  has a plurality of forward-extending live row-units  120  and a plurality of forward-extending dead row units  124 . The row units  120 ,  124  and the cross auger  110  define a feeder plane therebetween where useable parts of stalk crops are conveyed rearward from the row units  120 ,  124  to the cross auger  110 . 
     Live row units  120  and dead row units  124  cooperate with one another. Live row units  120  have powered components, as described in greater detail below, whereas the dead row units  124  generally do not have powered components. In one embodiment, as best shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the header  110  has four live row units  120 , three dead row units  124 , plus one half of a dead row unit  130  on each end of the header  110 . The row units  120 ,  124  are arranged relative to one another so that the row units  120 ,  124  alternate relative to each other along the length of the header  110 . In other words, every other row unit is a live row unit  120  with a dead row unit  124  adjacent to each live row unit  120 . The row units  120 ,  124  are spaced relative to one another to correspond with the spacing of the crop to be harvested and to provide a path to receive the crop therebetween. For example, a live row unit  120  may be placed between two dead row units  124  to cooperate therewith. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a row assembly  138  having a frame  140 , a back end  142  and a forward end  144 . Half of the frame  140  forms part of a live row unit  120  and the other half forms part of a dead row unit  124 . Therefore, one live row unit  120  includes two halves of two separate and adjacent frames  140 . One dead row unit  124  includes two halves of two separate and adjacent frames. Each frame  140  includes a first portion  146  and a second portion  148  which are spaced from one another and protrude outwardly and forward from the back end  142 . At the front and between adjacent row units  120 ,  124  is a crop entry  150  for receiving the stalks of the crop. The first and second portions  146 , 148  receive stripper plates which cooperate with one another to define the crop passage  156  between adjacent row units  120 ,  124 . The stripper plates strip useable parts such as ears of corn from crop stalks that are received in the crop passage  156 . 
     Each live row unit  120  of the present invention includes at least one fore-to-aft gathering auger  160 , in place of the two gathering chains and tensioners, for conveying the useable parts rearward to the cross auger  110 . Each gathering auger  160  has a proximal end and a distal end and is preferably aligned substantially with a corresponding crop passage  156 . However, the axis of rotation of the gathering auger  160  may instead be misaligned with the crop passage  156  such that the crop stalks in the back of the crop passage may be urged more so toward the gathering auger  160  than the crop stalks are at the beginning of the crop passage  156 . 
     Preferably, each live row unit  120  includes a pair of counter-rotating augers  160 . The dead row units  124 , on the other hand, do not include gathering augers  160  or any gathering chains. Therefore, the complexity of the header  110  is reduced by utilizing gathering augers  160  on live row units  120  instead of gathering chains and tensioners. Also, by utilizing dead row units  124  in combination with the live row units  120  the overall complexity of the header  110  is substantially reduced because the dead row units  124  do not have gathering augers  160  or gathering chains and tensions and also because the drive means for driving the gathering augers  160  is simpler than known drives used in combination with gathering chains. 
     The gathering augers  160  are preferably driven independently of the snap rolls. The gathering auger  160  may be driven by electrical, mechanical or hydraulic means. Preferably, each gathering auger  160  is cantilevered from the frames  140  and rotationally driven from the forward most end of its respective row unit  120  away from the cross auger  110  rather than the rear of the row unit  120  in close proximity to the cross auger  110  so that the delivery or the distal end of the gathering auger  160  is not obstructed. This allows ears and stalks to be delivered to the cross auger  110  unimpeded by bearing supports, drive mechanisms or some other crop impeding structure. 
     An arrangement of gears or wheels such as bevel gears  182 ,  184  may be used for transmission of the driving motion to the gathering auger  160  from a driven shaft  166  within each live row unit  120  while also allowing the distal end of the gathering auger  160  to pivot upward about the same axis of the shaft  166 . Each shaft  166  preferably drives a pair of gathering augers  160  of a single live row unit  120  so that the pair of gathering augers are driven about the same axis about which they may pivot into and out of the feeder plane. When the gathering auger  160  is pivoted upward, fasteners may be removed from the auger  160  so that the outer flighting portion of the gathering auger  160  may slide rearward so that it may be removed from an inner shaft and from cylindrical bearings allowing the flighting portion to rotate about the inner shaft. 
     The distal end of the gathering auger  160  is coupled to the bevel gear  182  which is driven by the bevel gear  184  on shaft  166 . The shaft  166  may be chain driven by a hydraulic drive motor  178  with sprocket  180 . Preferably, the drive motor  178  is sufficiently sized to drive all of the gathering augers  160 . The drive motor  178  and sprocket  180  with chain  198  drives sprocket  188  and shaft  186  which extends in a transverse manner along the length of the header  100 . There are preferably numerous other sprockets  188  along the length of the shaft  186 . The number of sprockets  188  depends on the number of live row units  120 . Chains  190  extend from the sprockets  188  of the shaft  186  to sprockets  192  on shaft  166 . 
     Because the augers  160  are driven by the drive motor  178 , the speed of the augers  160  is independent of the speed of the cross auger  110 . The chain  190  driving the sprocket  192  which in turn drives the shaft  166  with bevel gears  182 . The speed of the augers  160  can be changed automatically or manually in relation to the ground speed much like current grain headers on harvesters that control reel speed. Moreover, the augers  160  can be driven independent of the snap rolls. The speed of the gathering augers  160  may be varied while either or both the harvester and the snap rolls are maintained at a constant speed. 
     In addition to the apparatuses described herein, the inventions include a method for harvesting crop with an attachment for an agricultural vehicle that includes the gathering augers  160 . The method includes operating the gathering augers  160  at a first speed to gather crop stalks in the crop passages  156  and operating a snap roll for removing useable parts from crop stalks at a second speed independently of the gathering augers  160 . The method may also include one or more of the following steps: varying the speed of the gathering augers  160  while the speed of the snap rolls remain constant, increasing the speed of the gathering augers  160  while the speed of the snap rolls remain constant, decreasing the speed of the gathering augers  160  while the speed of the snap rolls remain constant, varying the speed of the snap rolls while the speed of the gathering augers  160  remain constant, increasing the speed of the snap rolls while the speed of the gathering augers  160  remain constant, decreasing the speed of the snap rolls while the speed of the gathering augers  160  remain constant, and/or changing the speed of the gathering augers  160  relative the ground speed of the harvester. 
     To keep stalks captured and engaged by the gathering auger  160  an elongated member  196  such as a rod is positioned in close proximity to the flighting of the gathering auger  160 . Preferably, the elongated member  196  is substantially parallel aligned with the gathering auger  160 . However, in other embodiments, at least a portion of the elongated member  196  may be shaped or curved along its length or the distal end of the elongated member  196  may be closer in proximity to the distal end of the gathering auger  160 . The elongated member  196  may be rigid, flexible, or semi-flexible to urge the stalks in the crop passage toward the gathering auger  160 . In one or more embodiments, the elongated member  196  is cantilevered off the forward end  144  of the frame  136  of the dead row unit  124  to urge the stalks in the crop passage  156  toward the gathering auger  160  of the opposing live row unit  120 . The dead row unit may also include a second elongated member  196  extending toward another gathering auger  160  of another live row unit. In an alternative embodiment, the elongated member  196  may be a strap or be detachably coupled or mounted to a row unit. 
     To provide additional chopping corn headers also chop the stalks from underneath the header with mowers having one or more knives or blades much like a lawn mower. The mowers are sometimes referred to as choppers. Conventional mowers are positioned below and rearward of the snap rolls in a fixed position to chop with the blades approximately parallel to the ground and at a right angle to the stalk. As shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 , the header  100  includes tiltable or pivotable choppers  410  where the choppers  410  are movable between multiple positions about a transverse axis to vary the angle at which crops are cut while the header may be held in a fixed position. The movement of the choppers  410  are independent of the position of the header and the row units relative to the ground. 
     The chopper  410  may have single or double knives having a chopping radius that overlaps the crop passage  156 . Each chopper  410  is mounted to a gearbox  420  for rotating the chopper  410  that has an output generally oriented downward relative the other gearboxes of the header  100  utilized for driving the snap rolls. The gearbox  420  is securely mounted and moveably retained to the frame of the header  100  through radial elongated openings or arched slots  430  for receiving fasteners  436 . The shaft  440  drives the gearboxes  420  along the length of the header  100 . The chopper  410  and the gearbox  420  may be partially rotated in the slots  430  even when the shaft  440  is coupled to the gearbox  420 . The elongated arched slots  430  extend radially from a transverse axis of rotation of the shaft  440  and gearbox  420 . When the gearbox  420  is partially rotated in the slots  430  the angle of the blades of the chopper  410  relative the ground may be changed to other than being parallel to the ground. The length of the arched slots  430  limit the range the chopper  410  can be tilted between a lower aft position and a higher fore position.  FIG. 7  illustrates the chopper  410  pivoted between the lower aft (in phantom) and higher fore positions.  FIG. 8  illustrates the fasteners  436  moved all the way to one end of the slots  430  when the chopper  410  is in the higher fore position. When the mower  410  is pivoted into the lower aft position, the fasteners  436  would be moved to the opposite end of the slots  430 . Preferably, the chopper  410  are mounted on a dead row unit  124  to allow the length of the knives of the chopper  410  to chop stalks passing through the crop passage  156 . 
     The foregoing has broadly outlined some of the more pertinent aspects and features of the present invention. These should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Other beneficial results can be obtained by applying the disclosed information in a different manner or by modifying the disclosed embodiments. Accordingly, other aspects and a more comprehensive understanding of the invention may be obtained by referring to the detailed description of the exemplary embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims.