AGRICULTURAL COMBINE WITH STONE TROUGH BEATER ARRANGEMENT

• US 20020016192A1
• Filed: 10/05/1999
• Published: 02/07/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Blue Leaf IP Incorporated (CNH Industrial N.V.), CNH Industrial America LLC (CNH Industrial N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Case Corporation (CNH Industrial N.V.)
• Inventors: RICKETTS, JON E., MOSTER, VINCENT M.
• Granted Patent: US 6,368,209 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 460/105
• CPC Class Codes: A01F 12/10 Feeders

Abstract

An agricultural combine feeder assembly and rotor interface wherein the feeder assembly includes front and rear housing section connected by a pivot. The front section contains a conveyor while the rear section contains a rotating beater. The rearmost extremity of the beater is spaced from 5 to 16 inches from the forwardmost extremity of the impeller blade or blades on the front end of the rotor.

Claims

1. In an agricultural combine including a mobile frame assembly, a rotor assembly mounted on said frame assembly for receiving and processing crop materials and including a rotor which rotates around a longitudinal axis and has an impeller blade secured to a forward end of the rotor, a header assembly in front of said frame assembly for reaping crop materials as the combine is driven across a crop field, and a feeder assembly for receiving crop materials from said header assembly and discharging said crop materials into said rotor assembly, the improvement wherein:

a) said feeder assembly includes

(i) a feeder housing having a front section connected at a front end to said header assembly and a rear section connected at a rear end to said frame assembly, the connection between said section being a pivot connection;

(ii) a conveyor in said housing front section and including longitudinally spaced forward and rearward rotatable elements supporting a continuous element for rotation about said rotatable elements; and

(iii) a rock trap beater in said housing rear section and mounted for rotation about an axis which is disposed rearwardly of both the pivot connection between said feeder housing sections and the axis of rotation of said rearward rotatable element, and forwardly of the forwardmost extremity of said impeller blade;

b) the longitudinal distance between the rearwardmost extremity of said beater and the forwardmost extremity of said impeller blade being between 5 and 16 inches.

2.he. The improvement of claim 1 further characterized in that:

a) said longitudinal distance is approximately 7 inches.

3.he. The improvement of claim 1 further characterized in that:

a) said pivot connection is on the axis of rotation of said rearward rotatable element.