Axial flow type harvesting machines

Claim 2

An axial flow type harvesting machine such as a combine harvester having a generally fore-and-aft extending axial flow type threshing and separating mechanism comprising: a generally fore-and-aft extending casing; a concave provided in said casing; rotor means mounted in said casing, the rotor means having a generally cylindrical body portion; at least one threshing member extending from the surface of said body portion for cooperating with said casing to operate on the crop material to be harvested, the threshing member having an outer rasp bar section and an inner support section, the height of the support section being substantially larger than the height of the rasp bar section and substantially smaller than the radius of the generally cylindrical body portion.

Claim 3

An axial flow type harvesting machine as set forth in claim 1 in which each inner support section includes A top wall spaced from the periphery of the rotor body portion and, relative to the direction of rotation, a rearwardly and upwardly inclined front wall, said rasp bar being mounted on said top wall.

Claim 4

An axial flow type harvesting machine such as combine harvesters having generally fore-and-aft extending axial flow type threshing and separating mechanisms; comprising crop elevator means for conveying crop material upwardly and rearwardly; generally fore-and-aft extending casing means of generally cylindrical cross section, said casing means having a front threshing concave and a rear separating grate; and rotor means rotatably mounted in said casing means and cooperable with said casing means upon rotation for providing a smooth flow of crop material through said casing means in a generally spiral path, said rotor means including a generally cylindrical body means having no protrusions or apertures about which crop material can hook, said threshing means forming pocket means with the casing means and the surface of the generally cylindrical body means, the depth of the pocket means being such that during rotation of the rotor means within the casing means they are sufficiently great to permit the pressure on the mat of crop material to be eased to allow threshed grain to fall there from and also to accommodate ears of corn, and sufficiently shallow to maintain ears of corn in substantially constant contact with the casing means and to prevent crop material from lodging therein or roping as it passes through said casing means whereby a fluent flow of crop material through the threshing and separating mechanism is achieved.

Claim 5

An axial flow type harvesting machine such as combine harvesters having generally fore-and-aft extending axial flow type threshing and separating mechanisms; comprising crop elevator means for conveying crop material upwardly and rearwardly; generally fore-and-aft extending casing means of generally cylindrical cross section, said casing means having a front threshing concave and a rear separating grate; and rotor means rotatably mounted in said casing means and cooperable with said casing means upon rotation for providing a smooth flow of crop material through said casing means in a generally spiral path, said rotor means including a generally cylindrical body means having no protrusions or apertures about which crop material can hook, said threshing means forming pocket means with the casing means and the surface of the generally cylindrical body means, the depth of the pocket means being such that during rotation of the rotor means within the casing means they are sufficiently great to permit the pressure on the mat of crop material to be eased to allow threshed grain to fall there from and also to accommodate ears of corn, and sufficiently shallow to maintain ears of corn in substantially constant contact with the casing means and to prevent crop material from lodging therein or roping as it passes through said casing means whereby a fluent flow of crop material through the threshing and separating mechanism is achieved.

Claim 6

An axial flow type harvesting machine as set forth in claim 3 further characterized by the provision of a plurality of separating elements equal in number to the threshing means, the separating elements being mounted on and extending radially outwardly from the surface of the generally cylindrical body portion immediately rearwardly of said threshing means, said separating elements having no protrusions or apertures about which crop material can hook, and there being a smooth transition between the threshing means and the separating elements.

Claim 7

An axial flow type harvesting machine as set forth in claim 3 wherein the diameter of the circle generated by the threshing means during rotation of the rotor is substantially equal to the diameter of the circle generated by the separating elements during the rotation of the rotor.

Claim 8

A rotor for use in an axial flow type harvesting machine having a generally fore-and-aft extending axial flow type threshing and separating mechanism, said rotor having an increased strength-to-weight ratio and comprising: forward and rear stub shafts axially spaced away from each other; forward flange means mounted on the forward stub shaft; rear flange means mounted on the rear stub shaft; fore-and-aft extending arcuate plates mounted on and extending between the forward and rear flange means to form a generally cylindrical body portion; and radially outwardly extending forward threshing members and rearward separating members mounted on said arcuate plates.

Claim 9

A rotor for use in an axial flow type harvesting machine having a generally fore-and-aft extending axial flow type threshing and separating mechanism, said rotor having an increased strength-to-weight ratio and comprising: forward and rear stub shafts axially spaced away from each other; forward flange means mounted on the forward stub shaft; rear flange means mounted on the rear stub shaft; fore-and-aft extending arcuate plates mounted on and extending between the forward and rear flange means to form a generally cylindrical body portion; and radially outwardly extending forward threshing members and rearward separating members mounted on said arcuate plates.

Claim 10

A rotor as set forth in claim 6 in which said arcuate plates are spaced apart to provide a service opening to the interior of the generally cylindrical body portion, and further characterized by the provision of service panels mounted over said service openings.

Claim 11

A rotor as set forth in claim 6 in which at least one of said forward threshing members and rearward separating members is disposed spirally about said rotor.

Claim 12

A rotor as set forth in claim 6 in which said separating members include a forward portion mounted spirally about said rotor and a rear end portion extending generally parallel to the rotor axis for use to discharge material from the separating section generally tangentially of the rotor.

Claim 13

The rotor as set forth in claim 6 in which said forward threshing members include threshing eLements for threshing the crop material, and support means mounted on said body portion for spacing the threshing elements from said body portion, said support means including a generally channel shaped member having inclined forward and rearward portions and an intermediate portion spaced away from said arcuate plates, said threshing elements being mounted on said intermediate portion.

Claim 14

A rotor as set forth in claim 10 in which said support means further include outwardly turned front and rear flanges which are secured to said arcuate plates.

Claim 15

An axial flow type harvesting machine such as combine harvesters having a generally fore-and-aft extending axial flow type threshing and separating mechanism comprising: generally fore-and-aft extending casing means of generally cylindrical cross section, said casing means having a front threshing concave and a rear separating grate; rotor means rotatably mounted in said casing means and cooperable with said casing means upon rotation for providing a smooth flow of crop materials through said casing means in a generally spiral path; said rotor means including a generally cylindrical body portion and a plurality of threshing members extending radially outwardly from the surface of the generally cylindrical body portion; feed section means mounted on said rotor forwardly of said threshing members for rotation therewith; and crop elevator means mounted on said machine for conveying a mat of crop material upwardly and rearwardly to said feed section means, said feed section means being operable to deflect the mat of received crop material into a spiral path, the radius of which corresponds generally to the radius of the threshing members; said feed section means having a base portion and auger flights mounted on said base portion, there being as many auger flights as there are threshing members, the diameter of the base portion of the feed section adjacent to the body portion of the rotor being substantially the same as the diameter of the generally cylindrical body portion of the rotor and wherein the diameter of the auger flights adjacent to the body portion of the rotor is substantially equal to the diameter of the circle described by the threshing members during rotation of the rotor means.

Claim 16

An axial flow type harvesting machine such as combine harvesters having a generally fore-and-aft extending axial flow type threshing and separating mechanism comprising: generally fore-and-aft extending casing means of generally cylindrical cross section, said casing means having a front threshing concave and a rear separating grate; rotor means rotatably mounted in said casing means and cooperable with said casing means upon rotation for providing a smooth flow of crop materials through said casing means in a generally spiral path; said rotor means including a generally cylindrical body portion and a plurality of threshing members extending radially outwardly from the surface of the generally cylindrical body portion; feed section means mounted on said rotor forwardly of said threshing members for rotation therewith; and crop elevator means mounted on said machine for conveying a mat of crop material upwardly and rearwardly to said feed section means, said feed section means being operable to deflect the mat of received crop material into a spiral path, the radius of which corresponds generally to the radius of the threshing members; said feed section means having a base portion and auger flights mounted on said base portion, there being as many auger flights as there are threshing members, the diameter of the base portion of the feed section adjacent to the body portion of the rotor being substantially the same as the diameter of the generally cylindrical body portion of the rotor and wherein the diameter of the auger flights adjacent to the body portion of the rotor is substantially equal to the diameter of the circle described by the threshing members during rotation of the rotor means.

Claim 17

An axial flow type harvesting machine as set forth in claim 12 further characterized by the provision of elements having substantially the same cross sectional shape and area as the threshing members for bridging the space between each threshing member and the associated auger flight which ends behind, relative to the direction of rotation of said threshing member.

Claim 18

An axial flow type harvesting machine as set forth in claim 12 in which said base portion includes a cylindrical portion and a conical extension.

Claim 19

An axial flow type harvesting machine as set forth in claim 14 in which said cylindrical portion is disposed adjacent to the generally cylindrical body portion of the rotor, the auger flights overlying the length of said cylindrical portion having a substantially constant diameter.

Claim 20

An axial flow type harvesting machine as set forth in claim 14 in which said conical extension is disposed adjacent to the generally cylindrical body portion of the rotor, the auger flights overlying the length of said conical extension having a substantially constant diameter.

Claim 21

An axial flow type harvesting machine as set forth in claim 12 in which the forward edges of the auger flights are in close relationship to the crop elevator means so that the flights have an aggressive grasp on the straw mat in order to continuously clear away the crop material from the crop elevator means to prevent any backfeeding.

Claim 22

An axial flow type harvesting machine such as a combine harvester having generally fore-and-aft extending axial flow type threshing and separating type mechanism comprising: generally fore-and-aft extending casing means of generally cylindrical cross section, said casing means Having a front threshing concave and a rear separating grate; rotor means rotatably mounted in the said casing means and cooperable with said casing means upon rotation for providing a smooth flow of crop material through said casing means in a generally spiral path, said rotor means including generally cylindrical body means having no protrusions or apertures about which crop material can hook, and a plurality of threshing means mounted on and extending radially outwardly from the surface of the generally cylindrical body means, said threshing means having no protrusions or apertures about which crop material can hook, said threshing means forming pocket means with the casing means and the surface of the generally cylindrical body means, the depth of the pocket means being such that during rotation of the rotor means within the casing means they are sufficiently great to permit the pressure on the mat of crop material to be eased to allow threshed grain to fall therefrom and also to accommodate ears of corn, and sufficiently shallow to maintain ears of corn in substantially constant contact with the casing means and to prevent crop material from lodging therein or roping as it passes through said casing means whereby a fluent flow of crop material through the threshing and separating mechanism is achieved; feed section means mounted on said rotor means forwardly of said threshing means for rotation therewith; and crop elevator means mounted on said machine for conveying a mat of crop material upwardly and rearwardly to said feed section means, said mat of crop material being delivered below the rotational axis of said feed section means, and said feed section means being operable to deflect the mat of received crop material into a spiral path, the radius of which generally corresponds to the radius of the threshing members; said feed section means having a base portion and auger flights mounted on said base portion, there being as many flights as there are threshing means, the diameter of the base portion of the feed section means adjacent to the body means of the rotor means being substantially the same as the diameter of the generally cylindrical body means of the rotor means and wherein the diameter of the auger flights adjacent to the body means of the rotor means is substantially equal to the diameter of the circle described by the threshing means during rotation of the rotor means whereby a smooth transition of the mat of crop material from the feed section means towards the threshing means is ensured.

Claim 23

An axial flow type harvesting machine such as a combine harvester having generally fore-and-aft extending axial flow type threshing and separating type mechanism comprising: generally fore-and-aft extending casing means of generally cylindrical cross section, said casing means Having a front threshing concave and a rear separating grate; rotor means rotatably mounted in the said casing means and cooperable with said casing means upon rotation for providing a smooth flow of crop material through said casing means in a generally spiral path, said rotor means including generally cylindrical body means having no protrusions or apertures about which crop material can hook, and a plurality of threshing means mounted on and extending radially outwardly from the surface of the generally cylindrical body means, said threshing means having no protrusions or apertures about which crop material can hook, said threshing means forming pocket means with the casing means and the surface of the generally cylindrical body means, the depth of the pocket means being such that during rotation of the rotor means within the casing means they are sufficiently great to permit the pressure on the mat of crop material to be eased to allow threshed grain to fall therefrom and also to accommodate ears of corn, and sufficiently shallow to maintain ears of corn in substantially constant contact with the casing means and to prevent crop material from lodging therein or roping as it passes through said casing means whereby a fluent flow of crop material through the threshing and separating mechanism is achieved; feed section means mounted on said rotor means forwardly of said threshing means for rotation therewith; and crop elevator means mounted on said machine for conveying a mat of crop material upwardly and rearwardly to said feed section means, said mat of crop material being delivered below the rotational axis of said feed section means, and said feed section means being operable to deflect the mat of received crop material into a spiral path, the radius of which generally corresponds to the radius of the threshing members; said feed section means having a base portion and auger flights mounted on said base portion, there being as many flights as there are threshing means, the diameter of the base portion of the feed section means adjacent to the body means of the rotor means being substantially the same as the diameter of the generally cylindrical body means of the rotor means and wherein the diameter of the auger flights adjacent to the body means of the rotor means is substantially equal to the diameter of the circle described by the threshing means during rotation of the rotor means whereby a smooth transition of the mat of crop material from the feed section means towards the threshing means is ensured.