阅读说明：本技术 在收割机中用于感测农作物材料的方法和设备 (Method and apparatus for sensing crop material in a harvester ) 是由 道格拉斯·G·坦普尔 亚历山大·B·拉塞尔斯 尼辛·乔杜里 于 2020-04-29 设计创作，主要内容包括：在收割机中提供一种用于农作物材料的感测系统和方法。该感测系统包括输送绞龙装置,该输送绞龙装置在基本上竖直的方向上取向并具有入口孔和出口孔,该出口孔向上地位于径向取向的感测孔的上方,该感测孔布置在入口孔和出口孔之间。该输送绞龙装置包括输送绞龙,该输送绞龙具有用于向上移动农作物材料的叶片,其中,该叶片在感测孔附近具有减小的径向延伸。布置在感测孔处或感测孔附近的传感器感测基本上连续地向上移动的农作物材料,以确定其性质。(A sensing system and method for crop material in a harvester is provided. The sensing system includes a conveying auger assembly oriented in a substantially vertical direction and having an inlet aperture and an outlet aperture located upwardly above a radially oriented sensing aperture disposed between the inlet aperture and the outlet aperture. The conveying auger apparatus includes a conveying auger having a blade for moving crop material upwardly, wherein the blade has a reduced radial extension near the sensing aperture. A sensor disposed at or near the sensing aperture senses the substantially continuously upwardly moving crop material to determine a property thereof.)

1. A sensing system for sensing a property of crop material harvested by a harvester, comprising:

a conveying auger device oriented in a substantially vertical direction, the conveying auger device including a radially oriented sensing aperture and a radially oriented exit aperture disposed upwardly above the sensing aperture;

A transport auger disposed in the transport auger apparatus, the transport auger including a blade for moving the crop material upwardly, wherein the blade has a reduced radial extension near the sensing aperture; and

a sensor disposed at or near the sensing aperture for sensing the crop material being substantially continuously moved upwardly to determine a property of the crop material.

2. The sensing system according to claim 1, wherein said conveying auger apparatus moves crop material upwardly from a location in said harvester beyond said sensor disposed at said sensing aperture such that said crop material exits said conveying auger apparatus radially at said exit aperture.

3. The sensing system of claim 1, the conveying auger including the blade for moving crop material, wherein the blade has an increasing radial extension along a longitudinal axis of the conveying auger above and below the sensing aperture.

4. The sensing system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is an imaging camera having a camera lens.

5. The sensing system according to claim 4, wherein said camera lens is a planar lens and said imaging camera senses moisture of said crop material, and wherein said crop material is clean grain.

6. The sensing system according to claim 1, wherein said sensor is a near infrared imaging camera having a camera lens arranged at or within said sensing aperture for imaging said crop material to sense a property thereof.

7. The sensing system according to claim 1, wherein said conveying auger apparatus comprises a sensor receiving member having a planar shape disposed about said sensing aperture.

8. The sensing system according to claim 1, wherein the conveying auger apparatus includes a drum at a lower end thereof to reduce the amount of crop material entering a bottom of the conveying auger apparatus.

9. A crop material conveying arrangement including a sensing system for sensing a property of crop material harvested by a harvester, the sensing system comprising:

A transport auger configured to propel crop material;

an elevator configured to receive crop material from the conveying auger, the elevator including a drive arrangement for moving the crop material to a storage bin of the harvester;

a conveying auger apparatus oriented in a substantially vertical direction, the conveying auger configured to receive crop material from a bottom of the elevator and configured to return crop material to the elevator, the conveying auger apparatus comprising:

a radially-oriented sensing bore is provided,

a radially oriented outlet aperture disposed upwardly above the sensing aperture, an

A conveying auger including a blade for moving the crop material upwardly, wherein the blade has a reduced radial extension near the sensing aperture; and

a sensor disposed at or near the sensing aperture for sensing the crop material being substantially continuously moved upwardly to determine a property of the crop material.

10. The crop material conveying arrangement of claim 9, wherein the sensor is an imaging camera for sensing moisture of the crop material and the crop material is clean grain.

11. The crop material conveying arrangement of claim 9, wherein the blades have increasing radial extension along a longitudinal axis of the conveying auger above and below the sensing aperture.

12. The crop material transfer arrangement of claim 9, wherein the drive arrangement of the elevator includes a chain scraper configured for moving crop material from a bottom of the elevator to a storage bin disposed at a top of the harvester.

13. The crop material transfer arrangement of claim 9, wherein the conveying auger has a reverse vane at a top end thereof to discharge crop material.

14. A method for sensing a property of crop material harvested by a harvester, the method comprising:

operating a transport auger to move the crop material generally upwardly within a transport auger apparatus, the transport auger apparatus having a sensing aperture;

sensing substantially continuously upwardly moving crop material with a sensor disposed at the sensing aperture; and

determining a property of the crop material based on the sensed information.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the conveying auger has a reverse vane at its top to discharge crop material.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the sensor is an imaging camera and the property of the crop material is moisture, and wherein the transport auger has reduced radially extending blades near the sensing aperture.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the imaging camera is a near-field imaging camera.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the imaging camera is a near-infrared imaging camera that senses moisture of the crop material, and wherein the crop material is clean grain.

19. The method of claim 18, including moving the crop material from a bottom of the elevator to a storage bin disposed at a top of the harvester with a chain scraper.

Background

The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus provided in a harvesting machine for moving crop material along an upwardly oriented path past a sensor that determines a composition or property thereof.

Disclosure of Invention

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a sensing system for sensing a property of crop material harvested by a harvester. The system includes a conveying auger assembly oriented in a substantially vertical direction. The auger apparatus includes a radially oriented sensing bore and a radially oriented exit bore disposed upwardly above the sensing bore. A conveying auger arranged in the conveying auger apparatus includes a blade for moving crop material upwardly, wherein the blade has a reduced radial extension near the sensing aperture. The system includes a sensor disposed at or near the sensing aperture for sensing crop material being moved substantially continuously upwardly to determine a property of the crop material.

In another embodiment, the crop material conveying arrangement comprises a sensing system for sensing a property of crop material harvested by the harvester. The sensing system includes a transport auger configured to propel crop material; an elevator configured to receive crop material from the conveying auger, the elevator including a drive arrangement for moving the crop material to the storage bin of the harvester; and a conveying auger assembly oriented in a substantially vertical direction and configured to receive crop material from the bottom of the elevator and configured to return the crop material to the elevator. The conveying auger apparatus includes a radially oriented sensing aperture, a radially oriented exit aperture disposed upwardly above the sensing aperture, and a conveying auger including a blade for moving crop material upwardly, wherein the blade has a reduced radial extension near the sensing aperture. The sensing system comprises a sensor arranged at or near the sensing aperture for sensing crop material being moved substantially continuously upwards for determining a property of the crop material.

In another embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method for sensing a property of crop material harvested by a harvester. The method includes operating a transport auger to move crop material generally upwardly within a transport auger assembly having a sensing aperture and providing a sensor at or within the sensing aperture of the transport auger assembly. The method further includes sensing the substantially continuously upwardly moving crop material with a sensor disposed at the sensing aperture and determining a property of the crop material from the sensed information.

Other aspects of the disclosure will become apparent by consideration of the detailed description and accompanying drawings.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a harvester.

Fig. 2 is a partial perspective view of a crop material conveying arrangement for a harvester with a portion of an elevator broken away to show a chain scraper conveyor.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the conveying auger.

Fig. 4 is another perspective view of the conveying auger shown in fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a sensing system including a sensor and a conveying auger apparatus.

Fig. 6 is a partial perspective view of the conveying auger assembly with the top of the conveying auger assembly broken away.

Fig. 7 is a close-up partial perspective view of a portion of the crop material conveying arrangement of fig. 2 without the conveying auger or drag conveyor.

Detailed Description

Before any embodiments of the disclosure are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. The disclosure is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways.

Fig. 1 illustrates a harvester 10 according to some embodiments. The illustrated harvester 10 includes a combine 12 and a header 14. The combine 12 includes a prime mover 16, a cab 18, an intake housing 20, and a plurality of ground engaging devices 22. The prime mover 16 is configured to move the combine harvester 12 in a direction of travel via the ground engaging devices 22. The ground engaging devices 22 shown are wheels, but tracks or other suitable ground engaging devices may be utilized.

In one embodiment, the header 14 includes a cutter 26 configured to cut grain being harvested and a reel 28 configured to press the grain against the cutter to cut the grain.

Fig. 2 shows a partial perspective view of one embodiment of a crop material transfer arrangement 30 including a transfer auger 34 for providing crop material to an elevator 40. The top of the elevator is removed to show a chain scraper conveyor 44 disposed therein, which includes a chain scraper 46 and a chain 48 to move crop material up to the upper storage compartment of harvester 10. In addition to the chain scraper conveyor 44, also a drive arrangement is conceivable. Fig. 2 also shows an elevator receiver 52 for receiving crop material carried or driven by the conveyor auger 34.

Sensing system 60 includes a sensor 64 and a conveying auger assembly 70 supporting the sensor. The conveying auger assembly 70 includes a conveyor housing defined by a lower conveyor housing section 72 and an upper conveyor housing section 74, as shown in FIG. 2. In fig. 2, a conveying auger drive 76 secured at the top of the conveying auger assembly, which is shown in fig. 3 and included in the conveying auger assembly, provides power to rotate a conveying auger 80. The conveying auger assembly 70 is oriented in a substantially vertical or upward direction.

The conveying auger 80 shown in fig. 3 includes a driven shaft 82 for rotating the auger about the longitudinal axis L defined thereby. Further, the conveying auger 80 includes a drum (drum)84 at its base having a larger diameter than the upper cylindrical member 86 of the conveying auger. The vanes 90 extend continuously around the drum 84 and then around the upper cylindrical member 86. However, the vane 90 has, in its substantially upper section a defined between the projections 92, 94, a reduced radial extension or width orthogonally projected with respect to the longitudinal axis L. From the projection 94 upwards, the vane 90 in turn has an increasing radial extension orthogonally projected with respect to the longitudinal axis L, which is substantially the same as the radial extension of the vane 90 below the projection 92 shown in fig. 3. Thus, the section A defined by the horizontal dashed line represents the area or longitudinal linear distance of reduced blade size. At the upper end of the conveyor auger, the conveyor auger 80 has a reversing vane 98 to discharge crop material radially outwardly from the conveyor auger assembly 70. Fig. 4 shows the same conveying auger 80 as in fig. 3 and is provided in a different perspective view to further illustrate the features of the conveying auger.

Fig. 5 shows one embodiment of a sensing system 60 comprising a sensor 64 and a conveying auger assembly 70. The conveying auger assembly 70 includes a curved conveying member 100 having an inlet aperture 104 for receiving crop material from the bottom of the elevator 40. The conveying auger 3 drives 4 crop material into the bottom of the elevator 40 and into the bottom of the conveying auger assembly 70. The transfer member 100 including the inlet aperture 104 defines a passageway to the bottom chamber of the conveying auger assembly 70. In fig. 5, the conveying auger assembly 70 includes an outlet member 108 having a flat, substantially rectangular face and an outlet aperture 112 provided with or defining a passage for crop material exiting from the upper conveyor housing portion 74 of the conveying auger assembly 70 into the elevator 40.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of the upper conveyor housing portion 74 showing the generally planar sensor receiving member 120 having a sensing bore 124 aligned with a portion of the blade 90 having a reduced radial extension orthogonal to the longitudinal axis L. In this embodiment, the sensing bore 124 is a transversely oriented sensing bore. The sensor receiving member 120 has a planar shape arranged around the sensing hole 124. The sensor receiving member 120 enables the sensor 64 to be located at or in the sensing bore 124 of the conveying auger assembly 70. The outlet aperture 112 is disposed above the sensing aperture 124. Further, the exit aperture 112 is oriented in a different orthogonal direction than the sensing aperture 124. Thus, due to the reduced radial extension of the vanes in section A, the vanes 90 are spaced a substantial distance from the sensing bore 124. Thus, where the vanes 90 are formed of a metallic material, the metallic material will not affect the sensors 64 mounted on the upper conveyor housing portion 74.

Fig. 7 shows how the sensor 64 is mounted to the conveying auger apparatus 70 substantially orthogonal to the curved conveying member 100 and the outlet member 108 relative to the longitudinal axis L. Thus, the inlet aperture 104 and the outlet aperture 112 open in the same radial direction, but are spaced apart by a longitudinal linear distance. However, in the illustrated embodiment, the sensing bore 124 is positioned orthogonal to the longitudinal axis L and the inlet and outlet bores 104, 112. Other arrangements are envisaged.

Operation of

In operation, the transport auger 34 provides crop material to the elevator 40 via the elevator receiver 52. While the flight conveyor 44 lifts crop material to the upper bin, the sensing system 60 operates in conjunction with the conveying auger assembly 70 to provide substantially continuous upward movement of crop material past the sensor 64.

More specifically, the drum 84 of the conveying auger 80 limits the amount of crop material entering its inlet aperture 104. As the crop material enters the conveying auger assembly 70, the blades 90 move the crop material upwardly in a substantially vertical direction. When crop material reaches segment a, wherein the radial extension of the blades 90 in the vicinity of the sensing aperture 124 and the sensor 64 is reduced, the crop material accumulates while the crop material moves substantially continuously upward in the direction of the longitudinal axis L. Thus, the sensor 64 senses the presence of substantially continuously upwardly moving crop material in the vicinity of the sensing aperture 124. Thus, a greater amount of crop material is provided near the sensor 64 than at the lower portion of the blade 90. The increased amount of crop material near the sensor 64 facilitates proper sensing of the crop material or components thereof. As the crop material travels substantially continuously upward, the reversing vanes 98 at the top end of the conveying auger 80 discharge the crop material radially outward from the conveying auger housing through radially oriented outlet apertures 112. Crop material falls either to the bottom of the elevator 40 or onto a flight 46 provided in the elevator. Thus, the conveying auger 80 conveys crop material from a location in the harvester 10 upwardly beyond the sensor 64 disposed at the sensing aperture 124 to exit the conveying auger housing at the exit aperture 112 which leads radially into the elevator 40.

The sensor 64 disposed at the sensing hole 124 obtains sensing information. The arrangement determines a property of the crop material from the sensed information.

Thus, the conveying auger apparatus 70 serves as a bypass conveyor for sensing purposes. Crop material is returned to elevator 40 for delivery to a storage bin at the top or upper portion of harvester 10.

Alternative arrangements

Although FIG. 2 shows the conveying auger housing having a lower conveyor housing portion 72 and an upper conveyor housing portion 74, in another embodiment, a unitary housing is provided.

In one embodiment, the sensor 64 is an imaging camera having a camera lens. One embodiment includes a camera lens as a planar lens and an imaging camera for sensing moisture of the crop material, and the crop material is clean grain.

In one embodiment, in region or zone a, the size/width of the blade 90 near the imaging camera of the sensor 64 is reduced such that the nearest edge of the blade 90 is at least 15 millimeters from the camera lens of the imaging camera and/or from the sensing aperture 124. Thus, the blade 90 does not interfere with the sensor 64.

In one embodiment, the sensor 64 is a near infrared imaging camera having a camera lens disposed at/in the sensing aperture 124 for imaging the crop material to sense a property thereof. In one embodiment, the sensed property is moisture of a composition of the crop material determined from images from the near infrared imaging camera. It is contemplated that other properties may be determined. In one embodiment, a temperature sensor is provided as the sensor, while in another embodiment, a combination of an imaging camera and an additional temperature sensor is envisaged.

In one embodiment, crop material is discharged laterally by a reversing vane 98 arranged at the upper part of the conveying auger 80 so that the crop material is returned to the bottom of the elevator 40, which is connected to the bottom of the conveying auger apparatus 70. This embodiment includes moving crop material from the bottom of the elevator 40 to a storage bin disposed at the top of the harvester 10 using a chain scraper 44.

Although the phrase "substantially continuously moving crop material upwards" is provided, this phrase does not exclude the inclusion of some rotational movement about the longitudinal axis L of the conveying auger 80 during its upward movement.

Accordingly, the present disclosure provides, among other things, a sensing system for sensing properties of crop material including a conveying auger having blades of reduced size or diameter adjacent a sensor. Various features and advantages of the disclosure are set forth in the following claims.