GB2181075A

GB2181075A - Conveying and cutting assembly for load-carrying vehicles

Info

Publication number: GB2181075A
Application number: GB08621278A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hans Rauch
Original assignee: Claas Saulgau GmbH
Current assignee: Claas Saulgau GmbH
Priority date: 1985-10-02
Filing date: 1986-09-03
Publication date: 1987-04-15
Also published as: DE3535155C2; GB8621278D0; DK169903B1; GB2181075B; DE3535155A1; DK467386A; DK467386D0

Abstract

In a load-carrying agricultural vehicle having a conveying and cutting assembly and a conveyor passage 16 which leads upwardly, cutter blades 13 are arranged at the upper end of the conveyor passage. Preferably, neither the cutter blades nor the conveyor assembly which co- operates therewith are enclosed by a fixed housing wall. In accordance with the preferred embodiment shown, the conveyor passage is formed by conveyor drums which are arranged in two rows, of which drums 2 are driven, and drums 3 may or may not be driven, and the conveyed material, e.g. hay, straw or grass, is urged by rotating tines 9 towards stationary blades 13. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Conveying and cutting assembly for loadcarrying vehicles The invention relates to a conveying and cutting assembly for load-carrying vehicles, having an upwardly directed conveyor passage and a plurality of spaced-apart cutter blades.

The material to be conveyed and cut is preferably agricultural crop material and the vehicle may for example be a truck, lorry, wagon or trailer.

Such an assembly is illustrated for example in German laid-open application (DE-OS) No.31 42 491. The function thereof is to convey a stream of material which is supplied thereto from a pick-up device, upwardly into a vehicle box body and, as it passes along, to cut it up into short portions by means of a plurality of stationary cutter blades which are disposed in a conveyor passage. The short portions produced then behave almost like loose or bulk material and propagate the pressure applied thereto by the conveyor members, in all directions, whereby high frictional forces occur because of the pressure against the wall of the conveyor passage. These high forces on the one hand increase the amount of power required and on the other hand result in undesirable compression effects on the crop material.In addition, as will be appreciated, the conveyor members have substantially more difficulty in conveying short lengths than a coherent stream or line of material.

We have sought to provide a conveying and cutting assembly which has a particularly low level of power requirement, which operates in such a way as to handle the material gently and which permits a simple structure to be employed. The operating principle of the present invention is based on moving the stream of material which has been picked up through the conveyor passage in an unchanged condition for as long as possible and cutting it up only directly prior to its passing into the vehicle body.

In accordance with the invention, the cutter blades are arranged at the upper end of the conveyor passage and are operatively connected to a rotatingly disposed conveyor unit.

In order to avoid any skin friction, it is desirable that there is no adjoining fixed housing or conveyor passage wall downstream of the cutter blades and downstream of the conveyor unit co-operating therewith. The absence of the housing wall could mean that the flow of material is not held in a satisfactory fashion in the cutting operation. Therefore, the cutter blades preferably have a hook-like projection portion outside the operative region of the conveying members on which the material can be supported in the cutting operation. It will be appreciated that the same effect could also be produced by another component disposed at the same location.

In order still further to reduce the skin friction in regard to the flow of material which is to be conveyed upwardly, the conveyor passage may be formed by conveying members at its front side and at its rear side. This can be achieved in a particularly simple fashion if the conveying members comprise a plurality of successively disposed drums or rollers. The drums may carry entrainment members, or may be slightly profiled, but they may also be smooth.

A particularly simple embodiment provides that the drums of one series (for example the rearward series) are driven while those of the other series are not driven but are rotatable.

The drawing is a diagrammatic view from the side of a conveying and cutting assembly according to the invention.

A pick-up device 1 is disposed at the front end of an agricultural load-carrying vehicle (not shown). Mounted rearwardly of the pick-up device 1 in the side walls of the vehicle are three driven rear conveyor drums or rollers 2, 2' and 2" which rotate in the direction indicated by the arrows A. Mounted above and in front of the drums 2, 2', 2" are two front conveyor drums or rollers 3 and 3' which are also driven, rotating in the direction indicated by the arrows B. Alternatively, the drums 3, 3' can be freely rotatable. The pick-up device 1 has tines 4 and disposed above the device 1 is a guide plate 5.

A rotating conveyor unit 6 is mounted above and rearwardly of the third rear conveyor drum 2" and the second front conveyor drum 3', the unit 6 being rotatable in the direction indicated by the arrow. Fixed on the core portion 7 of the unit 6 is a plurality of disc-like conveyor star elements 8 which each carry four rearwardly curved lines 9. Stripper members 10 which are fixed to a transverse carrier 11 respectively engage into the spaces between each two adjacent conveyor star elements 8.

A plurality of cutter blades 13 are mounted on a frame carrier member 12, and are fixed thereon or capable of being pivoted out of position. They also engage between two adjacent conveyor star elements 8 of the conveyor unit 6. The cutter blades 13 have a cutting edge 14 and a hook-like projection portion 15 which extends to a position close to the periphery of the third rear conveyor drum 2" for supporting the material being cut.

In operation of the vehicle, a stream of material, e.g. agricultural crop material such as hay, straw or grass, is picked up from the ground by the tines 4 and fed to the first rear conveyor drum 2, between the pick-up device 1 and the guide plate 5. The drum 2 takes over the stream of material which thereafter is conveyed upwardly in a conveyor passage 16 which is formed by the rear conveyor drums 2' and 2" and the front conveyor drums 3 and 3'. At the end of the conveyor passage 16, the stream of material is engaged by the tines 9 of the conveyor star elements 8 and urged towards the stationary cutter blades 13 and severed thereby. The cut material then passes into the adjoining load space 17. Any pieces of material between the conveyor star elements 8 are removed by the stripper members 10.

The conveyor passage 16 may also be formed by conveyor members other than those illustrated herein. The only important consideration is that the stream of material is conveyed upwardly in the uncut condition and that it is cut only at the upper end of the conveyor passage 16.

Claims

1. A conveying and cutting assembly for load-carrying vehicles comprising an upwardly directed conveyor passage and a plurality of spaced-apart cutter blades wherein the cutter blades are arranged at the upper end of the conveyor passage and are in operative relationship to a rotatingly driven conveyor unit.

2. A conveying and cutting assembly according to claim 1 wherein no adjoining fixed housing or conveyor passage wall is disposed downstream of the cutter blades.

3. A conveying and cutting assembly according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the cutter blades, outside the operative region of the conveying elements of the conveyor unit, have a hook-shaped projection portion on which the material being cut can be supported during the cutting operation.

4. A conveying and cutting assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 3 characterised in that the conveyor passage is formed by conveying members at its front side and at its rear side.

5. A conveying and cutting assembly according to claim 4 wherein the conveying members comprise a plurality of successively disposed rollers.

6. A conveying and cutting assembly according to claim 5 wherein the rollers of one row are driven but the rollers of the other row are not driven but are rotatable.

7. A conveying and cutting assembly for load-carrying vehicles substantially as described with reference to the drawing.

8. A load-carrying vehicle comprising a conveying and cutting assembly according to any preceding claim.