JPS6228644B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] This invention detects the degree of sorting of grain threshing in a threshing section in a combine harvester that travels in a field, reaps grain culms planted in the field, and threshes the harvested grain culms. The present invention relates to a sorting degree detection device.

U.S. Patent No. 3606745 and Agricultural
Engineering (Agricultural Engineering)
As disclosed in pages 524-525 and 528 of the September 1969 issue, the amount of grain being threshed is detected at the lower position of the handling chamber of the combine threshing section or at the rear end of the swing sorting mechanism. A technique is already known in which a sensor is provided to detect the sorting degree from an electrical signal generated by the sensor. As the above-mentioned sensor, for example, a piezoelectric element such as a piezoelectric ceramic disk supported on an aluminum plate is used, and such a sensor is supported with a cushioning material such as rubber so as not to be affected by high-frequency mechanical vibration. Ru. The voltage pulse output when a hard grain comes into contact with a sensor consisting of a piezoelectric element that detects pressure through strain and outputs a voltage pulse is higher than the voltage pulse output when a soft piece of straw comes into contact with the sensor. also has a high frequency,
By using a bandpass filter that cuts out voltage pulses in the low frequency range, it is possible to separate and extract only the voltage pulses (more precisely, the high frequency components of the same voltage pulses) at the time of grain contact, and from this, threshing It is possible to detect the amount of grain in the product.

If such a sensor is placed in the dust exhaust section or dust exhaust air path of a combine harvester, the sensor will directly detect the amount of grains in the dust, that is, the amount of lost grains. This is advantageous in controlling the degree of sorting so that it does not become excessive (directly, for example, controlling the air volume of the winnowing machine, the angle of the dust-feeding valve in the handling chamber, the oscillating cycle of the oscillating sorting device, etc.).

By the way, in the past, the sensor was fixed at its installation position, but when the sensor is fixedly installed in the dust exhaust air path, it is affected by the speed of the dust exhaust air, making it difficult to obtain highly reliable detection results. become unable to do so.

One of the reasons for this is that the contact pressure of grains against the sensor varies depending on the wind speed, and the higher the wind speed, the greater the contact pressure, so the sensor sensitivity should be set according to when the wind speed is low. When the wind speed is high, the sensitivity is too high and the detected value is higher than the actual value. Conversely, if the sensor sensitivity is set according to the high wind speed, the sensitivity is too low and the detected value is higher than the actual value when the wind speed is low. This is because it is smaller than the value.

The second reason is that if the sensor is burdened with detecting the amount of lost grains from low to high flow rates, the detection performance becomes unstable, especially at high flow rates, and the grains that come into contact with the sensor become unstable. This is because the amount and sensor output are difficult to be proportional to each other.

Therefore, this invention has been developed so that even if the wind speed of the dust exhaust air changes,
A novel technology in combine harvesters that provides highly reliable detection results as the grain contact pressure on the sensor is maintained approximately equal and the sensor is responsible for detecting the amount of grain lost in the waste material at an approximately constant flow rate. The present invention attempts to provide a selectivity detection device.

Regarding the illustrated embodiment, the configuration of the sorting degree detection device in a combine harvester according to the present invention will be described. FIG. Since the purpose is to detect the sorting degree of threshing in such a threshing section, the structure of the threshing section shown in FIG. 1 will first be briefly explained in order of explanation. As shown in FIG. 1, a handling drum 2 is rotatably provided in a handling chamber 1 of the threshing section with its axis running in the front-rear direction of the combine machine. , a large number of handling teeth 3 installed thereon separate grains from the tip of the harvested grain culm supplied into the handling chamber 1 and thresh the grain. Inside the handling chamber 1, there is also a dust feeding valve 4 which is supported so as to be adjustable in distance relative to the handling barrel 2 by rotational displacement. A dust feed valve 4 is provided which changes and adjusts the degree of dust removal by adjustment.

A crimp net 5 is also provided in the threshing section and located below the handling drum 2.
Regarding the threshing that is caused to fall on it,
The grains and fine straw curvature, etc. are leaked out, and the non-leaked materials are
The dust is discharged from the dust outlet 6 at the rear end of the crimp net 5.
From the bottom to the rear of the crimp net 5, a swing sorting mechanism is provided which includes a feed pan 7, a chaff sheave 8 and a grain sheave 9 vertically arranged in parallel, and a stroke rack 10 from the front to the rear. Further, a winnow 11 and a dust exhaust fan 12 are provided at the frontmost position and the rearmost position in the lower part of the threshing section, respectively. The above-mentioned swing sorting mechanism 7-10
is made to swing back and forth and up and down, and as the feed pan 7 at the forefront of the mechanism is swung, it transports leakage from the crimp net 5 rearward, while transporting heavy grains to the lower layer and transporting lighter grains to the lower layer. Straw waste etc. are sorted to the upper layer. From the grains falling from the feed pan 7 to the chaff sieve 8, straw waste is further removed by the sorting air sent from the winnowing machine 11, and the above-mentioned grains are sorted again by passing through the chaf sieve 8. A finer grain sieve 9 is leaked from the sieve, and in the meantime,
Following the sorting wind of 1, the first 1 is carefully selected.
3. Also, from the straw waste that is transferred from the feed pan 7 onto the straw rack 10 with the help of the windmill 11, as the straw rack 10 swings, mixed grains are separated forward and onto the chaff sheave 8. At the same time, the ear pieces and some of the grains are separated to the lower layer and supplied to the lower second port 14 through the through hole of the straw rack 10. In the swinging sorting mechanism shown in FIG. 1, an upper stroke rack 15 is provided above the stroke rack 10 described above, and the upper stroke rack 15 is swung to assist the sorting action of the stroke rack 10 described above. The plan is to encourage the removal of straw waste. Due to the action of the straw racks 10, 15 themselves, the suction air from the dust exhaust fan 12, and furthermore the sorting air from the winnower 11, the straw waste leaving the straw racks 10, 15 is sent to the rear of the machine from the third dust exhaust port 16. It is ejected in the opposite direction. In FIG. 1, 17 is the first conveyor that conveys the grains in one direction in the first port 13, and 18 is the second thrower that returns the grains etc. to the handling room 1 from the second port 14. .

The configuration and operation of the illustrated combine threshing section are as described above, but as shown in FIG. 1, the following sensor 19 is provided at the 16th position of the third dust exhaust port described above. That is, this sensor 19 is clearly shown in FIGS.
It is of the type disclosed in No. 3606745 and is equipped with a piezoelectric element 19a such as a piezoelectric ceramic disk, and when it receives pressure, it generates voltage spikes or voltage pulses corresponding to distortion according to the pressure. That is, the sensor 19 is supposed to behave in the same way as a microphone generates a voltage pulse upon receiving sound pressure. Therefore, when the dust discharged from the third dust exhaust port 16 hits the surface of the piezoelectric element 19a and receives pressure, this sensor 19 or its piezoelectric element 19a generates a voltage pulse with a frequency and amplitude corresponding to the pressure. Occur. Such voltage pulses differ depending on whether a hard grain hits the surface of the piezoelectric element 19a or when soft straw waste hits the surface of the piezoelectric element 19a.
The frequencies are different as shown in the pulses P ₁ and P ₂ shown in FIG. In order to check the sorting state from the amount of lost grains discharged as waste, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, it is connected to a sensor 19 or piezoelectric element 19a, forming part of a sorting degree detection device. A bandpass filter 20 is provided. This band pass filter 20 is designed to cut out voltage pulses in a low frequency range such as those generated when soft straw waste comes into contact with the ground, and transmit only voltage pulses in a high frequency range to the secondary side. As shown in the figure, a voltage pulse P ₁ ' consisting of a high frequency component of the voltage pulse P ₁ generated when a hard grain is in contact is output to the secondary side. The bandpass filter 20 can be built into the sensor 19 itself, but in the case shown, it is provided inside the control box 21 shown in FIG.

In particular, the sensor 19 is supported as follows. That is, as shown in FIG.
The hinge plate 22 is fixed to the back side of 9 with a fixture 22a.
A fixing device 2 is installed on the top surface of No. 3 dust exhaust port 16.
Attach the hinge plate 2 described above to the mounting plate 24 fixed in step 3.
2 is rotatably supported by a horizontal pin 25, and the entire sensor 19 is supported so as to be rotatable around the horizontal pin 25. In particular, the sensor 19 rotatably supported as described above is supported by the third spring 28, which is stretched between the free end of the hinge plate 22 and the support plate 27 on the fuselage side frame 26. It is rotatably biased in the direction of entering the dust exhaust port 16, that is, in the direction of receiving the wind pressure of the dust exhaust wind flowing in the direction of arrow A. In the illustrated case, a long hole 27a is formed in the support plate 27, and the support plate 27 is fixed to the fuselage side frame 26 by a bolt 29 that passes through the long hole 27a and is screwed into the frame 26. In this way, the position of the support plate 27 can be changed within the range of the elongated hole 27a, and the biasing force of the tension spring 28 can be changed and adjusted.

In the illustrated embodiment, in addition to the sensor 19 described above, another sensor 19A, which functions in exactly the same way as the sensor 19, is installed on the dust removal fan 12 shown in FIG.
A sensor changeover switch 30 is provided in the dust exhaust air path such as the entrance position B of the sensor, as shown in FIG.
By either sensor 19 or 19A,
The degree of threshing sorting is detected from the amount of lost grains contained in the waste. Further, two of the above-mentioned bandpass filters 20 are provided as _shown in _FIG . Amplifiers 31 are connected to each amplifier 31, and when voltage pulses from the amplifiers 31 are input, they are turned on for a certain period of time to maintain a certain frequency and amplitude. The monomulti 32 outputs a rectangular voltage pulse of
It is provided. In the illustrated case, an AM detector 33 having a diode is inserted between one series of amplifiers 31 and a monomulti 32. In the case shown above, two lines of detection circuits C ₁ and C ₂ each having a bandpass filter 20, an amplifier 31, and a monomulti ₃₂ are provided. , C ₂ is for example both circuits
By changing the filter function of the bandpass filter 20 with C ₁ and C ₂ , either one of the detection circuits C ₁ or C ₂ is used depending on the type of grain to be harvested, and both detection circuits C A circuit changeover switch 34 is provided at the output terminals of _C1 and _C2 . Then, connect this circuit changeover switch 34 to the monomulti 32
An integrator 35 is provided which integrates the output pulse of It is designed to display the degree of selection in terms of quantity.

The control box 21 shown in FIG.
is installed in front of the combine passenger seat, and the sensors 19, 19A are connected into the control box 21 by an input cord 38, as only one sensor 19 is shown in FIG. There is. control box 21
A power cord 39 is also attached. The device components 20, 30-37 after the band pass filter 20 shown in FIG.
The control box 21 is provided as shown in FIG. As shown in Figure 5,
The amplifier 36 has a built-in meter sensitivity adjustment volume 40 having a variable resistor, and the volume 40 is also provided within the control box 21 as shown in FIG.

In the illustrated case, another output terminal 41 connected to the amplifier 36 is further provided. The output from this output terminal 41 is used to control, for example, the combine harvester speed depending on the degree of threshing sorting in the threshing section.
It can be used for the purpose of changing and adjusting the opening degree of the dust sending valve 4, or controlling the rotational speed of the winnowing machine 11 or the dust exhaust fan 12 to adjust the wind power.

Since the sorting degree detection device according to the present invention is configured as described above, the sensors 19 and 19A provided in the dust exhaust air path from the threshing section detect the loss contained in the dust. It is sensed by the contact pressure of the grains, and the amount of lost grains as described above is displayed on the sortability meter 37. Therefore, when the operator visually checks the degree of sorting indicated by the amount of grain lost,
In order to suppress the amount of grain loss to an appropriate value, and to prevent the amount of grain loss from becoming too low and the efficiency of harvesting work to be excessively low, the speed of the combine harvester and the opening degree of the dust feed valve 4 must be adjusted. By making adjustments, it is possible to proceed with the harvesting work under appropriate conditions. The above-mentioned adjustment can also be performed automatically using the output of the output terminal 41, and in this case, the sortability meter 37 may be omitted.

In particular, as shown in FIG. 2 and explained earlier, the sensor 19 is located at the third dust exhaust port 16, which is a part of the dust exhaust air path, in the direction in which the wind pressure is received. Since the sensor 19 is rotatably biased by the tension spring 28 (note that the other sensor 19A can be similarly supported within the dust exhaust air path), the sensor 19 is shown in FIG. As shown,
Lost grains are detected at a rotational position where the wind pressure or wind speed and the force exerted by the spring 28 are balanced, and the sensor 19 assumes an attitude that tilts away from the vertical attitude as the wind speed increases. The wind blowing area is made small, and conversely, when the wind speed becomes weaker, the wind blowing area approaches a vertical position and the wind blowing area becomes large.

Therefore, when looking at the contact pressure of the grains against the sensor 19, the contact pressure is proportional to the force applied perpendicularly to the detection surface of the sensor 19 based on the mass and speed of the grains. It is proportional to the component force in the direction perpendicular to the sensor detection surface of the force produced by the product of Since the component force in the direction perpendicular to the surface decreases, even if the wind speed changes, the component force, that is, the contact pressure of the grain, will remain approximately the same. Therefore, if the sensitivity of the sensor 19 is set to ensure reliable detection when the wind speed is low, almost the same sensor sensitivity will be maintained even when the wind speed is high, and an excessive amount of grain loss will be detected. This does not occur, and highly accurate detection results can be obtained regardless of the wind speed.

Next, regarding the flow rate of the dust applied to the sensor 19, since the sensor 19 changes the receiving area to small or large depending on the wind speed as described above, even if the wind speed changes, the wind speed V and the receiving area change. Product V× of wind area S
Since the amount of dust that comes into contact with the sensor 19 surface per unit time is almost constant, which is proportional to S, the sensor 1
In step 9, the amount of lost grains is detected for the waste with a substantially constant flow rate. Therefore, the sensor 19 can exhibit stable detection performance, and the degree of sorting can be stably detected by determining how much lost grain is contained in the waste per unit amount.

Furthermore, if straw waste etc. gets caught in the sensor 19,
The straw debris and the like increase the airflow area of the sensor 19 and make the sensor 19 more inclined, so that the straw debris and the like can be easily removed from the sensor 19.

Further, the sensor 19 is installed at the No. 3 dust exhaust port 16 position, and when the wind is not applied and the sensor 19 is not working, the sensor 19 is automatically activated to the No. 3 dust exhaust port as shown by the chain line in FIG. The dust is stored in the dust exhaust port 16 to prevent inconveniences such as damage caused by hitting obstacles when the combine is running on the road. The posture of the sensor 19 at this time is regulated by the hinge plate 22 coming into contact with the dust exhaust port end surface 16a.
The sensor 19 provided at the third dust exhaust port 16
It is also possible to detect clogging of the third dust exhaust port 16 by using this.

Next, another embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 will be described. In this other embodiment, as shown in FIG. Instead of the tension spring 28 described above, a torque spring 45 is wound around the horizontal pin 25 and has one end engaged with the mounting plate 24 and the other end engaged with the hinge plate 24, respectively.
It is rotationally energized in the same direction as above. As shown in FIG. 7, in the third dust exhaust port 16, an elongated hole 46 through which the fixture 23 can be inserted is formed over almost the entire circumference of the peripheral wall of the third dust exhaust port 16. The mounting position of the sensor 19 can be changed within the range of the elongated hole 46. Therefore, according to this other embodiment, the sensor 19 can be adjusted and installed in a position where the dust removal wind force is maximum and the sensitivity of the sensor 19 is increased, out of the positions where it does not interfere with dust removal for each combine. Become. Note that the elongated hole 46 on the bottom wall side of the dust exhaust port 16 is advantageously used when the third dust exhaust port 16 opens obliquely upward, unlike the case shown in the drawings.

As described above, in the sorting degree detection device for a combine harvester of the present invention, the sensor 19, which detects the contact pressure of grains and outputs an electric signal, is installed in the dust exhaust air path from the threshing section to adjust the wind speed of the dust exhaust air. The sensor is rotatably biased in the direction of receiving wind pressure so that the larger the wind blowing area is, the smaller it is, and the sensor takes an angle or posture that balances the wind pressure and the biasing force, as described above in the embodiment. Regardless of the wind speed of the dust exhaust wind,
By maintaining approximately the same sensor sensitivity, a sensor sensitive enough to reliably detect grains when wind speeds are low will be able to detect grains with high accuracy even when wind speeds are high, and the dust flow applied to the sensor will be Since the amount is kept almost the same, the sensor is responsible for detecting the amount of lost grains due to the almost constant flow rate of the waste, and stable detection performance can be achieved. Give results.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the sensor 19 as described above is installed at the dust exhaust port 1 in the dust exhaust air path.
When installed at the 6 position, not only is it easier to install the sensor 19, but the sensor, which is rotated in the direction of receiving wind pressure, can be automatically rotated into the dust exhaust port when not working when there is no dust exhaust wind. It is possible to prevent damage to the sensor by storing it in a closed position.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic vertical sectional side view of the main part of a combine equipped with an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the main part of the same embodiment, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the same embodiment, and Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the main part of the same embodiment,
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an electric circuit in the same embodiment, FIG. 6 is a longitudinal side view showing another embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view of only the main parts of the other embodiment. . 11... Karawin, 12... Dust exhaust fan, 16...
No. 3 dust exhaust port, 19, 19A...sensor, 19a
... Piezoelectric element, 20 ... Bandpass filter, 2
1...Control box, 22...Hinge plate, 25...Horizontal pin, 28...Tension spring, 3
2... Monomulti, 35... Integrator, 36... Amplifier, 37... Sorting meter, 45... Torque spring, 46... Oblong hole.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A sensor that detects the contact pressure of grains and outputs an electric signal is installed in the dust exhaust air path from the threshing section, and the area where the air is swept is made smaller as the wind speed of the dust exhaust air increases. A sorting degree detection device for a combine harvester, which is rotatably energized in the direction of receiving wind pressure so that the wind pressure is applied. 2. The sorting degree detection device for a combine harvester according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is provided at a dust exhaust port position in the dust exhaust air path.