CA1130580A

CA1130580A - Grain pickup

Info

Publication number: CA1130580A
Application number: CA354,491A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Lloyd P. Sund
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1980-03-04
Filing date: 1980-06-20
Publication date: 1982-08-31

Abstract

GRAIN PICKUP

ABSTRACT OF THE INVENTION

A grain pickup for use with combines in harvesting windrowed crops is formed of a cylinder with a plurality of cylindrical, interlocking tooth modules located thereon, each of the modules having a plurality of pickup teeth extending radially outwardly therefrom.

Description

C:RAIN PICKUP

BACKGROUND OF 'rHE INVENTION
Grain pickups have been used for many years to assist in the harve~ting of various small grains such as pinto beans, soy beans, peas, maize and corn. Generally, a gxain pickup is attached to the front of a combine which picka up a swakh of grain which has been cut earlier. ~he pickup serves to pick up the swath and feed it into the combine for processing therein.
Yarious types of grain pickups are well know. The raking-type pickups shown in U~ S. Patent Nos. 3,233,394; ~,713,762 and

2,795,100 are typical of raking-type pickups. Drum-type pickups are also well known wherein a plurality of metal or plastic tines are each individually fastened to a cylinder. While the drum-type pickups have generally proven to be operable at higher speeds, the prior art drum pickups have not always proven satis-; factory.
It is therefore an object of the instant invention to provide a drum-type pickup which is capable of harvesting grains at relatively high speeds and yet which can be manufactured and serviced easily and quickly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION ~ .
~ .:
A driven rotating cylinder is provided at the front of the pickup. A plurality of tooth modules are provided. Each tooth module is comprised of a cylindrical portion having castel- ~;
lated end surfaces and a plurality of pickup teeth dependin~ ra-dially outwardly from the cylindrical section. The pickup tooth module is general:Ly a one-piece unit molded of plastic. The castellated portions of adjacent modules interlock with one an-other and a plurality of these modules are slid over the driven ;

cylinderO Then, each end module is locked relative to the cyl-inder and, due to the castellations on the various modules, - :1130S~

rotation of all the modules rela~ive to one another and the cylinder is prevented. A flexible finned rubber draper i5 provided to convey the grain rom the pickup teeth to the auger of the combine. A number of comb-like stripper teeth overlay the top of the cylinder so that the teeth pass between the stripper teeth and serve to cause the grain to pass ~hereover onto the draper.
These and o~her objects of our invention will become readily apparent as the following description is read in con-junction with the accompanying drawings wherein like referencenumerals are used to refer ~o the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE D~AWINGS
. _ . .. ... .
Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the invention mounted on a combine.
Fig. 2 is a perspective view o the tooth module.
Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the mounting of the modules and the cylinder.
Fig. 4 is an end Vi2W showing again the mounting of the cylinder.
Fig. 5 is a plan view sh~wing the mounting and fixing of the teeth module relative to the cylinder.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED E~BODIl~ENT
The grain pickup 10 of the instant invention is attached to a conventional combine 12 having an aug~r 14 lo-cated in the header 15 thereof. Pickup 10 has a flexible finned rubber draper 16 located thereon which serves to convey grain from the pickup teeth assembly 20 to auger 14. Draper 16 is conventional and well known and thus is not shown in detail. A cylinder assembly 20 is mounted in the front end of pickup 10 and is comprised of a flat/ smooth cylinder 22 having a plurality of tooth modules 24 located thereon.
` -2-~L3~)51~

Each tooth module 24 is comprised of a cylindrical portion 26 having castellations 30 located on either end there-of. A plurality of teeth 28 extend generally radially outwardly from cylindrical portion 26. Teeth 28 are preferably four in number for each tooth module 24 and the tooth module 24 is integrally formed o~ a plastic material which i5 strong yet flexible to a certain extent. The tooth module 24 may be m~n-ufactured of a polyester elastomer such as Hytrel manufactured by Dupont. Of course, other suitable materials may be utilized for this purpose. The particular shape of tee~h 28 is shown in Figs. 2 and 5, and each too~h 28 consists of a main circumfer-entially directed por~ion 28A and cross ribs 28B which run ax-ially relative to cylindrical portion 26.
As can be seen particularly in Figs. 3 and 5, tooth modules 24 form a relatively snug fit on cylinder 22 and the castellations in respective modules interlock with one another to prevent rotation of one module relative to another. As can be seen in Fig. 5, a bolt 32 is threaded into cylinder 22 b~-tween castellations 30 on one end of cylinder 22 and on the other end (not shown) to prevent rotation of the tooth modules 24 relative to cylinder 22.
Cylinder assembly 20 is mounted in frames 34 of pickup 10. As can be seen particularly in Figs~ 3 and 4, a slot 36 is formed in the end of end member 34 allowing the cylinder 22 to be slid in and out. In particular, shaft 38 located on the end of cylinder 22 passes through slot 36 and bearing 40 which attaches to end frame 34 by means of bolts 42 and holes 43. Holes 43 may be slotted if desired for adjus ment purposes. A guard 44 is attached to end frame 34 by means of fasteners 46 and a sprocket 48 is attached to shaft 38 to drive cylinder assembly 20. Sprocket 48 is driven by means of chain 49 which is driven by the conventional portions of the pickup ~ J~ J ~ ~Qrk )5~

mechanism 10. Wheels 50 are rotatably attach~d to end frame 34 behind slot 36. This location allows the position of the pickup teeth 28 relative to the ground to be raised or lowered merely by raising or lowering the header 15 on combine 12, the header adjustment being a noxmal adjustable function on a com-bine. End frames 34 are attached at the rca~7ard end at pivot point 38 to header 15. The details of this at~achment are generally conventional and as such are not shown.
The weight of pickup assembly 10 is partially sus-pended from the combine by means of support member 55 attachedto header 15. A spring 54 connects support member 55 to end frame 34 thus allowing the pickup to float over rough or uneven ground. A wind guard 56 consisting of a number of rearwar~
facing tines is attached to help guide the grain into the auger.
Such wind guards are conventional.
A plurality of stripper teeth 52 extend forwardly from the frame of pickup 10 as can be seen in Fig. 1. Such teeth are generally conventional and may be formed of metal or plastic.
The construction shown allows pickup teeth to be quickly and easily replaced in the event of the inevitable breakage. For replacement, if the modules 24 are molded of plastic, the damaged module 24 may be cut and removed from the cylinder. The remaining modules may then be slid across leaving only an open position at one end of cylinder 22. Fasteners 43 are then loosened and cylinder 22 slid partially out of the ~;
ront of the machine. A new module 24 is then placed on the end of cylinder 22 an~d locked in place. Finally, the cylinder is repositioned. This ease of repair resulting from the instant invention allows repairs to be made in the fieldO ~lso, the modular construction allows for extreme simplicity in manu-facture.

s~

While the preferxed embodiments of the pres~nt in-vention have been described, it should be understood that various changes, adaptations and modifications may be made therein without departiny from the spiri~ of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED, ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. In a grain pickup for picking up windrowed grain for conveyance into a combine, the improvement comprising a driven rotating cylinder located transversely at the front of said pickup; a plurality of pickup teeth modules mounted on said cylinder, each of said modules having means for preventing move-ment relative to the adjacent modules; and means for preventing movement of said modules relative to said cylinder.

2. The grain pickup of claim 1, each of said modules further comprising a cylindrical portion having a bore sized to snugly fit over said cylinder and two ends; and a plurality of pickup teeth projecting radially outwardly from said cylindrical portion.

3. The grain pickup of claim 2 wherein said means for preventing movement of one module relative to an adjacent module are located at each of said ends.

4. The grain pickup of claim 3 wherein said means for preventing movement of one module relative to an adjacent module comprise interlocking castellations on said ends.

5. The grain pickup of claim 4 wherein said means for preventing movement of said modules relative to said cylinder engages said castellations.

6. The grain pickup of claim 5 wherein said modules are integrally molded of a plastic material.

7. The grain pickup of claim 2 wherein said pickup has at least two end frames having longitudinally extending slots in the front ends thereof, said slots being open at the front end thereof, said cylinder being rotatably mounted in said slots.