CA1176535A - Seed harvester - Google Patents
Seed harvesterInfo
- Publication number
- CA1176535A CA1176535A CA000445401A CA445401A CA1176535A CA 1176535 A CA1176535 A CA 1176535A CA 000445401 A CA000445401 A CA 000445401A CA 445401 A CA445401 A CA 445401A CA 1176535 A CA1176535 A CA 1176535A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- seed
- seeds
- duct
- air
- crop
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
- A01D—HARVESTING; MOWING
- A01D45/00—Harvesting of standing crops
- A01D45/30—Harvesting of standing crops of grass-seeds or like seeds
Landscapes
- Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
- Environmental Sciences (AREA)
- Pretreatment Of Seeds And Plants (AREA)
Abstract
"SEED HARVESTER"
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A seed harvester is provided for harvesting seeds from a standing crop without cutting the crop. The harvester is particularly de-signed for harvesting grass seed. The harvester includes a header assembly for stripping from the crop, and a seed separator for drawing the seeds from the header assembly in an air stream and for separating the seeds from the air stream. The header assembly includes a frame assembly having a transverse inlet which communicates with the seed separator. An endless revolving stripping surface is mounted across this transverse opening to contact the seed heads of the crop and strip the; mature seeds from the crop.
A rotating reel is mounted to rotate parallel to, and above and forwardly of, the seed stripping surface. On rotation, the reel guides the crop into contact with the seed stripping surface and holds it there for a time to permit the seed stripping surface to remove mature seeds from the crop. The seed separator includes-a duct, curved between its ends. The duct inlet communicates with the transverse inlet of the header assembly. A blower is provided at the duct outlet to draw seeds in an air stream, from the header assembly and through the duct. Baffles are provided across the curved duct section which, together with the curve in the duct, cause the seeds to move outwardly toward the outer wall of the curved duct section.
This achieves partial separation of the seeds from the air stream. To achieve the remainder of the separation, the seed separator includes a seed with-drawal duct in the outer wall of the curved duct section, and a sealed con-tainer at the end of the seed withdrawal duct. Air is drawn through the container and the seed withdrawal duct, preferably by the blower, to carry the seeds in an air stream into the container.
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A seed harvester is provided for harvesting seeds from a standing crop without cutting the crop. The harvester is particularly de-signed for harvesting grass seed. The harvester includes a header assembly for stripping from the crop, and a seed separator for drawing the seeds from the header assembly in an air stream and for separating the seeds from the air stream. The header assembly includes a frame assembly having a transverse inlet which communicates with the seed separator. An endless revolving stripping surface is mounted across this transverse opening to contact the seed heads of the crop and strip the; mature seeds from the crop.
A rotating reel is mounted to rotate parallel to, and above and forwardly of, the seed stripping surface. On rotation, the reel guides the crop into contact with the seed stripping surface and holds it there for a time to permit the seed stripping surface to remove mature seeds from the crop. The seed separator includes-a duct, curved between its ends. The duct inlet communicates with the transverse inlet of the header assembly. A blower is provided at the duct outlet to draw seeds in an air stream, from the header assembly and through the duct. Baffles are provided across the curved duct section which, together with the curve in the duct, cause the seeds to move outwardly toward the outer wall of the curved duct section.
This achieves partial separation of the seeds from the air stream. To achieve the remainder of the separation, the seed separator includes a seed with-drawal duct in the outer wall of the curved duct section, and a sealed con-tainer at the end of the seed withdrawal duct. Air is drawn through the container and the seed withdrawal duct, preferably by the blower, to carry the seeds in an air stream into the container.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
2 The present invention relates to a method and apparatus
3 for removing seeds from a standing crop without cutting the crop. The
4 invention also relates to an apparatus for separating seeds from an air stream.
6 It is often desirable to harvest seeds from many variet es 7 of plants, for example grasses, for the purposes of repropagation. In 8 particular it is desirable to harvest seeds from such grasses as common 9 meadow foxtail, Garrisons Creeping Foxtail, broom, crested wheat and timothy.
ll Many varieties of grass seed are difficult to harvest. Such l2 factors as small seed size, light weight of the seeds, the presence of 3 chaff material associated with the seeds, loose attachment of the seed 4 to the plant, variable seed head height~ varying rates of seed maturation, and weeds in the grass crop, all contribute to the problems in harvesting l6 grass seed.
17 Conventional swathing and combining equipment designed to l8 cut, swath, thresh and clean cereal grain crops have been used to 9 harvest grass seed. However, the grass seed is not successfully harvested by this equipment. If such conventional equipment is used.
2l a harvest of about 50% grass seed and 50% chaff, stem, leaf, and weed 22 material is recovered. This mixture is very difficult, if not impossible~
23 to clean or plant, mainly due to its poor flow characteristics.
24 Furthermore, the conventional swathing and combining equipment cannot selectively recover the mature seeds from the grass 26 plant, since the entire crop must be cut at one time. Only the seeds 27 which are mature at that time are useful. A considerable amount of the 28 mature grass seed is lost in this harvesting procedure~ both from 29 shattering of the seed heads by the wind, from impacting of the seed head by the swather reel's bats, and by falling out of the swath left ., :
., ~
t~ 5 1 to dry in the field. Also, the late-maturing seeds are effectively 2 lost.
3 To overcome some of these problems, seed harvesters have 4 been designed to harvest grass seed from the standing crop without cutting the crop. One prior art device of this type was developed 6 by R. W. Whitney~ R. M. Ahring and C. M. Taliaferro and is described in 7 Transactions of the ASAE~ 1979, page 270. The device is essentially a 8 modificatlon of a grain swather unit~ from which the cutting bar has 9 been removed. The device includes a generally horizontal platform which is moved through the crop just below the height of the seed heads. A
1l rotating reel above the platform is used to bend the plant rearwardly over 12 the platform. A plurality of flexible flails are fixed to the reel.
13 A stationary concave plate is mounted horizontally on the platform.
14 On rotation of the reel the seed heads are trapped between the flails and the concave plate to strip the seeds from the plant. The seeds 16 are pulled by suction into a screen-type air-seed separator.
17 While this device may overcome some of the above-18 mentioned problems, it is believed to have its difficulties. By 19 pulling the plant stem rearwardly over the forwardly advancing horizontal platform, a substantial amount of stem breakage can take 21 place. The broken stems, together with the seed heads, are then 22 harvested with the seeds. Further, it is believed that the rotating : 23 reel, in order to strip the seeds, must be rotated at a relatively 24 high speed. The reel would then cause significant seed dislodging as the reel flails impacted the seed heads ahead of the horizontal 26 platform. Also, in running the reel at this high speed, considerable 27 air turbulence would be generated, which in turn would scatter the 28 seed.
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1 Other seed harvesters have been described in the patent 2 literature for harvesting seeds from standing crops, see for example 3 U.S. Patent No. 2~460,029 issued to R. M. Ramp and U.S. Patent 2,046,932 4 issued to F. Wyatt et al.
The Ramp device was designed specifically for the harvesting 6 of dandelion seeds and is not believed to be suitable for the harvest 7 of other seeds such as grass seeds. The device consists of two 8 parallel brushes rotating in opposite directions, one brush being mounted 9 above and ahead of the other~ across an opening. Air is drawn through the opening. The brushes are arranged to whisk the seeds from the 1l plant. The seeds are then pulled between the brushes into the opening.
12 The seeds are separated from the air in a screen-type air-seed separator.
3 It is believed that the rotating brushes trap dandelion fluff between 14 the brush bristles and thereby whisk the seeds from the plant. Most seeds, especially grass seeds, cannot be dislodged from the plant by 16 this action. It is believed that a more positive stripping action is 7 necessary. Also, the upper brush in the Ramp device is shown to include 18 a large diameter central hub, around which the brushes are fixed. In 19 grass crops this hub would cause substantial undesirable bending and breakage of the stems and seeds heads.
21 The harvesting device of Wyatt et al was designed 22 specifically to strip clover heads from standing clover plants. The 23 clover head is pinched off as the bats of a rotating reel contact a 24 stationary flexible strip. The clover head is pulled by an air stream into a combined screen and cyclone type separator. This device is not 26 able to strip the clover seed directly from the clover plant. The 27 device therefore includes a cylinder-concave arrangement to thresh the 28 seeds from the harvested clover heads.
1 ~'7~ 3 ~
1 With respect to the air-seed separating devicess screen-2 type and cyclone-type separators haveibeen used in seed harvesters.
3 The screen-type separators often become clogged as the seeds, and any 4 stem or chaff material, blind the screen surface. The cyclone-type separators usually need to be quite large to effect seed-air separation.
6 The separator is then heavy, cumbersome and costly to carry around 7 the field.
8 In summary, there is a need for a seed harvester having 9 the following desirable capabilities:
(1) the ability to strip seeds from a standing crop 1l without cutting the crop;
12 (2) the ability to preferentially strip mature seeds from 13 a standing crop, leaving the immature seeds on the 4 plant for subsequent maturing and harvesting;
(3) the ability to strip seeds from a standing crop 16 without causing substantial stem breakage by bending 17 of the stems or seed loss from impacting of the seed 18 heads; and 19 (4) provision for seed~air separation in a compact arrangement which can be economically carried around 21 the field.
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23 The present invention provides a seed harvester having a 24 header assembly~ for removing seeds from a standing crop, and a seed separator for drawing the seeds from the header assembly in an air 26 stream and for separating the seeds from the air stream. The seed 27 harvester is believed to overcome at least some of the above-28 described problems. While the harvester has been designed speciflcally 29 for harvesting grass seeds, it should find application in the harvesting of other crops.
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l The header assembly includes a frame assembly adapted for 2 forward movement through the standing crop, meansj carried by the frame 3 assembly, for stripping seeds from the standing crop, and means, carried 4 by the frame assembly, for holding the seed bearing portion of the crop against the seed stripp;ng means. More particularly, the frame assembly 6 forms a forwardly facing transverse inlet leading into the seed separator.7 The seed stripping means, which comprises an endless revolving surface 8 carrying stripping edges, is mounted to rotate at the transverse inlet 9 so as to contact the seed heads of the crop. The stripped seeds are drawn in an air stream from the seed stripping surface, through the transverse ll inlet, and into the seed separator.
12 In a preferred form, the seed stripping means comprises a l3 cylindrical drum mounted transversely in front of the transverse inlet l4 for rotation about its longitudinal axis. The drum has a support frame of spaced vertical discs. A plurality of cylindrically arranged, l6 horizontally extending~ spaced wires extend between the discs. The 17 spaced wires provide the stripping edges which, when rotated, actively 18 strips mature seeds from the seed heads. The spaces between the wires l9 allow the seeds to be pulled through the drum and into the seed separator. The drum is rotated in an upward direction at its front.
2l The means for holding the crop against the seed stripping 22 means, in a preferred form, comprises a cylindrical reel carried by the 23 frame assembly, above and forwardly of the seed stripping means. The 24 reel is mounted to rotate about its longitudinal axis parallel to the seed stripping means, in a direction opposite to the seed stripping 26 means. The holding means further comprises a plurality of batts fixed 27 around the periphery of the reel. Each batt has a cushioned working 28 surface which is arranged to substantially tangentially engage stripping 29 edges of the stripper to compress at least part of the working surface against said stripping edges. The batts are fixed to the reel so as to 31 leave substantial openings between the batts, which openings extend in-~ ~'7 ~
1 wardly toward the reel axis. When the reel is rotated, a segment of 2 the crop is trapped between sequential batts and is guided into contact 3 with the seed stripping means. The seed heads of the crop are momentarily 4 pressed against the seed stripping means by the batts as the latter are rotated over the surface of the seed stripping means. This allows 6 the rotating seed stripping edges to actively strip the seeds from the 7 seed heads.
8 In another preferred aspect of the header assembly, the 9 cylindrical reel of the holding means has a larger diameter than the cylindrical drum of the seed stripping means. This large diameter 1l reel accommodates the range of seed head heights of the crop. Also, 12 the cylindrical stripping drum is rotated at a faster speed than is the 13 cylindrical reel.
14 The seed separator of the present invention includes a duct having an inlet end and an outlet end. A first pneumatic means, 16 such as a blower, is mounted at the outlet end for drawing an air stream 7 carrying seeds through the inlet end. ~hen used with the above-18 described header assembly, the inlet end of the separator communicates 19 with the transverse inlet formed in the header assembly. Seeds stripped by the header assembly are therefore pulled into the duct. The duct is 21 curved between its ends to form a curved duct section. The curve is 22 sufficient to cause the seeds to be thrown outwardly, by centrifugal 23 force, toward the outer wall of the duct. Means, preferably a 1 plurality of spaced baffles, are fixed transversely within the curved 2 duct section to divide that duct section into a seed chamber adjacent 3 the outer wall of the duct and an air chamber adjacent the inner wall 4 of the duct. The means are arranged so as to deflect the seeds impinging thereon outwardly toward the outer ~all while allowing air to pass 6 from the seed chamber to the air chamber toward the outlet end of the 7 duct. A seed withdrawal duct is prov;ded at the outer wall of the curved 8 duct section communicating with the seed chamber to withdraw the seeds 9 from the seed chamber. A sealed container is connected to the seed withdrawal duct to collect the seeds. Means, such as a second 1l blower or a tube connected to the first blower, is connected to the 12 container to draw air through the container and the seed withdrawal 3 duct. This air stream thereby carries the seeds from the curved duct 14 section into the container. The container is large in size, to allow the seeds to fall out by gravity from the air stream.
16 The seed separator as above-described~ accomplishes 17 air-seed separation in two steps. A portion of the separation takes 18 place in the curved duct section, while the remainder of the 19 separation takes place in the container.
In a more preferred embodiment of the seed separator, the 21 baffles in the curved duct section are arranged on a curve generally 22 following the curve of the curved duct sections. The baffles are 23 also preferably arranged so as to decrease the cross-sectional area 24 of the seed chamber near the seed withdrawal duct. These provisions aid in concentrating the seeds in the air stream as they approach the 26 seed withdrawal duct.
1 While the header assembly and seed separator of the present 2 invention are preferably used together as a complete seed harvester 3 machine, each may be used separatèly.with an alternate form of a header 4 assembly or a seed separator~ For instance, the header assembly of the present invention may be used with a conventional screen-type cyclone-6 type or impingement-type seed-air separator.
7 Broadly stated, the present invention is a seed separator 8 for separating seeds from an air stream carrying seeds, comprising: a 9 duct of expanding cross-section having an inlet end and an outlet end;
10 first pneumatic means at the outlet end for drawing the air stream 11 carrying seeds into the inlet end and through the duct; the duct being 12 curved between the inlet and outlet ends to form a curved duct section 13 defined by an inner and an outer wall and two side walls, the curve being 14 sufficient to cause the seeds in the air stream to be moved outwardly by centrifugal action toward the outer wall; means extending transversely 16 across the curved duct section between the side walls and dividing the 17 curved duct section longitudinally into a seed chamber adjacent the outer 18 wall and an air chamber adjacent the inner wall, said means comprising a 19 plurality of baffles fixed in spaced apart sequence to the side walls, said baffles being arranged on a curve generally following the curve of 21 the duct section but decreasing the cross-sectional area of the seed 22 chamber near its outlet end while increasing the area of the air chamber 23 near its outlet end, said baffles being arranged so as to deflect seeds 24 impinging thereon outwardly toward the outer wall while allowing air to pass from the seed chamber to the air chamber toward the outlet end of 26 the duct; said first pneumatic means communicating-with the air chamber;
27 a seed withdrawal duct communicating with the seed chamber for with-28 drawing seeds from the seed chamber of the curved duct section; sealed 29 container means connected to the seed withdrawal duct for collecting the seeds; second pneumatic means connected to the container means for drawing 31 an air stream through the container means and the seed withdrawal duct _ g _~
1 to thereby carry the seeds into the container means; and the container .'' 2 means heing of a suff,icient,size to:allow the seeds to fall out of the 3 air stream carrying them, whereby~a portion of the seed-air separation 4 operation takes place in the curved duct section while the remaining S seed-air separation operation takes place in the container means.
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- 9a -1 The invention also provides a new method of removing seeds 2 from a standing crop. The method compr;ses the steps of:: advancing 3 a revolving surface through the starding crop. the revolving surface 4 being positioned to engage the seed bearing portion of the crop, the revolving surface moving in an upward direction at its front; holding 6 the seed bearing portion of the crop against the revolving surface for7 a brief time to permit the surface to strip seeds from the crop.~ without 8 substantial impacting of the seeds and without substantial stem breakage;
9 and drawing air from the revolving surface to gather the stripped seeds.
:. 10 In another broad aspect, the invention provides a seed 1l separator for separating seeds from an air stream carrying seeds. The 12 seed separator comprises: a duct having an inlet end and an outlet endi 3 first pneumatic means at the outlet end for drawing the air stream 4 carrying seeds into the inlet end and through the duct, the duct beingcurved between the inlet and outlet ends to form a curved duct section 16 defined by an inner and an outer wall and two side walls~ the curve 17 being sufficient to cause the seeds in the air stream to be thrown by 18 centrifugal force outwardly toward the outer wall; means extending 19 transversely across the curved duct section between the side walls anddividing the curved duct section into a seed chamber adjacent the outer 21 wall and an air chamber adjacent the inner wall, the means being arranged 22 so as to deflect seeds impinging thereon outwardly toward the outer wall, 23 while allowing air to pass from the seed chamber to the air chamber toward 24 the outlet end of the duct; a seed withdrawal duct communicating withthe seed chamber for withdrawing seeds from the seed chamber of the 26 curved duct section; sealed container means connected to the seed with-27 drawal duct for collecting the seedsi second pneumatic means connected 28 to the container means for drawing an air stream through the container 1 means and the seed withdra~al duct to thereby carry the seeds into the 2 container means; and the container means being of a sufficient size 3 to allow the seeds to fall out of the air stream carrying them, 4 whereby a portion of the seed-air separation operation takes place in the curved duct section while the remaining seed-air separation 6 operation takes place in the container means.
7 DESC~IPTION OF THE D~AWINGS
8 Figure 1 is a schematic side sectional view of the seed 9 harvester to illustrate the header assembly and the seed separator.
Figure 2 is a front perspective view of the seed harvester 11 illustrating the rotating reel arrangement of the header assembly.
12 Figure 3 is a fragmentary side sectional view of the header13 assembly showing the ducts of the seed separator leading to the seed 14 stripping drum to gather seeds therefrom. Figures 3a and 3b show exploded sectional views of the hinge connections.
16 Figure 4 is a front view of the seed stripping drum 17 removed from the seed harvester.
18 Figure 5 is a side sectional view of a bat from the rotating 19 reel arrangement.
Figure 6 is a side view of the drive means for rotating 21 the reel arrangement and the seed stripping drum at differential speeds.
22 Figure 7 is a top plan view of the hinged duct section of 23 the seed separator leading from the header assembly. The top sheet 24 of the duct is removed to show the seed and air directing baffles.
2 With reference to the draw;ngs the seed harvester 1 3 includes a header assembly 2 for removing seeds from a standing crop .
- 4 and a seed separator 3 for draw;ng the stripped seeds from the header assembly 2 ;n an air stream for separat;ng.the seeds from the a;r stream 6 and for collecting the separated seeds. As~seen in Figures 1 and 2~
7 both the header assembly 2 and the seed separator 3 are mo~nted on a 8 conventional grain swather power unit 4 for movement through the 9 standing crop. Th~ swather unit 4 also prov.ides the power necessary to drive components of harvester l as will be described hereinafter.
11 S;nce the swather unit 4 ;s conventional in the art it will only be 12 described briefly.
13 A swather unit having the engine 5 placed off to one side 14 as shown in Figure 2 is preferred as the seed sepa~ator 3 can more . 15 easily be accomnodated alongside the engine . Most conventional 16 swather units are provided ~lith only three wheels. For the present 7 invention the swather unit 4 was modified for stability purposes to 18 include four wheels two front steering wheels 6 and two rear castor 19 wheels 7. The rear wileels 7 are attached to a walking bar assembly 8 for travel over rough terrain 21 The swather unit 4 includes a pair of spaced fonYardly 22 extending upper lift arms 9. A pair of fo~Yardly extending lower lift 23 arms 10 is conllected to the swather unit 4 parallel to and below the 24 upper pair of lift arms 9. The lift arms 9 10 can be simultaneously :; raised and lowered by a pair of hydraulic cylinders (not shown) mounted 26 vertically below the upper lift arms 9. The header assembly 2 is 27 pivotally attached to the front ends of the lift arms 9 10. The header 28 assembly 2 can therefore be raised and lowered to adj~st the height at 29 which it travels in the field. The height of the header assembly 2 can then be adjusted to accommodate vary.ihg-crop heights.
, ~ 12 -1 1'7~S~ -1 The ~eader Assembly - 2 The basic components of the header assembly 2 include a3 frame assembly, generally ;nd;cated at 12, a seed stripping drum 14 4 for stripp;ng seeds from the crop, and a rotating reel 16 ~or holding the seed bear;ng portion of the crop against the seed stripping drum 14 6 for a time to permit the seeds to be stripped from the crop.
7 The frame assen1bly 12, as best seen ;n F;gures 1, 2 and 3, 8 includes a pair of parallel spaced s;de plates 18. The side plates 18 9 are connected by an upper-box sect;on 20 and a lower box section 22, both o~ which extènd transversely between the side plates 18. The upper 11 box section 20 has the quadilateral shape shown in cross-sect;on in 12 F;gures 1 and 3. The lower box section 22 has a triangular shape 13 shown in cross-section in Figures 1 and 3; The rear faces 24, 25 of the 14 box sections 20 22 respectively are provided with two pairs of brackets 26 and 27 for connection to the upper and lower swather lift arms 9 10.
16 The lower face 24a of the upper box section 20 is spaced 17 from the upper face 25b of the lower box section so as to form a 18 fo)~ardly facing transverse inlet 28 therebetween.- The inlet 28 leads19 rea~ardly from the header assembly 2 into the seed separator 3 to be described later.
21 The frame assembly l2 also includes a top plate 30 22 extending transversely between the side plates 18 to close the top 23 of the frame assembly 12. The front of the frame assembly ;s left 24 substantially open to accommodate the seed stripping drum 14 and the rotating reel 16. The side plates 18 the box sect;ons 20 22 and 26 the top plate 30 limit wind moven-ent within the frame assembly 12.
27 The seed stripping drum 14 is mounted between the side 28 plates 18 ;n front of the transverse inlet 28. Bearings ~not shown) - 29 are prov;ded in each side plate 18, to allow the drum 14 to rotate.
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1 The rotating reel 16 is mounted between the side plates 18 2 again in bearings (not shown) on each s;de plate 18. The rotat;ng reel 3 16 is spaced above and forwardly of the drum 14.
4 The frame assembly 12 includes a third box sect;on 32 connected as shown in Figure 1 between the side plates 18 above the 6 seed st~ipping drum 14. The third box section 32 has the triangular 7 shape shown in cross-section in Figure 1. The forward face 34 of this 8 box section 32 provides a surface above the seed stripping drum 14 9 against which seed heads can land should a portion of the crop be higher than the seed stripping drum l4. This box section 32 is spaced 11 forwardly of the upper box section 20 such that a duc~ 35 is formed 12 between the box sections 20 and 32. While the majority of the seeds 13 stripped from the plant are drawn through the seed str;pping drum 14 14 and into the inlet 28 any seeds flying up ahove the seed stripping drum 14 should drop down through the duct 35 to join the remainder of 16 the stripped seeds at the inlet 28.
17 The frame assembly 12 also includes a floor section 36 18 extending between the side plates 1~ and beneath the seed stripping 19 drum 14. The floor section 36 prevents seeds from dropping from the drum 14 to the ground. Seeds landing on the floor section 36 are 21 pulled rea~.ardly through the inlet 28 and into the seed separator 3.
22 As shown in Figure 4 the seed stripping dru~ 14 in its 23 most preferred en~odimellt consists of a support frame 40 and a 24 plurality of cylindrically arranged horizontally spaced wires 42 attached to the frame 40. The frame 40 includes a central shaft 44 26 and a plurality of vertical circular discs 46 spaced therealong. The 27 discs 46 have a plurality of holes (not shown) formed around their 28 periplleries. The wires 42 are threaded through these holes and are 29 fastened to the two discs at the ends of the frame 40. The spaces between the wires 42 allow seeds to be pulled through the drum 14 and 31 into the inlet 28.
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1 When rotated at relatively rapid speeds, the wires 42 of 2 the seed stripping drum 14 proY;de an effective surface for act~vely 3 stripping mature seeds from the standing crop. Other endless revolving 4 surfaces might also be employed. Another type of perforated c~l;ndrical drum, for example a revolving ribbed canvas belt, would provide a sur-6 face, not necessarily in a cylindrical shape, which could be used for 7 seed stripping. If the revolving surface is not perforated, the seeds 8 could be drawn from the top and bottom of, rather than through, the g revolving surface.~ The term surface, as used herein, ;s meant to include lo both an intermittant surface such as that formed by the spaced wires and 11 a continuous surface such as that formed by an endless belt.
12 The rotating reel 16 is shown ;n F;gures 1 and 2 to include a support frame 47 and a plurality of bats 48 mounted on the frame 47.
The frame 47 includes a central shaft 50 mounted to rotate between the side plates 18. The frame 47 also includes three large d;ameter d;scs 16 52 fixed along the length of the shaft 50. The bats 48 are fixed 17 around the peripheries of the discs 52 across the width of the frame 18 47 so as to contact the periphery of the seed stripping drum 14. The 19 frame 47 is left substantially open between its central shaft 50 and the bats 48. In this way openings 54 are left between adjacent bats 48, 21 which openings 54 extend inwardly toward the shaft 50. I~'hen the reel 16 22 is rotated, in the direction indicated, segments of the crop are trapped 23 in the openillgs 54 between the bats 48 and are guided inwardly to contact 24 the seed strippillg drum 14. Since the openings 54 extend a substantial distance toward the reel shaft 50, a minimum of stems are bro~en by 26 bending of the stems by the reel 16.
27 The reel 16 ;s rotated at a much slower speed than is the seed 28 strippin~ drum 14. For instance, in grass seed crops the drum 14 may be 29 rotated at about 520 rpm while the reel l6 might be rotated at about 46 rpm.
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,5 ~ 5 1 The preferred embod;ment of the bats 48 ;s shown best 2 in Figures 2 and 5. Each bat 48 consists of a transverse rib 56 3 fixed to three bolts 5~. The bolts 58 attach the r;bs 56 to the 4 peripheries of the three discs 52. The rib 56 is generally V-shaped ~n cross-sect;on as shown in Figure 5. In the widened portion of each 6 V-shaped rib 56 is ~ixed a generally U-shaped connector 60. The co~-7 nector 60 holds a foam rubber ~edge 62 along the length of the rib 56.
8 The foam rubber wedge 62 ;s surrounded by a covering 64 of durable vinylg covered nylon. The bat 48 is thereby provided with a durable cushioned surface 66 with which to contac~ the periphery of the seed str;pp;ng 11 drum 14. As the cushioned surface 66 moves over the surface of the 12 seed stripping drum 14 it is compressed somewhat. Th;s act;on is 13 found to effectively hold the seed bearing portion of the crop 14 against the seed stripping drum 14 without causing substantial damage such as stem or seed breakage to the crop. To adjust the amount by 16 which bat surface 66 is compressed at the seed stripping drum 14 the 17 shaft 50 of the reel 16 is mounted to the side plates 18 to allow for a 18 small amount of generally vertical movement of the reel 16 relative to 19 drum 14. The bearings (not shown) holding the shaft 50 to the side plates 18 are therefore mounted for generally vertical sliding movement 21 on the side plates 18.
22 As sllo~Jn in Figure 2 the ribs 56 are mounted in a slanted23 arrallgement on the rotating reel 16. This slant is achieved by both Z4 slant;ng and twisting the ribs 56 as they are bolted to the discs 52.
The ribs 56 are so slanted and spaced on ~he reel periphery to ensure 26 that a portion of a rib 56 is always in contact with the seed stripping 27 drum 14 as the reel 16 is rotated. The lead;ng edge of one rib 56 28 contacts the seed stripping drum 14 before the trailing edge of the 29 preceding r;b 56 rotates out of contact with the drum 14. If this slanted arrangement of the ribs were not used the seed str;pping drum ` 16 -tj r '9~ ,5 1 14 would slow down and speed up as each rib 56 engaged and d;sengag~d 2 itself from the drum 14.
3 As is ev;dent from the drawings, the rotating reel l6 4 has a substant;ally larger d;ameter than does the seed stripping drum
6 It is often desirable to harvest seeds from many variet es 7 of plants, for example grasses, for the purposes of repropagation. In 8 particular it is desirable to harvest seeds from such grasses as common 9 meadow foxtail, Garrisons Creeping Foxtail, broom, crested wheat and timothy.
ll Many varieties of grass seed are difficult to harvest. Such l2 factors as small seed size, light weight of the seeds, the presence of 3 chaff material associated with the seeds, loose attachment of the seed 4 to the plant, variable seed head height~ varying rates of seed maturation, and weeds in the grass crop, all contribute to the problems in harvesting l6 grass seed.
17 Conventional swathing and combining equipment designed to l8 cut, swath, thresh and clean cereal grain crops have been used to 9 harvest grass seed. However, the grass seed is not successfully harvested by this equipment. If such conventional equipment is used.
2l a harvest of about 50% grass seed and 50% chaff, stem, leaf, and weed 22 material is recovered. This mixture is very difficult, if not impossible~
23 to clean or plant, mainly due to its poor flow characteristics.
24 Furthermore, the conventional swathing and combining equipment cannot selectively recover the mature seeds from the grass 26 plant, since the entire crop must be cut at one time. Only the seeds 27 which are mature at that time are useful. A considerable amount of the 28 mature grass seed is lost in this harvesting procedure~ both from 29 shattering of the seed heads by the wind, from impacting of the seed head by the swather reel's bats, and by falling out of the swath left ., :
., ~
t~ 5 1 to dry in the field. Also, the late-maturing seeds are effectively 2 lost.
3 To overcome some of these problems, seed harvesters have 4 been designed to harvest grass seed from the standing crop without cutting the crop. One prior art device of this type was developed 6 by R. W. Whitney~ R. M. Ahring and C. M. Taliaferro and is described in 7 Transactions of the ASAE~ 1979, page 270. The device is essentially a 8 modificatlon of a grain swather unit~ from which the cutting bar has 9 been removed. The device includes a generally horizontal platform which is moved through the crop just below the height of the seed heads. A
1l rotating reel above the platform is used to bend the plant rearwardly over 12 the platform. A plurality of flexible flails are fixed to the reel.
13 A stationary concave plate is mounted horizontally on the platform.
14 On rotation of the reel the seed heads are trapped between the flails and the concave plate to strip the seeds from the plant. The seeds 16 are pulled by suction into a screen-type air-seed separator.
17 While this device may overcome some of the above-18 mentioned problems, it is believed to have its difficulties. By 19 pulling the plant stem rearwardly over the forwardly advancing horizontal platform, a substantial amount of stem breakage can take 21 place. The broken stems, together with the seed heads, are then 22 harvested with the seeds. Further, it is believed that the rotating : 23 reel, in order to strip the seeds, must be rotated at a relatively 24 high speed. The reel would then cause significant seed dislodging as the reel flails impacted the seed heads ahead of the horizontal 26 platform. Also, in running the reel at this high speed, considerable 27 air turbulence would be generated, which in turn would scatter the 28 seed.
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1 Other seed harvesters have been described in the patent 2 literature for harvesting seeds from standing crops, see for example 3 U.S. Patent No. 2~460,029 issued to R. M. Ramp and U.S. Patent 2,046,932 4 issued to F. Wyatt et al.
The Ramp device was designed specifically for the harvesting 6 of dandelion seeds and is not believed to be suitable for the harvest 7 of other seeds such as grass seeds. The device consists of two 8 parallel brushes rotating in opposite directions, one brush being mounted 9 above and ahead of the other~ across an opening. Air is drawn through the opening. The brushes are arranged to whisk the seeds from the 1l plant. The seeds are then pulled between the brushes into the opening.
12 The seeds are separated from the air in a screen-type air-seed separator.
3 It is believed that the rotating brushes trap dandelion fluff between 14 the brush bristles and thereby whisk the seeds from the plant. Most seeds, especially grass seeds, cannot be dislodged from the plant by 16 this action. It is believed that a more positive stripping action is 7 necessary. Also, the upper brush in the Ramp device is shown to include 18 a large diameter central hub, around which the brushes are fixed. In 19 grass crops this hub would cause substantial undesirable bending and breakage of the stems and seeds heads.
21 The harvesting device of Wyatt et al was designed 22 specifically to strip clover heads from standing clover plants. The 23 clover head is pinched off as the bats of a rotating reel contact a 24 stationary flexible strip. The clover head is pulled by an air stream into a combined screen and cyclone type separator. This device is not 26 able to strip the clover seed directly from the clover plant. The 27 device therefore includes a cylinder-concave arrangement to thresh the 28 seeds from the harvested clover heads.
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1 With respect to the air-seed separating devicess screen-2 type and cyclone-type separators haveibeen used in seed harvesters.
3 The screen-type separators often become clogged as the seeds, and any 4 stem or chaff material, blind the screen surface. The cyclone-type separators usually need to be quite large to effect seed-air separation.
6 The separator is then heavy, cumbersome and costly to carry around 7 the field.
8 In summary, there is a need for a seed harvester having 9 the following desirable capabilities:
(1) the ability to strip seeds from a standing crop 1l without cutting the crop;
12 (2) the ability to preferentially strip mature seeds from 13 a standing crop, leaving the immature seeds on the 4 plant for subsequent maturing and harvesting;
(3) the ability to strip seeds from a standing crop 16 without causing substantial stem breakage by bending 17 of the stems or seed loss from impacting of the seed 18 heads; and 19 (4) provision for seed~air separation in a compact arrangement which can be economically carried around 21 the field.
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23 The present invention provides a seed harvester having a 24 header assembly~ for removing seeds from a standing crop, and a seed separator for drawing the seeds from the header assembly in an air 26 stream and for separating the seeds from the air stream. The seed 27 harvester is believed to overcome at least some of the above-28 described problems. While the harvester has been designed speciflcally 29 for harvesting grass seeds, it should find application in the harvesting of other crops.
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l The header assembly includes a frame assembly adapted for 2 forward movement through the standing crop, meansj carried by the frame 3 assembly, for stripping seeds from the standing crop, and means, carried 4 by the frame assembly, for holding the seed bearing portion of the crop against the seed stripp;ng means. More particularly, the frame assembly 6 forms a forwardly facing transverse inlet leading into the seed separator.7 The seed stripping means, which comprises an endless revolving surface 8 carrying stripping edges, is mounted to rotate at the transverse inlet 9 so as to contact the seed heads of the crop. The stripped seeds are drawn in an air stream from the seed stripping surface, through the transverse ll inlet, and into the seed separator.
12 In a preferred form, the seed stripping means comprises a l3 cylindrical drum mounted transversely in front of the transverse inlet l4 for rotation about its longitudinal axis. The drum has a support frame of spaced vertical discs. A plurality of cylindrically arranged, l6 horizontally extending~ spaced wires extend between the discs. The 17 spaced wires provide the stripping edges which, when rotated, actively 18 strips mature seeds from the seed heads. The spaces between the wires l9 allow the seeds to be pulled through the drum and into the seed separator. The drum is rotated in an upward direction at its front.
2l The means for holding the crop against the seed stripping 22 means, in a preferred form, comprises a cylindrical reel carried by the 23 frame assembly, above and forwardly of the seed stripping means. The 24 reel is mounted to rotate about its longitudinal axis parallel to the seed stripping means, in a direction opposite to the seed stripping 26 means. The holding means further comprises a plurality of batts fixed 27 around the periphery of the reel. Each batt has a cushioned working 28 surface which is arranged to substantially tangentially engage stripping 29 edges of the stripper to compress at least part of the working surface against said stripping edges. The batts are fixed to the reel so as to 31 leave substantial openings between the batts, which openings extend in-~ ~'7 ~
1 wardly toward the reel axis. When the reel is rotated, a segment of 2 the crop is trapped between sequential batts and is guided into contact 3 with the seed stripping means. The seed heads of the crop are momentarily 4 pressed against the seed stripping means by the batts as the latter are rotated over the surface of the seed stripping means. This allows 6 the rotating seed stripping edges to actively strip the seeds from the 7 seed heads.
8 In another preferred aspect of the header assembly, the 9 cylindrical reel of the holding means has a larger diameter than the cylindrical drum of the seed stripping means. This large diameter 1l reel accommodates the range of seed head heights of the crop. Also, 12 the cylindrical stripping drum is rotated at a faster speed than is the 13 cylindrical reel.
14 The seed separator of the present invention includes a duct having an inlet end and an outlet end. A first pneumatic means, 16 such as a blower, is mounted at the outlet end for drawing an air stream 7 carrying seeds through the inlet end. ~hen used with the above-18 described header assembly, the inlet end of the separator communicates 19 with the transverse inlet formed in the header assembly. Seeds stripped by the header assembly are therefore pulled into the duct. The duct is 21 curved between its ends to form a curved duct section. The curve is 22 sufficient to cause the seeds to be thrown outwardly, by centrifugal 23 force, toward the outer wall of the duct. Means, preferably a 1 plurality of spaced baffles, are fixed transversely within the curved 2 duct section to divide that duct section into a seed chamber adjacent 3 the outer wall of the duct and an air chamber adjacent the inner wall 4 of the duct. The means are arranged so as to deflect the seeds impinging thereon outwardly toward the outer ~all while allowing air to pass 6 from the seed chamber to the air chamber toward the outlet end of the 7 duct. A seed withdrawal duct is prov;ded at the outer wall of the curved 8 duct section communicating with the seed chamber to withdraw the seeds 9 from the seed chamber. A sealed container is connected to the seed withdrawal duct to collect the seeds. Means, such as a second 1l blower or a tube connected to the first blower, is connected to the 12 container to draw air through the container and the seed withdrawal 3 duct. This air stream thereby carries the seeds from the curved duct 14 section into the container. The container is large in size, to allow the seeds to fall out by gravity from the air stream.
16 The seed separator as above-described~ accomplishes 17 air-seed separation in two steps. A portion of the separation takes 18 place in the curved duct section, while the remainder of the 19 separation takes place in the container.
In a more preferred embodiment of the seed separator, the 21 baffles in the curved duct section are arranged on a curve generally 22 following the curve of the curved duct sections. The baffles are 23 also preferably arranged so as to decrease the cross-sectional area 24 of the seed chamber near the seed withdrawal duct. These provisions aid in concentrating the seeds in the air stream as they approach the 26 seed withdrawal duct.
1 While the header assembly and seed separator of the present 2 invention are preferably used together as a complete seed harvester 3 machine, each may be used separatèly.with an alternate form of a header 4 assembly or a seed separator~ For instance, the header assembly of the present invention may be used with a conventional screen-type cyclone-6 type or impingement-type seed-air separator.
7 Broadly stated, the present invention is a seed separator 8 for separating seeds from an air stream carrying seeds, comprising: a 9 duct of expanding cross-section having an inlet end and an outlet end;
10 first pneumatic means at the outlet end for drawing the air stream 11 carrying seeds into the inlet end and through the duct; the duct being 12 curved between the inlet and outlet ends to form a curved duct section 13 defined by an inner and an outer wall and two side walls, the curve being 14 sufficient to cause the seeds in the air stream to be moved outwardly by centrifugal action toward the outer wall; means extending transversely 16 across the curved duct section between the side walls and dividing the 17 curved duct section longitudinally into a seed chamber adjacent the outer 18 wall and an air chamber adjacent the inner wall, said means comprising a 19 plurality of baffles fixed in spaced apart sequence to the side walls, said baffles being arranged on a curve generally following the curve of 21 the duct section but decreasing the cross-sectional area of the seed 22 chamber near its outlet end while increasing the area of the air chamber 23 near its outlet end, said baffles being arranged so as to deflect seeds 24 impinging thereon outwardly toward the outer wall while allowing air to pass from the seed chamber to the air chamber toward the outlet end of 26 the duct; said first pneumatic means communicating-with the air chamber;
27 a seed withdrawal duct communicating with the seed chamber for with-28 drawing seeds from the seed chamber of the curved duct section; sealed 29 container means connected to the seed withdrawal duct for collecting the seeds; second pneumatic means connected to the container means for drawing 31 an air stream through the container means and the seed withdrawal duct _ g _~
1 to thereby carry the seeds into the container means; and the container .'' 2 means heing of a suff,icient,size to:allow the seeds to fall out of the 3 air stream carrying them, whereby~a portion of the seed-air separation 4 operation takes place in the curved duct section while the remaining S seed-air separation operation takes place in the container means.
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- 9a -1 The invention also provides a new method of removing seeds 2 from a standing crop. The method compr;ses the steps of:: advancing 3 a revolving surface through the starding crop. the revolving surface 4 being positioned to engage the seed bearing portion of the crop, the revolving surface moving in an upward direction at its front; holding 6 the seed bearing portion of the crop against the revolving surface for7 a brief time to permit the surface to strip seeds from the crop.~ without 8 substantial impacting of the seeds and without substantial stem breakage;
9 and drawing air from the revolving surface to gather the stripped seeds.
:. 10 In another broad aspect, the invention provides a seed 1l separator for separating seeds from an air stream carrying seeds. The 12 seed separator comprises: a duct having an inlet end and an outlet endi 3 first pneumatic means at the outlet end for drawing the air stream 4 carrying seeds into the inlet end and through the duct, the duct beingcurved between the inlet and outlet ends to form a curved duct section 16 defined by an inner and an outer wall and two side walls~ the curve 17 being sufficient to cause the seeds in the air stream to be thrown by 18 centrifugal force outwardly toward the outer wall; means extending 19 transversely across the curved duct section between the side walls anddividing the curved duct section into a seed chamber adjacent the outer 21 wall and an air chamber adjacent the inner wall, the means being arranged 22 so as to deflect seeds impinging thereon outwardly toward the outer wall, 23 while allowing air to pass from the seed chamber to the air chamber toward 24 the outlet end of the duct; a seed withdrawal duct communicating withthe seed chamber for withdrawing seeds from the seed chamber of the 26 curved duct section; sealed container means connected to the seed with-27 drawal duct for collecting the seedsi second pneumatic means connected 28 to the container means for drawing an air stream through the container 1 means and the seed withdra~al duct to thereby carry the seeds into the 2 container means; and the container means being of a sufficient size 3 to allow the seeds to fall out of the air stream carrying them, 4 whereby a portion of the seed-air separation operation takes place in the curved duct section while the remaining seed-air separation 6 operation takes place in the container means.
7 DESC~IPTION OF THE D~AWINGS
8 Figure 1 is a schematic side sectional view of the seed 9 harvester to illustrate the header assembly and the seed separator.
Figure 2 is a front perspective view of the seed harvester 11 illustrating the rotating reel arrangement of the header assembly.
12 Figure 3 is a fragmentary side sectional view of the header13 assembly showing the ducts of the seed separator leading to the seed 14 stripping drum to gather seeds therefrom. Figures 3a and 3b show exploded sectional views of the hinge connections.
16 Figure 4 is a front view of the seed stripping drum 17 removed from the seed harvester.
18 Figure 5 is a side sectional view of a bat from the rotating 19 reel arrangement.
Figure 6 is a side view of the drive means for rotating 21 the reel arrangement and the seed stripping drum at differential speeds.
22 Figure 7 is a top plan view of the hinged duct section of 23 the seed separator leading from the header assembly. The top sheet 24 of the duct is removed to show the seed and air directing baffles.
2 With reference to the draw;ngs the seed harvester 1 3 includes a header assembly 2 for removing seeds from a standing crop .
- 4 and a seed separator 3 for draw;ng the stripped seeds from the header assembly 2 ;n an air stream for separat;ng.the seeds from the a;r stream 6 and for collecting the separated seeds. As~seen in Figures 1 and 2~
7 both the header assembly 2 and the seed separator 3 are mo~nted on a 8 conventional grain swather power unit 4 for movement through the 9 standing crop. Th~ swather unit 4 also prov.ides the power necessary to drive components of harvester l as will be described hereinafter.
11 S;nce the swather unit 4 ;s conventional in the art it will only be 12 described briefly.
13 A swather unit having the engine 5 placed off to one side 14 as shown in Figure 2 is preferred as the seed sepa~ator 3 can more . 15 easily be accomnodated alongside the engine . Most conventional 16 swather units are provided ~lith only three wheels. For the present 7 invention the swather unit 4 was modified for stability purposes to 18 include four wheels two front steering wheels 6 and two rear castor 19 wheels 7. The rear wileels 7 are attached to a walking bar assembly 8 for travel over rough terrain 21 The swather unit 4 includes a pair of spaced fonYardly 22 extending upper lift arms 9. A pair of fo~Yardly extending lower lift 23 arms 10 is conllected to the swather unit 4 parallel to and below the 24 upper pair of lift arms 9. The lift arms 9 10 can be simultaneously :; raised and lowered by a pair of hydraulic cylinders (not shown) mounted 26 vertically below the upper lift arms 9. The header assembly 2 is 27 pivotally attached to the front ends of the lift arms 9 10. The header 28 assembly 2 can therefore be raised and lowered to adj~st the height at 29 which it travels in the field. The height of the header assembly 2 can then be adjusted to accommodate vary.ihg-crop heights.
, ~ 12 -1 1'7~S~ -1 The ~eader Assembly - 2 The basic components of the header assembly 2 include a3 frame assembly, generally ;nd;cated at 12, a seed stripping drum 14 4 for stripp;ng seeds from the crop, and a rotating reel 16 ~or holding the seed bear;ng portion of the crop against the seed stripping drum 14 6 for a time to permit the seeds to be stripped from the crop.
7 The frame assen1bly 12, as best seen ;n F;gures 1, 2 and 3, 8 includes a pair of parallel spaced s;de plates 18. The side plates 18 9 are connected by an upper-box sect;on 20 and a lower box section 22, both o~ which extènd transversely between the side plates 18. The upper 11 box section 20 has the quadilateral shape shown in cross-sect;on in 12 F;gures 1 and 3. The lower box section 22 has a triangular shape 13 shown in cross-section in Figures 1 and 3; The rear faces 24, 25 of the 14 box sections 20 22 respectively are provided with two pairs of brackets 26 and 27 for connection to the upper and lower swather lift arms 9 10.
16 The lower face 24a of the upper box section 20 is spaced 17 from the upper face 25b of the lower box section so as to form a 18 fo)~ardly facing transverse inlet 28 therebetween.- The inlet 28 leads19 rea~ardly from the header assembly 2 into the seed separator 3 to be described later.
21 The frame assembly l2 also includes a top plate 30 22 extending transversely between the side plates 18 to close the top 23 of the frame assembly 12. The front of the frame assembly ;s left 24 substantially open to accommodate the seed stripping drum 14 and the rotating reel 16. The side plates 18 the box sect;ons 20 22 and 26 the top plate 30 limit wind moven-ent within the frame assembly 12.
27 The seed stripping drum 14 is mounted between the side 28 plates 18 ;n front of the transverse inlet 28. Bearings ~not shown) - 29 are prov;ded in each side plate 18, to allow the drum 14 to rotate.
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1 The rotating reel 16 is mounted between the side plates 18 2 again in bearings (not shown) on each s;de plate 18. The rotat;ng reel 3 16 is spaced above and forwardly of the drum 14.
4 The frame assembly 12 includes a third box sect;on 32 connected as shown in Figure 1 between the side plates 18 above the 6 seed st~ipping drum 14. The third box section 32 has the triangular 7 shape shown in cross-section in Figure 1. The forward face 34 of this 8 box section 32 provides a surface above the seed stripping drum 14 9 against which seed heads can land should a portion of the crop be higher than the seed stripping drum l4. This box section 32 is spaced 11 forwardly of the upper box section 20 such that a duc~ 35 is formed 12 between the box sections 20 and 32. While the majority of the seeds 13 stripped from the plant are drawn through the seed str;pping drum 14 14 and into the inlet 28 any seeds flying up ahove the seed stripping drum 14 should drop down through the duct 35 to join the remainder of 16 the stripped seeds at the inlet 28.
17 The frame assembly 12 also includes a floor section 36 18 extending between the side plates 1~ and beneath the seed stripping 19 drum 14. The floor section 36 prevents seeds from dropping from the drum 14 to the ground. Seeds landing on the floor section 36 are 21 pulled rea~.ardly through the inlet 28 and into the seed separator 3.
22 As shown in Figure 4 the seed stripping dru~ 14 in its 23 most preferred en~odimellt consists of a support frame 40 and a 24 plurality of cylindrically arranged horizontally spaced wires 42 attached to the frame 40. The frame 40 includes a central shaft 44 26 and a plurality of vertical circular discs 46 spaced therealong. The 27 discs 46 have a plurality of holes (not shown) formed around their 28 periplleries. The wires 42 are threaded through these holes and are 29 fastened to the two discs at the ends of the frame 40. The spaces between the wires 42 allow seeds to be pulled through the drum 14 and 31 into the inlet 28.
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1 When rotated at relatively rapid speeds, the wires 42 of 2 the seed stripping drum 14 proY;de an effective surface for act~vely 3 stripping mature seeds from the standing crop. Other endless revolving 4 surfaces might also be employed. Another type of perforated c~l;ndrical drum, for example a revolving ribbed canvas belt, would provide a sur-6 face, not necessarily in a cylindrical shape, which could be used for 7 seed stripping. If the revolving surface is not perforated, the seeds 8 could be drawn from the top and bottom of, rather than through, the g revolving surface.~ The term surface, as used herein, ;s meant to include lo both an intermittant surface such as that formed by the spaced wires and 11 a continuous surface such as that formed by an endless belt.
12 The rotating reel 16 is shown ;n F;gures 1 and 2 to include a support frame 47 and a plurality of bats 48 mounted on the frame 47.
The frame 47 includes a central shaft 50 mounted to rotate between the side plates 18. The frame 47 also includes three large d;ameter d;scs 16 52 fixed along the length of the shaft 50. The bats 48 are fixed 17 around the peripheries of the discs 52 across the width of the frame 18 47 so as to contact the periphery of the seed stripping drum 14. The 19 frame 47 is left substantially open between its central shaft 50 and the bats 48. In this way openings 54 are left between adjacent bats 48, 21 which openings 54 extend inwardly toward the shaft 50. I~'hen the reel 16 22 is rotated, in the direction indicated, segments of the crop are trapped 23 in the openillgs 54 between the bats 48 and are guided inwardly to contact 24 the seed strippillg drum 14. Since the openings 54 extend a substantial distance toward the reel shaft 50, a minimum of stems are bro~en by 26 bending of the stems by the reel 16.
27 The reel 16 ;s rotated at a much slower speed than is the seed 28 strippin~ drum 14. For instance, in grass seed crops the drum 14 may be 29 rotated at about 520 rpm while the reel l6 might be rotated at about 46 rpm.
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,5 ~ 5 1 The preferred embod;ment of the bats 48 ;s shown best 2 in Figures 2 and 5. Each bat 48 consists of a transverse rib 56 3 fixed to three bolts 5~. The bolts 58 attach the r;bs 56 to the 4 peripheries of the three discs 52. The rib 56 is generally V-shaped ~n cross-sect;on as shown in Figure 5. In the widened portion of each 6 V-shaped rib 56 is ~ixed a generally U-shaped connector 60. The co~-7 nector 60 holds a foam rubber ~edge 62 along the length of the rib 56.
8 The foam rubber wedge 62 ;s surrounded by a covering 64 of durable vinylg covered nylon. The bat 48 is thereby provided with a durable cushioned surface 66 with which to contac~ the periphery of the seed str;pp;ng 11 drum 14. As the cushioned surface 66 moves over the surface of the 12 seed stripping drum 14 it is compressed somewhat. Th;s act;on is 13 found to effectively hold the seed bearing portion of the crop 14 against the seed stripping drum 14 without causing substantial damage such as stem or seed breakage to the crop. To adjust the amount by 16 which bat surface 66 is compressed at the seed stripping drum 14 the 17 shaft 50 of the reel 16 is mounted to the side plates 18 to allow for a 18 small amount of generally vertical movement of the reel 16 relative to 19 drum 14. The bearings (not shown) holding the shaft 50 to the side plates 18 are therefore mounted for generally vertical sliding movement 21 on the side plates 18.
22 As sllo~Jn in Figure 2 the ribs 56 are mounted in a slanted23 arrallgement on the rotating reel 16. This slant is achieved by both Z4 slant;ng and twisting the ribs 56 as they are bolted to the discs 52.
The ribs 56 are so slanted and spaced on ~he reel periphery to ensure 26 that a portion of a rib 56 is always in contact with the seed stripping 27 drum 14 as the reel 16 is rotated. The lead;ng edge of one rib 56 28 contacts the seed stripping drum 14 before the trailing edge of the 29 preceding r;b 56 rotates out of contact with the drum 14. If this slanted arrangement of the ribs were not used the seed str;pping drum ` 16 -tj r '9~ ,5 1 14 would slow down and speed up as each rib 56 engaged and d;sengag~d 2 itself from the drum 14.
3 As is ev;dent from the drawings, the rotating reel l6 4 has a substant;ally larger d;ameter than does the seed stripping drum
- 5 14. Also the rotating reel 16 is rotated at a much slower speed than
6 is the seed stripp;ng drum 14. Wh;le not be;ng bound by the same i~
- 7 ;s bel;eved that the slower rotation speed of the reel 16 ;s made
8 possible because the reei 16 is function;ng pr;marily to gu;de the crop
9 to and hold it aga;nst, the seed str;pp;ng drum 14. The reel 16 ;s not bel;eved to play an active part ;n str;pp;ng the seeds from the 11 crop. The slower speed of rotat;on of the reel 16 reduces the amount of 12 seed loss caused by ;mpacting the seed heads by the reel 16.
13 The seed str;pp;ng drum 14 and the rotat;ng reel 16 are 14 driven in opposite d;rect;ons and at different speeds by the drive lS mechanism 70 shown in Figure 6 A main shaft 72 extends through 16 one of the s;de plates 18. The main shaft 72 is driven by a hydraulic 17 motor (not sho\~n) po~ered by the s\~ather unit 4 T~o pulleys 74 76-18 are fixed to rotate w;th the main shaft 72. The pulley 74 is used 19 to drive a iarge pulley 78 through a belt 80 and an idler pulley 82 The shaft 50 of the rotat;ng reei l6 ;s dr;ven by the large pulley 21 78 as sho\~n Similarly the pulley 76 is used to drive a snnall pulley 22 84 through an elldless belt 86 and jdler pulley 88 The central shaft 23 - 44 of the seed strippil-g drum 14 is driven by the small pulley 84 at 24 a faster speed than is~shaft 50 The drive mechanism 70 is closed in by 2~ a cover 90 h;llged to the side plate 18 26 The above described preferred embodiment of the seed 27 str;pp;ng drum 14 and rotating reel 16 has been found to ach;eve seed 28 stripping from grasses without forc;ng the grass stems to bend sharply 29 rea~ardly over an advanc;ng platform. The sharp rearward bend;ng of grass stems was felt to cause Significant amounts of stem breakage. It 31 is therefore believed that the present invent;on reduces this problem.
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ti~:~35 1 The header assembly 2 of the present invention can be used 2 with seed separators other than the improved seed separator 3 to be 3 descr;bed hereinafter, Such known seed separators as screen-type, 4 cyclone-type, inertia-type, bag-type, gravity sett;ng-type, and ;mpingement-type separators may be used.
6 The Seed Separator .
7 The seed separator 3 includes a duct 100 having an inlet 8 end 102 and an outlet end 104. The inlet end 102 is connected to the 9 header assenbly 2 such that the duct 100 communicates with the 1~ transverse inlet 28 of the header assembly 2. A blower 106 is pro-11 vided at the outlet end 104 of the duct 100 so as to draw an air 12 stream carrying seeds from the header assembly 2 through the inlet end 13 102 and through the duct 100.
14 To accor-nmodate the vertical pivot;ng rnovement of the header assen,bly 2, the seed separator 3 includes a hinged duct section 108 16 at its inlet end 102. This duct section 108 extends forwardly from 17 the swather unit 4, between the upper and lower lift arms 9, 10 of the18 s\iather unit. The lift arrns 9, 10 prevent the hinged duct section 108 19 from fall;ng from the swatller unit 4 as.will be explained. The hingedduct section 108 is sho~Yn in detaîl in Figure 3. The hinged duct 21 section 108 is connected at its lower end 109 to the header assembly 2.
22 The upper end 109a of the hinged.duct section 108 rests on, but is not23 connected to, a fixed duct section 1l0 of the duct 100. The upper plate 24 112 of the hinged duct section 108 is connected to the upper box section 20 of the header assembly 2 through a flexible rubber seal 114.
26 The lower end 109 of the hinged duct sect;on 108 extends the width of27 the header assembly 2 so as to commun;cate with the trahsverse ;nlet 28.
28 The seal 114 therefore extends the w;dth of the h;nged duct section 108 29 to seal this duct section 108 to the header assembly 2. The lower .
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1 plate 116 of the hinged duct section 108 is connected to the lower box 2 section 22, for movement therewith, through a rubber strip 118, as shown 3 in F;gure 3a.
4 At the upper end lO9a of the hinged duct section 108 the lower plate 116 of duct sect;on l08 rests on the lower plate 120 of 6 the f;xed duct section 110 as shown in Figure 3b. A rubber l;p 122 is 7 connected to the lower plate 116 as shown to seal the h;nged duct 8 section 108 while allowing ;t to p;vot relat;ve to the stat;onary duct 9 sect;on 110.
~ At the upper end lO9a of the hinged duct section 108 a 11 gap 124 ;s formed between the duct section 108 and the fixed duct 12 section 110 as the hinged duct sect;on pivots with the header assembly 13 2. To close this gap 124 a flap 126 is hinged to the upper plate 128 14 of the fixed duct section 110. The flap 126 slides over the upper plate 112 of the hinged duct section 108 to seal that duct section 108 as 16 it is pivoted.
17 A pair of side sealing plates l30 is connected on either 18 side of the fixed duct section 110 to close the gap which forms at the 19 sides of this duct section 110 as the hinged duct section 108 is pivoted.
21 In Figu~e 7 the h;nged duct section 108 and the f;xed 22 duct section 110 are shown in a top plan view. The top plates 112 and 23 128 of these sections are rell1oved. The hinged duct section 108 is 24 shown to narrow in width to~ard the fixed duct section 110. It is des;rable to ~eep the cross-sectional area of both the hinged duct 26 section 108 and the fixed duct sect;on 110 substantially equal along 27 their lengths so as not to alter-the speed of the air strèam carrying the 28 seeds. For this reason both duct sections 108 and llO increase in 29 depth as their w;dths are decreased.
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7~;X35 A pair of air and seed directing baffles 132 are pro-2 vided in the hinged duct section 108 as shown in F;gure 7. The 3 baffles 132 evenly distr~bute the air suct;on along the entire width 4 of the duct inlet 102. W;thout the baffles 132, the blower 106 wou1d tend to pull harder on the central port;on of the seed stripping drum 6 14 than on the ends of the drum 14. ~ .
7 The duct 100 ;s curved between the outlet end 104 and the 8 fixed duct section 110 to fonn a curved duct section 134. The curved g duct section 134 ;s def;ned by an inner wall.l36, an outer wall 138 and two side walls (not shown in the cross-sectional views). As shown 11 in Figure 1, the curved duct section 134 turns through 180. This 12 curve has been found to be sufficient to cause the air stream carrying 13 the seeds to throw the seeds outwardly, by centrifugal force, toward 14 the outer wall 138 as the air stream rounds the curve.
The curved duct seciion 134 increases in cross-sectional 16 area toward the outlet end 104 of the duct 100 so as to slow down the 17 air stream and allow the seeds to fall out some~hat from the air. Ilhile 18 this provision is not felt-to be essential to the seed-air separation 19 operation taking place in the curved duct section 134, it is believed to enhance the separation.
21 A plurality of baffles 140 are connected to the side walls 2~ Of the curYed duct section 134 extending across the width of that duct 23 section 134. The baffles 140 divide the curved duct section 134 into 24 a seed c!lamber 142 adjacent the outer wall 138, and an air chamber 144 adjacent the inner wall 136. The baffles are equally spaced and are 26 inclined as shown so as to deflect the seeds imping.ing thereon outwardly 27 to~Yard the outer ~Yall 138. The baffle spac;ng and ;nclination allows 28 the air to pass from the seed chamber 142 to the a;r chamber 144 29 toward the blower 106. The baffles 140 are arranged on a curve generally ' ' .
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3l~ 7~ 35 follow;ng the curve of the curved duct sect;on 13~. The baffles 140 2 are also arranged so as tQ decrease the cross-sect;onal area of the 3 seed shamber 142 toward the top of the curved duct section 134 as 4 shown. Th;s arrangement forces a large portion of the air stream carry;ng the seeds to escape to the a;r chamber 144 and out through the 6 blower 106. The seeds are therefore in a concentrated stream at the 7 top cf the curved duct sect;on l34 along the outer wall 138.
8 . A seed w;thdrawal duct 146 is provided in the outer wall 9 138 at the top of the curved duct sect;on 134. The duct 146 communi-cates with the seed chamber 142 in order to withdraw the seeds therefrom.
11 The seed withdrawal duct 146 turns through 180- as shown and has an 12 increas;ng cross-sect;onal area in the direct;on of the seed travel.
13 These provisions slow the air down somewhat.
14 A sealed container 148 is connected to the seed w;thdrawal duct 146 for collecting the seeds.. A tube 150 is connected between 16 the container 148 and the inlet side of the blower 106 for drawing an 17 air stream through the container 148 and the seed withdrawal duct 146.
18 This air stream thereby carries the seeds from the seed chamber 142 19 to the conta;ner 148.
As mentioned above the air and seeds are slo~ed do~n in the seed 21 withdra\~al duct 146 before they enter the container 148. This pro-22 vision reduces tlle turbulence of the air as it enters the container 23 148. To further reduce turbulellce in the container 148 a seed deflecting 24 baffle 152 is fixed in the container 148 com~unicating with the seed withdrawal duct 146. The baffle 152 functions to deflect the seeds 26 toward tlle side wall 153 of the container l48 away from the tube 150.
27 The conta;ner 148 is large, to allow the seeds to fall out from the air 28 stream carrying them. This further reduces turbulence in the container 29 148.
.
~ 1'7~ 5 The container 148 is connected at its base to a bottom-2 feeding auger 154 for unloading the seeds from the container 148. The 3 auger 154 is effect;vely sealed at both its ends to prevent air from 4 being drawn into the sealed container 148. A removable clean-out plate 156 closes the lower end of the auger 154. 'A collapsible tube 6 158 form~d from vinyl covered nylon closes the upper end of the auger 7 154 against inward air movement- while allowing the seeds to be dis-8 charged from the auger 154. .
9 The seed separator ~ as described above ach;eves seed-a;r separat;on in two steps. A portion of the seed-air separation takes 1l place ;n the curved duct sect;on 134 while the remainder of the 12 separat;on takes place in the container 148. Th'e single blower 106 is 13 used to draw the a;r streams carrying the seeds through both of these 14 seed-air separation operat;ons. It is conce;vable that two b1Owers could be used one drawing on the curved duct section 134 and the 16 other dra~Ying on the container 148. In this case the blo~ers should 17 be balanced to adjust the air flows within the curved duct section 134 18 and the container 148 as varying degrees of blocking at the seed 19 str;pping drum 14'alter the vacuum at the duct inlet 102. Blocking of the seed stripping drum 14 can occur when a heavy crop segment is 21 ' held against tl-e seed stripping drum 14. If this balancing precaution22 were not ta~en one blower might dra~Y harder than the other so'as to ~.
23 upset the seed-air separation operations. By using the single blo~er 24 106 the air flolYs in the curved duct section 134 and the container 148 are inherently balanced.
26 l~hile the present invention has been described in connection 27 with the preferl^ed embod;ments thereof it should oe understood that 28 there may be other embodiments which fall within the spirit and scope 29 Of the invention as define'd by the following claims.
. . , !
~: .
' -- 22 . . . .
13 The seed str;pp;ng drum 14 and the rotat;ng reel 16 are 14 driven in opposite d;rect;ons and at different speeds by the drive lS mechanism 70 shown in Figure 6 A main shaft 72 extends through 16 one of the s;de plates 18. The main shaft 72 is driven by a hydraulic 17 motor (not sho\~n) po~ered by the s\~ather unit 4 T~o pulleys 74 76-18 are fixed to rotate w;th the main shaft 72. The pulley 74 is used 19 to drive a iarge pulley 78 through a belt 80 and an idler pulley 82 The shaft 50 of the rotat;ng reei l6 ;s dr;ven by the large pulley 21 78 as sho\~n Similarly the pulley 76 is used to drive a snnall pulley 22 84 through an elldless belt 86 and jdler pulley 88 The central shaft 23 - 44 of the seed strippil-g drum 14 is driven by the small pulley 84 at 24 a faster speed than is~shaft 50 The drive mechanism 70 is closed in by 2~ a cover 90 h;llged to the side plate 18 26 The above described preferred embodiment of the seed 27 str;pp;ng drum 14 and rotating reel 16 has been found to ach;eve seed 28 stripping from grasses without forc;ng the grass stems to bend sharply 29 rea~ardly over an advanc;ng platform. The sharp rearward bend;ng of grass stems was felt to cause Significant amounts of stem breakage. It 31 is therefore believed that the present invent;on reduces this problem.
, - 17 - ~
.
ti~:~35 1 The header assembly 2 of the present invention can be used 2 with seed separators other than the improved seed separator 3 to be 3 descr;bed hereinafter, Such known seed separators as screen-type, 4 cyclone-type, inertia-type, bag-type, gravity sett;ng-type, and ;mpingement-type separators may be used.
6 The Seed Separator .
7 The seed separator 3 includes a duct 100 having an inlet 8 end 102 and an outlet end 104. The inlet end 102 is connected to the 9 header assenbly 2 such that the duct 100 communicates with the 1~ transverse inlet 28 of the header assembly 2. A blower 106 is pro-11 vided at the outlet end 104 of the duct 100 so as to draw an air 12 stream carrying seeds from the header assembly 2 through the inlet end 13 102 and through the duct 100.
14 To accor-nmodate the vertical pivot;ng rnovement of the header assen,bly 2, the seed separator 3 includes a hinged duct section 108 16 at its inlet end 102. This duct section 108 extends forwardly from 17 the swather unit 4, between the upper and lower lift arms 9, 10 of the18 s\iather unit. The lift arrns 9, 10 prevent the hinged duct section 108 19 from fall;ng from the swatller unit 4 as.will be explained. The hingedduct section 108 is sho~Yn in detaîl in Figure 3. The hinged duct 21 section 108 is connected at its lower end 109 to the header assembly 2.
22 The upper end 109a of the hinged.duct section 108 rests on, but is not23 connected to, a fixed duct section 1l0 of the duct 100. The upper plate 24 112 of the hinged duct section 108 is connected to the upper box section 20 of the header assembly 2 through a flexible rubber seal 114.
26 The lower end 109 of the hinged duct sect;on 108 extends the width of27 the header assembly 2 so as to commun;cate with the trahsverse ;nlet 28.
28 The seal 114 therefore extends the w;dth of the h;nged duct section 108 29 to seal this duct section 108 to the header assembly 2. The lower .
.
1 plate 116 of the hinged duct section 108 is connected to the lower box 2 section 22, for movement therewith, through a rubber strip 118, as shown 3 in F;gure 3a.
4 At the upper end lO9a of the hinged duct section 108 the lower plate 116 of duct sect;on l08 rests on the lower plate 120 of 6 the f;xed duct section 110 as shown in Figure 3b. A rubber l;p 122 is 7 connected to the lower plate 116 as shown to seal the h;nged duct 8 section 108 while allowing ;t to p;vot relat;ve to the stat;onary duct 9 sect;on 110.
~ At the upper end lO9a of the hinged duct section 108 a 11 gap 124 ;s formed between the duct section 108 and the fixed duct 12 section 110 as the hinged duct sect;on pivots with the header assembly 13 2. To close this gap 124 a flap 126 is hinged to the upper plate 128 14 of the fixed duct section 110. The flap 126 slides over the upper plate 112 of the hinged duct section 108 to seal that duct section 108 as 16 it is pivoted.
17 A pair of side sealing plates l30 is connected on either 18 side of the fixed duct section 110 to close the gap which forms at the 19 sides of this duct section 110 as the hinged duct section 108 is pivoted.
21 In Figu~e 7 the h;nged duct section 108 and the f;xed 22 duct section 110 are shown in a top plan view. The top plates 112 and 23 128 of these sections are rell1oved. The hinged duct section 108 is 24 shown to narrow in width to~ard the fixed duct section 110. It is des;rable to ~eep the cross-sectional area of both the hinged duct 26 section 108 and the fixed duct sect;on 110 substantially equal along 27 their lengths so as not to alter-the speed of the air strèam carrying the 28 seeds. For this reason both duct sections 108 and llO increase in 29 depth as their w;dths are decreased.
'. ' ' ' ` .
.
_ 1 9 _ .
.
7~;X35 A pair of air and seed directing baffles 132 are pro-2 vided in the hinged duct section 108 as shown in F;gure 7. The 3 baffles 132 evenly distr~bute the air suct;on along the entire width 4 of the duct inlet 102. W;thout the baffles 132, the blower 106 wou1d tend to pull harder on the central port;on of the seed stripping drum 6 14 than on the ends of the drum 14. ~ .
7 The duct 100 ;s curved between the outlet end 104 and the 8 fixed duct section 110 to fonn a curved duct section 134. The curved g duct section 134 ;s def;ned by an inner wall.l36, an outer wall 138 and two side walls (not shown in the cross-sectional views). As shown 11 in Figure 1, the curved duct section 134 turns through 180. This 12 curve has been found to be sufficient to cause the air stream carrying 13 the seeds to throw the seeds outwardly, by centrifugal force, toward 14 the outer wall 138 as the air stream rounds the curve.
The curved duct seciion 134 increases in cross-sectional 16 area toward the outlet end 104 of the duct 100 so as to slow down the 17 air stream and allow the seeds to fall out some~hat from the air. Ilhile 18 this provision is not felt-to be essential to the seed-air separation 19 operation taking place in the curved duct section 134, it is believed to enhance the separation.
21 A plurality of baffles 140 are connected to the side walls 2~ Of the curYed duct section 134 extending across the width of that duct 23 section 134. The baffles 140 divide the curved duct section 134 into 24 a seed c!lamber 142 adjacent the outer wall 138, and an air chamber 144 adjacent the inner wall 136. The baffles are equally spaced and are 26 inclined as shown so as to deflect the seeds imping.ing thereon outwardly 27 to~Yard the outer ~Yall 138. The baffle spac;ng and ;nclination allows 28 the air to pass from the seed chamber 142 to the a;r chamber 144 29 toward the blower 106. The baffles 140 are arranged on a curve generally ' ' .
., .
; . .- 20 - .
!~ ' .
. ~ ' . .
3l~ 7~ 35 follow;ng the curve of the curved duct sect;on 13~. The baffles 140 2 are also arranged so as tQ decrease the cross-sect;onal area of the 3 seed shamber 142 toward the top of the curved duct section 134 as 4 shown. Th;s arrangement forces a large portion of the air stream carry;ng the seeds to escape to the a;r chamber 144 and out through the 6 blower 106. The seeds are therefore in a concentrated stream at the 7 top cf the curved duct sect;on l34 along the outer wall 138.
8 . A seed w;thdrawal duct 146 is provided in the outer wall 9 138 at the top of the curved duct sect;on 134. The duct 146 communi-cates with the seed chamber 142 in order to withdraw the seeds therefrom.
11 The seed withdrawal duct 146 turns through 180- as shown and has an 12 increas;ng cross-sect;onal area in the direct;on of the seed travel.
13 These provisions slow the air down somewhat.
14 A sealed container 148 is connected to the seed w;thdrawal duct 146 for collecting the seeds.. A tube 150 is connected between 16 the container 148 and the inlet side of the blower 106 for drawing an 17 air stream through the container 148 and the seed withdrawal duct 146.
18 This air stream thereby carries the seeds from the seed chamber 142 19 to the conta;ner 148.
As mentioned above the air and seeds are slo~ed do~n in the seed 21 withdra\~al duct 146 before they enter the container 148. This pro-22 vision reduces tlle turbulence of the air as it enters the container 23 148. To further reduce turbulellce in the container 148 a seed deflecting 24 baffle 152 is fixed in the container 148 com~unicating with the seed withdrawal duct 146. The baffle 152 functions to deflect the seeds 26 toward tlle side wall 153 of the container l48 away from the tube 150.
27 The conta;ner 148 is large, to allow the seeds to fall out from the air 28 stream carrying them. This further reduces turbulence in the container 29 148.
.
~ 1'7~ 5 The container 148 is connected at its base to a bottom-2 feeding auger 154 for unloading the seeds from the container 148. The 3 auger 154 is effect;vely sealed at both its ends to prevent air from 4 being drawn into the sealed container 148. A removable clean-out plate 156 closes the lower end of the auger 154. 'A collapsible tube 6 158 form~d from vinyl covered nylon closes the upper end of the auger 7 154 against inward air movement- while allowing the seeds to be dis-8 charged from the auger 154. .
9 The seed separator ~ as described above ach;eves seed-a;r separat;on in two steps. A portion of the seed-air separation takes 1l place ;n the curved duct sect;on 134 while the remainder of the 12 separat;on takes place in the container 148. Th'e single blower 106 is 13 used to draw the a;r streams carrying the seeds through both of these 14 seed-air separation operat;ons. It is conce;vable that two b1Owers could be used one drawing on the curved duct section 134 and the 16 other dra~Ying on the container 148. In this case the blo~ers should 17 be balanced to adjust the air flows within the curved duct section 134 18 and the container 148 as varying degrees of blocking at the seed 19 str;pping drum 14'alter the vacuum at the duct inlet 102. Blocking of the seed stripping drum 14 can occur when a heavy crop segment is 21 ' held against tl-e seed stripping drum 14. If this balancing precaution22 were not ta~en one blower might dra~Y harder than the other so'as to ~.
23 upset the seed-air separation operations. By using the single blo~er 24 106 the air flolYs in the curved duct section 134 and the container 148 are inherently balanced.
26 l~hile the present invention has been described in connection 27 with the preferl^ed embod;ments thereof it should oe understood that 28 there may be other embodiments which fall within the spirit and scope 29 Of the invention as define'd by the following claims.
. . , !
~: .
' -- 22 . . . .
Claims
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A seed separator for separating seeds from an air stream carrying seeds, comprising:
a duct of expanding cross-section having an inlet end and an outlet end;
first pneumatic means at the outlet end for drawing the air stream carrying seeds into the inlet end and through the duct;
the duct being curved between the inlet and outlet ends to form a curved duct section defined by an inner and an outer wall and two side walls, the curve being sufficient to cause the seeds in the air stream to be moved outwardly by centrifugal action toward the outer wall;
means extending transversely across the curved duct section between the side walls and dividing the curved duct section longitudinally into a seed chamber adjacent the outer wall and an air chamber adjacent the inner wall, said means comprising a plurality of baffles fixed in spaced apart sequence to the side walls, said baffles being arranged on a curve generally following the curve of the duct section but decreasing the cross-sectional area of the seed chamber near its outlet end while increasing the area of the air chamber near its outlet end, said baffles being arranged so as to deflect seeds impinging thereon out-wardly toward the outer wall while allowing air to pass from the seed chamber to the air chamber toward the outlet end of the duct;
said first pneumatic means communicating with the air chamber;
a seed withdrawal duct communicating with the seed chamber for withdrawing seeds from the seed chamber of the curved duct section;
sealed container means connected to the seed withdrawal duct for collecting the seeds;
second pneumatic means connected to the container means for drawing an air stream through the container means and the seed withdrawal duct to thereby carry the seeds into the container means; and the container means being of a sufficient size to allow the seeds to fall out of the air stream carrying them, whereby a portion of the seed-air separation operation takes place in the curved duct section while the remaining seed-air separation operation takes place in the container means.
a duct of expanding cross-section having an inlet end and an outlet end;
first pneumatic means at the outlet end for drawing the air stream carrying seeds into the inlet end and through the duct;
the duct being curved between the inlet and outlet ends to form a curved duct section defined by an inner and an outer wall and two side walls, the curve being sufficient to cause the seeds in the air stream to be moved outwardly by centrifugal action toward the outer wall;
means extending transversely across the curved duct section between the side walls and dividing the curved duct section longitudinally into a seed chamber adjacent the outer wall and an air chamber adjacent the inner wall, said means comprising a plurality of baffles fixed in spaced apart sequence to the side walls, said baffles being arranged on a curve generally following the curve of the duct section but decreasing the cross-sectional area of the seed chamber near its outlet end while increasing the area of the air chamber near its outlet end, said baffles being arranged so as to deflect seeds impinging thereon out-wardly toward the outer wall while allowing air to pass from the seed chamber to the air chamber toward the outlet end of the duct;
said first pneumatic means communicating with the air chamber;
a seed withdrawal duct communicating with the seed chamber for withdrawing seeds from the seed chamber of the curved duct section;
sealed container means connected to the seed withdrawal duct for collecting the seeds;
second pneumatic means connected to the container means for drawing an air stream through the container means and the seed withdrawal duct to thereby carry the seeds into the container means; and the container means being of a sufficient size to allow the seeds to fall out of the air stream carrying them, whereby a portion of the seed-air separation operation takes place in the curved duct section while the remaining seed-air separation operation takes place in the container means.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000445401A CA1176535A (en) | 1984-01-16 | 1984-01-16 | Seed harvester |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000445401A CA1176535A (en) | 1984-01-16 | 1984-01-16 | Seed harvester |
Related Parent Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000393729A Division CA1166456A (en) | 1982-01-07 | 1982-01-07 | Seed harvester |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1176535A true CA1176535A (en) | 1984-10-23 |
Family
ID=4126954
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000445401A Expired CA1176535A (en) | 1984-01-16 | 1984-01-16 | Seed harvester |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1176535A (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR2944671A1 (en) * | 2009-04-22 | 2010-10-29 | Agronomique Inst Nat Rech | Device for harvesting seeds from prairie plants by e.g. researchers of wild plant seeds, has suction turbine sucking cut plants from cutting assembly, separating seeds from stems, and blowing separated stems and seeds towards grass catcher |
-
1984
- 1984-01-16 CA CA000445401A patent/CA1176535A/en not_active Expired
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR2944671A1 (en) * | 2009-04-22 | 2010-10-29 | Agronomique Inst Nat Rech | Device for harvesting seeds from prairie plants by e.g. researchers of wild plant seeds, has suction turbine sucking cut plants from cutting assembly, separating seeds from stems, and blowing separated stems and seeds towards grass catcher |
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| MKEX | Expiry |