GB2088808A

GB2088808A - Sensing Condition of Loading of Conveyors on Vehicles

Info

Publication number: GB2088808A
Application number: GB8136159A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Claas KGaA mbH
Current assignee: Claas KGaA mbH
Priority date: 1980-12-04
Filing date: 1981-12-01
Publication date: 1982-06-16
Also published as: DE3045728A1; FR2495434B1; DE3045728C2; GB2088808B; FR2495434A1

Abstract

Sensing means connected to the shaft of an elevator 1 senses the condition of loading of the vanes and of a conveyor in the shaft and feeds the signals to a computer for evaluation. A transmitter (11) fitted to one side wall of an elevator shaft of e.g. a combine harvester transmits a light beam to a receiver fitted to an opposite side wall of the elevator shaft. The light beam is interrupted by grain material (15) on conveyor vanes (8) whereby signals from the receiver are representative of the loading of the vanes. A computer (e.g. an analog-to-digital converter) is provided for evaluating such signals. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Vehicles Having Elevators This invention relates to vehicles having elevators which have conveyor vanes which are secured to a chain or the like in an elevator shaft, for conveying material capable of trickle flow, for example for conveying threshed grain material into a grain tank of a self-propelled combine harvester.

In known self-propelled combine harvesters, the relative grain losses are measured for example by baffle plates which are disposed below the shaker arrangement, more particularly in the discharge region thereof. Grains remaining entrained in the threshed straw fall on the baffle plates and pulses which are produced by the grains impinging on the baffle plates are evaluated to provide a measurement of the relative grain loss. It will be appreciated, however, that the measured value gives no information about the threshing efficiency of a combine harvester.

According to the invention there is provided a vehicle having an elevator which has conveyor vanes which are secured to a chain or the like in an elevator shaft, for conveying material capable of trickle flow, wherein means for sensing the condition of loading of the conveyor vanes in the conveying run is connected to the elevator shaft, and a computer is provided for evaluating signals from said means.

A vehicle embodying the present invention may be designed to permit continuous detection of the conveying efficiency generally, and in particular (for example) the threshing efficiency of a combine harvester, and also to permit the degree of filling of a conveyor receiving the conveyed material (e.g. a combine harvester grain tank) to be ascertained.

Advantageously, a beam-emitting or waveemitting transmitter is secured to one side wall of the elevator shaft and a receiver is secured to the opposite side wall. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a housing is fitted to the outside of said one wall, said transmitter is an infra-red light emitter disposed in the housing and arranged to direct a light beam through an opening in the one side wall and through another opening opposite the first-mentioned opening on to said receiver, and the receiver is a light receiver fixed in a further housing which is connected to said opposite side wall. In order to prevent fouling of the emitter and the receiver, both the opening in the one side wall and the opening in the opposite side wall are preferably covered with or closed by glass that will transmit said beam.Desirably, the computer is an analog-to-digital converter which is operative to transmit computed or converted values to a display means, Besides the advantage of continuous information about the instantaneous threshing efficiency (in the case of a combine harvester), it is also possible to determine the percentage loss of a combine harvester, if the apparatus has, associated therewith, a grain loss measuring means (which may be known per se).

The invention will now be further described, by way of illustrative and non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawing, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a grain tank elevator of a combine harvester; Figure 2 is a front view in cross-section of a part of the grain tank elevator shown in Figure 1, the view being taken along the line Il-Il in Figure 1;and Figure 3 is an electrical circuit diagram.

The drawing shows an elevator shaft 1 of a self-propelled combine harvester. The elevator shaft 1 is provided with an intermediate wall 2 and transports threshed grain material into a grain tank. For that purpose, respective shafts are arranged both in an upper region of the elevator and in the lower region of the elevator, although only the upper shaft 3 is shown in the drawing.

The shaft 3 is mounted in side walls 4 and 5 of the elevator shaft 1 and carries a chain guide wheel 6 on which a conveyor chain 7 is fitted. The chain 7 carries conveyor vanes 8 which are arranged in succession at equal spacings from each other and which comprise resilient material, for example hard rubber. The size of the vanes 8 is such that they bear virtually with a sealing action aginst the wall portions around them.

As will be seen from Figure 2, oppositely disposed housings 9 and 10 are fitted to the side walls 4 and 5 in the region of the conveyor run. A strong infra-red light beam emitter 11 is disposed in the housing 9, while an infra-red light beam receiver 12 is disposed in the housing 10.

Through bores 13 and 14 which are provided in the side walls 4 and 5 in this arrangement provide passages for the beam to pass therethrough and are desirably covered or closed with glass in order to avoid fouling both of the emitter 11 and the receiver 1 2. At the side at which it may actually suffer from fouling, the glass itself is cleaned by the conveyor vanes 8 which move therepast at regular intervals. When grain material 1 5 is being conveyed, the light beam directed by the emitter 11 on the receiver 12 is interrupted by the material 1 5 to be conveyed, which is disposed on the conveyor vanes 8, and by the conveyor vanes 8 themselves, for shorter or longer periods of time, depending on the load on the individual vanes 8. Such periods are referred to hereinafter as "dark times".

An electric circuit diagram of the abovedescribed arrangement is shown in Figure 3. The receiver 12 is a photo-transistor whose collectoremitter circuit is connected across a voltage supply UB via a resistor and whose collector is connected via another resistor to an analog-todigital converter 16. The analog-to-digital converter 16, which is shown in diagrammatic form in Figure 3, registers the dark time and, taking into account the thickness of the vanes, computes the condition of loading of the individual vanes 8 and transmits the result as the threshing efficiency to a display means 17 which is installed in a driving cabin of the combine harvester. A measurement of the degree of filling of the grain tank can be computed by the converter 1 6 by addition of the dark times. It is also possible to compute the percentage losses of the combine harvester by the association of a quotient computing means, by means of the detected values in respect of the threshing efficiency, and making use of the measured relative losses, measured by means of a known loss measuring means which is generally disposed downstream of the conveyor end of the shakers, below the plane of conveying movement thereof.

Claims

1. A vehicle having an elevator which has conveyor vanes which are secured to a chain or the like in an elevator shaft, for conveying material capable of trickle flow, wherein means for sensing the condition of loading of the conveyor vanes in the conveying run is connected to the elevator shaft, and a computer is provided for evaluating signals from said means.

2. A vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said means comprises a beam-emitting or waveemitting transmitter secured to one side wall of the elevator shaft and a receiver secured to an opposite side wall.

3. A vehicle according to claim 2, wherein a housing is fitted to the outside of said one side wall, and said transmitter is an infra-red light emitter disposed in the housing and arranged to direct a light beam through an opening in the one side wall and through another opening opposite the first-mentioned opening on to said receiver, and the receiver is a light receiver fixed in a further housing which is connected to said opposite side wall.

4. A vehicle according to Claim 3, wherein both said openings are covered with or closed by glass that will transmit said beam.

5. A vehicle according to claim 2, claim 3 or claim 4, which is operative to produce and display a measurement of the degree of filling of a container receiving said material by addition of times during which said receiver does not receive radiation from the transmitter.

6. A vehicle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the computer is an analog-to-digital converter which is operative to transmit computed or converted values to a display means.

7. A vehicle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a conveyed material loss measuring means is associated with the means for sensing the condition of loading.

8. A vehicle according to any one of the preceding claims, the vehicle being a selfpropelled combine harvester and the elevator shaft being operative to convey threshed grain material into a grain tank of the harvester.

9. A combine harvester substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawing.