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EP-4740725-A1 - RETRACTION DEVICE WITH COVERING ELEMENTS WHICH CAN BE MOVED TOWARDS EACH OTHER FOR COVERING A ROLLER RECESS

EP4740725A1EP 4740725 A1EP4740725 A1EP 4740725A1EP-4740725-A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a feed device (2) for a forage harvester. The feed device is designed to convey agricultural crops in a feed direction (ER) through a feed channel (4). The feed device comprises a frame (40) which includes at least one side wall (42) for laterally limiting the feed channel. The feed device comprises at least two pairs of feed rollers (10, 20, 30), each of which, for limiting the feed channel, comprises a rotatably mounted upper roller element (12, 22, 32) extending laterally through at least one roller recess (13, 23, 33) in the side wall (42), and a rotatably mounted lower roller element (14, 24, 34), and which are arranged offset from one another in the feed direction (ER). The feed device comprises a bearing arrangement (50) configured to mount the upper feed rollers (12, 22, 32) such that they are movable in a vertical direction (HR). The feed device comprises a cover device (60) which has at least one cover element (62, 64) movable relative to the frame device (40) by means of the bearing arrangement (50) for covering the at least one roller recess (13, 23, 33). According to the invention, the cover device (60) comprises at least one additional cover element (66) for covering at least one roller recess (13, 23, 33), which is movably mounted relative to the frame device (40) and relative to the cover element (62, 64) by means of the bearing arrangement (50).

Inventors

  • Ensink, Holger
  • Evers, Hendrik

Assignees

  • Maschinenfabrik Bernard Krone GmbH & Co. KG

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20251009

Claims (16)

  1. Intake device (2) for a forage harvester, which is designed to convey agricultural crops in an intake direction (ER) through an intake channel (4) and - a frame device (40) comprising at least one side wall (42) for the lateral limitation of the intake channel (4), - at least two pairs of feed rollers (10, 20, 30) which, for limiting the feed channel, each comprise a rotatably mounted upper roller element (12, 22, 32) which extends laterally through at least one roller recess (13, 23, 33) in the side walls (42), and a rotatably mounted lower roller element (14, 24, 34) and which are arranged offset from each other in the feed direction (ER), - a bearing arrangement (50) which is designed to support the upper roller elements (12, 22, 32) in such a way that they are movable at least partially in a vertical direction (HR) angled to the feed direction (ER) to vary the height of the feed channel (4) relative to the frame device (40), and - a covering device (60) comprising at least one covering element (62, 64) movable relative to the frame device (40) by means of the bearing arrangement (50) for covering at least one part of the at least one roller recess (13, 23, 33), includes characterized in that the covering device (60) comprises at least one intermediate covering element (66) for covering the at least one roller recess (13, 23, 33), which is movably mounted by means of the bearing arrangement (50) relative to the frame device (40) and relative to the covering element (62, 64).
  2. A feed device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bearing arrangement (50) causes a movement of the The intermediate cover element (66) is formed at least partially in the vertical direction (HR) depending on a movement of at least one of the upper roller elements (12, 22, 32) at least partially in the vertical direction (HR).
  3. Feeding device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bearing arrangement (50) is designed to reduce the movement of the at least one upper roller element (12, 22, 32) such that in operation a movement of the at least one upper roller element (12, 22, 32) by a first distance (S22) causes a movement of the intermediate cover element (66) by a second distance (S66) which is smaller than the first distance (S22).
  4. Feeding device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bearing arrangement (50) is designed for reduction such that in operation the second distance (S66) by which the intermediate cover element (66) is moved is greater than half the distance (S22) by which the at least one upper roller element (22) moves.
  5. A feed device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bearing arrangement (50) for bearing the intermediate cover element (66) comprises a link arrangement (56) having a first link (57), a second link (58) and a third link (59), wherein the first link (57) is arranged at one end on the frame device (40) and at the other end on the second link (58), the third link (59) is arranged at one end on the second link (58) and at the other end on a rocker element (52) on which at least one of the upper roller elements (12, 22, 32) is rotatably mounted, and the intermediate cover element (66) is arranged on the second link (58) between the first link (57) and the third link (59).
  6. Retracting device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cover device (60) has a sensor for monitoring the position of at least one part of the bearing arrangement (50), at least one of the upper roller elements (12, 22, 32) and/or the cover element (62, 64) and an actuator for adjusting the position of the intermediate cover element (66) depending on the monitored position.
  7. Infeed device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the intermediate cover element (66) is designed to cover a first roller recess (13), a second roller recess (23) and in particular a third roller recess (33).
  8. Feeding device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the intermediate cover element (66) has at least one such additional roller recess (65) such that at least one of the upper roller elements (12, 22, 32) is movable in the vertical direction (HR) within the additional roller recess (65) relative to the intermediate cover element (66).
  9. A feed device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the intermediate cover element (66) and/or the at least one cover element (62, 64) is arranged in a transverse direction (QR) perpendicular to the feed direction (ER) between the feed channel (4) and the side wall (42).
  10. A feed device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the intermediate cover element (66) is arranged in a transverse direction (QR) perpendicular to the feed direction (ER) between the at least one cover element (62, 64) and the feed channel (4).
  11. A feed device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the storage arrangement (50) has a guide arrangement for guiding the intermediate cover element (66) in the vertical direction (HR), wherein the guide arrangement comprises at least one, in particular two, guide elements (67) arranged on the intermediate cover element (66), which extends into or through an intermediate cover element recess (63) in the side wall (42).
  12. Feeding device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bearing arrangement (50) for bearing the upper roller elements (12, 22, 32) has at least a first rocker element (52) on which the upper roller elements (12, 22, 32) are rotatably mounted, and a second rocker element (54) which is pivotably mounted on the frame device (40) and pivotably mounted about a rocker pivot axis (SA) on the first rocker element (52).
  13. Infeed device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the covering device (60) has a first covering element (62) for covering a first roller recess (13) and a second covering element (64) for covering a second roller recess (23) and in particular a third roller recess (33).
  14. Feeding device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a guide element (68) is arranged between the feed channel (4) and the at least one cover element (62, 64) and/or the intermediate cover element (66), which is fixed in position relative to the frame device (40) and extends between the upper roller elements (12, 22, 32) and the lower roller elements (14, 24, 34) in the feed direction (ER).
  15. Infeed device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the guide element (68) has a transverse guide section (69) at an infeed channel inlet, which extends away from the infeed channel (4) in the transverse direction (QR) over the intermediate cover element (66), which at least partially projects beyond a cover element (62, 64) and/or the side wall (42).
  16. Feeding device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the intermediate cover element (66) and/or the guide element (68) has at least one, in particular one per underroll element (14, 24, 34), concave recess (70) within which at least in one position of the bearing arrangement (50) at least a part of one of the underroll elements (14, 24, 34) is arranged.

Description

The invention relates to a feed device for a forage harvester. The feed device is designed to convey agricultural crops in a feed direction through a feed channel. The feed device has a frame assembly comprising at least one side wall for laterally limiting the feed channel. Furthermore, the feed device has at least two pairs of feed rollers, each comprising a rotatably mounted upper roller element and a rotatably mounted lower roller element for limiting the feed channel, and arranged offset from one another in the feed direction. The upper roller elements extend laterally through at least one roller recess in the side wall. The feed device also has a bearing arrangement designed to mount the upper roller elements in such a way that they are movable, at least partially, in a vertical direction angled to the feed direction, thus allowing variation in the height of the feed channel relative to the frame assembly. Furthermore, the infeed device has a covering device which has at least one covering element movable relative to the frame device by means of the bearing arrangement for covering the at least one roller recess. Such a feeding device is known from the prior art. In operation, the feeding device serves to draw crop material from a harvesting head coupled to the forage harvester into the forage harvester and feed it to a chopping drum. The variable height of the feeding channel serves to reliably convey different quantities of crop material and, in particular, to reliably feed the crop material into the chopping drum at different conveying speeds and consequently to achieve different cutting lengths. The mobility of the upper roller elements requires roller recesses with a larger cross-section than the portion of the respective upper roller element contained within them. This necessarily leaves openings between the intake channel and the surrounding side wall, through which some of the harvested crop unintentionally escapes from the intake channel in practice. To reduce this crop escape, for example, according to the following are used... DE 2 149 974 A1 several cover elements of the cover device, one of which is assigned to each upper roller element in such a way that the cover elements move at least partially in the vertical direction with the respective upper roller element. A disadvantage of the known infeed device is that the roller recesses are only inadequately covered by the cover. Despite the cover, a significant portion of the harvested crop regularly escapes from the infeed channel during operation. This leads, on the one hand, to considerable contamination of functional parts, especially bearings, and increases their risk of failure. On the other hand, the escaped crop results in a significant reduction in harvest yields. This disadvantage is particularly pronounced when the upper roller elements have a large range of vertical movement, especially since the extension of the cover element against the vertical direction is limited by the associated lower roller element. However, a large range of movement is becoming increasingly important, as, depending on the crop and its intended use, the ability to achieve either very short or very long cutting lengths is required. The object of the present invention is to provide a feed device by which contamination of functional parts and/or crop losses can be reliably prevented, particularly in the case of extensive mobility of the upper roller elements. According to the invention, the problem is solved by the fact that the covering device includes at least one intermediate covering element for covering the at least one The roller recess is included. The intermediate cover element is movably mounted relative to the frame device and relative to the cover element by means of the bearing arrangement. Depending on the position of the bearing arrangement, the intermediate cover element allows for the covering of a section of the roller recess that is not covered or intended to be covered by the main cover element. In particular, the bearing arrangement must be able to react to where such a section occurs, and the intermediate cover element can be positioned, depending on the bearing arrangement, precisely where it is needed to prevent crop loss. The intake device forms the so-called intake of a forage harvester. When mounted, the intake device is preferably located between the front wheels of the forage harvester in a front view. The intake device is specifically designed for conveying corn, grass, and/or grain. The frame of the infeed device is preferably rigid and immovable. The frame is preferably mounted in a fixed position on the frame of the forage harvester. The side wall is preferably formed by a side panel that extends flat along the infeed channel, both in the infeed direction and vertically. Preferably, the frame has two side walls that delimit the infeed channel on both sides and are arranged in a mirror-symmetrical manner. Particularly preferab