US-12622337-B2 - Agricultural vehicle combination

US12622337B2US 12622337 B2US12622337 B2US 12622337B2US-12622337-B2

Abstract

An agricultural vehicle combination including an agricultural tractor, which is operated using a main drive unit, and an ancillary drive unit, which is attached removably to the agricultural tractor by a three-point hitch, and which has an auxiliary axle that can be driven by an ancillary unit including at least one of a combustion engine and an electric motor.

Inventors

Michael Meid
Manuel Billich

Assignees

DEERE & COMPANY

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20230426
Priority Date: 20220505

Claims (4)

1 . An agricultural vehicle combination, comprising: an agricultural tractor including a main drive unit, a power take-off, a rear three-point hitch, a front three-point hitch, a hydraulic steering and braking system, and a hydraulic control valve block; an ancillary drive unit including an auxiliary axle, an electric motor, a power-split gearbox connected to the power take-off of the agricultural tractor, a further three-point hitch, a further power take-off, a further hydraulic control valve block connected to the hydraulic control valve block of the agricultural tractor, and an auxiliary steering system of active design actuated in accordance with a steering input of the tractor, the ancillary drive unit removably attached to the agricultural tractor by the rear three-point hitch; a storage battery attached to the front three-point hitch of the agricultural tractor; in a generator operating mode, the electric motor recuperates and temporarily stores energy released during braking of the auxiliary axle in the storage battery; and in a power boost mode, the electric motor retrieves the energy temporarily stored in the storage battery to feed via the power-split gearbox into the power take-off of the agricultural tractor.
2 . The agricultural vehicle combination of claim 1 , wherein the further three-point hitch for the attachment of a mounted or ancillary implement is arranged in a rear-end region of the ancillary drive unit.
3 . The agricultural vehicle combination of claim 1 , wherein the ancillary drive unit is configured to provide drive assistance to the main drive unit of the agricultural tractor.
4 . The agricultural vehicle combination of claim 1 , wherein the rear three-point hitch of the agricultural tractor is equipped with at least one of a hydraulically or electrically length-adjustable upper link, wherein the length adjustment is performed for the purposes of varying the contact forces exerted on the ground via the auxiliary axle.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to German Patent Application No. 102022111164.4, filed May 5, 2022, which is hereby incorporated by reference. FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The disclosure relates to an agricultural vehicle combination. BACKGROUND In agriculture, operators often have several different size agricultural work vehicles available for use. SUMMARY In order to allow for many different working situations that are encountered in the agricultural industry, users are often forced to keep agricultural tractors of different power classes available. For example, a relatively high-powered or heavy tractor is advantageous for ploughing and transport work, whereas maneuverability and the least possible ground compaction are of primary concern for carrying out loading, spraying, or sowing work. The latter, however, favors the use of a relatively compact and/or lightweight tractor. In view of this, it is an object of the present disclosure to specify an inexpensive possibility that substantially eliminates the need for procuring agricultural tractors of different power classes. This object is achieved by an agricultural vehicle combination having the features of one or more of the following embodiments. The agricultural vehicle combination thus provided comprises an agricultural tractor, which is operated using a main drive unit, and comprises an ancillary drive unit, which is attached removably to the agricultural tractor by a three-point power lift or three-point hitch and which has an auxiliary axle that can be driven by an ancillary unit. In this way, by attaching the ancillary drive unit, a relatively compact and/or lightweight tractor can be upgraded for applications which require increased tractive force, without the need to procure a further tractor intended specifically for this purpose. This is beneficial for example to relatively small agricultural businesses with limited financial means. Here, the ancillary drive unit, for example a drive torque that is to be transmitted via the rear axle to the ground, is controlled by a control unit provided in the agricultural tractor. Via a communication interface established between the agricultural tractor and ancillary drive unit, for example in the form of an ISOBUS connection, the control unit coordinates the operation of the ancillary drive unit with that of the main drive unit in the agricultural tractor. The main drive unit can include a combustion engine which is configured as a diesel engine and which, via a conventional (powershift) gearbox, has a drive connection to a driven rear axle and/or to a power take-off and to further operating devices of the agricultural tractor. The further operating devices include, for example, a hydraulic system which is fed by a high-pressure pump, and which serves for providing a supply to a hydraulic steering and braking system and to hydraulic control valve blocks (so-called SCVs), which are situated in the rear-end region of the agricultural tractor and which allow operation of hydraulic work functions of mounted or ancillary implements provided for connection thereto. Advantageous embodiments of the agricultural vehicle combination are disclosed herein. The ancillary unit provided for driving the auxiliary axle has a combustion engine and/or an electric motor. Here, the combustion engine and/or electric motor may be connected via an intermediate gearbox to ground-engaging means, which are comprised by the auxiliary axle, for the propulsion of the ancillary drive unit. The ground-engaging means are wheels, for example. Since the ancillary drive unit is used predominantly in work situations with increased tractive force requirement in a limited travelling speed range of up to 10 to 20 km/h, the intermediate gearbox can be of relatively simple structural configuration. If the ancillary drive unit is not required, for example when travelling on roads, the ancillary drive unit can be moved into a raised transport position by the three-point power lift of the agricultural tractor, such that the wheel drive is not in contact with the ground. Additionally, a further three-point power lift or three-point hitch for the attachment of a mounted or ancillary implement may be arranged in the rear-end region of the ancillary drive unit. The further three-point power lift can be in the same category as the three-point power lift assigned to the agricultural tractor, such that existing mounted or ancillary implements can be used universally on both three-point power lifts. The further three-point power lift is actuated by a lifting mechanism provided for lifting and lowering associated lower links. The lifting mechanism can be hydraulically actuatable from the agricultural tractor, for which purpose the lifting mechanism is attached to one of the hydraulic control valve blocks of the agricultural tractor. Here, the respective control valve block, and thus the lifting mechanism, may be actuated a