Harvesters – Cotton
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-11
2003-07-08
Will, Thomas B. (Department: 3671)
Harvesters
Cotton
C056S051000, C180S311000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06588189
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention generally relates to self-propelled harvesting machines or harvesters for crops such as cotton, corn, and grains, and, more particularly, to an improved chassis frame for a harvester including frame rails having compound bends therein for accommodating the rear steerable wheels of the machine for providing a desired spacing between the wheels and enhanced steerability and maneuverability, and which frame rails allow placement of radiators and/or coolers therebetween to allow straight or nearly straight air flow therethrough for improved operation thereof, as well as other advantages.
BACKGROUND ART
Commonly, self-propelled agricultural harvesting machines, such as cotton harvesters, combines for corn, grains, and the like, have a front or forward end supporting harvesting apparatus which can include, for instance, a plurality of cotton or corn harvesting units supported on a tool bar extending transverse to a fore to aft axis of the harvester, or a grain head, or the like. Such machines typically have drive wheels just aft of the harvesting units or head, a mid-engine, a rear end supported by steerable wheels, and a bin or basket located over the engine and the steerable wheels for receiving the harvested crop.
A common chassis or frame configuration for known self-propelled harvesters includes a pair of spaced longitudinal frame elements or rails extending from adjacent the front of the machine to adjacent the rear of the machine, the driving and steering axles supporting the chassis, and the chassis supporting the other components of the harvester. Typically, the rails are parallel or at a small acute angle to parallel. The rails can comprise straight unitary box beams or channels, or weldments including risers or other elements that extend upwardly or downwardly from the rails. A plurality of cross-members or braces connect the rails at spaced locations along the length thereof to increase rigidity and torsional stability.
It would be desirable to increase the crop carrying capacity of the known self-propelled harvesters to achieve certain advantages, particularly a decrease in the frequency of unloading, without increasing such operational aspects as the turning radius and overall height of the harvester. Turning radius is an important parameter, as it is generally desirable to be able to turn a harvester 180 degrees within the confines of the headlands of an agricultural field, the headlands being desirably maintained as narrow as possible or practical so as to maximize the land area under cultivation. In some artificially irrigated cotton fields in the southwest region of the United States of America, concrete irrigation ditches or canals are located adjacent to the headlands, essentially limiting or fixing their extent. Therefore, any increase in capacity of a harvester achieved, both from the standpoint of number of harvesting units and the size and capacity of the bin or basket, is desirably done without substantially increasing the required turning radius of the harvester. However, a problem in maintaining a desired turning radius of a harvester when attempting to increase bin or basket capacity is that typically, for any significant increase in capacity, tire size must also be increased to safely carry the greater load, and larger tires require greater clearance therearound for turning in the same radius as a smaller tire. As another constraint, since many of the crops to be harvested are grown in rows, and cotton is often grown in raised beds, it is highly desirable, and critical in many instances, for the wheels of the harvester to be spaced apart correspondingly to the spaces between the rows or beds, so as to be driveable therebetween when harvesting to avoid damaging the plants.
In many of the known harvesters, with the engine located beneath the crop receiving bin or basket, the fuel tank is located aft of the engine between the rails, such that air flow for cooling the engine radiator and other heat dissipating components must be drawn or pulled in from the side of the frame at some other location, forward of the fuel tank. Typically, the air flow travels through several radiators or coolers before it is exhausted, and it can be required to be turned between a first bank of the radiators or coolers and a second bank thereof so as to follow an angular path, which has been found to be inefficient and can result in hot spots, that is, areas on some of the radiators or coolers which are hotter than the average temperature thereof or hotter than other regions thereof. Therefore, a desirable improvement in harvesters of this type would be an air flow path which is at least substantially straight and which substantially reduces the occurrence of hot spots.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a chassis frame for a harvester, which provides the advantages and overcomes the shortcomings discussed above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, a chassis frame for a self-propelled harvester is disclosed. The chassis frame includes a pair of rails extending in side-by-side, spaced relation between forward ends thereof and opposite rearward ends thereof, the rails including compound bends adjacent to the rearward ends thereof which extend downwardly and convergingly to a cross member which is connected thereto.
A rear axle for supporting the rear end of the harvester is connected to the cross member beneath and in transverse relation to the rails, and has steerable wheels located in wheel cavities defined by the compound bends of the rails. The wheels are pivotable about respective steering axes which are upright or oriented at a small acute angle to vertical, the wheel cavities advantageously providing an enhanced or enlarged range of pivotal movement about the steering axis relative to the straight ahead orientation, such that a higher capacity, longer wheel base harvester having larger wheels, utilizing the present chassis frame can turn in the same space as prior known, shorter harvesters. The compound bends and resulting wheel cavities also allow the wheels to be located in relatively small spaced apart relation, for instance, about 80 inches or so, so as to be driveable between rows or beds of cotton plants spaced about 40 inches apart, which is a common row spacing.
The rails of the chassis frame can also include elements for mounting at least one radiator or cooler therebetween rearwardly of the compound bends, and elements for mounting at least one radiator or cooler therebetween forwardly of the bends, to provide a straight rearward to forward air flow path through the chassis frame between the radiators or coolers, thereby eliminating or substantially reducing the occurrence of hot spots.
Further, the rails are preferably each of unitary, continuous construction, and thus eliminate and avoid problems relating to and resulting from stress concentrations found at the angular junctures of prior known welded chassis frames between the frame and risers and other structural members attached thereto.
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Horejsi Michael J.
Zinser, Jr. Gary A.
Case Corporation
Henkel Rebecca L.
Mammen Nathan
Stader John William
Trausch A. Nicholas
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