Crop threshing or separating – Process
Patent
1992-03-20
1994-07-05
Melius, Terry Lee
Crop threshing or separating
Process
460 6, 56 102, A01F 1240
Patent
active
053263200
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a method for feed processing, preferably forage processing, in which, in order to accelerate its drying process, mown stalk material is conveyed through a pressing slot by means of counter-rotating pressing elements that fan out the stalks.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
An apparatus for the performance of the above-named method is known from EP-A-0205206. In this known apparatus, the forage is pressed between two belts, guided on a plurality of drive rolls or deflecting rolls, one of which belts exhibits a perforated structure. In this way, a part of the liquid present in the stalks is expressed from the green mass so that the subsequent drying process up to the harvesting of the hay is shortened. What is more, the residual liquid remaining in the stalks can evaporate more rapidly by virtue of the fact that the surface of the stalks is fanned out by means of the pressing process. A forage compacted into a mat of stalk material exits the pressing elements, the density and the cross section of said mat of stalk material depending on the quantity of forage mowed or gathered in each case. In this method, the mass of stalk material needed for producing a uniformly thick and inherently stable mat is lacking if the inventory of stalk material is sparse, especially at field entries and when margins are mowed out. On the other hand, the mat of stalk material exits the known apparatus in a disordered form having little stability; that is, on exiting the machine and correspondingly being laid down on the stubble, the mat of stalk material breaks up into small elements that are not saved well in a subsequent harvesting operation. The losses of brittle material are therefore very great. Furthermore, the drying process is prolonged by virtue of the fact that blade and stalk portions of the forage are not adequately mixed together.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the invention to create a method and an apparatus with which the processing of stalk material can be improved in that the mat of stalk material exhibits the most uniform possible thickness and density as well as a high stability, wherein its constituents are to be mixed together as uniformly as possible.
In order to produce a mat of stalk material exhibiting a substantially uniform density and a uniform cross section, the volume of stalk material fed to the pressing slot is measured and the conveying speed of the pressing elements is controlled as a function thereof. In this method in accordance with the invention, the conveying speed of the pressing elements is thus set in compliance with the quantity of stalk material accumulating. Accordingly, if the quantity of forage located next to the inlet region of the pressing elements is reduced, then the conveying speed is reduced in order to achieve a uniform, mat-like pressed strand.
Alternatively, in order to produce a mat of stalk material exhibiting a substantially uniform density and a uniform cross section ( thickness ), there exists the possibility of measuring the volume of stalk material fed to the pressing slot and controlling the width of the strand of stalk material in the feed region of the pressing elements as a function thereof. By varying the width of the strand of stalk material, it is possible to produce in the downstream pressing operation a mat of stalk material having uniform density and uniform cross section, which mat is made correspondingly narrower when the quantity of stalk material is reduced.
A certain quantity of stalk material, dependent on the volume in each case, may be continuously collected in a space upstream of the pressing elements and measured. If this quantity of stalk material present in the space should be reduced because the inventory of stalk material is smaller, then in corresponding fashion the conveying speed of the pressing elements is reduced or the width of the feed region is diminished. There also exists, however, the possibility of determining the quantity of stalk material in the inlet
REFERENCES:
patent: 4046068 (1977-09-01), Eggenmuller et al.
patent: 4265076 (1981-05-01), Krutz
patent: 4550556 (1985-11-01), Meiners
patent: 4637201 (1987-01-01), Pruitt et al.
Klockner-Humboldt-Deutz Aktiengesellschaft
Melius Terry Lee
Schwab Charles L.
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