Technical Field

The present invention relates in general to a forage harvesting machine, and in particular to a machine capable of being used not only for forage harvesting but also for other purposes.

Background of the Invention

Two main kinds of forage harvester are known, of which a first type is constructed as an agricultural machine for cutting and/or chopping the crop and for conveying it to a separate trailer, and the second type is constructed as a combined container and forage harvesting mechanism. As used in this specification the term "forage harvesting mechanism" will be understood to refer to a mechanism for cutting and/ or chopping and/ conveying cut and/or chopped forage crop to a container. Both of these known types of machine are arranged to be drawn by a separate tractor vehicle. The first type of forage harvester mentioned above requires a separate trailer towed behind it or behind a second tractor, whilst in the second type the container is provided as a component part of the machine which thus comprises the container which is carried on a wheeled chassis, and the forage harvesting mechanism.

Discharge of forage from the container of a forage harvester of the second type mentioned above can be effected either by tipping the container with respect to the chassis, or by means of a discharge conveyor, such as a screw auger conveyor, which operates to discharge the cut or chopped forage crop laterally or rearwardly of the container. In known such forage harvesters the forage harvesting mechanism is permanently fixed to the chassis, and although in some known machines the mechanism is movable between a working and a travelling position there is no provision for removal of the forage harvesting mechanism except by dismantling the machine as a whole. This means that the machine can only be used for the single purpose of cutting and carting forage and as this is a seasonal occupation the considerable investment involved in such machinery is unused for the major part of the year.

Objects of the Invention

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a forage harvester machine which can be adapted for other uses thereby making more effective use of the investment in the machine and extending its usefulness throughout the year.

According to one aspect of the present invention a forage harvesting machine adapted to be drawn behind a tractor vehicle and to collect a forage crop in a container carried by wheeled support means and having a forage harvesting mechanism operable to deliver cut and/or chopped forage crop into the container when the machine is operated, is characterised in that the forage harvesting mechanism is releasably mounted on the wheeled support for the container, which latter can be adapted for use as an independent trailer when the forage harvesting mechanism is removed therefrom.

Such independent use may include, for example, conveying of grain or other bulk materials for which agricultural transport is required. The trailer part of the machine can thus be used throughout the year and adapted for its forage harvesting purpose by the addition of the forage harvesting mechanism at the appropriate time of year. This avoids the necessity for the whole of the forage harvester to be idle throughout the year so that the capital invested in the machine can be better utilised.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a trailer vehicle having a chassis carried on ground-engaging wheels and a container supported on the chassis, characterised in that there are provided means for removably mounting a forage harvesting mechanism on the chassis, the forage harvesting mechanism being operable to cut and/or chop a forage crop as the trailer is drawn over the crop, and to convey the cut and/or chopped forage crop to the container of the trailer.

The forage harvesting mechanism must have means for coupling a suitable drive shaft thereto from the tractor, and thiscoupling preferably accommodates changes in the position of the forage harvesting mechanism between a lowered, cutting position and a raised, transport position on the trailer chassis.

In one embodiment of the invention the wheeled support for the container comprises a chassis including a first chassis part on which the container is carried, and a second chassis part on which the forage harvesting mechanism is releasably mounted, the said second chassis part being movable with respect to the first chassis part between a first position in which the machine is adapted to receive and support the forage harvesting mechanism and a second position in which it is adapted for use as an independent trailer.

This can be achieved, for example, by making the said second chassis part extendable longitudinally with respect to the first chassis part between the said first and second positions thereof. The longitudinal extension of the chassis is preferably provided by means of telescopically extendable longitudinal chassis members.

Conveniently, the said telescopically extendable longitudinal chassis members may be channel section members which can partly surround respective relatively fixed longitudinal chassis members of the first chassis part which are carried by the wheels of the trailer vehicle.

The telescopically extendable longitudinal chassis members and the fixed chassis members may be interconnected by a rack and pinion coupling mechanism so arranged that rotation of the pinion of the rack and pinion coupling mechanism causes relative longitudinal movement between the said fixed chassis members and the said extendable chassis members. The rack of the rack and pinion coupling mechanism may be formed on or carried by the fixed chassis members whilst the pinion cooperating therewith may be mounted so as to be rotatable on, but longitudinally fixed with respect to the extendable chassis members. Alternatively, however, the rack of the rack and pinion coupling may be secured on or formed by one or more of the extendable chassis members, whilst the or each pinion of the rack and pinion coupling may be mounted on one of the fixed chassis members for rotation therewith. Conveniently there are two longitudinally extendable chassis members, one on either side of the fixed part of the chassis itself, each being coupled to an associated longitudinal chassis member by a respective rack and pinion coupling, the pinions of the two rack and pinion couplings being mounted on a common shaft for rotation together.

Thus, when it is desired to use the machine for forage harvesting, the longitudinally movable chassis members are extended and locked in position to provide accommodation for the forage harvesting mechanism which can be mounted on suitable mounting brackets or plates provided on the movable chassis members. When forage harvesting is no longer required the cutter mechanism can be simply removed and the chassis retracted to enable the trailer to be used for _any other purpose.

As in conventional fixed cutter forage harvesters the discharge of forage from the container may be effected either by tipping the container with respect to the chassis, or by means of a discharge conveyor located in the container. Preferably, however, the container is a tipping container since a screw' discharge auger may constitute a disadvantage for use of the trailer for other purposes particularly if, for example, it may be desired to carry livestock in the trailer.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention a forage harvesting machine is characterised in that the wheeled support for the container comprises a chassis including a first chassis part on which the container is carried and a second chassis part on which the forage harvesting mechanism is mounted, the second chassis part including a towing coupling and being removably connected to the first chassis part, there being provided a third chassis part having a towing coupling thereon and which is interchangeable with the second chassis part to adapt the machine for use as an independent trailer. The forage harvesting machine may be more particularly characterised in that the said first chassis part includes a container support frame pivotally mounted on a twin-wheel bogie and there are provided means for locking the container support frame with respect to the bogie to prevent relative turning movement thereof in at least one directional sense. Conveniently, the said locking means include an adjustable wedge which can be.interposed between a main frame member of the bogie and the container support frame of the first chassis part, on one side of the pivotal connection between the said container support frame and the bogie.

This latter embodiment may be further characterised in that the container is pivotally connected to the container support frame at or adjacent the rear thereof so that the container is tippable with respect to the chassis, a fluid pressure actuator for controlling the inclination of the container with respect to the chassis being provided, this actuator having a coupling by which it can be connected to a fluid pressure source on a tractor vehicle, means being provided for locking the container in an elevated or tipped position with respect to the chassis in such a way that the trailer is balanced on the bogie when the lockirg wedge is interposed between the said container support frame and the bogie itself.

Two embodiments of the present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

• Figure 1 is a side view of a forage harvesting machine formed as a first embodiment of the present invention, showing the trailer in its extended position;
• Figure 2 is a side view of the machine illustrated in Figure 1, showing the trailer in its retracted position;
• Figure 3 is a side view of a detail of the extending mechanism;
• Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line IV-IV of Figure 3;
• Figure 5 is a side view of a forage harvesting machine formed as a second embodiment of the present invention;
• Figure 6 is a detail of the embodiment of Figure 5; and
• Figure 7 is a further detail of the embodiment of Figure 5.

Referring now to Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings the machine illustrated generally comprises a trailer part indicated with the reference numeral 11, and a forage harvesting mechanism generally indicated 12. The forage harvesting mechanism can be one of a number of commercially available types and the construction of it will not be described in more detail herein as it does not form part of the present invention.

The trailer part 11 comprises a lower chassis part generally indicated 13 mounted on a pair of ground-engaging wheels 14 and carrying an upper chassis part generally indicated 15 on which is mounted a container 16 having four generally upright sides and an open top. The rear wall of the container 16 is pivoted at its upper edge to the side walls, and can be swung open from the bottom by means of a lever arrangement 17 operated by a cord 18.

The upper chassis part 15 is pivoted to the lower chassis part 13 at the rear end thereof, for which purpose the upper chassis part :.arries two downwardly projecting lugs 19 which are rigidly secured to the upper chassis part 15 and pivoted to the lower chassis part 13 by pivots 20. Means (not shown) such as an hydraulic ram are connected beiween the upper and lower chassis parts forward of the road wheels 14 for controlling the angular or entation of the upper chassis part 15 with respect to the lower chassis part 13 whereby to effect tipping o: the container 16 for emptying its contents when required. The cord 18 is secured at its lower end to the corner chassis part so that the rear wall or tail gate of the container 16 is opened automatically as the container 16 is tipped.

In addition, although again this is not shown, the container 16 could be provided with a screw auger or other conveyor for discharging its contents either laterally or rearwardly, for which purpose the container 16 would be provided with an opening and a discharge chute either in a side wall or in the rear wall.

The lower chassis part 13 comprises two main longitudinal beam members 21 interconnected by a number of transverse struts 22, only one of which is shown in Figure 3. The beam members 21 are channel section members located with the open side of the channel facing outwardly, that is with the web of the channel facing the other longitudinal fixed beam member 21. The upper flange of the beam members 21 carries a plurality of spaced stub columns 23 which form supports for the longitudinal members of the upper chassis part 15 when this is lowered to its normal working position.

A forward portion 13a of the lower chassis part 13, is extendable with respect to the fixed portion carrying the ground engaging wheels 14, and comprises two box section longitudinal members 24 joined at their forward ends by a transverse strut 25 carrying a central forward projecting arm 26 to the lower side of which is connected a box section support 26 carrying a telescopically adjustable towing coupling 28 which, in the illustrated embodiment, comprises a ring for an agricultural coupling. The strut 26 is reinforced by triangular reinforcing plates 29 at its coupling with the transverse strut 25 to accommodate transverse loads.

The two longitudinally extendable box section members 24 are of dimensions to fit slidingly within the channel section fixed longitudinal members 21, and they carry reinforcement plates 30 on the outer faces thereof.- Towards the rear end of the reinforcement plates 30 there are secured respective upstanding lugs 31 having aligned apertures through which passes a shaft 32 which is secured in one of the lugs and projects through the other with a splined end 33.

The shaft 32 carries a pair of straight cut pinions 34 at a position slightly inboard of the lugs 31, which pinions mesh with respective racks 35 formed on the upper edge of rack plates 36 which are secured to the inner faces of the fixed longitudinal chassis members 21 at positions slightly rearwardly of the forward end of these chassis members.

The longitudinal fixed chassis members 21, the extendable chassis members 24 and the reinforcement plates 30 have two sets of holes which are aligned with one another in the extended and retracted positions of the chassis. A bolt 37 passes through these aligned holes to fix the chassis in its extended or its retracted position. A suitable circular reinforcement plate is secured over the aligned holes in the form of a washer. A similar locking bolt is provided at the rear end of the reinforcement plate 30, and indicated 39 in the drawings.

In use of the apparatus, with the chassis in its extended position the forage harvesting mechanism can be mounted, on lugs 40 carried by the extendable part of the chassis for this purpose, and the equipment is then usable as a forage harvester to be towed, via the towing coupling 28, by a tractor vehicle which also drives the forage chopping mechanism via a power take-off shaft and coupling (not shown). During such use the forage chopping mechanism 12 cuts and chops the crop and delivers it through a chute 12a into the open upper end of the container 16 from which it can be discharged by tipping the container 16 on the upper chassis 15 with respect to the lower chassis 13.

When the machine is no longer required for forage harvesting the forage harvesting mechanism 12 can be removed from the lugs 40. The securing bolts 37, 39 can then be removed, and by means of a suitable tool engaged on the splined end 33 of the shaft 32 the two pinions 34 can be caused to rotate to carry them along the rack 35 on the rack plate 36. This causes the reinforcement plate 30 which carries the pinion via the shaft 32 and the lugs 31 to move rearwardly retracting the movable forward portion of the chassis and telescopically inserting the movable box section chassis members 24 rearwardly into the channel section fixed members 21. When retraction is complete the holes in the channel section members 21 and the box section members 24 are now re-aligned allowing the bolts 37, 39 to be re-inserted to lock the chassis 3d in its retracted condition permitting the trailer now to be used for other purposes, until it is again required for forage harvesting at the appropriate time in the subsequent season. Extension of the chassis follows exactly the reverse procedure described above for retraction, and the forage harvesting mechanism 12 can then be mounted on the chassis for use of the equipment as a forage harvester as before.

In the embodiment of Figures 5, 6 and 7, a forage harvester having a twin wheel bogie is illustrated. The bogie has two axles 41, 42 each with a respective pair of ground-engaging wheels 43, 44 at each end thereof. The axles are interconnected by respective main frame members 45 of the bogie, which are pivotally connected at an intermediate point 46. to a lug 47 carried by a fixed longitudinal member 48 of a chassis main frame.

In fact, the chassis is formed in two parts, a first part of which the frame member 48 constitutes a longitudinal beam, and a second part generally indicated 49 which supports a forage harvesting mechanism generally indicated 50 by means of a system of linkage levers 51, 52 which constitute a quadrilateral linkage between the forage harvester mechanism 50 and the second chassis part 49. A fluid pressure actuator 53 interconnects the second chassis part 49 and the forage harvester mechanism 50, and extension and retraction of this actuator effects raising and lowering of the forage harvester mechanism 50 with respect to the chassis of the forage harvester machine. The quadrilateral linkage 51, 52 ensures that the forage harvesting mechanism is tilted slightly as it is raised so that a chute 73 is inclined slightly forwardly as the mechanism is raised and a coupling 54 for a connection to a power take-off shaft of a tractor vehicle follows a curved path centred on the coupling point on a tractor vehicle so that raising and lowering of the forage harvesting mechanism can be effected with the tractor vehicle connected by the coupling shaft to the forage harvesting mechanism.

A container 55 in the form of an open sided box is pivotally mounted by a pivot 56 to the rear of the first chassis part 48 and a fluid pressure actuator 57, preferably an hydraulic actuator, interconnects the first chassis part 48 with a lower support frame ₅8 of the container 55.

The chassis of the forage harvester is thus formed in two parts, comprising the first chassis part 48 supported via the bogie on the ground engaging wheels 43, 44 and a second chassis part 49 which carries the forage harvesting mechanism 50 and includes a coupling attachment 59 for connecting the harvester to a towing vehicle (not shown) and a jockey wheel 60 for maintaining the harvester in a desired orientation when the forage harvesting mechanism 50 is in its raised position (so that the wheels of the forage harvesting mechanism are lifted from the ground) and the harvester is not coupled to a tractor vehicle. The positioning of ground-engaging wheels 43, 44 of the bogie in relation to the axial length of the harvester such that when in its transport condition a downward load within a certain predetermined range is applied by the coupling 59 on the tractor vehicle. For this reason, the second chassis part 48 would normally tend to turn, in an anti-clockwise direction as viewed in Figures 5 and 6, about the pivot 46 with respect to the bogie frame member 45.

The second chassis part 49 is connected to the first chassis part 48 by means of two lugs 61, 62 on each longitudinal frame member of the second chassis part 49, these having holes therein through which pass respective bolts which also pass through cooperating aligned holes (not shown) in the main frame members 48 of the first chassis part. A strut 63 pivotally mounted on the underside of the container support frame 58 is engagable on the first chassis part 48 to hold the container 55 in the tipped position in which it is illustrated in Figure 5, corresponding to extension of the hydraulic actuator 57 even when the connection to the fluid pressure source on the tractor vehicle is disconnected. This serves as a safety feature and reduces the sealing requirements on the coupling to the actuator 57. A plate 64 and locking pin 65 are provided for locking the forage harvesting mechanism 50 in its lowered position where its own ground-engaging wheels are in contact with the ground so that when the first and second trailer parts are separated by releasing the bolts passing through the holes in the lugs 61, 62 the second trailer part can be withdrawn and conveyed on these ground-engaging wheels and the jockey wheel 60.

In such conditions the first trailer part 48 would now turn about the pivot 46 with respect to the bogie 45 and, in order to prevent this an adjustable locking wedge 66 is provided, this being interpositioned between the forward end of the main bogie frame member 45 and the main frame member 48 of the first chassis part. This moves the effective pivot point between the first chassis part and the bogie to a vertical position passing through the axis of the forward wheel 44 and the dimensions of the trailer are so chosen that the centre of gravity of the trailer with the container 55 tipped lies between this axle 42 and the pivot point 46 so that the trailer will remain balanced on the two ground-engaging wheels 43, 44.

A draw bar suitably shaped to span the free ends of the forwardly projecting main frame members 48 of the first chassis part, and itself constituting a third chassis part cainow be positioned in substitution for the second chassis part carrying the forage harvesting mechanism 50. The same bolt holes as those which secure the lugs 61, 62 in position can be used for this third chassis part.

In Figure 7 the configuration of a suitable adjustable locking wedge 66 is illustrated. This comprises a channel section upper support platform 67 having a downwardly projecting boss 68 with an internally threaded blind recess. An angle section foot 69 has an upwardly projecting threaded column 70 which is engaged in the blind threaded opening of the boss 68. The boss 68 is turnable with respect to the support platform 67 so that adjustment to the vertical separation between the foot 69 and the support platform 67 can be effected by turning the boss 68 with respect to the column 70. For this purpose the boss 68 is conveniently provided with a hexagonal cross section for engagement with a conventional key or wrench. Adjustment can be effected, once the wedge is located in position, in order to ensure there is no slack in its position prior to separation of the bolts holding the lugs 61, 62 to the main frame members of the first chassis part 48; indeed, by slightly taking the weight of the main chassis part 48 release of the bolts holding the lugs 61, 62 can be facilitated.

Insertion of the wedge 66 is effected by introducing the platform 67 under the main beams 48 and sliding the angle section foot 69 which comprises a support platform and lateral flange sideways into engagement with the main longitudinal member 45 of the bogie.