Independent doffer drive system for a cotton harvester row unit
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorsCharles F. Ostermeier, Joel M. Schreiner
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A doffer assembly for a cotton harvester having at least one drum and a spindle. The doffer assembly includes an outer housing and a plurality of doffers adapted to remove cotton from the spindle. The assembly further includes a drive unit coupled to the outer housing for rotatably driving the plurality of doffers independently of at least one drum and spindle. A drive shaft is rotatably driven by the drive unit, and an interface adapter is coupled between the drive shaft and the plurality of doffers. The drive unit may be an electric motor, hydraulic motor, a mechanical drive system, or a combination thereof.
Claims14
A picker unit of a cotton harvester, comprising:
- a drum and a plurality of spindles rotatably coupled to the drum;
- a drum and spindle drive unit for rotatably driving the drum and the plurality of spindles;
- a doffer assembly including a first shaft and a plurality of first doffers arranged in a column on the shaft, the plurality of first doffers configured to remove cotton from the plurality of spindles;
- and
- a first doffer drive unit for rotatably driving the doffer assembly, wherein the doffer drive unit rotatably drives the doffer assembly independently of the plurality of spindles, wherein the first doffer drive unit includes a first electric motor operatively connected to the first shaft for rotatably driving each of the plurality of first doffers;
- an inverter operatively connected to the first electric motor configured to control the first electric motor via current draw;
- and
- a controller operatively connected to the inverter and configured to detect a load on the first electric motor based on the current draw, wherein the controller is configured to compare the current draw to a threshold value to determine a plugged condition and in response to the plugged condition is configured to provide one of a change in motor speed or a direction of rotation of the doffer assembly.
A cotton harvester, comprising:
- a main drive unit for producing power;
- a controller for controlling the cotton harvester;
- a plurality of picker units configured to harvest cotton, wherein each of the plurality of picker units comprises:
- a drum;
- a plurality of spindles rotatably coupled to the drum;
- a drum and spindle drive for rotatably driving the drum and the plurality of spindles;
- a doffer assembly including a shaft and a plurality of doffers arranged in a column on the shaft, the plurality of doffers configured to remove cotton from the plurality of spindles;
- and
- a doffer drive unit for rotatably driving the doffer assembly, wherein the doffer drive unit rotatably drives the doffer assembly independently of the drum and spindle drive, wherein the doffer drive unit includes a plurality of electric motors;
- an inverter unit operatively connected to the plurality of electric motors, the inverter configured to control each of the plurality of electric motors respectively via a current draw;
- and
- a controller operatively connected to the inverter unit and configured to detect a load on the each of the plurality of electric motors based on the current draw, wherein the controller is configured to compare the detected load to a threshold value to determine a plugged condition, and in response to the plugged condition is configured to provide one of a change in motor speed or a change in direction of rotation of one or more of each of the plurality of doffers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.