Vented side member for an agricultural vehicle
AssigneeCNH Industrial America LLC
InventorJonathan E. Ricketts
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An agricultural vehicle including a chassis, at least one rotor supported by the chassis and configured for threshing a crop material, at least one exterior side member supported by the chassis and including at least one outlet, and an air conduit located underneath the at least one rotor. The air conduit is configured for providing an airstream directed to the at least one exterior side member such that the airstream forces a material other than grain out through the at least one outlet.
Claims13
An agricultural vehicle, comprising:
- a chassis;
- at least one rotor supported by the chassis and configured for threshing a crop material, the at least one rotor defining a rotor axis;
- at least one exterior side member supported by the chassis and including at least one outlet;
- an air conduit located underneath the at least one rotor and configured for providing an airstream directed to the at least one exterior side member such that the airstream forces a material other than grain out through the at least one outlet;
- and
- a plurality of guide plates adjacent to the rotor and configured for guiding the material other than grain concentrically around the rotor axis,
- wherein the air conduit extends along the rotor axis underneath at least a portion of the at least one rotor.
A method of operating a threshing system of an agricultural vehicle including a chassis, at least one rotor defining a rotor axis supported by the chassis and configured for threshing a crop material, at least one exterior side member supported by the chassis and including at least one outlet, an air conduit located underneath the at least one rotor and configured for providing an airstream directed to the at least one exterior side member, and a plurality of guide plates adjacent to the rotor and configured for guiding the material other than grain extending around the rotor axis, and the air conduit extending along the rotor axis underneath at least a portion of the at least one rotor, the method comprising steps of:
- threshing the crop material by the at least one rotor;
- forcing an air blast, by the air conduit, outward from the at least one rotor toward the at least one exterior side member;
- and
- directing a material other than grain out through the at least one outlet such that the material other than grain exits a side of the agricultural vehicle before traveling downstream of the at least one rotor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.