Torque damper for agricultural harvester header
AssigneeCNH Industrial America LLC
InventorsThamilselvan Karuppannan, Nicholas J. Laufenberg
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A drive system of a header for an agricultural vehicle. The header includes a plurality of driven devices. The drive system includes a shaft configured for conveying motive power from the agricultural vehicle to the header, a gearbox configured for being located on the header and for transferring motive power to the plurality of driven devices, and a torque damper. The torque damper is operably connected in between the shaft and the gearbox. The torque damper is configured for reducing a magnitude of a torque spike.
Claims17
A drive system of a header for an agricultural vehicle, the header comprising a plurality of driven devices, the drive system comprising:
- a shaft conveying motive power from the agricultural vehicle to the header;
- a gearbox located on the header and for transferring motive power to the plurality of driven devices;
- a torque damper operably connected in between the shaft and the gearbox, and the torque damper reducing a magnitude of a torque spike;
- and
- a sleeve connected to the gearbox, the gearbox comprises a gearbox shaft, and the sleeve is rigidly mounted onto the gearbox shaft, and the sleeve comprises a first end mounting a bearing and a second end mounting the torque damper such that the adapter and the torque damper are supported by the sleeve.
An agricultural vehicle, comprising:
- a chassis;
- a prime mover supported by the chassis and configured for providing motive power;
- a header connected to the chassis and comprising a plurality of driven devices;
- and
- a drive system for driving the plurality of driven devices and comprising:
- a shaft connected in between the header and the chassis and conveying motive power from the prime mover to the header;
- a gearbox located on the header and configured for transferring motive power to the plurality of driven devices;
- a torque damper operably connected in between the shaft and the gearbox, and the torque damper is configured for reducing a magnitude of a torque spike;
- and
- a coupling assembly which operably connects the torque damper to the shaft and the gearbox, and the coupling assembly comprising an adapter operably connecting the torque damper to the shaft, a sleeve connected to the gearbox, and a bearing mounted on the sleeve, wherein the gearbox comprises a gearbox shaft, and the sleeve is rigidly mounted onto the gearbox shaft, and the sleeve comprises a first end mounting the bearing and a second end mounting the torque damper such that the adapter and the torque damper are supported by the sleeve.
A method for operating a header for an agricultural vehicle, the header comprising a plurality of driven devices, the method comprising:
- providing a drive system for driving the plurality of driven devices, the drive system comprising a shaft configured for conveying motive power from the agricultural vehicle to the header, a gearbox configured for being located on the header and for transferring motive power to the plurality of driven devices, and a torque damper operably connected in between the shaft and the gearbox, a sleeve is connected to the gearbox, the gearbox comprises a gearbox shaft, and the sleeve is rigidly mounted onto the gearbox shaft, and the sleeve comprises a first end mounting a bearing and a second end mounting the torque damper such that the adapter and the torque damper are supported by the sleeve;
- connecting the header to the agricultural vehicle;
- initializing a startup operation of the header and starting the header;
- and
- dampening a magnitude of a torque spike, by the torque damper, in the startup operation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.