Return pan for an agricultural combine
AssigneeAGCO International GmbH
InventorJonas Toft Andersen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A crop processing system in a combine harvester for directing grain and MOG on a return pan, having a crop processor arranged to thresh and separate grain from a crop stream, a return pan located below a rear portion of the crop processor to collect separated material falling from the crop processor and convey the material forward with respect to the normal forward direction of travel of the combine harvester, a plurality of paddles on the return pan, an inclinometer which measures the angle of the slope of the combine to the horizontal, and an ECU coupled to the paddles and able to command one or more actuators coupled to the paddles and adjust them to a preferred position according to the slope of the combine.
Claims7
A crop processing system in a combine harvester for directing grain and MOG on a return pan, comprising:
- a crop processor arranged to thresh and separate grain from a crop stream;
- a return pan disposed below a rear portion of the crop processor and arranged to collect separated material falling from the crop processor and convey the separated material forwardly with respect to a normal forward direction of travel of the combine harvester, wherein the return pan has a discharge edge having a central concave profile and substantially flat regions where the paddles are disposed on the return pan;
- a plurality of paddles disposed on the return pan;
- at least one electronic control unit (ECU) coupled to the plurality of paddles;
- and
- an inclinometer connected to the ECU and configured to measure an angle of a slope of the combine to the horizontal,
- wherein the at least one ECU is configured to command at least one actuator coupled to the paddles to adjust the paddles to a preferred position according to the slope of the combine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.