Weed seed destruction
AssigneeTritana Intellectual Property Ltd.
InventorDean Mayerle
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Weed seeds are destroyed in the chaff from a combine harvester by repeated high speed impacts caused by a rotor mounted in one of a pair of side by side housings which accelerate the discarded seeds in a direction centrifugally away from the rotor onto a stator including angularly adjustable stator surfaces around the axis. Thus the discarded seeds rebound back and forth between the rotor and the stator to provide a plurality of impacts. The seeds are carried axially of the rotor by a controlled airstream so that they move to an axial discharge location where a discharge fan is mounted. The angle of the discharge around the rotor axis can be changed to direct the seeds to the side of the combine away from a straw chopper, towards the guide fins of the tailboard of the chopper, or into the housing of the straw chopper.
Claims22
A combine harvester comprising:
- a separation system for separating from harvested crop a first material comprising straw and a second material comprising chaff and weed seeds;
- a weed seed devitalizer comprising:
- a housing mounted at a location on the combine harvester for receiving the second material containing separated chaff and weed seeds;
- at least one rotor mounted in the housing for rotation about a rotor axis and including rotor surfaces thereon for engaging the second material;
- at least one stator including a plurality of stator surfaces for engaging the weed seeds in the second material;
- and a controller configured during harvesting to:
- receive data relating to a weed problem defined by a prevalence of weeds in an area to be harvested;
- and
- output control signals controlling operation of the weed seed devitalizer based on the data.
A combine harvester comprising:
- a separation system for separating from harvested crop a first material comprising straw and a second material comprising chaff and weed seeds;
- a weed seed devitalizer comprising:
- a housing mounted at a location on the combine harvester for receiving the second material containing separated chaff and weed seeds;
- at least one rotor mounted in the housing for rotation about a rotor axis and including rotor surfaces thereon for engaging the second material;
- at least one stator including a plurality of stator surfaces for engaging the weed seeds in the second material;
- and a controller configured to output control signals controlling operation of the weed seed devitalizer;
- wherein the controller is arranged to control the operation of the devitalizer by adjusting an angular position of at least some of the stator surfaces around the rotor axis.
A combine harvester comprising:
- a separation system for separating from harvested crop a first material comprising straw and a second material comprising chaff and weed seeds;
- a weed seed devitalizer comprising:
- a housing mounted at a location on the combine harvester for receiving the second material containing separated chaff and weed seeds;
- and at least one weed seed destructor for receiving both the chaff and weed seeds comprising destructor components in said housing for causing devitalization of the weed seeds so as to reduce a number of the weed seeds that can germinate;
- receive data relating to a weed problem defined by a prevalence of weeds in an area to be harvested;
- and
- output control signals controlling operation of the weed seed devitalizer based on the data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.