Cotton packager and unloader door arrangement for mounting on a chassis of a cotton harvester
AssigneeCNH America LLC
InventorsMichael Covington, George Hale, Gary Gallens
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A cotton packager for mounting on a chassis of a cotton harvester interchangeably with a cotton basket, allowing for pivotal movement of the packager between an operating position and a tilted unloading position. The packager includes a pivotable fluid cylinder which attaches to the chassis in place of a fixed front lift cylinder of the basket, and a rear pivot which attaches to the chassis in place of a rear lift cylinder. As a result, a rear open end of the packager can be lowered closer to a surface onto which cotton is to be unloaded, and drivers for an unloader door of the packager can be subjected to less damaging loads.
Claims17
A self-propelled cotton harvester, comprising:
- a chassis having at least one structural element for supporting a cotton packager thereon and a rear end including at least one mounting element located rearwardly of the at least one structural element and disposed a predetermined distance therebelow;
- and
- a cotton packager including cotton compacting structure having a bottom portion adapted to be supported on the at least one structural element, the compacting structure including an open rear end and a cotton compacting chamber having a floor therein extending to the open rear end, the chamber containing a compactor operable for compacting the cotton received in the chamber to form a unitary body of compacted cotton within the chamber, the cotton compacting structure further including at least one pivot arm extending downwardly about the predetermined distance from the rear end of the cotton compacting structure and including a pivot connected to the mounting element of the chassis, to allow pivotal movement of the packager about the packager pivot between a generally horizontal position supported on the at least one structural element of the chassis, and a tilted position wherein a front end of the packager is elevated above the chassis and a rear end of the floor is located rearwardly of and below the at least one structural element of the chassis.
A self-propelled cotton harvester, comprising:
- a chassis including at least one structural element having an upper portion for supporting a cotton packager thereon, a rear end including at least one mounting element disposed a predetermined distance below the upper end of the at least one structural element;
- a cotton packager including a cotton compacting structure having a bottom portion adapted to be supported on the upper portion of the at least one structural element, the compacting structure including a cotton compacting chamber, an open rear end in connection with the chamber, and a floor located in the chamber extending to the open rear end, the chamber containing a compactor operable for compacting the cotton received in the chamber to form a unitary body of compacted cotton within the chamber;
- and
- at least one pivot arm extending downwardly about the predetermined distance from a rear end of the bottom portion of the cotton compacting structure, the at least one pivot arm extending generally beneath the open end of the chamber to a packager pivot connected to the mounting element of the chassis, the at least one pivot arm allowing pivotal movement of the packager about the packager pivot between a generally horizontal position supported on the at least one structural element of the chassis, and a tilted position wherein a front end of the packager is elevated above the horizontal plane of the chassis and a rear end of the floor is located rearwardly of and below the upper portion of the at least one structural element of the chassis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.