Independent drum drive system for a cotton harvester row unit
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorsKevin J. Goering, Joel M. Schreiner, John N. Oenick
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A picking unit of a cotton harvester row unit includes a drum rotatable about an axis and a plurality of spindles for harvesting cotton. The plurality of spindles is coupled to the drum. A first drive unit rotatably drives the plurality of spindles. A second drive unit produces electrical power to drive a drive shaft. An output gear is coupled to the drive shaft, and a drum drive gear is coupled to the output gear. The drum drive gear rotatably drives the drum such that the output gear operably transfers power from the drive shaft to the drum drive gear. The drum is operably controlled independently of the plurality of spindles.
Claims20
A picking unit of a cotton harvester row unit, comprising:
- a drum rotatable about an axis;
- a plurality of spindles for harvesting cotton, the plurality of spindles coupled to the drum;
- a first drive unit for rotatably driving the plurality of spindles;
- a second drive unit for producing electrical power;
- a drive shaft electrically driven by the second drive unit;
- an output gear coupled to the drive shaft;
- and
- a drum drive gear coupled to the output gear and rotatably driving the drum, where the output gear operably transfers power from the drive shaft to the drum drive gear;
- wherein, the drum is operably controlled independently of the plurality of spindles.
A method of operably controlling a drum of a picking unit of a cotton harvester row unit, comprising:
- providing a controller, an inverter in electrical communication with the controller, a drum, a plurality of spindles coupled to the drum, a plurality of doffers, a first drive unit, and a second drive unit;
- rotating the plurality of spindles and plurality of doffers with the first drive unit;
- controlling the second drive unit electrically with the inverter;
- rotatably driving the drum via the second drive unit;
- and
- operably controlling the drum independently of the plurality of spindles and plurality of doffers.
A cotton harvester row unit, comprising:
- an engine for producing mechanical power;
- a controller for controlling operation of the cotton harvester row unit;
- a plurality of picker units configured to harvest cotton, wherein each of the plurality of picker units comprises:
- a drum;
- a plurality of spindles rotatably coupled to the drum;
- a plurality of doffers configured to remove cotton from the plurality of spindles;
- and
- a first input and a second input;
- a drive unit operably coupled to the first input for rotatably driving the plurality of spindles and the plurality of doffers;
- and
- an electric drive operably coupled to the second input for rotatably driving the drum, where the electric drive comprises an inverter disposed in electrical communication with the controller and an electric motor;
- wherein the drum is operably controlled independently of the plurality of spindles and plurality of doffers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.