Drivetrain and load bearing swivel hitch assemby and combine incorporating same

A combination comprising:

• a pulling vehicle having a drawbar and a power takeoff shaft;
• a combine having a surface that receives crop or crop byproduct, which surface has an operational angle with respect to horizontal that falls within an optimum range of angles, the combine having a tongue and a swivel hitch and drivetrain apparatus which includes:
• a swivel hitch assembly which operatively connects said tongue of the combine to the drawbar of the pulling vehicle and avoids attachment to the pulling vehicle through a three-point hitch and attendant change in operating angle of the combine, the swivel hitch assembly having three separate axes of rotation, one of said axes of rotation being a roll axis generally coaxial with the drawbar of the pulling vehicle, another of said axes of rotation being a pitch axis generally horizontal and transverse to said roll axis, and the other of said axes of rotation being a yaw axis generally vertical and transverse to said roll axis;
• a drivetrain assembly having a swivel gearbox with a generally vertical rotation and drive axis parallel to said yaw axis of the swivel hitch assembly, said drivetrain assembly also having a generally horizontal drive shaft assembly that is in driven connection with the power takeoff shaft of the pulling vehicle, said drive shaft assembly having a substantially parallel relationship with respect to the drawbar of the pulling vehicle, which relationship remains constant during vertical movement of the pulling vehicle and combine with respect to each other;
• a torque arm that is in operative engagement with both said swivel gearbox of the drivetrain assembly and a tongue component of the swivel hitch assembly that rotates along said yaw axis, whereby said swivel gearbox and said tongue component rotate substantially with each other;
• and
• said swivel hitch assembly allows freedom of rotation of any one of the roll, pitch or yaw axes while rigidly restricting rotation along the other two of said roll, pitch or yaw axes;
• and
• said swivel hitch assembly constantly maintains said combine at an orientation with respect to the vehicle whereby the surface of the combine which receives crop or crop byproduct presents its operational angle during pulling of the combine by the vehicle.

A combination comprising:

• a pulling vehicle having a drawbar;
• an agricultural implement combine having a frame component and a swivel hitch and drivetrain apparatus which includes:
• a load bearing swivel hitch assembly operatively connecting the frame component of the combine directly to the drawbar of the pulling vehicle and avoids attachment to the pulling vehicle through a three-point hitch and attendant change in operating angle of the combine, the combine having a draft and tongue load which is transferred to the drawbar of the pulling vehicle through the load bearing swivel hitch assembly, the load bearing swivel hitch assembly having three-separate axes of rotation, one axis of said axes of rotation being generally coaxial with the drawbar of the pulling vehicle, another axis of said axes of rotation being generally horizontal and transverse to said one axis, the other axis of said axes of rotation being generally vertical and transverse to said one axis, and a tongue extension rotates with respect to a tongue clevis along said other axis;
• a drivetrain assembly having a swivel gearbox with a generally vertical rotation and drive axis parallel to said generally vertical other axis of rotation of the load bearing swivel hitch assembly, said drivetrain assembly also having a generally horizontal drive shaft assembly that is in driven connection between the pulling vehicle and said swivel gearbox, said drive shaft assembly having a substantially parallel relationship with respect to the drawbar of the pulling vehicle, which relationship remains constant during vertical movement of the pulling vehicle and combine with respect to each other;
• and
• a torque arm that is in operative engagement with both said tongue extension of the load bearing swivel hitch assembly and said swivel gearbox of the drivetrain assembly, whereby said tongue extension and swivel gearbox rotate substantially together with each other;
• and
• said torque arm operative engagement is exclusively substantially horizontally directed to the effect that said drivetrain assembly carries no substantial load component from the combine.

A combination comprising:

• a pulling vehicle having a drawbar and a power takeoff shaft;
• a combine having a surface that receives crop or crop byproduct, which surface has an operational angle with respect to horizontal that falls within an optimum range of angles, the combine having a frame component and a swivel hitch and drivetrain apparatus which includes:
• a swivel hitch assembly operatively connecting the frame component of the combine directly to the drawbar of the pulling vehicle and avoids attachment to the pulling vehicle through a three-point hitch and attendant change in operating angle of the combine, the swivel hitch assembly having three separate axes of rotation, one of said axes of rotation being a roll axis generally coaxial with the drawbar of the pulling vehicle, another of said axes of rotation being a pitch axis generally horizontal and transverse to said roll axis, and the other of said axes of rotation being a yaw axis generally vertical and transverse to said roll axis;
• a drivetrain assembly having a swivel gearbox with a generally vertical rotation and drive axis parallel to said yaw axis of the swivel hitch assembly, said drivetrain assembly also having a generally horizontal drive shaft assembly that is in driven connection with the power takeoff shaft of the pulling vehicle;
• a torque arm that is in operative engagement with both said swivel gearbox of the drivetrain assembly and a tongue component of the swivel hitch assembly that rotates along said yaw axis, whereby said swivel gearbox and said tongue component rotate substantially with each other;
• and
• said torque arm operative engagement is exclusively substantially horizontally directed to the effect that said drivetrain assembly carries no substantial load component from the combine;
• and
• said swivel hitch assembly constantly maintains said combine at an orientation with respect to the vehicle whereby the surface of the combine which receives crop or crop byproduct presents its operational angle during pulling of the combine by the vehicle.