JPH0445472Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Field of industrial application] The present invention improves the handling depth of the grain culm fed to the threshing section.
The present invention relates to an automatic handling depth adjustment device for a harvester that adjusts the handling depth based on the detection result of the culm length.

[Prior art]

The automatic handling depth adjustment device in the harvester detects the length of the grain culm fed to the threshing section with a culm length sensor installed at the entrance of the threshing section, and when the culm length sensor detects a long culm, The handling depth is automatically adjusted by tilting the vertical conveyance chain toward the shallow handling side and toward the deeper handling side when a short culm is detected.

The conventional culm length sensor has a plurality of limit switches installed at the entrance of the threshing section, approximately perpendicular to the direction of grain conveyance, and which are activated by the contact of the grain culm with the detection rod, for example, to detect short, medium, and long culms. The length of the grain culm is detected by the on/off state of the limit switch.

Now, if this automatic handling depth adjustment device is operated at the same time as the start of reaping in the reaping section, the culm length sensor will be Since there is no grain culm to be detected at the position, it is mistakenly judged as if a short culm is being fed, and the vertical conveyance chain is tilted greatly toward the deep handling side, and the grain culm is at the position of the culm length sensor. After reaching the depth, the grain culms fed to the threshing section are brought into a deep handling state while the vertical conveyance chain is tilted until the depth reaches the proper handling depth according to the detection result of the sensor.

Therefore, in conventional harvesting machines, a grain culm sensor is installed on the upstream side of the vertical conveyance chain to detect the presence or absence of grain culms, and the automatic handling depth adjustment device operates after a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the sensor detects grain culms. I was trying to get it to start. Similar to the culm length sensor, this grain culm sensor uses a limit switch that is activated by contact of the grain culm with its detection rod.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

In such a conventional automatic handling depth adjustment device, if the culm length sensor or grain culm sensor is entangled with straw waste, the sensor will incorrectly detect the length of the grain culm or the presence or absence of the grain culm, and the sensor will not be able to properly adjust the handling depth. There was a risk that the handling depth could not be adjusted.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic handling depth adjustment device for a harvester that can always perform threshing processing at an appropriate handling depth.

[Means for solving problems]

The automatic handling depth adjustment device for a harvester according to the present invention is
In an automatic processing depth adjustment device for a harvester that detects the culm length of grain culms conveyed from a reaping section to a threshing section and adjusts the processing depth to an appropriate range based on the detection result,
An imaging device is used to image the grain culm along the transport path from the reaping section to the threshing section, and the culm length of the grain culm is detected based on the imaging results of the imaging device, and the handling depth is automatically adjusted based on the detected culm length. means for detecting the moving speed of the grain culm from the imaging result of the imaging device; and means for causing the automatic handling depth adjustment means to start automatic adjustment at a predetermined timing based on the detection result of the detection means. It is characterized by comprising the following.

[Effect]

In the present invention, the grain culm being transported is imaged by an imaging device, the culm length and moving speed of the grain culm are detected from the imaging result, and the handling depth is controlled by the handling depth automatic adjustment means based on the culm length of the grain culm. It is also possible to start the automatic adjustment by the automatic handling depth adjustment means based on the moving speed of the grain culm at the same time as the grain culm starts to be fed to the threshing section.

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below based on drawings showing embodiments thereof. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a harvester equipped with an automatic handling depth adjustment device according to the present invention (hereinafter referred to as the device of the present invention), and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the drive mechanism of the vertical conveyance chain.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body section equipped with a threshing section 2, and a reaping section 5 composed of a cutting blade 3, a grain culm lifting device 4, etc. is attached to the front side of the main body section 1 so as to be movable up and down. There is. On the rear side of the reaping section 5, there is a vertical conveyance chain 10 for conveying the harvested grain culms rearward and upward.
is provided with its terminal end facing the starting end of the grain culm transfer device 11 extending along the handling opening of the threshing section 2.

The grain culm harvested by the reaping section 5 is conveyed to the front part of the threshing section 2 by the vertical conveyance chain 10 via a lower conveyance device (not shown), and then transferred to the front part of the threshing section 2 by the grain culm pinning transfer device 11. While the grains are inserted into the handling chamber 2a from the handling port and transferred, they are threshed by a handling cylinder 2b provided in the handling chamber 2a.

As shown in FIG.
The left side (right side in FIG. 2) of the bracket 10a is rotatably mounted on the central part of the left side (right side in FIG. The tip of the arm 14 is rotatably supported. Then, the drive motor 13 rotates forward (or reversely), and the drive arm 1
4 advances (or retracts), the vertical conveyance chain 10 is rotated counterclockwise (or clockwise) about the pivot point of the support column 12 as seen from the front. And vertical conveyance chain 1
0 is rotated counterclockwise (or clockwise), the grain culm M transported by the vertical transport chain 10
(See Figure 3), the grain stalk side (or ear side) is pinched by the grain culm pinching transfer device 11 connected to it, and the length of insertion into the handling chamber 2a is longer. (or become shorter), the grain culm M is treated deeply (or shallowly treated).

Now, on the front side of the threshing device 2, there is an imaging device 6 for taking an image of the grain culm M being conveyed by the vertical conveyance chain 10.
is fixed.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the control system of the proposed device shown together with a plan view of the vicinity of the vertical conveyance chain 10. For example, a CCD having a number of pixels of 512×512
The imaging device 6 using a charge coupled device (Charge Coupled Device) 60 stores a portion of the grain culm M transported by the vertical transport chain 10 inside it, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. It is fixed so as to image the inside of the imaging area A parallel to the transport direction, and its output signal is given to the signal processing section 7 consisting of the A/D converter 71, video memories 72a and 72b, and arithmetic control section 73. It will be done. The imaging device 6 is operated by a trigger signal issued from the arithmetic control unit 73 at time intervals of Δt, and the horizontal direction from the CCD 60 in FIGS. 5 and 6, which will be described later, is the main scanning direction, and the vertical direction is the sub-scanning direction. The image signals sequentially given as . . stored respectively.

The outputs of the video memories 72a and 72b are respectively given to the arithmetic control section 73.
3 performs the calculations described later from these outputs,
The output is given to the input side of the handling depth control section 8. A vertical conveyance chain 10 is provided on the output side of the handling depth control section 8.
A drive motor 13 for rotating the conveyance chain 10 as described above is connected via a drive circuit (not shown). is rotated to the deep handling side (or shallow handling side).

Now, the control contents of the present device configured as above will be explained together with the operation of the harvester.

Start the engine of the harvester, engage the threshing clutch that engages and disengages power to the threshing section 2, and the reaping clutch that engages and disengages power to the reaping section 5, respectively, to operate the threshing section 2 and the reaping section 5. After operation, by engaging the main clutch and moving the machine, the harvester reaps the grain culms planted on the field surface with the cutting blade 3, and the vertical conveyance chain 10 transports the grain culms. The grains are transported by the device 11 and threshed by the handling cylinder 2b in the handling room 2a.

When the reaping clutch is engaged and the reaping unit 5 starts operating, the imaging device 6 images the inside of the imaging area A at time intervals of Δt, and provides the output to the signal processing unit 7.

5 and 6 are schematic diagrams showing the imaging results of the imaging device 6 after time t and time t+Δt have elapsed since the start of reaping.

The grain culm moving within the imaging area A is imaged brightly compared to the background, so when the image signal from the imaging device 6 is converted into brightness and darkness by the A/D converter 71, the presence of the grain culm is detected. The hatched and crosshatched portions in FIGS. 5 and 6 are stored as "1" in the video memory 72a or 72b, and the other portions are stored as "0".

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the control contents in the arithmetic control section 73.

The arithmetic control unit 73 has a video memory 72a or 7
The image data at time t+Δt stored in 2b is read out, and the area of the bright part in one frame of the image at time t+Δt, that is, the area of the hatched and crosshatched portion in FIG. 6 S ₁
(t+Δt) and the area of the bright part in the range from the nth line to the final line in the sub-scanning direction, that is, the area S ₂ (t+
Find Δt). Specifically, these are performed by counting the number of image data "1" in each range.

Next, S ₂ (t) (see Figure 5) obtained in the same manner from the image data at time t prior to this.
Check the magnitude relationship between S ₂ (t+Δt) and a small positive predetermined value S ₀ , and if either of these is less than S ₀ , S ₂ (t)=S ₂ (t+Δt), t=t+Δt
Then, S ₁ (t+Δt) and S ₂ (t+Δt) are obtained again and the same procedure is repeated.

S ₀ is set as a small positive value so that when a grain culm does not exist in the imaging area A and appears in a bright area for some reason, the processing depth will not be adjusted based on this bright area. However, this may be set to 0.

If S ₂ (t) and S ₂ (t+Δt) are both larger than S ₀ , then calculate the control operation start area Sa from S ₂ (t+Δt) and S ₂ (t) using the following formula. .

Sa=Δt/S(t+Δt)−S(t)×S…(1) where S: preset reference area Next, compare S ₂ (t+Δt) and Sa, and calculate S ₂ (t+Δt)
If Δt) is less than or equal to Sa, S ₂ (t)=S ₂ (t+
ΔT), t=t+Δt, the next image data is read out again, and the same procedure is repeated.

When S ₂ (t+Δt) becomes larger than Sa, that is, when it is determined that the front end of the grain culm to be conveyed is sufficiently close to the handling opening of the threshing section 2, the handling depth control section 8 In order to start the process, a signal voltage of a level corresponding to the magnitude of S ₁ (t+Δt) is output.

As mentioned above, since S ₁ (t+Δt) is the area of the bright part in one frame of the image, it becomes a value corresponding to the average culm length of the grain culms in the imaging area A, and from then on, the handling depth control unit 8 performs calculation control. When the level of the input signal from the section 73 is equal to or higher than the predetermined value, the drive motor 13 is operated to reverse the vertical conveyance chain 10 to the shallow handling side, and the level of the input signal reaches the predetermined value. When the value is less than or equal to another predetermined value that is smaller than the value, the drive motor 13 is operated to rotate in the normal direction;
By rotating the vertical conveyance chain 10 to the deep handling side, the handling depth of the grain culms fed to the threshing section 2 can be increased.
It is adjusted to an appropriate value according to the average culm length.

As mentioned above, S ₂ (t+Δt) is the area from the nth line to the final line in the sub-scanning direction, and this is the area of the grain culm in a predetermined range from the stock side of the grain culm being transported as shown in FIG. Since it is the area that exists,
It is not affected by the length of the grain culm, and Δt/ in equation (1)
{S ₂ (t+Δt)−S ₂ (t)} is the vertical conveyance chain 10
The value of Sa that corresponds to the reciprocal of the moving speed of the grain culm being conveyed by Equation (1) is small when the moving speed of the grain culm is fast, and conversely becomes large when it is slow. Become.

The moving speed of the grain culm is determined by the amount of reaping in the reaping section 5,
The time it takes for the grain culm to reach the threshing section 2 after the start of reaping varies depending on the traveling speed of the machine, etc., but in this example, the time from the nth line to the final line in the imaging area A is The area S ₂ (t + Δt) where the grain culm exists is the control operation start area
Adjustment of the handling depth is started when the depth becomes greater than Sa, and as mentioned above, Sa changes depending on the moving speed of the grain culm, so the amount of reaping in the reaping section 5 or the traveling speed of the machine body changes. The handling depth adjustment can be started at the time when grain culms start to be fed to the threshing section 2 after the start of reaping, regardless of the size.

[Effects] As detailed above, in the present device, an imaging device that images the grain culm in the conveyance path from the reaping section to the threshing section is used as a culm length sensor of the grain culm, and the imaging device comes into contact with the grain culm. Since the culm length is detected without any processing, there is no risk of erroneous detection due to entanglement with straw waste, unlike in the conventional method, and excellent effects are achieved, such as threshing at an appropriate handling depth at all times.

Note that, as shown in this embodiment, the timing at which the handling depth adjustment is started can be changed according to the moving speed of the grain culm based on the imaging result of the imaging device, so that the grain culm is not fed to the threshing section after the start of reaping. You can start automatic adjustment of the handling depth according to the starting point,
Threshing can be performed at an appropriate handling depth immediately after starting the threshing process.

Furthermore, the mounting position of the imaging device is not limited to the position shown in this embodiment, but may be any position that can image the grain culm on the transport path from the reaping section to the threshing section within an imaging area parallel to the transport direction. Needless to say, it can be installed in any position.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 1 is an external perspective view of a harvester equipped with the proposed device;
Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the drive mechanism of the vertical conveyance chain, Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the control system of the proposed device, Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the control contents of the arithmetic control section, and Figs. 5 and 6. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the imaging results of the imaging device. 2... Threshing section, 5... Reaping section, 6... Imaging device, 7... Signal processing section, 8... Handling depth control section, 1
0... Vertical conveyance chain, 73... Arithmetic control unit, A
...imaging area.

Claims (1)

[Claim for Utility Model Registration] In an automatic handling depth adjustment device for a harvester that detects the culm length of grain culms conveyed from the reaping section to the threshing section and adjusts the handling depth to an appropriate range based on the detection result. , an imaging device that images the grain culm along the conveyance path from the reaping section to the threshing section, and detecting the culm length of the grain culm based on the imaging result of the imaging device, and automatically adjusting the handling depth based on the detected culm length. a detection means for detecting the moving speed of grain culms from the imaging result of the imaging device; and a means for causing the automatic handling depth adjustment means to start automatic adjustment at a predetermined timing based on the detection result of the detection means. An automatic handling depth adjustment device for a harvester, characterized in that it comprises means.