Deere + Company

Leon F Sanderson

Joel M Schreiner

Francis E Schlueter

Russell D Copley

Kenneth C McConnell

Steve A Junge

Jonathan Lee Engelstad

Donald K Davenport

John L Hintzsche

Cylindrical spacers having axially ribbed inner portions and an expanded circumference are located on the doffer shaft of a cotton harvester doffer column to support the doffers in vertically spaced relation and improve shaft strength and bend and vibration resistance. The spacer rib ends have doffer contacting surfaces to bite into the doffer and provide a keying function for enhanced doffer rotational retention.

Shaft structure for a cotton harvester doffer column

Adjustable doffer structure for a cotton harvester row unit provides single wrench doffer adjustment without requiring loosening of a locking nut. The upper end of a doffer column bearing support includes a screw member threaded through an adjusting housing and projecting above the row unit housing. A Belleville spring is sandwiched between a locking nut threaded onto the upper end of the screw member and the adjusting housing. The nut and Belleville spring provide sufficient holding torque to maintain a given doffer adjustment during normal row unit operation, but the holding torque can be overridden with a wrench used to make the doffer adjustment. A locking plate is placed over the nut to maintain locking nut torque.

Adjustable doffer column for a cotton harvester row unit

The picker bar on a cotton harvester drum includes a lower bushing with a thrust surface added. The spindle drive shaft is drilled and tapped to receive a bolt inserted through the bottom of the picker bar. Bevel gear thrust loads are transferred through a thrust washer, secured by the bolt to the bottom of the drive shaft, to the lower bushing thereby eliminating need for a snap ring and snap ring groove at the top of the bar. The spur gear bending load at the top the bar is transferred through a large rigid gear section to the bearing at the top of the bar. The top bearing is supported closer to the gear load than in previous bars which utilize snap ring retention. The drive shaft, bevel gears, upper bearing and drive gear section are inserted as a single assembly into the upper end of the picker bar during manufacture.

Cotton picker bar with lower retention

A cotton harvester includes air diverting structure for selectively directing air from the air duct structure over the top of the cotton harvester basket to blow away accumulated trash. The upper portion of the air duct is moveable from a normal operating position wherein cotton is directed into the basket, to a cleaning position wherein high velocity air from the duct is directed over the surface of the basket by an air deflector located at the upper forward end of the basket. When no cotton is being picked, such as during turns at the end of the field, the duct is moved from the operating position to the cleaning position to clear the trash from the basket surfaces. In another embodiment of the invention, a barrier in the form of either a brush or a pivoting element located on the dump side of the basket catches debris that would otherwise fall into the cotton receiving receptacle.

Basket cleaner for a cotton harvester

The harvesting structure on a plurality of individual row units of a cotton picker are driven by a common drive train while individual torque-limiting is provided to each row unit by a slip clutch located within the unit housing. A gearbox located at the top of each row unit housing includes a shaft projecting into the housing with the slip clutch located at the lower end of the shaft and driving an output gear meshing with the main input gear of row unit transmission.

Torque limiting drive arrangement for a cotton harvester with multiple

Height sensing structure utilizing a pair of height sensing valves connected to height sensing shoes on two row harvesting units. The row harvesting units are transversely adjustable on support structure to accommodate different row spacings and to open up space between the units for service and inspection. The height control valves are connected by flexible conduit and a shuttle check valve to a lift cylinder, and interconnecting linkages between the height sensing shoes on adjacent units are eliminated so that the units may be freely adjusted. The shuttle valve assures that the height control valve sensing the highest ground condition controls the lift cylinder to prevent 'digging in'.

Height control system with multiple control valves

An agricultural harvesting machine having a plurality of independently supported row crop harvesting units is provided with a hydraulically operated vertical positioning mechanism for adjusting the height of the units in accordance with ground surface variations. Each unit is provided with a ground-engaging feeler mechanically coupled to a control valve which adjustably varies the hydraulic fluid flow to a single acting unit lift cylinder. The cylinder includes fluid bypass capabilities to permit continued hydraulic fluid flow upon full extension of the cylinder piston and thereby avoid a fluid system pressure and consequent temperature increase.

Growing community of inventors

Des Moines, IA, United States of America

Leon F Sanderson