FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a harvesting machine and more particularly it relates to a self-propelled track mounted paddy harvester which can be propelled through wet or boggy field for simultaneously harvesting, threshing, cleaning and discharging/storing of paddy crops and other such crops.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The harvesting of crops is traditionally done by manual methods. Harvesting of major cereals is done by using sickle whereas tuber crops are harvested by country plough or spade. While all these traditional methods involve drudgery and consume longtime. Timeliness of harvest is of prime importance. The use of machines can help to harvest at proper stage of crop maturity and reduce drudgery and operation time. Considering these, improved harvesting tools, equipment, combines are being accepted by the farmers. However, such harvesting machines are equipped with the pneumatic tires which are not capable of efficient operation on such soft surfaces, as they tend to burrow into the surface, rather than riding across the surface. Gradually, endless track vehicles have been developed for use on terrains in which pneumatic tired vehicles are impractical. One such endless tracks vehicle is disclosed in the US patent No. 3,361,488 that relates to a lightweight cross-country endless vehicle with great tractive power comprising a vehicle body having a plurality of track wheels and a driving sprocket extending from each side thereof, crawler tracks trained around the track wheels and driving sprocket, each endless track including low carbon steel transverse grouser rods circular in section.

Another such self propelled crop harvester has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,590,739 which includes wing conveyors received the picked crop (i.e. melons, squash, or the like) and transports these items to a processing area.

One more self propelled crop harvester has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,725 that is used to remove stone and gravel from excavated soil. This device consists of a first conveyor belt, which guides the excavated soil and gravel to the sieving area, and a second conveyor which aids in the transportation of the soil and gravel through the sieving mechanism.

However such conventional crop harvester are not designed nor configured to travel through wetlands or the like. This is because of the tracks are made of a plurality of metal links which are very heavy and results in high ground pressure during propelling. Hence, such harvester fails to serve their purpose in wet land because without proper configuration of tracking means it may sinks and stuck in the soil. Hence, heretofore paddy crops are cut manually and then they are carried out of field for further procedure like harvesting, threshing and storing which is quite cumbersome. Further, in this entire process, enormous amount of man power and cost is required. Hence, it is a long standing problem in agricultural field for simultaneously performing the process of harvesting, threshing, cleaning and storing of crops grown in paddy field. Further, in some kinds of conventional harvesting machine, engine stalls at greater harvesting speed due to overloading. Hence, engine requires regular overhauling every year say about 1000 hrs due to machine running under overload conditions most of the time. Moreover, some of conventional machines have less ground clearance causing water entering in the silencer. Also the transmission gearbox does not allow the machine to move due to resistance of soil. Engine under the operator seat causes excessive heat and noise to operator. Due to hydraulic brake in HST for turning, the load on track is more which reduces life of tracks. Hence, it is sufficient need to develop a self propelled track harvesting machine that is appropriate for harvesting the crops grown in and for moving in both normal soil condition and in muddy field.

OBTECT OF THE INVENTION

The main object of present invention is to provide a self propelled track mounted paddy harvester that is completely free from above mentioned drawbacks associated with prior arts. Another object of the present invention to provide a self propelled track mounted paddy harvester that includes an endless track that is designed and configured for multi-terrain use for enabling successful mobility of the machine in any type of land by providing low ground pressure.

Further object of present invention is to provide a self propelled track mounted paddy harvester that provides higher ground clearance for giving better stability of the machine and better movement of the machine in slushy and water logged field.

Yet another object of present invention is to provide a self propelled track mounted paddy harvester that have better performance, more output, reduce repair cost and increase operator comfort.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A self-propelled track mounted paddy harvester that comprises a main frame, hydraulic transmission system located at rear side of the main frame, a crop harvesting apparatus or header located at front side of the main frame and a rubber track system located beneath the main frame. Said main frame comprises an operator platform with canopy and operator's bed, a grain tank located rear to the operator platform, a swing discharge auger for discharging harvested grain introduced in the grain tank, an axial flow threshing and separating unit wherein threshing, separating and cleaning process of harvested crops take place and a crop conveyer. Said threshing and separating unit consists of a rotor housing, a rotor element which is arranged rotatably driven inside of the rotor housing, a cleaning system having an upper sieve located below the rotor housing and a lower sieve positioned below the upper sieve in a stacked relationship therewith, a bottom grain auger which is arranged in some distance towards the sieve means (cleaning system) for collecting and transporting clean grains from the lower sieve to the grain collecting tank, a coercive sieve for receiving unthreshed grain from the lower sieve and a grain conveyer auger for conveying said unthreshed grain to the rotor housing for re-threshing process. Said crop harvesting apparatus comprises a reel with tines supported on reel arms sweeps standing or sleeping crop material rearwardly, a cutterbar which severs the crops and a screw conveyer for consolidating and conveying severed crop towards the crop conveyer. Said hydraulic transmission system comprises an engine, an oil cooler for providing cooling to oil circulated from said engine, an auxiliary hydraulic pump and a tandem hydraulic pump, said auxiliary hydraulic pump and the tandem hydraulic pump are driven by the engine. Further, said rubber track system mainly comprises a support frame and a pair of tracks; wherein said track comprises a sprocket having plurality of teeth on outer peripheral thereof, an idler tumbler, an endless rubber-crawler belt having slots embedded in inner surface thereof and aligned in the longitudinal direction thereof for receiving teeth of the sprocket, said endless-crawler extends over the sprocket and the idler tumbler and a plurality of guide rollers disposed interiorly of and in contact with the crawler belt between the sprocket and the idler tumbler and which roll along the internal periphery of the crawler belt, a plurality of lugs are formed on and extended perpendicularly or angled from the outer surface of the crawler belt and a spring means (not shown) for controlling track tension and absorbing shocks during operation of the machine. According to present invention, said rubber- crawler belts are made of a plurality of metal plates pivotally attached to each other by providing a rubber cover thereon that ensure low ground pressure at 25 Kg/ sq cm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS'

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view illustrating isometric right side view of a self-propelled track mounted harvester according to present invention.

Fig. 2 shows a perspective left side view illustrating a self-propelled track mounted harvester according to present invention.

Fig. 3 shows an exploded view of a rubber track system being employed in self-propelled track mounted harvester according to present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanied drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments, as depicted in different figures as described above and of being practiced or carried out in a variety of ways. It is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

The present invention particularly discloses a self propelled track mounted wet land paddy harvester that is configured for moving in any type of soil condition due to low ground pressure for harvesting, threshing and cleaning of paddy crops.

Before explaining the present invention, it should be noted that the term "rubber" relates to any elastic and primarily non metallic materials such as rubber, elastomers, or combinations thereof used in the manufacture of endless tracks.

Now, reference to the drawings, more particularly Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the self propelled track mounted paddy harvester (1) mainly includes a main frame (2), a hydraulic transmission system (3) located at rear side of the main frame (2), a crop harvesting apparatus or header (4) located at front side of the main frame (2) and a rubber track system (5) located beneath the main frame (2).

Mounted onto the main frame (2) is an operator platform (21) with canopy (21a) and operator's bed (21b) from which the various functions such as transmission of the machine are controlled by the operator, a grain tank (22) located to the rear of the operator platform (21), a swing discharge auger (23) for discharging harvested grain introduced in the grain tank (22) to another container, an axial flow threshing and separating unit (24) wherein threshing, separating and cleaning process of harvested crops take place and a crop conveyer (25), extending alongside the operator's platform and perpendicularly oriented to the driving direction (A) of the machine (1). The crops harvested by the crop harvesting apparatus (4) are fed by the crop conveyer (25) to the threshing and separating unit (24) for further processing as discussed below. Said threshing and separating unit (24) consists of a rotor housing

(24a), a rotor element (24b) which is arranged rotatably driven inside of the rotor housing (24a) for defining an arcuate space in which the crop material is processed for separating grain and material other than grain (MOG) from straw, with the straw being ejected rearwardly from the threshing system through the rear end of the machine (1) for deposit on the field. The threshing and separating unit (24) also comprises a cleaning system (sieve means) (24c) having an upper sieve (not shown) located below the rotor housing (24a) and a lower sieve (not shown) positioned below the upper sieve in a stacked relationship therewith, a bottom grain auger (not shown) which is arranged in some distance towards the sieve means (24c) for collecting and transporting clean grains from the lower sieve to the grain collecting tank (22).

Said crop harvesting apparatus (4) comprises a cutterbar (41) on front edge, a rotatable screw conveyer (42) and a reel (43) in the form of framework with tine carriers (44) carrying tines (45) for conveying crop, said reel (43) is supported at both ends by reel support arms (46). Said reel tines (45) grabs and sweeps standing or sleeping crop material rearwardly over the cutterbar (41) which severs the crops and said severed crops are consolidated and conveyed rearwardly through the screw conveyer (42) towards the crop conveyer (25). Said crop conveyer (25) receives the harvested crops from the crop harvesting apparatus (4) and feeds to the threshing and separating unit (24) for further harvesting treatment.

Said operator platform (21) is provided with hydraulic transmission levers (21c) located at one side of the operator's bed (21b) that acts as a steering for driving machine (1) by controlling the forward, reverse and turning motion thereof, a tower control levers (21d) provided at another side of the operator's bed (21b) for controlling the lifting and lowering movement of the cutterbar (41) and the reel (43) and throttle levers (not shown) provided near a operator's bed (21b) that is operated in three position namely FULL, IDLE and STOP. During harvesting, the throttle lever is put in full position. Further, three clutch levers (not shown) are also provided on the operator platform (21). Among them, when one clutch lever is engaged, the threshing and separating unit (24) starts getting power and starts functioning. By engaging the 2nd clutch lever, the crop conveyer (25) and the cutter bar (41) starts functioning to harvest the crop. When the third lever is engaged, clean grains collected in the grain tank are getting discharged from the grain tank (22) through the discharge auger (23). Further, the platform (21) is equipped with instrument panel (21 e) in front of operator's bed (21b) having a safety indication in form of warning lights for the engine oil temperature and level. Also, meters are provided on the panel (21e) for monitoring oil pressure, engine temperature and fuel gauge on the operator platform.

Said hydraulic transmission system (3) comprises an engine (3a), an oil cooler (3b) for providing cooling to oil circulated from said engine (3a), an auxiliary hydraulic pump (3c) for providing hydraulic power to the tower control levers (21d) and the clutch levers and a tandem hydraulic pump (3d) for providing hydraulic power to the transmission lever (21c). Said auxiliary hydraulic pump (3c) driven by the engine (3a) is provided for adjusting the height of the cutterbar (41) and the reel (43) for proper lifting, holding and feeding the crop to the cutterbar (41) through said tower control levers (21d).

Now, as threshing system (24) operates, cut (harvested) crop is fed into the rotor housing (24a) where the rotor (24b) rotates and threshing and separating take place through which threshed gain, unthreshed gain (tailings), short straws and long straws are formed from the harvested crops. Said long straws are thrown out in the field from the rotor housing (24a). Said threshed, unthreshed grain and short straw will fall and/or be conveyed therefrom, onto the upper sieve. The upper and lower sieves are configured to be reciprocally moved or vibrated relative to one another to effect a sifting of material (threshed gain, unthreshed gain (tailings), short straws) falling onto the upper sieve. The upper sieve includes openings therethrough that are sized to allow threshed grain as well as unthreshed grain to pass therethrough and to fall onto lower sieve of the cleaning system. The short straws that are unable to pass through upper sieve are moved to the rear peripheral edge portion of the upper sieve by the vibratory movements of such sieve and blown out by blower directly onto the underlying field.

The lower sieve has smaller openings than upper sieve, such that said sieve means (24c) will act as a progressive sifting or cleaning mechanism for separating and cleaning grain from the tailings that were also able to pass through upper sieve. To facilitate such sifting action and the flow of grain through the sieve means (24c), the sieves are vibrated or reciprocally moved. The grain that falls through lower sieve into the bottom grain auger (not shown) is considered to be clean grain that is desired to be collected and ultimately conveyed to the grain tank (22). The tailings that are allowed to pass through the upper sieve often still contain some un-threshed grain, and retention of such tailings for further processing to effect separation of the grain is generally desired. For that, said threshing and separating unit (24) is equipped with coarse sieve (not shown). This coarse sieve receives the unthreshed grain which does not pass through the lower sieve and collects in a grain conveying auger (not shown) wherefrom such unthreshed grain is transported back to the rotor housing (24a) for re -threshing process.

Now as shown in Fig. 3, there illustrates an exploded view of rubber track system (5) according to present invention. Said track system (5) mainly comprises a support frame (5a) and a pair of tracks (5b) which allow the machine to be propelled in the wet land or muddy land (field). Said support frame (5a) is located between the tracks (5b). Each said track (5b) includes a sprocket (5c) having plurality of teeth on outer peripheral thereof, an idler tumbler (5d), an endless rubber-crawler belt (5e) having slots (5e') embedded in inner surface and aligned in the longitudinal direction thereof; said endless rubber-crawler belt (5e) extends over the sprocket (5c) and the idler tumbler (5d) and a plurality of guide rollers (5f) (shown in Fig. 1) disposed interiorly of and in contact with the crawler belt (5e) between the sprocket (5c) and the idler tumbler (5d) and which roll along the internal periphery of the crawler belt (5e), as illustrated in FIG. 3. Here During translation of the machine, the teeth of the sprocket (5c) are received in the slots (5e'). Additionally, a plurality of lugs (5e") are formed on and extended perpendicularly or angled from the outer surface of the crawler belt (5e). Said rubber- crawler belts (5e) are made of a plurality of metal plates pivotally attached to each other by providing a rubber cover thereon that ensures low ground pressure. The width (W) of each said track (5b) is ideally kept at 500mm that generates low ground pressure around 25 Kg/sq cm so that the machine (1) can be propelled in the wet land. Said rubber track system (5) also comprises a motor (5g) coupled with the sprocket (5c) and a gearbox (5h) coupled to the motor (5g). Further, each said track (5) is also provided with the spring means (not shown) for controlling track tension and absorbing shocks during operation of the machine (1) that increase the life of the track (5b).

During operation, Said engine (3a) drives the tandem hydraulic pump (3d) which supplies oil under pressure to the motor (5g) and the gearbox (5h) that cause the sprocket (5c) to rotate through which said endless rubber-crawler belt (5c) is driven by adjustment of teeth of sprockets (5c) in the slots (5e') which then propel the machine (1). Said tandem pump (3d) is actuated by said hydraulic transmission levers (21c) that controls the forward, reverse, turning motion of the harvesting machine (1). For night operation, lights are provided at the front, rear and discharge tube.

Here, said rubber- crawler belt (5e) are coated with rubber that ensures a low ground pressure in the field thereby said self propelled track mounted harvester (1) according to present invention is moved into any kind of soil condition. Hence, said self propelled track mounted harvester is also utilized for harvesting the crops which are mostly grown in the wet land. The invention has been explained in relation to specific embodiment. It is inferred that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the present invention and it is not intended that the invention be limited or restrictive thereto. Many other specific embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art from the foregoing disclosure. All substitution, alterations and modification of the present invention which come within the scope of the following claims are to which the present invention is readily susceptible without departing from the spirit of the invention. The scope of the invention should therefore be determined not with reference to the above description but should be determined with reference to appended claims along with full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. List of Reference Numerals:

Self Propelled Track Mounted Harvester (1)

Main Frame (2)

Operator Platform (21)

Canopy (21a)

Operator's Bed (21b)

Hydraulic Transmission Levers (21c)

Tower Control Levers (21d)

Grain Collecting Tank (22)

Swing Discharge Auger (23)

Threshing and Separating Unit (24)

Rotor Housing (24a)

Rotor Element (24b)

Sieve Means (24c)

Bottom Grain Auger (24d)

Crop Conveyer (25)

Hydraulic Transmission System (3)

Engine (3a)

Oil Cooler (3b)

Auxiliary Hydraulic Pump (3c)

Tandem Hydraulic Pump (3d)

Crop Harvesting Apparatus (4)

Cutterbar (41)

Rotatable Screw Conveyer (42)

Reel (43)

Tine Carriers (44) Tines (45)

Support Arms (46)

Rubber Track System (5)

Support Frame (5a)

Tracks (5b)

Sprockets (5c)

Idler Tumbler (5d)

Rubber-Crawler Belt (5e)

Slots (5e')

Lug (5e")

Guide Rollers (5f)

Motor (5g)

Gearbox (5h)

Width (W)