Research and Development of the Automatic Sacking Device for Combine Harvester (Part 1)

Automatic Sacking Devices AP721 and AP732

Abstract

The grain harvested by·JIDATSU combine (Japanese type combine harvester) are generally sacked in small size grain bags by operator or his assistant.
The operator has to stop his combine occasionally to change the grain bags or his assistant has to keep standing on the place with unpleasant surroundings, such as high noize, vibration and dust.
For the purpose of promoting the working efficiency of combine, and maintaining the safety of operator and his assistant, research and development were conducted on five types of automatic sacking devices.
In this report (Part 1), two types of automatic sacking devices AP721 and AP732 shown in Fig. 4 and 8 were presented. The sacking process of the first prototype AP721 was similar to that of manual sacking method. This machine consisted of auger type bag divider, grain tank with bag opener and vibrator. The coil spring with micro switch was used to measure the weight of grain sacked. In the laboratory test, the switching error was observed frequently in relation to weighing, but other mechanism was operated succesfully, and many data were obtained which would assure a stable action for each mechanism.
The second prototype AP732 was designed and produced on the basis of the data obtained from the test conducted on AP721. To regulate the weight of grain, the lower and upper level of the grain in grain tank were measured using micro switches. Power for all mechanism was supplied through the main shaft driven by a hydrostatic.
During the laboratory test using AP732, 500 bags were succesfully sacked and all the mechanism of this device worked well. From these test results, prospects of developing automatic sacking device for combine harvester were very much hopeful.