Claims:We Claim:
1. A threshing drum (30) of a harvesting machine (100) for threshing grains, said threshing drum (30) comprising:
• an elongate frame configured to be rotatably mounted on a shaft of the harvesting machine (100), and
• threshing bars (36a, 36b) detachably secured on the periphery of said elongate frame, each of said threshing bars (36a, 36b) having threshing elements (39) that extend radially outward in a mounted configuration of the threshing bars (36a, 36b), said threshing elements (39) configured to strip grains from a bunch of crop stems held tangentially against the rotating elongate frame.
2. The threshing drum (30) as claimed in claim 1, wherein longitudinal members (32) and transverse members (34) are provided on said frame, said longitudinal members (32) and said transverse members (34) configured to be attached together at predefined locations along the length of said elongate frame.
3. The threshing drum (30) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said threshing bars (36a, 36b) are crop-specific.
4. The threshing drum (30) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the threshing elements (39) are selected from the group consisting of rasps and spikes.
5. The threshing drum (30) as claimed in claim 4, wherein said threshing elements (39) are constructed integral to said threshing bars (36a, 36b).
6. The threshing drum (30) as claimed in claim 1, wherein mounts (38) are provided on an operative bottom portion of said threshing bars (36a, 36b).
7. The threshing drum (30) as claimed in claim 6, wherein said mounts (38) are constructed integral to said threshing bars (36a, 36b).
8. The threshing drum (30) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said threshing bars (36a, 36b) are fastened to said transverse members (34).
9. The threshing drum (30) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said transverse members (34) are in the form of plates having regular geometrical shapes.
10. The threshing drum (30) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shaft for rotation of said frame is driven by a transmission mechanism selected from the group consisting of belt drive, chain drive, gear drive.
11. The threshing drum (30) as claimed in claim 1, wherein attachment locations are provided on said longitudinal members (32) and said transverse members (34) for securing said threshing bars (36a, 36b).
12. The threshing drum (30) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said threshing bars (36a) is secured to said elongate frame for threshing paddy crops.
13. The threshing drum (30) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said threshing bars (36b) is secured to said elongate frame for threshing wheat crops.

Dated this 7th day of December, 2021

_______________________________
MOHAN RAJKUMAR DEWAN, IN/PA – 25
of R.K.DEWAN & CO.
Authorized Agent of Applicant

TO,
THE CONTROLLER OF PATENTS
THE PATENT OFFICE, AT CHENNAI
, Description:FIELD
The present disclosure relates to the field of agricultural equipment and more particularly to machines used for harvesting crops.
BACKGROUND
The background information herein below relates to the present disclosure but is not necessarily prior art.
Harvesting machines are used to perform various operations on crops in a sequential manner. One such operation is threshing, in which the grains are separated from the crop heads, crop pods or crop ears. A threshing drum with threshing bars connected thereon is used to accomplish the threshing operation. However, the threshing drum is required to be changed to suit the variety of grains being threshed. The changeover time is typically a day-long activity, which is time consuming. Additionally, a variety of crops have to be threshed which increases frequency of change-over. Moreover, the crops are seasonal in nature, which further increases the frequency of changeover of the threshing drums of the harvesting machine. This changeover process is tedious and a time-consuming process, since it involves removing the allied equipment coupled to the threshing drum such as a drive, a shaft, bearings and feeder housing. Furthermore, the threshing drum is a heavy-weight component that needs a separate material handling equipment while performing the assembly and dismantling of the threshing drum. This jeopardizes the safety of the personnel on location, which is a serious concern. In addition to this, the separate threshing drums are needed to be transported along the harvesting machine from one location to another in the form of spares, which is another concern for the operations personnel.
There is therefore, felt a need for a threshing drum of a harvesting machine for threshing grains, which alleviates the aforementioned drawbacks.
 
OBJECTS
Some of the objects of the system of the present disclosure which at least one embodiment herein satisfies are as follows:
An object of the present disclosure is to provide a threshing drum of a harvesting machine for threshing grains that eliminates the need of using separate threshing drums for different crops.
Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a threshing drum of a harvesting machine for threshing grains that eliminates the need of transporting multiple threshing drums as spares.
Still another object of the present disclosure is to provide a threshing drum of a harvesting machine for threshing grains that eliminates the assembly and dismantling time of the threshing drums.
Other objects and advantages of the system of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures, which are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
SUMMARY
The present disclosure discloses a threshing drum of a harvesting machine for threshing grains. The threshing drum comprises an elongate frame configured to be rotatably mounted on a shaft of the harvesting machine and threshing bars detachably secured on the periphery of the elongate frame. Each threshing bar has multiple threshing elements that extend radially outward in a mounted configuration of the threshing bars. The threshing elements are configured to strip grains from a bunch of crop stems held tangentially against the rotating elongate frame.
In a preferred embodiment, the longitudinal members and transverse members are provided on the frame. The longitudinal members and the transverse members are configured to be attached together at predefined locations along the length of the elongate frame.
In a preferred embodiment, the threshing bars are crop-specific.
In an embodiment, the threshing elements are selected from the group consisting of rasps, spikes with the threshing elements constructed integral to the threshing bars.
In another embodiment, mounts are provided on an operative bottom portion of the threshing bars with the mounts being constructed integral to the threshing bars.
In a preferred embodiment, the threshing bars are fastened to the transverse members.
In yet another embodiment, the transverse members are in the form of plates having regular geometrical shapes.
In an embodiment, the frame is driven by a transmission mechanism selected from the group consisting of belt drive, chain drive, gear drive.
In another embodiment, attachment locations are provided on the longitudinal members and the transverse members for securing the threshing bars.
In an embodiment, the threshing bars are used for threshing paddy crops.
In another embodiment, the threshing bars are used for threshing wheat crops.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWING
A threshing drum of a harvesting machine for threshing grains, of the present disclosure, will now be described with the help of the accompanying drawing, in which:
Figure 1 shows a side view of a crop harvesting machine;
Figure 2 shows a rear view of the drive coupled to the threshing drum;
Figure 3 shows an isometric view of the threshing drum, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 4 shows an isometric view of a threshing bar used for threshing paddy crops, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 5 shows an isometric view of another threshing bar used for threshing wheat crops;
Figure 6 shows an isometric view of the threshing drum with the threshing bar of figure 4 attached, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and
Figure 7 shows an isometric view of the threshing drum with the threshing bar of figure 5 attached, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
10 - cutting platform
20 - feeder housing
30 – threshing drum
32 – longitudinal member
34 – transverse member
36a, 36b – threshing bars
38 – mount
39 - threshing element
40 – cleaning mechanism
50 – separating mechanism
60 – drive
100 - harvesting machine
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Embodiments, of the present disclosure, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
Embodiments are provided so as to thoroughly and fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to the person skilled in the art. Numerous details are set forth, relating to specific components, and methods, to provide a complete understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to the person skilled in the art that the details provided in the embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, well-known processes, well-known apparatus structures, and well-known techniques are not described in detail.
The terminology used, in the present disclosure, is only for the purpose of explaining a particular embodiment and such terminology shall not be considered to limit the scope of the present disclosure. As used in the present disclosure, the forms "a,” "an," and "the" may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly suggests otherwise. The terms "comprises," "comprising," “including,” and “having,” are open ended transitional phrases and therefore specify the presence of stated features, elements, modules, units and/or components, but do not forbid the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
When an element is referred to as being "mounted on," “engaged to,” "connected to," or "coupled to" another element, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed elements.
Terms such as “inner,” “outer,” "beneath," "below," "lower," "above," "upper," and the like, may be used in the present disclosure to describe relationships between different elements as depicted from the figures.
The present disclosure envisages a threshing drum of a crop harvesting machine for threshing (hereinafter referred to as “the threshing drum”). The threshing drum of a crop harvesting machine for threshing eliminates the need to perform frequent change-over of the threshing drum. Thus, the need to transport different threshing drums as spares is eliminated, as well as the safety of the personnel performing the change-over operation is increased.
Referring to the figures 1-2, a threshing drum 30 for a crop harvesting machine 100 is shown, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The harvesting machine 100 includes a cutting platform 10, a feeder housing 20, the threshing drum 30, a cleaning mechanism 40, a separating mechanism 50 and a drive 60. The cutting platform 10 is the area for receiving crops that are trimmed by the harvesting machine 10. During the cutting procedure of the crops, ears of maize or pick up windrows are snapped. The feeder housing 20 receives the trimmed crops from the cutting platform 10 via a conveyor for processing of the cuts crops. The threshing drum 30 separates the grains from the heads, the pods and the ears. The grains separated by the threshing drum 30 are cleaned by the cleaning mechanism 40 where the chaff and the debris are removed from the grains. The separating mechanism 50 separates the grain from any leftover straw, husks and stalk pieces. The grains when completely separated from the rest of the crops are received into a tank where the grains are collected. Of all the processes, the threshing process is a critical step in separating the grains from the crops. For each variety of a crop, a different threshing drum 30 is needed that has distinct cutting elements attached thereto to facilitate threshing operation. This integral construction of the cutting elements with the frame increases the frequency of change-over between instances of threshing operation. Conventionally, the drive 60 is needed to be dismantled during the change-over operation of the harvesting machine, which is a tedious, time-consuming and one that reduces the safety of the personnel performing the change-over operation.
Referring to the figures 3-7, a threshing drum 30 for a crop harvesting machine 100 is shown, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The threshing drum 30 comprises an elongate frame. The elongate frame is rotatably mounted on a shaft of the harvesting machine 100. Threshing bars 36a, 36b are detachably secured on the periphery of the elongate frame. In a preferred embodiment, the threshing bars 36a, 36b are secured longitudinally on the periphery of the elongate frame. Each threshing bar 36a, 36b has multiple threshing elements 39 that extend radially outward in a mounted configuration of the threshing bars 36a, 36b. The threshing elements 39 are configured to strip grains from a bunch of crop stems held tangentially against the rotating elongate frame. The frame includes longitudinal members 32 and transverse members 34 that are configured to be attached together at predefined locations along the length of the elongate frame. The threshing bars 36a, 36b are crop-specific. The threshing elements 39 are selected from the group consisting of rasps, spikes. Mounts 38 are provided on an operative bottom portion of the threshing bars 36a, 36b. The mounts 38 are constructed to be integral with the threshing bars 36a. The mounts 38 facilitate interconnection between the threshing bars 36a, 36b and the frame. More specifically, attachment locations are provided on the longitudinal members 32 and the transverse members 34 of the frame to facilitate mounting of the threshing bars 36a, 36b using fasteners. The drive 60 is configured to be coupled to the frame. The frame is rotated by the drive 60 to receive crops separate grains as the harvesting machine 100 traverses the agricultural crops.
In an embodiment, the threshing bars 36a, 36b are connected to the transverse members 34 with the help of fasteners.
In another embodiment, the transverse members 34 are in the form of plates having regular geometrical shapes such as hexagon, octagon, or any other polygon.
The frame is driven by a transmission mechanism selected from the group consisting of belt drive, chain drive, gear drive.
In another embodiment, the threshing bars 36a are used for threshing paddy crops as shown in the figure 4 and the figure 6.
In yet another embodiment the threshing bars 36b are used for threshing wheat crops as shown in the figure 5 and the figure 7.
The technical advancement lies in ease of change-over operation, as only the threshing bars 36a, 36b having the threshing elements 39 constructed integrally to the threshing bars 36a, 36b are dismantled and replaced, by loosening the threaded fasteners. The time required to perform the change-over is reduced significantly. Hence, the threshing drum 30 need not be dismantled for every instance of change-over as desired by the crop variety.
The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Individual components of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, are interchangeable. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the present disclosure, and all such modifications are considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure.
TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENTS
The present disclosure described herein above has several technical advantages including, but not limited to, the realization of a threshing drum of a harvesting machine for threshing grains, that:
• requires less change-over time for assembly and dismantling of the threshing drums thereon;
• eliminates unnecessary transportation;
• eliminates the need of a separate threshing drum for every crop variety; and
• provides increased safety to the personnel performing the change-over operation.
The embodiments herein, the various features, and advantageous details thereof are explained with reference to the non-limiting embodiments in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
The foregoing description of the specific embodiments so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.
The use of the expression “at least” or “at least one” suggests the use of one or more elements or ingredients or quantities, as the use may be in the embodiment of the disclosure to achieve one or more of the desired objects or results.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like that has been included in this specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the disclosure. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form a part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the disclosure, as it existed anywhere before the priority date of this application.
While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the components and component parts of the preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that many embodiments can be made and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the disclosure. These and other changes in the preferred embodiment as well as other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the disclosure and not as a limitation.