Agricultural harvester unloading via header structure
An agricultural harvester has a header for harvesting a crop, an on-board container for storing the harvested crop, and a feeder adapted to receive the harvested crop from the header and provide the harvested crop to the on-board container. The agricultural harvester further has a transporter adapted to transport the harvested crop from the on-board container towards a distal end of the header; at least part of the transporter being mounted to the header or the feeder and a discharger in communication with the transporter and adapted to receive the harvester crop as transported by the transporter, at or near the distal end of the header, the discharger having a discharge outlet for discharging the harvested crop.
1. An agricultural harvester comprising:
a harvester body for ground movement in a longitudinal direction;
a header supported by said harvester body and comprising a frame forward of said harvester body and extending in a transverse direction relative to said longitudinal direction towards distal ends and configured for harvesting a crop;
said harvester body comprising an on-board container for storing the harvested crop;
a feeder connected to the harvester body and configured for attachment with the frame of the header, the feeder adapted to receive the harvested crop from the header when attached and to transfer the harvested crop in a first direction toward the on-board container,
a transporter adapted to transport the harvested crop from the on-board container in a second direction and towards at least one said distal end of the header; part of the transporter being mounted to the header and the other part of said transporter mounted to the header and extending along said header to said one distal end and
a discharger in communication with the transporter and adapted to receive the harvested crop as transported by the transporter, at or near the said distal end of the header, the discharger comprising a discharge outlet for discharging the harvested crop.
2. The agricultural harvester according to claim 1 , wherein the transporter comprises a first transport device adapted to transport the harvested crop from the on-board container in said second direction towards the header and a second transport device, adapted to receive the harvested crop from the first transport device and transport the harvested crop substantially transversally towards the discharger.
3. The agricultural harvester according to claim 2 wherein the first transport device comprises an auger or a conveyer belt for transporting the harvested crop in the second direction forwardly from the on-board container towards the front of the harvester.
4. The agricultural harvester according to claim 2 , wherein the second transport device comprises an auger or a transverse conveyer belt and is mounted to the header.
5. The agricultural harvester according to claim 2 , wherein the transporter further comprises a support structure for supporting the second transport device.
6. The agricultural harvester according to claim 5 , wherein the support structure is connected to at least one of the header and the feeder.
7. The agricultural harvester according to claim 5 wherein the support structure is further arranged to support the header.
8. The agricultural harvester according to claim 7 , wherein the support structure is provided with a height adjustable mechanism for controlling a vertical position of the header relative to a ground surface.
9. The agricultural harvester according to claim 2 wherein the discharger comprises a discharge tube that is pivotally mounted to the transporter or the header at or near the distal end of the header.
10. The agricultural harvester according to claim 1 , wherein the transporter comprises a conveyer belt for transporting the harvested crop towards the distal end of the header.
11. The agricultural harvester according to claim 1 , wherein the transporter is adapted to transport the harvested crop from the on-board container towards the distal end of the header in a substantially horizontal plane.
12. The agricultural harvester according to claim 1 , wherein the transporter and discharger are substantially symmetrical with respect to a central axis of the harvester.
13. The agricultural harvester according to claim 1 , wherein the transporter comprises one or more connectors for providing a releasable connection with at least one of the header and feeder.
14. The agricultural harvester according to claim 13 , wherein the one or more connectors are adapted for providing the releasable connection with different types of headers.
15. An unloading system for an agricultural harvester, the system comprising:
a transporter for receiving a harvested crop from an on-board tank of the agricultural harvester, the transporter comprising:
a support structure having a width substantially matching a width of a header of the agricultural harvester defined by distal ends of said header,
a transport device, mounted to the support structure, for transporting the harvested crop along and towards a distal end of the support structure;
a discharger in communication with the transport device of the transporter and adapted to receive the harvested crop as transported by the transport device, at or near the distal end of the support structure, the discharger comprising a discharge outlet for discharging the harvested crop, and
wherein a part of the support structure is structurally connected to a feeder and another part of said support structure to the header of the agricultural harvester, thereby supporting the header of the agricultural harvester
wherein the transport device comprises a conveyer arrangement adapted to transport the harvested crop in a forward direction with respect to an intended direction of travel of the harvester from the on-board tank towards the header and transversely along the header towards the discharger at or near the distal end of the support structure.