First Centrifugal Combine

First centrifugal combine COMBINES Miscellaneous 16-3-21 Two French inventors say they've come up with a totally new separation system for combines that they say will revolutionize grain harvest. Engineer Main Zacharie and farmer Etienne Moreau got the idea for their revolutionary Heliflow combine while working together on a combine during harvest. They were looking for a gentler, higher-capacity method of separation that would do less damage to grain. What they came up with is a threshing mechanism that's different from any other combine ever built. The two men completely stripped the guts out of a Massey 620 - including cylinder, walkers, cleaning fan, etc. - and in-stalled their huge Heliflow rotating cylinder which is 6 ft. in dia. and about 10 ft. long. Inside walls of the big cylinder are lined with baffles in a screw-like pattern that work their way back from the front of the combine in a screw-like fashion. Grain stalks are deposited into the big rotating tunnel by the feederhouse, which is left intact. As the cylinder spins, grain and straw work their way toward the back of the combine, guided by the spiraling baffles around and around the outside of the rotating cylinder. Centrifugal force and movement of stalks over the screen pulls grain out of the heads and through the screen. Grain then falls to the bottom of the machine and is augered into the grain tank. Straw drops out the back of the machine virtually untouched or it can be chopped at the back of the combine. Zacharie and Moreau says the machine has a number of advantages over existing combines - it does much less damage to grain due to the gentle nature of the new separating process, has low powerconsumption with high straw throughput, it's not affected by slopes, and it leaves the straw intact for farmers who want to bale it. The men tested the new machine in the field for the first time last fall and plan much more extensive testing this year. In addition to the Heliflow cylinder, they have patented three other new concepts on the combine including thresher feeding, pre-cleaning and cleaning sub-assemblies. They've also came up with a new-style ventilation system. They're hoping to line up investors to enable them to produce the new machine, which is designed for all types of small grains and beans but not for corn. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Alain Zachary, Semaz, 3, Rue Nationale, 92100 Boulogne, France (ph 33 1 46 08 4044; fax 33 1 46 04 00 61).

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