Farmer Invents New Axial Flow Combine

Farmer Invents New Axial Flow Combine COMBINES Maintenance 10-3-16 A Kansas farmer and custom cutter who says he's fed up with the high maintenance cost of conventional combines has invented and patented his own machine. "My design eliminates nearly all chains, augers, shafts, pulleys and other high-wear components that cause most down time problems for high-use operators," says Mark Underwood of Burr Oak, who has yet to build a working prototype of his machine. He worked out the design on paper and with scale models. The combine uses an axial flow design to thresh grain. Rasp bars are connected to a frame that rotates around the threshing cylinder. "Lift rings" attached to the outer surface of this threshing frame pick up separated grain at the bottom of the combine and carry it up to the clean grain hopper, replaciig grain elevators and augers. An inner lift ring picks up tailings discharged from the sieve and returns them to the intake to be re-threshed. A rack and pinion assembly mounted at the rear of the thresher drum and beater assembly allows clearance between the thresher and grates to be varied by simply rotating the pinion. The combine also has new hillside features which Underwood says are much less complex and expensive than current hydraulic leveling systems. "The sieve housing is mounted on rollers in a curved guidance track. These rollers allow the sieve housing to swing with gravity irregardless of the position of the combine frame so that it's always cleaning grain on the level," explains Underwood. He plans to begin work soon on a full-scale prototype and hopes to find a manufacturer interested in the design. For a copy of Steve Anderson's U.S. Patent, which contains details and drawings of his new combine, send $2.00 to: Patents, FARM SHOW Publishing, P.O. Box 1029, Lakeville, Minn. 55044. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mark R. Underwood, Box 128, Rt. 1, Burr Oak, Kan. 66936 (ph 913 647-6971).

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