COMBINE HARVESTER AND ASSOCIATED METHOD FOR GATHERING GRAIN

摘要

A combine harvester (10) is provided that separates grain material from material other than grain using multiple processing areas including a harvesting area (15) a feederhouse area (17) a threshing area (20) a cleaning area (22) and a grain delivery area (25). In a location at or prior to entering one of the processing areas (15 17 20 22 25) the material may be collected and held until a collection threshold is reached. Once it is determined that the collection threshold is reached the material forming a first group of material may be transported from the location to the processing area or a subsequent processing area. The first group of material is transported from the location to the processing area or the subsequent processing area substantially simultaneously and thus simulates the gathering of a large amount of crop material even when small plots are involved. In this way reduced cycle times may be achieved and the efficiency benefits of large plot harvesting may be extended to small plot applications.