Design and Test of Self-Leveling System for Cleaning Screen of Grain Combine Harvester

Abstract

As one of the core working parts of a combine harvester, the cleaning device directly affects the operation performance of the whole machine. This is especially the case on hilly and gently sloping terrain, which, due to the uneven ground, causes the combine harvester body to incline and material to accumulates on one side, resulting in a high cleaning loss rate. To solve this problem, a self-leveling cleaning screen device and a control system based on a fuzzy PID control algorithm are developed for a caterpillar harvester, enabling it to operate on gentle slopes of 10°. To verify the performance of the fuzzy PID algorithm applied to this system, simulation tests, response tests, comparison tests, and field tests were carried out. The indoor test results show that the system has a good tracking effect when the inclination amplitude does not exceed 10°. The maximum leveling error is −0.62°, the maximum leveling time is 1.85 s, and the maximum overshoot is 1.5°. The field test results show that when the tilt angle of the harvester body is within 10°, the system can stabilize the real-time leveling of the cleaning screen. Even with an increase in the tilt angle of the harvester, the cleaning loss of the harvester installed with the automatic leveling system can still be maintained at a low level. The cleaning loss rate of the harvester is 1.2% higher after leveling than during flat operation, which meets the accuracy requirements of the system design. Therefore, this system can be applied to grain combine harvesters and effectively reduce the cleaning loss caused by their operation.