A sugarcane harvesting machine of this type is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,830,046. An inclined conveyor is situated at the end of the product flow through this machine, and conveys sugarcane sections, formed by comminuting the cut sugarcane stalks in the machine, into a collection car. The inclined conveyor has two continuous traction mechanisms, designed as chains, which extend in parallel to one another and are connected by steel carriers. The chains run over upper drive wheels, and lower deflection wheels which are carried along and situated in the feed area of the sugarcane sections. The inclined conveyor is designed as a scraper conveyor; i.e., it has a robust sheet steel floor which forms a running surface over the entire length of the inclined conveyor and scrapes the carriers, thus upwardly conveying the sugarcane sections resting on the sheet steel floor.
A first and a second extractor which are used to remove waste and the like from the sugarcane sections are situated in the sugarcane harvesting machine. The extractors operate via a rotor which generates an air flow which carries along the waste and conveys it to the outside. A first extractor is situated in a transition zone of the sugarcane sections on the inclined conveyor, while the second extractor is situated at the end of the inclined conveyor and removes waste from the sugarcane sections when they drop down at the upper end of the inclined conveyor and fall into the collection car.
Such inclined conveyors described above with reference to the prior art have many drawbacks. The steel chains wear out very quickly due to adhering sand and dust. In addition, they fall out of the division after even a few hours of operation due to the acting tension, causing the teeth to come out of the drive wheels. For this reason, the conveyor requires continuous monitoring and maintenance, and in spite of this has a short service life. A high level of wear and high energy consumption occur during operation of the inclined conveyor, since the sugarcane sections are scraped during conveyance over the steel floor of the conveyor. This is also associated with a high noise level due to the metal-to-metal contact. Furthermore, the scraper floor of the conveyor, which is made of solid sheet steel, is very heavy. A further drawback is that, due to the scraper floor which acts as a barrier, the inclined conveyor, although it is perforated, conveys almost all of the impurities along with it, resulting in only a very low screening and cleaning effect and thus subjecting the second extractor to heavy load.