Pointed guard for sickle cutter system
AssigneeMacDon Industries Ltd.
InventorFrancois R. Talbot
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a sickle cutting system including a plurality of guard fingers at spaced positions across a cutter bar across which a reciprocating sickle knife passes, each guard finger has a forwardly projecting tip portion in front of a ledger surface and a rearwardly projecting tang portion connected to a rear end of the tip portion and extending therefrom over the ledger surface to a rear edge of the tang portion located over the blade. The lower surface of the tang portion includes a first portion adjacent the tip portion which is generally parallel to the ledger surface and a second portion adjacent the rear edge which is inclined at an angle away from the ledger surface. The width of the tang portion across the rear of the tang portion is equal to or greater than 1.5 inches.
Claims13
A sickle cutting apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of stationary knife guards arranged to be mounted along a cutter bar;
- a sickle bar mounted in transversely extending position and arranged to be driven for reciprocating movement relative to said knife guards;
- the sickle bar having a plurality of knife blades mounted thereon for movement therewith;
- each of the knife blades having a cutting surface for passing across the knife guards;
- each of the knife blades having on first and second sides first and second side cutting edges converging toward a forward tip of the blade;
- at least some of the knife guards comprising a base portion arranged to be mounted on the cutter bar and at least one guard finger mounted on the base portion so that the guard fingers are arranged to be mounted in a row along the cutter bar;
- the guard finger of said at least some of the knife guards having an upwardly facing ledger surface with opposed side edges thereof arranged to provide first and second shearing edges which cooperate with said side cutting edges of said knife blades;
- the guard finger of said at least some of the knife guards having an forwardly projecting tip portion in front of the ledger surface;
- the guard finger of said at least some of the knife guards having a rearwardly projecting tang portion connected to a rear end of the tip portion and extending therefrom over the ledger surface to a rear edge of the tang portion located over the blade;
- a lower surface of the tang portion thus defining with the ledger surface a slot through which the blade passes;
- the lower surface of the tang portion including a first planar portion extending across the tang portion from one side edge to an opposed side edge and extending from the tip portion to a position spaced from the rear edge which first portion is generally parallel to the ledger surface and a second planar portion extending across the tang portion from one side edge to an opposed side edge and extending said position to the rear edge which planar second portion is inclined from said position at an angle away from the ledger surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.