Back to results
US 10,973,170 B2Granted
Cutter assembly with knife guard and knife guard holder
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorsJesse R. Neely, Lucas Laudenbach, Gregory S. McCunn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A cutter assembly includes a knife guard holder to be removably connected to a cutter bar, a knife guard and an interface between the knife guard holder and the knife guard. The knife guard may have a knife channel to slidably guide a cutter knife. The interface extends between the knife guard holder and the knife guard to locate and releasably retain the knife guard with respect to the knife guard holder.
Claims23
A cutter assembly comprising:
- a knife guard holder comprising:
- rear fastening apertures for receiving fasteners to removably connect the knife guard holder to a cutter bar;
- a knife guard having a knife channel to slidably guide a cutter knife, the knife guard comprising a plurality of fingers integrally formed as a single unitary body;
- and
- an interface between the knife guard holder and the knife guard to locate and releasably retain the knife guard with respect to the knife guard holder.
2 more elements
A cutter assembly comprising:
- a knife guard holder to be removably connected to a cutter bar;
- a knife guard having a knife channel to slidably guide a cutter knife;
- and
- an interface between the knife guard holder and the knife guard to locate and releasably retain the knife guard with respect to the knife guard holder, wherein the interface comprises:
- a wedge extending from one of the knife guard holder and the knife guard;
- a wedge shaped cavity extending from the other of the knife guard holder and the knife guard, the wedge-shaped cavity releasably receiving the wedge to locate and releasably retain the knife guard with respect to the knife guard holder;
- and
- a magnetic material proximate one of the wedge and the wedge-shaped cavity, wherein the other of the wedge and the wedge-shaped cavity comprises a ferrous material, the ferrous material and the magnetic material being magnetically attracted to one another to retain the wedge within the wedge-shaped cavity.
5 more elements
A cutter assembly comprising:
- a knife guard holder to be removably connected to a cutter bar;
- a knife guard having a knife channel to slidably guide a cutter knife, the knife guard comprising a plurality of fingers integrally formed as a single unitary body;
- and
- an interface between the knife guard holder and the knife guard to locate and releasably retain the knife guard with respect to the knife guard holder, wherein the knife guard holder comprises three wedge-shaped cavities and wherein the knife guard comprises:
- a polymer body comprising:
- the plurality of fingers, the plurality of fingers comprising:
- first and second outer fingers;
- and
- a central finger between the first and second outer fingers and having the knife channel;
- and
- three wedge-shaped projections corresponding to the three wedge-shaped cavities and wedged into the three wedge-shaped cavities;
- a first metal cutter plate continuously extending across the first and second outer fingers and the central finger, the metal cutter plate forming an upper surface of the first and second outer fingers and a floor of the knife channel;
- and
- a second metal cutter plate supported by the central finger and forming a ceiling of the knife channel.
11 more elements
A cutter assembly comprising:
- a knife guard holder to be removably connected to a cutter bar;
- a knife guard having a knife channel to slidably guide a cutter knife, the knife guard comprising a plurality of fingers integrally formed as a single unitary body;
- and
- an interface between the knife guard holder and the knife guard to locate and releasably retain the knife guard with respect to the knife guard holder, wherein the knife guard holder comprises three wedge-shaped cavities and wherein the knife guard comprises:
- a polymer body comprising:
- the plurality of fingers, the plurality of fingers comprising:
- first and second outer fingers;
- and
- a central finger between the first and second outer fingers and having the knife channel;
- three wedge-shaped projections corresponding to the three wedge-shaped cavities and wedged into the three wedge-shaped cavities;
- and
- a dovetail projecting from an end of at least one of the three wedge-shaped projections, the dovetail projecting beyond a corresponding one of the three wedge-shaped cavities to catch on an exterior of the corresponding one of the three wedge-shaped cavities;
- and
- a first metal cutter plate continuously extending across the first and second outer fingers and the central finger, the metal cutter plate forming an upper surface of the first and second outer fingers and a floor of the knife channel.
11 more elements
A knife guard for a cutter assembly, the knife guard comprising:
- an integral unitary polymer body comprising:
- a bar;
- a plurality of pointed fingers forwardly projecting from the bar, at least one of the pointed fingers forming a knife channel;
- and
- a plurality of wedge-shaped projections projecting rearwardly from the bar to be received within a corresponding plurality of wedge-shaped cavities;
- and
- a first metal plate continuously extending across and secured to the plurality of pointed fingers, the first metal cutter plate forming a floor of the knife channel;
- and
- a second metal plate secured to the at least one of the pointed fingers forming the knife channel, the second metal plate forming a ceiling of the knife channel.
6 more elements
A cutter assembly comprising:
- a knife guard holder to be removably connected to a cutter bar;
- a knife guard having a knife channel to slidably guide a cutter knife, the knife guard comprising a plurality of fingers integrally formed as a single unitary body;
- and
- an interface between the knife guard holder and the knife guard to locate and releasably retain the knife guard with respect to the knife guard holder, wherein the interface comprises wedge shaped cavities provided as part of one of the knife guard holder and the knife guard and a plurality of wedges integrally formed as a single unitary body with one another as part of and extending from the other one of the knife guard holder and the knife guard, the plurality of wedges being removably received within the wedge-shaped cavities.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.