Access door with integral crop deflector for a combine harvester and method of manufacturing the same
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorsBrian Gorge, Manish Singh
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An access door for a combine harvester includes a body having a top, a bottom, a first side, and a second side. The body includes a height defined between the top and the bottom and a width defined between the first side and the second side. A plurality of ribs is integrally formed in the body for adding rigidity thereto, and a deflector is integrally formed with the body and protrudes therefrom. The deflector has a top surface and a width that is substantially the same as the width of the body. The body is defined within a first plane and the top surface is defined within a second plane such that the second plane is disposed at an angle less than 90° from the first plane.
Claims20
An access door for a combine harvester, comprising:
- a body having a top, a bottom, a first side, and a second side, the body including a height defined between the top and the bottom and a width defined between the first side and the second side;
- a plurality of ribs integrally formed in an inner surface of the body for adding rigidity thereto;
- a deflector integrally formed with the body and protruding from the inner surface of the body, the deflector comprising a top surface;
- a ridge integrally formed in the body, the ridge intersecting the plurality of ribs and defining a cut line for forming a smaller access door from the body, the smaller access door retaining the deflector;
- wherein, the deflector comprises a width that is less than or equal to the width of the body;
- wherein, the body is defined within a first plane and the top surface is defined within a second plane, the second plane being disposed at an angle less than 90° from the first plane.
A method of manufacturing an access door for a combine harvester, comprising:
- providing a material from which the door is to be formed;
- placing the material in a mold having a shape and size of the access door;
- performing a molding process with the material in the mold;
- and
- manufacturing the access door from the material during the molding process, wherein the molding step comprises:
- forming a body of the access door having a top, a bottom, a first side, and a second side;
- integrally forming a deflector and a plurality of ribs with an inner surface of the body, the deflector including a top surface;
- forming the top surface of the deflector to be oriented at an angle less than 90° from the body;
- and
- forming a ridge in the body, the ridge intersecting the plurality of ribs and defining a cut line for forming a smaller access door from the body, the smaller access door retaining the deflector.
A method of manufacturing an access door for a combine harvester, comprising:
- providing a material from which the door is to be formed;
- placing the material in a mold having a shape and size of the access door;
- performing a molding process with the material in the mold;
- and
- manufacturing the access door from the material during the molding process, wherein the molding step comprises:
- forming a body of the access door having a top, a bottom, a first side, and a second side;
- integrally forming a deflector and a plurality of ribs with an inner surface of the body, the deflector including a top surface;
- forming a width of the deflector to be approximately the same as a width of the body;
- forming the top surface of the deflector to be oriented at an angle less than 90° from the body;
- forming at least one ridge integrally in the body during the molding process, the at least one ridge extending the width of the body;
- removing a first portion of the body by cutting along the at least one ridge from the first side to the second side;
- and
- forming a second access door with a remaining portion of the body, the second access door having a height that is less than a height of the body before the removing step.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.