Fan blade for a sugarcane harvester extractor

A fan blade for an extractor of a sugarcane harvester, the fan blade comprising:

• a body configured for rotation about an axis for inducing a flow of air parallel to the axis for separating leaf material from a flow of sugarcane billets;
• wherein the body includes a leading edge and a trailing edge arranged relative to a rotational direction, with the leading edge including a bevel defining a cutting edge configured for cutting the leaf material;
• wherein the body extends radially outward between a radially inner edge of the body and a radially outer edge of the body, and extends between the leading edge and the trailing edge along both the radially inner edge and the radially outer edge;
• wherein the leading edge includes a center portion and a radially outer corner portion, with the radially outer corner portion of the leading edge extending between the center portion of the leading edge and the radially outer edge;
• wherein the radially outer corner portion is curved toward the trailing edge;
• and
• wherein the radially outer corner portion includes a corner rate of curvature and the center portion includes a center rate of curvature, with the corner rate of curvature greater than the center rate of curvature.

A sugarcane harvester comprising:

• a basecutter having a cutting disk configured for severing stalks of sugarcane;
• a chopper having a drum configured for cutting the stalks of sugarcane into billets;
• an extractor configured for separating leaf material from the sugarcane billets, the extractor including:
• a housing defining an interior passage extending along a central axis;
• a fan assembly positioned within the interior passage of the housing, wherein the fan assembly includes a fan blade mounted for rotation about the central axis and configured for inducing a flow of air through the interior passage for extracting the leaf material from the sugarcane billets;
• wherein the fan blade includes a body defining a leading edge and a trailing edge relative to a rotational direction of the fan assembly, with the leading edge including a bevel defining a cutting edge configured for cutting the leaf material;
• wherein the body is angled relative to a plane of rotation of the fan blade for inducing the flow of air through the interior passage of the housing;
• wherein the fan blade extends radially outward from the central axis to a radially outer edge of the fan blade, between the leading edge and the trailing edge;
• wherein the leading edge includes a center portion and a radially outer corner portion, with the radially outer corner portion of the leading edge extending between the center portion of the leading edge and the radially outer edge;
• wherein the radially outer corner portion is curved toward the trailing edge;
• and
• wherein the radially outer corner portion includes a corner rate of curvature and the center portion includes a center rate of curvature, with the corner rate of curvature greater than the center rate of curvature.