Header height control system and apparatus
AssigneeCNH America LLC
InventorsPhilip Ehrhart, Douglas Otto
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and apparatus for controlling height of a header of a work machine such as an agricultural windrowing machine or a harvesting machine, which includes height control cylinders jointly or individually operable for raising or lowering the opposite ends of a header to achieve a desired overall height or angle of tilt in relation to the surface of a field or pasture to be cut, and which allow the header to be raised, and lowered to the previously selected cut height, without changing the lengths of the cylinders, so as to be usable in combination with an optional header lift and/or float system.
Claims23
A height control system for a header of a work machine, comprising:
- header support apparatus connecting a header to a frame of a work machine, the apparatus including first and second height control cylinders disposed in supporting relation to opposite first and second end portions of the header, respectively, the height control cylinders being controllably variable in length for supporting the first and second end portions of the header at selectable heights relative to the frame, respectively, each of the height control cylinders being connected to the frame by a connection which allows the height control cylinder and the end portion of the header supported thereby to be lifted from a selected height without changing the length of the height control cylinder;
- and
- an operator control system in connection with the height control cylinders and operator controllable for individually or jointly varying the lengths of the height control cylinders for positioning the end portions of the header at one selected height or different selected heights relative to the frame.
A work machine, comprising:
- a frame supported for movement over the ground;
- an elongate header extending transversely relative to the frame, the header including cutting apparatus extending along substantially the length thereof and operable for severing plants from the ground as the header is moved thereover;
- and
- header support apparatus connecting the header to the frame, the apparatus including first and second lift arms extending between the frame and transversely spaced locations on the header, respectively, and first and second height control cylinders extending between the frame and the lift arms, respectively, the height control cylinders being simultaneously controllably variable in length for positioning the header at selectable heights in relation to the frame, the height control cylinders being individually controllably variable in length for tilting the header transversely in relation to the frame, and each of the height control cylinders being connected to the frame by a slotted connection which allows the height control cylinder and the header to be lifted from a selected height without changing the length of the height control cylinder.
A windrowing machine, comprising:
- a frame supported for movement over the ground;
- a header extending transversely relative to the frame;
- header support apparatus connecting the header to the frame, including first and second lift arms extending between the frame and transversely spaced locations on the header, respectively, and first and second height control cylinders extending between the frame and the lift arms, respectively, and;
- an operator control system in operative connection with the height control cylinders and controllable for operating the height control cylinders simultaneously for positioning the header at selectable heights in relation to the frame, and operating the cylinders individually for angularly moving the header transversely in relation to the frame.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.