Feeder device

A feeder device, for use in a harvester front for cutting and collecting crop material, the front including a rear opening arranged such that crop material cut by the front is transferred therethrough so as to be delivered to a feeder house of the harvester, the feeder device comprising:

• a shaft which has a central axis and is mountable in the harvester front so as to be rotatable about the central axis, the shaft having opposed end sections and a centre section located between the end sections, and being dimensioned such that the centre section is arranged in front of said opening when the shaft is mounted;
• fighting on the end sections to direct crop material received into the harvester front laterally inwardly towards a position below the centre section as the shaft rotates;
• and
• paddles arranged at spaced positions on the shaft, the paddles projecting from the centre section and extending diagonal to the central axis so as to urge cut crop material lying below the centre section towards said opening as the shaft rotates.

A feeder drum, for use in a harvester draper front for cutting and collecting crop material, the front including a rear opening arranged such that crop material cut by the front is transferred therethrough so as to be delivered to a feeder house of the harvester, the feeder drum comprising:

• a shaft which has a central axis and is mountable in the draper front so as to be rotatable about the central axis, the shaft having opposed end sections and a centre section located between the end sections, and being dimensioned such that the centre section is arranged in front of said opening when the shaft is mounted;
• fighting on the end sections to direct crop material received into the draper front laterally inwardly towards a position below the centre section as the shaft rotates;
• paddles on the centre section and projecting therefrom, the paddles extending diagonal to the central axis and being arranged to either side of a plane which is perpendicular to said axis and which, when the shaft is mounted in the draper front, passes substantially centrally through said opening, such that surfaces thereof are arranged to contact cut crop material lying below the centre section so as to urge it towards said opening as the shaft rotates;
• fingers mounted at distributed positions along and around the shaft;
• and
• a mechanism which is configured to reciprocate the fingers, as the shaft rotates, such that each finger assumes an extended condition during downward movement thereof, so as to penetrate crop material received into the draper front and urge that material under the shaft, and assumes a retracted condition during rearward movement thereof, so as to separate from that material,
• wherein the fingers are dimensioned such that each projects from the shaft a distance equal to at least a third of a diameter of the shaft when in its extended condition.

A feeder drum for a draper front to be attached to a harvester, the feeder drum comprising:

• a rotatable drum;
• flights extending along the length of said rotatable drum, the flights being arranged in a spaced apart relationship with respect to each other and comprising:
• outer flights located adjacent ends of said rotatable drum;
• and
• a plurality of inner flights, which is located between said outer flights, the inner flights comprising paddle flights to increase crop material grabbing and feeding action in the area located between the outer flights, and to prevent build-up of accumulated stationary crop material under a centre of said rotatable drum by an effect of wiping the floor under the rotatable drum with every revolution of the rotatable drum;
• and
• a plurality of rows of fingers, the rows being arranged in a spaced apart relationship with respect to each other and surrounding said rotatable drum, the fingers being movable from a retracted condition to an extended condition to grab and pull the crop material for delivery into a feeder house of the harvester.