Harvester cutterbar knife drive with cylindrical cam or self reversing lead screw mechanism

An agricultural harvesting head, comprising:

• a frame that extends laterally;
• a belt conveyor configured to be supported on the frame and driven in a lateral direction;
• and
• a cutting assembly configured to be supported on the frame, comprising:
• a cutterbar that extends laterally;
• and
• a knife drive gearbox configured to drive linear reciprocating motion of the cutterbar, the knife drive gearbox comprising:
• a cam shaft extending along a rotational axis from a first end to a second end, the cam shaft having a first cam follower groove located proximate the first end and a second cam follower groove located proximate the second end;
• a drive mechanism configured to drive rotation of the cam shaft about the rotational axis;
• a first output shaft coupled to a first cam follower configured to travel in the first cam follower groove;
• and
• a second output shaft coupled to a second cam follower configured to travel in the second cam follower groove;
• wherein the first output shaft is coupled to the cutterbar at a first mounting point and the second output shaft is coupled to the cutterbar at a second mounting point.

A method of operating a cutting assembly for an agricultural harvesting head, comprising:

• providing a first cutterbar;
• providing a second cutterbar;
• providing a knife drive gearbox configured to drive linear reciprocating motion of the first cutterbar and the second cutterbar, the knife drive gearbox comprising:
• a cam shaft extending along a rotational axis from a first end to a second end, the cam shaft having a first cam follower groove located proximate the first end and a second cam follower groove located proximate the second end;
• a drive mechanism configured to drive rotation of the cam shaft about the rotational axis;
• a first output shaft coupled to a first cam follower configured to travel in the first cam follower groove;
• and
• a second output shaft coupled to a second cam follower configured to travel in the second cam follower groove;
• wherein the first output shaft is coupled to the first cutterbar and the second output shaft is coupled to the second cutterbar.