US 4,084,396 AGranted

Adjustable row spacing forage head

AssigneeHesston Corporation

InventorsDavid P. Fritz, Rex O. Weigand, Gary L. Fleming

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Abstract

Individual row units on the harvester, each including a crop transfer trough, cutting apparatus at the forward end of the trough, and cooperating conveyors along the trough, are independently swingable relative to one another for changing the distance between the troughs at their forward ends in accordance with the row spacing encountered in a particular field. The spacing at the rear ends of the troughs remains unchanged in all positions of swinging movement of the units so that the dimensions of the discharge zone into which the crops are delivered by the units may remain constant. Individual sets of disc cutters serve as the cutting apparatus for the row units and are driven by the same mechanism that operates the conveyors. Intermeshing gears of the drive walk around one another without disengagement during adjustable swinging of the units, and a hood between the units expands and contracts during swinging to present a continuous closed surface between the units regardless of their relative angular positions.

Claims20

Dependent claims

In a mobile crop harvester:

a frame;
a pair of normally inclined row crop harvesting units,
each of said units having mechanism which includes:
means defining an elongated, fore-and-aft extending passage and having a normally elevated rear discharge end and a normally lowered front inlet end,
cutting means at said inlet end for severing standing crops approaching the passage as the harvester advances, and
a pair of opposed cooperating conveyors along said passage-defining means for elevating the crops severed by said cutting means through said passage and out said discharge end;
drive means on said frame for said mechanisms;
and
means mounting said units on said frame for lateral swinging movement relative to one another to permit selective changing of the spacing of the passages at said inlet ends without changing the spacing at said discharge ends,
said conveyors being swingable with their respective units and each including a pair of rotatable members at said opposite ends and an endless, flexible element looped about said members, at least one of said units having its axis of swinging movement coinciding with the axis of rotation of one of the members at said discharge end.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.