Feeder house for a crop harvester

In a mobile crop harvester including a separator and a header including a laterally extending gatherer portion for gathering crop material from a field and delivering it to the separator as the harvester advances, an improved conveying arrangement for the header comprising:

• a feeder housing having a first portion and a second portion downstream of the first portion, each portion having a rearwardly and upwardly sloping conveying floor, each floor having an upstream and downstream portion, the downstream portion of the first conveying floor being connected to the upstream portion of the second conveying floor and the first conveying floor having a lateral extent substantially greater than the second conveyor floor but substantially less than that of the gatherer portion;
• first conveyor means carried at least partially by the first feeder housing portion and operatively associated with and spanning the first conveying floor and including a plurality of transversely disposed rotatable conveyor elements disposed in a fore-and-aft extending array for engaging material gathered into the header and propelling it generally downstream over the first conveying floor and delivering it to the second feeder housing portion;
• and
• second conveyor means carried by the feeder housing and operatively associated with the second conveying floor for receiving crop material from the first conveyor means and propelling it downstream above the second conveying floor for delivery to the separator.

In a combine having conveying elements for conveying crop material from a gathering unit to a processing unit, a two-stage feeder housing wall arrangement at least partially surrounding the conveying elements comprising:

• a first stage housing including opposite generally upright sidewalls, a top wall, and a rearwardly and upwardly sloping floor having a rearward edge, said edge including a laterally extending central portion and, respectively, contiguous with the opposite ends of the central portion, left and right-hand opposite outer edges diverging outwardly and rearwardly;
• a second stage housing substantially narrower than the first having an upwardly and rearwardly sloping floor offset downwardly and rearwardly from the floor of the first stage, opposite generally parallel sidewalls offset inwardly from the walls of the first stage, each of said walls having an upper edge having an upstream end contiguous with the rearward edge of the first stage floor adjacent a junction between the central and an outer portion of said edge;
• a generally rectangular transverse bulkhead having upper and lower edges contiguous respectively with the first stage housing floor rearward edge central portion and a forward portion of the second stage floor, and opposite edges contiguous with the opposite sidewalls of the second stage housing;
• and,
• on each side of the feeder housing, a triangular transition ramp having a forward base edge at least partially co-extensive with an outer edge of the first stage floor rearward edge and extending downwardly and inwardly relative to the plane of the first floor and an inner edge at least partially co-extensive with a sidewall upper edge so as to tend to converge towards the center of the housing crop material being conveyed through the housing and being engaged by the transition ramp.

In a combine harvester, a transfer conveyor arrangement for receiving, as the harvester advances over the field, a gathered flow of crop material in a relatively loose condition and delivering it to a separator of the harvester in a relatively narrow stream comprising:

• first and second stage conveyor housing defining respectively generally longitudinally aligned first and second conveyor passages of generally rectangular cross-section sloping rearwardly and upwardly, each having a floor and an upstream inlet and a downstream outlet, the first stage outlet and second stage inlet being in a crop material transferring relationship and the passage of the second stage being substantially narrower than that of the first stage;
• means in the first stage for receiving the gathered flow of crop material and converging it inwardly while conveying it rearwardly towards the outlet of the first stage for transfer to the inlet of the second stage;
• and
• means in the second stage for engaging crop material from the first stage and conveying it downstream to the outlet of the second stage for delivery to the separator.

In a combine harvester including a crop processing means and a forward mounted harvesting means equipped to gather crop material from a field and deliver it to a discharge opening of the harvesting means, the combination therewith of an improved means for conveying crop material from the harvesting means to the crop processing means comprising:

• a feeder housing having walls and an inlet registering with and of similar width to the discharge opening of the harvesting means and an outlet having a width significantly less than that of the inlet, and a plurality of internal passages at least partially defined by the housing walls, said passages successively decreasing in lateral extent between the inlet and the outlet;
• a plurality of conveying elements carried by the housing and at least partially occupying the internal passages and including a first conveying element adjacent the feeder housing inlet and substantially spanning the width of the inlet and operable to engage and discharge rearwardly within the feeder housing from substantially the full span of the first conveying element, crop material delivered to the discharge opening of the harvester means, and a second conveying element, adjacent the outlet, substantially spanning the outlet and operable to move crop material rearwardly within the housing to the outlet for delivery to the crop processing means, and an intermediate conveying element disposed between the first and second conveying elements and operable to receive and transfer crop material from the first conveying element to the second conveying element, at least one of the conveying elements including means for urging crop material diagonally rearwardly;
• and
• means for driving the conveying elements so that they cooperate with the feeder housing passages to receive a mat of crop material from the harvesting means and progressively reduce its lateral extent for delivery to the crop processing means.