US 4,495,756 AGranted

Pickup attachment for harvesting machines

AssigneeSperry Corporation

InventorsJames G. Greiner, Edward H. Priepke

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Abstract

A pickup attachment for use on crop harvesting machines wherein the pickup attachment includes a reel with a plurality of fingers connected to and rotatable about a central shaft in a predetermined path to pick up crop material. The pickup attachment is supported at one side by a wheel and at the other side by a roller positioned underneath the pickup attachment. The wheel is arranged with its center located substantially in alignment vertically with the axis of the reel central shaft while the roller is arranged with its center located rearward of the axis of the reel central shaft. This arrangement of the wheel and the roller allows the path of the reel fingers to follow the contour of the ground in proximity thereto when the pickup attachment is operated over rough or uneven terrain.

Claims13

Dependent claims

In a pickup attachment for use on crop harvesting machines, said pickup attachment having a frame, a reel supported on said frame, said reel including fingers connected to and rotatable about a shaft in a predetermined path to engage and pick up crop material on the ground, the improvement comprising:

a wheel connected to said frame for supporting one side of said pickup attachment, said wheel being positioned so that its center is located substantially in alignment vertically with the axis of said shaft;
a roller connected to said frame and located underneath said pickup attachment for supporting the other side of said pickup attachment, said roller being positioned so that its center is located rearward of the axis of said shaft and rearward of the center of said wheel;
and
said one side of said pickup attachment being supported solely by said wheel and said other side of said pickup attachment being supported solely by said roller to allow said predetermined path of said reel fingers to follow the contour of the ground in proximity thereto.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.