Method and apparatus for checking lubricant volume in a disc cutterbar
AssigneeSperry Corporation
InventorKenneth W. McLean
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for checking the volume of lubricant in the rotary cutterbar of a disc mower-conditioner is disclosed wherein the header of the disc mower-conditioner is provided with a jackstand to affect a tilting of the disc cutterbar at a predetermined angle relative to horizontal. The fill hole for adding lubricant to the cutterbar is positioned such that the volume of the cutterbar vertically below the fill hole when the cutterbar is tilted at the predetermined angle is substantially equal to the recommended volume of lubricant to be carried by the entire disc cutterbar. The proper volume of lubricant for the cutterbar can easily be determined by filling the cutterbar with lubricant up to the fill hole when the cutterbar is tilted at the predetermined angle.
Claims23
In a harvesting machine having a mobile frame;
- conditioning means supported by said frame for conditioning crop material fed thereon;
- a header floatingly supported from said frame for generally vertical movement relative thereto, said header having first and second transversely spaced apart sidewalls;
- rotary cutting means mounted on said header forwardly of said conditioning means to sever standing crop material, said rotary cutting means including a transverse support bar rotatably mounting a plurality of rotary cutters, said support bar being a generally hollow member having opposing transverse ends and housing drive transmission means for transferring rotational power to said rotary cutters and a supply of fluid lubricant for lubricating said drive transmission means, said support bar having a fill hole therein for maintaining the supply of lubricant within said support bar, said fill hole being positioned between said transverse ends of said support bar;
- header lift means operably interconnecting said frame and said header for selectively effecting a generally vertical movement of said header relative to said frame;
- and drive means for delivering rotational power to said drive transmission means, the improvement comprising:
- header tilt means for tilting said header at a predetermined angle inclined to horizontal such that one transverse end of said support bar can be positioned higher than the other transverse end to cause the supply of lubricant therein to flow to the lower transverse end, said fill hole being positioned such that the fluid level of said lubricant is at said fill hole when said support bar is positioned at said predetermined angle and when the proper volume of lubricant is present within said support bar.
A method of checking the level of lubricant in a mower-conditioner having a header provided with a rotary cutting mechanism including a hollow support bar housing drive transmission means and a desired volume of fluid lubricant therewithin, said support bar having a fill hole for the introduction of lubricant into said support bar, comprising the steps of:
- tilting said rotary cutting mechanism from an operative position to a tilted position at a predetermined angle relative to horizontal by a tilting mechanism positioned adjacent one end of said rotary cutting mechanism, the position of said fill hole being such that the volume of said support bar below said fill hole when said rotary cutting mechanism is at said predetermined angle is substantially equal to the desired volume of lubricant;
- adjusting the amount of lubricant within said support bar until the level of said lubricant is at said fill hole;
- and
- then returning said rotary cutting mechanism from said tilted position to said operative position.
In a rotary mower having a generally hollow support bar defined by vertically spaced upper and lower surfaces;
- drive transmission members and a volume of fluid lubricant housed within said support bar;
- a plurality of transversely spaced disc cutter members rotatably mounted in the upper surface of said support bar and operably connected to said drive transmission means to affect a rotation thereof to sever standing crop material by impact action;
- said support bar having transversely spaced first and second ends defining the transverse width of said support bar, said upper surface having a fill hole positioned a predetermined distance from said first end of said support bar for the introduction of lubricant into said support bar, the improvement comprising:
- tilt means operably associated with said second transverse end for selectively positioning said support bar at a predetermined angle inclined to horizontal such that the volume of said support bar vertically below said fill hole is substantially equal to the volume of lubricant recommended for proper operation of the drive transmission members.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.