Crop delivery system for an axial-flow combine

A crop delivery system for an axial-flow combine having a crop harvesting apparatus at a forward end of said combine, a threshing apparatus including a threshing cage with an elongated rotor rotatably mounted at opposite ends by bearing means, said rotor being driven about a rotational axis and has a series of blades defining an impeller at is forward end, with said crop delivery system being interposed between said crop harvesting apparatus and said threshing apparatus, said crop delivery system comprising:

• means for feeding crop materials from said crop harvesting apparatus toward said threshing apparatus;
• a transition housing which surrounds the impeller and defines an inlet end and an outlet end, said inlet end opening to the front end of the combine and to the feeding means and said outlet end opening to the threshing apparatus;
• one or more spiral transport vanes secured to an internal surface of said housing for directing crop material rearwardly toward said threshing apparatus in response to impeller rotation;
• and
• a crop delivery vane assembly arranged at a forward end of and within said transition housing in crop receiving relationship with said feeding means, said vane assembly including a plurality of delivery vanes defining a series of hollow channels which open rearwardly toward a rear end of said combine, said channels extending outwardly and spaced at different radial distances from the rotational axis of said rotor for positively moving crop material rearwardly and peripherally outward toward said transport vanes and wherein each channel includes a rearwardly projecting ramped surface at a terminal end thereof for directing crop rearwardly toward said threshing apparatus and with adjacent ramped surfaces being angularly positioned with respect to each other within said transition housing.