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US 4,991,476 AGranted
Automatic knife sharpening method for forage harvesters
AssigneeFord New Holland, Inc.
InventorsMark K. Chow, John R. McClure
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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AssigneeFord New Holland, Inc.
InventorsMark K. Chow, John R. McClure
Estimating the term…
In a forage harvester having a motor driven sharpening stone driven back and forth along a path parallel to the axis of a rotating cutterhead to sharpen the knives of the cutterhead, and a door which normally prevents access to the knives, a control circuit is provided for controlling the opening of the door, the movement of the sharpening stone to sharpen the knives, and the closing of the door after the knives have been sharpened. The circuit is controlled by switches located at an operator's control panel and accessible to the operator while he is in the driver's seat of the harvester so that the operator does not have to leave his driving position to accomplish the knife sharpening operation. The circuit includes visual indicators located on the control panel for indicating the status of the circuit during the entire operation. The circuit includes a sensor circuit for sensing the rate of rotation of the cutterhead, the sensor circuit preventing knife sharpening from taking place unless the cutterhead is rotating at a rate greater than the rate required for proper sharpening of the knives.
A method of controlling knife sharpening in a forage harvester having a rotatable cutterhead carrying knives, a sharpening stone driven by a sharpener drive motor for sharpening the knives, and a control circuit for energizing said drive motor for a fixed interval of time to drive said sharpening stone adjacent said knives to sharpen them, said method comprising:
Apparatus for controlling knife sharpening in a forage harvester having a rotatable cutterhead carrying knives, a sharpening stone driven by a sharpener drive motor for sharpening the knives, and a control circuit for energizing said drive motor for a fixed interval of time to drive said sharpening stone adjacent said knives to sharpen them, said apparatus being characterized by:
A method of controlling cutterhead sharpening in a forage harvester having a rotatable cutterhead, means for sharpening the cutterhead, and a control circuit for energizing and sharpening means to a fixed interval of time, said method comprising:
Apparatus for controlling cutterhead sharpening in a forage harvester having a rotatable cutterhead, means for sharpening the cutterhead, and a control circuit for energizing said sharpening means for a fixed interval of time, said apparatus comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.