US 5,007,235 AGranted

Tine tube bearing assembly for a harvesting reel

AssigneeHay & Forage Industries

InventorsDwight E. Nickel, Michael L. O'Halloran, Cecil L. Case

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

The bearing assembly includes a synthetic resinous collar which circumscribes the tube and oscillates therewith against the inside of a metal bushing wedged within a metal housing that is bolted to the adjacent tine tube carrier arm of the reel. The bushing is constructed from a pair of generally semicircular half-sections that are abutted together to make a complete annulus when held within the housing, thereby permitting removal of the bushing from the tube by simply separating the two half-sections from one another after the housing has been slipped axially off the end of the bushing. A slit in one side of the collar permits opposed wall portions thereof to be spread apart so that the collar may likewise be removed from the tube in a transverse direction rather than requiring axial movement along the tube which would be obstructed by crop-engaging tines of the reel.

Claims17

Dependent claims

In a harvester reel having a plurality of circumferentially spaced tine bars which are oscillated about their longitudinal axes within openings in carrier arms for the bars during operative rotation of the reel, thereby changing the angle of presentation of crop-engaging tines on the bars as the bars describe a circular path of travel during rotation of the reel, an improved bearing assembly on each carrier arm for its tine bar comprising:

a generally cylindrical housing secured to the arm against rotation relative thereto and having an annular wall projecting laterally outwardly from the arm generally in the axial direction of the tine bar,
said wall being axially aligned with the opening in the carrier arm and circumscribing the tine bar in radially outwardly spaced relation thereto;
a cylindrical bearing collar secured to the tine bar in surrounding relationship therewith for oscillating movement with the tine bar relative to the housing,
said collar being at least partially axially received within the housing in radially spaced relation to said wall thereof to define an annular region between the wall and the collar;
and
a bushing retained within said region against rotary movement relative to the housing and disposed in sliding engagement with the collar of the tine bar to support the latter during its oscillation.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.