US 6,351,931 B1Granted

Crop header with draper canvas

AssigneeMacDon Industries Ltd.

InventorBruce Robert Shearer

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Abstract

A header includes a generally C-shaped cutter bar supporting the sickle knife assembly across a front edge of the header. A draper assembly is carried behind the cutter bar and includes a pair of rollers at right angles to the beam carrying a continuous draper canvas band around the rollers with the front edge of the canvas underneath the cutter bar. The rollers and a support plate between the rollers for the upper run of the canvas are both recessed relative to the front edge of the canvas to leave a cantilever portion at the front edge of the canvas which projects under the cutter bar to form a seal. The position of the draper canvas on the rollers is guided by a pair of longitudinally extending ribs one adjacent but spaced rearwardly from the front edge and abutting the trailing edge of the cutter bar and the other adjacent but spaced forwardly from the rear edge and abutting a front edge of a rear plate. The ribs are formed integrally with transverse slats. The front rib forms a damming effect reducing the possibility of material sliding over the front edge of the draper. An upper surface of the front rib can be castelated to provide an increased aggressive action tending to pull the crop along the draper.

Claims22

Dependent claims

A header for cutting and transporting a standing crop comprising:

a header frame;
an elongate cutter bar arranged along a front edge of the frame;
a knife mounted on the cutter bar for cutting the standing crop;
a draper assembly mounted on the header frame rearwardly of the cutter bar such that crop cut by the knife of the cutter bar falls onto the draper assembly for transportation longitudinally of the header;
the draper assembly including:
a first and a second draper guide roller each arranged at a respective end of the draper assembly spaced apart along the cutter bar with an axis of each guide roller arranged substantially at right angles to the cutter bar;
a draper canvas forming a continuous loop of flexible material wrapped around the rollers so as to define an upper run of the canvas on top of the rollers and a lower run of the canvas below the rollers, a front edge of the upper run of the canvas adjacent the cutter bar, a rear edge of the upper run of the canvas spaced rearwardly of the cutter bar, an inner surface of the canvas facing inwardly and an outer surface of the canvas facing outwardly such that the outer surface defines an upper surface of the upper run for carrying the cut crop thereon;
at least one of the guide rollers being arranged to effect driving of the canvas in a direction along its length to carry the cut crop therealong;
the cutter bar including a rearwardly facing trailing edge therealong at the upper run of the draper canvas;
the draper canvas having a front guide bead extending longitudinally therealong attached to and extending outwardly from the outer surface thereof;
the front guide bead being located rearwardly of the trailing edge of the cutter bar with a forward side surface of the front guide bead on the upper surface of the upper run of the canvas in contact with the rearwardly facing trailing edge of the cutter bar.

8 more elements

A header for cutting and transporting a standing crop comprising:

a header frame;
an elongate cutter bar arranged along a front edge of the frame;
a knife mounted on the cutter bar for cutting the standing crop;
a draper assembly mounted on the header frame rearwardly of the cutter bar such that crop cut by the knife of the cutter bar falls onto the draper assembly for transportation longitudinally of the header;
the draper assembly including:
a first and a second draper guide roller each arranged at a respective end of the draper assembly spaced apart along the cutter bar with an axis of each guide roller arranged substantially at right angles to the cutter bar;
a draper canvas forming a continuous loop of flexible material wrapped around the rollers so as to define an upper run of the canvas on top of the rollers and a lower run of the canvas below the rollers, a front edge of the upper run of the canvas adjacent the cutter bar, a rear edge of the upper run of the canvas spaced rearwardly of the cutter bar, an inner surface of the canvas facing inwardly and an outer surface of the canvas facing outwardly such that the outer surface defines an upper surface of the upper run for carrying the cut crop thereon;
at least one of the guide rollers being arranged to effect driving of the canvas in a direction along its length to carry the cut crop therealong;
the cutter bar including a rearwardly facing trailing edge therealong at the upper run of the draper canvas;
the draper canvas having a front guide bead extending longitudinally therealong attached to and extending outwardly from the outer surface thereof;
the front guide bead being located rearwardly of the trailing edge of the cutter bar with a forward side surface of the front guide bead on the upper surface of the upper run of the canvas in contact with the rearwardly facing trailing edge of the cutter bar;
and the front guide bead being located at a position spaced rearwardly from the front edge of the canvas with the front edge of the upper run of the canvas located forwardly of and underneath the rearwardly facing trailing edge of the cutter bar.

9 more elements

A header for cutting and transporting a standing crop comprising:

a header frame;
an elongate cutter bar arranged along a front edge of the frame;
a knife mounted on the cutter bar for cutting the standing crop;
a draper assembly mounted on the header frame rearwardly of the cutter bar such that crop cut by the knife of the cutter bar falls onto the draper assembly for transportation longitudinally of the header;
the cutter bar including a trailing edge therealong adjacent the draper assembly;
the draper assembly including:
a first and a second draper guide roller each arranged at a respective end of the draper assembly spaced apart along the cutter bar with an axis of each guide roller arranged substantially at right angles to the cutter bar;
a draper canvas forming a continuous loop of flexible material wrapped around the rollers so as to define an upper run of the canvas on top of the rollers and a lower run of the canvas below the rollers, a front edge of the upper run of the canvas adjacent the cutter bar, a rear edge of the upper run of the canvas spaced rearwardly of the cutter bar, an inner surface of the canvas facing inwardly and an outer surface of the canvas facing outwardly such that the outer surface defines an upper surface of the upper run for carrying the cut crop thereon;
at least one of the guide rollers being arranged to effect driving of the canvas in a direction along its length to carry the cut crop therealong;
the draper canvas having a raised front rib extending longitudinally therealong attached to and extending outwardly from the outer surface thereof;
the outer surface of the canvas having a plurality of slats thereon at spaced positions along the length of the canvas and extending at right angles to the raised front rib;
the slats being formed integrally with the raised front rib so as to be directly connected thereto.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.