Wear shield for the cutter bar of a crop cutting machine

A wear shield for attachment to a header of a crop culling machine having a cutter bar, a guard bar mounted on a front edge of the cutter bar, a plurality of cutter guards carried on mounting fasteners at spaced positions along the guard bar and a ground engaging bottom plate on the cutter bar extending rearwardly from the guard bar;

• the wear shield comprising:
• a wear body molded from a plastic material;
• the wear body having a front mounting portion and a rear covering portion;
• the front mounting portion being shaped to define at least one mounting hole therethrough arranged to receive therethrough a mounting fastener of a respective one of the cutter guards such that the front mounting portion is attached to the guard bar by the fastener which mounts the cutter guard;
• the rear covering portion being arranged to extend rearwardly from the front mounting portion and having a bottom surface arranged for engaging the ground so as to underlie and protect the bottom plate;
• the front mounting portion and the rear covering portion having two side edges each for locating alongside a side edge of a next adjacent wear shield so that the wear shields can be arranged side by side across the cutter bar;
• wherein the front mounting portion has upper surface portions arranged to lie in a common plane so as in use to butt against a bottom surface of the guard bar and wherein the front mounting portion has at least one recess therein recessed from the common plane and arranged to receive a portion of a respective one of the guards therein, which portion projects below the bottom surface of the guard bar.

A wear shield

• for attachment to a header of a crop culling machine having a cutter bar, a guard bar mounted on a front edge of the cutter bar, a plurality of cutter guards at spaced positions along the guard bar and a ground engaging bottom plate on the cutter bar extending rearwardly from the guard bar;
• the wear shield comprising:
• a wear body molded from a plastic material;
• the wear body having a front mounting portion and a rear covering portion;
• the front mounting portion having at least one mounting hole therethrough arranged to receive therethrough a respective mounting fastener such that the front mounting portion is attached to the guard bar by the mounting fastener;
• the rear covering portion being arranged to extend rearwardly from the front mounting portion and having a bottom surface arranged for engaging the ground so as to underlie and protect the bottom plate;
• the front mounting portion and the rear covering portion having two side edges each for locating alongside a side edge of a next adjacent wear shield so that the wear shields can be arranged side by side across the cutter bar;
• wherein the front mounting portion has a front edge arranged to extend along a front edge of the guard bar substantially coincident therewith when clamped thereto by said mounting fastener;
• wherein the front mounting portion has upper surface portions arranged to lie in a common plane so as in use to buff against a bottom surface of the guard bar;
• wherein the front mounting portion has at least one recess in the upper surface portions arranged to receive a portion of a respective one of the guards therein;
• and wherein the upper surface portions on each side of said at least one recess at the front edge thereof across the full width thereof lie in said common plane so as to bull against the bottom surface of the guard bar.

A header of a crop cutting machine comprising:

• a guard bar mounted on a front edge of the cutter bar;
• a plurality of cutter guards carried on mounting fasteners at spaced positions along the guard bar;
• a ground engaging bottom plate on the cutter bar extending rearwardly from the guard bar;
• and a wear shield covering the bottom plate such that the wear shield engages the ground underneath the bottom plate to protect the bottom plate from wear, the wear shield comprising:
• a wear body molded from a plastic material;
• the wear body having a front mounting portion and a rear covering portion;
• the front mounting portion being shaped to define at least one mounting hole receiving therethrough the mounting fastener of a respective one of the cutter guards such that the front mounting portion is attached to the guard bar by the mounting fastener which mounts the cutter guard;
• the rear covering portion extending rearwardly from the front mounting portion such that an upper surface extends along the bottom plate to cover the bottom plate and having a bottom surface arranged for engaging the ground so as to underlie and protect the bottom plate;
• the front mounting portion and the rear covering portion having two side edges each located alongside a side edge of a next adjacent wear shield so that the wear shields are arranged side by side across the cutter bar,
• the cutter guard having at least one rear portion mounted on a bottom surface of the guard bar with the mounting fastener fastening the rear portion to a bottom surface of the guard bar;
• wherein the front mounting portion has upper surface portions arranged to lie in a common plane so as in use to butt against a bottom surface of the guard bar and wherein the front mounting portion has at least one recess therein recessed from the common Diane and arranged to receive the rear portion of a respective one of the guards therein;
• wherein the mounting fastener includes a fastener head arrangement located below the guard bar and a shank which passes through a hole in said rear portion and through the guard bar and wherein the fastener head has a first shoulder engaging a bottom surface of the rear portion of the cutter guard so as to apply pressure from the shank directly against the rear portion of the cutter guard to clamp the cutter guard onto the bottom surface of the guard bar and a second shoulder axially spaced from the first shoulder engaging a bottom surface of the front mounting portion so as to apply pressure against the front mounting portion to clamp the front mounting portion in place on the guard bar.