Harvesting platform having angled crop converging auger
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorsRoger D. Stephenson, Allan W. Rosenbalm, Charles S. Sloan
Life of this patent
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AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorsRoger D. Stephenson, Allan W. Rosenbalm, Charles S. Sloan
Estimating the term…
A wide cut harvesting platform includes a rotary cutter bar having right- and left-hand outer and inner cutting units having respective inner and outer cutting discs at its opposite ends rotating in appropriate opposite directions for conveying cut crop from outer ends of the cutter bar to a central crop discharge path leading to a crop conditioning arrangement extending across the path. A first embodiment includes horizontal, right- and left-hand converging augers mounted so as to diverge forwardly above inner and outer cutting discs at the opposite ends of the cutter bar from locations at opposite sides of the discharge path and forward of the conditioner arrangement. A second embodiment includes first and second forwardly diverging augers like the first embodiment but being shorter and respectively terminating outwardly adjacent right- and left-hand converging drums respectively mounted to, and for rotating together with the right- and left-hand outer cutting discs.
In a wide cut crop harvesting platform having right- and left-hand opposite fore-and-aft extending outer side walls, a rotary cutter bar extending between the outer side walls and having a width greater than a crop conditioning arrangement positioned between right- and left-hand, fore-and-aft extending inner side walls defining a crop discharge path located rearward of the cutter bar whereby crop cut outboard of the conditioning arrangement must be moved inwardly before passing through the conditioning arrangement, the rotary cutter bar including inner and outer rotary cutting units located outboard of each of opposite lateral sides of the crop discharge path containing the crop conditioning arrangement, with each cutting unit including a knife-carrying disc mounted to a drive shaft rotatable about a vertical axis, and a crop converging arrangement located outboard of each of opposite sides of the conditioning arrangement for aiding in moving crop cut by the knife-carrying discs respectively of the inner and outer rotary cutting units at each of the opposite lateral sides of the crop discharge path, the improvement comprising, said crop converging arrangements each including an auger having an inner end terminating at an adjacent one of the inner side walls and an outer end located forwardly of said inner end.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.