Cutting device for agricultural harvesting machines with preselecting device for preselecting groups of cutting knives

A cutting device for agricultural harvesting machines, the cutting device comprising

• a conveying channel;
• cutting knives arranged in at least one row adjacent to each other on a frame and pivotably supported on the frame, wherein the cutting knives comprise an active cutting position and an inoperative position, wherein, in the active cutting position, the cutting knives project into the conveying channel;
• a conveying member arranged at the conveying channel and configured to be rotatingly driven about a horizontal axis oriented transverse to a travel and working direction of the cutting device, wherein the conveying member comprises conveying tines;
• the cutting knives and the conveying member interacting with each other for comminuting a crop;
• individual adjusting devices, each associated with one of the cutting knives, respectively, and each comprising a tensioning device configured to yieldingly support the cutting knives individually in the active cutting position;
• a knife switching device operatively connected to the cutting knives so as to move the cutting knives from the inoperative position into the active cutting position;
• a preselecting device configured to preselect a desired group of the cutting knives, the desired group of the cutting knives pivoted into the active cutting position upon activation of the knife switching device;
• wherein the cutting device has an inoperative position, wherein in the inoperative position of the cutting device the preselecting device is configured to be activated with reduced force expenditure by decoupling the preselecting device from the knife switching device and from the tensioning devices during a preselecting movement of the preselecting device carried out to preselect the desired group of the cutting knives so that the preselecting device is free of forces caused by the knife switching device and the tensioning devices.