Swath roller with controlled anchoring force
AssigneeBourgault Industries Ltd.
InventorGerry Lee Miller
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A swath roller apparatus is adapted to be attached to a swather, where the swather is operative to cut standing crop plants and lay cut plants in a swath as the swather moves along the ground in an operating travel direction. A drum is rotatably attached to an axle that is adapted to be movably attached to a rear portion of the swather such that the axle is oriented substantially horizontally and perpendicular to the operating travel direction, and such that the drum moves up and down and rolls along a top of the swath exerting a downward anchoring force on the swath. A bias element is operative to exert a bias force on the axle, and a bias force control is operative to vary the bias force to vary the anchoring force.
Claims5
A method of swathing a crop comprising:
- moving a swather along the ground in an operating travel direction such that the swather cuts standing crop plants and lays the cut plants in a swath behind the swather supported on standing stubble of the cut crop plants;
- rotatably attaching a drum to a rear portion of the swather such that a rotational axis of the drum is oriented substantially horizontally and perpendicular to the operating travel direction;
- allowing the drum to move up and down and roll along a top of the swath such that the drum exerts a downward anchoring force on the swath and pushes the swath into the standing stubble;
- exerting a bias force on the drum and manipulating a bias force control to vary the bias force in an upward or downward direction to vary the anchoring force in response to variations in the crop as the swather moves along the ground from an anchoring force greater than a weight of the drum to an anchoring force less than a weight of the drum.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.