Draper seal for crop header
AssigneeHoney Bee Manufacturing Ltd.
InventorsDarren Leys, Barry Lindmark
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A header includes a forwardly disposed cutter bar assembly and a rearwardly disposed draper deck assembly. The draper seal includes a flexible strip that runs parallel to the cutter bar assembly and perpendicular to the direction of travel. A bracket secures the forward edge of the flexible strip to an upper surface of the cutter bar assembly, which bracket also biases a rearward edge of the flexible strip into engagement with an upper surface of the draper deck assembly, thereby creating a seal between the cutter bar assembly and the draper deck assembly.
Claims27
A harvesting header comprising
- a frame, ;
- a forwardly disposed cutter bar assembly mounted on the frame, the cutter bar assembly operable to cut crop to generate cut crop material;
- a rearwardly disposed draper deck assembly mounted on the frame and generally disposed rearwardly of the cutter bar assembly, the draper deck assembly comprising two spaced-apart rollers on which a continuous loop of draper canvas is mounted, said draper canvas having an upper moving conveyor surface being operable to move in a direction of movement that is transverse to a direction of travel of the harvesting header, said upper conveyor surface being operable to receive and move said cut crop material in said transverse direction of movement;
- and a draper seal apparatus comprising:
- a flexible strip oriented substantially parallel to the cutter bar assembly and substantially perpendicular to said direction of travel of the harvesting header, and substantially parallel to the direction of movement of the conveyor surface,
- wherein the flexible strip has a forward edge and a rearward edge;
- and
- a bracket mounted on the cutter bar assembly, the bracket extending substantially parallel to the direction of movement of the conveyor surface and said bracket being configured to secure the forward edge of the flexible strip adjacent an upper surface of the cutter bar assembly;
- wherein the bracket extends rearwardly and is operable such that the rearward edge of the flexible strip is biased by the bracket into substantially continuous engagement with said upper surface of the draper canvas to provide a seal between the cutter bar assembly and the draper canvas.
A harvesting header comprising:
- a forwardly disposed cutter bar assembly operable to cut crop to generate cut crop material;
- a rearwardly disposed draper deck assembly, the draper deck assembly comprising two comprising two spaced-apart rollers on which a loop of draper canvas is mounted, said draper canvas having an upper moving conveyor surface being operable to move in a direction of movement that is transverse to a direction of travel of the harvesting header, said upper conveyor surface being operable to receive and move said cut crop material in said transverse direction of movement;
- and
- a draper seal apparatus comprising:
- a flexible strip oriented substantially parallel to the cutter bar assembly and substantially perpendicular to said direction of travel of the harvesting header, wherein the flexible strip has a forward edge and a rearward edge;
- and
- a bracket;
- wherein the bracket extends rearwardly and is operable such that the rearward edge of the flexible strip is biased by the bracket into substantially continuous engagement with said upper surface of the draper canvas.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.