1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to crop harvesting equipment, and more particularly to a mower/conditioner having cutter bar door structure for directing tall robust crop material into the proper orientation for feeding and cutoff.
2. Description of Related Art
Lean bars, also known as knock-down bars, may be used to knock down crop material for cutoff and feeding into a header. For example, lean bars may be used to knock down the top end of high biomass crop material for proper feeding into a header which cuts and conditions the crop material and deposits conditioned crop material into a swath or windrow. However, with tall robust crops, the cut crop has a tendency to be pinched between the standing crop and lower surfaces of the cutter bar doors, thereby restricting flow into the conditioner rolls. It would be desirable to have a cutter bar door structure for directing tall robust crop material into the proper orientation for feeding and cutoff.
The above mentioned and other features of this invention will become more apparent and the invention itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the views of the drawings.
In an example embodiment, a header assembly supported on the front of a windrower operable to process crop material standing in a field. The header assembly includes a header configured to process crop material and lean bar as the leading element for contacting crop material and preparing the crop material for processing by the header. The header assembly has a plurality of cutting elements, said plurality of cutting elements arranged in a line transverse the header. A cutter bar shield door is positioned to an elevated position such that a forward most point of the cutter bar shield door is above a rearward most point of the cutter bar shield door. In one embodiment, a lean bar positioned a distance forward of the header so that the lean bar is the forward-most element of the header assembly. The forward most point of the cutter bar shield door lies on or behind a line drawn between the forward edge of the lean bar and a rotational center of the cutting elements.
In another example embodiment, the invention is directed to a method of processing crop material in a field using a header assembly supported on the front of a windrower having a plurality of cutting elements in a line transverse the header used to cut standing crop material in the field. The method includes mounting a lean bar a distance forward of the header so that the lean bar is the forward-most element of the header assembly and positioning a cutter bar shield door to an elevated position such that a forward most point of the cutter bar shield door is above a rearward most point of the cutter bar shield door and the forward most point of the cutter bar shield door lies on or behind a line drawn between the forward edge of the lean bar and a rotational center of the cutting elements. The header assembly is driven through the field such that the crop material is bent by the lean bar and severed by the cutting elements before the crop material is pinched between the standing crop and a lower surface of the cutter bar shield door.
As required, example embodiments of the present invention are disclosed. The various embodiments are meant to be non-limiting examples of various ways of implementing the invention and it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in alternative forms. The present invention will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like elements throughout the several figures, and in which exemplary embodiments are shown. The figures are not necessarily to scale and some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular elements, while related elements may have been eliminated to prevent obscuring novel aspects. The specific structural and functional details disclosed herein should not be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.
Turning now to the Figures,
A harvesting header assembly 24 may be supported on the front of the frame 4 and include a header 32 and a lean bar 36 configured to knock down crop material 10. The lean bar 36 may be positioned a distance forward of the header 32 so that the lean bar 36 is the forward-most, or leading, element of the header assembly 24. The lean bar 36 is configured to knock down crop material for processing by the header 32. For example, the lean bar may engage the top end of crop material as the header assembly 24 moves through the field. The particular arrangement of the header 32 may be similar to that disclosed in US Patent No. 6,158,201 to Pruitt et al. entitled “Rotary Mower Conditioner Having Improved Crop Flow” and U.S. Pat. No. 7,726,108 entitled “Wide Cut Rotary Harvester Having Crop Feeding Mechanism” both of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
Turning now to
As best seen in
In the example embodiment shown in
The lean bar 36 may also be provided with crop urging elements 102 configured to urge crop material in a desired direction. In the example embodiment of
The lean bar 36 and its associated crop urging elements may be arranged so as to provide crop material 10 to the header in a desired orientation for optimum feeding to the next element of the header 32, such as having the length of the crop material stalk perpendicular to the cutting bar, or parallel to the direction of header travel. The crop material provided to the header 32 may be processed by the header 32 and discharged through a rear opening 104 (
Whereas in the example embodiments discussed above the lean bar 36 may be arranged for free rotation and rotated by contact with crop material, it is to be understood that the rotation of the lean bar 36 could be driven powered. For example, in the embodiment shown in
In the event tall robust crops are to be processed, the position of the cutter bar shield doors 46 are positioned to an elevated position as shown in
The foregoing has broadly outlined some of the more pertinent aspects and features of the present invention. These should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Other beneficial results can be obtained by applying the disclosed information in a different manner or by modifying the disclosed embodiments. Accordingly, other aspects and a more comprehensive understanding of the invention may be obtained by referring to the detailed description of the exemplary embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/431,989 filed Jan. 12, 2011, entitled “HEADER WITH ELEVATED DOORS FOR TALL ROBUST CROPS”.
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
61431989 | Jan 2011 | US |