GB2098845A - Header for row crop harvester - Google Patents

Abstract

A four row header for converging cut crop from four rows into the throat of a forage harvester comprises five crop dividers which form the entrances to four passageways 47, 49, 51 and 53, in the front parts of which are oscillating blade cutters 163, 165, 167 and 169. The passageways are provided with conveyor belt pairs 63, 65, 67 and 69 for feeding the cut crop up the passageway, into the harvester throat, between upstanding infeed rollers 59 and 61. Two belts of two adjacent pairs of the belt conveyors are trained round wheels on individual shafts at the front and round wheels on a common shaft at the rear of the header. <IMAGE>

Description

1

SPECIFICATION

Header for row crop harvester This invention relates to a header for a row crop harvester with a throat into which the header converges cut crop from a plurality of rows, comprising a plurality of crop dividers forming entrances to passageways between the dividers, the passageways being mutually rearwardly convergent and each being provided with a crop cutter at the front and with a pair of coplanar belt conveyors extending therealong the adjacent runs between which the cut crop is engages and fed to the rear. The header has particular utility with forage harvesters but may also have application to combine harvesters.

Heretofore most forage harvesters operating in row planted, stalk crops such as maize have utilized interchangeable row crop headers capable of harvesting a maximum of one to three rows at a time. However, currently available forage harvesters have sufficient capacity and power to be capable of harvesting more than three rows at a time. Accordingly, it is desirable to develop a header capable of harvesting four or more rows at a time and which can be fitted on to currently available forage harvesters. The width of such harvester cutterheads and the width of the crop receiving throat into the cutterhead chamber is relatively small as the width has generally remained the same as new headers have been introduced which are capable of processing larger and larger numbers of crop rows at a time. As an example, the width of the crop receiving throat on forage harvesters currently available from Deere & Company and others is about 55 cm. The problem becomes more severe the greater the number of rows the header is designed to accommodate because of the greater number of crop conveyors-one pair for each row. The conveyors must be laterally spaced at the forward end of the header across the total width of the rows to be harvested and must be converged together at their rear ends in the small area adjacent to the harvester throat. Also, the increased vol- ume of crop material which must be converted together per unit into the throat increases the difficulty of providing clog-free feeding. For example, when three-row headers were introduced which were capable of being fitted on the harvesters used in the past for only two-row headers, a number of solutions were developed as exemplified in US Patent Specification 3,791,117. That specification discloses a header with three pairs of convey- ors used to convey and converge, respectively, three individual rows of crop into the narrow harvester throat. The discharge ends of each pair of conveyors are crowded into a relatively narrow discharge zone adjacent the throat and the middle pair of conveyors is GB2098845A 1 spaced above and partially overlaps the outer two pairs of conveyors. In addition, the discharge ends of the middle pair of conveyors is spaced slightly forward of the discharge ends of the outer two pairs of conveyors.

In the design of such three-row headers and in the design of four-or-morerow headers, the overriding problem is how to position the necessary number of pairs of conveyors in an area slightly forward of and adjacent to the harvester throat so as to provide a positive clog-free feeding of the individual rows of crop material into the harvester throat. It is generally accepted that the closer the dis- charge ends of the conveyors are positioned to the throat, the higher the probability that efficient, clog-free conveyance of the crop into the throat may be obtained. This is because positive feeding of the crop material in the conveyors can only be obtained up to but not beyond the discharge ends of the conveyors and beyond that the crop material from any one pair of conveyors must be pushed into the throat by crop discharge from that same pair of conveyors or pulled forwardly into the throat with crop being positively fed in adjacent pairs of conveyors.

One approach to the design of a four-row header is shown in US Patent Specification

4,106,270. In this design, the two inner pairs of conveyors are spaced below the two outer pairs of conveyors and have their discharge ends spaced forwardly of the crop discharge ends of the two outer pairs of conveyors.

Also, each of the two outer pairs of conveyors partially overlaps the adjacent one of the inner pairs of conveyors.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved header for four or more rows of crop which may be fitted on currently available commercial forage harvesters having a relatively narrow crop receiving throat and currently accommodating two- and three-row headers.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved header which has means for positively feeding each individual row of crop through a crop receiving passageway to a crop exit position adjacent to and directly in front of the crop receiving throat of the harvester.

According to the presesnt invention, there is provided a header for a row crop harvester with a throat into which the header converges cut crop from a plurality of rows, comprising a plurality of crop dividers forming the entrances to passageways between the dividers, the passageways being mutually rearwardly convergent and each being provided with a crop cutter at the front and a pair of coplanar belt conveyors extending therealong with adjacent runs between which the cut crop is engaged and fed to the rear, wherein two belts of two adjacent pairs of the belt convey- ors are trained round wheels on individual 2 GB 2 098 845A 2 shafts at the front and round wheels on a common shaft at the rear.

For convenience, reference is made simply to---beltconveyors- although such conveyors can be constructed using various forms of endless members (rubber belts, chains, and so on) trained around correspondingly constructed wheels (rollers, pulleys, sprockets and so on.) In the dependent claims the terms ---inner-and---outer-mean nearer to and further away from the centre line respectively.

The invention can be extended to headers for more than four rows.

The invention will be described in more detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a known forage harvester with alternative two-row and three-row headers; 20 Figure 2 is a perspective view of a four-row header embodying this invention; Figure 3A is a schematic, perspective view of the crop conveyors of the header shown in Fig. 2; 25 Figures 38 and 3C show rear and front elevations, respectively, of the header of Fig. 2 taken along lines 313-313 and 3C-3C, respectively, of Fig. 3A: Figure 4 is a plan view of the header shown in Fig. 2; Figure 5 is a fragmentary, plan view of the header shown in Fig. 2; Figure 6 is a fragmentary, schematic, rear elevation of the header of Fig. 2 taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 5 but including certain com- ponents omitted in Fig. 5; Figure 7 is a fragmentary side elevation of the header shown in Fig. 2 taken along line 7-7 of Fig. 5; and 40 Figure 8 is a fragmentary elevational view of the header shown in Fig. 2 taken along line 8-8 of Fig. 7. Such terms as forward, rearward, vertical, horizontal, lateral are used for convenience and are determined by reference to the machine in its standard operating position and relative to the direction of forward travel. The terms left and right are determined by standing at the rear of the machine and facing in the direction of travel.

Referring to Fig. 1, a known forage harvester 10, three-row row crop header 13 and two-row row crop header 15 are shown. The harvester 10 and headers 13, 15 are used to harvest a variety of row crops such as maize, sorghum and sugar cane. Headers 13 and 15 are alternatively and interchangeably mountable on the harvester 10, the details of construction of which are shown in greater detail in US Patent Specification 3,701,239. The harvester 10 has a generally rectangular inlet or throat 17 which spans the width between opposite side walls 19, 21. A pair of transversely oriented, vertically spaced feed rolls 23 are mounted in the throat 17. Head- ers 13, 15 are interchangeably mounted on harvester 10 using a conventional attaching bracket such as is shown in US Patent Specification 3,791,117, which also describes header 13 in greater detail. As is well known, crop entering through the throat 17 passes between the feed rolls 23 to a second pair of feed rolls which feed the crop over a shear bar to a cylinder type cutterhead for cutting the crop into small pieces.

The embodiment of the invention now to be described is a four-row row crop header 25 shown in Fig. 2.

The header 25 is mountable interchan- geably and alternatively, with the headers 13, 15 on the harvester 10. The header 25 comprises five transversely spaced, side by side, generally fore-and-aft, rearwardly converging, downwardly and forwardly inclined crop di- viders 27, 29, 31, 33, 35 and for convenience are hereinafter referred to as first, second, third, fourth and fifth crop dividers from left to right on the machine. The crop dividers include respective fenders 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, which terminate in points. As is well known, the points of the dividers ride along the ground between the rows of standing crop as the harvester/header combination advances to seperate down and tangled crop.

The fenders present smooth upper surfaces which allow the crop to slide rearwardly along the top surface of the fenders through an opening 44 in a rear attachment frame 46 of header 25 and into the throat 17 of the harvester 10. The space between the crop dividers 27 and 29 forms a generally foreand-aft, upwardly and rearwardly inclined crop receiving passageway 47 with a crop entry 48 and crop exit 55. Similarly, a second passage- way 49 with an entry 50 and exit 55 (in common with the exit of passageway 47) is defined between crop dividers 29, 31; a third passageway 51 with an entry 52 and exit 57 is defined between crop dividers 31, 33; and a fourth passageway 53 with an entry 54 and exit 57 (in common with the exit passageway 51) is defined between crop dividers 43, 45. All passageways 47, 49, 51, 53 converge rearwardly because the spacing between the four crop rows which are received in the passageways is substantially greater than the width of the harvester throat 17. In the illustrated embodiment, the crop entries 48, 50, 52, 54 of the passageways (centre to centre) are spaced about 75 cm apart to accommodate 75 cm rows in the crop. The width of the throat, Le the distance between the side walls 19, 21 is approximately only 55 cm. Passageways 47, 49 converge together or intersect at exit 55 and passageways 51, 53 converge together at exit 57. Exits 55, 57 are spaced forwardly of the plane of the throat 17, a distance of 18 cm in the illustrated preferred embodiment.

A pair of power driven rollers 59, 61 is j 3 GB2098845A 3 provided on each side of header opening 40 to aid in directing and moving down crop material which may overlap the fenders 37, 45.

An upper stalk control 60 is attached to the top of the rear frame 46 to aid in converging crop stalks as they are conveyed through the passageways 47, 49, 51, 53 and to ensure that the stalks are fed butt end first by hold- ing the top of the stalks out of the opening 44 until the stalk butts are fed into the throat 17.

Reference is now made to Fig. 3A showing a perspective view of the header 25 with the crop dividers 27, 29, 31, 33, 35 removed, exposing a plurality of schematically illustrated pairs of coplanar, downwardly and forwardly inclined conveyors 63, 65, 67, 69 (referred to hereinafter for convenience as first, second, third and fourth). Reference is also made to Fig. 4 which shows in fragmentary form a pair of conveyors in full detail as would be seen with only the crop dividers 27, 29, 31, 33, 35 removed. The first pair of coplanar conveyors 63 includes an outer conveyor belt 71 and an inner conveyor belt 73 disposed on opposite sides of the passageway 47 and having inner runs alongside the passageway 47 for engaging and moving crop therein to the crop exit 55 of the passageway 47. Simi- larly, pair of coplanar conveyors 65 includes outer conveyor 75 and inner conveyor 77 disposed on opposite sides of the second passageway 49; the third pair of coplanar conveyors 67 includes inner conveyor 79 and outer conveyor 81 disposed on opposite sides 100 of the third passageway 51 and the fourth pair of coplanar conveyors 69 includes inner conveyor 83 and outer conveyor 85 disposed on opposite sides of the fourth passageway 53. The---planes-of conveyors can be re- 105 Each conveyor is composed of an endless garded median planes through the two runs of belt and a drive means including front idler their belts. and rear drive shafts. The front idler and rear The conveyors of each pair are parallel, the drive shafts on the left side of the header 25 first and second conveyor pairs 63, 65 are in are all mutually parallel. The front idler and parallel planes, the third and fourth conveyor 110 rear drive shafts on the right side are all also pairs 67, 69 are in parallel planes, but the mutually parallel. Conveyor 71 is illustrative planes of the conveyor pairs 63, 65 are and is composed of an endless loop means 87 inclined transversely relative to the horizontal trained about a rear drive shaft 89 and front and relative to the planes of the conveyor idler shaft 91. Rear and front shafts 89, 91 pairs 67, 69 which are oppositely inclined 115 are provided with a drive wheel 93 and an relative to the horizontal. Reference is now idler wheel 95, respectively, through which made to Figs. 313 and 3C (which are rear and driving engagementis provided between the front elevations of Fig. 3A respectively) where drive shafts 89, 91 and the endless belt 87.

these features are illustrated. The planes pass- A preferred embodiment of the endless belt ing through a longitudinal centre line A-A 120 87 is as disclosed in US Patent Specification shown in Fig. 3A. In the illustrated embodi- 3,339,354, and (referring to Fig. 4), com ment, the plane B formed by conveyor pair prises a chain 97 trained about front and rear 63 forms an angle C equal to about 61 drive sprockets 93 and 95. A belt 99 is degrees with a horizontal line D-D. Similarly, attached to the chain 97 at intervals and the plane E formed by conveyor pair 69 forms 125 forms generally outwardly extending sinusoi an angle F equal to about 61 degrees with dal loops which extend into the passageway horizontal line D-D. Although not illustrated, 47 and intermesh with the loops in a similar the lateral inclination of the conveyor pair 65 belt 101 attached to a chain 103 of the is the same as that of the conveyor pair 63 adjacent conveyor 73. There are other com and thus forms an angle of about 6-1 degrees 130 mercially acceptable constructions of endless with horizontal line D-D. Similarly, the lateral inclination of conveyor pair 67 is equal to that of conveyor pair 69 and forms an angle of 6-11 degrees with the horizontal line D-D. The relative lateral inclinations of the conveyor pairs is a key factor in the ability to convey and converge four rows of crop into the narrow throat 17 of the harvester 1 Of, because the crop exits 55, 57 of the passa- geways 47, 49, 51, 53 are closer to the centre line A-A of the header 25 compared to prior art conveyor designs having horizontal transverse orientation (assuming that the crop exits are substantially coplanar relative to a transverse vertical plane). The angles of lateral inclination (Fig. 313) of the conveyors relative to line D-D may be varied to vary the spacing between exit 55, 57.

Another feature contributing to the efficient use of the area adjacent the opening 44 and the ability to converge and convey four rows of crop material into the narrow opening 44 is provided by the elevation and overlapping of conveyor pair 65 over conveyor pair 63 and by the elevation and overlapping of conveyor pair 67 over conveyor pair 69. Two design features are utilized to enable the overlapping of the conveyor pairs on the left side and the overlapping of the conveyor pairs on the right side. The first is the design of the conveyor drive means such that the conveyors 77, 73 have a common drive shaft 102 and the conveyors 79, 83 have a common rear drive shaft 151. The second is the termination of the rear end of the conveyor 75 substantially forward of the adjacent conveyors 71, 73 and 77 and the termination of the rear end of the conveyor 81 substantially forward of the adjacent conveyors 79, 83, 85.

4 GB 2 098 845A 4 belt conveyor such as illustrated in US Patent Specification 4,106,270 and while less preferred, may be used interchangeably with the preferred design described above. In addition, while the provision of driving engagement between a chain 97 and sprockets 93, 95 is greatly preferred, it will be recognised that belts and pulleys or other equivalents may be substituted therefor.

The conveyor 75 comprises an endless loop means 107 trained about a rear drive shaft 109 with drive wheel 111 thereon and a forward idler shaft 113 with a drive wheel 115 thereon. The rear termination of the conveyor 75 is substantially forward of the rear termination of the adjacent conveyor 71, 73, 77 so that the passageways 47, 49 intersect slightly forward of the throat 17.

Conveyor 77 which cooperates with the conveyor 75 is composed of an endless belt 117 trained about a forward idler shaft 119 with a drive wheel 121 and the rear drive shaft 102 with a second drive wheel 123 provided thereon coaxial with drive member 103 such that the rear drive shaft 102 becomes a common drive shaft for the conveyors 77 and 73.

The right half of header 25 is a mirror image of the left half and will not be de- scribed in great detail. Conveyors 85, 83, 81 and 79 are composed of endless belts 125, 127, 129, 131 which are trained about four mutually parallel forward idler shafts 133, 135, 137, 139 with idler wheels 141, 143, 145 and 147 provided thereon and mutually parallel rear drive shafts 149, 151, 153 with drive wheels 155, 157, 159, 161 provided thereon. With this conveyor arrangement, the passageways 51, 53 intersect and thereby converge crop material conveyed therein slightly forward of the throat 17. Thus, as the machine advances and four rows of row crops enter the respective passageways, two of the rows are initially converted together in passageways 47 and 49 forward of the throat 17; two are converged in passageways 51, 53 forward of the throat 17; and thereafter the converted crop from the left half of the header is converged with the converged crop from the right half within the throat 17.

Another advantage resulting from the use of transversely inclined, vertically spaced and overlapping conveyors is that it is possible to determine the transverse inclination such that the conveyors terminate at the forward end in a common transverse vertical plane and at an equal distance above the ground (Fig. 3C). As will be described in more detail later, this orientation of the forward conveyor ends is important to locating crop cutters 163, 165, 167, 169 adjacent to the forward ends and in the same orientation.

Reference is now made to Fig. 5 and 6 wherein additional components of the con- veyor drive means are shown. In Fig. 5, for clarity, the input drive gear trains are exposed by removal of crop dividers 27, 29, 31, 33, 35 and of the rear drive members for each conveyor, showing the endless belts and asso- ciated front idler shafts of each conveyor in schematic (dotted lines) form, and removal of the top of sealed gear cases in which an input drive gear train is enclosed. Fig. 6 is a view taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 5 except that certain of the rear drive shafts (not shown in Fig. 5) have been illustrated. Referring to the right side of the header 25, rear drive shaft 149, 151, 153 are provided with coaxial input gears 17 3, 17 5, 17 7, respectively, spaced below drive wheels 155, 157, 159, respectively (Figs. 3A, 6). Also interconnected in the input drive gear train for conveyor pairs 67, 69 is an input gear 179 for a cutter drive means for cutter means 167, 169. An idler gear train 181 including idler gears 185 and 18 7 couples input gears 17 3, 17 5, 17 7, 179. Idler gear train 181 and input gears 173, 175, 177, 179 are housed in a sealed gear case 189 and are driven through bevel gears 19 1, 19 3 (Fig. 6) housed in bevel gear case 19 5. Bevel gear 19 1 is mounted on input drive shaft 197 which is coaxially coupled with the rear drive gear shaft 149 by a splined coupling sleeve 196.

The input drive gearing for the conveyor pair 63, 65 is a mirror image of that provided for conveyor pairs 67, 69 and will be only briefly described herein. Rear drive shafts 89, 102, 109 are provided with input drive gears 201, 203, 205 and are mutually coupled with an input gear 207 for a cutter drive for cutter means 163, 165 through an input gear means 209 comprising idler gears 211, 213. The input gear train is housed in a second sealed gear case 215 and is driven through a pair of bevel gears (not shown) provided in a bevel gear housing 217. The two sets of bevel gears are interconnected and are synchronously driveable via a drive shaft 219.

Drive shaft 219 is driveable through a conventional friction clutch 221 which is in turn connected to the drive train (not shown) of the harvester 10. While a gear train for the cutter and conveyor input drive trains is preferred, drive trains of chain and sprocket or other equivalents may be substituted therefor.

It will also be appreciated that the compact, centralized coaxial disposition of the conveyors and cutter input drive trains enable practical enclosure in sealed gear cases promoting less maintenance and longer gear life. Also, easy access is permitted to the gear trains when repair or maintenance is necessary.

Reference is now made to Fig. 4 which shows in schematic form the placement of the fenders 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, over the conveyors 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, 83, 85. Fender 39, which covers the conveyors 73, 75, and defines, along its right side, one side of the passageway 49, has a rear tip 171 extending GB 2 098 845A 5 substantially beyond the rear end of the endless belt 107 of the conveyor 75 and terminating near the intersection of the passageways 47, 49 (coterminous with the crop exit 55). It has been found that the rear tip 171 coacts with the sinusoidal belt of the endless belt 117 to provide positive feeding of crop material through the passageway 49 beyond the termination of the endless belt 107 up to the intersection of the passageways 47, 49 at the termination of the rear tip 17 1. Crop reaching this point is easily fed into the opening 44 and throat 17. Similarly, the fender 43 has a rear tip 172 which coacts with the endless belt 131 to provide positive feeding of crop through the passageway 51 beyond the termination of the endless belt 129 up to the intersection of the passageways 51, 53 near the termination of the rear tip 172, coterminus with the crop exit 57. Thus, the rear tips 171, 172 contribute to the positive clog-free feeding of crop material through the passageways 49, 51 despite the termination of the endless belts 107, 129 substantially forward of the endless belts 117, 131.

Referring again to Figs. 2 and 3A, the generally upright fluted rollers 59, 61 are disposed forwardly of the walls 40, 42 and extend upwardly from the rearward end of the fenders 37, 45. The upper end of the rollers 59, 61 are supported in brackets adjacent the upper stalk control 60. In the illustrated embodiment, the distance between the peripher- ies of the rollers immediately above the passageways 47, 53 is approximately 58 cm and the distance between the peripheries of the rollers immediately below the upper stalk control is approximately 48 cm that is, the rollers are inclined upwardly and transversely toward each other. The transverse inclination of rollers 59, 61 tends to cause the crop material to slide down and compress for more efficient passage of the crop into the throat 17. As indicated above, the throat 17 in the illustrated embodiment is about 55 cm, and thus the rollers 59, 61 are spaced immediately in front of the sides 19, 21 of the throat 17 to aid in the final convergence of the crop prior to entering the throat 17. Each roller 59, 61 (Figs. 3A, 6) comprises an axial shaft 225 which extends downwardly from the roller and is coaxially connected to the respective rear drive shaft 18, 149. Thus the rollers 59, 61 are driven in the same direction as the endless 120 belts 87, 125 so that the inner sides of the roller move rearwardly. In operation, crop is engaged by the inner side of the rollers as it leaves the passageways 47, 49, 51, 53 to assist in the convergence and feeding of the crop into the throat 17. Roller 59, 61 coaxial, respectively, with drive shafts 89, 149 in addition to being transversely inclined toward each other are also somewhat upwardly and forwardly inclined.

Referring to Fig. 2 again, the upper stalk control 60 extends forwardly from the rear frame sides 40, 42 and includes a pair of forwardly diverging arms 231, 233, a central transverse portion 235 connecting arms 231, 233 and a centrally disposed wedge member 237. The arms 231, 233 are respectively disposed above and extend generally parallel to the crop dividers 27, 35. The wedge member 237 is disposed above and extends generally parallel to the crop divider 31. Wedge 237 and arm 233 engage the upper portion of upright crops entering passageways 47, 49 and converge the crop inwardly as the butt portions are converged upwardly and rearwardly along these passageways. Similarly, wedge 237 and arm 231 engage the upper portions of upright stalks entering passageways 51, 53 and converge the crops inwardly as the but portions are converged upwardly and rearwardly along these passageways. When the upper portions of the crop reach the transverse central portion 235, rearward movement is blocked while the convey- ors in all passageways continue to move the butt portions. This results in the crop being fed butt first through the opening 44 and into the throat 17. The centrally disposed wedge acts to divide the four-row header 25 into two somewhat independently functioning halves. Wedge 237 cooperates with passageways 47, 49 to converge the crop in the two rows on the left side together and cooperates with passageways 51, 53 to converge the crop in the two rows on the right side together prior to all four rows of crop being converged together in throat 17.

Reference is again made to Figs. 5, 3C, which show a plurality of cutter means for severing crop entering the passageways 47, 49, 51, 53 including oscillating knife cutters 163, 165, 167 and 169 disposed below and adjacent to crop entries 48, 50, 52, 54 of passageways 47, 49, 51, 53, and below and adjacent the point at which a crop stalk is engaged by each pair of conveyors. As explained above, the orientation of the conveyors enables cutters 163, 165, 167, 169 to be collectively locatable in one transverse vertical plane at an equal distance above the ground. This promotes uniform crop cutting height and crop feeding into the header. Further, each cutter is disposed parallel to its corresponding conveyor pair (i.e. the cutting plane of the cutter is parallel to its adjacent pair of conveyors).

A preferred construction of the cutters 16 3, 165, 167, 169 is described in our UK Patent Application No 8026207 (Serial No 2 056 243).

Cutter 163 is exemplary of the construction of the remaining cutters and is composed of two fixed knives 241, 243 and a centrally disposed oscillating knife 245. Knife 245 is oscillatable between the fixed knives 241, 6 GB 2 098 845A 6 243 and severs crop stalks with a scissor-like action.

Referring to Figs. 3C, and 5, the cutter means for severing crop entering passageways 5 47, 49 further includes cutter drive means 247 composed of a first reciprocatable rod 249 connected between cutter input geat 207 and cutter 165. A second reciprocatable rod 251 is interconnected between cutters 165, 163 to provide for synchronous oscillation.

Pivotal connection of rod 251 to cutter 163 is provided via a pivot arm 250 connected to and pivotable with cutter pivot 253. Pivotable connectionof rod 251 with cutter 165 is provided by pivotable connection of rod 251 to a first end 257 of a crank 255 connected to and pivotable with a pivot 256 of cutter 165. Pivotable connection of rod 249 with cutter 165 is provided by pivotable connection of rod 249 to a second end 261 of crank 255. Pivotable connection of rod 249 with gear 207 is provided via a pivot arm 263 connected to and rotatable with gear 207. In operation, input geat 207 is rotated and causes rod 249 to be reciprocated essentially longitudinally of the header 25. With reciprocation of rod 249 rearwardly, crank 255 is moved clockwise (in Fig. 5). Clockwise movement of crank 255 moves a knife 264 of cutter 165 (fixed to pivot 256) clockwise and also moves rod 251 to the right (in Fig. 5). Movement of rod 251 to the right in turn moves arm 250 clockwise (Fig. 5) and also oscillating blade 245 (fixed to arm 250 via pivot 253) clockwise. Forward movement of rod 249 moves crank 255 and pivot arm 250 counterclockwise which in turn moves blades 264 and 245 counterclockwise. The cutter means for cutters 167, 169 includes a cutter drive means 270 identical to cutter drive means 247 and will not be explained further herein. It can be seen that cutter drive means 247 provides a simple, trouble-free drive for two remotely disposed oscillating cutters which are in turn remotely disposed from spur gear case 215. The remote disposition of the spur case 189 from the cutters 163, 165 is also important so that the input drives for all components of the header are disposed adja- cent to each other at the rear end of the header permitting their enclosure in a sealed gear case. The rear disposition of the gear case provides still other advantages, namely it is in close proximity to the conveyor drives, it gives sufficient clearance above the ground, and it allows easy access for maintenance and repair.

The header frame is constructed from a plurality of modular-type mechanically at- tached subframes. Reference is now made to Fig. 5 in which the header frame is illustrated.

The header frame is composed of spur gear cases 189, 215, rear attachment frame 46 and a plurality of generally fore-and-aft, down- wardly and forwardly inclined row unit frames 301, 303, 305, 307. Gear cases 189, 215 form the basic central subframe of the header frame and are fixed together at points 309, 311 with bolts. The rear attachment frame 46 includes a pair of fore-and-aft extending arms 312, 313 which are attached to the outer sides of the gear cases 215, 189 along with row unit frames 301, 307. Specifically, arm 312, row unit frame 301 are attached to gear case 215 at a plurality of points 315, 317, 319. Similarly, arm 313 and row unit frame 307 are attached to gear case 189 at a plurality of points 323 325, 327.

Row unit frames 303, 305 are attached to forwardly facing sides or gear cases 215, 189, respectively. Specifically, row unit frame 303 is attached to gear case 215 at points 329, 331, 333 and row unit frame 305 is attached to gear case 189 at points 335, 337, 339. In addition, row unit frames 301, 303 are mechanically attached together at one or more points such as point 321 and row unit frames 305, 307 are mechanically attached at one or more points such as point 90340.

It will be appreciated that the frame subunits must be mechanically attached at a number of points. The attachment points illustrated herein are merely representative but the number and exact position of the points is not material. Also, while bolts are preferred, other fasteners may be used.

It will also be appreciated that this modular approach to construction of the header frame will provide improved dimensional accuracy, simplicity and cost savings in the manufacture of a header frame in comparison to techniques which utilize a massive welded up unit for the frame.

A stand is provided for supporting the rear end of the header 25 when not attached to the harvester 10. Fig. 5 shows a pair of stands 351, 353 attached to the bottom surface of row unit frames 301, 307, respectively, and here shown in storage position. Stand 351 is a mirror image of stand 353 and only stand 351 will be described in detail. Fig. 7 shows the stand 351 as viewed from the left side of header 25 along line 7-7 and Fig. 8 shows a view of the stand 351 taken along line 8-8 of Fig. 7. Stand 351 is composed of a bracket 355 including plates 360, 359 fixed to the row unit frame 301. A leg 357 is disposed between and is freely pivotally mounted at one end to the bracket 355 for movement between an elevated storage position and a lowered support position shown in full lines and dotted lines, respectively, in Fig. 7. Bracket 355 further includes a stop 358 against which leg 357 abuts in the support position. The leg 357 is provided with a flanged foot 363 including a central planar base 361 and a flanged outer rim 362 surrounding the base 361 on all four sides.

Rim 362 reduces the friction of foot 363 with 1 - the ground when aligning the header with the harvester for attachment.

A stand 351 further includes a latch 365 for locking the leg 357 in its storage position and in its support position and for serving as a pivotable mounting for the leg 357 in bracket 355. Latch 365 is generally J-shaped and includes a first or pivot arm 367 interconnecting and pivotably mounting leg 357 in bracket 355 and a second or locking arm 369 for engaging and locking leg 357 alternatively in its storage position and in its support position. Latch 365 further includes a coil spring 371 surrounding pivot arm 367 and engaging a stop 373. Stop 373 is shown as composed of washer coaxially mounted on leg 367 and a pin 375 inserted through pivot arm 367. As can be seen in Fig. 8, one end of coil spring 371 engages an inner side of leg 357 and the other end of the spring 371 engages washer 374 thereby biasing pivot arm 367 to the right in Fig. 8.

Latch 365 is moveable between a storage lock position shown in full lines in Fig. 7 and a support lock position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7. In the storage lock position, locking arm 369 is inserted through a hole 377 in plate 359 and is in engagement with one side of leg 360, thereby locking leg 357 against movement from its storage position. In the support lock position, locking arm 369 is inserted through a hole 377 in plate 359 and through a hole 381 in leg 357, thereby locking leg 357 against movement from its support position.

In operation, when the header 25 is at- tached to forage harvester 10, the leg 357 is maintained in a storage position. When it is desired to remove the header 25 from the forage harvester 10, the header 25 is hydraulically lowered to its operating position with the forward end in engagement with the ground. Latch 365 is pulled (with one hand) to the left (Fig. 8) against the bias of coil spring 371 to disengage locking arm 369 from opening 377. When locking arm 369 is withdrawn, leg 357 fails to its support posi tion in engagement with stop 358 due to the force of gravity. The leg 357 is then locked in this position by counterclockwise rotation (Fig. 7) of latch 365 about pivot arm 367 and relative to leg 357 and bracket 355 until locking arm 369 is in alignment with hole 379. The latch 365 is then released and, due to the bias of the coil spring 371, the locking arm 369 is inserted through holes 379, 381. The foregoing procedure is also followed for moving stand 353 from its storage position to its standing position. With the stands in their support position the attaching bracket (not shown) for attaching rear frame 46 to the front of forage harvester 10 are disengaged. If the machine is on level ground, the feet of the stand 351, 353 will engage the ground.

To reattach header 25 to forage harvester GB 2 098 845A 7 10, the forage harvester is driven to an attachment position as near alignment as possible with the rear end of header 25. More precise alignment of header 25 is possible by slight transverse and longitudinal movement of header 25 on the feet 361 which movement is made easier due to the provision of flanged rims 362 on the feet. The height of the legs 357 is determined such that the vertical alignment of the rear frame 46 with the front end of harvester 10 is sufficient to permit re-engagement of the mounting brackets for header 2 5 on the forage harvester 10, The stand is simple to operate by providing a unified member for latching and pivotally the mounting legs 357. In addition, the movement of the leg 357 from its storage position to its support position, solely due to the force of gravity, enables this operation to be accomplished through the use of one hand to retract latch 365, pivot it counterclockwise and release it into its support lock position. In addition, the use of a latch which is a permanent part of the stand avoids the risk that the locking arm or pin may become lost.

It will be appreciated that the stand can be used on other implements, industrial construction equipment and so on.

This application (and also our application No. Serial No. 8218540) is divided out of our application No. 8029255, Serial No. 2057842 which is related to applications 8029253 and 8029252, Serial Nos. 2057839 and 2057840, all the applications sharing common drawings and description:

Claims (5)

1. A header for a row crop harvester with a throat into which the header converges cut crop from a plurality of rows, comprising a plurality of crop dividers forming the entrances to passageways between the dividers, the passageways being mutually rearwardly convergent and each being provided with a crop cutter at the front and a pair of coplanar belt conveyors extending therealong with adjacent runs between which the cut crop is engaged and fed to the rear, wherein two belts of two adjacent pairs of the belt convey- ors are trained round wheels on individual shafts at the front and round wheels on a common shaft at the rear.

2. A header according to claim 1, wherein the said two belts are the two left-hand belts or the two right-hand belts of the two pairs of belt conveyors, one of the passageways merging into the other,

3. A header according to claim 2, wherein one of the other two belts is a shorter belt whose wheel is mounted in the line of one of the two belts pertaining to the pair other than that including the shorter belt.

4. A header according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the crop divider between the merging passageways terminating at the rear in a point 8 GB 2 098 845A 8 in the angle where the one passageway merges into the other passageway.

5. A header according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein two conveyors of the second pair overlap, at the rear, the inner conveyor of the first pair and two conveyors of the third pair overlap, at the rear, the inner conveyor of the fourth pair.

Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by Burgess F Son (Abingdon) Ltd-1 982Published at The Patent Office, 25 Southampton Buildings, London, WC2A lAY, from which copies may be obtained- v z