Hesston Corporation

Daniel R Prichard

Herman V Stoessel

Kenneth R McMillen

Rex O Weigand

Jack Merriel Kountz

Ronald Dean Fulk

The gathering units of the harvesting header diverge downwardly and forwardly from a common discharge zone at the upper rear end of the header, the two middle units being disposed in a plane below that of the two outer units and having their upper crop discharge outlets spaced forwardly from the corresponding discharge outlets of the outer units. The conveying elements of the outer units at least partially overlap conveying elements of the two inner gathering units adjacent the discharge outlets of the latter. Each gathering unit has its own individual standing crop cutter assembly, the assemblies of the two inner units being set back with respect to those of the outer units but being substantially the same height for uniform stubble height. Each assembly has a rotary cutter in combination with a stationary shear plate, both of which are mounted on the same side of the crop conveying passage of the unit.

Four row forage harvester

The shiftably supported, rotatable feed rolls on a forage harvester or other material processing machine are operably coupled to a control lever on the hydraulic pump regulating the feed roll drive motor such that the angular velocity of the rolls is increased in response to shifting movement of the rolls away from one another, thereby enabling the rolls to readily rid themselves of a larger-than-normal slug of material should the same be encountered during harvesting. An additional control lever of a second hydraulic pump regulating another drive motor for the standing crop cutter and gathering elements of the harvester is operably coupled to the first control lever by a lost motion connection that permits the control levers to be shifted simultaneously for in unison manual operation of the motors, yet the first lever may be actuated independently by the feed rolls to control the first drive motor in response to relative shifting movement between the rolls. The linkage operably coupling the shiftable rolls and the first control lever has motion dissipating means to permit in unison movement of the levers without shifting the rolls. Two embodiments present alternative forms of actuating linkage for the pump levers.

Growing community of inventors

Wichita, KS, United States of America

Daniel R Prichard