Deere + Company

Jerry L Krafka

Merlyn D Bass

Robert D Black

Roger Dale Stephenson

Michael Joseph Verhulst

James C Walters

Craig Allen Richardson

David L Wolf

Harold E deBuhr

John J Hennen

Daniel Joseph Goodman

Allan K Lawrence

Kenneth R Christopher

A wobble drive for imparting reciprocating motion to a sickle bar includes a wobble drive shaft rotatable about a first axis and having a cylindrical wobble section formed about an axis making an angle of about 14.5.degree. to the first axis. A toroidal wobble shaft bearing housing is mounted on the wobble section by a set of wobble bearings having their outer races pressed into the bearing housing. An output yoke is coupled to the wobble shaft bearing housing for transmitting the oscillatory motion of the housing, caused by rotation of the drive shaft, to a swing arm fixed to an end of a shaft portion of the yoke. The coupling of the yoke to the wobble bearing housing is accomplished by a pair of headed spindle pins inserted, from the inside out, through pin bores provided at diametrically opposite locations in the wobble shaft bearing housing, and into respective yoke bearings mounted in the ends of a pair of yoke limbs that are joined to the yoke shaft portion. The heads of the spindle pins are respectively received in counterbored sections at the radially inner ends of the pin bores and these counterbores are blocked by outer races of the set of wobble bearings carried by the wobble bearing housing. The pins are each stepped to form first and second sections of different diameters with the radially inner section being larger than the radially outer section and sized for an interference fit with the bearing housing and with the radially outer sections being longer than the pin bores so as to permit the pins to be freely manually inserted through the pin bores and partially into the pin bearings carried by the yoke limbs, whereby the bearing housing and output yoke may be properly aligned one with the other prior to the pins being mechanically pressed into the pin bores.

Headed spindle pin for wobble-type sickle drive

A mower-conditioner platform or header is suspended from the main frame of the mower-conditioner by a pair of transversely spaced lower links and a single upper link or lift arm. A hydraulic lift cylinder is connected directly to the lift arm. The lift arm is mounted between the main and platform frames in a manner for permitting the lift arm to undergo a given amount of side-to-side movement about its connection with the main frame in response to relative vertical movement between the opposite ends of the platform as the platform travels over uneven ground contour during cutting operation, and for limiting the side-to-side movement of the upper link to an amount considerably less than said given amount when the platform is raised to its transport position. Three different connection points are provided at the forward end of the lift arm for connection to the platform frame and by selecting different ones of these points different platform cutting angles may be obtained. A transport lock is provided for holding the lift arm in its raised position and the mounting of the cylinder is such as to permit the latter to be stroked when the lock is engaged without any forces being transferred to the lift arm or lock.

Mower-conditioner platform suspension including single upper arm and

In a forage harvester, a pan-like shield wraps the underside of the lower forward feed roll of a feed roll assembly having opposed upper and lower pairs of feed rolls. The pan is disposed so that particles of material, such as corn or sorghum kernels, which may become separated from a mat of material being fed through the rolls and pass downwards in front of the forward lower feed roll or between the front and rear lower rolls are intercepted by the pan and recirculated by the forward roll between the roll and the pan and re-presented to the inlet side of the feed roll assembly so that those particles have another opportunity to be fed through with the mat of crop material to the cutterhead.

Crop material saver for a forage harvester feed roll assembly

Harvested crop material is fed to the cylindrical cutter-head of a forage harvester by a feeding assembly consisting of opposed pairs of upper and lower feed rolls. The articulated upper roll assembly floats to accommodate variations in the flow of crop material. The downstream upper feed roll is carried on a pair of opposite radius arms which are rigidly coupled by a transverse leveler shaft, providing a stable frame and minimizing cocking or twisting of the roll. A second pair of feed roll arms is pivotally connected to the radius arms and extends forward to support the upstream feed roll which is journaled on a shaft rigidly connected between the feed roll arms. A stop and biasing arrangement provides that each upper roll may float independently, the articulation of the feed roll assembly being such that upward movement of either roll or the rolls together is subject to the restoring force of a tension spring. However, upward movement of the upstream roll in relation to the downstream roll is restricted by a stop which limits rotational movement between the feed roll arms and the radius arms supporting the rolls.

Feed roll assembly for a forage harvester

A forage harvester has a rotary cylinder type cutterhead mounted in a housing with opposite side walls, crop material being fed into the cutterhead in a generally radial direction over a shear bar adjacent the cutterhead periphery. The shear bar is mounted for fore and aft adjustment toward and away from the cutterhead periphery to maintain the optimum clearance between the cutterhead and the shear bar by means of a mechanism that includes a pair of bell cranks respectively pivotally mounted to support members on the opposite walls, with one end of each bell crank being connected to the shear bar through a fore and aft link while the other end of the bell crank threadably receives the threaded portions of a vertically elongated rod that is rotatably supported adjacent the housing side wall and has an easily accessible head adjacent the top of the housing, whereby rotation of the rod causes the bell crank to rock on its pivot to cause linear fore and aft adjustment of the shear bar. The force exerted through the adjusting mechanism is sufficient to overcome a clamping force exerted by a bolt and nut that clamps the shear bar to the supporting structure at opposite ends of the shear bar without loosening the clamping bolt.

Adjustable shear bar for a harvester cutterhead

A forage harvester has a cutterhead housing with a rotary reel type cutterhead mounted therein, the cutterhead having a plurality of knives parallel to the cutterhead axis at the cutterhead periphery, the knife edges generating a cylinder as the cutterhead rotates. The cutterhead reduces crop material that is fed into the housing and discharges the reduced material through a discharge opening to a conveying system that conveys the crop material to a crop-receiving vehicle. Removably mounted over the discharge opening is a recutter screen that has an arcuate shape generally concentric with and adjacent to the cutterhead periphery and a plurality of elongated apertures, each aperture having parallel longitudinal edges that extend diagonally relative to the knife cutting edges. The apertures are arranged in two transversely extending rows with the apertures in one row being inclined in one direction from the vertical and the apertures in the adjacent row being inclined in the opposite direction, the opposite angle of inclination of the apertures in the second row counteracting the tendency of the apertures in the first row to move the crop material impelled through the apertures in the direction of inclination. Alternate screens are conventionally provided with different size apertures according to the fineness of cut desired, and the screens are removably mounted in a frame that is adjustable relative to the cutterhead to maintain the optimum minimum clearance between the cutterhead and the recutter screen.

Growing community of inventors

Ottumwa, IA, United States of America

Jerry L Krafka