Alamo Group Inc.

Max R Bloom

Gail I Schwenke

Xinzhan Yang

Xinzham Yang

Sickle cutting systems of the type used in mowers and other harvesting machines. A sickle is shown consisting of 1&frac12; inches blade spacing with serrated or smooth knife sections, a knifeback bar and a knife head, a plurality of knife or sickle guards with alternate long and short prongs or fingers spaced at two inches of any number that are mounted to the support bar of a mower, harvesting machine, or the like and provide a cutting surface for the sickle, adjustable hold-down clips that hold the knife sections down to the cutting surface, and a driving mechanism with a three-inch stroke such as a wobble joint, a pitman type, or other device which can convert rotary motion to reciprocating motion. In a second embodiment, a staggered sickle cutting system is provided that demonstrates the benefits of the sickle cutting system with even greater efficiency and reduces sickle stress and vibration.

High speed sickle cutting system

A sickle cutting system of the type used in mowers, other harvesting machines and the like. A sickle is shown consisting of 1&frac34; to 2&frac14; inch knife sections, a knifeback bar, a plurality of sickle guards with fingers spaced to match the knife sections. The knife and sickle guard fingers may be of any number. The sickle cutting system provides a cutting surface for the sickle, adjustable hold-down clips that hold the knife sections down to the cutting surface. The clips also provide a rear wear bar for the sickle. A driving mechanism is provided with a stroke complimentary to the spacing of the knife sections. The driving mechanism may be a wobble joint, a pitman type, or other device which can convert rotary motion to reciprocating motion. The sickle is driven at a speed of between 2200 to 2700, and ideally at approximately 2475 strokes per minute.

The invention comprises a two-piece pickup tine consisting of a clamp and wing portion removably secured to a finger portion. The clamp portion is also removably securable to any standard pickup reel bar. The tine is designed to work cooperatively with a plurality of other tine on the same reel bar. The tine is equipped with a middle recess designed for optimal integrity and prevention of damage to the tine's finger portion. Additionally, the tine is designed as a two piece unit with the clamp portion is much less susceptible to damage. As a result of the present design, the cost of replacement is drastically reduced. That is, it is much less likely that damage will occur to a tine, and if damage does occur only replacement of the tine's finger portion should be necessary.

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St. Charles, IA, United States of America

Max R Bloom