Deere + Company

Robert D Black

Jerry L Krafka

Merlyn D Bass

John J Hennen

Rodney G Koertner

Allan K Lawrence

A forage harvester shear bar having a first surface across which crop material is fed for cutting by the harvester cutterhead. A cutting surface perpendicular to the first surface forms a cutting edge therewith. The shear bar is arched upwardly by clamping against an arched support to provide enhanced rigidity and strength. The cutting surface is formed with a concavity therein, prior to being worn by usage in the forage harvester, to provide enhanced ability to achieve optimum, uniform clearance from the cutterhead. The concavity in the cutting surface provides compensation for the arch formed in the shear bar.

Forage harvester shear bar with concave cutting surface

A belt drive system featuring an adjustable belt tightener including coordinated gauge means for designating the proper belt tension according to changing positions of the belt tightener as the belt stretches during operation of the drive.

Belt drive system with adjustably gauged tightener means

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 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

Robert D Black