International Harvester Company

Robert L Francis

Richard A DePauw

Neil C Dunn

Richard E McMillen

Harold E Smith

An axial flow combine having a crop harvesting header including a feeder for cutting a crop and feeding it rearwardly into a threshing and separating mechanism. The mechanism includes a casing for receiving the crop material and a rotor within the casing for threshing and separating grain from the crop material. The rotor has a central drive shaft driven through a gear case behind the rotor. The gear case is partially enclosed within a cover having a smooth exterior surface. The end of the rotor is configured in a smooth exterior surface which is complementary to the surface of the cover to inhibit collection of chaff about the drive shaft. Impeller blades are secured on the rotor for creating an air flow directing crop material away from the drive shaft to prevent crop material wrapping about the shaft or accumulating in the drive system.

Combine rotor drive anti-trash system

An apparatus for accepting unthrashed material that is being fed axially into the cylinder of an axially flow combine. The apparatus includes a three bladed impeller that when rotated generates a frustum of a cone with the larger end of the cone frustum being generated by the leading edges of the impeller blades. The leading edge of each impeller blade being swept back such that the outermost portion of the leading edge of the impeller blade trails a line radiating from the point on the rotor axis where the impeller blade originates from.

Growing community of inventors

East Moline, IL, United States of America

Robert L Francis