Macdon Industries Ltd

Other

Westland Plastics, Ltd.

Bell, Andrew William Dean

Enns, John Edward

Patterson, Roger L.

Roger L Patterson

John Edward Enns

John E Enns

Andrew William Dean Bell

Andrew W Bell

Howard W Derksen

Francois R Talbot

David J Jordan

Bruce R Kidd

Christopher MacDonald

A crop feeding roller for a header includes a plurality of finger units within the roller each having a pair of fingers projecting outwardly for engaging crop outside the peripheral wall of the roller. The peripheral wall has opposed finger guide holes associated with the pair of fingers. Each finger unit including an inner member carrying the fingers and containing an elongate guide slot transverse to the axis of the roller and a stationary guide member within the guide slot at a position within the roller arranged to cause the inner member with the fingers of each of the finger units to reciprocate during the rotation of the roller. The guide slot is shaped with at least one curved lobe to one side of a transverse center section so that the slot can be S-shaped or C-shaped to improve the dwell time and swept area obtained by the finger movement.

Finger drive for a crop feed roller

A crop header has generally horizontal flail disks mounted for driven rotation about generally upright axes of a cutter bar. A tilting system is provided for tilting the cutter bar about an axis transverse to the machine so as to tilt the cutting plane from a generally horizontal position forwardly and rearwardly. A sensor is provided which is responsive to upward and downward floating movement of the cutter bar relative to the support frame and is arranged to analyze changes in the signal to determine times when the cutter bar is moving upwardly when the cutter bar is tilted rearwardly, times when the cutter bar is moving downwardly when the cutter bar is tilted forwardly and times when the cutter bar is remaining at a constant height.

Rotary crop harvesting machine with cutter bar tilt control

A tractor has hydraulically driven wheels at a cab end and castor wheels at an engine end. It can be driven cab forward in a working mode with a header on the forward end. It is rotated to engine forward in the transport position for more stable higher speed travel. There is provided a float module with adjustable and calibrated springs on the header which allows the header to float relative to the lift system on the tractor. The float force is adjusted by raising and lowering the lift system in dependence on an angle measurement of the lift position. The lift system includes a lift cylinder and tilt cylinder controlled to change cutter angle while maintaining a sight line to the cutter bar for the operator.

Crop harvesting machine with calibration of the header float springs

A swather tractor has hydraulically driven wheels at a cab end and castor wheels at an engine end. It can be driven cab forward in a working mode with a header on the forward end. It is rotated to engine forward in the transport position for more stable higher speed travel. There is provided a float module with adjustable and calibrated springs connected between a mounting assembly on the tractor and pivotal support arms of the float assembly where the mounting assembly can be raised and lowered by a lift system on the tractor. This allows the header to float relative to the lift system on the tractor. The float force of the springs is adjusted by raising and lowering the lift system in dependence on an angle measurement of the lift position of the header as it floats relative to the mounting assembly.

Swather with floating header carried on a mounting assembly which can be raised and lowered

A hydraulically driven swather tractor can move in a cab forward orientation in a working mode with a header on the forward end and can be rotated to engine forward in the transport position for more stable higher speed travel. A system is provided for transferring the header from field to transport position automatically from the cab and includes an arm which permanently connects to the header from the tractor independently of the lift and float mounting system such that in the working position the arm remains connected to the tractor and the header while allowing movement of the header relative to the tractor. Also in the transport position, with the header disconnected from the mounting system, the arm extends from the tractor to the mounting system of the header for supporting the forward end of the header for towing the header longitudinally.

Header transport for a crop harvesting machine

Swather with float assembly and disconnect coupling

A swather tractor has ground drive wheels at a first end, castor wheels at a second end and a header lift arms at the first end and can be driven with the first end forward for harvesting and with the first end rearward for towing. A transport for the header includes a longitudinal beam with a plurality of transverse support arms along the beam. The beam is kinked adjacent the front so that a main portion of the beam is offset to one side relative to the hitch assembly and the rear wheels. A yoke engages the lift arms and provides a hitch for towing the header. Either the forward end of the beam is directly attached to the hitch for small headers or for larger headers a steerable front wheel assembly is connected to the hitch and includes a spring coupling which transfers load to the lift arms.

Header transport

A draper header for a combine harvester includes two side drapers each running from an outer end guide roller at a first end of the header to an inner end guide roller adjacent the discharge location of the header and a central feed draper located at the discharge location and including a front guide roller just behind the cutter bar and running to a rear guide roller in front of the feeder house of the combine harvester. An auger is located between the discharge rollers with a front edge of the flight forward of the rear end of the discharge rollers to feed the material inwardly and underneath the auger to the inlet of the feeder house. A pan member is located underneath the feed draper and is formed of a flexible polyethylene sheet which is tensioned between its front and rear edges by a front mounting strip which is spring mounted for up and down movement and a rear latch which can be released to allow the rear edge to be lowered.

Crop feed arrangement for the header of a combine harvester

A feed roller primarily for feeding crop into a feeder house of a combine harvester is located above and behind a feed draper and includes an outer flight and retractable fingers for feeding the crop through the zone behind the draper and into the feeder house. The fingers rotate about a finger axis offset from the roller axis so that they extend to a maximum at the draper and are retracted behind the roller to release the crop. When the roller is reversed to release a blockage, the fingers are also reversed in direction and the finger axis is moved rearwardly to the opposite side of the roller so that the fingers are extended behind the roller at the feeder house and retracted at the draper. This movement is done automatically on reversing the roller and uses power from the reversal to move the finger axis using a clutch. An anti-distortion wheel is mounted on the finger shaft to prevent retraction of the finger ends into the roller which can cause damage by loss of proper guidance.

Reversible feed roller with radially extendible fingers

A coupling device that requires no manual actuation to achieve coupling features a locking bolt movable along a hole extending into a mouth of a hook body to secure a coupling pin therein. A control lever pivotally connected to the locking bolt opposite the mouth end is biased toward a locked position in which motion of the locking bolt is blocked. To engage the coupling pin and the hook mouth, the coupling pin and an operable pin extending through the hollow locking bolt are brought into contact. This causes an end of the operable pin opposite the mouth to push against the control lever to unlock it from the latching position. The coupling pin pushes the locking bolt out of the mouth so that it can pass by further into it, at which point the lever and bolt return to the locked positions to secure the coupling pin inside.

Self locking coupling device

A draper header for a combine harvester includes two side drapers each running from an outer end guide roller at a first end of the header to an inner end guide roller adjacent the discharge location of the header and a central feed draper located at the discharge location and including a front guide roller just behind the cutter bar and running to a rear guide roller in front of the feeder house of the combine harvester. An auger is located between the discharge rollers with a front edge of the flight forward of the rear end of the discharge rollers to feed the material inwardly and underneath the auger to the inlet of the feeder house. A pan is located underneath the auger and is mounted on a common structure with the feed draper for common pivotal movement about a transverse horizontal axis.

A crop harvesting header for mounting on a propulsion vehicle such as a swather tractor or combine harvester includes a main frame structure supporting a crop receiving table with a cutter bar across a front of the table and side drapers on the table for moving the cut crop toward a discharge location of the header. The frame is divided into a central frame portion and two separate wing frame portions each arranged for pivotal movement relative to the central portion about a pivot axis extending in a plane parallel to the forward direction and intersecting the cutter bar so that, as the wing frame portions pivot, the cutter bar flexes in the area adjacent the respective pivot axis over a small angle of the order of 4 degrees to maintain the cutter bar following the ground. The central frame portion is mounted on two spring arms for upward and twisting floating movement such that the total downward force on the ground, from that part of the weight of all of the portions of the header which is unsupported, can be varied by moving the support to change the total pressure of the header on the ground. The wing frame portions are connected to the central frame portion by interconnecting linkages which transfer weight from the wing frame portions to the springs of the central portion each including a respective balance beam arranged to balance the lifting force from the spring with the downward forces from the center portion and wing frame portion such that the downward force on a skid plate of each portion on the ground varies automatically as the total downward force is varied. A bottom stop is arranged with a balance system which holds the cutter bar straight when the header is raised.

Multi-section header with flexible crop cutting knife

A crop divider is mounted in front of a ground wheel of an agricultural vehicle to divide the crop to pass on either side of the wheel. The divided includes two diverging divider sheets with two trailing side sheets. Each divider sheet carries a free rolling tine wheel parallel to the sheet and having a hub mounted on the divider sheet for rotation about an axis at a right angle to the sheet and a plurality of flexible tines extending outwardly from the hub for rotation with the hub about the axis. The tine wheel is thus mounted in front of the ground wheel and behind the divider sheet with the hub and top tines prevented from engaging the crop by the divider sheet and the tines extending downwardly below a bottom edge of the divider sheet for rolling on the ground and engaging the crop to comb the crop toward one side of the ground wheel. The tines are shaped such that each includes an outer portion which extends generally in an angular direction rearward of the direction of rotation and an inner portion which extends in a direction substantially at right angles to the outer portion in an angularly advanced direction.

Crop divider for the wheel of an agricultural vehicle

A sprayer attachment is designed for mounting upon a swather tractor and includes a central frame with a tank which can be carried upon the front arms of the swather tractor. Two masts each carry a respective one of a pair of booms, each for extending outwardly to a respective side of the tractor for movement with the tractor in a spraying action. Each boom includes an inner section, an outer section and a tip portion. In the folding action the outer section and tip portion are folded about a horizontal axis so as to move to a position overlying the inner section. The folded boom is then pivoted about a vertical axis at the mast to lie along side the side of the tractor. The tip portion includes a parallel cable in advance of the tip portion for impacting an obstacle with the cable actuating release of the latch and accelerating the tip portion away from the obstacle to prevent impact with the obstacle. The tip portion is also moved to the retracted position during the folding action so that the maximum height of the outer section during folding is reduced to avoid contact with power lines and the like. The booms are inclined outwardly and rearwardly in the extended position to move the center of gravity rearwardly. The tank has two recessed sides to receive the arms of the swather tractor and a front which is inclined forwardly and downwardly to improve vision. Each boom is movable vertically along a vertical supporting mast independently for height adjustment. A hydraulic and electrical coupling allows the existing control lever of the swather tractor to control the boom movement.

Material spreader attachment for mounting on a tractor

A sprayer attachment is designed for mounting upon a swather tractor and includes a central frame with a tank which can be carried upon the front arms of the swather tractor. Two masts each carry a respective one of a pair of booms, each for extending outwardly to a respective side of the tractor for movement with the tractor in a spraying action. Each boom includes an inner section, an outer section and a tip portion. In the folding action the outer section and tip portion are folded about a horizontal axis so as to move to a position overlying the inner section. The folded boom is then pivoted about a vertical axis at the mast to lie along side the side of the tractor. The tip portion includes a parallel cable in advance of the tip portion for impacting an obstacle with the cable actuating release of the latch and accelerating the tip portion away from the obstacle to prevent impact with the obstacle. The tip portion is also moved to the retracted position during the folding action so that the maximum height of the outer section during folding is reduced to avoid contact with power lines and the like.

Growing community of inventors

Selkirk, Canada

Roger L Patterson