Harvesting header with adjustable draper for left, right or center

Abstract

The header has generally transversely disposed, flat, apron-like conveyor mechanism for receiving the stalks of grain or other crop materials severed along the leading edge of the header and for gathering such materials so that they might be discharged in a continuous stream for producing a windrow. The conveyor mechanism comprises a pair of largely self-contained sections which may be latched together and shifted to one end of the header with their upper surfaces driven in a common leftward direction for left delivery and discharge, or shifted to the opposite end of the header and driven with their upper surfaces in a righthand direction for right end delivery of the materials, or they may be unlatched and separated while their upper surfaces are driven in opposite directions centrally toward one another for centered delivery of the materials. By virtue of a latch for releasably connecting the sections together and a cooperating, selectively operable latch releasing device, the necessary shifting adjustment of the sections between their various positions may be accomplished through the medium of only a single shifting assembly coupled with one of the sections. A special selectively engageable and disengageable drive line arrangement for the conveying surfaces of the conveyor sections includes components which are matingly engaged or disengaged and driven in one or the other of two opposite directions depending upon the shifted position of the sections by the shifter assembly.