Mounting of the bats of a reel on a crop harvesting header

Abstract

A reel of a header comprises a tube which is mounted on arms at ends of the tube for rotation about a longitudinal axis of the tube. At axially spaced positions along the length of the tube is provided a plurality of support members each lying in a radial plane of the tube and forming a disc surrounding the tube. The disc carries a plurality of brackets extending radially outwardly from the edge of the disc and each bracket carries a respective one of a plurality of bats extending longitudinally of the tube and at angularly spaced positions around the tube. As the tube rotates the bats pass over a sickle knife of the header and sweep the crop onto a table of the header. The brackets are adjustable radially relative to the discs so that the brackets at the center of the tube are moved radially inwardly and the brackets at the ends of the tube are moved radially outwardly. This adjustment bends the bat relative to the tube in a slight curvature which is equal to the amount of deflection of the tube which occurs under its own weight due to sagging and due to acceleration of the tube over bumps. Thus the bat underneath the tube is substantially straight and can cooperate with a straight sickle knife. The bat which is above the tube is bent by a deflection which is substantially equal to double the deflection of the tube.