The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 19, 2002
Filed:
Jun. 28, 2001
Melanie W. Harkcom, New Holland, PA (US);
Thomas L. Stiefvater, Ephrata, PA (US);
Steven J. Campbell, New Holland, PA (US);
Edward J. Clement, Akron, PA (US);
New Holland North America, Inc., New Holland, PA (US);
Abstract
A crop harvesting implement has a wheeled frame, a draft tongue pivotable between extreme left and right operating positions, a mechanism for pivoting the tongue, a drive line for transmitting rotational power from a tractor when coupled thereto, a crop harvesting header suspended from the frame and having operable components for engaging and processing crop material, a gearbox for receiving rotational power from the drive line and transmitting the power to the operable components of the crop harvesting header, an input shaft operatively connected to the drive line, a device for mounting the gearbox on the header so that the header rotates, and a steering mechanism for effecting rotational movement of the gearbox in concert with the pivotal movement of the tongue. The steering mechanism is located on the drive line to pivot the gearbox about its generally vertical pivot axis in response to the pivotal movement of the tongue during field operations so as to keep the input shaft of the gearbox at least generally aligned with the tongue.