A reciprocating cutting blade apparatus includes: a pair of reciprocating cutting blades disposed to overlap one another in a thickness direction; an upper support member and a lower support member sandwiching and reciprocably supporting the reciprocating cutting blades; and a transmission case to which the upper and lower support members maintaining a distance therebetween are mounted. The transmission case includes: a grease inlet and an upper grease reservoir provided above the upper support member accumulating grease poured from the grease inlet and; a lower Grease reservoir provided below the lower support member and accumulating the grease poured from the grease inlet. The upper support member includes a through-hole communicating with the upper grease reservoir. The lower support member includes a through-hole communicating with the lower grease reservoir. The reciprocating cutting blades includes through-holes allowing communication between the through-holes of the upper support member and the lower support member, respectively.

The cutter guard assembly includes a cutter bar assembly, a window frame, and a floor sheet. The cutter bar assembly has a cutter bar and a reciprocating knife assembly operatively connected to a knife drive. The window frame is rigidly attached to the cutter bar. The window frame includes an opening through which a knife arm of the reciprocating knife assembly extends through. The floor sheet extends rearwardly from the cutter bar and pivots relative to the window frame.

A system and method for performing cutting operations with an agricultural implement includes a cutting member capable of cutting plant material supported on the agricultural implement. A vibration source is operatively coupled to the cutting member. The vibration source is configured to generate a vibrational output at an ultrasonic frequency which is transmitted to the cutting member. The vibrational output is propagated through at least a portion of the cutting member to vibrate the cutting member as the plant material is being severed during the performance of the cutting operation.

A system and method for performing cutting operations with an agricultural implement includes a cutting member capable of cutting plant material supported on the agricultural implement. A vibration source is operatively coupled to the cutting member. The vibration source is configured to generate a vibrational output at an ultrasonic frequency which is transmitted to the cutting member. The vibrational output is propagated through at least a portion of the cutting member to vibrate the cutting member as the plant material is being severed during the performance of the cutting operation.

An improved cutter assembly for use with a header of an agricultural harvester is provided. The assembly includes a pair of oppositely directed knife blades or cutter bars and a center knife drive. A crank shaft drives both knife blades in linear reciprocating paths with no fore and aft movement. As a consequence, harmful fore and aft vibration is eliminated. The assembly is simple and durable in design, less susceptible to vibration-induced wear and tear, and comparatively simple to manufacture and repair.

An improved cutter assembly for use with a header of an agricultural harvester is provided. The assembly includes a pair of oppositely directed knife blades or cutter bars and a center knife drive. A crank shaft drives both knife blades in linear reciprocating paths with no fore and aft movement. As a consequence, harmful fore and aft vibration is eliminated. The assembly is simple and durable in design, less susceptible to vibration-induced wear and tear, and comparatively simple to manufacture and repair.

A drive arrangement for the reciprocating drive of a cutter bar comprises a hydraulic gear motor with a housing and a gearwheel, which is set in motion around a first axis by a hydraulic medium, and an eccentric drive, which comprises an eccentric element that can be rotatably driven by a gearwheel around a second axis parallel to the first axis, and a drive element connected to the eccentric element, which is, or can be, connected to the cutter bar.

A drive arrangement for the reciprocating drive of a cutter bar comprises a hydraulic gear motor with a housing and a gearwheel, which is set in motion around a first axis by a hydraulic medium, and an eccentric drive, which comprises an eccentric element that can be rotatably driven by a gearwheel around a second axis parallel to the first axis, and a drive element connected to the eccentric element, which is, or can be, connected to the cutter bar.

The reciprocating cutting blade apparatus includes: a pair of reciprocating cutting blades disposed to overlap one another in a thickness direction; a support member configured to reciprocably support the reciprocating cutting blades in a longitudinal direction; and an adjustment mechanism configured to adjust a gap between the reciprocating cutting blades on a lower surface side of the support member. The adjustment mechanism includes: a screw hole provided in the support member; an adjustment screw including an external thread configured to threadedly engage with the screw hole through long holes provided in the reciprocating cutting blades; and a nut configured to threadedly engage with the external thread protruding from an upper surface of the support member to fix the external thread to the support member. The external thread protruding from the upper surface of the support member includes an operated portion configured to be operated to turn the adjustment screw.

In order to reduce crop losses in the region of the knife bar, a double knife cutting system (11) includes a first part of the knife blades (18a) present on the cutting unit (2) are fastened to a first knife back (20a), this first part of the knife blades (18a) together with the first knife back (20a) forming the upper knife (22), a second part of the knife blades (18b) present on the cutting unit (2) being fastened to a second knife back (20b), this second part of the knife blades (18b) together with the second knife back (20b) forming the lower knife (24), the upper knife (22) and the lower knife (24) being driven in opposite directions, and, of the rocker arms (34), a first rocker arm (34) being drive-connected to the upper knife (22) and a second rocker arm (34) being drive-connected to the lower knife (24).