Cutting Mechanism with Longitudinally Movable Support Element for Supporting a Conveyor Surface

Abstract

The invention relates to a cutting mechanism (4) for installing onto a harvesting machine (2), comprising a frame (6) that has rocker arms (14) which point in the working direction and the front ends of which are secured to cutting elements (16) in order to cut the harvested crops, said rocker arms (14) together with the cutting elements (16) secured thereto being vertically movable relative to the frame (6). The aim of the invention is to provide an improved support for moving conveyor surfaces. This is achieved in that one or more support elements (20) are placed on the rocker arms (14), said support elements supporting conveyor surfaces (22) located above the rocker arms (14), and at least one of the support elements (20) is connected to the rocker arm (14) in a longitudinally movable manner.

Claims

1.-10. (canceled)

11. A cutting mechanism for installation at a harvesting machine, the cutting mechanism comprising: a frame comprising rocker arms oriented in a working direction and comprising leading ends in the working direction; cutting elements configured to cut crop and connected to the leading ends of the rocker arms; the rocker arms together with the cutting elements connected to the leading ends are configured to be vertically movable in relation to the frame; one or more support elements positioned on the rocker arms, respectively; a conveyor surface arranged above the rocker arms and supported on the one or more support elements; wherein the one or more support elements include a longitudinally moveable support element connected to the respective rocker arm in a longitudinally movable manner.

12. The cutting mechanism according to claim 11, wherein one or more of the rocker arms are leaf spring packs.

13. The cutting mechanism according to claim 11, wherein the conveyor surface is fastened at the cutting mechanism such that a leading edge of the conveyor surface facing the cutting elements, even for vertical movements of the cutting elements, remains in a spatial relationship to the cutting elements that stays the same.

14. The cutting mechanism according to claim 11, wherein the longitudinally movable support element is configured to be moveably driven by one or more coupling rods supported at the leading section of the respective rocker arm or supported at the cutting element connected to the respective rocker arm.

15. The cutting mechanism according to claim 11, further comprising a holding element connected to the longitudinally movable support element, wherein the holding element comprises a follower configured to guide a movement of the conveyor surface, wherein the holding element delimits the conveyor surface.

16. The cutting mechanism according to claim 11, further comprising a holding element connected to the longitudinally movable support element, wherein the holding element supports and guides a movable rear wall of a conveying path of the crop.

17. The cutting mechanism according to claim 16, wherein the holding element seals a transition between the conveyor surface and the moveable rear wall.

18. The cutting mechanism according to claim 11, wherein the conveyor surface is a circulating belt conveyor.

19. The cutting mechanism according to claim 11, wherein the cutting elements are connected by a knife angle bracket to the leading ends of the rocker arms, wherein the knife angle bracket is a profiled sheet metal and bridges a distance between the cutting elements and the conveyor surface, and wherein the knife angle bracket is comprised of a plurality of segments that are sequentially arranged across a working width of the cutting mechanism and are articulated to each other.

20. The cutting mechanism according to claim 11, further comprising one or more coupling rods arranged between the rocker arms that are neighboring each other, wherein the one or more coupling rods are connected pivotably to the one or more support elements of the rocker arms that are neighboring each other.

Description

[0021] The invention will now be explained in more detail with the aid of embodiments. It is shown in:

[0022] FIG. 1: a view at a slant from the front of a harvesting machine with cutting mechanism;

[0023] FIG. 2: a section view of the cutting mechanism.

[0024] In FIG. 1, a view at a slant from the front of a harvesting machine 2 with a cutting mechanism 4 is illustrated. The cutting mechanism 4 comprises a frame 6 which is connected by an attachment frame 8 to the intake channel 10 of the harvesting machine 2.

[0025] In FIG. 2, a section view of the cutting mechanism 4 is illustrated. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, a circulating belt conveyor is illustrated as conveying member 12 and forms at its top side the conveyor surface 22. The invention can also be used for a belt conveyor that conveys the crop opposite to the working direction of the harvesting machine, for example, a central belt of a draper header. For the purpose of the invention, the conveyor surface 22 however must not be itself movable or driven movably; it can also be comprised of a rigid sheet metal floor across which conveying members such as, for example, a screw conveyor, convey the cut crop. For upward and downward movements of the cutting element 16 and of the rocker arm 14, which are indicated by a corresponding double arrow, changes in the spatial position of the conveyor surface 22 result. The rocker arm 16 in the embodiment is designed as a leaf spring pack that enables a flexible vertical adjustment of the cutting element 16. In deviation from the embodiment, rigid components such as, for example, a profiled sheet metal, can however be used also as rocker arm 16 which are connected by a pivot axis to the frame 6 and by means of the pivot axis are pivotable such that thereby the vertical position of the cutting elements 16 changes.

[0026] The conveyor surface 22 is supported and guided in respect to its conveying movement even in a changed spatial position. For this purpose, the support elements 20a, 20b are fastened in a longitudinally movable manner to the rocker arm 14, which is indicated by the illustrated double arrows. The movements of the longitudinally movable support element 20b are transmitted in the embodiment via the coupling rod 24 which engages with its rearward end at the support element 20b and with its leading end at the support element 20a. The support element 20a is supported by a rigid torque support 38 at the leading end of the cutting mechanism 4. The torque support 38 acts in this manner like a further coupling rod 24. The coupling rod 24 and the torque support 38 transmit movements of the cutting element 16 in the longitudinal direction to the support elements 20a, 20b.

[0027] The support elements 20a, 20b can follow, due to their longitudinal movability, the movements of the conveyor surface 22 in a direction along the rocker arm 14. The support of the conveyor surface 22 in this manner can be maintained even for upward and downward movements of the cutting element 16. In order to hold and to guide the conveyor surface 22 upon upward and downward movements of the rocker arm 14 and of the cutting element 16, the rear support element 20 has positioned thereon a holding element 26 which is a V-shaped groove as follower 28 in the embodiment. The belt conveyor is provided on the inner side of its conveying belt with a vulcanized profile that has a shape complementary to the shape of the follower 28 and engages the cross section of the V-shaped groove as follower 28. When the support element 20b moves along the rocker arm 14, the follower 28 with its V-shaped groove entrains by means of the vulcanized profile the belt conveyor and moves the latter, corresponding to the longitudinal movement of the support element 20b, to the front or to the rear. In this way, the leading edge 36 of the belt conveyor in longitudinal direction of the rocker arm 14 always remains in a fixed spatial relationship to the cutting elements 16 and in a sealed contact in relation to the cutting element 16 so that at the leading edge 36 of the belt conveyor upon movement of the rocker arm 14 and/or of the cutting element 16 no gaps are produced which could produce crop loss and material accumulation. When the conveyor surface 22 is not formed by a circulating belt conveyor but by a rigid sheet metal, the follower 28 can also be embodied as a simple strap, hinge or the like.

[0028] The holding element 26 is provided with a stay 32 by means of which crop losses across the rear edge of the belt conveyor are avoided. The stay 32 as a component of the holding element 26 is also connected to the movable rear wall 30 that supports the conveying path of the crop via the cutting mechanism 4 to the rear and guides it. The movable rear wall is held through the stay 32 by the holding element 26. The movability of the movable rear wall 30 is also indicated by a double arrow. Upon movements of the longitudinally movable support element 20b, the holding element 26 entrains the movable rear wall 30 in the respective movement direction. Since the holding element 26 in the transition region between the conveyor surface 22 and the rear wall 30 comprises a closed surface, it seals the transition between the conveyor surface 22 and the rear wall 30.

[0029] The cutting elements 16 are connected by a knife angle bracket 34 to the rocker arm 14. The knife angle bracket 34 can be embodied as a profiled sheet metal and bridges the distance between the cutting elements 16 and the conveyor surface 22. The knife angle bracket 34 can be comprised of a plurality of segments sequentially arranged across the working width of the cutting mechanism 4 which are articulated to each other.

[0030] The invention is not limited to the afore described embodiments. A person of skill in the art will have no difficulties to modify the embodiments in a way appearing suitable to him in order to adapt them to a concrete application situation.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

[0031] 2 harvesting machine [0032] 4 cutting mechanism [0033] 6 frame [0034] 8 attachment frame [0035] 10 intake channel [0036] 12 conveying member [0037] 14 rocker arm [0038] 16 cutting element [0039] 18 leading section [0040] 20 support element [0041] 22 conveyor surface [0042] 24 coupling rod [0043] 26 holding element [0044] 28 follower [0045] 30 rear wall [0046] 32 stay [0047] 34 knife angle bracket [0048] 36 leading edge [0049] 38 torque support