Abstract: A sickle drive incorporated into a generally flat package or enclosure or floor. The drive includes an epicyclic mechanism, including a rotatable input element in an upper region of a cavity of the enclosure, and an eccentric element below the input element rotatable eccentrically thereby. A drive arm is connected to the eccentric element for rotation about, and eccentric rotation with, the eccentric element, and extends to a pivot element which can be the only component extending upwardly from the enclosure or floor, such that the shaft will be pivoted by the eccentric movement of the drive arm. A knife arm connects to the pivot element and a sickle knife assembly which will be reciprocated by the pivoting action. A second epicyclic arrangement can be employed such that opposite forces generated by operation of the drive will be largely canceled.

Abstract: A cutting assembly for an agricultural harvesting head is provided. The cutting assembly includes a first cutterbar, a second cutterbar, and a knife drive gearbox configured to drive linear reciprocating motion of the first cutterbar and the second cutterbar. The gearbox includes a cam shaft extending along a rotational axis from a first end to a second end. The cam shaft includes a first cam follower groove located near the first end and a second cam follower groove located near the second end. The gearbox further includes a drive mechanism, a first output shaft coupled to a first cam follower that travels in the first cam follower groove, and a second output shaft coupled to a second cam follower that travels in the second cam follower groove. The first output shaft is coupled to the first cutterbar and the second output shaft is coupled to the second cutterbar.

Abstract: A header for an agricultural vehicle. The header includes a header frame and an elongate sickle knife mounted along a leading edge of the header. The header further includes an actuator for reciprocally moving the elongate sickle knife in its longitudinal direction relative to the header frame between a first position and a second position over an intermediate position. At least one accumulator extends between the header frame and the elongate sickle knife to accumulate energy during a first movement of the elongate sickle knife from the intermediate position towards at least one of the first position and the second position, and to release accumulated energy during a second movement of the elongate sickle knife opposite to the first movement.

Abstract: A sickle drive incorporated into a generally flat package or enclosure or floor. The drive includes an epicyclic mechanism, including a rotatable input element in an upper region of a cavity of the enclosure, and an eccentric element below the input element rotatable eccentrically thereby. A drive arm is connected to the eccentric element for rotation about, and eccentric rotation with, the eccentric element, and extends to a pivot element which can be the only component extending upwardly from the enclosure or floor, such that the shaft will be pivoted by the eccentric movement of the drive arm. A knife arm connects to the pivot element and a sickle knife assembly which will be reciprocated by the pivoting action. A second epicyclic arrangement can be employed such that opposite forces generated by operation of the drive will be largely canceled.

Abstract: The present invention refers to an mowing equipment (100) for cutting, collecting and dynamic processing of grass used for grass mowing, which, as well as mowing, innovates on gathering the mowed grass and proceeding on its dynamic processing, in order to transform the mowed and gathered grass amount in a disaggregated mass, similar to powder that is returned to the soil, thus being exempted from any subsequent steps on combing, sweeping, or picking.

Abstract: An epicyclical drive having a generally flat, disk shaped flywheel, a flywheel to pinion carrier in the form of an inner hub of the flywheel, and a flywheel support bearing and structure incorporated into the flywheel itself, all of which are concentric about a rotational axis of the flywheel so as to be axially compact, and so as to be particularly well adapted for being located beneath, or incorporated into, the floor of a grain header of an agricultural harvesting machine, for reciprocatingly driving knife knives of a sickle thereof. In particular, the flywheel support bearing is located in an annular space between the inner hub and an outer flange which is rotated by a belt or other drive for rotating the flywheel.

Abstract: An epicyclical drive having a generally flat, disk shaped flywheel, a flywheel to pinion carrier in the form of an inner hub of the flywheel, and a flywheel support bearing and structure incorporated into the flywheel itself, all of which are concentric about a rotational axis of the flywheel so as to be axially compact, and so as to be particularly well adapted for being located beneath, or incorporated into, the floor of a grain header of an agricultural harvesting machine, for reciprocatingly driving knife knives of a sickle thereof. In particular, the flywheel support bearing is located in an annular space between the inner hub and an outer flange which is rotated by a belt or other drive for rotating the flywheel.

Abstract: A sickle knife system includes two reciprocating sickles each cooperating the same fixed knife guards and each extending across the full width of the cutter bar. The guards have slots approximately twice the height of the guard of a conventional single sickle arrangement so that the two sickles can be run one on top of the other inside the guards. The width of the sickle blades at the rear edge is similar to that of the guard near the rear of its cutting edge. The blades of the top sickle are sharpened to cut against the top surface of the slot and the blades of the bottom sickle are sharpened to cut against the bottom surface of the slot. The two sickles are run out of phase, preferably about 90 degrees, so that as a result, when one sickle is near the end of its stroke within the guard where it decelerates, stops, then accelerates in the opposite direction, the other sickle is starting its cut against the side surface of the next guard.

Abstract: There is provided a cutting section for a mower or a hedge trimmer. Such cutting section comprises a pair of elongate guide plates arranged at upper and lower positions respectively and secured at their rear ends on a transmission case of the mower, a pair of elongate cutter bars arranged one on top of another and received in a space formed between the pair of elongate guide plates, the rear end of each cutter bar being formed with a connecting portion projecting laterally and outwardly beyond the guide plates, and a pair of driving members arranged at upper and lower positions respectively and connected with the respective elongate cutter bars through the respective connecting portions, for reciprocatingly driving the elongate cutter bars by means of a crank mechanism.

Abstract: A mowing device with two sickle bars provides an effective cutting action of the sickle bars at the center where they cooperate in their reciprocation. The knife guards of one sickle bar are mounted at a higher level than those of the other so that one overlaps the other by a height difference slightly greater than the thickness thereof. The central knife guard is of a modified construction so that the end most knife element of the upper sickle bar cooperates with the upper surface of the knife retaining plate member provided for the end knife element of the lower sickle bar. An additional trash bar is provided between the upper plate members for cooperation with the trash bars of the upper sickle bar.

Abstract: A sickle-type mower includes a cutter bar assembly having a pair of sickles mounted for reciprocable motion along respective cutter bars. The sickles include inner knife sections located to cut against stub guards mounted at inner locations of the cutter bars, with the inner knife section of the upper sickle being disposed to cut against a finger of a double hold-down located centrally along the cutter bar assembly with its fingers disposed above respective stub guards located on opposite side of the centerline of the bar assembly.

Abstract: Two sickles, each slightly longer than half the width of the swath taken by the mower, are supported across the front of the mower for reciprocation in mutually opposite directions. Although the two sickles are located in the same vertical plane, they are situated in two different horizontal planes so as to permit overlap in the center during reciprocation. To further facilitate such overlap, the backing bar to which the knife sections of one sickle are attached is located on top of the sections, while on the other sickle, the backing bar is located along the bottom of the sections. The sections are so arranged adjacent the inner ends of the sickles that even when the sickles are at the extremes of their outward strokes away from one another, no gap is presented in the center between the two innermost sections of the two sickles, thereby promoting even cutting across the entire swath taken by the sickle assembly.

Abstract: A cutter bar has spaced apart guards projecting forwardly therefrom with shearing edges cooperating with the sickle knife elements secured to two aligned sickle bars. An extension bar is secured to the inboard end of one of the sickle bars which extends in overlying relation to the inboard end of the other sickle bar. The extension carries several inverted knife elements which cooperate with upper shear edges on special guards at the inboard ends of the sickle bars.