Abstract: A cooling system for a motor vehicle includes an engine cooling circuit in which an engine cooling circuit coolant pump pumps the coolant through at least one engine cooling system and an engine cooling circuit heat exchanger. The cooling system also includes a separate supercharger air cooling circuit in which a supercharger air cooling circuit coolant pump pumps the coolant through at least one supercharger air cooler and a supercharger air cooling circuit heat exchanger. The two cooling circuits are connected with a common expansion tank via ventilation lines which connect each cooling circuit with an upper portion of the expansion tank.

Abstract: A round baler has a bale chamber surrounded by bale forming means running over stationary and moveable rollers. Some moveable rollers are carried by arms which are located outside opposite side walls of the bale chamber. This enables a bale to be formed within the spacing between the side walls and to be ejected by raising the arms carrying moveable rollers to open the bale chamber.

Abstract: A baler is provided with a baling chamber for producing parallelepiped bales. The baling chamber has an upper part that can be repositioned in height by servo motors. The baling plunger is constructed of upper and lower parts that can also be adjusted vertically a corresponding amount.

Abstract: A cultivating and seeding machine is provided with a seeding unit and a tillage device and/or a land roller. The seeding unit is provided with a seeding actuator, the tillage device is provided with a tillage actuator and the land roller is provided with a land roller actuator. The seeding actuator regulates the sowing depth of the seeding unit, whereas the tillage and land roller actuators regulates the downward pressure of these two implements, respectively. A controller having a memory loaded with information for adjusting the working implements, controls the various actuators in response to these data records.

Abstract: A windrow merging implement with a pick-up, a conveyor and a connecting hitch or structure is provided in combination with a mowing vehicle, with the connecting hitch being releasably secured to a rear end of the vehicle chassis. The mowing vehicle is operative to form windrows of crop in one or more of three locations, namely, a central location passing longitudinally between the wheels of the vehicle and one on each side of the vehicle. The windrow merging implement may be positioned at either side of the vehicle for picking up the windrow deposited there, and includes a conveyor structure for either depositing the picked up windrow upon or alongside the centrally deposited windrow. Also disclosed is an embodiment where the windrow merging implement picks up and displaces transversely the centrally deposited windrow.

Abstract: An adjustable wheel and axle assembly has a two piece inner element with inner and outer tapered portions. A wheel hub having a two-tiered tapered interior bore with one tapered portion engaging the inner element while the other tapered portion is radially space outward. A split ring wedge fits between the inner element and the wheel hub and is drawn in by a plurality of bolts extending through the wheel hub to clamp the inner element onto the axle. The taper angle is in the range of 14-16 degrees so that the parts are self releasing. A pinion gear with an integral shaft extending outward is used to move the wheel along the axle for adjusting the wheel position.

Abstract: A vehicle brake system includes a primary hydraulic pump, a secondary variable delivery pump, left and right service brakes and left and right secondary brakes. A service brake valve is connected between the primary pump and the service brakes, and operates the service brakes in response to brake pedal operation. Left and right service brake switches generate signals representing operational status of the service brakes. An electrohydraulic secondary brake valve operates the secondary brakes in response to an electronic control signal. Brake pressure sensors generate brake pressure signals representing the service brake pressure and the secondary brake pressure. An electronic control unit is coupled to the service brake switches, to the pressure sensors and to the secondary brake valve. The control unit generates the control signal as a function of the status of the service brakes and of the brake pressure signals.

Abstract: The entire right, title and interest in and to this application and all subject matter disclosed and/or claimed therein, including any and all divisions, continuations, reissues, etc., thereof are, effective as of the date of execution of this application, assigned, transferred, sold and set over by the applicant(s) named herein to Deere & Company, a Delaware corporation having offices at Moline, Ill. 61265, U.S.A., together with all rights to file, and to claim priorities in connection with, corresponding patent applications in any and all foreign countries in the name of Deere & Company or otherwise.

Abstract: A venting or pressure release system releases pressure from a transmission housing through which extends a transmission shaft. A lower part of the transmission housing forms a collector in which fluid collect. A conduit communicates the collector with a storage container which is substantially sealed against the transmission housing. An overpressure in the transmission housing forces fluid from the collector through the conduit into the storage container. A pressure-release conduit communicates the transmission housing above the collector to the storage container. A shutoff device closes the pressure-release conduit when the transmission shaft is rotating and opens the pressure-release conduit when the transmission shaft is not rotating. This makes possible a rapid compensation of fluid after the transmission has been turned off so that the fluid level can be reliably determined. The shutoff device may be a pilot-controlled valve or a fluid barrier.

Abstract: A flex wing rotary cutter includes wheel axles on each of the center and wing deck frames which are linked together for simultaneous rocking by a lift cylinder coupled between the center deck frame and the center axle. Each of the support wheels of the cutter is mounted to a spindle carried at the rear end of a rocker arm that is pivotally attached, at a location between its ends, to a rear location of a respective strut cantilevered from one or the other of the axles. An air spring is coupled between the strut and a forward end of the rocker arm and a shock absorber is coupled between the rocker arm and the strut at a location between the air spring and the connection of the rocker arm with the strut.

Abstract: A towed rotary cutter includes a self-leveling hitch equipped with a parking stand mounted in a centered position beneath the hitch. Through the operation of the leveling links, the hydraulic lift cylinder that is used for raising and lowering the ground wheels of the cutter relative to the cutter frame is also used to manipulate the hitch, once the parking stand is placed in its park position, so as to remove the weight of the hitch from the tractor drawbar when unhitching the tractor from the rotary cutter, or to place the hitch clevis at the correct height for connecting it to the tractor drawbar when hitching the cutter to the tractor. In a first embodiment, the parking stand is constructed for use with a hitch having a feature for automatically maintaining the clevis in a horizontal attitude.

Abstract: An oil cooler for an internal combustion engine includes an oil circuit and a cooling circuit arranged in a housing with inlet opening and outlet openings. The housing has a generally annular, C-shaped structure which forms a central, axial cylindrical bore and a radially extending slot. The housing is attached to an annular plate. The bore may receive engine components, such as shafts and the like.

Abstract: A rotor includes a tube having an outer cross section which is non-circular onto which is assembled one-piece drivers provided with central openings of the same shape and size as the outer circumferential surface of the tube and thereby create a connection, fixed against rotation, between these parts. The rotor is shown used in a crop reducing arrangement of a large round baler.

Abstract: A rotary disc cutter and a rotary impeller are disclosed as examples of devices which utilize a coupling arrangement forming a detent, for the cutter knives of the disc cutter and the impeller tines of the rotary impeller, which acts, in response to centrifugal force during operation, to retain the knives and tines in radially extended positions. In the rotary disc cutter and one variant of the rotary impeller, respective holes in ends of the knives and tines are shaped to cooperate with a square section of respective fasteners so as to accomplish the detent action, while in a second variant of the rotary impeller, the detent action is due to the cooperation between respective fasteners and complementary shaped tine mount sections.

Abstract: An automatic steering system is provided with a first position sensor for generating a first position signal and a second position sensor for generating a second position signal. Both position signals are communicated to a controller having a memory. The controller is also supplied signal quality information about the quality of the position signals. The controller evaluates the position signals based on the signal quality information and weights the position signals accordingly to calculate the position of the vehicle and select the vehicle's target path. The target path is selected from several target paths and is the best that corresponds to the position of the vehicle. The controller then generates a steering signal that is communicated to a steering controller for steering the vehicle.

Abstract: A system for locating an agricultural vehicle in a field using two position sensors. A first position sensor is a GPS sensor using satellite signals to locate the vehicle. The second position sensor is a crop edge sensor for locating the vehicle relative to a crop being harvested. A controller receives the first and second position signals and calculates the position of the vehicle based on these two position signals. Both position signals contain signal quality information that is evaluated by the controller and weights the position calculation accordingly. The system can be used in conjunction with a steering controller to automatically guide the vehicle through a field.

Abstract: A mower-conditioner includes a header or platform which is equipped with a rotary disc cutter bar having a relatively long length with at least two cutting units being outboard of a central discharge passage where a pair of conditioner rolls are mounted for receiving the cut crop. Aiding in conveying crop to the discharge passage are right- and left-hand sets of three crop converging drums provided at each side of the discharge passage. The outer drums of the two sets are respectively mounted to the top of the right- and left-hand end cutting units of the cutter bar while the other two drums on each side are located behind an inward and rearward extending line that is tangent to the cylindrical path traced by the outer and inner ones of the drums on each side of the discharge passage. In one embodiment, a direct drive transmission is provided, and in a second embodiment a hydraulic motor is provided, for driving the inner two converging drums of each set.

Abstract: A tractor having a cargo box and an axle mounted hitch ball in which the hitch ball projects upward through an opening in the cargo box floor. This arrangement enables the ball to be used when the cargo box is mounted to the tractor. Furthermore, since the ball is mounted to the axle and not the cargo box, greater load carrying capacity is achieved and the hitch can be used when the box removed from the tractor.

Abstract: A cane harvester base cutter assembly includes a gearbox provided with an upper horizontal section that joins a pair of transversely spaced cylindrical wells. Each well has a bottom wall in which an upper drive shaft section of a base cutter leg is mounted for rotation. Each shaft section is received in a collar which is press fit into a hole in the associated well bottom wall and a seal is mounted on the shaft for preventing leakage along the interface between the shaft section and the sleeve. Ferric contaminants are prevented from falling onto the seals by ring-shaped contaminant collectors, including magnets, that are respectively mounted for rotation with the shafts at locations directly above the seals.

Abstract: A stand for a removable cargo box a method for removing the box from a tractor. The stand has left and right mirror image legs each including a support member and a base to hold the support member upright. A cargo box attachment member is pivotally mounted to the support member and is adapted to attach to the cargo box. A vehicle attachment member is also mounted to the support member and is adapted to be attached to the vehicle, in this case a tractor, to hold the leg in place relative to the tractor while removing and remounting the cargo box. A latch holds the cargo box attachment member in a fixed rotational position relative to the support member. A method of removing the cargo box from the tractor is also disclosed.