Abstract: A mower conditioner includes a rotary style cutter bed and a pair of laterally extending crop conditioning rolls spaced rearwardly from the cutter bed. Crop flow is improved in the machine by a laterally extending conveying roller located between the cutter bed and the nip defined by the conditioning rolls. In particular, the conveying roller serves to lift cut crop up from the cutter bed and convey the crop rearwardly to the nip. This ensures that the cut crop moves in a steady stream from the cutter bed to the conditioning rolls, and thereby reduces the risk of cut crop being thrown forwardly by the cutters. A downwardly open area is preferably defined between the conveying roller and the cutter bed to provide a space through which dirt and debris can drop out of the machine. The conveying roller preferably has a rotational axis that is lower than the rotational axis of the lower conditioning roll and generally vertically aligned with the substantially planar cutting zone defined by the cutter bed.

Abstract: The in-line baler has its crop pickup, baling chamber and compacting plunger all located on the same fore-and-aft axis as viewed in top plan, but the tongue of the baler can be selectively swung by a hydraulic cylinder from a centered position to an offset position so that the baler may be correspondingly operated either directly behind the towing vehicle or off to one side as desired by the operator. To compensate for an otherwise excessive weight transfer onto the outboard ground wheel when the baler is shifted to the offset location, the onboard internal combustion engine and other drive apparatus for the operating components of the baler are all located off to one side of the center line of the machine, i.e., toward the inboard ground wheel. The pivot point for the tongue is located forwardly of the transverse axis of the ground wheels and slightly to the inboard side of the central axis of the baler, between the pickup and the overhead baling chamber.

Abstract: Instead of using the compacting plunger of the baler to unload one or more bales from the bale chamber, an auxiliary ejector system may be utilized that enables the operator to select only the last bale for off-loading, or both the last bale and the next-to-last bale. A shuttle assembly housed almost entirely within hollow rails of the bale case has a number of ejector dogs that need not all be placed in operating position simultaneously, thus permitting the operator to choose to actuate only those dogs which are necessary to off-load the bale he selects. The shuttle is repeatedly actuated and retracted through ejecting and reset strokes until the selected bale or bales are fully off-loaded. During the reset strokes the spring-loaded dogs are yieldably folded down under the pressure of the overhead bale so as to avoid retrograde movement of the bale.

Abstract: A harvester which uses a rotary style cutter bed has a series of rotary cutters extending across the path of travel of the machine and rotatable about individual upright axes. Part of the cutter bed is a flat gear case containing a train of intermeshed spur gears that serve to distribute power between the cutters above the gear train. Each end of the gear case has a hollow, gearless extension welded thereto which supports at least one additional outboard cutter that receives its driving power exteriorally of the gear case. One embodiment uses a mechanical drive to bring power to the upright shaft of the cutter having the first spur gear so that the cutters with gears receive all their power from the driven cutter.

Abstract: A crop harvester of the rotary cutter bed type has a series of rotary cutters extending across the path of travel of the machine and rotatable about individual upright axes. The cutter bed extends in opposite directions beyond the ends of a central discharge opening to the conditioner rolls. Cutters located outboard of the opening direct cut crop materials along the front of the cutter bed until the opposite extremities of the discharge openings are reached, whereupon pairs of cooperating, oppositely rotating cutters in front of the opening function to propel the crop material rearwardly with the main flow of cut materials. Alternative forms of conveying means are provided in association with the outboard cutters for moving the cut crop centrally without the use of augers or other additional gathering mechanism behind the row of cutters.

Abstract: The elongated cutter bed extending across the front of the harvester has a series of rotary cutting units which rotate about respective upright axes. Upright impeller cages associated with those cutter units located outside of the rear discharge opening of the header help gather cut crop toward the center of the machine for subsequent rearward delivery.

Abstract: The harvester has a transverse cutter bed provided with a series of rotary cutting units that rotate about individual upright axes. Those cutting units located outboard of the discharge opening behind the cutting bed are provided with specially configured impeller plates that assist in the proper delivery of cut materials into the opening.

Abstract: A swing-tongue harvester has a hydraulically controlled pulling tongue that can be operated from the tractor seat to change the lateral position of the machine relative to the towing tractor, notwithstanding the presence of a mechanical drive line which extends along the tongue and branches down to a gearbox carried by the header for driving the operating components of the header. Telescoping steering linkage between the swing tongue and the gearbox causes the box to swing responsively with the tongue when the tongue is swung to any of its angular positions, thus keeping the input shaft of the gearbox oriented properly toward the driveline along the tongue. The connection points for the steering linkage between the tongue and the gearbox are such that a telescoping section of the driveline bridging the tongue and the input shaft of the gearbox has equal angles maintained at its universal joints at opposite ends of the telescoping section to reduce unequal loading at those locations.

Abstract: The bearing assembly includes a synthetic resinous collar which circumscribes the tube and oscillates therewith against the inside of a metal bushing wedged within a metal housing that is bolted to the adjacent tine tube carrier arm of the reel. The bushing is constructed from a pair of generally semicircular half-sections that are abutted together to make a complete annulus when held within the housing, thereby permitting removal of the bushing from the tube by simply separating the two half-sections from one another after the housing has been slipped axially off the end of the bushing. A slit in one side of the collar permits opposed wall portions thereof to be spread apart so that the collar may likewise be removed from the tube in a transverse direction rather than requiring axial movement along the tube which would be obstructed by crop-engaging tines of the reel.

Abstract: A crop conditioning unit in a crop harvesting machine, such as a mower conditioner, has conditioning rolls configured to define a non-uniform crop conditioning zone which tapers or flares outwardly at opposite end regions thereof to a cross-sectional size greater than the generally uniform cross-sectional size of the remainder of the zone. Tapered end segments of the conditioning ribs on at least one of the rolls provide areas of relief at the opposite ends of the conditioning rolls which define the flared end regions of the non-uniform conditioning zone and accommodate passage of a correspondingly shaped crop layer through the zone without causing uneven loading of the rolls. As a result, uniform conditioning of the non-uniform crop layer can be achieved.

Abstract: Sprockets of a toothed belt drive for a double sickle harvesting header are carefully aligned relative to each other and to the toothed belt so that the belt can be twisted about its longitudinal axis during advancement along a closed loop path of travel in order to translate rotary motion about a first axis to rotary motion about a second axis which is inclined relative to the first axis. The toothed belt has semicylindrical teeth, and two idler pulleys contact a return portion of the belt to insure that the same are maintained in parallelism with grooves formed in sprockets of the mechanism in order to avoid imposition of side thrusts on the belt or undue wear on the teeth. The toothed belt reciprocates both sickles of the harvesting header in synchronous, timed fashion along directions opposite to each other so that vibrations which would otherwise be established by non-synchronous movement of the sickles are significantly dampened.

Abstract: Standing crops severed by sickle mechanism at the leading edge of the machine are swept upwardly and rearwardly along a platform by a rotating reel to a lower, center-gathering auger and an upper, spaced distributing auger that converge the materials centrally and distribute them evenly across a discharge opening ahead of rearwardly positioned conditioning rolls. As severed materials pass through the machine, the flow is gently and progressively converged vertically due to the distances between the reel and the underlying platform, the two augers, and the conditioning rolls becoming progressively smaller.

Abstract: The header has generally transversely disposed, flat, apron-like conveyor mechanism for receiving the stalks of grain or other crop materials severed along the leading edge of the header and for gathering such materials so that they might be discharged in a continuous stream for producing a windrow. The conveyor mechanism comprises a pair of largely self-contained sections which may be latched together and shifted to one end of the header with their upper surfaces driven in a common leftward direction for left delivery and discharge, or shifted to the opposite end of the header and driven with their upper surfaces in a righthand direction for right end delivery of the materials, or they may be unlatched and separated while their upper surfaces are driven in opposite directions centrally toward one another for centered delivery of the materials.

Abstract: In a baling operation that uses a continuously reciprocating plunger, if the next charge to be stuffed into the chamber has not yet reached the desired size and density by the time the stuffing fork is ready to begin its next operating cycle, the fork is temporarily deactivated, without affecting the plunger, until the charge reaches full size and density. Thereupon, the fork stuffs the entire charge into the baling chamber in a single cycle of operation for compaction by the plunger. The baler is loaded from the bottom of the baling chamber through an upwardly curved duct that serves both as an accumulating chamber and as a precompression area into which the charge is progressively packed by a rotating, retractable finger drum at the lower end of the duct. A backstop for precompression purposes may be presented at the top of the duct in a number of alternative ways, i.e.

Abstract: In the event that tying needles should be left in the path of travel of the baling plunger as a result of a malfunction in the drive for the needles, a safety control linkage will take over to withdraw the needles from the path of travel as the plunger continues in operation. During the baling process and before initiation of a tying cycle, the linkage reciprocates freely without effect on the tying needles as a result of a lost-motion connection therewith. The relationship between the linkage and the needles is such that the linkage has no effect on the needles when the latter are swung into operation by their driving mechanism, the linkage only coming into play if such mechanism should fail and be thus unable to withdraw the tying needles in the normal manner.

Abstract: In a baling operation that uses a continuously reciprocating plunger, if the next charge to be stuffed into the chamber has not yet reached the desired size and density by the time the stuffing fork is ready to begin its next operating cycle, the fork is temporarily deactivated, without affecting the plunger, until the charge reaches full size and density. Thereupon, the fork stuffs the entire charge into the baling chamber in a single cycle of operation for compaction by the plunger. The baler is loaded from the bottom of the baling chamber through an upwardly curved duct that serves both as an accumulating chamber and as a precompression area into which the charge is progressively packed by a rotating, retractable finger drum at the lower end of the duct. A backstop for precompression purposes may be presented at the top of the duct in a number of alternative ways, i.e.

Abstract: A double windrow attachment for self-propelled or pull-type windrowing machines receives crop which has been projected rearwardly from conditioning apparatus of the machine and transfers the crop obliquely to one side of the path of travel of the machine without discontinuing the rearward momentum of the crop. The oblique orientation of the attachment encourages the crop to flow smoothly in a steady stream from the conditioning apparatus to the discharge end of the attachment without bunching as it lands on the attachment, all of which produces a windrow of uniform density to promote rapid and proper curing of the windrowed crop. Successive passes in opposite directions through the standing crop produces a double windrow which can be readily handled by subsequent crop handling equipment, such as stack-forming machines. An improved conveyor of the attachment enables the crop to be transferred laterally at high speeds such that the windrowing operation can be carried out more rapidly than heretofore possible.

Abstract: A mower conditioner includes a rotary style cutter bed and a pair of laterally extending crop conditioning rolls spaced rearwardly from the cutter bed. Crop flow is improved in the machine by a laterally extending conveying roller located between the cutter bed and the nip defined by the conditioning rolls. In particular, the conveying outer roller serves to lift cut crop up from the cutter bed and convey the crop rearwardly to the nip. This ensures that the cut crop moves in a steady stream from the cutter bed to the conditioning rolls, and thereby reduces the risk of cut crop being thrown forwardly by the cutters. A downwardly open area is preferably defined between the conveying roller and the cutter bed to provide a space through which dirt and debris can drop out of the machine. The conveying roller preferably has a rotational axis that is lower than the rotational axis of the lower conditioning roll and generally vertically aligned with the substantially planar cutting zone defined by the cutter bed.

Abstract: A harvester which uses a rotary style cutter bed has a series of rotary cutters extending across the path of travel of the machine and rotatable about individual upright axes. Part of the cutter bed is a flat gear case containing a train of intermeshed spur gears that serve to distribute power between the cutters above the gear train. Each end of the gear case has a hollow, gearless extension welded thereto which supports at least one additional outboard cutter that receives its driving power exteriorally of the gear case. One embodiment uses a mechanical drive to bring power to the upright shaft of the cutter having the first spur gear so that the cutters with gears receive all their power from the driven cutter.

Abstract: A crop harvester of the rotary cutter bed type has a series of rotary cutters extending across the path of travel of the machine and rotatable about individual upright axes. The cutter bed extends in opposite directions beyond the ends of a central discharge opening to the conditioner rolls. Cutters located outboard of the opening direct cut crop materials along the front of the cutter bed until the opposite extremities of the discharge openings are reached, whereupon pairs of cooperating, oppositely rotating cutters in front of the opening function to propel the crop material rearwardly with the main flow of cut materials. Alternative forms of conveying means are provided in association with the outboard cutters for moving the cut crop centrally without the use of augers or other additional gathering mechanism behind the row of cutters.