Abstract: In a combine harvester, an array of ground engaging skid shoes or feelers spans the header platform and is divided into right- and left-hand groups, each group associated with a position sensor switch. Each switch transmits to an electrohydraulic control system, a signal representative of the relative position of the skid shoe closest to the ground in its half of the platform. The combined left- and/or right-hand signals are transduced to control platform vertical adjustment and lateral tilt automatically. In one embodiment, a pair of lift cylinders, acting in unison, control platform elevation while a third cylinder is dedicated to tilt control. In other embodiments, paired lift cylinders are controllable independently, to provide both height and tilt control.

Abstract: In an axial flow rotary separator for a combine, radially extending spike-tooth-like blades are arranged on a rotor body in "reverse" helical arrays, that is, such that helical flighting, similarly disposed, would tend to convey crop material upstream. The helix angles defined by the arrays approximate that of the mean spiral path of conveyance of a crop material mat portion through the separator housing. Propulsion of the crop material mat thus results from a plurality of spaced and staggered engagements of small contact area. The arrays are spaced so that the rotor elements present no extensive wall or front to the crop material thus reducing the tendency to "roping" and separator plugging in tough straw conditions.

Abstract: The feeder house of a self-propelled combine harvester carries a front-mounted gatherer which delivers crop material to a forward inlet of the feeder house which is pivotally supported by the combine separator body, and delivers crop material to an inlet of the separator. A pair of side-by-side, contra-rotating auger conveyors deliver crop material directly to the separator rotor in a relatively concentrated high-speed stream. Convergence and concentration of the harvested crop material begun by a grain platform auger is continued by a pair of transverse beaters, each including helical conveying elements, arranged in tandem ahead of and partially above the dual auger conveyors. A forward beater close to the feeder house inlet receives material directly from the platform auger and conveys it rearwardly over a floor somewhat elevated with respect to the auger conveyors and transfers it to a second beater above the forward end of the dual augers which directs it downwards into the auger conveyors.

Abstract: In a rotary separator, cylindrical threshing, frusto-conical separating, and centrifugal fan sections are arranged coaxially and in tandem. A fixed grate including threshing and separating portions surrounds and generally conforms to a rotor profile. A frusto-conical collector housing encloses the forward part of the separator and feeds threshed and separated grain to a grain cleaning unit, the screen elements of which, along with the collector housing, rotate concentricaly with the grate while at the same time reciprocating axially. A stationary cylindrical housing surrounds the cleaner unit and clean grain and tailings pass centrifugally from the cleaner screens to separate annular channels, to be swept around the inside of the housing by paddles moving with the cleaner elements to tangential discharge points near the top of the separator for transfer to clean grain and tailings return augers respectively.

Abstract: A row crop harvesting header has a main frame with a plurality of forwardly extending, independently vertically adjustable row units mounted on the frame, each row unit including a frame attached to the header frame at its rearward end and a ground engaging skid at its forward end. A pair of endless flexible conveyors are mounted on the row unit frame and have opposite, rearwardly moving, upwardly and rearwardly inclined inner runs adapted to engage the stalks of row planted crops as the machine advances and convey it rearwardly, a cutting apparatus below the forward inlet ends of the belts severing the crop material from the field as it is engaged by the conveyor.

Abstract: The axial flow rotary separator of a combine includes a rotor having a generally cylindrical threshing section surrounded by a fixed, non-adjustable concave or grate so as to define an annular threshing space. The rotor includes threshing bar assemblies pivoted about axes parallel to the rotor axis and spring loaded in the direction of reducing concave clearance, against adjustable stops. Setting of the stops is controlled by adjusting eyebolts mounted on the front of the rotor, accessible from the front of the combine and connected to the stops through a pivot arm assembly. In normal operation springs hold the threshing bar assemblies against the stops but the pressure of a large foreign body or an excessive flow or material entering the threshing space may overcome the spring pressure forcing the threshing bars to retract to provide necessary clearance.

Abstract: A combine has a feeding system, for conveying crop material from a harvesting unit to the infeed rotor of a longitudinal axial flow rotary crop processing unit, including a feeder house employing a pair of augers, mounted side by side in an enclosed housing, and contrarotating at a relatively high speed. The augers are cantilevered from a bulkhead at the inlet end of the feeder house and do not make contact with the housing. The housing cross section does not conform to the cylindrical surfaces swept by the augers and there is also space between the augers themselves so that heterogeneous material can be conveyed within the housing on all sides of the augers. Housing shape and clearances are designed so that there is a minimum of dead space in the housing and, with some assistance from fixed strippers, mounted inside the housing parallel to the axes of the augers, material is conveyed generally linearly at a speed nearly equal to the equivalent axial speed of the auger flighting.