Abstract: A reel of a harvester including a cutter bar includes a plurality of reel bats which are pivotal so as to vary the angle of the fingers about the bat axis as the reel rotates. The reel is used with a cutter bar which can change in height at one or more positions along its length to accommodate changes in ground height and contour. In order to maintain the fingers of the reel as close as possible to the cutter bar for best crop control, there is provided a sensor at each of one or more positions along the cutter bar responsive to the cutter bar height and an actuator which changes the diameter of the reel bats at the respective position.

Abstract: A header for a crop harvester includes side drapers having a front edge adjacent the cutter bar and carrying crop to a discharge end roller at a center feed draper. A support arrangement carries the rear end of the discharge end roller to define an operating position in which an axis of the discharge end roller is at an angle to an axis of the outer end roller of the side draper with the rear end of the discharge end roller at a height below a height of the rear end of the outer end roller. This provides a main portion of the belt that lies in a common plane defined by an intermediate guide member and the outer end roller and a smaller portion of the draper belt between the guide member and the rear end of the discharge end roller which is twisted downwardly from the common plane.

Abstract: A draper header for harvesting crops includes a header frame with a middle frame section pivotally coupled between a pair of side wing sections. A cutter bar assembly extends across a front portion of the header frame and is flexible with the side wing sections for cutting the crops to be harvested. A pair of crop pick-up reels are rotatably supported by center and outer reel support arms for engaging the crops to be harvested. A sensing system is operatively coupled to the header frame for detecting when at least one of the side wing sections pivots downwardly relative to the middle frame section. When the sensing system detects that at least one of the side wing sections pivots downwardly past a predetermined pivot angle, a down-stop cylinder is actuated to raise the crop pick-up reels, thereby preventing contact of the crop pick-up reels with the cutter bar assembly.

Abstract: A crop harvesting header includes a reel for controlling movement of the crop in the area over the cutter bar to the transport draper carried on two reel mounting arms for upward and downward movement and for moving the reel forwardly and rearwardly along the respective reel mounting arm. The reel has a plurality of reel bats with reel fingers projecting generally radially outwardly from the reel axis where the reel bats are pivotal to vary the angle of the finger driven by a cam track member. An adjustment component defined by a follower in a guide track along one of the arms is responsive to movement of the reel along the arm which causes the cam track member to be angularly advanced and retarded about the reel axis to different adjustment angles in dependence upon the position of the reel along the mounting arms.

Abstract: A crop harvesting header having a frame mounted on a propulsion vehicle has a cutter bar carrying a sickle knife and a draper transport. The draper is guided at its front edge by a longitudinally extending rail mounted on the frame for movement therewith. The cutter bar is mounted on the frame at spaced positions by spring blades attached to a fixed beam at the rear which allow up and down flexing movement of the cutter bar relative to the draper engagement member. At the center discharge the cutter bar is carried on shorter blades which are carried on a beam in front of the front draper roller. The small amount of flexing of the cutter bar combines with a balanced three piece header frame to provide effective ground following.

Abstract: A sickle cutting system is mounted on a header for forward travel over ground having a standing crop thereon and includes a cutter bar with a plurality of knife guards and two sickle bars driven at a phase angle difference where the drive system has a phase difference control component operable to drive the first and second sickle bars at a first phase angle difference typically at or around 180 degrees difference to minimize vibration when no cutting action is occurring and at a second phase angle difference which can be at or around 90 degrees to minimize variations in loading applied to the drive system when the cutting action is taking place.

Abstract: A header is supported by a pair of hydraulic float cylinders, where a float pressure to the cylinders is directly controlled by an electronic control supplying a variable control signal to a PPRR valve arrangement to maintain the float pressure at a predetermined value. At the set pressure a predetermined lifting force is provided to the header. A position sensor is used to generate an indication of movement and/or acceleration and/or velocity. The electronic control is arranged, in response to changes in the sensor signal, to temporarily change the control signal to vary the lifting force and thus change the dynamic response of the hydraulic float cylinder. A lift force greater than that required to lift the header can be provided by a lift cylinder and can be opposed in a controlled manner to apply a controlled downforce by the back of the same cylinder or by a separate component.

Abstract: In a crop harvesting machine there is provided a pair of hydraulic float cylinders or springs for a header such as a rotary mower relative to a self-propelled vehicle, where a float spring force is controlled to provide a predetermined lifting force is provided to the header. The spring force is varied in response to detection of ground speed to decrease the lifting force at higher ground speeds. A position sensor is used to generate an indication of movement and/or acceleration. The electronic control is arranged, in response to changes in the sensor signal, to temporarily change the control signal to vary the lifting force and thus change the dynamic response of the hydraulic float cylinder. In order to reduce static friction so that the system can react quickly, an arrangement is provided for causing relative reciprocating movement in an alternating wave pattern between the piston and cylinder.

Abstract: A circuit arrangement and program product for dynamically providing a status of a hardware thread/hardware resource independent of the operation of the hardware thread/hardware resource using an inter-thread communication protocol. A master hardware thread may be configured to communicate status requests to associated slave hardware threads and/or hardware resources. Each slave hardware thread/hardware resource may be configured with hardware logic configured to automatically determine status information for the slave hardware thread/hardware resource and communicate a status response to the master hardware thread without interrupting processing of the slave hardware thread/hardware resource.

Abstract: A method for dynamically providing a status of a hardware thread/hardware resource independent of the operation of the hardware thread/hardware resource using an inter-thread communication protocol. A master hardware thread may be configured to communicate status requests to associated slave hardware threads and/or hardware resources. Each slave hardware thread/hardware resource may be configured with hardware logic configured to automatically determine status information for the slave hardware thread/hardware resource and communicate a status response to the master hardware thread without interrupting processing of the slave hardware thread/hardware resource.

Abstract: A harvesting vehicle includes a header having a cutter bar, a crop transport draper and a reel mounted above the cutter bar to sweep the crop to the draper. The operation of the header is autonomously monitored and controlled to reduce operator loads or to run autonomously by detecting: reel wrapping; differential rates of flow of crop on the header at different locations; where the crop to be cut is at least partly lodged so that stems of the crop are not vertical; the presence of a crop streak of uncut or poorly cut crop behind the cutter bar and/or a band of disturbed soil behind the cutter bar. The detector is arranged to control ground speed, header height, reel height and operation.

Abstract: A sickle cutting system is mounted on a header for forward travel over ground having a standing crop thereon and includes a cutter bar with a plurality of knife guards and two sickle bars driven at a phase angle difference where the drive system has a phase difference control component operable to drive the first and second sickle bars at a first phase angle difference typically at or around 180 degrees difference to minimize vibration when no cutting action is occurring and at a second phase angle difference which can be at or around 90 degrees to minimize variations in loading applied to the drive system when the cutting action is taking place.

Abstract: A crop harvesting header having a frame mounted on a propulsion vehicle has a cutter bar carrying a sickle knife and a draper transport. The draper is guided at its front edge by a longitudinally extending rail mounted on the frame for movement therewith. The cutter bar is mounted on the frame at spaced positions by spring blades attached to a fixed beam at the rear which allow up and down flexing movement of the cutter bar relative to the draper engagement member. At the center discharge the cutter bar is carried on shorter blades which are carried on a beam in front of the front draper roller. The small amount of flexing of the cutter bar combines with a balanced three piece header frame to provide effective ground following.

Abstract: In a crop harvesting header with a center section and two wings where each wing is pivotal relative to the center section about a pivot axis extending in a generally forward direction which includes a balance system to maintain a balanced ground force distribution across the width of the header there is provided an automatic adjustment system for maintaining proper balance. The system includes a sensor which repeatedly, over a time period during which the header is operating, detects data relating to the positions, distance from the ground or weight applied to the ground of each wing frame portion, a processor arranged in response to the sensed data to calculate a value representative of the positions and an adjustment mechanism for effecting an adjustment of the balance system in response to the value.

Abstract: A method and circuit arrangement provide support for a hybrid pipeline that dynamically switches between out-of-order and in-order modes. The hybrid pipeline may selectively execute instructions from at least one instruction stream that require the high performance capabilities provided by out-of-order processing in the out-of-order mode. The hybrid pipeline may also execute instructions that have strict power requirements in the in-order mode where the in-order mode conserves more power compared to the out-of-order mode. Each stage in the hybrid pipeline may be activated and fully functional when the hybrid pipeline is in the out-of-order mode. However, stages in the hybrid pipeline not used for the in-order mode may be deactivated and bypassed by the instructions when the hybrid pipeline dynamically switches from the out-of-order mode to the in-order mode. The deactivated stages may then be reactivated when the hybrid pipeline dynamically switches from the in-order mode to the out-of-order mode.

Abstract: A crop harvesting header having a frame mounted on a propulsion vehicle has a cutter bar carrying a sickle knife and a draper transport. The draper is guided at its front edge by a longitudinally extending rail mounted on the frame for movement therewith. The cutter bar is mounted on the frame at spaced positions by spring blades attached to a fixed beam at the rear which allow up and down flexing movement of the cutter bar relative to the draper engagement member. At the center discharge the cutter bar is carried on shorter blades which are carried on a beam in front of the front draper roller. The small amount of flexing of the cutter bar combines with a balanced three piece header frame to provide effective ground following.

Abstract: A method and circuit arrangement for selectively predicating an instruction in an instruction stream based upon a value corresponding to a predication register address indicated by a portion of an operand associated with the instruction. A first compare instruction in an instruction stream stores a compare result in at a register address of a predication register. The register address of the predication register is stored in a portion of an operand associated with a second instruction, and during decoding the second instruction, the predication register is accessed to determine a value stored at the register address of the predication register, and the second instruction is selectively predicated based on the value stored at the register address of the predication register.

Abstract: A crop harvesting header having a frame mounted on a propulsion vehicle has a cutter bar carrying a sickle knife and a draper transport. The draper is guided at its front edge by a longitudinally extending rail mounted on the frame for movement therewith. The cutter bar is mounted on the frame at spaced positions by spring blades attached to a fixed beam at the rear which allow up and down flexing movement of the cutter bar relative to the draper engagement member. At the center discharge the cutter bar is carried on shorter blades which are carried on a beam in front of the front draper roller. The small amount of flexing of the cutter bar combines with a balanced three piece header frame to provide effective ground following.

Abstract: A header for a crop harvester includes side drapers having a front edge adjacent the cutter bar and carrying crop to a discharge end roller at a center feed draper. A support arrangement carries the rear end of the discharge end roller to define an operating position in which an axis of the discharge end roller is at an angle to an axis of the outer end roller of the side draper with the rear end of the discharge end roller at a height below a height of the rear end of the outer end roller. This provides a main portion of the belt that lies in a common plane defined by an intermediate guide member and the outer end roller and a smaller portion of the draper belt between the guide member and the rear end of the discharge end roller which is twisted downwardly from the common plane.

Abstract: A header is supported by a pair of hydraulic float cylinders, where a float pressure to the cylinders is directly controlled by an electronic control supplying a variable control signal to a PPRR valve arrangement to maintain the float pressure at a predetermined value. At the set pressure a predetermined lifting force is provided to the header. A position sensor is used to generate an indication of movement and/or acceleration and/or velocity. The electronic control is arranged, in response to changes in the sensor signal, to temporarily change the control signal to vary the lifting force and thus change the dynamic response of the hydraulic float cylinder. A lift force greater than that required to lift the header can be provided by a lift cylinder and can be opposed in a controlled manner to apply a controlled downforce by the back of the same cylinder or by a separate component.