A conventional header of a combine is modified by the addition of a second sickle knife positioned rearwardly of the pan of the header. The second sickle knife is mounted on a bar which is connected to a pair of arms extending under the pan to a forward end pivotally mounted just behind the conventional sickle knife of the header. The arms and the second sickle knife can thus pivot upwardly and downwardly and are mounted on suspension springs carried on the frame of the header. A simple drive from the conventional shaft of the header is connected through a belt to a drive wobble box carried on the second sickle knife at a position partway along its length.
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25. A combine harvester comprising:
a combine body mounted on ground wheels for transportation across the ground; a header at a forward end of the combine body; the header including a cropping device for removing an upper crop portion from a standing crop leaving a standing crop stem and transport means for transporting the upper crop portion along the header; a feeder housing for supporting the header, for receiving the upper crop portion from the header and for transporting the upper crop portion from the header to the combine body; cutter knife means having a length substantially equal to a width of the header; and means mounting the cutter knife means on the header at a position rearwardly of the header and downwardly of a top of the standing crop stem for cutting the standing crop stem; the cutter knife means being arranged such that the portion of crop stem cut thereby is released to the ground without engaging the transport means; the header further including a frame having a main top beam and frame elements extending downwardly therefrom and drive means for driving the cutter knife means including a pulley mounted on a horizontal shaft of the header rearwardly of the frame and means for communicating drive from the pulley to a knife drive wobble box.
14. A combine harvester comprising:
a combine body mounted on ground wheels for transportation across the ground; a header at a forward end of the combine body; the header including a cropping device for removing an upper crop portion from a standing crop leaving a standing crop stem and transport means for transporting the upper crop portion along the header; a feeder housing for supporting the header, for receiving the upper crop portion from the header and for transporting the upper crop portion from the header to the combine body; cutter knife means having a length substantially equal to a width of the header; and means mounting the cutter knife means on the header at a position rearwardly of the header and downwardly of a top of the standing crop stem for cutting the standing crop stem; the cutter knife means being arranged such that a portion of the crop stem cut thereby is released to the ground without engaging the transport means; said mounting means including a plurality of support arms each having a forward end pivotally mounted on the header with the cutter knife means being mounted at a rearward end of the support arms such that the cutter knife means is movable vertically by pivotal movement of the forward end of the support arms about a horizontal axis on the header.
11. A combine harvester comprising a combine body mounted on ground wheels for transportation across the ground, a header at a forward end of the combine body for cutting a standing crop, a feeder housing for supporting the header and for transporting cut crop from the header to the combine body, a first cutter knife across the forward edge of the header and having a length substantially equal to the width of the header for cutting the crop at a position spaced from the ground and along the length of the crop stem leaving a stand crop stem, transport means for transporting the cut crop along the header to the feeder housing, a second cutter knife means having a length substantially equal to that of the first cutter knife, means mounting the second cutter knife means on the header at a position rearwardly of and downwardly of the first cutter knife for cutting the standing crop stem, the second cutter knife means being arranged such that the portion of crop stem cut thereby is released to the ground without engaging the transport means, the header including a frame having a main top beam and frame elements extending downwardly therefrom and drive means for driving the second cutter knife means including a pulley mounted on a horizontal shaft of the header rearwardly of the frame and means for communicating drive from the pulley to a knife drive wobble box.
1. A combine harvester comprising a combine body mounted on ground wheels for transportation across the ground, a header at a forward end of the combine body for cutting a standing crop, a feeder housing for supporting the header and for transporting cut crop from the header to the combine body, a first cutter knife across the forward edge of the header and having a length substantially equal to the width of the header for cutting the crop at a position spaced from the ground and along the length of the crop stem leaving a stand crop stem, transport means for transporting the cut crop along the header to the feeder housing, a second cutter knife means having a length substantially equal to that of the first cutter knife and means mounting the second cutter knife means on the header at a position rearwardly of and downwardly of the first cutter knife for cutting the standing crop stem, the second cutter knife means being arranged such that the portion of crop stem cut thereby is released to the ground without engaging the transport means, said mounting means including a plurality of support arms each having a forward end pivotally mounted on the header with the second cutter knife means being mounted at a rearward end of the support arms such that the second cutter knife means is movable vertically by pivotal movement of the forward end of the support arms about a horizontal axis on the header and suspension means providing spring suspension of the second cutter knife means from the header.
9. A combine harvester comprising a combine body mounted on ground wheels for transportation across the ground, a header at a forward end of the combine body for cutting a standing crop, a feeder housing for supporting the header and for transporting cut crop from the header to the combine body, a first cutter knife across the forward edge of the header and having a length substantially equal to the width of the header for cutting the crop at a position spaced from the ground and along the length of the crop stem leaving a stand crop stem, transport means for transporting the cut crop along the header to the feeder housing, a second cutter knife means having a length substantially equal to that of the first cutter knife and means mounting the second cutter knife means on the header at a position rearwardly of and downwardly of the first cutter knife for cutting the standing crop stem, the second cutter knife means being arranged such that the portion of crop stem cut thereby is released to the ground without engaging the transport means, said mounting means including a plurality of support arms each having a forward end pivotally mounted on the header with the second cutter knife means being mounted at a rearward end of the support arms such that the second cutter knife means is movable vertically by pivotal movement of the forward end of the support arms about a horizontal axis on the header and suspension means providing spring suspension of the second cutter knife means from the header, the suspension means including tension spring means extending between a frame of the header and the support arms for providing upward spring suspension on the second cutter knife means in a vertical floating movement.
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This invention relates to a combine harvester and particularly to a technique for improving crop throughput rate by reducing the quantity of straw passed through the combine.
A combine harvester generally includes a header which is mounted on a feeder housing, the header including a cutter knife across the front edge for cutting a standing crop. A transport system on the header transports the cut crop to the central feeder housing for transportation through the feeder housing into the combine body. The height of the cutter knife is adjusted relative to the crop by lifting the header vertically on the feeder housing.
The farmer operating the combine attempts to reduce the amount of crop material entering the combine by setting the height of the cutter knife higher on the crop stem to take the head and a reduced amount of the stem or straw. This of course leaves standing straw in the field behind the combine.
This standing straw must be accommodated in the next action on the field, whether that is a single pass tillage system or whether that is a first of several passes of a conventional tilling system. However this next tilling action can become difficult or impractical where the standing straw is of a length generally greater than the spacing between the shanks on the seeding of cultivating system.
These opposing requirements therefore generally obligate the farmer to cut the crop at a longer length of straw fed into the combine than would otherwise be desirable. This of course reduces the combine efficiency and increases combining costs.
An alternative process which has been proposed is that of a carrying out a second action to cut the straw after the combining process is complete. Some farmers carry out this process using a swather in a second cutting simply to cut straw. A chopper specially mounted on the swather can be used to spread the straw or alternatively the swather canvas can be removed to allow the cut straw to fall directly to the ground. This is of course highly inefficient in that it requires an additional pass over the field.
Another technique uses a separate mower to cut the standing straw in a separate action after the combine. For this purpose it has been proposed to use the conventional sickle knife cutting system which can be moved relatively quickly across the field. Alternatively some farmers utilize a rotary mower or a flail mowing system to cut the standing straw. This however involves an additional process involving additional costs and further movement across the field.
At the present time, therefore, the equipment available is generally unsatisfactory.
A proposal has apparently been made for a combine harvesting system used both in Australia and Europe which includes a stripper header. This header, instead of cutting the straw, strips the head of the crop from the straw and uses the combine to operate only upon the heads which have been stripped. Normally this leaves the whole length of the straw standing in the field. In one publication, the details of which are not available, it was proposed to add an additional cutting knife to the combine. However no details of the arrangement were disclosed in the publication. The combine then includes a cutting knife which cuts down the remaining straw.
It is one object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an improved combine harvester which allows the operator to cut the length of the crop carried into the combine body to be selected to provide improved combine operating efficiency.
According to the invention there is provided a combine harvester comprising a combine body mounted on ground wheels for transportation across the ground, a header at a forward end of the combine body for cutting a standing crop, a feeder housing for supporting the header and for transporting cut crop from the header to the combine body, a first cutting knife across the forward edge of the header and having a length substantially equal to the width of the header for cutting the crop at a position spaced from the ground and along the length of the crop stem leaving a standing crop stem, transport means for transporting the cut crop along the header to the feeder housing, and a second cutter knife having a length substantially equal to that of the first cutter knife mounted on the combine at a position rearwardly of and downwardly of the first cutter knife for cutting the standing crop stem, the second cutting knife being arranged such that the portion of crop stem cut thereby is released to the ground without engaging the transport means.
The invention can also be used with the other conventional type of combine harvester mentioned previously here in which is of the type including a stripper header. Combine harvesters of this types are well known and are widely used in many places but are not common in USA.
Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claims without departing from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.
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