Rock guard for quick change knives on a disc mower

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9717175-B2
Application number	US-201414264701-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 29, 2014
Priority date	Apr 29, 2014
Publication date	Aug 1, 2017
Grant date	Aug 1, 2017

Abstract

A rock guard for use on a rotary disc cutterbar having quick-release knife connectors wherein a knife removal relief channel is oriented 45 degrees from a straight-ahead orientation to allow more than one quarter of the knives on the cutterbar to be simultaneously aligned with the channels for removal. A second knife removal channel is also oriented 45 degrees from the straight ahead orientation and 90 degrees from the first channel to permit half of the knives on the cutterbar to be simultaneously aligned with the channels for removal. The incorporation of two knife removal channels as described benefits rotary cutterbars having two knives per rotary cutter and adjacent cutters rotationally offset by 90 degrees regardless of whether co-rotating or counter-rotating rotary cutters are employed.

First claim

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A rock guard for a transverse rotary disc cutterbar used on an agricultural harvester for crop cutting while propelled in a forward direction comprising:
a plurality of transversely spaced apart rotating discs geared for simultaneous rotation about generally upstanding axes, each disc having a pair of knives removeably attached by a connector in diametric opposition on the disc for rotation therewith, the pairs of knives on adjacent discs being rotationally offset by 90 degrees; and
a rock guard disposed adjacently beneath the rotating knives of each of the plurality of discs, the rock guard having an upper surface generally parallel to and spaced apart from a plane defined by rotation of the knives, a leading edge, and a first access channel in the upper surface having a depth which increases the spacing to the plane of the rotating knives, the first access channel aligned on a first radial axis from the respective upstanding axis,
each rock guard further comprising a second access channel similarly configured to the first access channel but rotationally offset to a second radial axis oriented such that one half of the knives on the cutterbar may be simultaneously aligned with the respective first access channels or second access channels on the plurality of rock guards.

2. The rock guard of claim 1 , wherein the spacing between the upper surface and the plane of the rotating knives is insufficient to permit removal of the knives and the first and second access channels have a floor surface that is spaced to the plane of the rotating knives to enable each knife to be removed by downward motion from the rotating disc to a position at which the knife may be removed along the radial axis.

3. The rock guard of claim 2 , wherein the first radial axis is rotationally offset approximately 45 degrees from the forward direction.

4. The rock guard of claim 1 , wherein the second radial axis is rotationally 45 degrees from the forward direction and 90 degrees from the first radial axis.

5. A rock guard for rotary disc cutters used on an agricultural cutterbar for severing a standing crop from the ground while being propelled in a forward direction, the rock guard comprising:
a plurality of rotary disc cutters configured for synchronized rotation about a plurality of spaced apart generally upstanding rotational axes, each cutter having a rotating disc;
a pair of knives removably mounted on each of the plurality of rotating discs, the pair of knives mounted in diametric opposition defining a knife axis therebetween, respective knife axes on adjacent rotary discs being rotationally offset by a stagger angle;
a pair of quick connectors attached to each rotary disc for removably mounting the respective pair of knives to each rotary disc, each quick connector allowing selective removal of the respective knife by downward movement parallel to the rotational axis to disengage the knife from the quick connector; and
a rock guard disposed adjacently beneath each of the plurality of rotary disc cutters, the rock guard having an upper surface generally parallel to and spaced apart from a plane defined by rotation of the respective pairs of knives, spacing between the upper surface and the plane of knife rotation being insufficient to permit knife removal, the rock guard further having a leading edge and a first access channel in the upper surface having a depth spaced to the plane of the rotating knives which allows knife removal, the first access channel aligned on a first radial axis from the rotational axis,
each rock guard further comprising a second access channel similarly configured to the first access channel but rotationally offset to a second radial axis oriented such that one half of the knives on the cutterbar may be simultaneously aligned with the respective first access channels or second access channels on the plurality of rock guards.

6. The rock guard of claim 5 , wherein the stagger angle is approximately 90 degrees.

7. The rock guard of claim 6 , wherein the first radial axis is rotationally offset approximately 45 degrees from the forward direction.

8. The rock guard of claim 5 , wherein the second radial axis is rotationally 45 degrees from the forward direction and 90 degrees from the first radial axis.

Assignees

• Cnh Ind America Llc
• Cnh Ind America Llc

Inventors

• Fay Ii Jeffrey
• Harkcom Melanie W
• Sudbrack Cecil R

Classifications

• A01D34/665 Primary

  modular · CPC title

• A01D34/664 Primary

  Disc cutter bars · CPC title