Patent ID: 6324823
Filing Date: 2001-12-04
Classification: A01D

Abstract:
A bat of a reel of a harvesting machine comprising:a support tube for extending longitudinally on an axis of the bat;a plurality of fingers mounted an the tube so as to extend generally outwardly from the tube in a radial plane of the axis;the support tube having a plurality of finger support locations thereon arranged at spaced locations along the axis with each finger arranged at a respective one of the support locations along the length of the bat;each finger including a finger portion and a mounting portion carried on the tube from which the finger portion extends;each finger including the finger portion and the mounting portion being molded integrally from a plastics material;each support location of the tube including two diametrically opposed indentations punched into a wall of the tube so that the indentations are recessed from an outside surface of the wall of the tube and with each indentation including a hole formed through the wall of the tube;the mounting portion of each finger comprising a collar at least partly surrounding the tube at the support location, two projections on the collar extending radially inwardly from the collar and each engaging into a respective one of the indentations;each projection comprising a first portion which projects into the respective indentation in the wall and a second portion which is cylindrical and projects through the respective hole in the wall;each of the projections having a hole through the first and second portions thereof so as to be aligned with the hole in the wall;and a fastener extending through the holes in the tube and through the holes in the projections so as to engage the collar at the projections for pulling the projections radially inwardly to hold the projections in the respective indentations to hold the collar on the tube.