Patent ID: 7766736
Filing Date: 2010-08-03
Classification: A01F

Abstract:
1. In a combine for harvesting grain, a conveyor mechanism mounted in a feeder house having an upwardly inclined bottom floor, comprising: said conveyor mechanism including a transverse drum located at a front of said conveyor mechanism and having a shaft extending therethrough; sprocket drive means located at a rear of said conveyor mechanism; a plurality of transversely spaced chains longitudinally disposed over and driven by the sprocket drive means and disposed over and carried by the transverse drum, with each of said chains having a lower run moving from said front to said rear of said conveyor mechanism when driven by said sprocket drive means; chain slats extending across and mounted to said plurality of transversely spaced chains, the slats being positioned parallel to the transverse drum; a pivoting mid-floor located between the transverse drum and sprocket drive means, the pivoting mid-floor having a plurality of transversely spaced longitudinal guides connected between a front cross-member and a rear pivot rod, said longitudinal guides being disposed to support said lower run of the plurality of transversely spaced chains and the slats mounted to the transversely spaced chains during their travel from the transverse drum to the sprocket drive means; a drum arm having a forward end connected to the shaft of the transverse drum and having a rear end connected to the front cross-member of the pivoting mid-floor by means of a fixed joint; and the mid-floor being capable of pivoting about the rear pivot rod when grain in the feeder house applies pressure to the chain slats and attached chains on an underside of the conveyor mechanism, pressing the chain slats toward, and against the mid-floor, the mid-floor pivoting about the rear pivot rod in a direction opposite the direction of the pressure applied to the chain slats and chains.