Abstract:
A cutting device is adapted for cooperating with a tined rotor that receives crop delivered by a pick-up. A selector mechanism is provided for selecting the number of effective knives for reducing the crop conveyed across the knife bed. This selector includes a selector rotor rotatably mounted to a pivoted lever arrangement which may be raised to a non-use position when all of the knives are to be used for crop reduction. The selector rotor includes four rows of different arrangements of selector tabs spaced equally about the axis of the rotor. Lowering the lever places the rotor in a working location where a selected one of the four different rows of selector tabs is positioned for blocking a desired number of safety trip devices, which are associated one each with each cutter knife, in a retracted position where it is prevented from interacting with its associated knife, whereby the knife remains in a non-working position.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to a crop cutting device for use with agricultural crop harvesting machines, and, more specifically, relates to a knife selecting arrangement for such a crop cutting device. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   It is known to provide agricultural crop harvesting machines, of the type which pick up crop from a windrow, with a cutting device which reduces the crop for further processing. It is also known to mount each of the knives for individual release or tripping against a biasing force so as to protect them from being damaged from obstacles or crop which produces high loads, and to provide a way of selecting all, none, or various numbers of the available knives for operation so as to vary the amount that the crop is reduced by the active knives. 
   DE 43 02 199 discloses one way of selecting the number of active cutting knives. However, this cutting device requires each knife to be individually locked out of operation, which is time consuming and is difficult to achieve in the cramped environment where the cutting device is mounted. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,510 discloses a way of selecting the number of active cutting knives wherein a plurality of knives can be locked out of operation according to a pre-selected arrangement by pivoting a blocking rod into a desired location and securing it there for blocking a pre-selected arrangement of knives. While this device does permit multiple knives to be blocked out at the same time, the mechanism for achieving this operation is relatively complex and does not act together with the structure for individually biasing the knives to form a compact arrangement. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 6,394,893 discloses a hydraulically controlled arrangement including individual hydraulic actuators for each of the cutting knives and a hydraulic control circuit arrangement for selecting various arrangements of active knives. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 6,594,983 discloses cutting blades which are individually associated with trip mechanisms including resiliently biased plates which permit the cutting blades to pivot into a non-working position in response to a pre-selected overload. A support and control member is associated with each cutting blade and is mounted in a rotatable fashion and aligned about an axis parallel to a rotation axis of the associated cutting blade. A control device releases selected support members, thereby allowing all or a number of the cutting blades to rotate into a non-cutting position. 
   The problem to be addressed by the present invention is that of providing a crop cutting device with a knife-selecting device of a relatively simple design which is easily operable for selecting the number of active knives, without affecting the operation of a safety trip mechanism associated with the knives. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   According to the present invention, there is provided a crop cutting device, for use with an agricultural implement, that is equipped with an improved knife-selecting arrangement. 
   An object of the invention is to provide a knife-selecting arrangement which is of a simple construction, has the ability to select a desired arrangement of knives from a single setting, and, together with the safety trip arrangement for individually biasing the knives, forms a compact structure. 
   This and other objects of the invention will be apparent from a reading of the following description together with the appended drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a left, top perspective view of the cutting device, with the knife control hydraulic cylinder being extended, with all of the knives being shown in lower, inactive positions. 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view like  FIG. 1  but showing only the portion rearward of the knife bed and omitting the left-hand side wall and hydraulic cylinders so as to reveal the slide support of the knife control mechanism. 
       FIG. 3  is a vertical sectional view taken along line  3 — 3  of  FIG. 1 , with the selector device being located in a raised inoperative position, and with the hydraulic actuator being extended to establish a condition wherein all of the blades are in lowered, inactive positions. 
       FIG. 4  is a view like that of  FIG. 3 , but showing the knife control hydraulic cylinder in a retracted position, wherein all of the knives are in a raised, active position. 
       FIG. 5  is a view like  FIG. 4 , but showing one knife in a lowered, tripped position which it would assume in response to being subject to a pre-selected overload. 
       FIG. 6  is a view, like  FIG. 5 , but showing the knife-selector in a lowered position with the selector rotor indexed so as to block a pre-selected set of the illustrated trip mechanisms from returning their associated blades to active positions. 
       FIG. 7  is an enlarged left rear perspective view showing the adjustable mounting of the knife-selector. 
       FIG. 8  is a view showing the central portion of the selector rotor clearly illustrating two sets of selector tabs. 
       FIG. 9  is a view like  FIG. 7  but showing the selector rotor rotated 90° about its axis and illustrating third and fourth sets of selector tabs. 
       FIG. 10  is lower, left front perspective view of the cross member of the knife control mechanism. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring now to  FIGS. 1 and 2  of the drawings, there is shown a crop cutting device  10  which is adapted for use in conjunction with crop harvesting implements such as large round or square balers or forage harvesters or forage wagons, or any other implement equipped with a crop pick-up for elevating a windrow of crop from the ground and conveying it for being processed further and/or loaded in a container. In these installations, the crop cutting device is located so that picked up crop flows over the top of the cutting device as it is propelled toward further crop processing elements by a crop feed rotor which cooperates with the crop cutting device  10 , in a manner described below, so as to reduce the size of the crop material being conveyed. 
   The crop cutting device  10  includes a support frame  12  comprising identical, right- and left-hand, transversely spaced, vertical side walls  14 R and  14 L, respectively. Extending between an upper forward section of the side walls  14 R and  14 L is a formed sheet defining an upwardly and rearwardly inclined knife bed  16  which is provided with a plurality of transversely spaced slots  18 . Providing stiffness to the frame  12  is a transverse, horizontal angle member  20  having one leg located beneath, and fixed to, an upper end region of the knife bed  16 , and having opposite ends respectively fixed to inner surfaces of the side walls  14 R and  14 L. 
   Referring now also to  FIGS. 3–5 , it can be seen that a knife assembly  24  is mounted beneath the knife bed  16 . The knife assembly  24  includes a plurality of identical, generally triangular knives  26 , which are respectively located within the slots  18 . Forward corners of the knives  26  are pivotally mounted to a cylindrical rod  28  that extends through, and is fixed to the side walls  14  at a location just below forward end regions of the slots  18 . The knives  26  may individually pivot about the rod  28  between a lowered, non-working or inactive position, wherein a serrated cutting edge  30 , which extends between the lower front corner and an upper rear corner of the knife, is located approximately at the level of the knife bed  16 , and a raised, working or active position, wherein the cutting edge  30  is angled up and to the rear above the knife bed  16 . Each knife  26  has a rear edge defining a cam surface  32  extending between the upper rear corner and a lower rear corner and which terminates at a semi-circular recess  34  located at the lower rear corner. 
   Provided for permitting the knives  26  to individually move between their working and non-working positions in response to a predetermined overload is a safety trip mechanism  36  including a support plate  38  which extends between and is fixed to the side walls  14 R and  14 L of the frame  12 , and is angled upwardly toward the front from a lower rear corner of the side walls. Mounted to the top of the support plate  38  in fore-and-aft or longitudinal alignment with each of the knives  26  is an elongate U-shaped support bracket  40  having upwardly projecting, front and rear legs  42  and  44 , respectively. The legs  42  and  44  contain fore-and-aft aligned apertures which receive an elongate spring support rod  46  for fore-and-aft sliding movement. Mounted to the front of the rod  46  is a roller support member  48  to which a roller  50  is mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis. When the associated blade  46  is in its raised, working position ( FIG. 3 ), the roller  50  is located in the semi-circular recess  34 . A coil compression spring  52  is received on the spring support rod  46  between the front and rear legs  42  and  44  of the bracket  36 , with a rear end of the spring  52  engaging the rear leg  44  and with a forward end of the spring  52  engaging a washer  54  positioned against roll pin  56  extending cross wise through the support rod  46  at a location just to the rear of the front leg  42  of the support bracket  40  when the roller  50  is located in the recess  34 . Thus, it will be appreciated that, when a pre-selected force is exerted on the cutting edge  30  of the knife  26 , the spring  52  will yield and permit the roller  50  to move out of the recess  34  so as to permit the knife  26  to pivot downwardly to its non-working position shown in  FIG. 3 . Once the force which caused the knife  26  to move to its non-working position is removed, the spring  52  will unload and cause the knife  26  to be restored to its working position. 
   A knife control mechanism  60  is provided for permitting an operator to remotely establish working or non-working conditions in the blades  26 . The control mechanism  60  includes right- and left-hand, extensible and retractable hydraulic cylinders  62 R and  62 L. Provided for anchoring the piston end of each of the cylinders  62 R and  62 L to the frame  12  is an anchor structure including a horizontal, transverse cross member  64  extending between, and having opposite ends respectively fixed to, the side walls  14 R and  14 L at locations spaced rearwardly from the angle member  20 . The cross member  64  is square in cross section and fixed to rear and bottom surfaces of right- and left-hand end regions of the cross member  64  are right- and left-hand pairs of transversely spaced plates  66 R and  66 L. The head end of the cylinder  62 R is received between and pinned, as at  68 , to the spaced pair of plates  66 R. Similarly, the head end of the cylinder  62 L is received between and pinned to the pair of plates  66 L. Provided for transferring the motion of the piston rods of the cylinders  62 R and  62 L to the spring support rods  46  of the spring trip mechanism  36  is a cross member  74  defined by an inverted U-shaped channel member extending transversely between the side walls  14 R and  14 L and having front and rear legs  76  and  78 , respectively. Referring also to  FIG. 10 , it can be seen that a clearance notch  80  is provided in a lower edge of the front leg  76  and extends across all except opposite end regions of the leg  76  so as to provide clearance for the spring support rods  46  and the springs  52 . Guide notches  82  are provided across a bottom edge of the rear leg  78 , and located in each notch  82  is one of the guide rods  46 . Located in a rear end region of each spring support rod  46  is a rear roll pin  84  having a length greater than the width of the notches  82  so as to be in a path of rearward travel of the cross member  74 , for a reason stated below. A pair of front apertures  86 R and  86 L are respectively provided in the front leg  76  at opposite end locations which are respectively in axial alignment with a pair of rear apertures  88 R and  88 L provided in the rear leg  78 . Positioned within each of the apertures  86 R,  86 L,  88 R,  88 L is a bearing sleeve  90  having an enlarged head  92  located in engagement with an inner surface of the associated leg  76  or  78 . Provided in each of the bearing sleeves  90  at a location adjacent an outer surface of the associated leg  76  or  78  is a keeper pin which cooperates with the head  92  so as to hold the bearing sleeve  90  in place in the associated leg. As can best be seen in  FIG. 2 , right- and left-hand guide rods  96 R and  96 L are respectively received in each pair of axially aligned bearing sleeves  90 . The guide rod  96 R has front and rear end portions respectively fixed within front and rear bracket assemblies and  98 R and  100 R that are in turn fixed to the support plate  38 . Similarly, the guide rod  96 L has front and rear end portions respectively fixed within front and rear bracket assemblies  98 L and  100 L that are in turn fixed to the support plate  38 . Fixed to a right-hand end region of the cross member  74  are a transversely spaced pair of cylinder mounting plates  102 R that are respectively in fore-and-aft alignment with the pair of plates  66 R. A mounting pin  104 R couples the rod end of the hydraulic cylinder  62 R to the pair of mounting plates  102 R. Similarly, a transversely spaced pair of cylinder mounting plates  102 L are fixed to a left-hand end region of the cross member  74 , and a mounting pin  104 L couples the rod end of the hydraulic cylinder  62 L to the pair of mounting plates  102 L. 
   It will be appreciated then that a condition can be established wherein all of the knives  26  are permitted to assume non-working positions simply by placing the cylinders  62 R and  62 L in their extended condition, as illustrated in  FIG. 3 , or a condition wherein all of the knives are moved to their working positions by placing the cylinders  62 R and  62 L in their retracted condition, as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . In the latter situation, any knife which encounters an overload is protected by the safety trip mechanism  36  which permits the overloaded knife to move to the tripped position shown in  FIG. 5 . 
   A knife selecting arrangement  106  is provided for the purpose of blocking out certain knives  26  so that they remain in an inactive or non-working position even when the cylinders  62 R and  62 L are retracted. Referring now also to  FIGS. 6–9 , it can be seen that the knife selecting arrangement  106  is defined by a selector rotor  108  comprising a cylindrical tube  110  and stub shafts  112 R and  112 L respectively fixed to the opposite ends of the tube  110 . The stub shafts  112 R and  112 L are of a smaller diameter than the tube  110  and are respectively received in clearance slots  114 R and  114 L provided in upper edges of the side walls  14 R and  14 L at locations spaced just to the rear of the angle member  20 . Referring also to  FIGS. 8 and 9 , it can be seen that four different tab arrangements  116 ,  118 ,  120  and  122  are respectively fixed to the tube  110  in longitudinal rows spaced equally from each other about the longitudinal axis of the tube  110 . 
   The tab arrangement  116  is designed for blocking all of the spring mounting rods  46  in the retracted position, as shown in  FIG. 6 , so that none of the knives  26  are operative for cutting crop. The tab arrangement includes a pair of tabs  124  respectively located at opposite extremes of the arrangement  116 , and located between the tabs  124  and cooperating with the tabs  124  and with each other for defining a plurality of spaces  126  equal to the number of spring support rods  46  are a plurality of double-tabs  128 . The spaces  126  are each dimensioned to permit one spring support rod  46  to pass through them but not the pin  84  carried by the rod  46 . 
   The tab arrangement  118  is designed for blocking every other one of the spring mounting rods  46  in the retracted position shown in  FIG. 6 , beginning with the spring mounting rods  46  at the outer end. Since there are twenty-three knives  26  in the present embodiment, twelve are blocked and eleven remain operative for cutting crop. To accomplish this, the arrangement  118  includes a plurality of the tabs  124  spaced from each other so as to define spaces  126  at the opposite ends of the arrangement followed by double-spaces  130 , with each of the double-spaces  130  being dimensioned for permitting one of the rods  46  and the pin  84  carried by it to pass through it. 
   The tab arrangement  120  is designed with a pattern similar to that of the tab arrangement  118  however the arrangement  120  is shortened so as not to block the outer rods  46  and is staggered relative to the arrangement  118  so as to block those rods not blocked by the arrangement  118 . Thus, this results in an arrangement for blocking eleven knives  26  from operation while permitting twelve to be operative for cutting crop. 
   The tab arrangement  122  is designed with a pattern, beginning at the right-hand side of the safety trip mechanism  36 , for blocking the first two spring support rods  46 , leaving the next one free and then blocking the next two and so on until the left-hand end of the mechanism  36  is reached wherein the arrangement  122  is shortened so that only the next to the last cutting knife is blocked from operation. This is accomplished by starting with a tab  124  followed by a double-tab  128  and then another tab  124  followed by a double-space and then a repeat of the tab pattern until the right-hand end where two tabs  124  separated by a space  126  form the end of the tab arrangement  122 . With this arrangement, fifteen knives  26  are blocked from operation, leaving eight operative for cutting crop. 
   It is to be understood that a selector mechanism  106  may be provided with rotors having any desired tab pattern for achieving a desired crop cutting characteristic with the cutting device  10 . 
   The structure by which the tab arrangements  118 – 122  are selected and moved into operative association with the spring trip mechanism  36  will now be described. First, it is to be noted that the lower portions of the clearance slots  114 R and  114 L are formed at a radius about a horizontal, transverse axis defined by transverse mounting pins  130 R and  130 L that are secured within respective holes provided in the side walls  14 R and  14 L at locations just below rear regions of the hydraulic cylinders  62 R and  62 L. The mounting pins  130 R and  130 L respectively project outwardly from the side walls  14 R and  14 L and respectively mounted for pivoting vertically about the pins  130 R and  130 L are right- and left-hand, oval-shaped mounting plates  132 R and  132 L having respective rear ends mounted on the pins. Provided at the opposite end of the mounting plates  132 R and  132 L from the pins  130 R and  130 L are outwardly projecting handles, with only a handle  134  of the left-hand mounting plate  132 L being shown. The mounting plates  132 R and  132 L have respective central regions in which the stub shafts  112 R and  112 L of the selector rotor  108  are mounted for rotation about a central axis of the rotor. Fixed to the outer ends of the stub shafts  112 R and  112 L are circular indexing discs, of which only the left-hand disc  136  is shown. A handle  138  is fixed to the disc  136  in a location diametrically opposite from a spring-loaded pin device  140  which locks the selector rotor  108  in a desired rotational position by being inserted in a selected one of four holes  142  provided in the mounting plate  132 L at equally spaced locations about the longitudinal axis of the rotor  108 . A further spring-loaded pin device  144  is mounted to a forward region of the mounting plate  132 L and serves, when located in a lower hole  146  provided in the side wall  14 L, to lock the selector device  106  in a lowered working position, as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , and serves, when located in an upper hole  148  provided in the side wall  14 L, to lock the selector device in a raised non-working position, as shown in  FIGS. 3–5 . 
   The operation of the selector mechanism  106  will now be described. Assuming that the selector mechanism  106  is in its lowered working position, shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , and that it is desired to change the number of active knives  26 , it is first necessary for all of the knives  26  to be placed in their lowered, inactive positions. This is accomplished by actuating the knife control cylinders  62 R and  62 L to their extended positions, shown in  FIG. 3 . Extension of the cylinders  62 R and  62 L causes the cross member  74  to be moved to the rear resulting in the pins  84  being engaged and the spring support rods  46  being shifted to the rear against the bias of the springs  52  so as to remove the rollers  50  from the recesses  34  in the active knives  26  so as to permit the latter to fall to their inoperative positions, shown in  FIG. 3 . The pins  56 , respectively associated with any spring mounting rod  46  that had previously been blocked by the selected tab arrangement, are then free of the selector rotor  108 . The selector rotor  108  is then raised to its inoperative position (see  FIG. 3 ) by first releasing the spring loaded pin  144  from the lower hole  146 , the pin  144  then being inserted into the upper hole  148  for retaining the rotor  148  in its raised position. A new tab arrangement can then be selected by pulling the pin  140  and rotating the disc  136  by grasping the handle  138  so as to place the desired tab arrangement at the bottom of the rotor  108 . The pin  140  will then be aligned with one of the holes  142  and will be inserted into it so as to lock the rotor  108  in place. The plate  132 L is then unlocked from its raised position and lowered so that the tabs of the selected tab arrangement are located ahead of the pins  56  of those spring mounting rods  46  that are to be blocked from operation. The knives associated with the unblocked spring mounting rods  46  are then moved to their active positions by actuating the cylinders  62 R and  62 L so they retract to establish the condition illustrated in  FIG. 6  wherein the blocked mounting rods  46  remain in their rearward positions while the remaining rods  46  are shifted forwardly by the springs  52  and cause the selected knives  26  to be pivoted upwardly to their active positions. 
   Having described the preferred embodiment, it will become apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims.