Patent Description:
Mowers and mower conditioners are often employed to cut crop material, such as hay or grass, and deposit the cut crop into windrows in a field. For cutting smaller fields, a single pull-type mower or mower conditioner may be attached to the rear of an agricultural driving vehicle. For cutting large fields, the driving vehicle may push a front mounted mower or mower conditioner and optionally tow an additional rear mounted mower or mower conditioner.

A typical mower generally includes a frame, a hitch coupled to the vehicle, and a cutter bar such as a sickle bar or rotary disc cutter bar for severing the crop from the field. The mower may further include other elements such as a reel to assist crop feeding, an auger or belts to convey crop to a central discharge point, and a flail or set of rollers for conditioning crop as it is ejected rearwardly out of the mower. A disc cutter bar generally includes multiple juxtaposed cutterheads for cutting the standing crop. Each cutterhead may consist of a rotating disc with cutting blades or knives affixed to the body of the disc.

The knives of a cutter bar are known wear items that are intended to be replaced or repaired with some frequency. While it is known that knives need to be replaced or repaired, it is inconvenient to replace or repair the knives. Many users do not want to carry replacement knives or repair tools with the mower, which requires the mower to be brought to a service area for knife replacement or repair and increases downtime of the mower. The alternative is to operate the machine with a dull or broken knife edge, which can result in poor cut quality.

What is needed in the art is a way to reduce down time associated with replacing knives on an agricultural machine.

<CIT> discloses a flat mower blade for rotary and disc mowers. The blade includes two round holes of equal size for mounting the blade. The blade can be rotated or turned when one cutting edge becomes worn down, providing the knife with four available cutting edge portions.

According to the invention, there is provided a disc cutter for an agricultural implement as defined by appended claim <NUM>, which includes: a disc body configured to rotate in a rotation direction; a knife mount carried by the disc body and including a body mounting feature; and a knife coupled to the knife mount. The knife includes: a first cutting section having a first knife mounting feature disposed on or in a first knife surface between a pair of first edges of the first cutting section and configured to couple with the body mounting feature, each of the first edges defining a first cutting angle with respect to the first knife surface such that the first edges extend in parallel; and a second cutting section having a second knife mounting feature disposed on or in a second knife surface between a pair of second edges of the second cutting section and configured to couple with the body mounting feature, each of the second edges defining a second cutting angle with respect to the second knife surface such that the second edges extend in parallel; wherein the first cutting angle and second cutting angle are different values.

Preferred aspects are defined by the dependent claims.

An advantage that may be realized by exemplary embodiments provided according to the present disclosure is that the knife having four cutting edges allows the knife to be flipped or rotated, rather than replaced, to provide a sharp cutting edge.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to <FIG>, there is shown an agricultural mowing assembly <NUM> which includes an agricultural vehicle <NUM> and at least one agricultural implement illustrated in the form of two mowing devices <NUM>, <NUM> coupled to the agricultural vehicle <NUM>. The agricultural mowing assembly <NUM> may include tandem front and rear mowing devices <NUM>, <NUM>, which operate in tandem to cut crop from the field. It should be appreciated that while only two mowers <NUM>, <NUM> are illustrated and described herein, the present disclosure is equally applicable to mowing assemblies that incorporate only one mowing device or more than two mowing devices.

The agricultural vehicle <NUM> generally includes a chassis <NUM>, a prime mover, wheels and/or tracks <NUM>, and a cab <NUM> for housing the operator. The chassis <NUM> may at least partially carry the front and rear mowing devices <NUM>, <NUM>. The vehicle <NUM> can be in the form of a tractor, self-propelled windrower, or any other desired agricultural vehicle.

The front and rear mowing devices <NUM>, <NUM> are connected to the chassis <NUM> of the agricultural vehicle <NUM>. The front mowing device <NUM>, for example, may be centrally mounted onto the driving vehicle <NUM> such that the agricultural vehicle <NUM> carries the front mowing device <NUM>. The rear mowing device <NUM> may be coupled to a tongue coupler on the chassis <NUM> by a pivotable tongue that can change the angular position of the rear mowing device <NUM> relative to the forward direction of travel. As shown, the mowing devices <NUM>, <NUM> are in the form of mower conditioners; however, the mowing devices <NUM>, <NUM> can be in the form of any desired mowing devices such as mowers, windrowers, cutter bars, or windrow inverters. Each mowing device <NUM>, <NUM> may include a frame <NUM>, <NUM>, a reel <NUM>, <NUM> with tines rotatably connected to the frame <NUM>, <NUM>, a cutter bar <NUM>, a conditioner <NUM>, e.g. at least one flail conditioner or at least two conditioning rollers <NUM>, and/or a crop gate <NUM>, e.g. swath gate and/or windrow forming shields, for directing the crop material out of the mowing device <NUM>, <NUM> and onto the field in a windrow or swath (as shown in <FIG> with respect to the rear mowing device <NUM>). The illustrated cutter bar <NUM> is in the form of a rotary disc cutter bar <NUM> with multiple disc cutters <NUM> carried by a frame of the cutter bar <NUM>.

Referring now to <FIG>, two of the disc cutters <NUM> are illustrated. Each of the disc cutters <NUM> includes a disc body <NUM> configured to rotate in a rotation direction R, a knife mount <NUM> carried by the disc body <NUM> that includes a body mounting feature <NUM>, and a knife <NUM> coupled to the knife mount <NUM>. It should be appreciated that while two disc cutters <NUM> are illustrated in <FIG>, one disc cutter or more than two disc cutters may be included in the cutter bar <NUM> provided according to the present disclosure. Further, while <FIG> only illustrates one knife <NUM> for each disc cutter <NUM>, the disc cutters <NUM> may carry more than one knife, e.g., two knives, three knives, four knives, etc..

Many known knives have two cutting edges. The knife having two cutting edges allows the knife to be flipped or rotated when one of the cutting edges is dull and/or broken so the sharp cutting edge can be used to cut crop material. While such knives are effective and convenient for a farmer, the knives can only be rotated or flipped once before replacement is required.

To address some of the issues with known knives, and referring now to <FIG>, the knife <NUM> provided according to the present disclosure includes a first cutting section <NUM> and a second cutting section <NUM>. It should be appreciated that while only one of the knives <NUM> is illustrated in <FIG>, all of the knives of the cutter bar <NUM> may be similar. The first cutting section <NUM> includes a first knife mounting feature <NUM> disposed on or in a first knife surface <NUM> between a pair of first edges <NUM>, <NUM> of the first cutting section <NUM>. The first knife mounting feature <NUM> is configured to couple with the body mounting feature <NUM>, which mounts the knife <NUM> to the knife mount <NUM>. Each of the first edges <NUM>, <NUM> is sharpened so as to define a first cutting angle α1 with respect to the first knife surface <NUM> such that the first edges <NUM>, <NUM> extend in parallel, which is especially apparent in cross-section as illustrated in <FIG>. Similarly, the second cutting section <NUM> includes a second knife mounting feature <NUM> disposed on or in a second knife surface <NUM> between a pair of second edges <NUM>, <NUM> of the second cutting section <NUM>. The second knife mounting feature <NUM> is configured to couple with the body mounting feature <NUM>, which can also mount the knife <NUM> to the knife mount <NUM>. In this respect, either of the knife mounting features <NUM>, <NUM> may be used to mount the knife <NUM> to the knife mount <NUM>, the significance of which will be described further herein. Each of the second edges <NUM>, <NUM> is sharpened so as to define a second cutting angle α2 with respect to the second knife surface <NUM> such that the second edges <NUM>, <NUM> extend in parallel, which is especially apparent in cross-section as illustrated in <FIG>. The knife <NUM> may, for example, be formed of a metal or other high-strength material that can be ground or otherwise sharpened to produce the cutting edges <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>. An exemplary material includes, but is not limited to, hardened steel. In some embodiments, one or more of the edges <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> is coated with a high toughness material to further toughen the edges <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> for cutting. Exemplary high toughness materials include, but are not limited to, carbides such as tungsten carbide. It should therefore be appreciated that the knife <NUM> can be formed from a variety of different materials.

Referring specifically now to <FIG>, the knife <NUM> is illustrated in a first orientation in <FIG> and a second orientation in <FIG>. In the first orientation, the first edge <NUM> and the second edge <NUM> are on a leading side <NUM> of the knife <NUM> and the other first edge <NUM> and the other second edge <NUM> are on a trailing side <NUM> of the knife <NUM>. The leading side <NUM> and the trailing side <NUM> are described with respect to the rotation direction R that the knife <NUM> will rotate during operation. In the first orientation illustrated in <FIG>, the first edge <NUM> on the leading side <NUM> of the knife <NUM> will be the cutting edge that tends to cut crop material while the other edges <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> will generally not cut crop material during rotation in the rotation direction R. When the knife <NUM> is flipped to the second orientation illustrated in <FIG>, the first edge <NUM> and the second edge <NUM> are now on the leading side <NUM> of the knife and the other first edge <NUM> and the other second edge <NUM> are on the trailing side <NUM> of the knife <NUM> so the first edge <NUM> will be the cutting edge that tends to cut crop material while the other edges <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> will generally not cut crop material during rotation in the rotation direction R.

The knife <NUM> may be mounted to the knife mount <NUM> in both the first orientation and the second orientation by coupling the second knife mounting feature <NUM> to the body mounting feature <NUM>. The knife <NUM> can be re-oriented by uncoupling the second knife mounting feature <NUM> from the body mounting feature <NUM> and then flipping the knife <NUM> before re-coupling the second knife mounting feature <NUM> to the body mounting feature <NUM>. Re-orienting the knife <NUM> from the first orientation to the second orientation in this manner allows the cutting edge to be changed from the first edge <NUM> in the first orientation to the second edge <NUM> in the second orientation when, for example, the first edge <NUM> has become dull or otherwise damaged and a fresh cutting edge is desired. The first edges <NUM>, <NUM> extending in parallel to each other ensures that the cutting edge is generally the same regardless of whether the knife <NUM> is in the first orientation or the second orientation.

Referring now to <FIG> as well, the knife <NUM> is illustrated in a third orientation in <FIG> after rotating the knife <NUM> from the second orientation illustrated in <FIG> and in a fourth orientation in <FIG> after flipping the knife <NUM> from the third orientation illustrated in <FIG>. As used herein, "rotating" differs from "flipping" in that rotating the knife <NUM> refers to rotation of the knife <NUM> about a point within a rotation plane while flipping refers to rotation of the knife <NUM> about the same point in a manner that moves the knife <NUM> out of the rotation plane. When the knife <NUM> is in the third orientation, the second edge <NUM> and the first edge <NUM> may be on the leading side <NUM> of the knife <NUM>, similar to the first orientation, and the second edge <NUM> and the first edge <NUM> may be on the trailing side <NUM> of the knife <NUM>, similar to the first orientation. However, unlike the first orientation, the second edge <NUM> will be the cutting edge that tends to cut crop material while the other edges <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> will not tend to cut crop material during rotation. This is due to the first knife mounting feature <NUM> being in a position to couple to the body mounting feature <NUM> so the first edges <NUM>, <NUM> are shielded by the disc body <NUM> (best illustrated in <FIG>) while the second edges <NUM>, <NUM> are not shielded by the disc body <NUM>. The knife <NUM> can be flipped from the third orientation to the fourth orientation so the second edge <NUM> and the first edge <NUM> are on the leading side <NUM> of the knife <NUM>, similar to the second orientation, and the second edge <NUM> and the first edge <NUM> are on the trailing side <NUM> of the knife <NUM>, similar to the second orientation, with the second edge <NUM> as the cutting edge that tends to cut crop material while the other edges <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> will not tend to cut crop material during rotation. It should thus be appreciated that each of the edges <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> of the knife <NUM> can be used as a cutting edge by flipping and/or rotating the knife <NUM>.

As previously described, the first edges <NUM>, <NUM> extend in parallel so the first cutting angle α1 of the first edges <NUM>, <NUM> is the same and the second edges <NUM>, <NUM> extend in parallel so the second cutting angle α2 of the second edges <NUM>, <NUM> is the same. Not within the scope of the invention but useful for understanding the invention, the first cutting angle α1 and the second cutting angle α2 could be the same with respect to their respective knife surface <NUM>, <NUM>. The first cutting angle α1 and/or the second cutting angle α2 may be, for example, between <NUM>° and <NUM>°, such as <NUM>°, relative to the respective knife surface <NUM>, <NUM>. It should be appreciated that the previously described cutting angles α1 and α2 are exemplary only. When the first cutting angle α1 and the second cutting angle α2 are the same, the cutting edge of the knife <NUM> in any orientation will generally be the same so the knife <NUM> has similar cutting properties regardless of whether the knife <NUM> is in the first, second, third, or fourth orientation and coupled to the knife mount <NUM>. However, it should be appreciated that, according to the invention, the cutting angles α1, α2 differ so the cutting properties of the first edges <NUM>, <NUM> differ from the second edges <NUM>, <NUM>. Providing different cutting properties on the same knife <NUM> allows a user to adjust the cut quality of the cutter discs <NUM> by rotating, rather than replacing, the knife <NUM>.

In some embodiments, and as illustrated in <FIG>, the first knife mounting feature <NUM> and/or the second knife mounting feature <NUM> is an opening formed in the respective knife surface <NUM>, <NUM>. When the knife mounting features <NUM>, <NUM> are formed as openings, the body mounting feature <NUM> may be a correspondingly sized and shaped protrusion that fits within the knife mounting features <NUM>, <NUM> to mount the knife <NUM> to the knife mount <NUM>. Many such mounting features are known and any suitable mounting feature may be utilized according to the present disclosure. It should be appreciated that while the knife mounting features <NUM>, <NUM> are illustrated as openings formed in the respective knife surfaces <NUM>, <NUM>, in some embodiments the knife mounting features <NUM>, <NUM> are formed as a protrusion that extends away from the respective knife surfaces <NUM>, <NUM>. When the knife mounting features are formed as protrusions, each cutting section <NUM>, <NUM> may have two or more respective knife mounting features, at least one on each side of the cutting section <NUM>, <NUM>, so there is a knife mounting feature available to couple with the body mounting feature <NUM> regardless of the orientation of the knife <NUM>. Alternatively, or in addition, the disc body <NUM> may have two or more body mounting features when the knife mounting features are protrusions, e.g., a body mounting feature disposed on opposite sides of the knife <NUM> when the knife <NUM> is coupled to the knife mount <NUM>, to couple with the knife mounting features regardless of the orientation of the knife <NUM>. Regardless of whether the knife mounting features <NUM>, <NUM> are provided as openings and/or protrusions, the knife mounting features <NUM>, <NUM> may each define a same size and a same shape, as illustrated, so the knife mounting features <NUM>, <NUM> couple with the respective body mounting feature <NUM> in the same manner. It should thus be appreciated that the mounting features <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> provided according to the present disclosure may be configured in a variety of ways to mount the knife <NUM> to the knife mount <NUM> regardless of orientation.

In some embodiments, the knife <NUM> includes an offset <NUM> between the first knife surface <NUM> and the second knife surface <NUM>. The offset <NUM> may be provided such that the first knife surface <NUM> and the second knife surface <NUM> are not co-planar with one another. Providing the knife <NUM> with the offset <NUM> allows the knife <NUM> to be mounted to the knife mount <NUM> in a manner that shields the cutting section <NUM>, <NUM> coupled to the knife mount <NUM> while also providing stability of the exposed cutting section <NUM>, <NUM> because the offset <NUM>, or a section adjacent to the offset <NUM>, can bear against the disc body <NUM>, as best illustrated in <FIG>. The offset <NUM> can also allow the knife mount <NUM> to be flat, as opposed to angle, if the knife <NUM> has an upward sweep to encourage crop flow away from the ground.

Referring now to <FIG>, an exemplary embodiment of a method <NUM> of mounting and adjusting the knife <NUM> provided according to the present disclosure is illustrated. The method <NUM> includes mounting <NUM> the knife <NUM> to the knife mount <NUM> in a first mounting orientation, which may be any of the orientations illustrated in <FIG> and previously described. Mounting <NUM> the knife <NUM> to the knife mount <NUM> may include coupling one of the knife mounting features <NUM>, <NUM> to the body coupling feature <NUM>. The method <NUM> further includes dismounting <NUM> the knife <NUM> from the knife mount <NUM> and flipping and/or rotating <NUM> the knife <NUM> to a second mounting orientation that differs from the first mounting orientation. The second mounting orientation may be any of the previously described orientations of the knife <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>, other than the orientation that is chosen as the first mounting orientation. The knife <NUM> may then be mounted <NUM> to the knife mount <NUM> in the second mounting orientation. Dismounting <NUM> the knife <NUM> from the knife mount <NUM> and flipping and/or rotating <NUM> the knife <NUM> may be repeated to then mount <NUM>, <NUM> the knife <NUM> in a third mounting orientation and a fourth mounting orientation, respectively. In some embodiments, the first mounting orientation corresponds to the first orientation illustrated in <FIG>, the second mounting orientation corresponds to the second orientation illustrated in <FIG>, the third mounting orientation corresponds to the third orientation illustrated in <FIG>, and the fourth mounting orientation corresponds to the fourth orientation illustrated in <FIG>. Each mounting orientation of the knife <NUM> to the knife mount <NUM> provides a new edge <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> of the knife <NUM> as the cutting edge. After the knife <NUM> has been mounted <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and used, the knife <NUM> may be re-sharpened and/or discarded <NUM>. It should thus be appreciated that the method <NUM> provided according to the present disclosure provides a way to mount the knife <NUM> in a manner that provides four independent cutting edges, which can reduce the need to replace or repair the knife <NUM>.

From the foregoing, it should be appreciated that the knife <NUM> provided according to the present disclosure may be used in a manner that provides four sharpened cutting edges that can be used before the knife <NUM> needs to be repaired or replaced. The knife <NUM> merely needs to be flipped and/or rotated to change the cutting edge, which is both simple and convenient for a farmer to do in the field. In this respect, the knife <NUM> provided according to the present disclosure can reduce the downtime of the vehicle <NUM> because the cutting edges can be changed in the field multiple times before the knife <NUM> must be replaced.

Claim 1:
A disc cutter (<NUM>) for an agricultural implement, comprising:
a disc body (<NUM>) configured to rotate in a rotation direction (R);
a knife mount (<NUM>) carried by the disc body (<NUM>) and comprising a body mounting feature (<NUM>); and
a knife (<NUM>) coupled to the knife mount (<NUM>), the knife (<NUM>) comprising:
a first cutting section (<NUM>) comprising a first knife mounting feature (<NUM>) disposed on or in a first knife surface (<NUM>) between a pair of first edges (<NUM>,<NUM>) of the first cutting section (<NUM>) and configured to couple with the body mounting feature (<NUM>), each of the first edges (<NUM>,<NUM>) defining a first cutting angle (α1) with respect to the first knife surface (<NUM>) such that the first edges (<NUM>,<NUM>) extend in parallel; and
a second cutting section (<NUM>) comprising a second knife mounting feature (<NUM>) disposed on or in a second knife surface (<NUM>) between a pair of second edges (<NUM>,<NUM>) of the second cutting section (<NUM>) and configured to couple with the body mounting feature (<NUM>), each of the second edges (<NUM>,<NUM>) defining a second cutting angle (α2) with respect to the second knife surface (<NUM>) such that the second edges (<NUM>,<NUM>) extend in parallel,
characterized in that the first cutting angle (α1) and the second cutting angle (α2) are different values.