Patent ID: 8109815

Claim:
A combine comprising: a cutting mechanism for cutting a crop; a feed mechanism for feeding the cut crop towards a threshing and/or separating rotor that rotates within a housing about an axis disposed generally longitudinally relative to the combine, the cut crop moving between the rotor and the housing from an inlet end of the housing towards an outlet end of the housing across a grating through which separated grain leaves the housing; and a final feed section of the feed mechanism wherein the cut crop is fed by the final feed section of the feed mechanism into the inlet end of the housing across a transition edge of the housing that is split into a number of sections, the overall direction of extension of each section of the transition edge being inclined at substantially the same angle with respect to the axis of rotation of the rotor so that the cut crop entering the inlet end of the housing across the transition edge does so generally perpendicular to the transition edge, the transition edge being inclined generally helically relative to the axis of rotation of the rotor; wherein the transition edge sections are offset in a rotation sense around the circumference of the inlet end of the housing in the direction of rotation of the rotor and the transition edge sections are offset axially relative to the housing.