Patent ID: 7827773

Claim:
A harvesting header operable to harvest a crop, said harvesting header comprising: a header frame; a crop-cutting assembly mounted to the header frame to extend lengthwise in a lateral direction relative to the normal direction of travel of the header; and a draper assembly supported on the header frame behind the crop-cutting assembly, said draper assembly including a pair of side drapers and a fore-and-aft draper located between the side drapers, said side drapers configured to receive severed crop materials from the crop-cutting assembly and convey the materials laterally to the fore-and-aft draper, said fore-and-aft draper being configured to move the severed crop rearwardly, said fore-and-aft draper including a draper frame and a draper belt supported on the draper frame to present an upper rearwardly moving run for conveying the crop rearwardly, a crop material deflector attached relative to the draper frame in front of the draper belt, said crop material deflector extending in the fore-and-aft direction from in front of the draper belt to a location over the draper belt, with the deflector operable to restrict severed crop delivered from each of the side drapers from flowing to the other of the side drapers.