Patent ID: 7008315

Claim:
A combine harvester comprising: a housing; a straw separating system mounted within the housing for separating seed materials from straw for collection of the seed materials and for transport of the straw rearwardly toward a rear of the housing for discharge; the housing having a rear hood with walls defining a hollow interior, and separating the hollow interior from an exterior of the combine harvester, into which hollow interior straw from the separating system is fed and with a bottom opening in the rear hood for discharge of the straw from the hollow interior of the rear hood; a straw chopper mounted at the rear hood for receiving the straw from the hollow interior of the rear hood; the straw chopper having a generally cylindrical rotor with a hub mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis and carrying blades for chopping the straw and for generating an air stream for spreading the chopped straw; the straw chopper having a chopper housing defining an inlet opening at the rotor for receiving straw moving downstream from the hollow interior of the rear hood and an outlet opening angularly spaced around the rotor from the inlet opening for discharge of the chopped straw in the air stream; and at least one vent opening arranged to allow air to pass between the hollow interior of the rear hood at a position upstream of the inlet opening and the exterior through said at least one vent opening.