Patent ID: 7356982

Claim:
A crop harvesting header comprising: a header frame arranged to be transported across ground on which there is a standing crop for harvesting; a cutter bar mounted on the header frame across a width of the header for movement across the ground for harvesting the standing crop; a plurality of generally horizontal cutter disks mounted on the cutter bar at positions spaced transversely of the header with the disks being mounted on the cutter bar for driven rotation about respective generally upright axes spaced along the cutter bar; each disk having mounted thereon at a position spaced outwardly from the respective axis thereof at least one cutter blade such that rotation of the disk about its axis causes a standing crop to be cut by the blade as it rotates around the axis on the disk; the header frame defining a discharge opening through which the cut crop is discharged for forming a swath behind the header; at least at one end of the header frame there being arranged: an outer one of the disks being mounted outwardly of the discharge opening such that crop cut thereby must be carried inwardly to the discharge opening; a next adjacent one of the disks being mounted at least partly outwardly of the discharge opening such that crop cut thereby must be carried inwardly to the discharge opening; each of the outer one of the disks and the next adjacent one of the disks proscribing a respective cutting circle; a first impeller mounted at a position at or adjacent the outer one of the disks for contacting the cut crop; a second impeller mounted at a position at or adjacent the next adjacent one of the disks for contacting the cut crop; each of the impellers being mounted for driven rotation about a respective generally upstanding axis so as to define an outer surface which rotates around the respective axis in a direction tending to carry the cut crop inwardly toward the discharge opening so that a radially outermost portion of the outer surface defines, by a path of movement thereof around the respective axis as it rotates, an imaginary circle; the first and second impellers being arranged immediately adjacent without an intervening transport element or intermediate impeller such that the crop material is transferred directly from the first impeller to the second impeller without engaging an intermediate impeller; the second impeller being supported from the frame above the next adjacent one of the disks with the axis thereof rearward of the axis of the first impeller; the second impeller being arranged such that, in plan view, none of the imaginary circle thereof intersects the cutting circle of the outer one of the disks.