Patent ID: 7553225

Claim:
A knife blade cover for a mounted assembly of a rotary chopper element of a chopper assembly of a combine harvester for converting the chopper assembly to a beater construction, the rotary chopper element including a generally elongated cylindrical rotary member with an outer surface to which the mounted assembly is secured, the mounted assembly including a mounting lug with at least one knife blade attached thereto, the rotary chopper element disposed generally parallel to a counter knife assembly within a chopper assembly to impinge crop residue flowing between the rotary chopper element and the counter knife assembly as the rotary chopper element is rotated in a normal forward direction, said knife blade cover comprising a cover member having at least one body projecting upwardly from a base with at least one interior cavity extending upwardly within said body from said base, said base generally conforming to the outer surface of the rotary member, said interior cavity configured to receive therein and envelop the mounted assembly, said body, when positioned over the mounted assembly with the mounted assembly fully enveloped within said cavity and said base resting upon the outer surface of the rotary member, having generally opposed sides spaced from one another a distance greater than a thickness Yt of the mounting lug with a center portion disposed between said opposed sides, said center portion extending upwardly from said base of said body to a top portion at a height greater than the maximum height of the mounted assembly, said center portion having leading and trailing sides extending generally laterally between said sides of said body and between said base of said body and said top portion of said center portion of said body, at least said leading side of said center portion defining a blunt facial surface having an lateral expanse greater than Yt, said cover member securable to the rotary chopper element to maintain said cover member over the mounted assembly as the rotary member is rotated, whereby, when said cover member is secured to the rotary chopper element and the rotary member is rotated in its forward mode of operation, the crop residue flowing between the rotary chopper element and the counter knife assembly is impinged by said blunt facial surface of said leading side of said body of said knife blade cover to beat such residue instead of by the knife blade of the mounted assembly to chop the residue.