Patent ID: 7731576

Claim:
A rigid rotor discharge deflector for a combine having a generally longitudinally disposed rotor feeding crop residue into a discharge passage above a chopper apparatus, the discharge passage having spaced side walls, comprising a body mounted to the side wall of the discharge passage on the downswept side of the rotor, and, when so mounted, having a face with upper and lower edges, the face extending from generally adjacent to the downstream end of the rotor rearwardly towards the rear of the combine, said face of said body including at least one ridge portion extending across at least a portion of said face, an upper portion having the upper edge, wherein the upper portion is above said ridge portion, and an upper ramp portion sloped and extending from said upper portion of said body to said ridge portion in a fixed and inflexible manner, said body including a bracing associated with said upper ramp portion and said ridge portion maintaining said ridge portion essentially fixed and inflexible relative to the side wall and maintaining said upper ramp portion essentially fixed in position relative to the side wall and preventing flexure thereof under normal forward operating conditions of the rotor, wherein said bracing includes a lower portion having the lower edge, wherein the lower portion is below said ridge portion and a lower ramp portion sloped and extending from said ridge portion towards said lower portion of said body in a fixed and inflexible manner, wherein said ridge portion includes a lip at the juncture between said upper ramp portion and said lower ramp portion having opposed ends, the ends of said lip being at different fixed distances from the sidewall, wherein said lip end closer to the side wall is considered to be the lower end, said lip end farther from the side wall is considered to be the higher end, and said lip slopes outwardly generally uniformly from said lower to said higher end, wherein the lower end of the lip disposed adjacent the upper edge and the higher end of the in disposed adjacent the lower edge so that the ridge portion extends at an angle, with respect to the upper and lower edges, across at least a portion of said face, whereby at least a portion of the crop residue being discharged from the rotor into the discharge passage will impact said upper ramp portion without effecting flexure thereof and will be deflected and redirected thereby to be more uniformly laterally introduced into the chopper apparatus.