Patent ID: 8109070

Claim:
An apparatus for selectively inverting one or more windrows of crop material on the ground as said apparatus is moved in a forward direction through a field, each of the windrows having a lower surface and a generally defined width, said apparatus comprising: a frame for attachment to a vehicle; a first transport mechanism for picking up the crop material of a windrow from the ground at an entrance position, moving the crop material in a rearward direction, turning the crop material through a first arc of between 90 and 130 degrees between an entrance end and an exit end of a closed conveyor belt, and depositing said turned crop material from an elevated exit position onto the ground in an inverted condition, said first transport mechanism being mounted to said frame and being movable during operation in the field between a raised non-crop material engaging position and a lowered crop material engaging position; a second transport mechanism for picking up the crop material of a windrow from the ground at an entrance position, moving the crop material in a rearward direction, turning the crop material through a first arc of between 90 and 130 degrees between an entrance end and an exit end of a closed conveyor belt, and depositing said turned crop material from an elevated exit position onto the ground in an inverted condition, said second transport mechanism being mounted to said frame and being movable during operation in the field between a raised non-crop material engaging position and a lowered crop material engaging position, said arcs being dimensioned for directing the crop material so that it is completely inverted as it passes said exit position for maintaining an integrity of the crop material as it is inverted, and also accommodating said movement of said adjacent first and second transport mechanisms; said first and second transport mechanisms being configured such that when both are in said respective lowered crop material engaging positions, said corresponding exit ends each define an acute angle with a direction of travel when viewed from above; and a hydraulic control system configured to be connected to a hydraulic power source for selectively moving said first and second transport mechanisms between said raised and lowered positions and for selectively driving each of said first and second transport mechanisms to perform said picking up, moving, turning and depositing of the crop material when in said lowered position.