Patent ID: 8196381

Claim:
A seed pan apparatus for attachment to a cutting header having a knife and cooperating knife guards mounted along a lower front edge thereof, the knife guards including guard fingers extending forward from the knife, the seed pan apparatus comprising: a seed pan adapted at a pointed front portion thereof for attachment to a guard finger such that the seed pan extends upward and rearward from a front portion of the seed pan forward of the guard finger over the guard finger and knife to a rear end thereof located rearward of the knife and above the knife; side walls extending upward from side edges of the seed pan; wherein the right and left side edges of the seed pan diverge from a front end thereof to the rear end thereof such that the rear end of the seed pan is wider than the front end thereof; and wherein the seed pan is configured such that when the seed pan is attached, side edges of the seed pan are located between the attached guard finger and a next adjacent guard finger on each side.