Patent ID: 6976914

Claim:
A rotary impeller for a tailings conveyor of an agricultural combine, for threshing tailings and propelling the tailings through a portion of the conveyor, the impeller comprising: a mounting portion mountable to a rotatable member of the conveyor for rotation therewith in a predetermined rotational direction about a rotational axis; and a plurality of blades extending generally radially outwardly from the mounting portion, each of the blades including a surface facing in the rotational direction including a radially outermost threshing portion for threshing the tailings and propelling the tailings in the rotational direction through the portion of the conveyor, and a tailings deflecting portion disposed between the threshing portion and the mounting portion, the tailings deflecting portion having a convex shape for deflecting tailings contacted thereby during the rotation in a radially outward direction into a rotational path of the threshing portion for threshing and propelling in the rotational direction thereby through the portion of the conveyor, wherein each of the blades includes a radially outermost tip portion which has a predetermined extent in the rotational direction that is substantially flat and greater in size than an extent of other portions of the blade in the rotational direction such that the threshing portion of the surface can abrade away by an amount just less than the predetermined extent while the radial extent of the blade remains substantially constant.