Patent ID: 8359822

Claim:
A harvesting header operable to harvest a crop, said harvesting header comprising: a header frame that is substantially coextensive with the header in a lateral direction relative to the normal direction of travel of the header; a flexible cutterbar assembly mounted to the header frame to extend lengthwise in the lateral direction, said flexible cutterbar assembly being operable to flex along the length thereof in response to changes in terrain as the header is advanced; and a crop-conveying assembly including a fore-and-aft draper supported on the header frame behind the cutterbar assembly, said fore-and-aft draper being configured to receive severed crop materials from the cutterbar assembly and move the severed crop rearwardly, said fore-and-aft draper including a draper frame swingably supported on the header frame at a pivot to project forwardly therefrom, such that the draper frame is operable to swing relative to the header frame, said fore-and-aft draper including a draper belt supported on the draper frame to present a rearwardly moving run for conveying the crop rearwardly, said fore-and-aft draper including a counterbalance mechanism coupled between the header and draper frames to counteract the weight of the fore-and-aft draper about the pivot.