Patent ID: 7585213

Claim:
A clean-out door for an auger trough of a clean grain and tailings conveying system of an agricultural combine wherein the auger trough has depending side walls that extend laterally across the combine between opposed sidesheets, said clean-out door comprising a generally rigid door panel having a length essentially the same as the length of the auger trough between the opposed sidesheets, wherein said door panel includes a generally central elongated web portion disposed laterally between a pair of side wing portions, said side wing portions configured to be engageable with the depending side walls of the auger trough to define a door panel trough formed by the side walls and said door panel, said door panel configured to be complementarily engageable with the depending side walls to substantially close the bottom of the auger trough during certain times and to be disengagable from the depending side walls at other times, said door panel having opposite ends configured to generally abut the opposed sidesheets and to be generally removably securable in place when said door panel is engaged with the side walls and positioned extending between the sidesheets to maintain such door panel in place, said door panel having a mating mechanism adjacent at least one of said opposite ends thereof and accessible to and operable by a user from the side of the combine to secure said door panel in place in close abutment with the side walls of the auger trough and extending between the sidesheets, said mating mechanism further accessible to and operable by a user from the side of the combine to enable removal by the user of said door panel from the position extending between the sidesheets and from close abutment with the side walls of the auger trough, whereby, from the side of the combine, said door panel is installable by a user to form the base of the auger trough during harvesting operations and is removable at other times to facilitate clean out of the auger trough.