Patent ID: 8225590

Claim:
A harvesting header operable to harvest crop, said harvesting header comprising: a header frame; a flexible cutterbar assembly mounted to the header frame to extend lengthwise in a lateral direction relative to the normal direction of travel of the header; a plurality of laterally spaced apart support arms being attached to and cooperatively supporting the flexible cutterbar assembly, said support arms being pivotally coupled to the frame for swinging movement about a laterally extending axis so that the flexible cutterbar assembly is operable to flex along the length thereof in response to changes in terrain as the header is advanced; a conveyor assembly configured to receive severed crop materials from the cutterbar assembly and convey the materials laterally, said conveyor assembly presenting laterally endmost margins, an outer one of said support arms being positioned laterally outside one of the endmost margins of the conveyor assembly; and a cutterbar drive including a forward gearbox drivingly connected to the cutterbar assembly to provide driving power to the cutterbar assembly, said forward gearbox being supported on the outer support arm adjacent the cutterbar assembly so that the forward gearbox shifts with the flexible cutterbar assembly, said conveyor assembly including an endless flexible draper belt configured to receive the severed crop materials, said conveyor assembly including a pair of side drapers and a fore-and-aft draper located between the side drapers, said side drapers configured to receive severed crop materials from the cutterbar assembly and convey the materials laterally to the fore-and-aft draper, said fore-and-aft draper being configured to move the severed crop rearwardly, one of said side drapers including the endless flexible draper belt.