Patent ID: 8191344

Claim:
A harvesting header comprising: a cutterbar assembly extending transversely across the front of the header with respect to the normal direction of travel of the header; a draper assembly supported behind the cutterbar assembly, with the draper assembly including a laterally movable belt; a belt guard attached to the cutterbar assembly, with the belt guard presenting an open end; and a crop residue deflector for use in blocking the ingress of crop residue into the open end of the belt guard, said deflector including— an inverted, generally L-shaped, one-piece, bent unitary body having a pair of integrally interconnected deflecting surfaces comprising a sidewall and top wall, said sidewall being generally triangular in shape as a result of having a normally lower forward edge and a normally rear edge that mutually converge rearwardly to present a rear apex, said top wall projecting laterally from a fore-and-aft line of intersection that comprises a convex bend in the body between the top wall and the sidewall, said top wall having a narrow forward portion and a generally rectangular rear portion that is wider than the forward portion.