Patent ID: 7770371

Claim:
A cutter head for stalk-like agricultural harvested crop, having: a number of knives arranged alongside each other transverse to a channel through which harvested crop can flow and connected in joints, free to pivot about a pivot axis arranged transverse to the channel; levers associated with the knives are supported, free to pivot, and can be moved between an operating position, in which they retain the knives associated with them, in an active position where the knife extends into the channel and a non-operating position where the knife is not in an active position; springs associated with each lever pre-load the lever into the operating position; and, a control shaft extends parallel to the pivot axis and interacts with the levers for the selection of the length of cut via selection of partial numbers of the knives to be brought into the active position; wherein an actuator, selectively moves between a first position in which all levers are brought into the non-operating position and a second position in which the levers can reach the operating position, and the control shaft retains the levers of the knives in each case not selected, in the non-operating position, so that only the selected knives reach the active position by the actuator located in the second position due to the action of the springs.