Patent ID: 8056311

Claim:
A conditioner for conditioning cut crop material from a harvester comprising: a conditioner frame; a first roller mounted in the conditioner frame for rotation about an axis of the first roller with the axis being mounted in fixed position in the frame; a second roller mounted in the conditioner frame for rotation about an axis of the second roller; a drive input for driving rotation of at least one of the first and second rollers; each respective end of the second roller being mounted on a respective mounting assembly arranged to allow movement of the respective end of the second roller relative to the first roller in a direction to increase and decrease spacing between the axes of the first and second rollers; each mounting assembly including: a pivotal mounting member arranged to allow pivotal movement of the respective end of the second roller about a roller pivot axis generally parallel to the axis of the second roller and offset to one side thereof; a tension link extending in a direction lying substantially in a radial plane of the roller pivot axis and having one end connected to the pivotal mounting member so as to apply a force to the pivotal mounting member in a direction to move the second roller toward the first roller; a tension spring for applying spring force to the tension link; a bell crank mounted on the conditioner frame for pivotal movement of the bell crank, the bell crank having a first end connected to the tension link and a second end connected to the spring; the bell crank having a crank pivot axis which lies transversely to a line at the bell crank parallel to the pivot axis of the second roller; the bell crank extending from the first end to the second end in a direction outwardly of the radial plane of the roller pivot axis; wherein the tension spring is generally parallel to the tension link and has its end connected to the second end of the bell crank outward from the tension link in a direction away from the radial plane of the roller pivot axis.