Patent ID: 8220234

Claim:
In a machine for cutting and conditioning crop materials wherein the machine has a cutting width that is greater than the width of a central discharge opening leading to conditioning rolls of the machine and crop materials must be consolidated centrally from opposite lateral sides of the opening before moving rearwardly through the opening to the rolls, the improvement comprising: a front pair of mutually oppositely rotatable, non-compressible surface rolls behind the opening adapted to receive a stream of crop materials, condition the materials as they pass between the rolls, and feed the materials rearwardly, each of said front rolls comprising a cylindrical metal core and a plurality of circumferentially spaced metal ribs projecting generally radially outwardly from the core and extending lengthwise thereof, each of said ribs comprising a pair of end-to-end rib segments that converge generally helically in opposite spiral directions from lateral ends of the core to a direction-switching junction, said rolls of the front pair being rotated in such a direction during operation that the direction-switching junction of each rib trails outer ends of the rib with respect to the direction of rotation, the ribs of one front roll being adapted to intermesh with the ribs of the other front roll; a rear pair of mutually oppositely rotatable, compressible surface rolls disposed to receive crop materials from the front rolls and subject the crop to a further conditioning action, each of said rear rolls comprising a cylindrical core and a plurality of circumferentially spaced bars projecting generally radially outwardly from the core and extending lengthwise thereof, each of said bars comprising a pair of end-to-end bar segments that converge generally helically in opposite spiral directions from lateral ends of the core to a direction-switching junction, said rolls of the rear pair being rotated in such a direction during operation that the direction-switching junction of each bar trails outer ends of the bar with respect to the direction of rotation, the bars of one rear roll being adapted to intermesh with the bars of the other rear roll; and tension mechanism operably coupled with the front and rear pairs of rolls in a manner to resist relative movement of the rolls of each pair away from one another.