Patent ID: 8061115

Claim:
A harvesting header operable to harvest a 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, said flexible cutterbar assembly being operable to flex along the length thereof in response to changes in terrain as the header is advanced; and a draper assembly supported on the header frame behind the cutterbar assembly to flex therewith, said draper 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, said fore-and-aft draper including a draper frame swingably supported on the header frame at a pivot to project forwardly therefrom, such that the draper frame is operable to swing relative to the header frame, said fore-and-aft draper including a draper belt supported on the draper frame to present a rearwardly moving run for conveying the crop rearwardly, said fore-and-aft draper including a counterbalance mechanism coupled between the header and draper frames to counteract the weight of the fore-and-aft draper about the pivot, said counterbalance mechanism including a spring urging the draper frame upwardly, said counterbalance mechanism including a pivot arm that is fixed relative to the draper frame and extends rearwardly from the pivot, said spring being operably interposed between the pivot arm and the header frame.