Patent ID: 7836671

Claim:
A harvesting header operable to harvest 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; a plurality of laterally spaced apart support arms being attached to and cooperatively supporting the flexible cutterbar assembly, said support arms being pivotally coupled to the frame for swinging movement about a laterally extending axis so that the flexible cutterbar assembly is operable to flex along the length thereof in response to changes in terrain as the header is advanced; a draper assembly supported on the header frame behind the cutterbar assembly to flex therewith, said draper assembly including an endless flexible draper belt configured to receive severed crop materials from the cutterbar assembly and convey the materials laterally, said draper belt presenting laterally endmost margins, an outer one of said support arms being positioned laterally outside one of the endmost margins of the draper belt; and a cutterbar drive including a drive shaft and a forward gearbox drivingly connected between the drive shaft and the cutterbar assembly to provide driving power from the drive shaft to the cutterbar assembly, said forward gearbox being supported on the outer support arm adjacent the cutterbar assembly so that the forward gearbox shifts with the flexible cutterbar assembly, 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, one of said side drapers including the endless flexible draper belt.