Patent ID: 7188461

Claim:
A conditioner for conditioning cut crop material from a harvester comprising: a first roller and a second roller, each roller having a generally cylindrical roller surface and a plurality of side by side flutes at angularly spaced positions therearound, the flutes projecting radially outwardly to a flute edge spaced outwardly of the roller surface and extending longitudinally along the roller substantially along the full length thereof; a mounting assembly for mounting the rollers in generally parallel relationship for rotation of each roller about its axis; the mounting assembly mounting the rollers so as to allow relative movement of the second roller relative to the first roller in a direction to increase and decrease spacing between the axes of the rollers from a closed position in which the flutes of the second roller intermesh with the flutes of the first roller to an open position in which the flutes of the rollers are no longer intermeshing; the mounting assembly including a first mounting arrangement at a first end of the rollers and a second mounting arrangement at a second end of the rollers with the first and second mounting arrangements arranged to allow independent relative movement of the second roller between the closed position and the open position at each end of the rollers; each of the first and second mounting arrangements including a respective link pivotal about a respective link pivot axis; the mounting assembly defining a plane of movement of the second roller with the plane of movement containing the axis of the second roller; the links each being pivotal about the respective link pivot axis which is arranged at right angles to the plane of movement so as to direct the movement of the second roller such that its axis remains within the plane of movement; the rollers being substantially coextensive such that a first end of the first roller lies adjacent a first end of the second roller and a second end of the first roller lies adjacent a second end of the second roller; a drive input for driving rotation of at least one of the first and second rollers; and a drive timing device for transferring rotation between the first roller and the second roller arranged to maintain accurate angular timing between the first and second rollers as the rollers rotate and as the spacing between the axes of the rollers changes.