Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
This invention relates to a mowing apparatus, and
in particular to a rotary cutter for grain, hay and grass.
The usual mower presently in use includes a fixed
transversely extending cutter bar carrying a plurality o~
generally triangular teeth, and a reciprocating knife bar which
carries similar teeth. By reciprocating the k~ife bar,stalks
of grain are trapped between the teeth on the two bars and cut
by a scissors action. The reciprocating motion of the knife
bar is produced by a crank and pitman arm.
An alternative mower is proposed by Canadian Patent
No. 948,~59 issued to A.J. Vogelenzang on June ll, 1974. The
Vogelenzang mower includes a toothed counterblade or cutter
bar with a sawtooth leading edge, and a plurality of independently
movable cutter elements on a horizontal driving shaft. Each of
the cutter elements is defined by an elongated body with cutting
edges on each side thereof, and inner bearing elements qecured
to ~the driving shaft and rotatable outer bearing elements
carr~ing the cutter elements. During operation, the cutter
elements are caused to rock around their longitudinal axis
while swaying pendulum fashion over the counterblade Eor performing
a cutting action with the teeth of -the counterblade. The
Vo~elenzang apparatus is somewhat complicated and difficult to
manufacture, involving a large number of separate parts. Moreover,
there i5 no provision in the Vogelenzang specification for
adapting the apparatus to existing equipment of various widths.
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The object of the present invention is to overcome
the above-mentioned disadvantages by providing a relatively
simple rotary sickle~ which can be adapted to existing equipment
of varying widths.
Acco~dingly/ the present invention relates to a rotary
sickle for use with a transversely extending fixed cutter bar
on a crop mowing implement comprising blade means for mounting
on said cutter bar, said blade means defining substantially
V-shaped cutting edges opening in front of said cutter bar;
transversely extending shaft means in front of said cutter
bar; drive means for rotating said shaft; a plurality of annular
lobe means on said shaft means, each said lobe means lying in
a plane inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis of said
shaft means, whereby, during rotation of said shaft means, the
periphery of the lobe means is caused to reciprocate between
the arms of one V-shaped cutting edge to cut a stalk between the
lobe means and cutting edge~
The invention will now be described in greater detail
with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate
preferred embodiments of the invention, and wherein:
Figure 1 is a perspective view ~rom above and one end
of a rotary sickle in accordance with the present invention;
Figure 2 is an exploded, perspective view of a
: second rotary sickle similar to the device of Fig. 1, with parts
omitted; and
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Figure 3, which appears on the ~irst sheet of drawings,
is a schematic perspective view of a portion of the sickles
of Figs. l and 2 illustrating the operation of the rotary sickle.
STRUCTURE
With reference to the drawings, a rotary sickle in
accordance with the in~ention is intended for use with the elongated,
transversely extending cutter bar 1 of a farm implement (not
shown), e.g. a hay or grain mower. A row of spaced apart holes
2 is provided in the bar l near the front or leading edge 3
thereof. A plurality of fingers 4 extend forwardly from the cutter
bar l. The fingers 4 are part of knife and guard units 5, each
of which includes a rectangular plate 6 for mounting on the bar l.
The units are connected to the bar 1 by bolts 7, nuts 3 and
washers 9.
Each unit 5 includes two parallel fingers 4 tapering
forwardly from the plate 6. An arcuate blade 10 extends laterally
outwardly from each side of each finger 4. The blades lO are
triangular at their front ends, so that adjacent blades lO define
a V-shaped cutting edge ll.
A shaft generally indicated at 12 extends beneath the
blades~ across the entire width of the sickle. The shaft 12 is
defined by two sections 13 and 14, which are similar except for
length. Thus, a variety of sections can be used to produce
shaft 12 of the desired length to suit the--cu~ter~bar l. One
end 15 of each shaft section 13 and 14 includes a threaded
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reduced diameter portion for mating with an internally threaded
socket (not shown) in the end 16 of an adjacent section. The
end 16 of the shaft section 13 is connected to the threaded
drive shaft 17 of a transmission 18. The drive for the trans-
mission 18 supplied from a tractor or implement engine (notshown)~ The shaft 12 is suspended from the cutter bar 1 by
brackets 19 and 20. One bracket 19 is loca-ted at the junction
between the sections 13 and 14. The bracket 19 includes a plate
21 for connecting the bracket to the bar 1 and a sleeve 22 on the
outer end of an arm 23 for carrying a bearing 24 and the shaft
sections 13 and 14. The bracket 20 is connected to the cutter
bar 1 by an arm 25. The bracke-t 20 is generally triangular, and
includes a sleeve 26 for receiving a bearing 27 and the end 15
of the shaft section 14. The bearing 27 is held in the sleeve
26 and on the shaft 12 by a nut 28.
A plurality of spaced apart, annular lobes 29 are provided
on the shaft 12. The lobes 29 are inclined with respect to the
vertical, i.e. the lobes 29 lie in planes which are inclined with
respect to the longitudinal axis of the shaft 12. Alternate
lobes 29 are inclined in opposite directions. The lobes 29
and the blades 10 have the same curvature, the blades 10 defining
semicircles around the longitudinal axis of the shaft 12, i.e.
the blades 10, shaft 12 and lobes 29 are co-axial.
It will be noted that the only differences between the
apparatuses of Figs. 1 and 2 are the shape of the bracket 20 and
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the transmission or shaft drive 18. In Fig. 1, one of the lobes
29 (adjacent to the bracket sleeve 22) has been omitted for the
sake of clarity.
OPERATION
Reference is made to Fig. 3, where, for the sake
of clarity, a single lobe 29 is shown on a shaft 12. During
operation, with the farm implement moving forward stalks 30 are
directed by the fingers 4 to the V-shaped cutting edge 11 of
the teeth 10. The shaft 12 is rotated to cause the inclined
lobes 29 to wobble or reciprocates across the V shaped cutting
edges 11 of the blades 10. By positioning the shaft 12 suffi-
ciently close to the teeth 10, stalks 30 of grain or another
standing crop are trapped between the cutting edge 11 and each
lobe 29. The stalks 30 are cut by a scissor action between the
lobe 29 and the cutting edges 11 of the blades 10. Thus, the
rapidly rotating shaft 12 cuts stalks 30 on each side of each
V-shaped cutting edge 11.
In theory, by reversing the blades 10, i.e. by curving
the blades upwardly, the shaft 12 could be mounted above the
blades. However, such an arrangement is less practical, since
the cut stalks are likely to collect on -top of the apparatus
and jam between the blades 10 and lobes 29.
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