Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CROP LIFTER
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to agricultural equipment, and specifically to
crop lifters mounted
on agricultural equipment.
Back2ronnd of the Invention
It is well known in the art of agricultural equipment design to provide a
plurality of crop lifters
on harvesting equipment such as harvesters and combines. The crop lifters are
designed to allow
cut crop to move upwardly toward the equipment table where it can processed,
as the equipment
moves forwardly through the field.
The tips of crop lifters, which project forwardly during equiptnent travel,
are commonly curved
upwardly so as not to penetrate the ground. For example, Canadian Patent No.
25,036 discloses
a pea vine lifter for harvesters, where the crop lifter initially curves
downwardly but then
reverses and the tip is directed away from the ground surface.
There are also various means known in the art for attaching crop lifters to
harvesting equipment.
Canadian Patent No. 25,036 discloses one such arrangement, where the crop
lifter is positioned
on top of the cutter bar, bolted down at the rear of the cutter bar and
connected to a cutter guard
at the front of the cutter bar.
Summary of the Invention
According to a first broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided
a crop lifter for use
with harvesting equipment, the crop lifter comprising:
a rod having first and second ends;
the first end comprising a tip; and
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the second end comprising an attachment portion configured for attachment to
the harvesting
equipment;
wherein the rod is curved such that when attached to the harvesting equipment
the tip is directed
downwardly toward a ground surface.
In some exemplary embodiments of the first aspect, the rod is composed of
steel. The rod may
further have a round cross-section. In some preferred embodiments, the
attachment portion is
flattened and comprises an aperture for receipt of a fastening member. Where
the harvesting
equipment comprises a cutter guard, the attachment portion may be configured
for attachment to
the cutter guard.
According to a second broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided
a crop lifter for
harvesting equipment, the harvesting equipment comprising a cutter guard, the
crop lifter
comprising:
a rod having first and second ends;
the first end comprising a tip; and
the second end comprising an attachment portion configured for attachment to
the cutter guard;
wherein the rod is curved such that when attached to the cutter guard the tip
is directed
downwardly toward a ground surface.
In some exemplary embodiments of the second aspect, the rod is composed of
steel. The rod
may further have a round cross-section. In some preferred embodiments, the
crop lifter further
comprises a support bracket configured for receipt of a portion of the cutter
guard. The support
bracket may be disposed on an upper surface of the rod adjacent the second
end. In some
preferred embodiments, the attachment portion is flattened and comprises an
aperture for receipt
of a fastening member, such that when the portion of the cutter guard is
received in the support
bracket the attachment portion is securable by the fastening member between
the cutter guard
and a surface of the harvesting equipment.
A detailed description of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is
given in the
following. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be
construed as being
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limited to this embodiment. The exemplary embodiment is directed to particular
applications of
the present invention, while it will be clear to those skilled in the art that
the presenL. invention
has applicability beyond the exemplary embodiment set forth herein.
Brief Description of the Drawings
In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the
present
invention:
Figure 1 is an upper side perspective view of an embodiment of the present
invention,
attached to a guard; and
Figure 2 is a lower side perspective view of the embodiment of Figure 1,
without the
guard attached.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention will now be described with
reference to the
accompanying drawings.
Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiment
Throughout the following description specific details are set forth in order
to provide a more
thorough understanding to persons skilled in the art. However, well known
elements may not
have been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the
disclosure. The
following description of examples of the technology is not intended to be
exhaustive or to limit
the invention to the precise form of any exemplary embodiment. Accordingly,
the description
and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative, rather than a restrictive,
sense.
Turning to Figures 1 and 2, an exemplary crop lifter 10 is illustrated. The
crop lifter 10
comprises a rod 12, which in the illustrated embodiment is round in cross-
section. While those
skilled in the art would know of various materials the rod 12 could be
composed of while
achieving the desired utility, it is well known to use steel for manufacture
of crop lifters.
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The rod 12 has a first end 26 and a second end 28. At the first end 26, the
rod 12 comprises a tip
24. Between the first and second ends 26, 28, the rod 12 comprises a curved or
rounded portion
30. The presence of the curved portion 30 results in the tip 24 being directed
downwardly,
toward the ground, when in use.
The crop lifter 10 also comprises a support bracket or sheath 14, disposed on
an upper surface of
the rod 12. The bracket 14 is sized and configured for receipt of the tip of a
guard 20, as is
shown in Figure 1. The bracket 14 can he made of any suitable material known
to those skilled
in the art.
The crop lifter 10 further comprises an attachment portion 16, disposed at a
rearward extent of
the rod 12. As can best be seen in Figure 2, the attachment portion 16 is
flattened and is
provided with an aperture 18, which in the illustrated embodiment is a slot.
As can be seen in
Figure 1, a bolt 22 and nut 32 are used to secure the guard 20 and the
attachment portion 16
together, which bolt 22 and nut 32 are commonly used for securing the guard 20
to an upper
surface of the harvesting equipment.
To connect the crop lifter 10 to the harvesting equipment, then, the bolt 22
and nut 32 would first
be loosened and removed, so that the guard 20 is no longer secured to the
equipment. The tip of
the guard 20 would then be received within the bracket/sheath 14, and the
attachment portion 16
would thus rest against an underside of the guard 20. The aperture 18 would
then underlie a
corresponding hole in the guard 20. The paired aperture 18 and guard 20 hole
are then
positioned over a hole in the equipment, and the bolt 22 reinserted, passing
through the aperture
18, the guard 20 hole, and the equipment hole, and the nut 32 is threaded onto
the lower end of
the bolt 22. In this manner there is a two-point securing arrangement that
does not require the
crop lifter 10 to extend rearwardly across the equipment.
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and
the claims:
= "comprise", "comprising", and the like are to be construed in an inclusive
sense, as opposed to
an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of "including,
but not limited to".
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= "connected", "coupled", or any variant thereof, means any connection or
coupling, either direct
or indirect, between two or more elements; the coupling or connection between
the elements can
be physical, logical, or a combination thereof.
= "herein", "above", "below", and words of similar import, when used to
describe this
specification shall refer to this specification as a whole and not to any
particular portions of this
specification.
= "or", in reference to a list of two or more items, covers all of the
following interpretations of
the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list, and any
combination of the items
in the list.
= the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" also include the meaning of any
appropriate plural
forms.
Words that indicate directions such as "vertical", "transverse", "horizontal",
"upward",
"downward", "forward", "backward", "inward", "outward", "vertical",
"transverse", "left",
"right", "front", "back", "top", "bottom", "below", "above", "under", and the
like, used in this
description and any accompanying claims (where present) depend on the specific
orientation of
the apparatus described and illustrated. The subject matter described herein
may assume various
alternative orientations. Accordingly, these directional terms are not
strictly defined and should
not be interpreted narrowly.
Where a component (e.g. a circuit, module, assembly, device, drill string
component, drill rig
system etc.) is referred to herein, unless otherwise indicated, reference to
that component
(including a reference to a "means") should be interpreted as including as
equivalents of that
component any component which performs the function of the described component
(i.e., that is
functionally equivalent), including components which are not structurally
equivalent to the
disclosed structure which performs the function in the illustrated exemplary
embodiments of the
invention.
Specific examples of methods and apparatus have been described herein for
purposes of
illustration. These are only examples. The technology provided herein can be
applied to
contexts other than the exemplary contexts described above. Many alterations,
modifications,
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additions, omissions and permutations are possible within the practice of this
invention. This
invention includes variations on described embodiments that would be apparent
to the skilled
person, including variations obtained by: replacing features, elements and/or
acts with equivalent
features, elements and/or acts; mixing and matching of features, elements
and/or acts from
different embodiments; combining features, elements and/or acts from
embodiments as described
herein with features, elements and/or acts of other technology; and/or
omitting combining
features, elements and/or acts from described embodiments.
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the
invention. The scope of
the claims should not be limited by the exemplary embodiment set forth in the
foregoing, but
should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the specification
as a whole.
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