Cutter assembly for an agricultural harvester
An improved cutter assembly for use with a header of an agricultural harvester is provided. The assembly includes a pair of oppositely directed knife blades or cutter bars and a center knife drive. A crank shaft drives both knife blades in linear reciprocating paths with no fore and aft movement. As a consequence, harmful fore and aft vibration is eliminated. The assembly is simple and durable in design, less susceptible to vibration-induced wear and tear, and comparatively simple to manufacture and repair.
1. A cutter assembly for an agricultural harvester header comprising:
a knife drive that includes:
a housing,
a crank shaft having:
a flywheel,
a first rotatable portion directly attached to the flywheel, and
a second rotatable portion radially offset from the first rotatable portion and directly attached to the first rotatable portion,
a first rod matingly mounted to the first rotatable portion, and a first plunger extending from the first rod and through the housing, and
a second rod matingly mounted to the second rotatable portion, and a second plunger extending from the second rod and through the housing;
wherein the first and second rods extend in opposite directions and have distal ends connected to respective pivot connections,
a first cutter bar attached to the first plunger; and
a second cutter bar attached to the second plunger,
wherein rotation of the crank shaft oscillates the first and second cutter bars.
2. The cutter assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first and second rotatable portions are angularly offset from each other with respect to a rotational axis.
3. The cutter assembly of claim 2 , wherein the first and second rotatable portions are angularly offset from each other about 90-180 degrees.
4. The cutter assembly of claim 2 , wherein the first and second rotatable portions are angularly offset from each other about 90 degrees.
5. The cutter assembly of claim 2 , wherein the first and second rotatable portions are angularly offset from each other less than 90 degrees.
6. The cutter assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first and second cutter bars are in side by side relation.
7. The cutter assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first rod is clamped on the first rotatable portion.
8. The cutter assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first and second rods are curved.
9. The cutter assembly of claim 1 , wherein the flywheel includes a gear having teeth.