초록 ▼

A counter knife bank or knife rank for use with a stationary knife assembly, such as by attachment to a knife mounting assembly of the stationary knife assembly, of a chopper assembly of an agricultural combine, including a plurality of individual double-sided knife blades or elements joined togethe

A counter knife bank or knife rank for use with a stationary knife assembly, such as by attachment to a knife mounting assembly of the stationary knife assembly, of a chopper assembly of an agricultural combine, including a plurality of individual double-sided knife blades or elements joined together, such as by a spline connector that extends through aligned openings in the base body portions of the knife blades or elements, in an aligned columnar arrangement to form a knife formation that is connected to a support member, such as to an underlying member having an inverted U-shape, that is removably connectable to a depending side wall of the knife mounting assembly to permit initial use of the first cutting edges of the knife blades or elements, easy reversal of the counter knife bank or rank at a later time, and subsequent use of the second cutting edges of the knife blades or elements.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A counter knife bank for a stationary knife assembly of a chopper assembly, the chopper assembly including a rotary member extending across a path of material flow through the chopper assembly and the stationary knife assembly including a knife mounting assembly positionable

What is claimed is: 1. A counter knife bank for a stationary knife assembly of a chopper assembly, the chopper assembly including a rotary member extending across a path of material flow through the chopper assembly and the stationary knife assembly including a knife mounting assembly positionable generally parallel to the rotary member to define a material flow passage therebetween and including a longitudinal, generally flat, upper plate with spaced slots extending laterally across the upper plate between the sides thereof and along the length of the plate, comprising a plurality of individual double-sided knife blades having cutting edges along their sides, a longitudinal spacing connector assembly joining and spacing said plurality of knife blades from one another in a columnar arrangement to form and define a ranked arrangement of said plurality of knife blades, the spacing between knife blades of said ranked arrangement corresponding to spacings between spaced slots of the upper plate of the knife mounting assembly, the cutting edges of said knife blades at one side of said ranked arrangement defining first cutting edges and the cutting edges of said knife blades at the other side of said ranked arrangement defining second cutting edges, said ranked arrangement attachable to and removable from the knife mounting assembly as a unit, said ranked arrangement attachable to the knife mounting assembly in a first orientation to expose said first cutting edges to active use and attachable to the knife mounting assembly in a second orientation to expose said second cutting edges to active use, wherein the knife mounting assembly includes end plates at the opposite ends of the upper plate and depending side wall portions generally at or near the sides of the upper plate and extending along at least a portion of the length of the upper plate between the end plates, and wherein said spacing connector assembly is attachable to at least one of the side wall portions of the knife mounting assembly, and wherein said knife blades each further include a base body portion having an aperture therethrough, wherein said apertures are aligned with one another in said ranked arrangement, and wherein said spacing connector assembly includes a spline connector that extends through the aligned apertures in the base body portions of the knife blades. 2. The counter knife bank of claim 1 wherein said spline connector and said plurality of knife blades are complementarily engageable with one another to define a knife formation, wherein said spacing connector assembly includes a support member, and wherein said knife formation and said support member are tightly engageable with one another to form said ranked arrangement of knife blades. 3. The counter knife bank of claim 2 wherein said knife formation is securable to said support member. 4. The counter knife bank of claim 2 wherein said spline connector includes a pair of generally like knife retainer members positionable side-by-side extending through the aligned apertures in the base body portions of the knife blades. 5. The counter knife bank of claim 4 wherein said knife retainer members include a plurality of spaced lateral slits across the bottom sides thereof, the spacings between said slits corresponding to spacings between slots in the knife mounting assembly, said slits dimensioned to complementarily engage the portions of said base body portions of said knife blades below said apertures in said base body portions in a press fit engagement and to spacedly maintain said knife blades from one another in generally upright positions. 6. The counter knife bank of claim 2 wherein said spacing connector assembly includes connection members securing said knife formation to said support member. 7. The counter knife bank of claim 6 wherein said support member includes spaced connector openings along the length thereof on opposite sides of the spline connector and wherein said connection members include U bolt connectors the cross pieces of which extend across the tops of the spline connector and the legs of which extend through said connector openings. 8. The counter knife bank of claim 7 wherein said spline connector includes spaced grooves across the top side thereof for complementarily receiving said cross-pieces of said U-bolt connectors. 9. The counter knife bank of claim 2 wherein said support member is attachable to the knife mounting assembly when said ranked arrangement of said plurality of knife blades is in said first orientation to expose said first cutting edges to active use and is also attachable to the knife mounting assembly when said ranked arrangement of said plurality of knife blades is in said second orientation to expose said second cutting edges to active use. 10. The counter knife bank of claim 2 wherein the knife mounting assembly includes first and second side wall portions depending from the upper plate of the knife mounting assembly and wherein said support member includes side wall portions, one of said side wall portions of said support member attachable to a given side of the knife mounting assembly when said ranked arrangement of said plurality of knife blades is in said first orientation to expose said first cutting edges to active use and the other of said side walls of said support member attachable to the given side of the knife mounting assembly when said ranked arrangement of said plurality of knife blades is in said second orientation to expose said second cutting edges to active use. 11. The counter knife bank of claim 10 wherein said support member has a generally inverted U-shaped cross section. 12. The counter knife bank of claim 1 wherein said spacing connector assembly includes a support member and wherein said individual double-sided knife blades are securely mounted to said support member. 13. The counter knife bank of claim 12 including a plurality of U-shaped knife elements having leg portions and a base portion extending between said leg portions, each of said leg portions being a blade portion, said blade portions forming said plurality of individual double-side knife blades, said knife elements being securely mountable along said support member. 14. The counter knife bank of claim 13 wherein said blade portions are of a quadrilateral shape. 15. The counter knife bank of claim 13 including connector members connecting said knife elements to said support member. 16. The counter knife bank of claim 15 wherein said connector members include U-bolts having threaded legs with cross-pieces extending between said threaded legs and nuts threadedly connectable upon said threaded legs, wherein said support member includes pairs of laterally aligned openings spaced along the support member and sized to receive said threaded legs of said U-bolts therethrough, wherein said base portions of said knife elements are sized and dimensioned to fit between said pairs of laterally aligned openings, wherein said U-bolts are each associated with a respective knife element and a respective pair of laterally aligned openings in said support member, and wherein said cross-pieces of said U-bolts extend across the base portions of the respective associated knife elements to secure said knife elements along the support member when said threaded legs of said U-bolts are inserted through the respective pairs of laterally aligned openings along said support member and said nuts are tightened on said threaded legs. 17. The counter knife bank of claim 15 wherein said connector members include carriage bolt constructions including carriage bolts and a nuts therefor, wherein said support member includes spaced openings therealong sized to receive said carriage bolts inserted therein, wherein said bases of said knife elements have openings therethrough likewise sized to receive said carriage bolts when said knife elements are positioned along said support member with said openings in said base portions of said knife elements in registration with said openings in said support member, and wherein said carriage bolts extend through said registered openings and said nuts are tightened thereon. 18. The counter knife bank of claim 12 wherein the knife mounting assembly includes end plates at the opposite ends of the upper plate and depending side wall portions generally at or near the sides of the upper plate and extending along at least a portion of the length of the upper plate between the end plates, and wherein said support member is attachable to at least one of the side wall portions of the knife mounting assembly. 19. The counter knife assembly of claim 18 wherein said support member is attachable to the knife mounting assembly when said ranked arrangement of said plurality of knife blades is in said first orientation to expose said first cutting edges to active use and is also attachable to the knife mounting assembly when said ranked arrangement of said plurality of knife blades is in said second orientation to expose said second cutting edges to active use. 20. The counter knife bank of claim 18 wherein the knife mounting assembly includes first and second side wall portions depending from the upper plate of the knife mounting assembly and wherein said support member includes side wall portions, one of said side wall portions of said support member attachable to a given side of the knife mounting assembly when said ranked arrangement of said plurality of knife blades is in said first orientation to expose said first cutting edges to active use and the other of said side walls of said support member attachable to the given side of the knife mounting assembly when said ranked arrangement of said plurality of knife blades is in said second orientation to expose said second cutting edges to active use. 21. A stationary knife assembly for a chopper assembly of an agricultural combine, the chopper assembly including a rotary member extending crossways to the path of crop residue flow through the chopper assembly and a concave pan assembly spaced below the rotary member and extending generally parallel to the rotary member to define a crop residue flow passage between the rotary member and the concave pan assembly, the concave pan assembly including side members at the sides of the crop residue flow passage and a floor portion extending lengthwise between such side members of the concave pan assembly, the floor portion including spaced lateral slots along the length of the floor portion sized and dimensioned to receive therethrough projecting portions of knife blade elements, comprising a knife mounting assembly disposed generally parallel to the rotary member to define a crop flow passage therebetween and including a longitudinal, generally flat, upper plate with spaced slots extending laterally across said upper plate between the sides thereof and along the length of said upper plate, and a counter knife bank assembly matable with said knife mounting assembly, said counter knife bank assembly including a plurality of individual double-sided knife blades having cutting edges along their sides, a longitudinal spacing connector assembly joining and spacing said plurality of knife blades from one another in a columnar arrangement to form and define a ranked arrangement of said plurality of knife blades, the spacing between knife blades of said ranked arrangement corresponding both to spacings between said spaced slots of said upper plate of said knife mounting assembly and spacings between spaced slots of the floor portion of the concave pan assembly, the cutting edges of said knife blades at one side of said ranked arrangement defining first cutting edges and the cutting edges of said knife blades at the other side of said ranked arrangement defining second cutting edges, said ranked arrangement attachable to and removable from said knife mounting assembly as a unit, said ranked arrangement attachable to said knife mounting assembly in a first orientation to expose said first cutting edges to active use and attachable to the knife mounting assembly in a second orientation to expose said second cutting edges to active use, said end walls of said knife mounting assembly being connected to the side members of the concave pan assembly and said knife mounting assembly being positionable relative to the floor portion of the concave pan assembly such that the knife blades of said counter knife bank project through spaced lateral slots of the floor portion of the concave pan assembly, wherein the spacing connector assembly includes a support member and where the individual double-sided knife blades are securely mounted to the support member, and further wherein the counter knife bank includes a plurality of U-shaped knife elements having leg portions and a base portion extending between said lea portions, each of said lea portions being a blade portion, said blade portions forming said plurality of individual double-side knife blades, said knife elements being securely mountable along said support member. 22. The stationary knife assembly of claim 21 wherein the points of connection of said knife mounting assembly to the side members of the concave pan assembly define an axis of rotation for said knife mounting assembly, said knife mounting assembly being rotatable about said axis of rotation to withdraw said knife blades from the spaced lateral slots of the floor portion of the concave pan assembly. 23. The stationary knife assembly of claim 22 including a rod member extending through said end walls of said knife mounting assembly and the side members of the concave pan assembly and connecting said end walls of said knife mounting assembly to the side members of the concave pan assembly. 24. The stationary knife assembly of claim 22 including a control mechanism for controlling the rotation of said knife mounting assembly about said axis of rotation. 25. The stationary knife assembly of claim 24 wherein said control mechanism includes a lever assembly operable to effect rotation of said knife mounting assembly about said axis of rotation. 26. A method for reversibly utilizing double-sided knife blades in a stationary knife assembly of a chopper assembly, the chopper assembly including a rotary member extending across a path of material flow through the chopper assembly and the stationary knife assembly including a knife mounting assembly disposed generally parallel to the rotary member to define a material flow passage therebetween and including a longitudinal, generally flat, upper plate with spaced slots extending laterally across the upper plate between the sides thereof and along the length of the plate, comprising providing a counter knife bank, said counter knife bank including a plurality of individual double-sided knife blades having cutting edges along their sides, a longitudinal spacing connector assembly joining and spacing said plurality of knife blades from one another in a columnar arrangement to form and define a ranked arrangement of said plurality of knife blades, the spacing between knife blades of said ranked arrangement corresponding to spacings between the spaced slots of the upper plate of the knife mounting assembly, the cutting edges of said knife blades at one side of said ranked arrangement defining first cutting edges and the cutting edges of said knife blades at the other side of said ranked arrangement defining second cutting edges, said ranked arrangement attachable to and removable from the knife mounting assembly as a unit, said ranked arrangement attachable to the knife mounting assembly in a first orientation to expose said first cutting edges to active use and attachable to the knife mounting assembly in a second orientation to expose said second cutting edges to active use, attaching said counter knife bank as a unit to the knife mounting assembly with the ranked arrangement in a first orientation to expose said first cutting edges to active use, removing said counter knife bank as a unit from the knife mounting assembly, wherein the knife blades each include a base body portion having an aperture therethrough, wherein said apertures are aligned with one another in said ranked arrangement, and wherein said spacing connector assembly includes a spline connector that extends through the aligned apertures in the base body portions of the knife blades, reversing the orientation of said knife bank relative to the knife mounting assembly, and attaching said counter knife bank as a unit to the knife mounting assembly with the ranked arrangement in the second orientation to expose said second cutting edges to active use. 27. The method of claim 26 wherein the knife mounting assembly includes end plates at the opposite ends of the upper plate and depending side wall portions generally at or near the sides of the upper plate and extending along at least a portion of the length of the upper plate between the end plates, and wherein said spacing connector assembly is attachable to at least one of the side wall portions of the knife mounting assembly.