Row crop forage harvester and crop feed means

Claim 1

A ROW CROP FORAGE HARVESTER ADAPTED TO TRAVEL FORWARDLY AT A GROUND SPEED VARIABLE WITHIN A GIVEN RANGE COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A FRAME, A PAIR OF LATERALLY SPACED DIVIDERS MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME AND DEFINING A FORE-AND-AFT INLET OPENED FORWARDLY TO RECEIVE CROP MATERIAL STANDING IN A ROW, A FIRST GATHERING MEANS FORWARDLY SUPPORTED ON SAID FRAME AND ENGAGEABLE WITH MATERIAL IN SAID INLET, SAID FIRST GATHERING MEANS COMPRISING A PAIR OF UPWARDLY AND REARWARDLY EXTENDING ENDLESS GATHERING ELEMENTS OPERATIVE ON OPPOSITE SIDES RESPECTIVELY OF SAID INLET, SAID GATHERING ELEMENTS HAVING INFEED REACHES TRAVELLING REARWARDLY AND CONVERGING INWARDLY TO A GRIP POINT WHERE THEIR PATHS OF TRAVEL MEET AND LOCATED GENERALLY AT SAID ROW, THEN EXTENDING SIDE BY SIDE FOR A RELATIVELY SHORT CONVEYING DISTANCE, AND THEN DIVERGING OUTWARDLY AND SEPARATING AT A REARWARD RELEASE POINT, MEANS OPERATING SAID FIRST GATHERING MEANS AT A SPEED APPROXIMATELY AT LEAST AS FAST AS THE HIGHEST GROUND SPEED OF SAID GIVEN RANGE, A SECOND GATHERING MEANS SUPPORTED ON SAID FRAME REARWARDLY OF SAID FIRST GATHERING MEANS, SAID SECOND GATHERING MEANS COMPRISING ONE PAIR ONLY OF UPWARDLY AND REARWARDLY EXTENDING GATHERING ELEMENTS OPERATIVE ON OPPOSITE SIDES RESPECTIVELY OF SAID INLET AND AT LEAST ONE OF SAID GATHERING ELEMENTS BEING ENDLESS AND HAVING AN INFEED REACH WHICH TRAVELS REARWARDLY, SAID SECOND GATHERING MEANS HAVING A LOWER FORWARD CROP GRABBING END AND AN UPPER REARWARD DISCHARGE END, A CROP SUPPORTING RAMP BENEATH AND COEXTENSIVE WITH SAID SECOND GATHERING MEANS, AN INFEED ROLL ABOVE AND REARWARDLY OF SAID SECOND GATHERING MEANS DISCHARGE END AND A STRIPPING ROLL REARWARDLY OF THE END, SAID INFEED AND STRIPPING ROLLS BEING CARRIED IN PARALLEL RELATION ON SAID FRAME TO EXTEND ACROSS SAID INLET AND RELATIVELY VERTICALLY SPACED TO DEFINE A PASSAGE FOR THE CROP, SAID FORWARD END OF SAID SECOND GATHERING MEANS BEING REARWARDLY OF SAID RELEASE POINT WHEREBY THE CROP IS FREE OF GATHERING MEANS SUBSEQUENT TO RELEASE BY THE FIRST GATHERING MEANS AND PRIOR TO BEING GRABBED BY THE SECOND GATHERING MEANS, SAID PASSAGE BETWEEN SAID INFEED AND STRIPPING ROLLS BEING AT POCKET OF UNIFORM CROSS-SECTION AT THE OPEN END OF THE BORE FOLLOWED BY A NARROWER CHANNEL OF UNIFORM WIDTH AND SUBSTANTIALLY SMALLER THAN THE WIDTH OF THE POCKET, THE JUNCTION BETWEEN SAID POCKET AND SAID CHANNEL BEING DEFINED BY SHOULDERS OF THE BODY TO LOCATE A STIFFENER STRIP, INSERTED IN THE POCKET, AGAINST PENETRATION INTO SAID CHANNEL, WHEREBY THE ZONE OF NATURAL BENDING OF SAID TIP IS DISPLACED ALONG SAID CHANNEL AWAY FROM SAID SHOULDERS.