Crop lifter for disc mower-conditioners

Claim 1

In a disc mower-conditioner having a mobile frame adapted for forward movement over the ground; rotary cutting means supported by said frame adjacent the ground to sever standing crop material, said rotary cutting means including a transverse cutterbar rotatably mounting a plurality of transversely spaced cutter units having at least one knife operable to sever standing crop material upon rotation of said cutter units, each said cutter unit further including a disc rotatable about a centrally positioned axis of rotation, each said disc having a raised central portion and a lower peripheral portion, said at least one knife being connected to said peripheral portion; crop conditioning means mounted generally rearwardly of said rotary cutting means to condition crop material severed by said cutter units, the improvement comprising: an inclined ramp lifter affixed to each said cutter unit adjacent said at least one knife in leading relationship thereto, as seen looking in the direction of rotation of the respective said cutter unit, to lift previously severed crop material away from said at least one knife before said at least one knife severs said standing crop material, each said lifter ramp extending upwardly from a leading edge to a trailing edge when seen in the direction of rotation, said trailing edge being positioned adjacent the corresponding said at least one knife, the trailing edge of each said lifter ramp being at substantially the same height as the raised central portion of the corresponding disc.