Flexible crop harvesting header

Claim 1

A flexible crop harvesting header, attachable to a crop harvesting machine to sever standing crop material and convey the severed crop material to the crop harvesting machine for further harvesting treatment, comprising: a frame including a rearward connection means and a transverse front connection member; a pair of spaced apart sidewalls supported by said frame and defining a width of said header; a transverse cutterbar extending between said sidewalls forwardly of said frame for severing standing crop material, said cutterbar including an elongated primary support bar and a strip-like member positioned above said support bar; a floor supported by said frame and forming a continuous surface over which severed crop can be conveyed toward said crop harvesting machine for further harvesting treatment, said floor terminating at a forward edge positioned between said strip-like member and said primary support bar; a plurality of transversely spaced attachment ribs pivotally connected to said frame at said rearward connection area and connected to said primary support bar of said cutterbar to support said cutterbar from said frame for vertical movement relative to said frame and to provide a support for said floor to permit a flexible movement thereof with said cutterbar; and a plurality of transversely spaced leaf spring members connected to the lower side of said front connection member and projecting forwardly therefrom to terminate beneath the primary support bar of said cutterbar, said leaf spring members providing an uplifting, counterbalancing force to the weight of said cutterbar without restrictive connection therebetween to facilitate the vertical movement of said cutterbar in following the contour of the ground and the flexible movement of said floor with said cutterbar while providing the capability of optionally stacking additional leaf spring members for selectively varying the amount of uplifting, counterbalancing force applied to said cutterbar.