Self-propelled harvester including an adapter unit detachably positioned between a mounting device and an attachment

Christopher Miller, Lincoln, NE (US); Kevin Wilkening, La Vista, NE (US); Seth Zentner, Johnson, NE (US)

USPTO: us-12622356 · published 2026-05-12 · patents · A01D 43/085· A01D 41/142· A01D 41/16· A01F 29/095

Self-propelled harvester including an adapter unit detachably positioned between a mounting device and an attachment

Christopher Miller, Lincoln, NE (US) , Seth Zentner, Johnson, NE (US) , Kevin Wilkening, La Vista, NE (US) This is my paper

Pith reviewed 2026-05-16 04:00 UTC · model grok-4.3

classification patents A01D 43/085A01D 41/142A01D 41/16A01F 29/095

keywords harvester adapterinclination adjustmentangular gearintermediate conveyorself-propelled harvesterattachment couplingdual-axis tilt

0 comments

The pith

An adapter unit lets harvesters swap attachments while tilting them in two directions and driving opposing gearboxes from one angular gear below the conveyor.

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

The patent describes a detachable adapter placed between a harvester's mounting device and its crop attachment. The adapter carries a driven intermediate conveyor and uses a stationary frame holding an angular gear whose two coaxial output shafts power gearboxes on the movable frame. This single unit both couples the parts and permits independent longitudinal and transverse inclination changes. A sympathetic reader sees the design as a way to simplify attachment changes and angle control on self-propelled harvesters without adding separate drive trains.

Core claim

The adapter unit is configured to couple the attachment to the mounting device, adjust inclination in longitudinal and transverse directions, and drive two gearboxes via an angular gear with two coaxial output shafts positioned below the intermediate conveyor.

What carries the argument

Angular gear with two coaxial output shafts on the stationary frame below the intermediate conveyor, driving opposing gearboxes on the movable or stationary frame elements.

If this is right

Harvester operators can change attachments without altering the base feeder or adding extra drives.
Two-axis tilt improves material flow when the header encounters side slopes or uneven stubble.
Power for both gearboxes comes from one compact gear unit, reducing the number of hydraulic or mechanical lines.
The intermediate conveyor stays aligned with both the attachment outlet and the feeder opening during tilt.

Where Pith is reading between the lines

These are editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

The coaxial-shaft layout could be adapted to other mobile machines that need compact dual-output drives under a conveyor.
Automated sensors on the movable frame could use the existing gear outputs to adjust tilt on the fly without extra motors.
Standardizing the adapter interface might allow one harvester base to serve multiple crop-specific headers across seasons.

Load-bearing premise

The driven conveyor, angular gear, and dual-axis frame system can operate together without mechanical interference or rapid wear under ordinary field loads.

What would settle it

A field test that applies simultaneous maximum longitudinal and transverse tilt while running the conveyor at harvest speed and records binding, shaft misalignment, or gearbox overload.

read the original abstract

1 . A self-propelled harvester comprising: a mounting device comprising a feeder for harvested material and configured to mount an attachment on the harvester; an adapter unit configured to be detachably positioned between the mounting device and the attachment, wherein the adapter unit comprises a stationary frame element and a relatively-movable frame element movable relative to the stationary frame element, wherein the adapter unit comprises a driven intermediate conveyor which is positioned between an outlet opening of the attachment and an opening of the mounting device; and an angular gear positioned on the stationary frame element below the intermediate conveyor; wherein the adapter unit is configured to couple the attachment to the mounting device; wherein the adapter unit is configured to adjust an inclination of the attachment with respect to the mounting device in a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction relative to a forward direction of travel of the harvester; and wherein the angular gear includes two coaxial output shafts configured to drive two gearboxes positioned opposite one another on at least one of the relatively-movable frame element or the stationary frame element.

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit. Tearing a paper down is the easy half of reading it; the pith above is the substance, this is the friction.

Desk Editor's Note private letter to a colleague

A narrow mechanical patent on a detachable harvester adapter with coaxial drive shafts; useful for prior-art checks but carries no data or broad claims.

read the letter

The filing discloses a detachable adapter placed between a harvester's feeder and an attachment. It adds a driven intermediate conveyor, a stationary frame with an angular gear that has two coaxial output shafts below the conveyor, and a movable frame that tilts the attachment in both longitudinal and transverse directions. The coaxial-shaft layout and its placement under the conveyor appear to be the concrete mechanical novelty relative to the cited classes. The description is clear on how the parts fit together and how power reaches the two opposing gearboxes. That is the main contribution. No performance numbers, wear data, or field tests are supplied, which is normal for a utility patent but leaves the practical claims unverified. The integration of conveyor, gear, and dual-axis tilt is presented as workable without interference, yet nothing in the text demonstrates that behavior under load. The document is therefore best read as a design specification rather than a tested result. For an engineer designing combine headers or looking for prior art in agricultural machinery, the drawings and claim language are worth a quick look. Outside that narrow group the filing adds little. It does not belong in a scientific reading group or a journal referee process; it is already a granted patent and stands or falls on its own mechanical description.

Referee Report

0 major / 2 minor

Summary. The manuscript is a utility-patent specification (claim 1 and supporting description) for a self-propelled harvester that incorporates a detachable adapter unit between the feeder housing and a crop attachment. The adapter comprises a stationary frame, a movable frame, a driven intermediate conveyor, and an angular gear mounted below the conveyor on the stationary frame; the gear supplies two coaxial output shafts that drive opposing gearboxes to enable powered inclination adjustment of the attachment in both the longitudinal and transverse directions relative to travel.

Significance. If the mechanical arrangement functions as described, the design supplies a compact, detachable interface that simultaneously transmits drive power and permits two-axis inclination adjustment without relocating the primary feeder or attachment gearboxes. This is a concrete, incremental improvement in header-attachment flexibility for combine harvesters and similar machines.

minor comments (2)

The specification would benefit from an explicit statement of the kinematic range (maximum angles) permitted by the relatively-movable frame element; this datum is implied but not quantified in the text surrounding the angular-gear description.
Figure references in the detailed description should be cross-checked against the claim language to ensure every recited element (e.g., “two gearboxes positioned opposite one another”) is illustrated.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

0 responses · 0 unresolved

We thank the referee for the careful reading of the specification and for the positive recommendation to accept.

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No circularity: direct mechanical specification only

full rationale

The document is a utility-patent claim set describing a physical adapter unit, frames, conveyor, and angular gear. No equations, fitted parameters, predictions, or derivations exist; every element is asserted by construction as part of the disclosed configuration. The reader's assessment of zero circularity is therefore confirmed: the text contains no load-bearing steps that reduce to self-definition or self-citation.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

0 free parameters · 0 axioms · 0 invented entities

The patent rests on standard mechanical engineering assumptions about gear meshing, frame rigidity, and conveyor drive compatibility; no free parameters, ad-hoc axioms, or invented physical entities are introduced.

pith-pipeline@v0.9.0 · 5533 in / 926 out tokens · 27508 ms · 2026-05-16T04:00:50.544469+00:00 · methodology

discussion (0)

Lean theorems connected to this paper

Citations machine-checked in the Pith Canon. Every link opens the source theorem in the public Lean library.

IndisputableMonolith.Foundation.RealityFromDistinction reality_from_one_distinction unclear

?

unclear
Relation between the paper passage and the cited Recognition theorem.

an adapter unit configured to be detachably positioned between the mounting device and the attachment, wherein the adapter unit comprises a stationary frame element and a relatively-movable frame element movable relative to the stationary frame element, wherein the adapter unit comprises a driven intermediate conveyor which is positioned between an outlet opening of the attachment and an opening of the mounting device; and an angular gear positioned on the stationary frame element below the intermediate conveyor

What do these tags mean?

matches: The paper's claim is directly supported by a theorem in the formal canon.
supports: The theorem supports part of the paper's argument, but the paper may add assumptions or extra steps.
extends: The paper goes beyond the formal theorem; the theorem is a base layer rather than the whole result.
uses: The paper appears to rely on the theorem as machinery.
contradicts: The paper's claim conflicts with a theorem or certificate in the canon.
unclear: Pith found a possible connection, but the passage is too broad, indirect, or ambiguous to say the theorem truly supports the claim.