Agricultural header with inter-frame flexible seal

Bryan R. Yanke, Eldridge, IA (US); Duane M. Bomleny, Geneseo, IL (US); Justin C. Freehill, Fenton, IL (US); Matthew R. White, Geneseo, IL (US)

USPTO: us-12635610 · published 2026-05-26 · patents · A01D 67/005· A01D 41/141· A01D 61/002· A01D 61/008· A01D 61/02· A01D 67/00· F16J 15/3284

Agricultural header with inter-frame flexible seal

Matthew R. White, Geneseo, IL (US) , Duane M. Bomleny, Geneseo, IL (US) , Bryan R. Yanke, Eldridge, IA (US) , Justin C. Freehill, Fenton, IL (US) This is my paper

Pith reviewed 2026-05-27 17:01 UTC · model grok-4.3

classification patents A01D 67/005A01D 41/141A01D 61/002A01D 61/008A01D 61/02A01D 67/00F16J 15/3284

keywords agricultural headerdraper beltflexible sealframe gapcrop guidanceharvestercenter support frame

0 comments

The pith

A flexible seal fastened across the gap between a header's center main frame and center support frame guides fallen crop to the center draper belt while flexing to allow relative frame movement.

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

The patent presents an agricultural header in which side draper belts deliver crop to a center draper belt supported on a frame that can move relative to the main frame. An inter-frame flexible seal is fastened to both frames on either side of the gap, wraps around a fore-aft and front-member intersection, lies under the side belt, and directs crop that falls from the side belt onto the center belt. The seal is shaped and attached so that it bends to accommodate the motion between the two frames without creating a rigid joint. A sympathetic reader would care because the design keeps crop from being lost at the moving junction while still letting the header articulate.

Core claim

The header includes a side frame carrying an endless side draper belt, a center main frame to which the side frame attaches, a center support frame carrying an endless center draper belt in register with the side belt, and an inter-frame flexible seal fastened to the center main frame and to the center support frame on opposing sides of a laterally inward gap. The seal is coupled to and wraps around the intersection of a fore-aft side member and a laterally extending front member of the center main frame, underlies the side draper belt to catch fallen crop, and is arranged to guide that crop toward the center draper belt while flexing to accommodate movement of the center main frame relative

What carries the argument

The inter-frame flexible seal, fastened on opposing lateral sides of the gap and configured to wrap around the frame intersection, that both guides crop and accommodates relative motion between the center main frame and center support frame.

If this is right

Crop that drops from the side draper belt is still delivered to the center draper belt instead of being lost at the frame junction.
The header can articulate between the center main frame and center support frame without a rigid connection that could bind or break.
The side and center draper belts stay functionally aligned even while the frames move relative to each other.
The seal does not interfere with endless-belt operation because it lies below the side belt and flexes out of the way.

Where Pith is reading between the lines

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

The same wrapping-and-flexing seal geometry could be adapted to other articulated points on harvesting equipment where crop must cross a moving gap.
If the seal material choice proves durable, the approach removes the need for sliding rigid plates or frequent manual adjustment at the center junction.
Long-term performance would depend on whether the seal's attachment points resist fatigue at the exact corner where it wraps the frame intersection.

Load-bearing premise

The seal material and its fastenings will keep their shape and remain intact under repeated flexing, vibration, and contact with crop and debris without tearing or obstructing the belts.

What would settle it

A field test in which the seal tears, detaches, or allows measurable crop loss through the gap after a few hundred hours of normal harvesting operation on uneven ground would show the design fails to perform as described.

read the original abstract

1 . An agricultural header for use with an agricultural harvester, the agricultural header configured to cut crop when the agricultural harvester moves in a direction of travel, the agricultural header comprising: a side frame, an endless side draper belt supported by the side frame and positioned to receive crop cut by the agricultural header and advance cut crop laterally relative to the direction of travel, a center main frame to which the side frame is coupled, a center support frame, an endless center draper belt supported by the center support frame and positioned in register with the side draper belt to receive cut crop laterally therefrom and advance cut crop rearwardly toward the agricultural harvester opposite to the direction of travel, the center main frame coupled to the center support frame for movement relative thereto, and an inter-frame flexible seal fastened to the center main frame and fastened to the center support frame on opposing lateral sides of a gap that laterally inwardly extends from the center main frame to the center support frame, the flexible seal coupled to, and configured to laterally wrap around, an intersection of a fore-aft side member and a laterally-extending front member of the center main frame, the flexible seal underlying the side draper belt to receive cut crop that falls from the side draper belt and arranged relative to the center draper belt to guide fallen crop toward the center draper belt, wherein the flexible seal is configured to flex to accommodate movement of the center main frame relative to the center support frame.

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

This is a granted utility patent on a draper header seal geometry that wraps the frame intersection and sits under the belt to handle flex while catching crop.

read the letter

The document is a U.S. patent (US12635610) whose single independent claim recites a center main frame, center support frame, side and center draper belts, and an inter-frame flexible seal fastened on both sides of the gap. The seal is specified to wrap around the fore-aft side member and front member intersection and to underlie the side belt so that crop falling off the belt is guided onto the center belt while the seal flexes with relative frame motion. That geometric arrangement and fastening detail is the only thing being claimed. No performance numbers, material specs, or fatigue data appear; the claim stands on the structural description alone. The patent therefore adds one concrete configuration to the prior art on flexible crop seals, but supplies no evidence that the configuration works better than existing solutions or survives field conditions. Because the text is a legal instrument rather than a research report, questions of reproducibility or statistical validation do not apply. The work is useful to mechanical designers or patent attorneys who need the exact claim language for clearance or design-around purposes. It is not material for a scientific reading group or for citation in an agronomy or engineering research paper. A journal editor should desk-reject without sending it to referees; the document has already received its formal examination through the patent office.

Referee Report

0 major / 2 minor

Summary. The manuscript is a granted U.S. utility patent whose sole independent claim recites an agricultural header having a side frame with endless side draper belt, a center main frame to which the side frame is coupled, a center support frame carrying an endless center draper belt, and an inter-frame flexible seal fastened on opposing sides of a lateral gap between the center main frame and center support frame. The seal is further specified to wrap around the intersection of a fore-aft side member and laterally-extending front member of the center main frame, to underlie the side draper belt, and to flex so as to accommodate relative motion between the two center frames while guiding fallen crop onto the center draper belt.

Significance. If the recited geometry and fastening arrangement function as described, the seal provides a practical mechanical solution for maintaining crop flow across an articulating gap in a multi-frame draper header without requiring additional moving parts or active adjustment mechanisms.

minor comments (2)

The single claim is written as one extended sentence; breaking the functional requirements into separately numbered clauses would improve readability for examiners and practitioners.
No drawing figures are referenced in the provided text; inclusion of at least one exploded or sectional view showing the seal wrap-around at the frame intersection would clarify the spatial relationships recited in the claim.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

0 responses · 0 unresolved

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

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No circularity present; direct mechanical specification only

full rationale

The document is a U.S. utility patent whose sole load-bearing content is the recited claim language defining a mechanical assembly of frames, draper belts, and an inter-frame flexible seal. No equations, fitted parameters, predictions, ansatzes, uniqueness theorems, or self-citations appear anywhere in the text. The functional requirement that the seal flex to accommodate relative motion is stated directly as part of the claim itself rather than derived from any prior input or external premise. Consequently the patent contains no derivation chain that could reduce to its own inputs.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

0 free parameters · 0 axioms · 0 invented entities

No free parameters, mathematical axioms, or invented physical entities are introduced; the document is a mechanical design specification.

pith-pipeline@v0.9.0 · 5890 in / 967 out tokens · 23420 ms · 2026-05-27T17:01:44.042976+00:00 · methodology

Agricultural header with inter-frame flexible seal

Core claim

What carries the argument

If this is right

Where Pith is reading between the lines

Load-bearing premise

What would settle it

discussion (0)