HARVESTING MACHINE HAVING A MOISTURE REMOVAL MECHANISM AND A CROP CONVERGING MECHANISM FIELD OF THE INVENTION

摘要

A harvesting machine is disclosed along with a method of operating theharvestingmachine. The harvesting machine includes a frame having a first end and asecondend. A rotatable pick-up head is pivotally mounted on the first end and iscapableof urging a crop into the machine. A cutting mechanism is mounted on a bottomplate for cutting the stems of the plants. A crimper mechanism is positioneddownstream of the bottom plate and is capable of compacting the cut stems intoamoving web. A moisture removal mechanism is positioned after the crimpermechanism to lower the moisture in the cut stems. A crop converging mechanismis located downstream of the moisture removal mechanism and reduces the widthof the moving web into a ribbon. A chopper then chops the ribbon into smallpiecesso that they can be blown into a storage wagon for transport.