FIELD OF THE DESCRIPTION

This description generally relates to agricultural equipment. More specifically, but not by limitation, the present description relates to a system for applying float pressure on the header of an agricultural harvester.

BACKGROUND

There is a wide variety of different types of agricultural equipment. Some such equipment includes agricultural harvesters.

It is common for agricultural harvesters (such as combine harvesters, forage harvesters, windrowers, etc.) to have a header. On an example combine, the header is attached to a feeder house by an attachment frame. The header has a main frame that supports a cutter bar and a reel. The main frame is movable relative to the attachment frame. As the harvester travels, the header engages crop, severs it and transfers the crop into the harvester for further processing.

On a windrower, the header has a main frame and a cutter that are movably attached to a traction unit. A lift cylinder is actuated to raise and lower the main frame and cutter relative to the traction unit, and thus relative to the ground. The main frame can also be pivotally attached so that it can be tilted, using a tilt actuator, such as a tilt cylinder.

The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

SUMMARY

A header assembly for an agricultural harvesting machine having a traction unit comprises a cutter, a main frame that supports the cutter, a float cylinder configured to be coupled between the main frame and the traction unit, an accumulator, and fluidic circuitry that fluidically couples the accumulator to the float cylinder. The fluidic circuitry is configured to provide a first flow of pressurized fluid under pressure to the float cylinder, so the float cylinder exerts a float force on the main frame, and, based on a control input that corresponds to a lifting operation of the header assembly, provide a restricted flow of fluid, that is restricted relative to the first flow, between the float cylinder and the accumulator.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. The claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in the background.

