A BELT-TYPE CUTTING SYSTEM FOR CUTTING CROPS IN A FIELD

The cutting system of the invention comprises knives (2) attached to a continuously moving belt-type carrier (20). The carrier motion moves the knives past stationary counterknife fingers (21) as the cutting system is driven through a field of crop stalks, which are cut by the interaction between the knives and counterknives. Each knife is pivotably connected to the platform portion (28) of a support bracket (25) having also a wall portion (26) that is fixed to the belt-type carrier. The knife is furthermore coupled to the bracket (25) by a reversible force coupling that maintains the knife in a forwardly oriented operational position when the knife is subjected to lateral forces which exert a torque on the knife that remains below a predefined limit, encountered when the knife (2) is cutting stalks or meeting small obstructions. However when the knife (2) is subjected to lateral forces resulting in a torque above the predefined limit, for example when encountering a larger obstruction, the force coupling is configured to be disengaged in a reversible manner, enabling the knife (2) to pivot about a rotation axis (24) towards a non-operational position.