CONVIO FLEX – a draper for all crops

CLAAS presents the new CONVIO FLEX and CONVIO draper cutterbars. While the CONVIO is ideal for use in conventionally threshed crops, such as cereals and rapeseed, the CONVIO FLEX with its flexible knife bar is also able to achieve high performance in crops such as soybeans, peas, and grass. Assistance systems for controlling the height of the knife bar and the reel, as well as intelligent design features reduce the operator's workload and keep losses to a minimum. The new cutterbars are available for LEXION combine harvesters in three working widths of 10.8 m, 12.3 m and 13.8 m.

Whereas the CONVIO has a rigid knife bar and cutterbar table, on the CONVIO FLEX all these components, as well as the side belts, are flexible. This enables the cutterbar to follow the ground contours, thereby ensuring the lowest possible cut across the entire working width. This allows low-fruiting stalk crops, such as soybeans, to be harvested close to the ground with low losses. For cereal harvesting in standing crops, the CONVIO FLEX can be used as a conventional cutterbar with a rigid knife bar and cutterbar table. In laid crops it adapts to the ground contours at the touch of a button and enables low-loss harvesting across a wide working width.

Both CONVIO FLEX and CONVIO are fully suited to rapeseed harvesting. The optional rapeseed equipment includes feed augers at left and right with a diameter of 425 mm in the upper area of the cutterbar rear wall and rapeseed knives which can be fitted and removed without tools. To keep losses to a minimum, the central trough is closed off underneath by rubber lips. The raised rear wall of the cutterbar prevents bouncing grain losses.

Intelligent operator assistance fully integrated
CONVIO FLEX and CONVIO offer the highest level of operator comfort through a wide range of automatic functions, which are fully integrated in the CEBIS terminal. AUTOMATIC BELT SPEED automatically adjusts the speed of the belts to the ground speed of the combine harvester. A belt slippage and stopped belt warning allows the driver to intervene at an early stage - even at night or when dust levels are high - and prevents critical situations from developing.

The reversing function has two modes. A press of a button on the control lever reverses the centre and side belts while the machine is on the move. This allows minor problems to be eliminated easily. A toggle switch on the armrest reverses the reel, the centre belt and the feeder housing.

AUTO CONTOUR: four modes for the best cutting performance
The AUTO CONTOUR automatic cutterbar height control on the CONVIO FLEX has four different operating modes:

- In cereal mode, the cutterbar table and knife bar are rigid.

- When isolated areas of laid crop are encountered, the operator can switch from rigid to flexible mode at the touch of a button while on the move.

- In flex mode, the knife bar follows the ground contours on skids. With a total flex range of 225 mm (90 mm upward and 135 mm downward), CONVIO FLEX is able to adjust to practically all ground conditions.

- In AUTO CONTOUR FLEX mode, the cutterbar uses sensor data to continuously determine the best position for an optimal crop flow and ground contour following, as well as the lowest cutting height. This results in extremely low front attachment losses in low-growing crops.

Innovative reel with automatic torque control
The newly developed reel with its innovatively shaped, adjustable cam track ensures an optimal crop flow under all conditions. The flip-over concept effectively prevents the crop from wrapping on the reel. In difficult conditions, such as laid crops, the reel lifts the crop before it is cut. In laid cereals in particular, this results in a significant reduction in front attachment losses.

The reel is driven hydraulically and an automatic torque control prevents the tines from digging into the ground. This assistance system always provides the operator with optimal support when adjusting the reel and ensures an even crop flow is maintained.