US Patent 7585213 Auger trough clean-out door

An auger trough and associated clean-out door construction of a clean grain and tailings conveying system for an agricultural combine, such construction including a pair of spaced, depending auger trough side walls that extend laterally across a combine between opposed sidesheets, with a removable door panel positionable across the combine between the opposed sidesheets and between said auger trough side walls to form an auger trough base, which door panel is configured to be so engageable with the auger trough side walls to substantially close the bottom of the auger trough and whose opposite ends are configured to be complementarily engageable with engagement features associated with the sidesheets to maintain such door panel in place during harvesting operations and, with such auger trough side walls, to define a generally rigid trough between the opposed sidesheets. Preferably, the door panel has a first end configured to be engageable with and to rest upon a projecting flange on a first of the opposite sidesheets and a second, latch end with an associated latch mechanism for engaging a complementary latching feature on the second, of the opposed sidesheets for generally securing the door panel in position as the bottom of the auger trough.