US Patent 7886511 Draper head with flexible cutterbar having rigid center section

A harvesting machine includes a harvesting header with a header frame, a flexible cutterbar assembly shiftably mounted to the header frame, and a draper assembly supported on the header frame behind the cutterbar assembly to flex therewith. The draper assembly includes a pair of side drapers and a fore-and-aft draper located between the side drapers. The cutterbar assembly includes a relatively inflexible center section and relatively flexible side sections on opposite sides of the center section.