A drive coupler (102, 104) for coupling a reciprocating knife (106) to a drivemember(112, 114) is provided, wherein the reciprocating knife (106) includes atleast oneelongate bar (120, 122, 180, 182) having a longitudinal extent and fixed to apluralityof blades (138), wherein the at least one elongate bar (120, 122, 180, 182) issupported on support members (140) that constrain the at least one elongatebar(120, 122, 180, 182) to reciprocate in a direction generally parallel to thelongitudinalextent of the at least one elongate bar (120, 122, 180, 182), the drivecoupler (102,104) comprising: a first elongate strap (146, 162) configured to be attachedto the atleast one elongate bar (120, 122, 180, 182)； a second elongate strap (146,162)configured to be attached to the at least one elongate bar (120, 122, 180,182)； and ameans (152, 164, 187, 189, 193, 200) for (i) flexing the first elongate strap(146, 162)with respect to the second elongate strap (146, 162), (ii) for flexing thefirst elongatestrap (146, 162) with respect to the drive member (112, 114), and (iii) forflexing thesecond elongate strap (146, 162) with respect to the drive member (112, 114).
