Crop harvesting system with plant stripping apparatus

A system for removing parts from plants rooted in an agricultural field while leaving other parts of the plants rooted in the agricultural field, the system comprising:

• a harvester apparatus having a front and a rear and a top and a bottom, the harvester being configured to receive a plant into an intake throat toward the front of the harvester apparatus, the harvester apparatus defining a plant path through the harvester apparatus extending rearwardly from the intake throat, the harvester apparatus comprising:
• a harvester frame having a forward end toward the front of the harvester apparatus and a rearward end toward the rear of the harvester apparatus, the harvester frame including a mounting structure configured to mount on a vehicle and a pair of support structures mounted on the mounting structure;
• a harvester housing mounted on the harvester frame and defining an interior of the harvester apparatus, the harvester housing defining a forward opening generally corresponding to the intake throat through which a rooted plant passes into the interior of the housing and a rearward opening through which the rooted plant passes out of the interior of the housing, the harvester housing having a lower slot through which a portion of the rooted plant passes through as the plant moves into the interior through the forward opening and out of the interior through the rearward opening, the harvester housing including a pair of housing shells oriented in an opposing relationship, each of the housing shells defining a portion of the housing interior, the plant path being defined between the housing shells, each of the housing shells having an inward opening such that the inward openings of the shells are positioned in opposition to each other;
• a pair of stripping assemblies mounted on the harvester frame, the stripping assemblies being at least partially positioned in the interior of the harvester housing, each of the stripping assemblies being mounted on a respective one of the support structures of the harvester frame and being associated with a respective one of the housing shells, each stripping assembly comprising:
• a stripping belt positioned on a side of the plant path such that outer surfaces of the stripping belts of the stripping assemblies are oriented in an opposing relationship across the plant path;
• a plurality of fingers extending outwardly from the outer surface of the stripping belt;
• wherein a portion of the fingers on each of the stripping belts of the stripping assemblies extend into the plant path of the harvester apparatus;
• wherein each of the stripping assemblies comprises a pair of substantially vertically spaced pulleys on which the stripping belt is entrained such that a portion of the outer surface is substantially vertically oriented in opposition to a portion of the outer surface of an other one of the stripping assemblies;
• wherein each of the support structures of the harvester frame is movably mounted on the mounting structure such that the housing shells mounted on the support structures are movable between an operational configuration and a nonoperational configuration, the operational configuration being characterized by leading ends of the housing shells being spaced from each other at a first distance and trailing ends of the housing shells are spaced from each other at a second distance, the first distance being greater than the second distance such that the plant path is wider towards the front of the harvester apparatus and narrower towards the rear of the harvester apparatus, the nonoperational configuration being characterized by the leading ends and the trailing ends of the housing shells being spaced from each other at substantially equal distances.

A system for removing parts from plants rooted in an agricultural field while leaving other parts of the plants rooted in the agricultural field, the system comprising:

• a harvester apparatus having a front and a rear and a top and a bottom, the harvester being configured to receive a plant into an intake throat toward the front of the harvester apparatus, the harvester apparatus defining a plant path through the harvester apparatus extending rearwardly from the intake throat, the harvester apparatus comprising:
• a harvester frame including a mounting structure configured to mount on a vehicle and a pair of support structures mounted on the mounting structure;
• a harvester housing mounted on the harvester frame and having an interior, the harvester housing having a forward opening generally corresponding to the intake throat through which a portion of a rooted plant passes into the interior of the housing and a lower slot through which the portion of the rooted plant passes through as the plant moves into the interior through the forward opening;
• a pair of stripping assemblies mounted on the harvester frame and at least partially positioned in the interior of the harvester housing, each of the stripping assemblies being mounted on a respective one of the support structures of the harvester frame, each stripping assembly comprising:
• a stripping belt positioned on a side of the plant path such that an outer surface of the stripping belt is substantially vertically oriented in an opposed relationship across the plant path to the stripping belt of the other stripping assembly;
• a plurality of fingers extending outwardly from the outer surface of the stripping belt such that a portion of the fingers on the opposed outer surfaces of the stripping belts extend into the plant path of the harvester apparatus;
• and
• pulleys on which the stripping belt is entrained, the pulleys being rotatably mounted on the support structure to rotate in a manner such that the fingers on the stripping belt move downwardly and the fingers of the opposed outer surfaces of the stripping belts moved downwardly along opposite sides of the plant path;
• wherein the harvester housing includes a pair of housing shells oriented in an opposing relationship, each of the housing shells defining a portion of the housing interior, the plant path being defined between the housing shells, each of the housing shells having an inward opening such that the inward openings of the shells are positioned in opposition to each other;
• and
• wherein each of the support structures of the harvester frame are movably mounted on the mounting structure such that the housing shells mounted on the support structures are movable between an operational configuration and a nonoperational configuration, the operational configuration being characterized by leading ends of the housing shells being spaced from each other at a first distance and trailing ends of the housing shells are spaced from each other at a second distance, the first distance being greater than the second distance such that the plant path is wider towards the front of the harvester apparatus and narrower towards the rear of the harvester apparatus, the nonoperational configuration being characterized by the leading ends and the trailing ends of the housing shells being spaced from each other at substantially equal distances.