Picking accessory for berry harvester
OwnerRoderick Komarinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An improved self propelled fruit or berry harvester suitable to pick berries which grow on a low bush or vine, such as cranberries. Typically the vines are stripped of fruit by a picking head wherein said fruit is are carried by a conveyor and heretofore typically loaded into storage bags mounted on the harvester for further transfer to shipping bins. The improvement is directed to a picking accessory comprising an accessory conveyor for loading stripped fruit directly into an associated collection bin employed as a shipping container.
Claims10
In a fruit harvester including a picking head for stripping fruit supported on a mobile chassis moveable in a travel direction including an axial endless conveyor means powered by a main drive power pulley, having a berry receiving end and a berry depositing end, the improvement comprising an picking accessory comprising a conveyor in combination with a accessory bin wherein the conveyor is mounted on said harvester for receiving fruit from the axial conveyor of the berry harvester and thereafter conveying the fruit for loading in the accessory bin.
A method of “dry picking” cranberries in combination with packing the fruit in situ in shipping containers comprising the steps of;
- providing cranberry vines in a dry condition where grown in a cranberry “bog”;
- stripping fruit from cranberries vines by operation of a picking head of a fruit harvester wherein fruit is carried successively by a main conveyor, then by an accessory conveyor to provide for loading the stripped fruit comprising cranberries directly into an associated shipping bin said bin is then mechanically delivered off the bog where third it is put on a truck for delivery,
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.