Method and apparatus for harvesting and picking up sod
Assignee1045929 Ontario Limited
InventorsGerardus Brouwer, Robert Milwain
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sod harvester cuts several side-by-side strips of sod, preferably of total width equal to the width of a pallet, and directs the strips up three sets of conveyors arranged in sequence. The first conveyor set runs at or near ground speed; the second conveyor set runs at about double ground speed, and the third conveyor set runs at about triple ground speed. This creates a spatial and time gap between the trailing edges of a set of sod strips on the third conveyor and the leading edges of the next set of sod strips behind them on the second conveyor. The time gap is sufficient to stop the sod strips on the third conveyor and then pick them up and stack them on a pallet.
Claims17
A sod harvester adapted for travel along a path of travel and comprising:
- a) a sod cutting knife for cutting pieces of sod from the ground, each piece having a leading edge and a trailing edge,
- b) a conveyor mechanism for carrying sod away from said cutting knife to a first location,
- c) a sod pick-up mechanism for picking up sod from said first location and for moving such sod to a second location and for then returning to said first location to again pick up sod at said first location,
- d) said conveyor mechanism including a plurality of conveyors in sequence including a first conveyor for receiving a sod piece from said cutting knife and a second conveyor for receiving and accelerating said sod piece toward said first location to create a time period between the passage of the trailing edge of one sod piece and the arrival of the leading edge of the following sod piece,
- e) said conveyor mechanism further including a mechanism for supporting a said sod piece in a stopped condition at said first location, while a following sod piece is moving towards said first location,
- f) said time period being sufficient for a said sod piece to assume said stopped condition at said first location and for said sod pick-up mechanism to pick up and remove the stopped sod piece from said first location before the following sod piece arrives at said first location.
17-64. (canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.