Forced-air conveyance harvesting system for small produce
AssigneeBlueline Mfg. Co.
InventorGregg A. Marrs
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A forced-air system for conveying a produce within a mechanized harvester of a row crop. The mechanized harvester includes a straddling over-carriage having a central channel for receiving a row of bushes or vines containing the produce to be harvested, and especially for blue berries. The harvester has a harvesting beater, including a spool with rotating rods, mounted within the central channel of the mechanized harvester. The forced-air system can employ offset harvesting beaters and a flexible air supply diffuser, to precisely direct the fan or blower-generated airstream, to direct the harvested fruits or produce to interior catch pans and conveyors within the harvester, and to help remove the produce from the bushes or vines.
Claims16
A forced-air system for conveying a produce with a harvester, the system including:
- a mechanized harvester for use in the harvesting of the produce, the mechanized harvester including a central channel for straddling and receiving a produce row, and the mechanized harvester equipped with a harvesting beater, the harvesting beater including a spool mounted within the central channel of the mechanized harvester;
- a plurality of beater rods attached to the spool, the plurality of beater rods rotate-able to impact the produce row to dislodge the produce, the produce dislodged and collected by interior catches of the mechanical harvester;
- a duct tower mounted to the mechanized harvester, the duct tower including a diffuser;
- a blower attached to the duct tower, the blower for suppling an airstream to the diffuser, the airstream directed by the diffuser toward the harvesting beaters;
- and
- the airstream directed to transport the produce dislodged, to the interior catches within the harvester.
A forced-air produce conveyance harvesting apparatus, the apparatus including:
- a mechanized harvester for use in the harvesting of a produce, the mechanized harvester having a frontward end opposite a rearward end, and the harvester surrounding a central channel, with a produce row received into the central channel proximate to the frontward end of the harvester;
- a harvester axis from the frontward end of the harvester to the rearward end of the harvester within the central channel of the harvester, the harvester axis parallel to the central channel;
- a first harvesting beater within the mechanized harvester, the first harvesting beater including a first spool mounted in the central channel of the mechanized harvester, and a second harvesting beater within the mechanized harvester, the second harvesting beater including a second spool mounted in the central channel of the mechanized harvester;
- a plurality of beater rods attached to the first spool and the second spool, the plurality of beater rods rotate-able to impact the produce row to dislodge the produce, the produce dislodged and collected by an interior catch within the mechanical harvester;
- a duct mounted to the mechanized harvester, the duct including a diffuser;
- a blower attached to the duct, the blower for supplying an airstream to the diffuser, the airstream directed by the diffuser toward the first and second harvesting beaters, and
- the airstream directed to transport the produce dislodged, to the interior catches within the harvester;
- the first harvesting beater offset relative to the second harvesting beater along the harvester axis;
- the diffuser having a diffuser hood attached to the duct, the diffuser hood formed of a flexible material;
- and
- the airstream inflates the diffuser hood and the airstream exits the diffuser hood directed toward the produce row proximate to the beater rods of the harvesting beater.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.