US 3,998,036 AGranted

Pod combine

AssigneeChisholm-Ryder Company, Inc.

InventorVirgil N. Jarrell

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Abstract

The pod combine includes a harvester and thresher mounted in tandem on a self-propelled mobile frame. The harvester removes the unopened pods and a portion of the foliage and vines from the plants. A twin screw feed device feeds the harvested material to the thresher. The thresher includes a foraminous reel arranged to be driven in preselected opposite directions and an axially positioned impeller. The impeller includes a plurality of beaters with open portions to minimize convective currents within the thresher. A product collecting device is positioned below the foraminous reel and includes side boards over a housing that oscillate linearly to deposit the shelled product on an endless conveyor and a separator device is arranged to separate the foliage from the shelled product. The separator includes a material distributing device which permits the foliage to be separated from the shelled product by an air blast.

Claims13

Dependent claims

In a pod combine for harvesting the edible product of leguminous plants comprising,

a mobile frame,
a harvester and thresher mounted in tandem on said mobile frame, said thresher having an inlet end portion,
said harvester operable to remove the unopened pods, a portion of the foliage and vines from the plants, said thresher operable to open said pods and remove the product therefrom and separate said product from substantially all of said pods, vines and foliage.
feed means positioned on said frame between said harvester and said thresher for feeding the material harvested by said harvester into said thresher inlet end portion,
an endless belt conveyor operable to convey said material harvested by said harvester to said feed means, said endless belt conveyor having a transverse dimension substantially greater than the diameter of said thresher inlet end portion,
said feed means including a pair of screw type conveyors extending longitudinally between said harvester and said thresher inlet portion, said pair of screw type conveyors being operable to transport the harvester material at a speed greater than said endless belt conveyor to prevent an accumulation of the material at said thresher inlet portion,
separator means for separating a minor portion of said foliage discharged from said thresher from said product removed from said pods by said thresher, said separator means positioned on said frame in material receiving relation with said thresher to receive a minor portion of said foliage and said product discharged from said thresher after said thresher has removed the product from the pods,
first conveying means positioned longitudinally beneath said thresher on said frame for conveying said product and a minor portion of said foliage discharged from said thresher to said separator means,
product distributor means rotatably positioned adjacent the discharge end of said first conveying means for evenly distributing a minor portion of said foliage and said product discharged from said first conveying means in a curtain of material into the path of said separator means,
second conveying means positioned on said frame in material receiving relation with said separator means to convey said product from said separator means to a storage means.

7 more elements

A pod combine for harvesting the edible leguminous plants comprising,

a mobile frame,
a harvester and thresher mounted in tandem on said mobile frame, said thresher including a rotatable reel portion,
said harvester operable to remove the unopened pods, a portion of the foliage and vines from the plants, said thresher operable to open said pods and remove the product therefrom and separate said product from substantially all of said pods, vines and foliage,
feed means positioned on said frame between said harvester and said thresher for feeding the material harvested by said harvester into said thresher rotatable reel portion,
an endless belt conveyor operable to convey said material harvested by said harvester to said feed means,
separator means for separating a minor portion of said foliage discharged from said thresher from said product removed from said pods by said thresher, said separator means positioned on said frame in material receiving relation with said thresher to receive a minor portion of said foliage and said product discharged from said thresher after said thresher has removed the product from the pods,
first conveying means positioned longitudinally beneath said thresher on said frame for conveying said product and a minor portion of said foliage discharged from said rotating reel to said separator means,
said separator means including means to separate said product from said foliage,
second conveying means positioned on said frame in material receiving relation with said separator means to convey said product from said separator means to a storage means,
a housing surrounding said rotating reel portion,
said housing including a pair of inclined sideboards extending downwardly toward the side edge portions of said first conveyor means with said side edge portions positioned within the confines of said inclined sideboards,
a pair of drive shafts rotatably supported adjacent to said inclined sideboards and extending longitudinally on opposite sides of said thresher reel, said drive shafts having a plurality of eccentric members mounted thereon and rotatable therewith, said sideboards having roller means rotatably mounted thereon on opposite sides of said eccentric members in juxtaposition therewith, and
means connected to said drive shafts to rotate said drive shafts to thereby oscillate said inclined sideboards through said eccentric members and said roller means.

10 more elements

A pod combine for harvesting the edible leguminous plants comprising,

a mobile frame,
a harvester and thresher mounted in tandem on said mobile frame, said thresher including a rotatable reel portion,
said harvester operable to remove the unopened pods, a portion of the foliage and vines from the plants, said thresher operable to open said pods and remove the product therefrom and separate said product from substantially all of said pods, vines and foliage,
feed means positioned on said frame between said harvester and said thresher for feeding the material harvested by said harvester into said thresher rotatable reel portion,
an endless belt conveyor operable to convey said material harvested by said harvester to said feed means,
separator means for separating a minor portion of said foliage discharged from said thresher from said product removed from said pods by said thresher, said separator means positioned on said frame in material receiving relation with said thresher to receive a minor portion of said foliage and said product discharged from said thresher after said thresher has removed the product from the pods,
first conveying means positioned longitudinally beneath said thresher on said frame for conveying said product and a minor portion of said foliage discharged from said rotating reel to said separator means,
said separator means including means to separate said product from said foliage,
second conveying means positioned on said frame in material receiving relation with said separator means to convey said product from said separator means to a storage means,
said thresher reel including a cyclindrical foraminous wall and a pair of annular end ring members,
a plurality of longitudinally extending rib members secured to the inner surface of said cylindrical foraminous wall, said rib members extending radially inwardly toward the axis of said reel, said rib members positioned in spaced relation to each other on the inner surface of said cylindrical foraminous wall, and
said rib members having a longitudinally extending vertical wall and a longitudinally extending inclined wall, said rib members arranged upon rotation in a preselected direction to strike said material conveying into said reel by said vertical wall or said inclined wall of said rib members depending upon the direction of rotation of said reel.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.