US 4,282,932 AGranted

Rock picker

OwnerRaymond R. Andersoninventor

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Abstract

This rock picker invention is a towable farm implement which is capable of removing rocks from a farm field. A plurality of buckets scoop up quantities of soil as the rock picker is towed by a tractor. The buckets are mounted on a pair of cables which pass over guide wheels. The cables are forced to move by a power source so that the buckets are forced into, across and out of the ground. The guide wheels are mounted on axles on a conveyor frame which allows the buckets and cables to be lifted to a transport position and which allows the angle of attack between the buckets and the ground surface to be varied. The buckets are equipped with openings and shaped such that soil falls from the buckets when the buckets are lifted. The cables are guided such that the buckets are caused to invert and dump the rocks collected into a hopper. The hopper is equipped with a lifting linkage to allow transfer and disposal of rocks collected. The rock picker is equipped with forwardly mounted harrows and gathering sections that aid in the collection of rocks.

Claims14

Dependent claims

A rock picker comprising:

a plurality of buckets for scraping the ground and having substantial openings which selectively retain rocks of at least a predetermined size in said buckets but which allow soil to exit from said buckets through said openings;
conveyor means for conveying said buckets into, across, and out of the ground and for conveying said buckets such that rocks retained by said buckets may be collected, said conveyor means comprising a cable means which is attached to said buckets and a plurality of guide means for guiding said cable means such that said buckets are conveyed into, across, and out of the ground and are conveyed such that rocks retained by said buckets may be collected, wherein the angle of attack at which said buckets are conveyed across the ground is approximately 4.degree. and wherein said conveyor means conveys said buckets upwardly away from the ground for a substantial distance such that substantially all of the soil scraped into said buckets is caused to fall from said openings in said buckets;
vehicle means for transporting said buckets and said conveyor means across the ground;
and
collector means for collecting the rocks retained by said buckets, said collector means being mounted on said vehicle means.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.