Nut harvesting machine
AssigneeRamacher Manufacturing Company
InventorBarry Ramacher
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
For separating nuts from orchard trash in a windrow, the mixture of nuts and trash is picked up and deposited on the forward end of a foraminous conveyor enclosed by a housing connected to a fan inducing a vigorous flow of air through the conveyor. Variously arranged baffles, walls and guide plates direct the air rearwardly to enhance separation capacity and form settling zones to increase separation efficiency. Provision is also made for abruptly changing the direction of movement of the nut and trash supporting upper run of the conveyor to dislodge and tumble the nuts and the trash as they traverse the separation zone where the flow of air emerges through the upper run, thereby effecting even more rapid and efficient separation.
Claims15
A nut harvesting machine for crop collection and trash separation comprising:
- a. an elongated fore and aft frame mounted on ground-engaging wheels for advancing along a path defined by a windrowed mixture of nuts and orchard trash;
- b. a foraminous endless conveyor mounted on said frame in a fore and aft direction, the upper run of said conveyor moving from a forward ingress end to an after egress end;
- c. means for picking up and depositing the windrowed mixture on said forward end of said upper run;
- d. a housing substantially enclosing said conveyor, said housing including a first air vent and an air outlet and defining a channel for the flow of air from said first air vent to said outlet;
- e. a fan having a suction port and a discharge port;
- f. means for collecting said fan to said housing to induce the flow of air into said first air vent, through said channel and outwardly through said outlet into said fan, said channel directing air through said upper run in a nut and trash separation zone;
- and,
- g. an elongated fore and aft plate below said upper run, said plate forming in conjunction with said housing a fore and aft settling zone with substantially horizontal air flow, said settling zone being of sufficient length to allow any entrained nuts to descend onto said upper run while lighter trash continues beyond said settling zone into said fan and outwardly through said discharge port to return to the ground.
A mobile nut harvesting machine for crop collection and trash separation comprising:
- a. a fore and aft elongated mobile frame;
- b. collection means mounted on the forward end of said frame for removing a mixture of nuts and trash from the ground;
- c. a foraminous conveyor having a forward ingress end to receive the output of said collection means and an after egress end to discharge the nuts separated from the trash;
- d. a fan mounted on said frame, said fan including a suction port and a discharge port;
- e. a housing on said frame substantially enclosing said conveyor and defining a separation chamber, said housing including at least one air vent, the roof of said housing overlying said conveyor and including an inlet tube connected to said suction port, the air flow produced by said fan passing from said air vent through said foraminous conveyor to create a separation zone where the trash is uplifted and separated from the nuts, the air flow then passing through an elongated settling zone above said conveyor wherein the trash and nuts are transported in horizontal fashion for a predetermined distance, the nuts dropping from said settling zone upon said conveyor while the trash is carried through said settling zone to said inlet tube and out said discharge port to the ground.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.