# US 4,395,176 A · Apparatus for handling harvested material > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 4,395,176 A - Document ID: US4395176A - Status: Granted - Kind: A - Application number: 06/242,994 - Filed: 1981-03-12 - Granted: 1983-07-26 - Earliest claimed: 1979-03-05 - Assignees: Hassy Horticultural Development Ltd. - Inventors: John C. Green - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US4395176A ## CPC - A01D 33/10: Crop collecting devices, with or without weighing apparatus - A01D 45/00: Harvesting of standing crops (A01D44/00 takes precedence; threshing machines adapted for special crops, threshing devices for combines adapted for special crops A01F11/00; harvesting of mushrooms A01G18/70) - A01D: HARVESTING; MOWING ## Abstract Apparatus for transferring harvested material from a harvester into a trailer moving alongside the harvester at a slightly faster rate, for which purpose a conveyor inclined at an oblique angle to the direction of motion of the vehicles is loaded with harvested material and a shuttling means reciprocates the conveyor and its drive means in the conveying direction while a drive interrupting means causes the conveyor to be driven only during one sense of the reciprocating drive of the shuttling means. ## Claims ### Claim 1 Apparatus for use in handling material harvested by a first vehicle and loaded from the first vehicle on to a second vehicle travelling alongside the first vehicle; the apparatus comprising: a base mounted on the first vehicle, a conveyor support mounted on the base, a conveyor and conveyor drive means carried by the conveyor support for conveying harvested material from the first vehicle towards the second vehicle in a conveying direction which lies at an oblique angle to the direction of motion of the vehicles, shuttle means arranged to cause the conveyor support to reciprocate on the base parallel to the conveying direction, drive interrupting means connecting the shuttle motion with the conveyor drive means to cause the conveyor to be driven only during one sense of reciprocation of the conveyor support, and throttle means on the respective vehicles for adjusting the relative speeds of the vehicles in relation to the value of said oblique angle of the conveying direction to cause the harvested material to be delivered to said second vehicle in uniform layers, with the harvested material in successive conveyor operations between its drive interruptions laid in rows at right angles to the direction of travel of the vehicles and across the width of the second vehicle. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) Apparatus set forth in claim 1 wherein the conveying direction inclines to the rear to deliver harvested material to the second vehicle, when said second vehicle is moving forward slightly faster than the first vehicle, during reciprocation of the conveyor support in the sense opposite to the conveying direction. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein the first vehicle is a harvesting machine and the second vehicle is a trailer pulled by a tractor, the conveyor being adapted to deliver harvested material to the trailer during one half of each cycle of reciprocation of the conveyor support. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 in which the speeds adjusting means includes means for slowing down or arresting the forward movement of the trailer to allow the conveyor at its delivery end to be returned to the forward end of the trailer from the rear end thereof. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which the oblique angle at which the conveyor extends relative to the direction of motion of the vehicle is of the order of 79.degree.. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which the base is slewable on the first vehicle such that the oblique angle which it extends relative to the direction of motion of the vehicles can be reversed for delivery to a second vehicle on either side of the first vehicle. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which the shuttle means includes a device for effecting gradual decelerations and gradual accelerations of the conveyor support at the end portions of its strokes of reciprocation. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) Apparatus as set forth in claim 7 in which the conveyor drive interrupting means includes a device for effecting gradual decelerations and accelerations of the conveyor at the end portions of its successive operating movements. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the tractor is a trailer having a rear end wall with an openable panel at the bottom, and the floor of the trailer is constituted by a conveying means for delivering harvested material in the trailer through said opened panel. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) Apparatus as set forth in claim 9, wherein the conveying means is supported for upward and downward movement within the trailer relative to the walls thereof.