US 4,524,572 A · Pickle harvester

Abstract

A harvester for picking cucumbers that is effective and cost efficient on small, "pickling" cucumbers is mountable on a tractor frame for a conventional mechanical pickle harvester between a vine cutter and pinch roller mechanism. The harvester comprises a pickup mechanism at the front of the harvester for picking up severed cucumber vines and a conveying and fruit removal mechanism that conveys the vines rearwardly between the pick-up mechanism to the pinch roller mechanism, while at the same time gently dislodging fruit from the vines and thinning and defoliating the vines so as to improve the action of the pinch roller mechanism. The conveying and fruit removal mechanism includes a rotating paddle mechanism comprising cushioned gum rubber paddle blades that rotate in the direction of vine travel and strike the fruit as the vines are conveyed over the paddles. The number of paddles and position, spacing, speed, and synchronization of the paddles are carefully controlled such that the mechanism is small enough to fit in a frame for a conventional pickle harvester, is sufficiently light and flexible to use in a wide variety of field conditions, and is inexpensive and effective enough to provide an economically attractive alternative to hand harvesting or other conventional mechanical harvesters. A conveyor mechanism catches the pickles as they are separated from the vines and conveys the separated pickles to an elevating conveyor for storage.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A harvester attachment especially effective for small cucumbers that is mountable in a frame for a conventional tractor mounted cucumber harvester between the vine cutter and pinch roller mechanism thereof, the attachment comprising a pick-up mechanism that picks up the vines and a conveying and pickle removing means for conveying vines from the pick-up to the pinch roller mechanism and for dislodging pickles from the vines, the conveying and pickle removing means including upper and lower rotating paddle means rotating in the direction of vine movement between the pick-up mechanism and pinch roller mechanism, the paddle means having cushioned blades that convey the vines and strike the cucumbers so as to dislodge them from the vines, the paddles being spaced and synchronized such that the vines are held between the upper and lower paddle means while cucumbers are dislodged from the vines by the rotating paddles, without excessive vine slipping or fruit damage, the harvester including drive means for operating at least a portion of the paddle means at a vine contacting surface speed that is faster than the vine contacting surface speed of the mechanism upstream from said portion of the paddle means such that vines are stretched out and struck by the blades of said portion of the paddle means, the harvester attachment further comprising conveyor means for conveying dislodged cucumbers from the harvester to a storage location.

A pickle harvester attachment for a conventional tractor-mounted running gear that includes a support frame, a vine cutter, a pinch roller mechanism, and a main conveyor for collecting and transferring pickles to a storage bin, said pickle harvester attachment being an integral unit mountable in the frame so as to pick up vines behind the cutter and convey them to the pinch roller mechanism, conveying at the same time separated pickles to the main conveyor, said pickle harvester attachment comprising:

a housing adapted to be mounted on the tractor support frame;
pick-up roller means mounted in the front of the housing for picking up vines off the ground;
a plurality of sets of opposed upper and lower counter-rotating paddles mounted in the housing so as to define a vine pass line from the pick-up roller means to the pinch roller means, each of said paddles including a plurality of transverse gum rubber blades mounted in the housing for rotation about a transverse axis, the upper and lower paddles in each set being connected for synchronized rotation such that as each blade of the lower paddle passes the top of its arc, a blade of the upper paddle trails said lower paddle blade by a distance of up to 1/2 inch, the successive upper paddles and the successive lower paddles in each row being separated at the arc of their outer surfaces by 0-1/2 inches, the paddles being positioned to receive vines from the pick-up roller and convey the vines to the pinch roller mechanism;
and
drive means for operating the pick-up roller means, the paddles, and the pinch roller mechanism, the drive means operating the paddles at vine contacting surface speeds that increase in the downstream direction, at least some paddles exceeding the speed of the vine contacting surface of the pick-up rollers, such that the paddles tend to stretch out and thin the vines as they are conveyed, the paddles urging the pickles to become dislodged from the vines and enhancing the effectiveness of the pinch roller mechanism, the vine contacting surface speed of the pinch roller mechanism exceeding the vine contacting surface speed of the paddles.

2 more elements

A pickle harvester attachment for a tractor-mounted running gear that includes a support frame, a vine cutter, a pinch roller mechanism, and a main conveyor for collecting and transferring pickles to a storage bin, said pickle harvester attachment being an integral unit mountable in the frame so as to pick up vines behind the cutter and convey them to the pinch roller mechanism, conveying them to the pinch roller mechanism, conveying at the same time separated pickles to the main conveyor, said pickle harvester attachment comprising:

a housing adapted to be mounted on a tractor support frame;
pick-up roller means mounted in the front of the housing for picking up vines off the ground;
a plurality of lower counter-rotating paddles mounted in the housing, the upper surfaces of which define a vine pass line from the pick-up roller means to the pinch roller means, each of said paddles including a plurality of transverse gum rubber blades mounted in the housing for rotating about a transverse axis, the lower paddles being separated at their outer periferies by about 0-1/2 inches;
upper means positioned above the lower paddles for holding the vines down against the lower paddles, the upper means comprising upper counter-rotating paddles positioned above a downstream portion of the lower paddles and a draper belt positioned above an upstream portion of the lower paddles, the rotation of the upper paddles being synchronized with the rotation of the opposed lower paddles such that as each blade of the lower paddle passes the top of its arc, a blade of the upper paddle is separated horizontally from said lower paddle blade by a distance of up to 1/2 inch and overlaps the lower paddle blade by 1-11/2 inches, the successive upper paddles and the successive lower paddles in each row being separated at the arc of their outer surfaces by 0-1/2 inches, the paddles being positioned to receive vines from the pick-up roller and convey the vines to the pinch roller mechanism;
and
drive means for operating the pick-up roller means, the paddles, and the pinch roller mechanism, the drive means operating the paddles at vine contacting surface speeds that increase in the downstream direction, at least some paddles exceeding the speed of the vine contacting surface of the pick-up rollers, such that the paddles tend to stretch out and thin the vines as they are conveyed, the paddles urging the pickles to become dislodged from the vines and enhancing the effectiveness of the pinch roller mechanism, the vine contacting surface speed of the pinch roller mechanism exceeding the vine contacting surface speed of the paddles.

3 more elements

In a harvester for pickles or the like adapted to be mounted on a powered vehicle, wherein the harvester comprises cutter means for cutting vines, a pick-up mechanism that picks vines off the ground, a pinch roller mechanism through which the vines are subsequently conveyed for the purpose of separating the pickles from the vines, a conveying mechanism that conveys the pickles from the pick-up mechanism to the pinch roller mechanism, and a collection mechanism that collects pickles that are separated from the vines, the improvement wherein the conveying mechanism comprises a rotating resilient paddle mechanism interposed between the pick-up mechanism and pinch roller mechanism, the paddle mechanism conveying the vines over the paddle mechanism at least part of the way between the pick-up mechanism and the pinch roller mechanism so as to enhance separation of the pickles from the vines, the paddle mechanism comprising opposed upper and lower counter-rotating paddles mounted in the housing so as to engage and convey vines at least part of the way between the pick-up roller means and the pinch roller means while at the same time striking and dislodging fruit from the vines, each of said paddles including a plurality of transverse gum rubber blades mounted for rotation about a transverse axis, the upper and lower paddles being connected for synchronized rotation such that as each blade of the lower paddle passes the vine pass line a blade of the upper paddle is separated from said lower paddle blade by a distance of up to 1/2 inch, the upper and lower paddle blades overlapping by about 1-11/2 inches at the vine pass line, the harvester further including drive means for operating the pick-up roller means, the paddles, and the pinch roller mechanism, the drive means operating the paddles at vine contacting surface speeds that increase in the downstream direction relative to the pick-up rollers, such that the paddles tend to stretchen out and thin the vines as well as dislodge pickles from the vines, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of the pinch roller mechanism.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Pickle harvester

Life of this patent

Pickle harvester

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims19