Mushroom harvester and method

Abstract

A method harvesting mushrooms comprises steps of engaging picked mushrooms with supporting pins, to place the mushrooms in a desired orientation for separation of caps from stumps, and cutting the caps from the stumps by relative movement of the supported mushrooms and a cutter spaced from the ends of the supporting pins. Size grading of the cut mushrooms is relatively easily accomplished by arranging the picked mushrooms in the apparatus according to size. One apparatus for practicing the method has a frame, a vertically movable bed associated with the frame, and spaced mushroom supporting pins extending upwardly from a bottom wall of the frame through clearance openings in the bed. The pins and bed support mushrooms in an upright position, enabling a horizontally moveable cutter associated with the frame and operable in a plane above the ends of the pins to separate mushroom caps from stumps. The stumps may readily be removed from the harvester by raising the bed, which pushes the cut stumps from the pins, and manually manipulating the frame to dump the cut stumps. Another form of apparatus uses a moving belt to convey mushrooms past a cutter to separate caps from stumps.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.