Hop vine transfer system
OwnerPaul J. Serresinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A hop vine transfer system (10) includes a plurality of magazines (14a, 14b, 14c) each fed by an associated unloader mechanism (12). Once a magazine has been filled with hope vines (V), it is unloaded by a pivoting transfer conveyor (16) having an entrance end (50) alignable with the exit end portion (48) of the magazine. The opposite exit end (91) of the transfer conveyor is disposed in operable engagement with a picking machine conveyor (18) that moves the hop vines, with their stub ends upwardly, through a picking machine (22) to remove the hops from the vines.
Claims52
A hop vine transfer system to supply hop vines to the entrance of a hop picking machine, comprising:
- (a) a plurality of hop vine magazines each having an entrance end portion and an exit end portion and each having gripping means extending between the entrance and exit end portions, the gripping means capable of gripping hop vine stubs, wherein:
- each magazine entrance end portion is in engagement with a feeder system for feeding the stub portions of hop vines into the entrance end portion of the magazine to be received by the magazine gripping means;
- and
- the exit end portions of the magazines converge towards each other;
- (b) means for powering the vine gripping means of the magazines to move the hop vines received from the feeder systems along the magazines toward the exit end portions of the magazines;
- and
- (c) a transfer conveyor having an entrance end portion and an exit end portion, with the exit end portion of the transfer conveyor in communication with the entrance of the hop picking machine, and with the entrance end portion of the transfer conveyor selectively movable to align with the exit end portions of the hop vine magazines to receive the hop vines being held in the magazines and transfer the vines to the entrance of the hop picking machine.
A hop vine transfer system for transferring hop vines from a plurality of unloading stations to the entrance portion of a hop picking machine conveyor with the stub ends of the hop vines being held by the hop picking machine conveyor to vertically suspend the hope vines from the hop picking conveyor as the hop vines are carried by the hop picking conveyor through the hop picking machine, the transfer system comprising:
- (a) a plurality of hop vine magazines disposed at substantially the same elevation as the hop picking machine conveyor, the magazines each having an entrance end portion and an exit end portion and hop vine gripping means extending between the entrance and exit end portions of the magazines, wherein:
- the magazine entrance end portions receive vines from a corresponding unloading station thereupon to be gripped by the gripping means;
- the exit end portions of the hop vine magazines converge towards a point distal from the exit end portions of the magazines;
- (b) a transfer conveyor having an entrance end portion and an exit end portion, the exit end portion of a transfer conveyor being positioned adjacent the entrance end portion of the hop picking machine conveyor, the transfer conveyor being pivotal about an axis near its exit end portion;
- and
- (c) means for pivoting the transfer conveyor about its pivot axis to selectively align the entrance end portion of the transfer conveyor with the exit end portions of the hop vine magazines to receive hop vines from the magazines and transfer the hop vines from the magazines to the entrance end portion of the hop picking machine conveyor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.