High-throughput vacuum cotton harvester

A method for selectively harvesting cotton bolls from a plurality of cotton plants in a field, said method comprising:

• hanging a plurality of plant picker assemblies from a plurality of picker assembly hangers pivotally mounted to and extending from each of one or more hanger booms connected to and laterally extendable away from a self-propelled mobile platform of a high through-put cotton harvesting system such that each hanger boom is extendable over a plurality of rows of cotton plants in the field such that selected components of each plant picker assembly are provided for use at a respective one of the plurality of rows of cotton plants over which the respective hanger boom extends;
• providing a vacuum to a nozzle of each plant picker assembly utilizing a vacuum generation source connected to the mobile platform;
• utilizing the vacuum force provided at the nozzle of each plant picker assembly to extract cotton bolls from the cotton plants in the respective row over which the respective hanger boom extends as the mobile platform is driven through the field;
• and
• depositing the extracted cotton bolls into at least one selected collection receptacle, via the vacuum force.

A high through-put cotton harvesting system for selectively harvesting cotton bolls from a plurality of cotton plants in a field, said system comprising:

• a self-propelled mobile platform structured and operable to be driven through a field of cotton;
• a plurality of plant picker assemblies hung from a plurality of picker assembly hangers pivotally mounted to and extending from each of one or more hanger booms pivotally connected to and laterally extendable away from the mobile platform such that each hanger boom is extendable over a plurality of rows of cotton plants in the field,
• each plant picker assembly structured and independently operable to utilize a vacuum force to extract cotton bolls from cotton plants in a respective one of the rows of plants over which the respective hanger boom extends as the mobile platform is driven through the field and deposit the extracted cotton bolls into one or more selected collection receptacles, via the vacuum force, and
• each hanger boom comprising a hinged joint such that each hanger boom can be folded along sides of the mobile platform when not in use;
• and
• a vacuum generation source structured and operable to generate the vacuum force utilized by each of the plant picker assemblies.