CA1129658A - Harvesting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO HARVESTING APARATUS

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

The specification discloses harvesting apparatus comprising a main frame which is moveable relative to the ground. Power means are mounted on the main frame to provide power for the relative movement between the frame and the ground. At least one shaker head assembly is located on each side of a longitudinal horizontal axis through the frame. The or each shaker head assembly to one side of said longitudinal axis is located forwardly of the corresponding shaker head assembly on the other side of the horizontal axis such that the shaker head assemblies are positioned in a staggered relationship along the frame.
A shaft attached to an output of each shaker head assembly is provided with at least one set of radially spaced harvesting fingers. These harvesting fingers, in use, come in contact with produce bearing plants or bushes as the main frame moves through or over the plants or bushes thus vibrating and shaking the plants or bushes to cause fruit berries or the like produce to be dislodged therefrom. This arrangement has the advantage of increasing the yield of harvested crops.

Description

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This invention relates to harvesting apparatus which is useable to dislodge fruit, berries and like produce by shaking and vibrating the produce bearing plants or bushes~
In our New Zealand Patent Specification 179552 there is disclosed a straddle type harvester which has a pair of vibrating shaker head assemblies located on preferably both sides of the harvester frame. The output of each head assembly is coupled to a vertically disposed shaft on which are located a number of sets of radially spaced tines or 10 fingers. Each pair of head assemblies are mounted on a frame which is moveable transverse of the frame and can pivot about a substantially vertical axis. In this way the tined shafts can move into or awa~ from the produce bearing plants or bushes to follow the contours thereof.
To increase the yield of harvest it is important to achieve a ~ood penetration of the plants or bushes by the tines ~r flngers and to also ensure that the vibrating arld shaking of the plants or bushes takes place during the major portion of the time the harvester takes to pass over the `~ O particular section of the plant or bush being processed. To ; achieve full penetration attempts have been made to have the tines or fingers of a shaker head assembly on one side of the bush or plant overlap with the tines or fingers of a shaker head assembly on the other side of the harvesteF.

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Whilst good penetration results the plants or bushes are subject to damage as there is no control over the movement of the sets of tines or fingers on one side in relation to those on the other side. Thus if the sets are moving relatively toward one another or indeed away from one another tearing of the plants or bushes can result.
The object of the present invention is thus to provide a mounting and drive arrangement for the shaker head assemblies of a harvesting apparatus whereby in use of the apparatus good penetration of the produce bearing plants or bushes is achieved without damage thereto by the relative movement of the tlnes or fingers on opposite sides of the plants or bushes.
Broadly in one aspect of the invention there is provided harvesting apparatus comprising a main frame ` moveable relative to the ground, power means mounted on said main frame to provide power for the relati.ve movement between said main frame and the ground, at least one shaker , head assembly located to each side of a lon~itudinal ~o horizontal axis through said frame, the or each shaker head . assembly to one side of said longitudinal axis being located forwardly of the correspo~ding shaker head assembly on the other sidè of said longitudinal axis such that said shaker heàd assemblies are positioned in a staggered ?~` relationship along said frame, a shaft attached to the . output of each said shaker head assembly and at least one set of radially spaced harvesting finger means attached to . ~ ' ` ' .
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each said shaft, said harvesting finger means, in use, :
coming in contact with produce bearing plants or bushes as said main frame moves through or thereover and vibrating and shakin~ said p~ants or bushes to cause fruit, berries or the like produce to be dislodged therefrom.
Broadly in a second aspect there is provided a harvesting apparatus comprising a main frame moveable relative to the ground, power means mounted on said main .
frame to provide power for the relative movement between said main frame and the ground, a pair of vibrational shaker head asse~blies mounted to each side of a longi-tudinal horizontal axis through said main frame, each of the assemblies ha~ing an inpu-t and an output with a respective associated input and output member, a prime mover, means ~or con~erting rotary motion applied to each input member into a torsional vibration superimposed on the associated output member, the output members being mounted so as to enable-a rotary motion to be super-imposed thereon, power transfer means for transmitting.
high speed rotational movement to the input members of ~ -each palr of shaker-head assemblies, means coupling - .
together the output men~ers of.each palr of shakeF-head - : . . ..
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assemblies whereby the rotational and vibrational movement of one output member of the pair is the same .
as the other, and at least one set of radially spaced harvesting finger means positioned in operative connection with each outPut member,- said harvesting finger means, in use, coming in contact with produce bearing plants or bushes as said main frame moves through or thereover and vibrating and shaking said plants or bushes to cause ~ruit, berries or the like 0 produce to be dislodged therefrom, the shaker head assemblies being so positioned to each side of the long.itudinal horizontal axis that they are not trans-. versely ali~ned but are in a staggered relationship : to each side of the longitudinal horizontal axis.
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ls To more ~ully describe the invention reference will be made to the accomPanying drawings in which:-- , . . . . .
. . - Figure 1 is a plan view of one form of the . invention, - . . . .
-. Figure 2 is a side elevation view of the ~orm ~0 o~ the invention illustrated in Figure 1, '. - : . ,- .

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Figure 3 is a front elevation of the form of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, ..
Figure 4 is a perspective view of a straddle frame harvester according to the invention, Figure 5 is a detail plan view oE the shaker - head mounting arrangement, , .
Figure 6 is a plan view of a second form of the ` inven-tion, and Figure 7 is an exploded view of a type. of shaker head assembly shown in Fi~ure 5 of New Zealand Patent 165873 of November 19, 1975 which is particularly suited ~or u.se with the invent.ion.

` ~ ~ In descrlbing the preferred forms of the ; - ..... invention reference wili be made to a harvesting --J~ apparatus which has a pair of shaker head assemblles . mounted one on each side of a . `- .
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", : , . -112~5!3 horizontal longitudinal axis through the harvester Erame. -Such a harvester is illustrated in Figure 4 and comprises a top frame 10 supported on legs 11 the lower ends of which are provided ~ith land wheels 12., The harvester frame is thus of a straddle type and the top frame mounts a driving -position 13. The leading end of the frame is provided with de1ector plates 14 which provide an openin~ through which the produce bearing plants or bushes may readily pass. At the rear of the frame there are provided conveyors 15 which remove collected produce from collec-ter plates (not shcwn) which run longitudinally on each side of the frame between the Eront and xear le~s 11. Staddle type harvesters,o~ this general type are ~Jell known to those skilled in the art and an ~ample is ilLustrated in our pr~viously referred to New /~ Zealand patent specification No. 179552.
'L`he top ~r~me 10 of the harvester Erame includes side member~ 16 and extendin~ ~r~nsversely ~e~ween the side '' members 16 is a mounting frame 17. In the form of the , invention illustrated in ~i~ures 1 to 3 a prime mover 18 is ~o motlnted centrally in rame 17. V Belts 19 extend from a pul]ey wheel 20 on the prime mover 18 to a pulley wheel 21 on intcArmediate shaft 22.
Pulley wlleel 21 is coupled to or formed integrally,with pulley wheels 23 the resulting assembly being journalled for rotat~on on sh~ft ~2., S'~aft 22 is itselr F-xed1y attached .

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to a mounting plate 24 from which it extends vertically - upwards. Pulley wheels 23 are of the tooth type and interenage with toothed belts 25. The belts 25 extend from intermediate shaEt 22 to toothed pulley wheels 26 on the input of the shaker assembly 27.
. ~ pair of toothed wheels 28 are also mounted for rotation on intermediate shaft 22 and these engage with chains 29 which extend about the toothed rings 30 on the housings of shaker assemblies 27.
/~ Also moul^.ted for ~o ational move~ent on intermediate shats 22 are sleeves 31 which are si-tuated between mounting plate 24 and the pair o toothed wheels 28. An arm 32 is attachcd to each s].eeve 31 and extends outwardly to a shaker . assembl~ moun-ti.ng fr~me 33. Each sleeve 31 is provided t~ith ls a projection 3~ which extends in a d;.recti.on which is substan-t:ially opposite to the arm 32. A sprincJ 35 extends be-tween eaoh pr~ecticn 34 to a :~.ixture 36 on mountin~ plate 24.
T'ne shaker assemb1y mounting frames 33 are thus biassed to tend toward the~centre o the harvester frame. To restrict the movement of arms.32 stop means are provided.. These stop means consist of a threaded shaft 37 located in a collar 38 wh.ich is fixed to mounting plate 24. The amount of projection of the threaded shaft 37 from collar 38 can be adjusted with -locknuts 39 provided for this purpose so that the amount of ~S pivotal movement of arms 32 abou-t the a~:Ls of i.ntermedi~te shaft 24 can be regulated,`

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Referring to Figure 2 there is shown a pillar 40 which extends downwardly from mounting plate 24 so that its central axis is substantially coaxial with the axis of intermediate shaft 22. Sleeves 41 are mounted ior rotational movement at .
the lower end of pillar 40 and these sleeves 41 are attached to an L frame 42 which extends outwardly from sleeves 41 and then upwardly to couple with the outer end of shaker assembly mounting frame 33. The bottom of pillar 40 is not located in the form illustrated but could be located in a /~ fixture attached to a lower side member o~ the harvester fraJne.
Rcferring to Fig~re 5 there is shown a mounting 43 to ~Jh.iCI~ an hydraulic mo-tor M (shown in dotted detail) can be attclched. This mountinq 43 consists o-E a plate which is slicla~ly located on arms 4~ ~hich are ixed to but 10CAted above (by supports not shown) the mounting plate 24. Plate 43 is provi.ded with a threaded stud 45 wh.ich engages in an opening in cross member 46. A locknut 47 plus bolks 48 - .
tl~rough slots 49 into arms 44 allows for adjus~able fixture 0 of the plate 43 on arms 44. With an hydraulic motor mounted in opening 50 in plate 43 a V belt can extend from tbe .
.output of the hydraulic motor to pulley wheel 21 on intermediate~
sha~ 22. In such an arrangement the central prime mover 18 Wit~l ~ belt 19 are not required thus resulting in the central a~ area~ of top frame 10 being kept clear.
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li.Z~165'3 The shaker head assemblies 27 are preferably o the type illustrated in Figure 7 oi the dra~ings. Each assembly -consists of a cylindrical housing 51 which carries toothed .
ring 30. A sleeve S2 extends do-~nwardly from the floor o~
S cylindrical housi.ng 51 and journalled for rotation in the sleeve is an output shaft 53. Sleeve 52 is itsel journalled .
for rotational movement when attached to mounting plate 24.
. The upper end oE shaft 53 has a crank 54 with the outer-- . end thereof carrying a projection 54'. This projection 54' engages in an opening 55 in a lin~ 56. Link 56 is journalled for pivotal movement on a spiqot 57 projecting rom the floor of housing 51. An elongate opening 58 is provided in link 56 ancl the eccentric 59 o~ input shaEt 60 locates withi.li this opening 58.
¦ S - A cover 61 is applied to the uppe.r end oE housin~ 51 and journalled Eor ro-tation within cover 61 lS a sleeve 62 whicll has all eccent~ic bore 63. Input shaEt 60 locates within s.leeve 62 and is Xe,yed to disc 64 which has a series . o~ apertures 65 located on a circle concentric with the ..

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:~ - a o opening therein. Disc 64 is attached to the pulley wheel.26 which is keyed to sleeve 62 and this is ef:Eectea b~ a bolt 66 engaging through an aperture 65 into a threaded openin~ .

67 in toothed pulley 26.

ReEerring to Figure 3 o~ the drawings shafts 68 are S shown and ~hese are each attached to an output 53-o a ., : , .. . ..

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shaker head assembly 27. Each shaft 68 earries a set of .
tines or fingers which are generally indicated at 69. It will be appreciated that in Figure 3 the L frame 42 has been omitted for the interests of clarity. The lower ends of shaft 69 are journalled in suitable fixtures 70 which extend from the lower side member of the harvester frame.
In operation high speed rotational motion is applied to intermediate sha~t 22 and this is transmitted through toothed . belt 25 to the input shat 60 of the shaker head assembly 27. Rotation of eccentric 59 in link 56 causes crank 54 to oscillate back and forth which sets up a vibrational movement in the output shaft 53. This vibrational movement is trans-~errecl to sha:Et 68 which causes the tines or fingers thereon to also vibr~te. As sleeve 52 .~s mountecl Eor rotational ¦~ then pass~e.oE the ti.~es or fln~ers throu~h the produce bear.ing.plants or bushes superimposes a rotary motion on .~Utpllt shaft 53. The rotary motion on the output shafts 53 . o each pair of shaker head assemblies 27 is the same due to the couplin~ of the housings 51 by chains 29 extending O around toothed rin~s 30.
To enslire t~1at undesirable v1bration is not set up in - the narvestèx frame the shaker head assemblies of each pair a~e 90 coupled by the toothed belts 25 that the vibrational movelnent o one assembly can be maintained constant relative ~ ~ ~ to the other assembly. rrhis is preferably acheived by ;. - ~ ' , .: , , , . -.;~ , , . ' ' , .

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setting up one head assembly so that its amplitude of vibration is eclual and opposite to that'of the other head assembly.
Such timing of the head assemblies is acheived by posi-tioning the cranks 54 at opposite ends of their throw and then passing bolt 66 throucJh the aperture 65 in disc 64 which is in a alignmen-t with threaded opening 67. The operation and construction'of the sha~er head ass.embly is further described in N~w Zealand Pattent Spec.ification 165873.
Each shalcer assembly mounting frame 33 is free to move about the a.Yi~ of intermediate shaft 22 and can do so indepen-dent of an~ other shaker asse~bly mounting frame 33. Accord-inc31y, the tined shafts 6g can ollow the contours of the pro~ ce bear:i.ncJ plants,or bushes without .the movement oi one.
shaft 68 bein~ :in~luenced hy t..he movement oE the other shaEt G8 oE the l~air.. ~rll a~orementj.c)ned timinc,l oE -the shaker asse1nbly head 27 of the pa:ir is not siyn.ificalrtly altered by pi.~ot:~l rnvvc~n~ abou~ intermediat:e sh.~Et ~3 though it will be.appreciated that the an~lar pos.itions of. the toothed timiny and drivinc3 belt,s 25 about pulley wheels 21 does alte,r s;].i~Jht:ly~ in response tQ the pivotal movement'oE the mountiny :Erames 33 about the a~is of intermedlate shaft,22.
- ' If ~he threaded shafts 37 on the i..nboard side, of mounting arms'3~ were ad~usted such,that.'at thei.r closest approach the tines or incJ~rs 67 of shats 68 on opposite sides of .
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~ the harvester ~ramQ can overlap a situa-tion arises whereby ~. ' , "' " ' '.''' '"' '' ' ' ,' '':
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~L~2~5~3 damage can occur to the produce bearing plants or bushes. A
clos~ approach of the opposinc3 tines or fingers i5, however, desirable to ensure that there is good penetration of the plants or bushes.
~ STo acheive this required amount of penetration the - shaker head assemblies on each side o~ the frame can be stagyered in the manner shown in Figure G. In this drawing circles 71 indicate the peripheral boundaries of the tines or ~ingers associated with each of sha-E-ts 68. It will be /0 seen.that ~hilst the circles overlap the central longitudinal horiæontal axis of the harvester frame the tines or fingers themselves do no-t overlap. Thi.s means that damage does not OCC:Ul' to tll~ produce bea:rincJ plants or bushes due to -the ove:r:Lal~ oE tines or ~in~ers but: at tlle same time extremely l s ~oocl pl~nc~tr~ti.c~n of the plantc; or bu.shes is acheived. In clcl~.li.~ion ~he ~ le durinc3 w11ich the plclnts or bushes are b~?.inc~ sllal;c~ the hc~rve~ter durincJ i.t:s passage thereover is con.siderably mor~ than with the arrangement shown for - examp].e shown in Figure l. This overlappinc3 of the-circles :ao of actioll of: the tines or fingers can be applied to any . . .~
straddle type harvester where there is at least one set o~
tines or fin~ers at either side of a horizontal longit~ldinal axis t.`nroucJh the harvesl:er frame.
; .~ith the mountlng and drivincJ arrancJement shown in aS FicJure 1, ho~ever, the arrangement oE FicJure 6 can be readily : - ' ' ` , ' ' , ' . .
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acheived by employiny a cran~ed mounting frame 17. As shot~n in Figure 6 the cranked frame has a middle portion 72 which :
is inclined to the outer portions 73 (which attach to side members 16) with the result that the mounting plates 24 are not transversely alic~ned. It wlll be appreciated that Figure 6 is diagramatic and the mounting plates 24 are sho~n without the arms 22 mounting frames 33 and the associated belts 25 and chains 29.
The pairs of shaker head assemblies 27 can.be mounted ~0 in the manner c'escribecl ir. this sper,.ification ~r could for example be mollnted in the manner disclosed in our earlier New 7,ealànd Patent Specification No. 179552. Alternatively, I
pa.irs oE shaker head a~semblies on either side of the longi-tucli.nal horiæontal axis. are not required as a single sha~er heat:l assembly on either side can be employed with the assem-blies not beincJ transversely ali~ned.

, :The present invention thus provides a mounting and . drive arrangement for the shaker head assemblies of the har~esting apparatus where each of the shaker head-.assemblies ~0 . can move inclependently of one another but pairs of assemblies `~ are'coupled together so that the rotary motion of the outputs are~the same and the vibrational outpu~ of one assembly lS
mairltained in a cons-tant relationship with the vibrational movement of ~he output of the other assembly. ~he invention '...... - . , '' '-~ ' - ' . . ' -~ 14 - :
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also provides a mounking and driving arrangemen-t for the shaker head assemblies of a harvesting apparatus wherein good penetration of the produce bearing plants or bushes by the tines or flngers is acheived.

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Claims (10)

1. Harvesting apparatus comprising a main frame moveable relative to the ground, power means mounted on said main frame to provide power for the relative movement between said main frame and the ground, at least one shaker head assembly located to each side of a longitudinal horizontal axis through said frame, the or each shaker head assembly to one side of said longitudinal axis being located forwardly of the corres-ponding shaker head assembly on the other side of said longitudinal axis such that said shaker head assemblies are positioned in a staggered relationship along said frame, a shaft attached to the output of each said shaker head assembly and at least one set of radially spaced harvesting finger means attached to each said shaft, said harvesting finger means, in use, coming in contact with produce bearing plants or bushes as said main frame moves through or thereover and vibrating and shaking said plants or bushes to cause fruit, berries or-the like produce to be dislodged therefrom.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein an imaginery circle defining the extremities of such radially spaced finger means of each of the shaker head assemblies overlaps the said longitudinal horizontal axis of said frame but there is no overlap between adjacent imaginery circles.

3. A harvesting apparatus comprising a main frame moveable relative to the ground, power means mounted on said main frame to provide power for the relative movement between said main frame and the ground, a pair of vibrational shaker head assemblies mounted to each side of a longitudinal horizontal axis through said main frame, each of the assemblies having an input and an output with a respective associated input and output member, a prime mover, means for converting rot-ary motion applied to each input member into a torsional vibration superimposed on the associated output member, the output members being mounted so as to enable a rotary motion to be superimposed thereon, power transfer means for trans-mitting high speed rotational movement to the input members of each pair of shaker head assemblies, means coupling together the output members of each pair of shaker head assemblies whereby the rotational and vibrational movement of one output member of the pair is the same as the other, and at least one set of radially spaced harvesting finger means positioned in operative connection with each output mem-ber, said harvesting finger means, in use, coming in contact with produce bearing plants or bushes as said main frame moves through or thereover and vibrating and shaking said plants or bushes to cause fruit, berries or the like produce to be dis-lodged therefrom, the shaker head assemblies being so posit-ioned to each side of the longitudinal horizontal axis that they are not transversely aligned but are in a staggered relationship to each side of the longitudinal horizontal axis.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein an imaginery circle defining the extremities of said radially spaced finger means of each of the shaker head assemblies overlaps the said longitudinal horizontal axis of said frame but there is no overlap between adjacent said imaginery circles.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein the finger means are attached to a shaft extending downwardly from each shaker head assembly output.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein each pair of shaker head assemblies is coupled to said frame by mount-ing means which are mounted for pivotal movement independent of one another.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 or 5 wherein each pair of shaker head assemblies is coupled to said frame by mount-ing means which are mounted for independent pivotal and trans-verse movement relative to said frame.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein an intermediate shaft is located between the shaker head assemblies of each said pair of shaker head assemblies, a pair of coupled pulley wheels mounted for rotation on said intermediate shaft, each of said pulleys having a positively engaging belt which couples it to the input member of a shaker head assembly of the pair of shaker head assemblies between which the inter-mediate shaft is positioned, drive means coupling said prime mover to said coupled pulley wheels, a pair of coupled sprocket wheels mounted for rotation on said intermediate shaft each of said sprocket wheels being engaged by an endless chain which extends about a toothed ring located on a housing on each respective shaker head assembly.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein each mounting means is mounted for free pivotal movement about an axis which is substantially coaxial with said intermediate shaft.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein a pillar extends coaxially down from below said intermediate shaft, said pillar having a pair of arms pivotally mounted at its lower end to extend radially therefrom, each arm being coupled by an upwardly extending member which is connected to said shaker head assembly mounting means.