Harvesters – Seed gatherers or strippers – Fixed comb
Patent
1990-11-30
1993-02-16
Melius, Terry L.
Harvesters
Seed gatherers or strippers
Fixed comb
56220, 56364, A01D 4530
Patent
active
051859912
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for, and a method of, harvesting crops. It is concerned with detaching from plants, without cutting them, seeds, seed-bearing parts, seed bodies, and certain fruits and/or foliage, collecting the detached material and separating from it the wanted plant parts. The invention has particular application in the harvesting of grain crops, such as wheat, barley, oats and rice, but also has application in the harvesting of other combinable crops like pulses, oilseeds and herbage seeds.
The invention has further application in the harvesting of nuts and other seed bodies and of flower heads, some fruiting bodies and foliage.
2. The Prior Art
Commonly the harvesting of seed crops, particularly cereal and herbage seed crops, is carried out by a once-over, destructive operation which involves the cutting of the seed-bearing stems near their base. Harvesting machines, particularly combine-harvesters, are easily overloaded by large volumes of crop bulk, because these create problems of seed detachment and separation.
The in-situ stripping of seeds from the uncut crop has been attempted repeatedly and has met with varying degrees of success. In-situ seed stripping by a rotary device became known through U.S. Pat. No. 1,290,484 entitled `Standing Grain Harvester`. However, none of the early diclosures made adequate provision for satisfactorily harvesting seeds or other wanted parts from crops which are unfavourably presented, because they are either severely leaning, tangled, twisted or laid, with the wanted parts in close proximity to the ground or embedded in matted crop layers.
More recent proposals relating to in-situ seed stripping appear in published International Patent Applications PCT/W086/01972, PCT/W088/04885, PCT/W088/05626, and in GB 2188822A, all of which have the same inventor as the present application. These more recent proposals disclose crop engaging elements which are preferably resiliently mounted or made of resilient material, so that damage is avoided if inadvertent contact is made with the ground or with foreign objects among the crop.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is among the objects of the present invention to provide improved apparatus for, and methods of, removing wanted plant parts from an uncut crop, and to overcome many of the known disadvantages of existing harvesting machinery and methods.
More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to reduce losses of wanted plant parts, particularly seeds, which can occur in some crops and conditions with existing crop engaging elements, to keep the fan effect and the energy requirement of crop stripping rotors low, to adapt stripping rotors quickly and easily to crops of different physical characteristics, dimensions and growth habits, to minimise the detachment of unwanted material and to maximise the detachment of individual seeds, as opposed to whole or part seed heads, or of other wanted parts, so that any subsequent task of separating and cleaning the wanted fraction or fractions is facilitated and the required mechanisms may be kept small and simple.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for harvesting crops comprising: a mobile support structure for movement over the ground; moveable support means capable of being driven relative to the support structure and extending transversely across the direction of forward movement of the apparatus; a plurality of crop engaging elements cantilevered outwards from the moveable support means; means for driving the moveable support means so that the crop engaging elements comb through the uncut crop at a front region, to access, detach and impel wanted parts including seeds; crop containment and guide means extending over or under the apparatus to prevent detached crop particles becoming lost and to direct them rearwards for collection; characterised in that at least some of the crop engaging elements comprise crop stripping elements, each forming at least
REFERENCES:
patent: 4581880 (1986-04-01), Klinner
patent: 4951451 (1990-08-01), Klinner
patent: 5044147 (1991-09-01), Klinner
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