Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor section – Bucket
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-27
2001-07-31
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor section
Bucket
C198S708000, C198S710000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06267226
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates to harvesting machines for fruit including grapes and it relates in particular to bucket elevators used in these machines.
The application in respect of which the invention was developed is the use of a bucket elevator to lift just harvested grapes to an elevated position.
However, it is recognized that other fruits may be able to be harvested by very similar machines and currently dwarf olives are a possibility. Accordingly, at least to some extent the principals of this invention can be applied more broadly to similar applications.
It is conventional for bucket elevators for these harvesters to have a chain or chains which support a plurality of buckets aligned in echelon each of which is supported by a pivot connection with respect to the chain so that each bucket can in turn have its relative position to the chain changed so that as it progresses from a collection position to an elevating position, its orientation however may stay the same despite the chain following a path giving it a different orientation.
In this way, each bucket keeps its open mouth uppermost for most effective storage capacity of both fruit and any juice.
When the buckets are carried to an discharging station, conventionally external means guide each bucket so that its orientation is then changed relative to the chain so that its open mouth is turned to be lowermost and the contents are emptied thereby.
This is the currently existing system.
I have discovered that this system can be improved.
I have noticed for instance that there can be difficulties with the current system when all of the incidental debris as well as grapes are loaded onto the buckets at the collection station.
This debris can include stalks and limbs of vines and these can project in all directions and be pushed into all sorts of places.
When a bucket is reorientated from a collection position to an elevating position, its position changes relative to the chain and if this action happens to ensnare materials such as limbs of vine, then either the orientation is not fully accomplished or when the orientation is forced to change, and this is not possible because of some ensnaring debris, then buckets can be either distorted or broken.
One of the major problems with one or more of the buckets being broken is that, if the harvester is to be continued to be used, and at harvest time this is normally essential, the bucket has to be rapidly replaced and the elevating bucket system cannot simply be used without potentially serious loss of harvested materials. This results in delays and if the period is critical as far as collecting the material to be harvested at a critical time, then the results can be more serious because of delay in harvesting.
An object of this invention is to propose an arrangement for a harvester including a bucket elevator which at least reduces the above difficulties.
In accord with one form of this invention, there is proposed a grape harvester including a bucket elevator with a bucket elevator chain with buckets arranged to collect grapes and grape juice at a lowermost collection station in each of the buckets and elevate these to a discharge station where the buckets are each attached to the chain so that the orientation of the bucket in each case will remain as that of a chain link of the chain adjacent which it is located and affixed and where the grapes and juice will be thereby retained within each respective bucket by reason of the shape and the orientation of the respective buckets through from the collection station to the discharge station, wherein said collection station extends across a collection area where each bucket is held in a collection position with its mouth uppermost while it passes across said extended collection station whereby the grapes and juice will be retained within each respective bucket by reason of the shape, position and the orientation of the respective buckets through from the collection station to the discharge station.
This then proposes a quite radical change to the current system.
Rather than having as hitherto, a bucket that is allowed to pivot or move more or less independently of the orientation of the chain or the links to which it is adjacent or even affixed, the concept now is to have the chain define the orientation.
I will now explain how and why this provides an answer to the problem set out above.
By having each bucket secured so as to follow the orientation of its associated link of a chain, means that each adjacent bucket can be located essentially adjoining one another at least in so far that each has an uppermost open face during a collection station period.
Next, by realising that the shape of a holding cavity of a bucket can be effective to hold product such as harvested grapes and juice both when its open mouth is uppermost or to one side of the holding cavity, means that one is no longer constrained to have to reorientate the bucket with respect to the chain.
As an example of the changed relationship of the mouth with the holding cavity of a bucket, in a preferred arrangement then there is provided that a rear wall of a cavity is rearwardly inclined from an upper edge defining a rearward most edge of the uppermost mouth all of this when the bucket is in the collection position. In preference, a front wall is more or less parallel to the back wall so that there can be provided a holding capacity in which both front and rear walls are more or less parallel one with respect to the other and sides walls are likewise parallel one with respect to the other so that with this arrangement, not only will the bucket collect and hold product when the mouth is uppermost, but when the bucket is then inclined because it must follow the inclination of the chain when in an elevating position, while the mouth then orientates to a vertical or toward a vertical orientation, none the less, because of the internal holding shape, the bucket will still hold substantially the contents originally collected when the bucket was in the collection position.
While at first thought, it might be considered that this would limit the capacity of the bucket elevator by having to have an inclined cavity, in practice it is found that there can be in fact an increased capacity because firstly the chain can be operated at a faster speed without apparently increased fear of breakage of buckets and secondly, the size and depth of the holding shape of the buckets is not restricted.
In another form of the invention there is provided a grape harvester including a bucket elevator of a type in which a chain is adapted to support a plurality of buckets in echelon alignment, and to convey the buckets from a collection position to an elevating position, then to an discharging positing and then to the collection position characterised in that each bucket is secured and supported so that its orientation remains that of the chain link adjacent to which it is located , and such that in the collection position each bucket is located to be positioned relative to adjoining buckets so that at least in a substantially forward to rearward direction there is an uppermost continuous collection area for collection of materials to be elevated, the buckets being further arranged to collect grapes and grape juice at a lowermost collection station in each of the buckets and elevate these to a discharge station and where the grapes and juice will be thereby retained within each respective bucket by reason of the shape and the orientation of the respective buckets through from the collection station to the discharge station wherein said collection station extends across a collection area where each bucket is held in a collection position with its mouth uppermost whereby the grapes and juice will be retained within each respective bucket by reason of the shape, position and the orientation of the respective buckets through from the collection station to the discharge station.
Further, the invention can reside in the method of handling materials which comprises the steps of using a bucket elevator arrang
Akerman & Senterfitt
Crawford Gene O.
Ellis Christopher P.
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