Crop threshing or separating – Fruit or vegetable processing apparatus – Stripper or stemmer
Patent
1991-04-10
1993-08-10
Melius, Terry Lee
Crop threshing or separating
Fruit or vegetable processing apparatus
Stripper or stemmer
5612146, 563271, A01D 4600
Patent
active
052343758
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for the automatic harvesting of mushrooms.
2. Description of the Related Art
When mushrooms are harvested they are manually picked. The person that harvests the mushrooms must make his choice of the desired dimension by sight. The stem of the mushroom must then be cut off. This happens usually with a hand-held knife. The mushroom is then put down in a box or carton. This way of harvesting requires great skill and is very labor intensive. There have been trials with fully automatic harvesting machines, but these have proven to be failures. There are also machines that harvest the whole cultivating bed in one passage. This way of operation has the disadvantage that the harvest is a mixture of too large to too small. In this way the cultivating bed is not completely used.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The mushroom harvesting equipment of the present invention is equipped with a stemcutting section and a transportation section which has a sorting capability to dimension. The intake section reaches over the mushroom cultivating bed, allowing the operator to use both hands for harvesting. The result is that, in an easier way, a large production can be made with a better dimension classification, which gives the product a higher quality.
The mushroom harvesting equipment of the present invention foresees a combination of a manual picking and mechanical processing of the mushrooms. This means that the machine is equipped with over-the-cultivating bed reaching intake equipment which uses cords for delivery to the stemcutting section. The stemcutting section consists of two circular cutters that rotate in opposite direction, after which, the cut-off champions are carried off and, in the mean time, selected by dimension. The invention will be described in conjunction with the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows a top view of the transporting means and cutting equipment of one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 shows a side view of one embodiment of the present invention with a section of the cultivating bed.
FIG. 4 shows a top view of the intake equipment of another embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, the intake equipment (1) is shown with cutting section (2) and the transport section (3). The mushrooms (4) are placed on the transportation cords (5) and (6). These move as indicated by arrows (7) and (8). The mushrooms (4) are transported to the cutting section (2) where two oppositely rotating cutting wheels (9) and (10) are found. The cutting wheels overlap each other partially and have a circumferential speed which is equal to or greater than the transportation speed of the mushrooms (4). The cut-off mushrooms (4) are then further transported to the end of the intake section (1) where, with the help of wheel (11) (indicated schematically in FIG. 3) which is furnished with a flexible rim, the mushrooms (4) are forced to the transportation section (3). It is possible to adjust the pulleys (14) and 15) so that the cords (12) and (13) are widening. The mushrooms (4) will fall between the cords (12) and (13) when the distance is greater than the diameter of the mushrooms (4). Thus, the widening forms zones (16) and (17) where mushrooms of a certain dimension and tolerance, determined by the widening, will fall through. Containers can be placed in each zone and in this way the mushrooms (4), selected by dimension, can be collected. By packing the containers on scales with a preset weight, it is possible to deliver mushrooms ready for shipping. The containers with the scales can be placed on tray (18). The zones (16) and (17) are marked with indicating fingers (19).
The drive of the transportation means is realized with an (not shown) electrical motor, which drives the shafts of the cutting wheels (9) and (10). The pulleys (22) and (23) are driven via chains or toothed belts (20) and (21). Disk (11) is mounted on the shaft of pulle
REFERENCES:
patent: 3164182 (1965-01-01), Hughes et al.
patent: 3635005 (1972-01-01), Persson
patent: 4472929 (1984-09-01), MacCanna et al.
patent: 4545186 (1985-10-01), MacCanna
patent: 5035109 (1991-07-01), van den Top
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