Harvesters – Cotton – Pickers
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-28
2001-04-10
Pezzuto, Robert E. (Department: 3671)
Harvesters
Cotton
Pickers
C056S035000, C056S038000, C056S041000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06212864
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to cotton harvesters and, more specifically, to a row unit structure for harvesting narrowly spaced cotton plants.
2) Related Art
Cotton harvesters for picking cotton typically include a row harvesting unit having upright spindle drums and doffer columns for picking a row of cotton from plants that enter a row-receiving area in a support housing. The housing is relatively large and carries numerous driven components necessary for the picking and doffing functions. Providing picker row units that can harvest adjacent cotton rows in narrowly spaced cotton rows of fifteen inches (38 cm.) or less without plant damage and cotton loss in one of the rows has been a continuing problem because of the space requirements for the components. Cotton picker units such as shown in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,497 with picker drums supported in tandem on one side only of the row, or nested row harvesting units as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,403 have provided row harvesting capability for some narrow row spacings, but the reduction has not been sufficient to accommodate very narrowly spaced rows of fifteen inches or less. As row spacings decrease and the area around each row unit decreases, accessing service areas on the row units and providing adequate cotton door and conveying structure become increasingly difficult.
A further problem with current cotton harvesters has been under-utilization of row unit capacity in low yield conditions. In low yield cotton, the row units often operate at only a small fraction of their maximum capacity.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved cotton harvester row unit structure that overcomes most or all of the above-mentioned problems. It is another object to provide such a structure that facilitates harvesting cotton from adjacent rows or areas of narrowly spaced cotton plants. It is yet another object to provide such a row unit structure that provides increased row unit utilization in low yield cotton conditions. It is still another object to provide such a structure that is light in weight, relatively inexpensive and easy to adjust for different plant spacings and which is easy to access for maintenance, clean-out and repair.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an improved cotton harvester row unit structure wherein a row unit harvests the cotton from more that one row of cotton. It is still another object to provide such structure which can harvest two adjacent rows of cotton spaced fifteen inches (38 cm.) or less. It is yet another object to provide such a harvester which is adjustable to accommodate different adjacent row spacings and which includes an attachment which can be easily moved to a storage position when not needed for harvesting adjacent cotton from adjacent plants. It is still another object to provide such an attachment which can move vertically to follow ground contours.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an attachment for the row unit structure of a cotton picker to provide up to twice the normal row capacity of the picker without increasing the number of row units. It is a further object to provide such an attachment which is relatively inexpensive and light in weight and which can be easily fitted to conventional row unit structure with only minor modifications to the structure. It is yet another object to provide such an attachment which is easily adjustable for different plant spacings and easy to move for storage or access to the row unit service doors.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved cotton harvester having increased row capacity but which is substantially less expensive than harvesters with individual row units for each row. It is a further object to provide such a structure which is lighter and more compact than at least most previously available harvester of equal row capacity and which can harvest adjacent rows of cotton with row spacings of fifteen inches (38 cm.) or less. It is a further object to provide such a harvester with easily adjustable row unit structure for accommodating different row spacings and for easy access to service areas on the structure. It is still another object to provide such a harvester wherein space for cotton door and duct structure is maximized.
A cotton harvester includes a plurality of row harvesting units adjustably spaced on a row unit support. Each unit includes a framed housing defining a row receiving area with conventional picking, doffing and door structure for removing cotton bolls from a row of cotton plants entering the area and conveying the cotton towards a basket. Crop severing and gathering structure is pivotally connected to the frame at the forward end of the harvesting unit housing adjacent the row receiving area and includes a cutter for severing the lower portion of cotton plants offset from the row entering the row receiving area. A conveyer includes a pair of opposed belts with gripping features which embrace the lower portions of the stems of the cotton plants and move the severed plants in a generally upright position into the row of standing plants that is entering the row receiving area. The severed cotton plants intertwine with the standing row at the front of the housing as the conveyor moves the plants against one side of the row. The standing row with intertwined plants enters the row receiving area so the picking drums can remove cotton from both the standing row and the severed plants. The opposed belts have surfaces which enhance the gripping and conveying of the severed plants, and rotating brushes can be added above the cutters to help gather and hold the plants in the upright position for cutting. The cutters preferably include a sharpened disk and a complimentary overlapping serrated disk to efficiently sever the plants below the gripped portions. The opposed belts facilitate efficient cutting of the plants and reduce pulling of roots and problems associated therewith, and additional rotating brush elements above the cutters and belts may be added for extra support and guidance as the plants enter the cutting area of the crop severing and gathering structure.
The crop severing and gathering structure is preferably located on the same side of the row receiving area as tandem spindle drums to effectively utilize the space forward of the housing area that supports the drums and facilitate harvesting cotton plants laterally spaced a relatively short distance from the plants entering the row receiving area. The pivotal connection allows the severing and gathering structure to be adjusted to the desired lateral position for a given plant spacing which can be as little as fifteen inches or less and which can be increased to harvest cotton spaced thirty inches or more from first row. The structure may also be lifted out of the way for convenient access to areas in and near the housing, including access to the row unit door structure. Increased productivity as a result of narrower row spacings and increased utilization of row unit capacity, even in fields with row spacings on the order of thirty inches, can be achieved without a substantial increase in cotton harvester cost. The pivotal connection also allows the severing and gathering structure to be adjusted vertically or float relative to the row unit for better height control.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description in view of the drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3035387 (1962-05-01), Bevill
patent: 3645075 (1972-02-01), Kappelman et al.
patent: 3685263 (1972-08-01), Kappelman et al.
patent: 3982384 (1976-09-01), Rohweder et al.
patent: 4009557 (1977-03-01), Reicks
patent: 4249365 (1981-02-01), Hubbard et al.
patent: 4269017 (1981-05-01), deBuhr et al.
patent: 4470245 (1984-09-01), Agadi
patent: 4538403 (1985-09-01), Fachini
patent:
Brown Billy Paul
Deutsch Timothy Arthur
Forest Richard Lee
Harden Jerrell William
Harden Russell Jerrell
Deere & Company
Kovács Arpád Fáb
Pezzuto Robert E.
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