Harvesters – Cotton – Pickers
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-08
2001-09-25
Will, Thomas B. (Department: 3671)
Harvesters
Cotton
Pickers
C056S041000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06293078
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to agricultural harvesters, and, more specifically, to a harvester for removing crop from adjacent, closely spaced rows of plants.
2) Related Art
Harvesters such as cotton pickers include row units having upright picker drums with spindles projecting into a row receiving area to remove cotton from a row of plants. Harvesting very narrowly spaced rows of cotton has been a continuing source of difficulty. 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. In some areas the rows may be spaced as closely as twelve inches (30 cm), and harvesting with conventional row units can result in substantial adjacent row plant damage and cotton loss.
In copending and commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 09/322,453 entitled NARROW ROW COTTON HARVESTER and filed May 28, 1999, now U.S Pat. No. 6,212,864, a crop severing and conveying attachment is described for cutting a row of plants and moving the plants into an adjacent standing row prior to contact by a forward spindle drum. The cut plants intertwine with the standing row so the picking drums can remove cotton from both rows of plants. Although the attachment is capable of harvesting rows spaced apart fifteen inches or less, the cutter as shown therein is offset forwardly from the drums a considerable distance. The plants must be supported well to keep them upright as they move diagonally rearwardly into the adjacent standing row, and the system requires a relatively long belt conveyer and cutter drive system. The front of the attachment extends forwardly beyond the row unit thereby substantially increasing the operating length of the harvester.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved harvester row unit for harvesting crops planted in narrowly spaced rows. It is a further object to provide such a unit which overcomes most or all of the aforementioned problems.
It is a further object to provide such an improved harvester row unit for harvesting narrowly spaced rows of plants which is simple in construction and which does not substantially increase the harvester length or weight over that of a harvester having a conventional row unit with single row capacity. It is a further object to provide such a harvester which obviates relatively long conveyors and drives and forwardly mounted cutting devices.
It is another object to provide an improved harvester row unit capable of harvesting rows of cotton space twelve inches (30 cm) or less. It is another object to provide such unit having a tandem spindle drum harvesting arrangement and two built-in and closely spaced row receiving areas for accommodating two adjacent rows of cotton.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide an improved cotton harvester row unit for simultaneously harvesting two closely spaced rows of cotton wherein a forward drum provides both a transport function for one of the rows and a cotton removing function for both of the rows. It is still a further object to provide such a unit including a crop severing device located adjacent the forward drum behind the forwardmost extremity of the unit. It is another object to provide an improved grid bar arrangement for such a unit which helps to guide the transported row into the harvesting zone
A narrow row harvesting unit is described for harvesting a crop planted in closely spaced rows. In the embodiment shown for a cotton picker, the crop removing portion of the unit includes a tandem drum arrangement. The unit includes first and second row receiving areas spaced on the order of one foot (30 cm) apart and separated by a narrow stalk lifter.
The crop removing portion of the row unit provides transverse movement of a first row of the crop towards a second row of the crop behind the stalk lifter. In the cotton picker unit, a forward upright drum includes spindles projecting through a grid bar arrangement intercepting the first row of crop. The plants are moved laterally along grid bars into the main crop removing zone which is aligned with the second row. A cutter offset just ahead of the forward drum severs the plants in the first row, and a rotating column with plant engaging projections cooperates with the drum to direct the severed plants into the standing second row.
The unit is simple and inexpensive in construction and light in weight. Crop row severing occurs close to the forward spindle drum to avoid long drive and conveyor belt runs. The length of the unit is not increased over that of a unit which harvests only a single row of crop. Since the forward drum acts not only to remove cotton from both rows of plants but also cooperates with the grid bar arrangement and rotating column to aggressively move a severed row of plants in an upright position towards the standing row, conveyor and drive complexity and cost are reduced. The cutter and rotating column can be mounted for rotation about a common axis to further simplify drive. The drum, grid bars and rotating column provide good support and transverse movement of the severed row of plants with little or no crop damage, even when the rows are spaced more widely than twelve inches (30 cm). Utilizing the forward drum for moving the severed plants also helps to pull the plants along the rearwardly extending portion of the grid bars and into the standing row for efficient boll removal by the spindles. A conventional row unit with single row capacity can be easily and inexpensively modified for two row capacity.
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.
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Deutsch Timothy Arthur
Hadley Howard C.
Deere & Company
Kováacs ÁArpáad Fáabiáan
Will Thomas B.
LandOfFree
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