AU601573B2

AU601573B2 - A device to facilitate removal of plant products from tall trees

Info

Publication number: AU601573B2
Application number: AU15133/88A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Umasuthan Dr. Kaloo
Original assignee: PALM OIL RESEARCH AND DEV BOAR; Palm Oil Research and Development Board
Current assignee: Palm Oil Research and Development Board
Priority date: 1988-04-26
Filing date: 1988-04-26
Publication date: 1990-09-13
Anticipated expiration: 2008-04-26
Also published as: AU1513388A

Description

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA PATENT ACT 1952 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

(ORIGINAL)

FOR OFFICE USE CLASS INT. CLASS Application Number: Lodged: Complete Specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: Priority: Related Art-: 601573 a ,i docum' nt f u lA ~Ir t NAME OF APPLICANT: PALM OIL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD ADDRESS OF APPLICANT: No. 6, Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.

NAME(S) OF INVENTOR(S) Umasuthan KALOO t ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: DAVIES COLLISON, Patent Attorneys 1 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, 3000.

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR THE INVENTION ENTITLED: "A DEVICE TO FACILITATE REMOVAL OF PLANT PRODUCTS FROM TALL TRMES" The following statement is a full description of this invention.

including the best method of performing it known to us -1f J. L 1A Field of Invention oao This invention relates to a devices to facilitate a S o0 9 o harvesting of fruits or removal of leaves or branches from 0 Q an h 0 0 tall plants and trees; n r and has 0 0 o5 particular but not exclusive application to devices employed 9 9 for the harvesting of palm fruits and leaves.

00 0 9d 09 Background Art 00 o00 Fruits of nalm trees, especially oil palm fruit bunches 0 and coconuts are currently harvested with long wooden pole, Sof0. sometimes a bamboo pole, to which a knife is attached 9 0 "0 °0 manually by lashing the knife to the'upper end of the said pole. This method is inconvenient in that the pole length is fixed which makes it unwielding to harvest fruits from trees of varying heights. The weight of a wooden pole makes the handling of the harvesting device inefficient and clumsy.

The durability of the pole is poor. Dry poles break when slight force is applied along the longitudinal axis and they 1. 1^, 2

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44 ,I4 4 I are not very resilient which is an essential factor in harvesting poles. These disadvantages generally decrease the productivity of a harvesting ww.rker and thereby increase the cost of production.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the wooden harvesting pole.

According to the present invention there is provided a device to facilitate removal of plant produce from tall trees, comprising: a basic tubular pole of elliptical cross-section, the cross-section of the tube being defined by opposed major portions substantially parallel to the major axis, opposed minor portions substantially parallel to the minor axis and joining portions between and adjacent said major and minor portions, external and internal surfaces of the major and minor portions being flat and the thickness at said major and minor portions being greater than the thickness of the joining portions; an extension tubular pole of elliptical cross-section which is marginally larger than that of the basic pole and is adapted to receive the basic pole and be fastened thereto, the thickness of the major and minor portions of the extension pole complementary to said major and minor portions of the basic pole being greater than the thickness of joining portions of the extension pole, a slit being provided on each of the opposed major portions of the extension pole, each said slit extending longitudinally of the extension pole from the end of the extension pole which is adapted to receive the basic pole to about 3 or 4 times the length of the major portion towards the opposite end of the extension pole, there ',gJnd at.006,ky5133. rea2 Il -r iL I .hL- i i 2a terminating in an aperture of diameter greater than the width of the respective slit; and a cutting tool adapted to be fastened to one of the minor portions of the basic pole, wherein the basic pole is fastened to the extension pole by inserting one end of the basic pole into the end of the extension rale at which the slits open and causing the slit halves of the extension pole to mechanically grip the basic pole.

Brief Description of the Invention The invention will now be further described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawing in which; Fig. 1 A perspective view of a harvester in which the basic pole is fastened to the extension pole by a U-bolt clamp and

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9o66,gjnspe,0o~iAj5133cla, i S 3 the knife is fastened to the basic pole by bolts and nuts.

Fig.2 Form and" preferred key dimensions of basic and I extension poles in a preferred embodiment.

Fig.3 A perspective view of the alternate assemblies of knife o0 o* to the basic pole in a preferred embodiment.

i Fbg. 4 Perspective view of the slit end of the extension pole S, in a preferred embodiment.

Sectional view of the assembly of the basic and extension pole in a preferred embodiment.

Fig.6 Sectional view of an alternative embodiment of the assembly of the basic and extension pole.

Fig.7 Plan and sectional view of the knife.

Description of Preferred Embodiment The harvesting device, 10 illustrated in Figures 1 to 7 includes a basic pole, 20, fastened to an extension pole, and to a knife 40 The basic pole, 20 is of elliptical cross-section (Fig. 2A) and is about a meter in length. The preferred external length of the major axis, 21 is 35.0mm with a variation of 0.36mm on the positive or negative side i- 4 and the preferred length of the minor axis, 22 is 29.5mm with a variation of 0.36mm on the positive or negative side. The external 23, 24, 25, 26 and the internal surfaces at the 23A, 24B, 25B, 26B at the end of the major and minor axes of the pole are flat. In a cross-sectional view (Fig.2A) the segments opposite both the major and axes are thickened giving a thickness of 1.8mm along a 300 40° segment normal to the two axes. The thickness at the other segments of the i cross-section is between 1.1mm 1.2mm. The fore mentioned 1U segments tapers gradually into the latter segments.

The extension pole 30, is also of elliptical crosssection (Fig.2B) and is of various lengths depending on the needs in the field.

Typically a user would have a number of extension poles in 15 his possession to suit the different heights of different trees or in various parts of the plantation. The preferred external length of the major axis, 31 is 45.00mm with a variation of 0.36mm on the positive or negative side and the preferred length of the minr axis 32 is 35.00.,-m with a variation of 0.36mm on I'he positive or negative side.

Correspondingly the preferred internal length of the major .a i il i axis is 41mm with a variation of 0.36m-m on the positive or negative side. The preferred external length of the minor axis 32, is 35mm with a variation of 0.36mm on the positive Sor negative side. The corresponding internal length of the minor axis is 31.0mm with a variation of 0.31mm on the positive or negative side. In a cross-sectional new (Fig.2B) the segments opposite both the major and minor axes are thickeness of 2.0mm along a 30° 40 segment normal to the two axes. The said segment tapers on either sides to gives a j 10 resulting thickness of 1.1 -1.2mm.

At one end of the extension pole (Fig.4) parallel slits on opposite sides of the minor axis extend from the edge towards the opposite end to a length of about 100 150mm.

The preferred width of the slits in the embodiment is 3.0 5.0mm to allow easy insertion of the basic pole into it and to facilitate effective gripping of the basic pole when a clamp (Fig.l and 5) or a lash is applied (Fig.6). The said slits terminate in aperture pa itioned opposite in registration with each other. The preferred diameter of the

A

portion (area between 41 and 42) and a cutting portion (area between 42 and 43). The handle portion has a rectangular cross-section and can be either solid or hollow. It is preferred in the present invention that the handle be solid.

Preferably the handle has a plurality of holes to facilitate the fastening of the handle to the basic pole or to any other poles if the knife is used independently of the basic and extension poles.

At the cutting portion of the said knife (area between 42 and 43) the curvature of the knife varies from one point 1 to another. As an aid to illustratio aind by no means a limitation, the cutting edge is divided into four portions.

The first portion OP is part of an arc of a circle with radius X; the second portion PQ is similarly is part of an arc of a circl e with andius Y and the third portions QR is also an arc of ti circle whose radius is Z. The said lengths of X,Y and Z inc¢rease gradually from X to Z. Ideally the cutting portion OR should comprise of infinitesimially the cutting portion OR should comprise of infinit~imially i 7small segments of 'arc of circles whose radii increase gradually from X to Z and the cutting edge OR is continuous preferably without any serrations.

The portion RS of the fourth part of the cu tting edge 09 o4 o 5 OS is a straight line. The end of the cutting portion terminates with the end of knife in a blunt manner, D. This is to prevent the knife from being 'stuck' in the fruit 4a4 I bunches or fronds when it is first applied to the relevant region of the trees.

4 10 The thickness and the width of the knife varies according to the curvature. As illustrated in Figure 7 the 041 sections of the cutting porti.on of the knife is wedge shaped, at the cutting edges and rectangular at the opposite edge.

The aforesaid wedge is well pronounched with angles preferably in the range of 9° 14 C. The section A-A is thicker as compared to section C-C. The thickness and width of the cutting portion is a function of the durability and cutting friction. If the knife is too thin it would not last long but it has the advantage of the cutting edge where it can easily get through the bunches and fronds and vice versa, -8- In the preferred embodiment of the invention the direct distance between points 0 and S (as indicated in the Figure the region marked G in Fig. 7 in order to give stability to the harvesting device during the harvesting operation. The dimension of the width, length between points 0 and S and the position of the centre of gravity are functions of one another and the said dimensions stated in the preferred embodiment are merely an illustration and by no means form a limitation as to the size or shape.

The weight of the knife in the preferred embodiment is 0.55kg. Conventional methods are employed in the fabrication of the knife such as heat treatment, forging and grinding.

The knife can be attached firmly to the free end of the basic pole by any suitable means. In the preferred embodiment, the free end of the pole has two pairs of apertures. The first pair is located centrally on the opposite sides of the minor axis and sre in registration with -9 each other (Fig.3B). The second pair is positioned along the same surfaces away from the first pair of apertures but towards the other end of the basic pole. The alignment of the said apertures on either sides of the surfaces is such as i to enable the knife to be attached to the basic pole coi i 5 axially. In this embodiment the handle portion of the knife must also have apertures of substantially equal diameters ispaced equidistantly as the apertures on the basic pole. The ni knife is attached to the basic pole by means of a nut and bolt (with lock washers) assembly, it is preferred that the b0 suitable tubular spacers of marginally smaller lengths than the internal length of the minor axis (Fig.2A) and of diameter, marginally larger than the diameter of the said apertures be placed between the opposite pairs of apertures.

This prevents distortion of the basic pole when put under stress during the harvesting operation and also enables the knife to be fastened firmly to the basic pole.

Alternatively, the knife can be fastened to the basic pole by means of lashing or binding with suitable material such as rubber strips or ropes (Fig.31).

To disconnect the assembly, either the nut and boit I i. i LIY~'~ :1 10 assembly is disassembled, thereby freeing the knife or in the alternative embodiment the lash or binding is loosened .and the knife removed.

The knife fastened to the basic pole is suitable for harvesting heights of about 6 meters. For increased heights two possible alternatives of the ,resent invention can be used. Firstly, a longer basic *pole to suit the harvesting heights can 'be used. AlternativolyV the sub-assembly comprising of the knife and basic pole can fastened to an extension pole of suitabl.e length.

The frtee end of the basic pole is inserted into the slit end of the extenlsion pole to at least unitil the ar, vro 'hole at the terminal end of the slit, The marginally smaller external lengths of the major and minor axes of the basic pole in comparision with -internal lengths of the major and minor axes of the extension pole all.ows easy insertion and facilitates a firm grip to be obtained. The slit of the extension pole is grip fastened to the basic pole by means of a U-bolt clamp(s) The arms of the U-clamp encompass the Ii

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11 surfaces opposite the minor axis. A suitable bracket is used i n the U-bolt assembly to facilitate a firm grip of the elliptical *surface. (Fig. 1 and Alternatively the basic pole can be fastened to the extension pole by means of lashing or binding the end by suitable means such as rubber strips or ropes.

To disconnect the assembly, the U-blot clamp is loosen--; and the basic pole is pulled. away or 3"n the alternate mode, the lash or binding is loosened and the pole pulled out.

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Claims

2. A device according to claim i, wherein the length of the major axis and minor axis is in the ratio approximately 4:3 and the external surface opposite the 9,06s jnpe.o01 ,kyi5133.ca,12 S. minor axis is large enough to accommodate fastening of a cutting tool.
3. A device according to claim 1, wherein 'the length of the major axis and the minor axis is in the ratio approximately 4.0:3.5.
4. A device according to claim 2, wherein the internal lengths of the major and -,nor axes of the extension pole are marginally larger than the external lengths of the major and minor axes of the basic pole, to thereby enable the basic pole to telescopically engage the extension pole. A device according to claim 1, further including parallel slits on the major portions of the extension pole which extend from the edge of tL~e extension pole to a length approximately 3 to 4 times the length of the major axis of the extension po~le and said slits terminating in an aperture whose diameter is larger than the width of the slit and said aperture serves as a means for stress concentration. tolA device according to claim 1, wherein the cutting tolcomprises toportions including; a firs~t arc shape itcutting edge portion comprising a series of arc segments of circles whose radius increase from 18cm to 31cm in an infinitesimal manner and whose cross-section is wedge shaped with a wedge angle in the region of 90- 141 and the opposite side of the first portion being rectangular in shape and the end of the said cutting edge portion being blunt; and a second straight shank portion to sezve as a handle. 00O6tI, ginape 001 k1533, cla,13 14
7. A device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this 6th day of June, 1990 PALM OIL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT BOAFD By its Patent Attorneys DAVIES COLLISON 9006q6,4trjnspe.0o1. ky15133. cla, 14 11