EP2077711A2

EP2077711A2 - Automatic self-moving picker machine for the picking of apical leaves of tobacco plants

Info

Publication number: EP2077711A2
Application number: EP07826746A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Aldo Spapperi
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-10-13
Filing date: 2007-10-15
Publication date: 2009-07-15
Also published as: ITPG20060014U1; WO2008044224A2; WO2008044224A3

Abstract

A picker machine, destined to be used in agriculture for the picking of apical leaves of tobacco, characterized by a marked productivity, an easy maneuverability on field edges and a remarkable storage range for the produce thanks to the generous dimensions of the body (3), with all the entailed advantages.

Description

AUTOMATIC SELF-MOVING PICKER MACHINE FOR THE PICKING OF APICAL LEAVES OF TOBACCO PLANTS

DESCRIPTION

Tobacco growing occurs by organizing the planting out into rows with variable distances between the rows and the plantlets in the row, depending on agricultural zones and tobacco types; picking of the leaves, which constitute the useful portion of the plant, be it carried out manually or with the aid of suitable machines, occurs by detaching off the plant, from the bottom up, leaves that become ripe in succession; then, leaves are transported with suitable wagons into the various processing centers to be subjected to a drying step.

To date, agricultural machine market provides various machines intended for mechanized picking, which may meet all picking steps, starting from lower leaves up to leaves ripening last, i.e. the apical ones; yet, the related leaf strippers have to be installed each time in order to carry out these steps. To lower production costs, growers tend to reduce picking steps, leaving ever more leaves for the last step, without anyhow losing sight of the produce quality.

Current machines are designed to remove from the plant no more than 6-7 apical leaves, also because their sizes and weights have to be such as to allow an easy transit thereof between rows without spoiling plants during the first pickings, and not compacting beyond a certain extent the ground in the rows in which the wheels transit, so as not to hinder irrigation and root oxygenation.

Final picking of machine-picked apical leaves, usually concomitantly providing also the cutting of the plant stalk in order to foster in-ground decomposition, is becoming (also thanks to novel plant clones) the most important step of the whole picking. This is so since said final picking consists of an ever greater number of leaves, pushing their maturation to the limit, always seeking a compromise with quality, yet requiring rapid collecting times not always viable with current machines, as, e.g., the machine may be configured with leaf strippers for a given picking on a given lot, whereas the lot nearby needs another type of leaf stripper. Many growers got themselves organized with tractor-pulled machines, cutting the leaves and discharging them into a cart pulled by another tractor advancing beside it; this method can suit small growers, but when there are many hectares to be picked, perhaps getting ripe concomitantly, picking must be done quickly. All of the above-mentioned drawbacks and limitations are overcome by the picker machine subject-matter of the present invention, intended to be used in agriculture for the picking of apical leaves of tobacco, and characterized by a marked productivity, an easy maneuverability on field edges and a remarkable produce storage autonomy thanks to the generous dimensions of its loading body, with all the entailed advantages.

The present invention is disclosed in more detail hereinafter with the aid of Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the enclosed drawing tables, respectively illustrating, in a schematic and partially depicted manner, side view, front view, rear view, plan view, perspective view of an embodiment, in a preferred exemplary and non-limiting variant of the same machine.

Referring to the details of the Figures, there are indicated: the bearing frame 1, which in the exemplary and non-limiting variant may be made of steel or aluminum, the cab 2, the body 3 for collecting the produce, the conveyor belt assembly 4, the knives 5 for detaching leaves off the stalk, the leaf-pressing fans 6, the engine 7, the leaf-conveying fans 8, the rear wheels 9, the front wheels 10, the four-bar linkage 11 , the j ack 12 to modify the tilt of the belts/leaf strippers assembly, the jack 13 for tilting the collecting body.

OPERATION

The operation of the invention may be described as follows: the machine has leaf strippers with knives 5 made of blade-holding rods fixed by means of pin and bearings on two rotary discs (see Figure 4) spaced apart therebetween, with parallel axes, but with the disc faces parallel yet not lying onto the same plane; when the machine moves between the furrows of tobacco plants, the rotation of the discs gives to the rods a motion that makes them rise one after the other from the side grazing the plant and descend bottomwise from the opposite side, following disc rotation.

The tilt of the leaf stripper assembly and the distance between discs determine the number of leaves that are detached off the stalk.

In order to foster leaf detachment it is advisable to set, above the working zone of the leaf strippers, one or more fans 6, e.g. installed on a forward-backward adjustable support, so as to direct the air jet onto the required zone.

With the motion of detaching off the plant, leaves are pushed on the conveyor belts 4 that are installed sideways to the leaf strippers and have the function of bringing, by their upward movement, the leaves up to the inlet into the collecting body; in case of a two-row machine, as illustrated in the attached tables, two leaf stripper assemblies and three conveyor belts are present.

Near the top portion of the belts 4, fans 8 are installed which serve to give an upward thrust to the belt-conveyed leaves, so that the leaves may fall into the body as softly as possible, and horizontally settled.

Tilting of the leaf strippers 4 and belts 5 occurs by acting to the four-bar linkage supports 11, actuating the jack 12, optimizing the picking of the leaves even on sloped terrains.

Once full, the body 3 may be dumped at the edge of the field by acting on the jacks 13 that rotate it onto its fulcrum 14. Another innovation of the machine subject-matter of the present invention lies in the shape of the bearing frame 1, allowing to place the engine 7 and the service tanks very low, giving a very low center of gravity to the machine with an entailed great stability under all conditions.

The operating cab is located very high and just above the working zone of the leaf strippers, so as to have total control on the leaf-detaching step.

The steering axle, located on the rear wheels 9 and having a very wide tilt angle, provides excellent maneuverability to the machine, allowing U-turns at field edge on very small spaces and with few maneuvers, all to the advantage of operating times.

Claims

1) A picker machine, destined to be used in agriculture for the picking of apical leaves of tobacco, characterized by a marked productivity, a great stability and an easy maneuverability on field edges, and by a remarkable storage range for the produce thanks to the generous dimensions of the loading body 3, with all the entailed advantages.

2) The picker machine, destined to be used in agriculture for the picking of apical leaves of tobacco, according to the preceding claim characterized by a bearing frame allowing to place the engine 7 and the service tanks very low, shifting the center of gravity of the machine into a position allowing a remarkable stability thereof under all working conditions, and great working safety.

3) The picker machine, destined to be used in agriculture for the picking of apical leaves of tobacco, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized by the arrangement of the belts 4 that immediately dispose of the leaves incoming from the leaf strippers 5 allowing a high picking rate, all to the advantage of the operating economy.

4) The picker machine, destined to be used in agriculture for the picking of apical leaves of tobacco, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the devices for moving the body are of mechanical, hydraulic, electrical nature, or of any other known nature suitable for the purpose.

5) The picker machine, destined to be used in agriculture for the picking of apical leaves of tobacco, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized by a frame (Figure 1) holding belts and leaf strippers, which moves vertically and horizontally allowing to optimize the tilt of the leaf strippers according to needs dictated by terrain position.

6) The picker machine, destined to be used in agriculture for the picking of apical leaves of tobacco, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it has the fans positioned above, the fans being installed on a sliding support that can be actuated by devices hydraulic, electrical or of any other nature suitable for the purpose.

7) The picker machine, destined to be used in agriculture for the picking of apical leaves of tobacco, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized by the option of having two or four steering driving wheels.

8) Of course, without prejudice to the principles of the invention, the embodiments, the materials used, the construction details and the actuation systems of the various members could be widely varied with respect to what has been described and illustrated, without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention, as long as it is suitable for its purpose.

AU as substantially described and illustrated and for the specified purposes.