GB1069432A - Improvements in beet and like root crop harvesters - Google Patents

Abstract

1,069,432. Beet-harvesters. J. D. DYSON and C. R. DYSON. March 13, 1964 [March 13, 1963; Jan. 24, 1964], Nos. 9989/63 and 3190/64. Heading A1F. A multi-row beet harvester comprises a chassis 302 on which are mounted a plurality of sets of topping units 318, each topping unit having a digging unit 348, 350 longitudinally behind it, there being a transverse elevator 354 behind the digging units. The topping units are preceded by a pre-topping cutter comprising an endless band 314 with blades 316. In a modification, the pre-topping cutter comprises pairs of vertically-spaced rotary-scythe blades. Each topping unit consists of a fixed knife 328 controlled by a set of feeler-discs 326 which are cleared of tops by co-operating stripping discs 330, the tops being carried away by a transverse endless conveyer 332. The front ground-wheels 308 which are both driven and steerable, are mounted behind the conveyer 332 and are followed by a lateral-sweeping device comprising rubber fingers 346 carried by one or more endless bands 344. The beets are dug by pairs of power-driven discs 348 which may, optionally, be preceded by shares 386. Rubber flails 350 impel the beets on to the horizontal run of an endless elevator 354, the upward run 354b of which cooperates with a run 362 of an overlying conveyer 360 to carry the beets up to a tumbling area 368 where the runs separate and turn inwards towards a longitudinal conveyer 370 which feeds the tumbled and cleaned beet into a tank 372. The tank has an endless-apron floor 374 and an intermitently-operable discharge elevator 376. In modifications, the top-removal conveyer may be pneumatic and the pre-topping cutter and lateral-sweeping fingers may both be reciprocating.