GB1314821A - Self-propelled beet harvesters - Google Patents

Abstract

1314821 Beet harvester RANSOMES SIMS & JEFFERIES Ltd 1 May 1970 [3 Feb 1969] 5674/69 Heading A1F A self-propelled beet harvester has a chassis 1, 2, 4 mounted on wheels 3, 5 and supported on a transverse member 8 which is carried on or forms part of the chassis, there is at least one unit comprising a beet topping device 10 and a beet lifting device 12. Each unit is adjustable in position along the length of the transverse member preferably by means of a hydraulic ram 82 operable by the driver. The chassis is preferably composed of a forward frame part 2 and a rear frame part 4 pivotally connected together at a transverse axis 6. Hydraulic ram 23 raises or lowers the axis 6 and thereby positions the units in or out of work. Steering assembly 19 of the front wheels 3 has a bar 21 connected via bell crank 29 and link 27 to the ram to preserve the steering geometry when the chassis is raised or lowered. A feeler member e.g. a wheel or skid (not shown) associated with the devices 10, 12 actuates automatically the ram 23 to compensate for ground variations. In operation, topping device 10 grips the beet foliage and severs it from the beet by means of a knife, rubber beater 58 clear the foliage from the path of a pair of cooperating Oppel wheels 12 which grip and lift the beets which are passed by further beaters 14 onto a rod-link conveyor 9 thence across the harvester to a second conveyor (not shown) and to conveyor 11, elevator 13 and into a storage tank 15. Topping devices 10 and beater 14 are driven via endless chains 67, 75 by extendable horizontally disposed transverse lay shafts 61, 63, Fig. 2 one of which, 61, incorporates a slipping clutch driven in turn by chains from the harvester power unit. The harvester is also described in divisional application Specification 1314822 but the claims are directed only to the pivotal chassis, the feeler member and the steering geometry preservation mechanism.