GB1571373A

GB1571373A - Potato harvesting

Info

Publication number: GB1571373A
Application number: GB712/78A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1977-01-14
Filing date: 1978-01-09
Publication date: 1980-07-16
Also published as: NO770114L; IE46132B1; DK17778A; IE780023L; FI57871B; NO138710B; FR2377143A1; FI57871C; NO138710C; DK146842C; NL7800319A; DK146842B; SE7800448L; FI780108A; FR2377143B1; DE2800183A1

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO POTATO HARVESTING (71) I, RUDOLF VIE, a Subject of the King of Norway, of 2310 Stange, Norway, do hereby declare the invention for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me and the method by which it is to be performed to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- The present invention relates to potato harvesters.

When harvesting potatoes, two contradictory demands are made of the machines used to gather the potatoes, demands which are very difficult to satisfy concurrently i.e., the machine shall have a large harvesting capacity, while at the same time it shall inflict little damage to the potatoes being harvested.

With the potato harvesting machines known to date, in order to obtain satisfactory results, with little manual effort required, one has had to cultivate the potatoes in areas having extremely light soil and few stones. If potatoes are grown in areas having heavier and, possibly, stonier soil, it is difficult to harvest the potatoes with the machines known at present, and a great deal of manual labour is required in picking and sorting the potatoes.

With the known machines for harvesting potatoes the plants, roots, potatoes, soil and stones are dug up together by means of a share and led over a sifting device consisting of a system of ribbed conveyors which are driven at times at high speed and at the same time given extra shaking movements in order to obtain the sifting action required to separate the soil, stones and potatoes.

However, because a relatively large proportion of the potatoes often remain attached to the plant, while the plant tops and roots also serve to bind the clump of soil and plant together, a number of auxiliary devices are then required in order to separate the various constituents of the mass, and this extra handling results in a much too large proportion of the potatoes becoming damaged.

This means that very expensive machines often prove to have too little capacity.

According to the present invention there is provided a potato harvester having a share - for digging up a mounded row of potatoes, including a ribbed conveyor belt running at an incline up from said share to a sorting conveyor, a top lifting unit including two counter-revolving endless conveyors which together form a gripping transport path for potato plants and which extend at an angle over the share and over the ribbed conveyor belt, and means for guiding the plant stalks into the gripping transport path, wherein the top lifting unit is arranged so as to be horizontally displaceable in the direction of travel of the potato harvester for regulating the lower end of the gripping transport path relative to the share; wherein a picking device is arranged beneath the gripping transport path for separating potatoes from the plants' root system such that the potatoes can drop down onto the ribbed conveyor below; and wherein the plant stalk guiding means comprises means for orienting, elevating and inserting the plant into the gripping transport path.

The underlying principle by which this is achieved is that of moving fundamental technical strains from a late to a very early stage in the harvesting/handling process. As a result, the load on the ribbed conveyors is reduced, in that the mass being transported on the conveyors, as much as is possible, is free of roots and potato plant tops. This is obtained in that a top lifting member, consisting of two counter-revolving endless conveyors which together form a gripping transport path for the potato plants and which extend up at an angle from the digger share on the potato harvesting machine, can be regulated either to pick out the potato tops and roots from the earth mound before it is loosened by the share, or to transport the tops, roots and potatoes back into the harvesting machine, where the potatoes are then separated from the plant tops by means of a picking device before the tops and roots leave the harvesting machine. This is obtained in that the top lifting unit can be displaced horizontally relative to the share enabling one either to pluck the plant tops or to lift up the plants with the potatoes attached, depending on the compactness of the earth, the type of soil, etc.lethod to etc.

For the above harvesting method to work in practice, it is necessary that the top lifting unit grasp as many of the potato stalks as possible, as close to the top of the earth mound as possible. It is thus required tThat the potato tops, which seldom stand upright at the time of harvest, be gathered togethei and stretched out, so that the top picker/top lifting unit can become operative. To obtain this, any parts of the plant which droop out to the sides or which lie prostrate on the ground must be cut on both sides of the raised drill in which the potatoes have been planted, as near to the sides of the mound as possible, without damaging the potatoes.

To cut drooping and prostrate plant tops, two rotary cutters of a type known per se may optionally be used, for example, rotary cutters such as those used on plows. The remaining parts of the potato plant are combed in the direction of driving by two resilient strand dividers before two counter-revolving spoked wheels gather and stretch the plant tops. The gathering/stretching effect is obtained in that the spoked wheels are inclined relative to the drive direction, while at the same time they engage with one another at the back of the wheels. The spoked wheels are usually driven by means of friction against the ground/plant mass and also drive each other owing to the gear effect obtained in that the spokes at the periphery of the wheels engage at the back. Under difficult conditions, with large amounts of thick plant material, it may be necessary to arrange a mechanical drive for the spoked wheels.

In the front part of the plant picker/top lifting unit, in order to facilitate the introduction of the mass from the mounded potato rows over the share and into the harvesting machine, it is necessary to have a special embodiment of pressure roller to replace that usually employed on harvesting machines for potatoes. Owing to the differences of this potato harvester from previously known types, the pressure roller in this harvester is divided in two and mounted on the underside of the lower pulleys for the conveyors in the top lifting unit. Different embodiments of such pressure rollers can be utilized, having different transporting or compaction effects for use under various conditions, and the rollers are thus arranged so Is to be easily interchangeable or replaceable on thc pulleys, such that one may, with the appropriate choice of pressure roller, obtain maximum top lifting action.

Under certain conditions, where one wishes only to pick off the plant tops, there may be a need for an extra set of pressure rollers at the fre nt, which roll along the sides of the earth mound and help to hold the potatoes in place when the tops are being picked off, while at the same time the top lifting device during this operation is displaced as far forward as possible relative to the share.

To ensure even introduction of the potato stalks into the top picker/top lifting unit, interchangeable/replaceable spoked wheels can be arranged attached to the pulley shaft, the outer diameter of the spoked wheels being at least twice as large as the diameter of the pulley. Alternatively, low pressure rubber wheels which together form a gripping transport path, or flexible rubber disks having the same effect, could be used. The purpose of these wheels is to ensure the best possible insertion of the stalks into the top lifting unit's gripping transport path.

An alternative embodiment to facilitate the insertion of the plant stalks into the top lifting unit's gripping transport path is the arrangement of two resilient round disks, made of rubber, for example, mounted at an acute angle to one another such that they form a forwardly-directed opening in the direction of movement for the harvester, while at the back, the disks are contiguous.

In this way, the potato plant stalks can be grasped and lifted from the forwardlydirected position they have assumed owing to the spoked wheels in front of these disks, thereby assuring the insertion of the potato stalks into the top lifting unit's gripping transport path. These disks can be driven by an angular drive means from the previously-mentioned pulleys for the top lifting unit's conveyors.

Because the potato tops and roots are removed from the mass entering the harvester at an early stage of the harvesting process, the potatoes are given the gentlest sort of handling from the growing site to storage.

The potato harvester has great flexibility, in that one can regulate/select the compactness of the earth mound in the plant-loosening phase, and it is therefore simple to adapt it to varying operating conditions. Under conditions or in geographic locations where one does not wish the potatoes to remain hanging on the plants, it is simple to remove the potatoes either by pushing the plant picker/top lifting unit forward relative to the share, or by arranging resilient members beneath the top lifting unit which together form slots through which the potato plant root system must pass, whereby the potatoes are pulled off and drop down onto a lower ribbed conveyor which in this case can be provided with an adjustable guide guard from the lower portion of the ribbed conveyor and extending in from one side edge of the conveyor approximately to its central portion, and which by means of an extension extends further up along the conveyor and optionally further along the central portion of a subsequent sorting table or belt.

Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows the potato harvesting machine in longitudinal cross section.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the harvester.

Figure 3 is also a plan view of the harvester, but without the top lifting unit.

Figure 4 a,b,c shows examples of interchangeable pressure rollers.

Figure 5 a,b, Fig. 6 a,b, and Fig. 7 a,b, show alternative forms of the plant insertion device, seen from the front and from the top, respectively.

Figure 8 shows the harvester mounted on a tractor, and Figure 9 a,b, shows the harvester as an independent unit drawn by a tractor.

Figure 1 shows the harvesting machine in longitudinal cross section. The manner in which its share digs into the row of potatoes, as well as the potato plants as they pass through the various phases in the harvester, can clearly be seen.

Two rotary cutters 1, one on each side of the row of plants, are provided, adjustable both laterally and as to height. Two resilient strand dividers 2 are adapted to run along the sides of the row to comb the potato plant in the drive direction for the harvester. Two counter-rotating spoked wheels 3 are provided, which can be adjusted both relative to one another and relative to a top lifter 4 which consists of two endless conveyors which run side-by-side over upper and lower pulleys 13, 14 and which together form a gripping transport path for the potato plants, the lifting unit extending up at an angle from a digger share 5 and over a ribbed conveyor belt 7 which runs up at an incline from said share 5. Because the spoked wheels 3 are positioned at an angle relative to the harvester's direction of travel and relative to either side of the row of plants, such that the back portions of the wheels mesh, a gear effect is obtained which causes the wheel pair 3,3 both to gather and to stretch the potato plants, in the direction of travel, at an angle up from the mound of earth. The top lifter 4, which can also function as a plant top picker, is continuouslyvariably adjustable back and forth relative to the share 5, whose task is to loosen the soil in the mound of earth before it is guided onto the ribbed conveyor 7. An adjustable guide guard 6 is arranged at the lower end of the ribbed conveyor 7, extending in from one side edge of the conveyor toward its central portion, said guide being extended by a portion 6' (see Figure 3) which extends parallel with the conveyor 7 up to its upper end section and optionally further along the central portion to a sorting table or belt 10 disposed transverse of the upper end of the ribbed conveyor 7. The guard 6 guides that part of the earth-mound mass which passes the share 5 minus the part that has been lifted off, over to one side 8 of the ribbed conveyor 7. One thus has a fraction consisting of stones, earth clump and potatoes which follows the path 8, as shown on Fig. 3, and a fraction of pure potatoes (from the top lifter) which follows path 9. At the sorting table 10, the potatoes on path 8 can be picked out and put on path 9. To separate the potatoes from the potato plants which are led into the top lifter's gripping transport path, a picking device 11, 12 is disposed above the path 9 of the ribbed conveyor 7. An embodiment designated by the number (11) comprises two counterrotating endless belts which form a slot in between them for picking off the potatoes, the distance between said slot and the top lifter increasing in the transport direction. A simpler embodiment of the picking device is designated by number (12) and comprises pairs of resilient members, of spring steel and/or rubber, for example, which together form a slot, the distance between the slot and the top lifter also in this case increasing in the transport direction. At the upper end 1 3a of the top lifter, the plant tops and roots run out of the machine and are guided down to the ground.

Figure 4 a,b,c shows alternative forms 15 A,B,C for the two-part, driven pressure rollers 15 which are coupled to and driven by the respective pulleys 14 for the top lifter 4.

Said pressure rollers are necessary for guiding the mass onto the share 5 and in onto the ribbed conveyor 7, while the plant mass is simultaneously gripped by the top lifter 4 near the pulleys 14.

1 5A is a conical form of a pressure roller 15, seen from the side. It is mounted to the underside of respective pulleys 14 by means of bolts.

15B is an alternate form for the pressure rollers 15 made with rubber-coated vanes, and 15C is another alternate form for the pressure rollers 15 formed like half of a rubber ball. The latter pressure roller can either be made of soft rubber material or as an inflatable half-sphere, the two pressure rollers 15C then forming themselves to the shape of the sides of the earth mound and either holding onto the earth mass and thus the potatoes during the plant-top-picking operation, or, alternately, helping to guide the earth mass with the potatoes in over the share 5 when the potato plants with potatoes attached are to be lifted up from the earth mass by means of the top lifting unit 4.

Figure 5 a,b shows plant insertion members 16 in the form of two spoked wheels 1 6A which are arranged so as to be adjustable at the upper end of the shaft for the pulley 14. The outer diameters of the spoked wheels 1 6A are significantly larger than the diameters of the pulleys 14, so the two spoked wheels 1 6A will overlap one another and thereby grasp the potato plant stalks from the spoked wheels 3 and guide them in to the top lifter 4. The plant ln9er- tion members 16 can also consist of lo-vpressure rubber wheels 16B, or, optionally, soft rubber disks which are in contact with one another at their peripheries upon deformation of the peripheries and which otherwise are mounted in the same way as the spoked wheels 16A. The gripping and transporting effect comes about in that the plant tops are grasped and transported between the two facing, deformed, peripheral surfaces.

Figure 7 a,b shows an alternative form for the plant insertion member 16, comprising two rubber disks 16C, positioned at an angle to one another, having an approximately vertical disk plane, and whose peripheral portions are in contact at the back edge of the disks, seen in the machine's direction of movement. The rubber disks 16C will be located directly above the top of the row of plants during use of the harvester machine.

The disks 1 6C are driven by and are attached to the upper shaft ends of the pulleys 14 by means of an angular drive means 17.

By displacing the top lifter 4 horizontally relative to the share 5, as well as through the use of the various types of pressure rollers 15 A,B,C, the harvester can be regulated to function purely as a plant top picker when the top lifter is positioned forward relative to the share 5. The pressure rollers 15, optionally, together with extra pressure rollers mounted on the harvesting machine frame, will then press the sides of the earth mound down, maintaining the shape of the mound and retaining the potatoes therein while the plant tops are drawn up. Conversely, by displacing the top lifter 4 farther back, such that its lower pulleys 14 lie almost directly above the share 5, the pressure rollers 15 will help to carry the earth mass together with the potatoes in over the share while the plant top is simultaneously gripped by the top lifter.

In the first case, the plant tops will be completely separated from the earth mass containing the potatoes before the mass is lifted by the share 5 and guided onto the ribbed conveyor 7 for sifting and transport up to the sorting table 19. In the second case, the top lifter takes the plants with most of the potatoes still attached to the plant up to the picking devices 11 or 12, after which the potatoes drop down to the path 9 on the ribbed conveyor 7 and are carried up to the sorting table 10, while the potatoes remaining in the earth nass on path 8 can be sorted out and placed on path 9 at the sorting table 10.

By means of the pressure rollers 15B provided with vanes, one may optionally break up the side of the earth mass in case it is desirable that the earth mound be loosened somewhat prior to or during its introduction onto the share 5.

As desired, and in accordance with the conditions under which it is to be used, the potato harvester can be mounted on a tractor 18 as shown on Fig. 8, or arranged as a unit to be drawn as shown on Fig. 9 a,b, where the sorting table 10 is placed above the share 5 and top lifter 4.

WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. A potato harvester having a share for digging up a mounded row of potatoes, including a ribbed conveyor belt running at an incline up from said share to a sorting conveyor, a top lifting unit including two counter-revolving endless conveyors which together form a gripping transport path for potato plants and extend at an angle over the share and over the ribbed conveyor belt, and means for guiding the plant stalks into the gripping transport path, wherein the top lifting unit is arranged so as to be horizontally displaceable in the direction of travel of the potato harvester for regulating the lower end of the gripping transport path relative to the share; wherein a picking device is arranged beneath the gripping transport path for separating potatoes from the plants' root system such that the potatoes can drop down onto the ribbed conveyor below; and wherein the plant stalk guiding means comprises means for orienting, elevating and inserting the plant into the gripping transport path.

2. A potato harvester as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plant orienting means comprises of two resilient strand dividers located at the front end of the machine, the distance between said dividers being approximately equal to the width of the mounded row of potatoes.

3. A potato harvester as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the plant elevating means comprises two spoked wheels inclined toward one another and spaced such that peripheral portions of the spoked wheels engage at the back edge of the wheels, said wheels being driven, in use, by friction against the ground.

4. A potato harvester as claimed in any

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. the earth mass with the potatoes in over the share 5 when the potato plants with potatoes attached are to be lifted up from the earth mass by means of the top lifting unit 4. Figure 5 a,b shows plant insertion members 16 in the form of two spoked wheels 1 6A which are arranged so as to be adjustable at the upper end of the shaft for the pulley 14. The outer diameters of the spoked wheels 1 6A are significantly larger than the diameters of the pulleys 14, so the two spoked wheels 1 6A will overlap one another and thereby grasp the potato plant stalks from the spoked wheels 3 and guide them in to the top lifter 4. The plant ln9er- tion members 16 can also consist of lo-vpressure rubber wheels 16B, or, optionally, soft rubber disks which are in contact with one another at their peripheries upon deformation of the peripheries and which otherwise are mounted in the same way as the spoked wheels 16A. The gripping and transporting effect comes about in that the plant tops are grasped and transported between the two facing, deformed, peripheral surfaces. Figure 7 a,b shows an alternative form for the plant insertion member 16, comprising two rubber disks 16C, positioned at an angle to one another, having an approximately vertical disk plane, and whose peripheral portions are in contact at the back edge of the disks, seen in the machine's direction of movement. The rubber disks 16C will be located directly above the top of the row of plants during use of the harvester machine. The disks 1 6C are driven by and are attached to the upper shaft ends of the pulleys 14 by means of an angular drive means 17. By displacing the top lifter 4 horizontally relative to the share 5, as well as through the use of the various types of pressure rollers 15 A,B,C, the harvester can be regulated to function purely as a plant top picker when the top lifter is positioned forward relative to the share 5. The pressure rollers 15, optionally, together with extra pressure rollers mounted on the harvesting machine frame, will then press the sides of the earth mound down, maintaining the shape of the mound and retaining the potatoes therein while the plant tops are drawn up. Conversely, by displacing the top lifter 4 farther back, such that its lower pulleys 14 lie almost directly above the share 5, the pressure rollers 15 will help to carry the earth mass together with the potatoes in over the share while the plant top is simultaneously gripped by the top lifter. In the first case, the plant tops will be completely separated from the earth mass containing the potatoes before the mass is lifted by the share 5 and guided onto the ribbed conveyor 7 for sifting and transport up to the sorting table 19. In the second case, the top lifter takes the plants with most of the potatoes still attached to the plant up to the picking devices 11 or 12, after which the potatoes drop down to the path 9 on the ribbed conveyor 7 and are carried up to the sorting table 10, while the potatoes remaining in the earth nass on path 8 can be sorted out and placed on path 9 at the sorting table 10. By means of the pressure rollers 15B provided with vanes, one may optionally break up the side of the earth mass in case it is desirable that the earth mound be loosened somewhat prior to or during its introduction onto the share 5. As desired, and in accordance with the conditions under which it is to be used, the potato harvester can be mounted on a tractor 18 as shown on Fig. 8, or arranged as a unit to be drawn as shown on Fig. 9 a,b, where the sorting table 10 is placed above the share 5 and top lifter 4. WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A potato harvester having a share for digging up a mounded row of potatoes, including a ribbed conveyor belt running at an incline up from said share to a sorting conveyor, a top lifting unit including two counter-revolving endless conveyors which together form a gripping transport path for potato plants and extend at an angle over the share and over the ribbed conveyor belt, and means for guiding the plant stalks into the gripping transport path, wherein the top lifting unit is arranged so as to be horizontally displaceable in the direction of travel of the potato harvester for regulating the lower end of the gripping transport path relative to the share; wherein a picking device is arranged beneath the gripping transport path for separating potatoes from the plants' root system such that the potatoes can drop down onto the ribbed conveyor below; and wherein the plant stalk guiding means comprises means for orienting, elevating and inserting the plant into the gripping transport path.

4. A potato harvester as claimed in any

one of the preceding claims wherein the plant insertion means consists of two counter-rotating bodies adjustably attached to the upper ends of the shafts of pulleys disposed at the lower ends of the conveyors of the top lifting unit and driven simultaneously with the conveyors.

5. A potato harvester according to claim 4, wherein the two rotating bodies are releasably mounted on their respective shafts and are formed as spoked wheels whose spokes overlap.

6. A potato harvester as claimed in claim 4 wherein the rotating bodies are releasably mounted on their respective shaft and comprise low-pressure rubber wheels, which in use are in contact at their peripheries during deformation of said peripheries.

7. A potato harvester as claimed in claim 4 wherein the rotating bodies are releasably mounted on their respective shaft and comprise soft rubber disks which, in use, are in contact at their peripheries during deformation of said peripheries.

8. A potato harvester as claimed in claim 4, wherein the rotating bodies comprise two mutually inclined rubber disks each having an approximately vertical disk plane, and whose peripheral portions are in contact at the back edge of the disks as seen in the direction of travel of the harvester, said rubber disks being located directly above the top of the mounded row of plants when the harvester is in use, and being driven by and attached to a respective upper end of the shafts of the pulleys by means of angular drive means.

9. A potato harvester as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the picking device comprises pairs of resilient members which together define a slot extending between them and where the distance between the slot and the gripping transport path for the top lifter increases in the direction of movement for said path.

10. A potato harvester as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein an adjustable guide guard is disposed at the lower portion of the ribbed conveyor, the guard extending from one edge of the conveyor and in towards its center portion, said guard being extended by a portion extending parallel with the ribbed conveyor up toward the upper end portion of the conveyor.

11. A potato harvester as claimed in claim 10 wherein the guard extends beyond the upper end portion of the ribbed conveyor towards and along the centre portion of the sorting conveyor.

12. A potato harvester as claimed in any one of the preceding claims further comprising two pressure rollers releasably mountable on the underside of the respective pulleys.

13. A potato harvester as claimed in claim 12 wherein each of the pressure rollers is formed as an inverted cone.

14. A potato harvester as claimed in claim 12 wherein each pressure roller comprises an air-filled, soft, half-spherical body.

15. A potato harvester as claimed in claim 12 wherein each pressure roller is formed as a rubber-coated vane unit.

16. A potato harvesting machine substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 3 or Figures 1 to 3 as modified by one or more of Figures 4 to 9.