GB2131264A - Straddling machine for the harvesting of fruit - Google Patents

Abstract

A straddling machine is provided comprising a chassis 1 to which different appliances may be selectively and removably fixed, said chassis comprising two side members 2 and front and rear cross spacing members 3, 4 which are connected to said side members and which form therewith a rigid carrier frame defining a central space adapted to receive a chosen appliance; at least one of the appliances, e.g. a grape harvester 8, has a dimension in height considerably greater than the height of the chassis 1 above the ground. To facilitate fitting and removal of the appliance in and out of the chassis, one at least of the front and rear cross spacing members 3, 4 is fixed to the side members 2 by removable connections. Preferably, each appliance is provided with a rear cross spacing member 4 which remains attached to the appliance when the latter is removed from the chassis and which complete the chassis when the appliance is mounted therein. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION An all purpose straddling machine for the cultivation, treatment and harvesting of fruit bushes planted in lines particularly vines Background of the invention 1. Field of the invention The present invention relates to an all purpose straddling machine, or straddler, for the cu Itivation, treatment and harvesting of fruit bushes planted in lines, comprising a chassis to which different cultivating, treatment and harvesting appliances may be selectively and removably fixed, said chassis comprising two parallel and substantially horizontal side members and front and rear cross spacing members which are connected to the side members respectively at the front and rear ends thereof and which form therewith a rigid carrier frame defining a central space adapted to receive a chosen appliance, each side member being provided at each of its front and rear ends with an arm which extends substantially vertically downwards from the side member and which supports at its lower end a wheel for rolling over the ground, at least one of the appliances having a dimension in height considerably greater than the height of the chassis above the ground.

2. Description of the prior art The present invention is applicable to straddling machines intended more especially, but not exclusively, for the cultivation, treatment and harvesting of vines and, in the present description, the invention will be described in connection with this application, it of course being understood that it is also applicable to machines for cultivating, treating and harvesting other in-line planted fruit trees.

Grape harvesting machines are now well known.

However these are relatively expensive machines which are only used for a relatively short period in the year, namely the grape harvesting period. This is why, manufacturers of grape harvesters construct machines in which the members for harvesting the grapes and transporting these grapes to one of more temporary storage hoppers carried by the straddling chassis of the machine are designed in the form of harvesting appliances or modules which are removably fixed to the chassis at the beginning of the grape harvest and removed in a single block from said chassis at the end of the harvest, and thus to be replaced by other appliances usable at other periods of the year for treating vines, such for example as an appliance for ploughing the ground between the rows of vines, an appliance for sulphating or powdering the vines etc..In certain grape harvesters, such as those commercialized by the Applicant, the straddling chassis of the machine is formed by welding and the harvesting appliance is engaged from the top or from the bottom in the central space of the frame formed by the chassis. Now, the harvesting appliance and in particular the elevator conveyors thereof, which raise the harvested grapes from a level-close to the gound up to the temporary storage hoppers have a dimension in height considerably greater than the height of the chassis above the ground. The result is that, so as to be able to fit or remove the harvesting appliance from the straddling chassis, the user of the machine must have at his disposal either a gantry crane or an overhead crane capable of raising loads to a relatively great height (often more than three meters), or a pit of relatively great depth.Naturally, this complicates fitting and removal of the harvesting appliance.

Summary of the invention The present invention has essentially as aim to overcome this disadvantage by providing an all purpose straddling machine of the above-mentioned kind, in which the harvesting appliances may be easily positioned and removed from the chassis without requiring a gantry crane, an overhead crane or a pit.

To this end, the straddling chassis of the present invention is characterized in that one at least of the front and rear cross spacing members of the chassis is fixed to the side members by removable connections.

Preferably, the cross spacing member which is removably fixed to the side members is the rear cross spacing member. Thus, to remove the harvesting appliance or equipment from the straddling chassis, it is sufficient to place support chocks under the harvesting appliance, to undo the connections which connect said appliance to the chassis, then to undo the connections which connect the rear cross spacing member to the side members and finally to cause the chassis to advance until the harvesting appliance is completely disengaged from said chassis. The positioning of the harvesting appliance in the chassis may be achieved just as simply by effecting the reverse operations.Preferably, each appliance is provided with a rear cross spacing member which remains attached to the appliance when it is removed from the chassis, and which completes the chassis when the appliance is fitted therein. Thus handling of the rear cross spacing member is avoided.

Brief description of the drawings Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of examples, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figures 1 and 2 shows schematically, respectively in a side view and a rear view, a straddler in accordance with the invention; Figures 3 and 4 are partial views showing, on a larger scale, respectively in a side view and in a top view, the connection between the rear view and in a top view, the connection between the rear cross spacing member and one of the two side members of the chassis of the straddler of Figures 1 and 2; Figures 5 and 6 show schematically, respectively in a side view and in a rear view, a straddler in accordance with the invention, with grape harvesting equipment, this latter and the rear cross spacing member being shown attached to the chassis of the machine;; Figures 7 and 8 are similar to Figures 5 and 6, but show the grape harvesting equipment and the rear cross spacing member removed from the chassis of the machine.

Figures 9 and 10 show schematically, respectively in a side view and in a rear view, the same machine as in Figures 7 and 8 but with vine spraying equipment; Figures 11 and 12 shows schematically in a side view and in a rear view a straddling machine with slant correction device and with grape harvesting appliance, this latter and the rear cross spacing member being shown attached to the chassis of the machine; Figures 13and 14aresimilartoFigures11 and 12 respectively but show the grape harvesting equipment and the rear cross spacing member removed from the chassis of the machine; Figures 15 and 16 shows schematically, respectively in a side view and in a top view, the same machine as the one shown in Figures 13 and 14 but with vine spraying equipment.

Description of the preferred embodiments As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the straddling machine comprises a chassis 1 which is formed essentially by two side members 2 and by front and rear cross spacing members 3 and 4, which are connected to side members 2 respectively at the front and the rear ends thereof and which form therewith a rigid carrier frame.

Each side member 2 is provided, at each of its front and rear ends, with an arm 5 which extends substantially vertically downwards from side member 2 and which supports at its lower end a wheel 6.

A part of each arm 5 may be constructed in a way known per se in the form of a hydraulic actuator for correcting slant and thus allowing the machine operate on a hillside.

In the case of a self propelled machine, a driving post 7 is provided at the front of chassis 1. This latter also supports a driving engine (not shown).

For harvesting the grapes, harvesting equipment 8 is mounted in chassis 1. The harvesting appliance 8 is removably, fixed to chassis 1 so as to be able to be removed in a single block from chassis and replaced by other appliances for working the soil or for treating the vine. The harvesting equipment 8 will not be described in detail for it is conventional equipment. In so far as the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2 is concerned, the way in which equipment 8 is removably fixed to chassis 1 will not be described either since the method of fixing, which may vary depending on the construction ofthe equipment itself and on the construction of the chassis is well known and is not necessary for understanding the present invention.

Two hoppers 9, shown with a dash-dot line in Figures 1 and 2, may be mounted on chassis 1 for temporarily storing the grapes harvested by means of appliance 8.

In the embodiment shown by way of example in Figures 1 and 2, each of the two side members 2 of chassis 1 may for example be formed by a hollow beam with rectangular section, for example square.

The front cross spacing member 3 may for example be formed by two tubular hoops 10 and 11 whose ends are welded, in a way per se, to side members 2.

Similarly, the rear cross spacing member 4 may be formed by two tubular hoops 12 and 13 cross braced means of tubes 14 whose ends are welded to hoops 12 a nd 13.

In accordance with the present invention, the rear cross spacing member 4 is removably fixed to side members 2. For this purpose, a horizontal plare 15 is fixed rigidly, for example by welding, to the lower horizontal face of each of the two beams 2, as can be seen more particularly in Figures 3 and 4, each horizontal plate 15 projecting inwardly of the frame formed by chassis 1. Several reinforcing brackets 16, 17 and 18 (Figure 4) are welded between each plate 15 and the corresponding beam 2. An angle iron 19 formed by two plates 19a and 19b welded to each other at right angles, it rigidly fixed, for example by welding, to each of the ends of each of hoops 12 and 13. A reinforcing bracket 20 is welded between each plate 19b and the corresponding hoop 12 or 13.

Each plate 19a bears on plate 15 and is removably fixed to said plate by four bolts (not shown) passing through holes 21 provided in plate 19a and in plate 15. Similarly, each plate 19b bears on the innermost vertical face of beam 2 or, preferably, on a vertical plate 22 welded to said face of beam 2. Each plate 19b is removably fixed to plate 22 by means of two bolts (not shown) which pass through holes 23 provided in plate 1 9b and which are screwed into tapped holes 24 in plate 22.

Thus, it is clearthat by unscrewing the abovementioned bolts, the rear cross spacing member may be removed and that the harvesting appliance 8, after being removed from chassis 1 and placed in chocks 25 (Figures 1 and 2), may be removed from chassis 1 through the opening thus freed at the rear thereof simply by causing the machine to advance.

The two horizontal plates 15 may also serve for mounting rear wheel arms 5. For this, each plate 15 comprises four other holes 26 (Figure 4) receiving bolts for fixing one of the wheel arms 5.

With the straddling machine described in Figures 1 and 2, the rear cross spacing member 4 may be removed before the appliance 8 may be removed from the chassis, and it must be put back in plate after other equipment has been positioned in the chassis. Now, the rear cross spacing member is relatively heavy (its weight may reach 200 kg), which requires lifting means for handling it. To avoid that, each appliance may be advantageously provided with a rear cross spacing member which remains attached to the appliance when this latter is removed from the chassis, and which completes the chassis when the appliance is mounted therein, as will be described with reference Figures 5 to 16.

In Figures 5 to 16, the elements which are indentical orwhich play the same role as those which are shown in Figures 1 and 2 are designated by the same reference numbers and will therefore not be described again in detail.

A straddling machine will first of all be described which is not equipped with a slant correcting device (Figures 5 to 10) then a straddler equipped with a slant correcting device (Figures 11 to 16).

In the straddler shown in Figures 5 to 8, the harvesting appliance 8 comprises a hollow beam 31, square in section, which extends substantially horizontally in the longitudinal median plane of appliance 8. At each of its ends, beam 31 is attached to the piston rod of a hydraulic actuator 32 whose cylinder is attached to one of the ends of a support 33 whose other end is rigidly fixed, for example by welding, to a transverse plate 34. Each plate 34 is removably fixed, for example by screws, to a transverse plate 35.The front transverse plate 35 is rigidly fixed, for example by welding, to the tubular hoop 11 of the front cross spacing member 3, in the region of the top thereof. Similarly, the reartrans- verse plate 35 is rigidlyfixed, for example by welding, to the tubular hoop 12 of the rear cross spacing member 4, in the region of the top thereof.

Thus, by actuating the hydraulic cylinders 32, the harvesting appliance 8 may be set to an appropriate height with respect to the ground depending on the state of the ground over which the machine is operating, namely according as to whether the wheels 6 sink to a greater or lesser extent into the ground (dry ground or muddy ground).

In operation, each of the two hoppers 9 rest on a respective side member 2 of the chassis 1 of the straddling machine and is mounted, in its rear part, for pivoting about a horizontal transverse shaft 30 which is rigidly fixed to the tubular hoop 13 of the rear cross spacing member 4. Thus, the grapes contained in the hoppers 9 may be discharged by tipping up the hoppers about shafts 30 under the action of hydraulic cylinders (not shown).

To replace the harvesting appliance 8 by other equipment, appliance 8 is first of all partially raised by means of the two hydraulic cylinders 32. Then, support chocks 25 are placed under appliance 8 as shown in Figures 5 to 8. Then, the rear cross spacing member 4 is uncoupled from the two side members 2 and the front plate 34 is uncoupled from the front plate 35. Then, the two hydraulic cylinders 32 are acutated so as to cause their piston rods to extend completely, which results in raising the front plate 34 with respect to the front plate 35 and in raising the rear cross spacing member 4 with hoppes 9, props 36 being plated under these latter to support them as shown in Figures 7 and 8. It is then sufficient to cause the machine to advance to disengage appliance 8 through the rear opening of chassis 1.Another piece of equipment, such for example as a spraying appliance 37, shown in Figure 9 and 10, may then be mounted on the chassis 1 of the straddler.

All the parts of the spraying appliance (tanks 38 for the liquid to be sprayed, agitation pumps, spraying pumps, turbine 39, ramp or nozzle 41 for projecting the sprayed liquid, etc...) are mounted on a chassis 42. Chassis 42 is essentially formed by two side members 43 at the rear ends of which is fixed, for example by welding, the rear cross spacing member 4. This latter is here formed by a horizontal cross piece 44a and by two legs 44b provided with angle irons 19 which may be removably fixed to plates 15 and to the side members 2 of the chassis 1 in place of the previously described hoop 12. At their front ends, side members 43 of chassis 42 are rigidly fixed to a right-angled bracket 45 which may be removably fixed to the front transverse plate 35.

With the spraying appliance 37 supported by telescopic props 46 (for example screw jacks) as shown in Figures 9 and 10, it may be mounted on chassis 1 in the following way. The straddling machine is first of all backed so as to bring the two side members 2 of its chassis 1 below the spraying appliance 37 and below the rear cross spacing member 4. Then, the telescopic props 46 are retracted so as to cause the two tanks 38 respectively to rest on the two side members 2 and the angle irons 19 of legs 44b on plates 15. At the same time, support 45 comes into contact with the front transverse plate 35. It is then sufficient to fix, by means of screws, the rear cross spacing member 4 to side members 2 and support 45 to the front transverse plate 35.

When there is no longer need of the spraying appliance 37, this latter may be removed by carrying out the reverse operations to those which have just been described, and another appliance may be mounted on the chassis 1 of the straddling machine, for example the harvesting appliance 8 shown in Figures 5 to 8, by carrying out the reverse operations to those which have been described above for removing the harvesting appliance 8.

In Figures 11 to 16 there is shown a straddling machine having, in a way known per se, a slant correction device, the machine being shown with harvesting appliance 8 in Figures 11 to 14 and with spraying appliance in Figures 15 and 16. As before, chassis 1 of the straddling machine comprises two side members 2 and two front and rear cross spacing members 3 and 4 respectively forming with the side members 2 a frame adapted to receive different appliances such as the appliances 8 ad 37. In this case, the rear wheels 6 are not mounted for rotation directly at the lower ends of the rear vertical arms 5, but the are mounted for rotation at the rear ends of arms 5a, which are themselves mounted for pivoting at their front ends on the lower ends of the rear vertical arms 5. A hydraulic cylinder 47 is mounted between each arm 5 and the side member 2 situated on the same side.Thus, each rear wheel 6 may be lowered and raised at will with respect to chassis 1 by actuating the corresponding cylinder 47. Each front vertical arm 5 is tubular and contains a hydraulic cylinder (not shown) for lowering and raising at will the corresponding front wheel 6.

Furthermore, each front arm 5 extends upwardly beyond the corresponding side member 2 of the chassis 1 and a cross-piece 48 is rigidly fixed to the upper ends of the two front arms 5 and forms with the upper part thereof the front cross spacing member 3.

Thus, by selectively actuating the hydraulic cylinders contained in the front arms 5 and hydraulic cylinders 47, it is possible to adjust the position of the front and rear wheels with respect to chassis 1 so as to maintain this latter horizontal whatever the slope of the ground. It will be further noted that, by simultaneously actuating the hydraulic cylinders 47 and the two hydraulic cylinders contained in the front arms 5, chassis 1 may be lowered and raised with respect to the ground. As will be seen further on, this possibility will be used for facilitating replacement of one appliance by another.

The harvesting appliance 8 shown in Figures 11 to 14 is pendently mounted in chassis 1 so as to remain always vertical. To this end, the whole of the harvesting appliance 8 is fixed to a beam 48 which extends substantially horizontally in the longitudinal median plane of appliance 8. At each end of beam 48 is rigidly fixed a stub shaft 51 which is supported by a bearing 52. As can be seen more clearly in Figure 13, the front bearing 52 comprises two parts, namely a lower part 52a which is fixed rigidly to the cross-piece 48, and an upper part 52b which is removably fixed to the lower part 52a. Similarly, as can be seen in Figures 12 and 14, the rear bearing 52 is formed partly by a lower support 53, in the shape of an upturned V, whose arms are rigidly fixed to the rear cross spacing member 4 and partly by a cover 54 removably fixed to support 53.The rear cross spacing member 4 is formed by a single tubular hoop 55 whose legs are removably fixed to the side members 2 respectively. As in the embodiment shown in Figures 5 to 8, each hopper 9 is mounted for pivoting on a transverse horizontal shaft 30 which is rigidly fixed to the hoop 55.

For removing the harvesting appliance 8, chassis 1 of the machine is first of all raised by means of the hydraulic sylinders 47 and the hydraulic cylinders contained in the front arms 5. Then, chocks 25 are placed underthe appliance 8 as shown in Figures 11 and 12 and props 36 are placed under each of the two hoppers 9;as shown in Figures 13 and 14. Then, the upper part 52b of the front bearing 52 is removed from the lower part 52a and the hoop 55 is separated from side members 2. Then, chassis 1 is lowered by means of hydraulic cylinders 47 and the hydraulic cylinders contained in the front arms 5, as shown in Figures 13 and 14. The straddling machine is then caused to advance so as to disengage the harvesting appliance 8 with hoop 55 through the rear opening in chassis 1.Another appliance, such for example as spraying appliance 37 (Figures 15 and 16) similarto the one shown in Figures 9 and 10may then be mounted on chassis 1 in the place of appliance 8. In the embodiment shown in Figures 15 and 16, support 56 which is fixed to the front ends of the side members 43 of chassis 42 is provided with a stub shaft 56a, which is indentical to the front stub shaft shown in Figures 11 and 13, so as to be able to be mounted in the front bearing 52. The rear ends of the side members 43 are rigidly fixed to a tubular hoop 57 having the same foot spacing as the tubular hoop 55 shown in Figures 11 to 14, so as to be able to be removably fixed to side members 2 in the place of hoop 55.

For fitting the spraying appliance 37 to the chassis 1 of the machine, the spraying appliance 37 is supported by props 36 and 58 as shown in Figures 15 and 16. With the chassis 1 of the machine in the low position,the machine is backed until the low part 52a of the front bearing 52 is under the stub shaft 56a and until the side members 2 are under the legs of hoop 57. The, chassis 1 is raised by means of the hydraulic cylinders 47 and the hydraulic cylinders contained in the front arms 5 until the side members 2 come into contact with tanks 38 and with the lower ends of the legs of hoop 57 and until the lower part 52a of the front bearing 52 supports the stub shaft 56a.Then, hoop 57 is attached to the side members 2 and the upper part 52b of the front bearing 52 is attached to the lower part 52a, after which props 36 and 58 may be removed and the machine is then ready to operate with the spraying appliance 37.

When there is no longer need of it, the spraying appliance 37 may be removed from chassis 1 by carrying out the reverse operations to those which have been described above, and another appliance, for example the harvesting appliance 8 shown in Figures 11 to 14, may be mounted in place of the spraying appliance 37 by carrying out the reverse operations to those which have been described in connection with Figures 11 to 14.

Itwill be noted that in all the embodiments shown in Figures 5 to 16, the rear cross spacing member 4 always remains attached to the harvesting appliance 8 orto the spraying appliance 37, thus avoiding handling of this member.

It goes without saying that the embodiment of the present invention which has been described above has been given by way of example which is purely an indication and in no wise limiting, and that numerous modifications may be readily made by a man skilled in the art without for all that departing from the spirit of the present invention. Thus, more especially, although the straddling machine described above is of the self-propelled type, it could be of the towed type. Furthermore, instead of being formed by tubular hoops, the front and rear cross spacing members could be formed by cross-pieces, straight or curved beams, or any other rigid spacing member, the important thing being that one at least of the front and rear cross spacing members is removably fixed to the side members 2 of the chassis.

Claims (11)

1. An all purpose straddling machineforthe cultivation, treatment and harvesting of in-line planted fruit bushes, comprising a chassis to which different appliances may be selectively removably fixed, said chassis comprising two parallel and substantially horizontal side members and front and rear cross spacing members, which are connected to the side members respectively at the front and rear ends thereof and which form therewith a rigid carrier frame defining a central space adapted to receive a chosen appliance, each side member being provided with two arms, respectively front and rear, which extend substantially vertically downwards from the side member and which support at their lower end a wheel for rolling over the ground, at least one of the appliances having a dimension in height considerably greaterthan the height of the chassis above the ground, wherein one at least of the front and rear cross spacing members of said chassis is fixed to said side members by removable connections.

2. The straddling machine as claimed in claim 1, in which each of said two side members is formed by a hollow rectangular section beam and in which one at least of said front and rear cross spacing members comprises two tubular hoops cross braced by tubes, wherein a horizontal plate is rigidly fixed to the lower horizontal face of each of said two beams in the vicinity of one of the ends thereof, each horizontal plate projecting inwardly of said frame and an angle iron is rigidly fixed to each of the ends of each of said hoops of said cross spacing member which is removably fixed to said beams, one of the two legs of each angle iron bearing on the innermost vertical face of the corresponding beam and being fixed to said vertical face by several bolts, the other leg of each angle iron bearing on said horizontal plate and being fixed thereto by several bolts.

3. The straddling machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein the leg, mentioned in the first place, of the angle iron bears on a vertical plate which is welded to the innermost face of said beam and which comprises tapped holes for receiving securing bolts.

4. The straddling machine as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein several reinforcing brackets are provided between each horizontal plate and the corresponding beam.

5. The straddling machine as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein each horizontal plate also serves for mounting a wheel arm.

6. The straddling machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cross spacing member which is removably fixed to the side members is the rear cross spacing member.

7. The straddling machine as claimed in claim 6, wherein each appliance is provided with a rear cross spacing member which remains attached to the appliance when this latter is removed from the chassis and which completes the chassis when the appliance is mounted therein.

8. The straddling machine as claimed in claim 7, in which the appliance is a harvesting appliance, wherein said appliance comprises a beam which extends substantially horizontally in the longitudinal median plate of the appliance and each end of which is attached to the piston rod of a hydraulic actuator whose cylinder is attached to a support, one of the supports being removably fixed to the front cross spacing member, the other support being fixed to the rear cross spacing member.

9. The straddling machine as claimed in claim 7, in which the appliance is a spraying appliance, wherein said appliance comprises a chassis formed of two side members whose rear ends are rigidly fixed to the rear cross spacing member, and whose front ends are rigidly fixed to a support which is removably fixed to the front cross spacing member.

10. The straddling machine as claimed in claim 7, comprising a slant correction device and in which the appliance is a harvesting appliance, wherein said appliance comprises a beam which extends substantially horizontally in the longitudinal median plane of the appliance and each of the ends of which is provided with a stub shaft, the front and rear cross spacing members each being provided with a-bearing for supporting one of the two stub shafts, at least the bearing for the front cross spacing member being formed by two parts removably fixed to each other.

11. The straddling machine as claimed in claim 7, comprising a slant correction device in which the appliance is a spraying appliance, wherein said appliance comprises a chassis formed of two side members whose rear ends are rigidly fixed to the rear cross spacing member and whose front ends are rigidly fixed to a support which is provided with a stub shaft, the front cross spacing member being provided with a bearing for supporting the stub shaft, the bearing being formed by two parts removably fixed to each other.