GB405926A - An improved machine for harvesting beet and like root vegetables - Google Patents

Abstract

405,926. Harvesting root crops. WILKE, O., Harber, Hohenhameln, Germany. Oct. 4, 1933, Nos. 27297 and 27298. Convention dates, Oct. 7, 1932 and Nov. 25, 1932. [Class 6 (iii).] In a machine for harvesting root crops, such as beet roots, a feeler roller, comprising a number of discs 1-4, with teeth or p'ns projecting from their peripheries, mounted on a rotating shaft 6, is arranged to engage and penetrate the leaves of the roots the teeth passing between the leaves and entering for a short distance into the head of the root. The roller is driven through sprocket gear from the main driving shaft 12 at a speed a little greater than the speed of travel of the machine. A topping knife 14 having sole pieces 13 and adjustable vertically and horizontally relatively to the feeler roller is arranged behind the roller and with it and its associated mechanism is mounted on an auxiliary frame 15 which can swing about a pivot 16 and is supported at its forward end by a spring 17 the tension of which may be adjusted by a screw 18. The cut off tops are detached from the feeler roller by a removing roller, consisting of a number of toothed discs 19-23 that penetrate between the discs of the feeler roller, that delivers them between the two endless bands 24, 25 of a conveyer which carries them to a transverse conveyer 36 by which they are delivered to a discharge hopper 26 the outlet of which is controlled by a lever 27. The auxiliary frame 15 may be moved bodily laterally on its pivot 16. In a modification the removing roller is dispensed with, the upper band of the conveyer being provided with teeth to remove the tops from the feeler roller. The lifting tines 49 with their associated parts are carried by an auxiliary frame that is supported by rollers 53 on the front beam 54 of the frame and can slide on the rear transverse beam 55 thus being capable of lateral adjustment : a lever 56 is preferably provided to move the cutting frame and the uprooting frame simultaneously. The roots slide up the tines 49 into a skeleton basket 40 from which they are thrown by beating members 41 on to a conveyer 44 by which they are carried to a hopper 60. A soil smoothing member may be fitted behind the uprooting tines. The lefthand side of the machine frame may be arranged for vertical adjustment relatively to the wheel axle.