GB834881A - Improvements in hop picking machines - Google Patents

Abstract

834,881. Hop-stripping machines. BURR, E. H. Aug. 3, 1956 [May 5, 1955], No. 13067/55. Class 6(3). In a hop-picking machine, all the material which has been stripped from the hop vine is fed via a hopper 1 on to a conveyor 2, so formed that loose leaves and hops fall on to a second conveyer 3 while the lateral stems are conveyed to the stripping section of the machine. The stripping section comprises two stripping belts 6 and 7, the upper one 7 being driven in such a direction as to feed the lateral stems into the passageway between the two belts. The lower belt 6 may be driven slowly in the same direction as the upper one, drive being transmitted to it in this case from the upper belt through the lateral stems being stripped, or it may be driven in the opposite direction by means of the engine 8, or be caused to remain stationary by means of a brake. The hops stripped off the lateral stems fall on to the conveyer 3 and are carried to a cleaning device, whilst the stripped laterals are discharged from the machine by the conveyer 17. In a modification, the upper belt 7 is replaced by a series of drums rotatable about horizontal axes, the stripping fingers being carried on bars which are located inside the drums so as to project through slots in the periphery of the drums. The machine may be adapted for stripping hop vines by enlarging the dimensions of the stripping assemblies.