US2736157A - Nut gatherer - Google Patents

Description

United States Patent=- O NUT GATHERER v 7 Ella C. Weathersby, Hattiesburg, Miss. I Application February 15, 1954, Serial No. 410,377

Claims. (Cl. 56-328) The present invention relates to an improved device through the medium of which a user may walk over a ground covered with nuts and while doing so, may con- "venien tly pick up nuts, gather the same in a bag of reas'o'nably limited capacity,. and then dump or empty the same' into a shoulder-type sack or an equivalent container.

"It a matter of common knowledge to those familiar with the prior art that many and varied patents have been issued on devices for picking up objects while in a standfin g position, these being often referred to as pickups for golf balls, table tennis balls, walnuts, etc. 'It isalso a matter of common knowledge that prior art pickup de- *vices have to do with an elongate handle, a collecting receiver of one type or another on the lower end portion of thehandle, said receiver having an entrance opening for the articles to be picked up and means of one type or another being associated with or spanning the en- "trance opening and being responsive to the articles picked I up and serving to hold the articles once they are trapped. The present invention has to do with a construction which is characterized by a receiving and accumulating bag having an intake opening or a so-called mouth at the bottom, suitable handle means being provided for the bag, and a novel trapping device. which is here referred to as a pressure responsive pickup cage. T-"T' More specifically, the improvement has to do" with a pecan gatherer which is characterized by a receiving and accumulating bag of elongate form having an intake mouthat' its bottom and an elongated sleeve-like portion i joined at one end to the top portion of said bag-and gradually tapering in cross-section and defining "a flexible snout-like emptying funnel for cooperation withya sepa- -*rate shoulder sack or similar container, pressure responaasive pickup members operatively mounted in said bag withcertain of said members registering with, spanning and providing an expansible and contractible grille for the otherwise fully open mouth and a trapping cage for the gathered nuts, and handle-equipped means operatively connected with said cage.

What is more, novelty is predicated on the structural assemblage briefly comprehended above and wherein the means referred to is characterized by an endless metal or equivalent frame, a bail whose arms are aflixed to the frame, said bail being provided with a manipulating handle, the members which go to make up the cage being U-shaped and having limbs and said limbs being handily attached to the frame.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a nut gatherer or bagging device construction in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged view in section and elevation the direction of the arrows;

2,736,157 etente i l 281195 "ice .2 w, 7 taken on the verticalline"2 2 of' Figure 'l, looking in Figure 3 is a horizontal section also on an'enlarg'ed scale taken on the line 33f"of Figureflflooking in the direction of the arrows; j

Figure 4 is a view of the bottom portion ofthe device shown in Figure 2, with parts broken away and shown in section, showing the manner in which theiresilient .U- shaped members spread apart to respond to and pick up a nut; 3,

- Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional and ele- 'vational view showing certain of the-details,said view being taken approximately on the line 5+5 of. Figure 3;

and

Figure 6 is an enlargedfragment'ary perspective" view, with parts broken away and'shown' in section, illustrating other details in the over-all'const'ruction.

Referring now. to the drawings, and with reference first to the part which is herein described as the"bag; this is denoted, in a unitary sense,by the numeral 8." It comprises a slender, cloth or equivalent receiving and gathering bag, the body portion of which'isgdenoted'at 10. The

' bottom portion 12 is formed-with a'central substantially V-shaped opening which is; broadly referred to as a substantially elongated mouth 14L The marginal'edges of the mouth are formed intohems 16 which serve in the manner to be further described. The stitchings of: the hems are denoted at 18 in Figure l.' glt is desirable to trap the nuts or other articles in this bag'byway of the mouth and to empty the same from time to time in a shoulder sack or an equivalent carryingf and'transporh ing container (not shown). It is therefore desirable .to provide the instant bag with an' emptying neck and the latter is also elongated and of generalsnoiit-like form, as

denoted at 20. The restricted dischargegopening 22 serves to permit the neck to bebent in any'suitable direction and to funnel the nuts into a handily arranged shoulder sack.

Means is provided on the interior of the bag which serves to pick up and trap'and-tem'porarilyhold the nuts. This may be convenientlygdesignated, it is" believed, as a wire cage. The cage is made up of a plurality of" spaced parallel resilient U-shapedwire members denoted by the numerals 24. The limb portions 26 have upper laterally directed ends 28 (see Figuref6) which are fitted into keeper holes or openings provided therefor, ,as' at 30, in an ovate endless band-'Orframe SZ. More; specifically, bracing and clamping meansisprovided here, -'and, to this end, I provide 'apair'of substantially horseshoe shaped clamps which are denoted by they numerals 34; They are arranged on the interior of the band or frame -and have keeper notches 36 to accommodate the laterally bent ends of the limbs of the U-shaped members. The centrally disposed U-shaped members have their rounded bight portions 38 extending through and beyond the mouth of the bag where they provide pressure responsive members which spread apart, take in the nuts and then spring together in an obvious substantially automatic manner.

With reference to Figure 5, it will be seen that the horseshoe-shaped clamps are held in place by bolts 40 as clearly depicted, and these bolts operate in slots 42 provided therefor in the band or frame, the threaded ends of the bolts passing through the respective end portions of the clamps and being provided with thumb nuts, as at 44. This provides a convenient manner of assembling and combining the parts into a satisfactory cage structure. It is further to be pointed out that at least two of the U-shaped members 24 are fastened in the aforementioned hems 16, as illustrated best in Figure 4. This provides the ways and means of joining the cage with the bag and also forms a sort of openable and closable grille ass-.14 the mouth of the bag. The handle, which is used in a standing position, is denoted by the numeral 46, and it has a ferrule 48 joined with a shank 50 carried by an inverted U-shapedv bail.52 Whose arms 54 straddle and are connected to the respective diametrically opposite end portions of the frame. The upper end of the handle "extends through an opening 56 in the bag where it is by way of the snout-like neck into a shoulder sack or the like. Obviously, this device is simple, practical, en-

sures handy and rapid gathering of nuts and virtually eliminates stooping.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art,it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be restorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims. 1

What is claimed as newis as follows:

1. A nut gatherer comprising, in combination, a nut receiving and accumulating bag of elongate form having an intake mouth at its bottom portion and a cornplemental elongated sleeve-like extension at its top portion and gradually tapering in cross-section and defining a flexible snout-like bag emptying funnel for cooperation with a separate shoulder sack or similar container, pressure responsive pickup members operatively mounted in said bag with certain of said members registering with, spanning and providing an expansible and contractible grille for the otherwise fully open intake mouth and a trapping cage for the gathered nuts, and handle-equipped means operatively connected with said cage.

2. A nut gatherer comprising, in combination, a nut receiving and accumulating bag of elongate form having an intake mouthat its bottom, pressure responsive means embodying pick-up members operatively mounted in said bag with certain of said members registering with, spanning and providing an expansible and contractible grille r for the otherwise fully open mouth of said bag and a trapping cage for the gathered nuts, and handle-equipped means operatively connected with said cage.

3. The structure defined in claim 2, wherein said means embodies an endless frame, a bail fixed on said frame, a handle joined to said bail, said members being U shap'ed and having limbs joined to said frame.

4. A nut gatherer comprising a cloth bag in which the nuts are gathered and accumulated and later on dumped into a larger sack or the like, said bag having an elongate slot at the bottom forming a mouth, the marginal edges of said mouth having lengthwise hems, a cage structure comprising a frame and a plurality of U-shaped wire members having limbs attached to and depending from said frame, the majority of said members being confined in said bag, and certain of said members having their bight portions registering and cooperating with said mouth, at least two of the bight portions of said members being attached to the bag by way of the adjacent respective .hems, a handle, and means connecting said handle with said frame.

5. A nut gatherer comprising, in combination, a cage structure comprising an endless rigid frame, a plurality of spaced normally parallel U-shaped wire members having cooperating bight portions and opposed coplanar limbs, said limbs beingresilient, said limbs having free end portions fastened to said frame and thus defining the aforementioned cage, the bight portions of the respective U-shaped members cooperating in providing an expansible and contractible grill, certain cooperating U-shaped members having their adjacent bight portions adapted to spread apart to permit nuts to be picked up and collected in the cage, a handle secured to said frame and extending from a side of the frame opposite to that on which and from which said U-shaped members extend,' an d a complemental nut receiving and accumulating bag having a slotted portion at the bottom attached to and cooperating with certain of the bight portions of the U-shaped members, the remainder of the bag being imperforate and enclosing and encasing the essential portion of the U-shaped members, the top portion of said bag extending beyond said frame and encompassing a portion of said handle and being restricted in cross-section to facilitate dumping accumulated nuts from the cage and bag.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Bagley Feb; 6, 1951 4 are

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