US452493A - Fruit-gatherer - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

J. A. FERGUSON.

FRUIT GATHERBR.

Patented May 19, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. FERGUSON, OF GATES, TENNESSEE.

FRUlT-GATHERER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 452,493, dated May 19, 1891.

Application filed July 25, 1890. Serial No- |3 N m e -l To all whom it may concern:

easy reach of the operator.

The object of the invention is to provide a devicewhich shall be extremelylight in weight and simple in construction, and in which there will be little danger of any of the parts catching in the boughs or branches of the tree during the operation of gathering the fruit. This object I accomplish by my improved fruitgatherer, which consists, essentially, of a hollow staff, a removable coil mounted thereon,

and provided with a bow at its upper end, a-

moving jaw pivoted to this bow, a fabric tube extending from the lower end of said bow and jaw and preferably connected with said coil, and an operating-cord passing through the staff and adapted to close the jaw, as well as of certain adj unctive and specific details of construction assisting in the accomplishment of the above object, all as hereinafter more fully described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved fruit-gatherer complete. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the coil and bow. Fig. 3 is a detail View of the movable jaw. Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective View showing the manner in which this jaw is pivoted to the bow and in which it is controlled by the operatingcord. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the staff.

Fruit-gatherers have been heretofore constructed wherein a flexible tube was supported by a rigid staff, and jaws at the upper end of the latter opening into the tube were controlled by means of a cord led downwardly to within reach of the operator. This is the general form of device I employ in the pres ent instance, and I will now describe the same in connection with the details of its construction.

The letter S designates the staff, which is preferably of cane, although other. light and together, forming the helix H, which tightly surrounds the upper extremity of the staff. The wire is continued from this helix in a short horizontal arm A, at the outer end of which it is led into a semicircular bow B, and the tip of this bow has a second short horizontal arm A. The coil'and helix are passed over a staif, the helix preferably fitting in a shoulder out upon the exterior of the staff for a slight distance from its upper extremity, and it will be understood that this staff may be removed and a longer or shorter one substituted at will according as the height'of the tree fromwhich the fruit is to be gathered necessitates.

The letter J designates a wire jaw having eyes j at its ends, which loosely embrace and turn upon said short horizontal arms A, all as illustrated in Fig. 4.

The letter T designates a tube composed of fabric and whose upper end is sewed or otherwise secured to the bow and to the jaw.

The body of this tube passes downwardly alongside the coil 0,130 which it is preferably secured by stitches z, and below the coil the tube is extended to a considerable length.

Its lower end is closed, and its body near said lower end, and preferably at one or two'other points in its length, is provided with openings O for the removal of the fruit.

An operating cord or small rope R passes through the longitudinal hole in the staff and is led from the upper end thereof through an eye I in the bow and connected at its free end to the jaw J in about the position shown in Fig. 4.

The operator, standing beneath the tree upon which the fruit is growing, raises the fruit gatherer above described and places over the piece of fruit the mouth of the device, which stands norinally open from the weight of the tube. The operating cord or rope is then pulled,whereby the jaw is closed against the bow upon the stem of the piece of fruit. A downward movement is given to the ICO entire device, whereby said stem is broken and the piece of fruit is picked, and the latter runs down within the tube to the closed lower end thereof. The operator then witl1- draws the piece of fruit from the opening 0 in the side of the tube and repeats the operation, as may be desired.

\Vhen this improved device is to be used upon rather high trees, another and a longer staff is substituted for that shown, and another operating-rope long enough to pass through it is of course required. I propose to manufac ture this improved fruitgatherer with two lengths of tube, those with short tubes being sold with a short staff only to frnit-gatherers whose trees are all comparatively small and those with longer tubes being sold with two lengths of staff to fruit-growers whose orchards comprise trees of various sizes and heights. In the latter case, when the short staff is used, the lower end of the long tube must be rolled up, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and the fruit as it is picked is removed from one of the upper openings 0 in the side of 'the tube instead of from that near the lower end, all as will be understood.

This improved device grasps only the stems of the fruit and conveys apples, pears, peaches, apricots, plums, cherries, and the like down the tube without any injury whatever to the pieces of fruit at any time or to the tree in the act of picking. The inclosing of the oper ating-rope within a tubular staff prevents the catching of the same upon the branches or leaves of the tree, and the attaching of the tube to the coil and thereby to the staff permits the whole device to be operated as one piece and to be passed skillfully between branches and pieces of fruit to grasp a ripe piece that may be hanging upon one of the topmost branches of a very high tree.

hat I claim is- 1. In a fruit-gatherer, the combination, with picking devices, substantially as described, a

coil having a reduced helix at its upper end by which said devices are supported, and a flexible tube leadingdownwardly from said devices and connected to the members of said coil, of a tubular staff havingareduced shoulder removably inserted in said helix and coil and an operating-cord passing through said staff and connected at its upper end to said devices, as set forth.

2. The staff S, having a reduced shoulder at its upper end, in combination with the coil C, embraein g the body of the staff, the integral helix ll, fitting said shoulder, and the picking devices and operating devices connected thereto, substantially as described.

3. The how 15, having horizontal arms A at its ends and an eye I in its body, and a support for said bow, in combination with the jaw J, having eyes j at its ends loosely embracing said horizontal arms, and an operating-cord R, connected to said jaw, passing through said eye, and leading through guides in the support, substantially as described.

at. The staff S, havingareduced shoulder at its upper end, in combination wit-h the coil C, embracing the body of this staff, the integral helix H, fitting said shoulder and continued at its upper end into a short horizontal arm A, the integral bow B, continued from the end of said arm, the integral horizontal arm A at the other side of the how, the jaw J, having eyes j at its ends loosely embracing said horizontal arms, and an operating-cord It, passing through said coil and helix and adapted to close said jaw, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as myown I have hereto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN A. FERGUSON.

Witnesses:

W. B. Moons, .T. F. GARVIN.

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