US549671A - Beet-topping machine - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

A HUNTER BEBT TOPPING MACHINE.

Patented Nov. 12, 1895.

- INVENTEIR WITNE-EEE [fl/I MM UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW HUNTER, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

BEET-TOPPING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 549,671, dated November 12, 1895. Application filed December 17, 1894. Serial No. 532,069. (NoiuodeL) T 0; whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ANDREW HUNTER, a citizen of the United States, residing in-the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented a new and useful Beet- Topping Machine, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates especially to a machine employed for topping beets before they are removed from the ground, and has for its object the production of a device that will remove the tops from growing beets in the field in a rapid and most satisfactory manner.

To such end my invention consists, mainly, in the described construction and combina tion of shoe or runner mounted on wheels, a topping blade or knife attached by pivots to the top of the runner and extending therefrom laterally and in horizontal position, a hand-bar rigidly secured to the shank of the blade at the line of the pivots and adapted for raising and lowering the blade to adjust the same from the drivers seat, and a presser-board arranged in front of the blade to bend down the beet-tops, having means for throwing it into and out of action. These parts are constructed for operation substantially as hereinafter explained.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section of the machine, taken about the line 00 as, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a top view of the machine.

. A A B indicate the hind wheels. and axle, and D D the side bars of the machine-frame. The two side bars are joined at the front by a cross-bar J, at the middle of which is placed a single central caster-wheel E. At the front ends of the side bars are fastened clevises for attaching the draft-animals. A drivers seat V is supported by a curved spring W over the middle of the axle.

H indicates a narrow shoe or runner formed of a flat bar, with'upwardly-curved ends at front and rear, by means of which it is fastened to the middle of the cross-bar J at the front and to the axle at the rear end. The

runner is bent to bring the main or body portion in horizontal position flat upon the surface of the ground over which the machine is drawn, and the end portion of the upwardly-curved front is bent at right angles outward from the cross-bar and thence upwardly and then backwardly to the cross-bar to produce the rectangular part in which the post is carried. This post is inserted through sockets formed in the top and bottom bars of this rectangular frame and is held in place by the collars G G. This construction is seen in Fig. 1.

To the top face of the runner His attached the cutter N in such position that it sets laterally and in a horizontal position when at work to one side of the runner.

The form and the manner of attaching the cutter to the runner are well shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The cutting-blade N is secured at one end to a flat plate L, which may be termed the shank or body of the cutter, and from this plate it extends laterally and with a backward inclination but in the same general plane, so that it gives a shear cut as it advances against the beet-tops. The angular brace X is placed at the back to strengthen the blade. On the front and the rear end of the plateL are formed trunnions, for which bearings are provided on the top of the runner in angle-plates K, fastened on the'runner, and on these centers the plate L is adapted to be tilted and moved toward one side or the other. Such movements of the plate cause the cutting-blade to assume positions at different angles approaching or departing from the horizontal, and thus by tilting or moving the plate on these pivots the cutter is raised to clear obstructions or to accommodate inequalities of surface over which. it may be passing or to bring it into position for work. These adjustments are effected from the drivers seat by means of the hand-bar N, that is fixed at the lower end in a socket hi on the top of the plate L, and from that point of attachment it stands upwardly in convenient reach of the driver.

To the front cross-bar of the frame between the point where the runner is secured and the longitudinal slide-bar is attached the presserboard Q, the function of which is to bend down the beet tops toward the surface of the ground in advance of the cutter. This part Q is made of a flat board and is attached to the machineframe by a hinge P, placed on the upper face of the board at or near its front end, and from this point of attachment the board extends toward the surface of the ground at an angle inclining backward and setting at the lower end closely to the ground in front of the cutter.

A curved spring R, bearing on the back or upper face of the board, acts to hold it down in working position, and the lower end of the board is connected by a short chain U with the end of a hand-lever T, which last-mentioned means is provided for the driver to raise the board when it is necessary to clear obstructions.

The spring R is attached to the top of the cross-bar at S and the hand-lever is pivoted to the inner side-of the side barD on a stud, as seen in Fig. 2. As thus constructed and combined, the operation of these parts is as follows: \Vhen the machine is drawn along over the field the inclined presser-board coming in contact with the standing tops acts to bend them downward toward the horizontal and away from the cutter and holds them down until the cutter strikes and severs them from the bulb, the tail end of the presser-board being set at such distance in advance of the cutter that the edge of the knife strikes the bulb before the top is released. By means of the hand-bar N the driver adjusts the cutter to the inequalities of the ground from time to time or raises the cutter to clear obstructions. Ordinarily the range of angular movement in the cutter will vary from four inches above the surface to two inches below the surface to enable the cutter to operate on the highest and the lowest growing ones of the beets. The driver while guiding the team also keeps the bar N in hand to adjust its position, as the condition of the surface and the position of the beets may seem to require.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a beet-topping machine, the combination in a suitable frame mounted on wheels, of the horizontal-runner H, the cutter N extending laterally outward therefrom, said cutter consisting of the pivoted shank L, a backwardly inclined blade N and the adjustable hand-bar N constructed for operation as set forth.

2. In a beet-topping machine, the combination in a suitable frame mounted 011 wheels, of the horizontal runner H, the laterally proj ecting cutter N having a shank L which is pivoted to the top face of the runner and is capable of a tilting movement on its pivots, the inclined presser-board Q having a hinge connection at its front and higher end with the machine frame, a spring applied to the back surface below the hinge, the lifting-lever '1. attached to the lower end of the presser-board and the upright hand-bar N attached to the shank of the pivoted cutter for adjusting the working position of the cutter with reference to the surface of the ground, substantially as described.

Theherein-described machine consisting of the frame constructed of the axle 13, bars D D J and wheels A A, the narrow runner 1.[ having upwardly bent ends at front and rear and secured thereby to the front cross-bar and the axle respectively, the cutting-blade N pivoted to the top of the runner and extending laterally to one side and substantially in the same plane with the runner, the uprighthandbar N attached to the cutter at the line of its pivot for raising and lowering said cutter, the backwardly inclined presser-board Q hinged at the front end to the frame, a spring R adapted to hold down the tail-end of the board, a lever '1 connected to the said board for raising the same and the swiveling caster-wheel at the front of the frame, arranged for operation as set forth.

I11 testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand and seal.

ANDREW HUNTER. [L. s]

\Vitnesses C. W. M. SMITH, LEE D. CRAIG.

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