WO2007059570A1

WO2007059570A1 - Selective harvester

Info

Publication number: WO2007059570A1
Application number: PCT/AU2006/001764
Authority: WO
Inventors: Geoffrey Allan Williames
Original assignee: Williames Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2005-11-22
Filing date: 2006-11-22
Publication date: 2007-05-31
Also published as: CN101312643A; AP2850A; CN101312643B; AP2008004517A0

Abstract

A harvester for harvesting plant matter including a first plant engaging means and a second plant engaging means movable relative to the first plant engaging means wherein the first plant engaging means is advanced to contact plant matter and the second plant engaging means is moved relative to the first plant engaging means to harvest plant matter by engaging the plant matter between the first and second plant engaging means.

Description

SELECTIVE HARVESTER

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of the invention is the harvesting of plant matter and in particular the selective harvesting of only some of the plant matter present in a plant crop. BACKGROUND

The invention will be described herein with specific reference to the harvesting of tea, however it will be apparent that the invention may also be used for harvesting of other plant crops and that the scope of the invention therefore should not be restricted to harvesting of tea only.

To ensure high productivity in terms of the maximum potential yields and highest quality tea, tea has generally been selectively plucked by hand. The aim is to pick only the tea which has grown to two leaves and a bud, and to leave less mature shoots which if picked would reduce total annual tea bush yields. This work is slow and tedious and the plucked tea has to then be carried by hand.

Each and every tea stem is gripped between the picker's thumb and index finger and rolled over and pulled to snap the stem over the index finger. It is normal practice to continue this action until the hand is filled with successive stems of plucked tea which have accumulated prior to throwing it into a basket. The tea leaves can be crushed during this procedure leading to premature cell damage and oxidization substantially diminishing quality.

Machines have been devised to mechanically harvest leaf by mechanically cutting all the tea stems at a set height regardless of the stage of development. This practice reduces the overall tea bush productivity, although it is less labour intensive. It is desirable to provide a machine for selectively harvesting only those shoots that are of optimum size and stage of development to ensure maximum tea quality and maximum tea bush productivity, while requiring less labour than hand picking. DESCRIPTION The present invention provides a harvester for harvesting plant matter including a first plant engaging means and a second plant engaging means movable relative to the first plant engaging means wherein the first plant engaging means is advanced to contact plant matter and the second plant engaging means is moved relative to the first plant engaging means to harvest plant matter by engaging the plant matter between the first and second plant engaging means

Preferred features of the aforementioned harvester may be as defined in claims 2 to 5 annexed hereto, which claims are hereby made part of the disclosure of this specification by this reference thereto.

Advantageously, a harvester according to the invention may be set to traverse the canopy surface or plucking table at a set height.

Only mature shoots protruding above that height will be harvested, as immature shoots are not of sufficient height (length) to be engaged and plucked by the harvester, even though they may partially protrude above the set height.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the engagement is a gripping or clamping action which occurs at a distance from the leading edge of the first plant engaging means. Any immature plant matter of insufficient height (length) does not get clamped and hence the immature shoots will be left upon the bushes without significant damage and may be harvested at a later date when fully mature. This advantageously increases both crop yields and quality, in addition to reducing labour requirements.

A harvester according to the invention may be hand operated but is preferably powered by an IC engine or an electric motor. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of a harvester according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows the canopy surface level and plants of varying maturity. Figure 2 shows a side view of a harvester according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 3 shows a schematic view of the harvester of Figure 2.

Figure 4 shows a perspective view of a harvester according to another embodiment of the invention. Figure 5 shows a detail perspective view of a rotor according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Figure 6 shows a schematic side view of a conveyor according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. Figure 7 shows a detail perspective view of the rotor and conveyor belt of a harvester according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Figures 8 to 10 show schematically the harvesting of plant matter utilising a harvester according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. Figure 11 shows a harvester according to another preferred embodiment of the invention.

Figure 12 shows a side view latching arrangement for closing a collection hopper.

Figure 13 shows a side view of a collection hopper in open position. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to Figure 1 , the general area or surface established from the previous harvest is called the canopy surface or plucking table. If the crop is mechanically harvested by cutting at the canopy surface level (1) then both mature and immature plant matter will be harvested. In contrast, a harvester according to a preferred embodiment of the invention harvests only the selected, or mature, plant matter. Desirable tea growth (2) and (3) will be correctly harvested but immature tea buds and partially developed leaves (4) (5) and (6) will not be harvested.

Referring now to Figure 2 there is shown a first plant engaging means being a conveyor belt system having a forward roller (8) of small diameter at leading edge (31 ) engaging against the tea foliage. If the stem and leaves of the foliage are of sufficient height above the canopy surface level (1), the second plant engaging means, being a rotor member (10) having a resilient outer surface deflects the stems and leaves onto the conveyor belt (7) and entraps or clamps the selected foliage (6) against conveyor belt (7), causing the stem to be sharply bent around leading edge (31 ) and breaking the stem as the harvester travels forward in the direction of arrow (13). The rotor (9) and conveyor belt (7) rotate in opposed directions such that plant matter is drawn past leading edge (8) onto the conveyor belt (7). Referring to Figure 3, the rotor (9) has a plurality of radially disposed second plant engaging means being gripping or plucking rotor members (10) that engage against the belt (7) to provide a gripping or clamping force between the resilient conveyor belt (7) and the resilient material on the outer surface of rotor member (10). The axis (14) of the rotor assembly (9) can be moved in the direction of arrows (15) or (16) on a plane approximately parallel to the upper surface of the conveyor belt (7) between points (17) and (18). The action of moving the rotor assembly (9) in the direction (15) will cause the outer radius of the rotor to follow the path at (50). This results in an adjustment of the plucking height (being the height above the canopy level plant matter must protrude in order to be harvested) the height being proportional to the distance indicated by arrows (19) and adjusted to be proportional to the distance shown by arrows (20). Thus it can be seen that the plucking height can be easily and accurately adjusted by simply moving the axis of the rotor (9).

Now referring to Figure 4, in one preferred embodiment the rotor (9) remains synchronized with the belt (7) by means of sprocket teeth (21 ) engaging in drive slots (22). The outer resilient material (11 ) of rotor member (10) (Figure 5) is restrained from spinning upon its own axis by means of being mounted on a square tube (23) which locates in a notch (24) in side plate (25). The square tube (23) is secured to the side plate (25). The belt conveyor (Figure 6) may have a support roller (26) which tensions the belt and provides support and an area of uniform pressure when force applied to the belt causes deflection as indicated by arrows (27). Figure 7 shows a rotor member (10) having outer resilient material (11) forming a contact area for gripping or clamping the plant material between the outer resilient material (11 ) and the conveyor belt (7) as shown at (28).

In Figure 8, the rotor member (10) (not shown) engages with the tea shoot on a path depicted by arrow (29). This causes the tea shoot (30) to engage against the belt (7) at the leading edge (31 ). In Figure 9, the forward movement of the leading edge (31 ) in the direction of arrow (32) and the continued action of the rotor member along the path depicted by arrow (29) causes the tea shoot to be clamped between rotor member (10) and belt (7). This causes a stress to be induced on the tea shoot stem (30) causing it to fracture at (33). In Figure 10, the belt (7) supports the harvested stem (30) causing it to be transported in the direction of arrow (34). The harvested stems may be deposited in a collection hopper by the conveyor. While it is readily appreciated that the invention can be attached to a wide range of harvesting machines, Figure 11 covers one embodiment which can be supported by two people. The rotor assembly (9) has a central support tube (35) and a plurality of rotor members (10) which are incrementally radially disposed as shown at (36) (37) and (38). Disposing the rotor members in this way provides a smooth drive and plucking characteristics. In another alternative (not shown), the rotor assembly (9) and rotor members (10) could be replaced by a single cylindrical drum. The belt (7) is driven by a light weight IC engine or electric motor (39) via a suitable reduction mechanism (40) and conveys the harvested plant matter into a light weight collection hopper or bin (41 ). This machine may be supported by two people using handles (42) and (43). Advantageously, separate provision for driving the rotor (9) is not necessary because sprocket teeth on the rotor engage drive slots in the belt (7).

It is also possible that the belt be hand driven by an operator, for example, by rotating a crank or handle, or that the harvester be mounted upon a wheeled frame and pushing the frame causes the wheels to turn, which in turn engage a drive train to drive the conveyor belt.

Figures 12 and 13 show the collection hopper, latching arrangement and how the hopper is emptied. The carrying handle (42) is also used to rotate latch (44) to empty collection hopper. (41). When the handle (42) is rotated in the direction of arrow (45) this causes the latch (44) to release the floor of the hopper or bin (41 ). The pivot (46) of the floor (41 ) is located off centre at (46) so that the load of harvested tea leaf will act in the direction of arrow (47) causing the harvested leaf to be disgorged and then is reset by spring (48) and the handle (42) is twisted to reset the latch (44).

The subject matter of this preferred embodiment is for the harvesting of tea, however the scope of the invention is intended is to be intended to be utilized for the harvesting of all crops where selective picking or plucking is required including but not limited to flowers, buds, seeds, fruits and vegetative materials whereby the invention remains gainfully utilized. The invention may be used to pick or break off a portion of a plant, as has been above described, but could also be adapted to, for example, pull a plant out of the ground entirely. Use of words such as forward and leading is made with reference to the forward direction of travel of the harvester in use.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A harvester for harvesting plant matter including a first plant engaging means and a second plant engaging means movable relative to the first plant engaging means wherein the first plant engaging means is advanced to contact plant matter and the second plant engaging means is moved relative to the first plant engaging means to harvest plant matter by engaging the plant matter between the first and second plant engaging means.

2. A harvester according to claim 1 wherein the first plant engaging means has a leading edge and wherein the second plant engaging means is located relative to the leading edge such that engagment of plant matter by the second plant engaging means occurs at a distance from the leading edge whereby only selected plant matter of sufficient height may be harvested.

3. A harvester according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the first plant engaging means is a belt conveyor and the second plant engaging means is a rotor member being part of a rotor, the directions of rotation of said belt and rotor being opposed whereby plant matter is drawn between the belt and rotor member.

4. A harvester according to claim 3 wherein said belt is resilient and the plant engaging portion of said rotor member has a resilient surface.

5. A harvester according to claim 3 or 4 wherein harvested plant matter is conveyed by said conveyer to a collection hopper.