Fruit harvesting machine with bin filling system

An improved fruit harvester, including a self-propelled main frame with means for grasping a fruit tree and inducing vibration in the fruit tree so that fruit will be caused to fall and a retractable collection surface which extends beneath the tree to gather the fruit as it falls. The gathered fruit is directed to either of two longitudinal conveyors disposed on each side of the main frame which transport the fruit to the rear of the harvester. A transversely mounted conveyor is disposed between the respective termination points of each of the longitudinal conveyors and is capable of selectively receiving fruit from either of the two longitudinal conveyors and depositing said fruit in either of two receptacles elevatably supported at the corners of the main frame of the harvester.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to apparatus for harvesting fruit or the like, and 
more particularly, to a fruit harvester which includes a system for the 
selective filling and handling of storage bins used to transport the fruit 
from the orchard. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
A number of patents have been issued on fruit harvesting machines which 
combine a device for shaking the fruit tree together with a means for 
collecting the fruit as it falls. The advantages of these machines lie in 
their greatly decreased need for human labor and the consequent savings in 
harvesting costs. One such fruit harvesting machine is described in the 
U.S. patent to Adrian (U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,455). The machine disclosed 
therein, although complex in design, combines a series of easily 
understood operations. The harvester, which is mobile, proceeds between 
two rows of fruit trees gathering fruit alternately from trees on either 
side. A means for grasping and shaking an individual tree is provided on 
the front end of the fruit harvester. Once the fruit harvester is in 
place, a structure resembling an inverted umbrella extends beneath the 
circumference of the tree, forming a large surface to catch the fruit as 
it falls. The tree is then shaken causing the fruit to fall into the 
"umbrella". The catching surface is inclined so that the fruit falls by 
gravity toward its center where the fruit collects on one of two conveyor 
belts located on each side of the shaker mechanism and running parallel to 
the vehicle axis. The fruit is continuously transported to the rear of the 
vehicle where it is collected into a single bin supported by a pair of 
forks cantilevered from the rear of the vehicle. 
The fruit harvester itself, of course, is only part of the total operation 
involved in retrieving fruit from the various trees and collecting that 
fruit at a central point in the orchard where it may be loaded onto trucks 
and transported to market. The remainder of that operation requires people 
and machines to continually pick up full fruit bins and provide empty bins 
so that the fruit harvester may continue to operate. In particular, a 
vehicle is required to carry bins between the field and the central 
collection point. 
A problem with dual-conveyor harvesters previously available has been 
difficulty in coordinating the location of the bin-feeding vehicle with 
that of the harvester so that an empty bin is available when and where 
required by the harvester. This is because the dual-conveyor design lends 
itself to utilization of a single fruit collection bin on the harvester. 
Since only one bin is available on the machine, an empty bin must be 
available immediately upon the filling of the bin then in place on the 
fruit harvester. Since bins are filled in a matter of minutes, the 
bin-feeding vehicle is often enroute to or from the central collection 
point at the time a new bin is required by the fruit harvester. This 
causes the fruit harvester to remain idle while waiting for delivery of an 
empty bin. This problem is accentuated when the fruit bins are filled with 
chilled water in order to preserve fruit, such as cherries, which 
deteriorate rapidly unless cooled promptly after harvesting. Such bins, 
weighing several thousand pounds, must be handled entirely by machine and 
the simultaneous presence of both the feeder and the harvester is required 
to effect a transfer. Often either the bin-feeding vehicle or the 
harvester is forced to wait for the other until the time comes to transfer 
the bin and the result is inefficient use of the equipment. 
A second disadvantage of the prior art is the necessity of having one or 
more persons standing near the empty fruit bin to assist in loading this 
fruit bin onto the fruit harvester. Often an empty bin which is not 
water-filled will be left by the bin-feeding vehicle at a point that is 
remote from the location of the harvester when a new bin is required. The 
bin is then manually carried to the harvester so that idle time will be 
minimized. This, of course, requires additional labor. 
A fruit harvester capable of carrying two fruit bins is disclosed in U.S. 
Pat. No. 3,683,617 issued to Vallicella. That harvester utilizes a single 
longitudinally oriented conveyor to transport fruit from the collection 
surface to the rear where a baffle selectively deflects the fruit into 
either of two bins. This approach is unworkable on a harvester utilizing 
dual conveyors with termination points some distance apart. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The inefficiency of the prior art systems is avoided by the present 
invention which allows the fruit harvester to carry two bins at one time. 
Since each of these bins may be transferred onto or off of the harvester 
independently, the bin-feeder need not be present at the time of transfer. 
It is an object of this invention to provide a fruit harvester with a 
parallel conveying system capable of carrying two selectively loadable 
bins to receive the harvested fruit. 
It is a further object of this invention to provide a dual conveyor fruit 
harvester capable of carrying two bins to receive the harvested fruit 
wherein each bin can be selectively loaded and unloaded from the 
harvester. 
It is a further object of this invention to provide a fruit harvester 
capable of loading and unloading each of two bins solely by the efforts of 
the operator of the harvester without any assistance from others. 
It is a further object of this invention to provide a fruit harvester with 
improved stability through better weight distribution. 
The present invention achieves the above-stated objectives by providing 
means of support for two fruit bins such that each fruit bin will be 
located at the end of one of the two parallel fruit conveyors on the fruit 
harvesting machine. The location is such that each of the parallel fruit 
conveyors discharges directly into one of the bins when they are loaded on 
the harvester. Means are then provided for selectively intercepting the 
fruit from either of the two parallel fruit conveyors and transporting the 
fruit so that it is deposited in the bin associated with the opposite 
conveyor. In the preferred arrangement this means comprises an additional 
conveyor mounted transversely on the rear of the fruit harvester in a 
manner that allows the conveyor to be shifted from side to side. In one 
position, the transverse conveyor is located so that fruit being 
discharged from the right hand side fruit conveyor falls onto the 
transverse conveyor and is transported to the left hand side of the fruit 
harvester, discharging into the left hand side fruit bin. In this 
configuration, all fruit being harvested at one time will fill the left 
hand side fruit bin. Means are provided so that the transverse conveyor 
may be shifted to receive fruit being discharged by the left hand side 
fruit conveyor while the direction of movement of the transverse conveyor 
is reversed so that fruit from the left hand side conveyor will be 
transported to the right hand side fruit bin and discharged. In the second 
configuration, all fruit being harvested at one time is directed to the 
right hand side fruit bin. Each bin is supported so that it may be loaded 
or unloaded while leaving the other bin in place.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring first to FIG. 1, the major subassemblies of the improved fruit 
harvester 10 will be identified. The improved fruit harvester 10 includes 
a self-propelled main frame 11, a tree grasping means 12 projecting from 
the front end of the main frame and adapted to engage a fruit tree T from 
which fruit is to be harvested, shaking means 13 mounted within the 
grasping means 12 and adapted to induce vibration in the tree T sufficient 
to cause fruit to fall from the tree, a retractable collection surface 15 
extending from the front end of the main frame and adapted to collect the 
fruit as it falls from the tree T, and a pair of parallel longitudinal 
conveyors 17, 18 disposed on either side of the main frame and adapted to 
receive the fruit from the collection surface and transport the fruit to 
the rear of the harvester 10. The subassemblies referred to so far are 
well described in the aforementioned U.S. patent issued to Adrian U.S. 
Pat. No. 3,596,455 which is specifically incorporated herein by reference 
for a further and more complete description of such apparatus. 
The improvement in the harvester of the present invention lies in certain 
modifications and additions made to the rear end thereof. Specifically, a 
movable conveyor assembly 23 is suspended from the rear of the main frame 
11 in a transverse manner which allows the transverse conveyor to 
selectively receive fruit from either the longitudinal conveyor 17 or the 
opposite longitudinal conveyor 18. Additionally, two lifting fork 
assemblies 20, 21 have been elevatably attached to the rear of the main 
frame 11 and are located respectively beneath the termination points of 
the longitudinal conveyor 17 and the longitudinal conveyor 18. 
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the transverse conveyor assembly 23 is slidably 
supported from the main frame 11 by a plurality of rollers 24 in a manner 
that allows said conveyor assembly 23 to assume a first position so that 
the conveyor assembly will receive fruit from the longitudinal conveyor 17 
and a second position so that the conveyor assembly will receive fruit 
from the longitudinal conveyor 18. The conveyor assembly 23 is shown in 
its second position in FIG. 2. Each lifting fork assembly 20, 21 is 
adapted to support a bin, or receptacle, 22 (FIGS. 9 and 10) to collect 
fruit deposited by the associated longitudinal conveyor (17 or 18) and the 
transverse conveyor assembly 23. When the transverse conveyor assembly 23 
is shifted fully to its first position, fruit from the longitudinal 
conveyor 17 is diverted by the conveyor assembly 23 and deposited thereby 
in the bin 22 mounted on the lifting fork assembly 21. Additionally, fruit 
from the longitudinal conveyor 18 is deposited directly into the bin 22 
mounted on the lifting fork assembly 21. Conversely, when the conveyor 
assembly 23 is shifted to its second position (as shown in FIG. 2), fruit 
from both longitudinal conveyors 17, 18 is directed to the bin 22 mounted 
on the lifting fork assembly 20. The manner of operation will be described 
in greater detail in connection with FIGS. 9 and 10 hereinafter. 
In order to shift the transverse conveyor assembly 23 between its two 
operative positions, a double-acting hydraulic piston and cylinder 
assembly 26 of conventional construction is pivotally attached at the 
cylinder end to the main frame 11 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. Thus, the 
cylinder end has a clevis which is pivotally attached to an L-shaped 
support member 27 which, in turn, is suspended from a transverse support 
beam 82. The support beam 82 is suspended from the main frame 11 by two 
angle brackets 28 (FIG. 2). A piston rod 30, reciprocatably mounted within 
the cylinder assembly 26 and projecting therefrom, is pivotally attached 
to a laterally projecting arm 32 which is fixed to the side of the 
conveyor assembly 23 as shown in FIG. 6. The cylinder assembly 26 is 
connected to a hydraulic pump (not shown) by flexible conduit (not shown) 
terminating at a pair of hydraulic ports 29 (FIG. 2) and is actuated by a 
control lever (not shown) located near the harvester driver who sits at 
location 31 directly above the transverse conveyor assembly 23. 
A hydraulic motor 33 (FIGS. 2 and 6) is suspended from the center of the 
transverse conveyor assembly 23 and powers a drive roller 34 which is 
adapted to drive an endless conveyor belt 36 mounted within the conveyor 
assembly 23. The hydraulic motor 33 is powered by a hydraulic pump (not 
shown) connected to the motor by flexible conduit (not shown) terminating 
at a pair of hydraulic ports 38 shown on FIG. 6. The hydraulic motor 33 is 
located in the center of the transverse conveyor assembly so that, 
regardless of the position of the transverse conveyor assembly, the motor 
will never be placed above either of the fruit bins. This is done so that 
any hydraulic fluid leaks from the motor 33 or the attached hydraulic 
lines will not result in contamination to fruit contained in the bins. The 
conveyor belt drive assembly is described in greater detail in connection 
with FIGS. 7 and 8 hereafter. 
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a horizontal support beam 41 is attached to the 
main frame 11 at the lower end thereof with one end 42 of the beam 
terminating generally beneath the longitudinal conveyor 18 and the other 
end 43 terminating generally beneath the longitudinal conveyor 17. For 
supporting the lifting fork assemblies, a first vertical support post 45 
is attached to the end 42 of the horizontal support beam and a second 
vertical support post 46 is attached to the end 43 of the horizontal 
support beam. FIG. 3 depicts the lifting fork assembly 20. The 
construction of the other lifting fork assembly 21 is identical and the 
remaining discussion will be limited to said lifting fork assembly 20 
which is supported from the vertical support post 46. Four generally 
horizontal support arms 48 are pivotally attached to upper and lower 
portions of the vertical support post 46 at one end and are pivotally 
attached to a movable vertical support post 50 at their opposite ends. In 
this manner, the movable vertical support post 50 is capable of vertical 
movement relative to the fixed vertical support post 46 while both 
vertical posts 46, 50 are maintained parallel to one another in their 
vertical orientation. A bracket 51 (FIG. 3) is attached to the lower 
portion of the movable vertical support member 50 and protrudes toward the 
front of the harvester. A piston rod 53 is pivotally attached to the 
bracket 51 and adapted to freely reciprocate within a piston and cylinder 
assembly 54. The piston and cylinder assembly 54 is pivotally attached at 
the cylinder end to a second bracket 55 projecting from the main frame at 
56. The piston and cylinder assembly 54 is driven by a hydraulic pump (not 
shown) connected by means of flexible conduit (not shown) terminating at a 
pair of hydraulic connections 58 (one only shown in FIG. 3). A control 
lever (not shown) located near the harvester driver (at 31) is included in 
the hydraulic circuit in a conventional manner and allows the driver to 
raise and lower the fork assembly 20. A pair of upper horizontal support 
beams 61 extend from either side of the movable vertical support post 50 
above its midsection and a pair of lower horizontal T-beams 62 extend from 
either side of the movable vertical support post 50 at its lower end. A 
first vertical support plate 64 (FIG. 2) extends between the termination 
of one of the upper horizontal support beams 61 and the termination of the 
associated lower horizontal T-beam 62. A second vertical support plate 65 
extends between the upper horizontal support beam 61 and the lower 
horizontal T-beam 62 at a point inward from the first vertical support 
plate 64. A horizontal support rod 67 extends between the first vertical 
support plate 64 and the second vertical support plate 65 and is attached 
thereto at each end. A single L-shaped fork 68 is pivotally attached to 
the support rod 67 (FIG. 3) and is adapted to contact the lower horizontal 
T-beam 62 so that rotation about the support rod is limited. In this 
manner, the fork generally rests in the position illustrated in FIG. 3 but 
is able to pivot upward when caused to do so by external forces. Each of 
the other three forks 69, 70, 71 (FIG. 2) is mounted in a manner similar 
to that described for the single fork 68 and the foregoing description 
applies equally well to them. The operation of the lifting fork assemblies 
20, 21 will be described in detail hereinafter in connection with FIGS. 9 
and 10. 
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the transverse conveyor assembly 23 includes a 
frame comprising a single central box beam 72 which extends the length of 
the conveyor assembly, a series of struts 75 attached to said box beam 72 
and extending outward from both sides of said box beam at the lower face 
thereof, and a pair of longitudinal angle frame members 73 attached to the 
ends of said struts on either side of said box beam through side frame 
members 76 (as shown in FIG. 5), such angle frame members 73 being adapted 
to ride upon the upper surfaces of the support rollers 24 which thereby 
provide rolling support for the entire conveyor assembly. A pair of end 
rollers 77, 78, located respectively at the left and right ends of the 
conveyor assembly (FIG. 4), extend between the parallel side frame members 
76 and are adapted to support the endless conveyor belt 36 as it is driven 
around the conveyor assembly. A plurality of support members 79 extend 
transversely between and are attached to the side frame members 76 at 
points equally spaced along the length of the conveyor assembly, the two 
end support members (at the ends of the box beam 72) being shown in FIG. 
4. On top of the support members 79 are attached a plurality of 
longitudinal support slats 80 running the length of the conveyor assembly 
23 and being adapted to support the underside of the upper reach of the 
endless conveyor belt 36. 
In order to support the conveyor assembly 23 for shiftable movement, the 
previously mentioned pair of transverse support beams 82 are attached to 
the main frame 11 at laterally spaced positions as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. 
The conveyor assembly support rollers 24 are suspended from the transverse 
support beams 82 by means of a plurality of vertical hangers 83 (FIG. 6) 
attached at their upper ends to the transverse support beams. The support 
rollers 24 are rotatably attached to the lower ends of the hangers 83. 
This manner of support allows the conveyor assembly 23 to freely move 
between positions at each side of the apparatus, as described 
hereinbefore. 
As shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 the conveyor drive mechanism comprises the 
hydraulic motor 33 which is suspended from the conveyor assembly 23 by 
means of a front bracket plate 91 and which is operated to drive a drive 
sprocket 85. The drive sprocket 85 induces rotation in a pickup sprocket 
86 which, in turn, drives the drive roller 34 rotatably mounted between 
the front bracket plate 91 and a rear bracket plate 92 (FIG. 6). The front 
bracket plate 91 is suspended from one of the side frame members 76 by 
means of an outwardly turned flange 93a at the upper end thereof. The rear 
bracket plate 92 is suspended from the other side frame member 76 by means 
of an outwardly turned flange 93b at the upper end thereof. A pair of 
freely-rotating idler rollers 94, 95 extend between the mounting bracket 
plates 91, 92 in parallel to the drive roller 34 with the diameters of the 
idler rollers 91 and 92 being the same as one another and greater than the 
diameter of the drive roller 34 (FIG. 8). The three rollers together are 
positioned generally side-by-side so that the conveyor belt 36 may be 
threaded over the top of the first idler roller 94 (FIG. 8), then threaded 
beneath the drive roller 34 and finally threaded above the second idler 
roller 95. In this manner, sufficient friction is maintained between the 
conveyor belt 36 and the drive roller 34 in order to drive the conveyor 
belt in direct correspondence with the rotation of the drive sprocket 85 
of the motor 33. A drive chain 97 connects the drive sprocket 85 to the 
pick up sprocket 86, as shown in FIG. 7. The endless conveyor belt 36 
forms a continuous loop with a central inner rib 98 being provided midway 
between the edges of the belt and parallel thereto. The rib 98 is received 
within an annular channel 99 impressed around the middle of the drive 
roller 34 (FIG. 6). Similar channels 102 (FIG. 4) are found in the end 
rollers, 77 and 78, and together these channels function to assure the 
alignment of the conveyor belt 36 as it circulates around the conveyor 
assembly 23. 
The operation of the harvester 10 is conventional insofar as the steps of 
approaching a tree, grasping the tree, extending the retractable 
collection surface 15, shaking the tree, and collecting the fruit on the 
two parallel longitudinal conveyors 17, 18 is concerned. These steps are 
well described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,455 issued to 
Adrian. The operation of the transverse conveyor of the present invention 
is illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10 of the present application. FIG. 9 shows 
the shuttle conveyor assembly 23 in its right most position where it 
receives fruit from the right hand side longitudinal conveyor 18 and 
transports that fruit generally to the left hand side of the machine. The 
fruit bin 22, which is supported by the left hand side lifting fork 
assembly 20 is located beneath the termination point of the transverse 
conveyor assembly 23 and receives fruit therefrom. Fruit collected on the 
left hand side longitudinal conveyor 17 is fed directly into the bin 22 as 
shown. FIG. 10 shows the operation of the shuttle conveyor assembly 23 in 
its alternate, left most position where it is arranged to receive fruit 
from the left hand side longitudinal conveyor 17. This fruit is 
transported to the right hand side of the machine by the transverse 
conveyor belt 36 where it is deposited in the fruit bin 22 supported by 
the right hand side lifting fork assembly 21. As fruit from the left hand 
side longitudinal conveyor 17 is directed to the bin 22 by the conveyor 
assembly 23 as just described, fruit from the right hand side longitudinal 
conveyor 18 will be fed directly into the bin. 
It has been found that a fruit harvester equipped with the present 
invention is able to harvest fruit more efficiently than was possible 
before with a dual-conveyor type harvester. Fruit shaken from the tree 
falls to either the left hand side conveyor 17 or to the right hand side 
conveyor 18, both of which transfer the fruit to the rear of the 
harvester. The fruit is then selectively directed to either of two bins 22 
located on the right hand side and the left hand side of the harvester 
respectively. When the first bin is full, the operator shifts the shuttle 
conveyor assembly in order to begin the filling of the second bin. As the 
shuttle conveyor assembly 23 passes its center position, the direction of 
movement of the conveyor belt 36 is automatically reversed by reversing 
the flow to the hydraulic ports 38 or motor 33 by conventional control 
valve means (not shown). Such reversal may be actuated by a conventional 
limit switch (not shown) arranged to be engaged by the conveyor assembly 
33 during its traversing movement. The operator is then able to lower the 
full bin to the ground by means of the appropriate lift fork assembly 20 
or 21 previously described and leave it sitting in the field to be 
retrieved later by another vehicle. The harvester can continue to pick 
fruit and store it in the other bin. When the harvester reaches a location 
where an empty bin is waiting, the operator is able to pick up that bin on 
the empty lift fork assembly while harvesting and filling of the other bin 
continues. The location of the lift fork assemblies and their design is 
such that the operator can, without assistance from other personnel or 
from a another vehicle on the ground, offload full bins and pick up empty 
bins. 
Although the best mode contemplated for carrying out the present invention 
has been herein shown and described, it will be apparent that the 
modification and variation may be made without departing from what is 
regarded to be the subject matter of the invention.