Retractable crop gathering finger construction

Telescopingly retractable crop gathering finger means for agricultural harvesting apparatus, and apparatus equipped with same. In a preferred embodiment the finger means comprises an elongated, tubular housing adapted to be attached to a harvester frame and a rigid, retractable finger which is telescopingly received within the housing. The finger is normally biased in a fully extended, outwardly projecting position by spring means disposed internally of the housing, and is adapted to slide along the ground to pick up downed crops. In response to predetermined excess forces encountered by the finger, it will automatically retract internally of the housing thereby escaping damage. An aperture in the housing may be provided to selectively lock the finger in a fully retracted position internally of the housing where desired by the operator.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to agricultural harvesting apparatus. More 
particularly, the present invention relates to crop gathering finger 
construction for harvester apparatus having a portion thereof closely 
abutting the ground for gathering crops. 
Prior art corn harvesters often include some form of finger structure to 
gather corn stalks (or other material to be harvested) lying on the ground 
or slightly depressed therewithin. A corn harvester, for example, 
typically includes a plurality of gatherer sections which lie horizontally 
on opposite sides of the corn row to gather corn stalks and urge them 
rearwardly into the associated mechanical processing apparatus. Where corn 
stalks are lying on the ground or slightly depressed they will often be 
passed over and lost unless some form of gathering fingers are employed in 
conjunction with the apparatus to run along the ground. As will be 
recognized by those skilled in the art, crops can be thrown to the ground 
by high winds, hail, or other weather conditions, or by animals passing 
through the field. 
An example of the prior art is shown in U.S. Pats. Nos. 1,860,633, and 
1,833,137, issued to H. Synck on May 31, 1932, and Nov. 24, 1931, 
respectively. These latter references disclose harvesting apparatus 
including downwardly angled members for engaging the ground to help 
dislodge downed corn. U.S. Pat. No. 1,878,941, issued Sept. 20, 1932, to 
A. Lindgren discloses a plurality of resilient, spring-biased steel finger 
members which project forwardly from spaced apart gatherer members at the 
front of the harvester. U.S. Pat. No. 2,601,305, issued to K. Laun on June 
24, 1952, is similar in scope to the latter references. In U.S. Pat. No. 
1,956,676, issued to R. Grey et al. on May 1, 1934, a plurality of spaced 
apart spring-biased metallic fingers are shown. 
One problem often associated with prior art gatherer finger construction is 
that when a rock or other hard obstacle, for example, is encountered, the 
fingers may be broken or badly bent. Accordingly, it has been attempted in 
the prior art to provide some form of deflectable finger construction. 
This is somewhat suggested by the latter Grey U.S. Pat. No. 1,956,676 
reference. U.S. Pat. No. 2,816,412, issued Dec. 17, 1957, to A. Fisher 
discloses a grain lifter in which a downwardly angled member is pivotally 
attached to the under surface of a harvester apparatus to prevent damage 
by simply yieldably pivoting away in response thereto. Where a large rock 
is encountered, however, damage may still occur where the finger is unable 
to pivot entirely out of the way. Moreover, even flexible resilient 
fingers may eventually be worn out or broken as a result of continual 
bending and twisting. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention comprises a telescopingly retractable, product 
gathering finger adapted to project forwardly from a harvester along the 
ground. An elongated, rigid tubular frame housing receives a retractable 
finger, which is telescopingly received therewithin. Spring means within 
the tubular frame normally biases the gatherer finger outwardly to a 
ground-engaging, forwardly projecting position. However, in response to 
predetermined forces generated by, for example, a rock or other obstacle, 
the finger will be urged inwardly to a retracted position within the 
housing, thereby escaping damage. In a preferred form of the invention an 
aperture is provided in the housing means whereby the finger may be 
selectively secured in a fully retracted position. The corn picker 
described and claimed herein includes a plurality of fingers constructed 
as mentioned above to continually pick up corn or other product to be 
harvested lying on the ground and/or slightly buried therein. 
Thus, an object of this invention is to provide crop gatherer apparatus for 
use with harvesting machines which will be highly resistant to physical 
damage. 
A further object of this invention is to provide a crop gathering finger 
apparatus in which a forwardly projecting finger portion will be entirely 
retractable to completely hide itself in a safe position in response to 
large rigid obstacles. 
A still further object of this invention is to provide a corn picker finger 
of the character described which may be manually maintained in a retracted 
position where desired by the operator. To this effect, it is a feature of 
this invention that aperture key lock means are provided to maintain the 
finger in a retracted position. 
A still further object of this invention is to provide a corn picker 
employing a plurality of fingers of the character described whereby downed 
product (i.e. corn stalks) lying on the ground which would otherwise be 
lost will be continuously gathered as the corn harvester is moved through 
the stalks of corn. 
A similar object of this invention is to provide agricultural harvesting 
apparatus with gathering finger construction which is highly resistant to 
ordinarily encountered obstacles such as rocks or the like. 
These and other objects and advantages of this invention, along with 
features of novelty apertinent thereto, will appear or become apparent in 
the course of the following detailed description.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
In FIG. 1 there is seen a crop harvesting apparatus 10 which is adapted to 
be towed by a conventional tractor 12, illustrated diagrammatically. 
Harvester 10 comprises a one row corn picker which is adapted to harvest 
ears of corn 14 from vertical, upwardly growing corn stalks 16. It will be 
understood that the teachings of this invention will be of equal 
applicability in conjunction with agricultural apparatus for harvesting 
other crops such as potatoes, grain, soybeans or the like. 
The corn picker 10 comprises a forwardly projecting pair of flexible 
gatherer points 18 and 19 which follow the contour of the ground 20 and 
lie on opposite sides of a row of corn (or other product) 22. Finger 
structures 23 project forwardly from the gatherer points 18 and 19. The 
function of the tapered gatherer points is to raise the stalks 16 of corn 
as the apparatus moves down the row and to prevent ears of corn from being 
whipped off and lost. Gatherer point hinges 26 enable the gatherer 
sections to flex in response to uneven ground. Downed and twisted stalks 
are guided to conventional snapping rolls 28, which snap off the ears 14 
of corn and deliver them to a first elevator 30 through which they are 
conveyed upwardly (as viewed in FIG. 1) and delivered to a generally 
transversely extending, conventional husking box 32. The husking box 
includes an auger 34 for drawing the ears through the box and for 
facilitating the removal of husks therewithin. Husks and trash that have 
been drawn through the box will be conveyed through the lower portion 35 
thereof via an auger 36 which conveys husks and trash 37 to an output 
chute 38. Shelled corn 40 enters an elevator conveyer 42 and is conveyed 
to a hopper or storage wagon 44. 
In FIG. 2 there is illustrated a twin row corn picker gatherer section 
comprising a centrally located, forwardly tapered gatherer point or corn 
head 50 and a pair of somewhat smaller cooperating gatherer points or corn 
heads 51 and 52 at opposite sides of the central gatherer 50. A pair of 
input mouths 53 and 54 defined between gatherer points 50, 51 and 52 will 
alignably engage parallel, spaced apart rows of corn. As the apparatus 49 
is drawn through the field stalks of corn will be deflected inwardly of 
mouths 53 and 54 and processed through auger 56 and through related 
machinery and apparatus (not shown). As in the case of apparatus 10, the 
plurality of ground-engaging crop gathering structures 23 project 
forwardly from the gatherer sections 50 through 52. Finger 23c has been 
retracted in response to rock 55. 
Each of the finger structures 23 are mounted on the lower portions of the 
gatherers 50 through 52 and are slightly angled so that the forward tipped 
portion thereof glide along and engage the ground. As the apparatus 49 is 
drawn through the field, ears of corn (or other product) lying on the 
ground or slightly depressed therein will be dislodged and picked up by 
the fingers so that they may be moved into mouths 53 or 54. Therefore 
product lying on the ground will be recovered. The finger structures 23 
will actually provide an upwardly lifting action on corn stalks, for 
example, so that they will be deflected into mouths 54 or 54 by contacting 
the sheet metal wall portions 50a through 52a of the gatherer sections. 
Referring now to FIGS. 3 through 5, the retractable crop gathering finger 
apparatus 23 preferably comprises an elongated, rigid tubular frame 
housing member 60 which is adapted to be mounted to the underside of a 
harvester apparatus (such as machine 10 or 49) by a laterally outwardly 
projecting side plate 62. Plate 62 may be attached to housing 60 by 
welding or the like. A pair of upwardly extending anchor screws 63 and 64 
may be conventionally bolted to mounting holes (now shown) at the 
underside of the harvester on which the finger apparatus is to be mounted. 
A toroidal-shaped end cap 66 is secured at the forward end of housing 60 
by welding or the like. A threaded cap 68 is threadably secured at the 
opposite end of housing 60, and secures an internally coiled spring 70 
against rearward displacement within the housing 60. 
The ground-engaging, forwardly projecting finger portion 23a is slidably 
received through a central orifice in end cap 66 and is securely anchored 
within a rigid, generally cylindrical plunger 72 by a pin 73. Plunger 72 
is slidably disposed internally of the housing 60, and biased towards the 
left (as viewed in FIG. 3) by coiled spring member 70. It will be apparent 
that because of the action of spring 70 the finger portion 23a will be 
normally biased in an outwardly projecting position with respect to 
housing 60. However, as the finger encounters obstacles such as rocks or 
the like, in response to the movement of the harvester apparatus, it may 
be deflected inwardly with respect to the housing 60 against predetermined 
tension from spring 70. Therefore when encountering excess forces the 
finger member 23a will be telescopingly receiving within the housing 60 in 
an out-of-the-way, safe position. When the plunger is fully retracted the 
front shoulder portion 74 thereof will be positioned immediately adjacent 
a key aperture 76 provided near the opposite end of housing 60. A key or 
cotter pin 78 may be passed through aperture 76 to lock finger 23a in a 
recessed position internally of the housing. The pin 78 will abut plunger 
shoulder 74 to maintain the plunger and finger structure in a retracted, 
internal position. Therefore, where desired to lock the finger in the 
retracted position, the farmer need merely slidably telescope the finger 
into a recessed position internally of housing 60, and then simply drop 
pin 78 (or a nail or other object) through aperture 76 to maintain the 
plunger within the housing against a predetermined tension from spring 70. 
As long as the finger 23a is enclosed within the housing interiorly of the 
agricultural harvesting apparatus it will be immune from obstacles lying 
on the ground. When pin 78 is removed, spring 70 will immediately return 
finger portion 23a to the external operative position. 
From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted 
to obtain all the ends and objects herein set forth, together with other 
advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the structure. 
It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of 
utility and may be employed without reference to other features and 
subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the 
claims. 
As many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing 
from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set 
forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as 
illustrative and not in a limiting sense.