Harvesting apparatus for leafy vegetables

A mobile harvester of leafy produce has two harvesting sections with a cutter located forwardly for severing the produce from the ground. A continuous belt having a large number of openings moves in a closed path presenting an upwardly facing surface. A low pressure plenum underneath the belt provides a vacuum attraction to the belt upwardly facing for picking up severed produce. An enclosure ove the belt protects against wind removal of produce leaves from the belt. The two harvesting sections are individually adjustable for proper height above the ground.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates generally to harvesting apparatus, and, more 
particularly, to such apparatus especially advantageous for use in 
harvesting leafy vegetables such as spinach, parsley, onion tops or the 
like. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
The harvesting of leafy vegetables has in the past, quite difficult, in 
that it was primarily performed by hand. For example, spinach and other 
leafy crops must, at the present time, be hand harvested from 40 inch wide 
beds which is not only arduous, but also a relatively expensive matter. 
The relatively narrow width of the bed required for hand harvesting has a 
further adverse effect in producing a correspondingly relatively low yield 
per square field unit. That is, by merely increasing the width of a 
planted bed, a corresponding increase in yield per acre can be achieved; 
however, to increase the bed width requires machine processing. 
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is, therefore, a primary aim and object of the present invention to 
provide harvesting apparatus especially for use in the harvesting of leafy 
green vegetables such as spinach, for example, which apparatus severs the 
produce from the ground and transports the leaves directly to a receiving 
container or to a loading conveyor. 
The described apparatus includes mobile (e.g., tractor pulled) equipment 
consisting of two harvesting sections arranged in side by side relation. 
Each harvesting unit has at a lower leading edge a cutter for severing the 
produce at some predetermined adjustable height above the ground level. 
Immediately adjacent the cutter there is an elongated continuous belt 
having a large number of slots or openings therein and the internal 
surface of the belt communicates with a low pressure plenum ("vacuum") 
such that the cut produce leaves will be held to the outer surface of the 
belt. The belt with the freshly cut produce leaves adhering thereto moves 
generally upwardly and angularly with respect to the ground until it 
reaches a maximum height point at which a sprocket redirects the belt 
angularly downward to return to the produce severing zone at the front. 
An enclosure is formed over the belt extending from the cutter to the 
direction reversal point or produce takeoff point for the belt. The 
enclosure has a plurality of small openings in a top panel allowing air to 
make its way directly to the belt (and through) without merely being 
channeled along the enclosure interior which would tend to produce 
swirling the could interfere with the vacuum transport of leaves by the 
belt. The enclosure is also useful in protecting the leaves on the belt 
from gusts of wind which could, otherwise, dislodge the leaves from the 
belt, or prevent pickup in the first instance. 
The vacuum is broken on the belt substantially before the belt begins to 
reverse direction so that on beginning direction reversal the vegetable 
leaves drop into a transport container where the produce is fed to a 
packaging or further handling station. 
By the use of the described mobile apparatus, the leafy vegetable planted 
bed, instead of being confined to 40 inches which is necessary to enable a 
human being to manually harvest the produce, can be much wider, namely, 
approximately 80 inches. The possible yield is increased merely from 
having a wider planted bed. Of course, the greater speed with which by 
machine harvesting can be accomplished over hand harvesting also increases 
overall yield efficiency.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Turning now to the drawings and particularly FIGS. 1 and 2, the harvesting 
apparatus to be described, enumerated generally as 10, is contemplated for 
the cutting of growing leafy vegetables; moving the cut vegetables, by a 
conveyor of special construction to a removal station; and depositing the 
produce leaves directly into a container or onto a further conveyor for 
transporting the produce to a handling station. Although produce harvested 
in this way can be taken to a remote location and packaged, it is also 
contemplated that packaging may be accomplished at the machine with the 
final packaged produce being left for pickup or taken away by vehicle from 
the field site. 
Although the apparatus to be described may be found useful for harvesting a 
wide variety of produce, it is considered most advantageous for harvesting 
vegetables such as spinach, parsley, onion tops or the like which have 
relatively large leaves. 
Without reference at this time to constructional details, in its major 
parts the apparatus 10 includes first and second harvesting sections 12 
and 14 mounted onto a wheeled frame 16 which is especially adapted for 
unitary pulling by a tractor, for example. The two harvesting sections are 
identical in construction, each including a continuous air-permeable belt 
18 driven along a plate from a point just above ground level at the front 
of the harvesting section to a higher rearwardly located point where it 
reverses and returns to the front. Just in front of the forwardmost edge 
of the belt 18 on each harvesting section, there is located a cutter 20 
for severing the growing plant from the ground. An engine 22 (FIG. 5) 
provides rotative power for driving the belt and a fan 24 to produce a 
vacuum plenum located interiorly of the belt of each section for a purpose 
to be described. 
With respect to general operation of the equipment described to this point, 
as the equipment moves through the planted field cutters 20 sever the 
produce from the ground. The belt 18 of each section receives the severed 
leafy vegetable and as a result of a vacuum plenum being formed and 
maintained by the fan 24 underneath the belt immediately adjacent the 
cutter, the produce 25 adheres to the belt outer surface and moves along 
with it. Vacuumizing of the belt is only maintained for a part of the belt 
travel, namely, from the cutter partway up the slope leading to the belt 
uppermost point, identified generally as 26. On the belt and produce 
reaching the uppermost point and the vacuum terminated, the belt 
experiences a sharp reversal in direction and the leaves drop into 
receiving containers (not shown) or, as an alternative, dropped onto a 
produce conveyor 28 for transport to a packaging or handling station. 
Turning now additionally to FIGS. 2 and 3, the frame 16 upon which the 
entire harvesting apparatus to be described is mounted and by which it is 
moved about is seen to include a plurality of interconnected I-beams or 
angle irons 28 mounted onto a pair of wheels 34. At the leading edge of 
the frame is a tow bar 36 of conventional construction enabling releasable 
interconnection with the tractor. 
It is contemplated that angle irons or I-beams 28 be welded together to 
form the desired unitary construction. 
The continuous belt 18 is mounted on transversely extending sprockets 38, 
40, 42, 44 and 46 directing the belt along the path shown best in FIG. 4. 
Specifically, sprocket 38 is located at the lowermost and most forward 
position of belt travel. Sprocket 40 is located above sprocket 38 forming 
a relatively sharply rising portion in the belt expanse between 38 and 40. 
Next, sprocket 42 defines the highest and most rearward point providing an 
extent between 40 and 42 of lesser slope than between 38 and 40. The 
external sprocket 44, serves as a means for adjusting belt tension and is 
connected to the drive engine for powering belt movement. Sprocket 46 is 
an idler. 
The belt material has a large number of small openings or foramina 48 (FIG. 
6). For a total belt width of 67 inches with the described edge supporting 
technique there is left a continuous relatively unsupported mid-section 
through which pressurized air, in a way that will be described, is drawn 
forming a vacuum surface approximately 64 inches wide. This vacuum surface 
width was chosen in order to accommodate a conventional 64 to 68 inch 
average field planted bed width having furrows for accommodating tractor 
wheels spaced apart 80 inches which is a typical spacing requirement. 
Many belt materials having the necessary foraminous character are 
commercially available. For example, belt materials constructed of many 
small interconnected links can be sufficiently air permeable to function 
in the manner required. In a practical construction of the invention, 
excellent results were achieved using a belt constructed of a material 
sold under the trade designation INTRALOX, Series 400, manufactured and 
sold by Intralox, Inc., which belt material was found on test to have 15% 
open area. 
Underneath the belt at the front there is located a plenum 50 formed by a 
back wall 52 extending between sprockets 46 and 40 and spaced from the 
belt lower surface. Side walls 54, 56 are secured to opposite side edges 
of the back wall 52 and have top edges lying in a single plane closely 
adjacent the belt undersurface. With the belt in place, the vacuum plenum 
is formed and the fan 24 located within a shroud 58 and anchored to back 
wall 52 acts to lower the pressure within the plenum. Since the belt 
passing over the vacuum plenum has a number of openings 48, there will be 
a continuous passage of air therethrough forming a vacuum surface on the 
belt. 
An enclosure 60 is located over the belt 18 of each harvesting section 
extending from just above sprocket 38 to the belt highest point 26. The 
enclosure includes a top wall 62 and two side walls 64 and 66, the latter 
being conveniently secured to the frame. A lower portion of the enclosure 
top wall extending to approximately the sprocket 40 includes a number of 
uniformly distributed openings 68. 
Side panels 70 are secured to the frame and are of such dimensions and 
geometry as to enclose the lateral space defined by the belt edges and the 
plenum back wall 52. 
The leading edge of the frame can be mounted onto a pair of sled runners, 
one at each side of the apparatus, of such width and spacing as to slide 
along the planted bed during use of the apparatus. An alternative to sled 
runners could be a hydraulic position sensing device for automatically 
determining and adjusting the height of the plenum, or manual adjustment 
of the plenum height. 
A hood 72 in the form of a solid nose extension is affixed to the lower end 
of each belt enclosure 60 and extends forwardly of the cutters 20. The 
hood serves to locate the vacuum effect of the belt ahead of the cutters 
so as to stand the product up vertically prior to its being cut and to 
also pull the leaves away from the cutters as rapidly as they are severed. 
In operation of the described apparatus, the engine 22 is started and the 
belt 18 of each harvesting section begins to turn in the direction moving 
the belt upper surface in a direction from sprocket 38 toward sprocket 40. 
At the same time, the fans 24 are driven to produce a vacuum within the 
plena 50 such that a vacuum securing surface is produced at the belt upper 
surface, while at the same time a tractor pulls the apparatus in the 
direction of the arrow through a planted field. The cutter 20 severs the 
leafy vegetables at a point immediately adjacent the forward end of the 
vacuumized belt 18 such that the leaves immediately adhere to the belt and 
are carried along by the belt. 
By the described apparatus an 80 inch planted bed can be harvested in one 
pass. The reason two harvesting sections, each approximately 40 inches 
wide, are required is to negotiate uneven ground or sinking of the wheels 
on one side more than the other. For example, a commonly encountered 
situation, particularly on irrigated fields, is that one furrow may be 
watered more than the adjacent one which causes the wheels to sink on the 
one side more than the other. Having two relatively narrow harvesting 
sections enables readily making vertical adjustments where needed of just 
one section or of amounts for the two sections. It can be readily 
appreciated that even moderate lifting of the hood can produce a 
prohibitive loss in vacuum pull on the severed produce leaves with 
corresponding drop in harvesting efficiency. 
The enclosure 60 over the belt protects the leaves being carried by the 
belt from being removed from the belt by gusts of wind, for example. Also, 
the openings 68 in the enclosure top wall allow some air induced by the 
fan action to come through the openings 68 rather than just through the 
larger opening at the hood. In this way, a strong draft parallel to the 
belt is avoided which could blow the leaves loose. 
Openings in the side panels 70 are important in order to assist in removing 
the air produced by fans 24. Otherwise, sufficient back pressure could be 
exerted on the belt to blow the leaves loose. 
Although the invention has been described in connection with a preferred 
embodiment, it is to be understood that those skilled in the appertaining 
art could devise of modifications that if used would still be in 
accordance with the spirit of the invention as described in the appended 
claims.