TUBER, BULB AND ROOT LIFTER

Abstract: A multi-row lifter for tuber, bulb and root crops, particu­ larly potatoes, comprising a ground-supported main frame (1) an auxiliary frame (16, 17, 18) bearing pivotally on the main frame and on the ground, at least one sieve conveyor (31) carried by the main frame, lifting shares (32) carried by the auxiliary frame and a conveyor (27) joining the lifting shares (32) and passing, viewed in the direction of move­ ment, at the front around a reversing roller (26) carried by the auxiliary frame and at the rear around a horizontal driving roller (28) carried by the main frame, whereby the reversing roller (26) is movable in a vertical plane and the driving roller (28) is movable in a vertical plane and the driving roller (28) in a substantially horizontal and a vertical plane and means (36) are provided for maintaining the sieve conveyor (31) substantially in a horizontal position, viewed in a transverse direction.

Description: The invention relates to a multi-row lifter for tuber, bulb and root crops, particularly potatoes, comprising a ground-supported main frame, an auxiliary frame bearing pivotally on the main frame and on the ground, at least one sieve conveyor carried by the main frame, lifting shares carried by the auxiliary frame and a conveyor joining the lifting shares and passed, viewed in the direction of movement, at the front around a reversing roller carried by the auxiliary frame and at the rear around a horizontal driving roller carried by the main frame. For harvesting potatoes it is important for the lifting shares and the associated conveyor to match the unevennesses of the field. These unevennesses may, on the one hand, be due to the difference in height of the rows of potatoes and, on the other hand, to natural slopes of the ground. In the generally employed lifter constructions the lifting shares are proceded by depth-control wheels also fastened to the auxiliary frame, in the case of potatoes, specifically termed diabolo rollers, which are vertically adjustable with respect to the shares, so that they can'determine the thickness of the lifted layer of soil. The more or less horizontal plane of movement of the shares and diabolo rollers is determined in these embodiments by the positions of the main frame, the wheel axis or the ground respectively. The consequences thereof are: a. in the case of a longitudinal slope of the filed the thickness of the lifted layer remains constant; b. in the case of a transverse slope of the same angle of inclination at the locations of the wheel axis and the shares the layer thickness remains constant, it is true, but since the overall lifter matches the conditions of the field, the potatoes will move towards one side of the conveyor and the further associated sieve belts so that the sieving capacity and the removal of the haulm become inadequate. c. in the case of a transverse slope having different angles of inclination at the locations of the wheel axis and the shares there is the drawback that the shares assume a slanting position to the ground so that either part of the crop is not harvested or the depth of the lifting shares becomes excessive, the amount of picked up earth to be sieved then being too large. The invention has for its object to provide means enabling lifting on uneven soil with a transverse slope, whilst the lifting shares and the directly adjacent part of the conveyor follow the local transverse slope of the field and the further and major part of the conveyor as well as the further sieve belts of the lifter remain in horizontal positions. According to the invention this is achieved in that the reversing roller is movable in a vertical plane and the driving roller is movable in a substantially horizontal and a vertical plane and in that means are provided for maintaining the substantially horizontal position of the sieve conveyor, viewed in a transverse direction. The ends of the shaft of the reversing roller are coupled by means of a coupling rod with the corresponding ends of the shaft of the driving roller. These measures result in that in the case of a vertical displacement of one of the end parts of the reversing roller the corresponding end part of the driving roller can move in a substantially horizontal and in a vertical plane, whilst the distance between the rollers remains constant. Whilst, therefore, the part of the conveyor directly joining the lifting shares follows the ground profile despite a slope, if any, the further part of the conveyor remains substantially horizontal so that its sieving function is maintained throughout the width. One end of the shaft of the reversing roller is coupled through the auxiliary frame with the other end of said shaft in a manner such that during a movement in the vertical plane, said ends move in opposite senses. The auxiliary frame preferably comprises a longitudinal beam coupled with an end of the shaft of the reversing roller on both sides of the conveyor and having a guide member for a coupling rod on both sides of the conveyor, a lever system coupled with the longitudinal beam and a reversing mechanism connecting the lever system. The whole auxiliary frame turns, in the case of a longitudinal slope, on a lever at the main frame and in the case of a transverse slope it moves about an imaginary axis located midway between the longitudinal beams of the auxiliary frame. At the front it is supported by vertical guides on the main frame. The imaginary !longitudinal axis of the auxiliary frame located above the reversing roller brings about, during a rotary movement of the auxiliary frame, a lateral displacement of the reversing roller ends by describing a circular path. By guiding the coupling rods along the longitudinal beams of the auxiliary frame the driving roller is compelled to perform a movement in the opposite direction. The invention will be explained with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings. The drawings show in Figure 1 a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention and Figure 2 an alternative embodiment. The potato lifter according to the invention comprises a main frame 1 having longitudinal beams 2,3 and 4,5 as well as a transverse beam 6. The main frame bears by wheels 7,8 on the ground and is constantly held in a horizontal position with the aid of a cylinder 36. With the main frame 1 is connected an auxiliary frame, which is adapted to turn by means of a shaft 9 with respect to the main frame, the transverse pivotal axis proper formed by the line of connection between the medium pivotal points of the lever arms 19, said auxiliary frame being furthermore adjustable in a direction of height with respect to the ground by setting the diabolo rollers at a higher or lower level by means of the spindle 35. When no lifting work is done, the auxiliary frame can be elevated by means of the piston-cylinder combination 10, the lever member 11, the rotary shaft 12 and the extension member 13, which is omnidirectionally movable with respect to the auxiliary frame, for example, by means of a spherical hinge 14. The auxiliary frame comprises longitudinal beams 16 and 17, interconnected at one end by a transverse beam 18. At the foremost ends the longitudinal beams are laterally enclosed with respect to the main frame, for example, by vertical guides 37. The longitudinal beams 16 and 17 are each connected with a lever system, one system 19,20 being fully shown. One end of the lever arms 19 is connected with an extension member 22 of the longitudinal beam 2 of the main frame 1. The end of the lever arm 20 remote from the lever arm 19 is connected through a reversing mechanism 21,9,23 with the leverage on the other side of the device. The auxiliary frame carries the reversing roller 26 of the conveyor 27 with the aid of the extension members 24 and 25. The coupling rods are enclosed, for example, with verticalguides 38 approximately midway between the driving and reversing rollers in a lateral direction in the auxiliary frame. The driving roller 28 of the conveyor 27 is omnidirectionally rotatable and connected with the longitudinal beams 4 and 5 of the main frame by means of the lever arms 29,30. The conveyor 27 is joined by a conveyor 31. The lifting shares 32 are arranged near the reversing roller. The device moves in the direction of the arrow 33. The device operates as follows. The lifting shares 32 penetrate into the soil over a distance determined by the depth-control mechanism 35 and lift a layer of earth containing potatoes. The layer arrives at the conveyor 27, where a sieving process is carried out during transport in the direction indicated by the arrow. The potatoes not passing the sieve pass to the conveyor 31 and are conducted away, usually after being further sieved and after the haulm is separated. When a slope of the land is encountered in a direction transverse of the direction of movement and when the main frame is then set in horizontal position, a movement of the auxiliary frame is produced, in which the imaginary longitudinal axis is located centrally between the longitudinal beams 16, since these beams pivot at the leverage 19 and are laterally blocked between the guides 37. The end of the reversing roller connected with the extension piece 24 will, for example, move downwards in order to follow the ground. As a result the lever arm 20 also moves downwards, the shaft 9 performs a rotation in anticlockwise direction, the arm 23 moves upwards and hence also the longitudinal beam 17 and the end part of the reversing roller 26 connected therewith move upwards. Since the reversing roller 26 is coupled with the driving roller 28 on both sides of the conveyor by means of coupling rods, one of which (34) is shown, the distance between the reversing roller and the driving roller will remain constant and the driving roller will have to move in a substantially horizontal plane going approximately through the coupling rods 34 by means of the omnidirectionally pivotable lever arms 30. The pattern of movements of the reversing roller and the driving roller can be resumed as follows: 1. Vertical movements of the shaft ends of the reversing roller are converted into longitudinal movements of the driving roller ends by the mutual coupling of the coupling rods 34. 2. Lateral movements of the shaft ends of the reversing roller are converted via the guides 38 into a transverse movement in the opposite direction of the shaft ends of the driving roller. As a matter of course, both movements occur in conjunction. During the movement of the endless conveyor around the reversing roller 26 and the driving roller 28 the conveyor belt will be in an inclined position near the reversing roller 26, but during the movement towards the driving roller 28 it will gradually return to a horizontal position so that the purpose of the invention is achieved, whilst owing to the effect of the above-described movements neither length variations of the conveyor belt nor parallelogram-shaped deformations will occur as a result of which tracking or driving problems are not involved. The embodiment shown in Figure 2 differs from that of Figure 1 in that with a main frame remaining horizontal the auxiliary frame with the shares can follow the slope in the event depth-control rollers cannot be used, so that the shares assume the same slope in a transverse direction with respect to the main frame as the wheel axle. To this end the wheel axis movement is transferred, for example, through a lever mechanism to the shaft 9, which commands the position of the auxiliary frame in the manner described above. The depth setting has then to be made from the main frame.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A multi-row lifter for tuber, bulb and root crops, particularly potatoes, comprising a ground-supported main frame, an auxiliary frame bearing pivotally on the main frame and on the ground, at least one sieve conveyor carried by the main frame, lifting shares carried by the auxiliary frame and a conveyor joining the lifting shares and passing, viewed in the direction of movement, at the front around a reversing roller carried by the auxiliary frame and at the rear around a horizontal driving roller carried by the main frame, characterized in that the reversing roller is movable in a vertical plane and the driving roller in a substantially horizontal and a vertical plane and in that means are provided for maintaining the sieve conveyor substantially in a horizontal position, viewed in a transverse direction. 2. A multi-row lifter as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the ends of the shaft of the reversing roller are coupled by means of a coupling rod with the corresponding ends of the shaft of the driving roller. 3. A multi-row lifter as claimed in claims 1 and 2 characterized in that one end of the shaft of the reversing roller is coupled via the auxiliary frame with the other end of said shaft in a manner such that during a movement in the vertical plane said ends move in opposite senses. 4. A multi-row potato lifter as claimed in claim 3 characterized in that the auxiliary frame comprises on both sides of the conveyor a longitudinal beam coupled with an end of the shaft of the reversing roller and having a guide member for a coupling rod, a lever system on both sides of the conveyor coupled with the longitudinal beam and a reversing mechanism connecting the lever system.

Inventors: DE JONGE, JOHANNES
Applicants: MACHINEFABRIEK J. DE JONGE B.V.
Application year: 1980
Main classification: A01D17
IPC codes: A01D33, A01D17