Abstract:
A harvester to remove jalapeno peppers or similar chili peppers from the plants on which they grow. More specifically, the invention relates to a self-propelled, mechanical pepper harvester which includes a header at the forward end of the harvester having a plurality of picking units for picking peppers from a plurality of rows of pepper plants. Each of the picking units includes a pair of spaced longitudinally inclined picking bars oriented in opposed relation with opposite ends of the picking bars being connected eccentrically to rotatable disks for movement in an orbital path. The opposed picking bars include facing and opposed picking fingers which move cyclically in an upward and rearward path. The opposed picking fingers include spaced apart tip ends to enable the stem of the pepper plants to pass therebetween while stripping or removing the peppers from the plants. The picking bars, picking fingers and rotatable disks being transversely and downwardly inclined away from a row of pepper plants for discharging picked peppers laterally onto a conveying surface. A conveyor chain with paddles and L-shaped fingers thereon convey picked material to an air separation structure.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention generally relates to harvesting peppers from the plants on which they grow. More specifically, the invention relates to a harvester for picking jalapeno peppers or similar chili peppers.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     Harvesters of various types have been developed for picking various agricultural products from the plants on which they grow. Such developments include harvesters for picking jalapeno peppers or other similar chili peppers from the plants on which they grow with the picked peppers being cleaned of plant stalks, leaves and similar debris and then collected for further processing. Such harvesters have been developed due to elevated costs of picking peppers manually.  
         [0005]     One known pepper harvesting apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,687 issued Feb. 22, 1994 and assigned to Colorado-Harvester, Inc. This patent, hereinafter referred to as the Colorado Harvester, utilizes row picking units each of which includes opposed fingers which move rearwardly and upwardly to engage, elevate and separate peppers from the pepper plant. The picked peppers are then conveyed to a collection area with the peppers being cleaned by separating plant stems, leaves and the like before depositing in a storage bin or other storage facility. Another prior patent disclosing picking fingers for removing peppers from pepper plants is U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,690 issued May 9, 2000. These patents and the prior art cited therein disclose various developments in the field of picking peppers and similar products from the plants on which they grow by utilizing multirow headers with multiple picking units incorporated therein for separating peppers from a plurality of rows of pepper plants. While relevant, the prior art does not disclose specific details incorporated into the present invention.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     The harvester of the present invention includes a wheeled vehicular structure that is power driven and controlled by an operator in a conventional manner. Such controls include directional control, speed control, header elevational control, picking unit drive control, control of conveyors and air cleaning of picked product when conveying to a storage area.  
         [0007]     The header at the forward end of the harvester includes a plurality of picking units for picking peppers from a plurality. of rows of pepper plants. Each of the picking units includes spaced picking bars oriented in opposed relation with opposite ends of the picking bars being connected eccentrically to rotatable disks for movement in an orbit defined by the eccentric connection of the bars to the rotating disks. The opposed bars include facing and opposed picking fingers which move in the same path as the-bars. The forward disks are located at an elevation lower from the rearward disk so that the forward ends of the bars and the fingers thereon are oriented at an elevation lower than the rearward ends of the bars and the fingers mounted thereon. This structure moves the opposed fingers in an upward and rearward path. The opposed fingers are spaced apart to enable the stem of the pepper plants to pass therethrough while stripping or removing the peppers from the plants.  
         [0008]     The fingers on the bar-incline upwardly in order that the picked peppers are deposited onto a generally flat surface and are moved along the flat surface by a paddle chain conveyor system for deposit of the peppers into conveyor structure at the rearward end of the picker head. The motion of the picker bars and fingers is generally known as a “hay rake motion” and is known in the Colorado Harvester patent which also uses opposed picking fingers of rubber or similar material. Unlike the Colorado Harvester in which the picking fingers overlap or interleave, the picking fingers on the picking bars of the present invention are spaced apart in opposed relation to provide an open area between the ends of the opposed fingers which provides space for the main stem of the pepper plants to pass through thereby reducing plant breakage and reducing the quantity of plant stems and leaves mixed with the harvested peppers which substantially reduces the efficiency of the conveying system throughout the harvester.  
         [0009]     Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a pepper harvester especially adapted for, but not limited to picking jalapeno peppers or similar chili peppers by using a more effective and less costly harvester thereby reducing the unit cost of picking peppers which enables the cost of picking peppers by machine less than the cost of manually picking peppers.  
         [0010]     Another object of the present invention is to provide a pepper harvester in which opposed picking fingers are mounted on picking bars supported eccentrically at their ends by rotating members to move the bars and fingers in a hay rake motion in which the picking fingers are inclined upwardly and inwardly from the picking bars with the free ends of opposed fingers spaced apart to form an open area. The inclination of the fingers provides an inclined support for the picked peppers so that they roll down the inclined support onto a generally flat conveying surface to. enable the picked peppers to be moved to the rear to a conveying apparatus by a paddle chain conveyor in which the paddles are mounted on an endless driven chain to move the picked peppers into a transverse conveyor structure.  
         [0011]     A further object of the invention is to provide a pepper harvester in accordance with the preceding object in which the area forwardly of the opposed picking fingers and picking bars is free of obstructions to enable the pepper plants to freely enter the open area between the picking fingers with the upward and rearward-movement of the opposed picking fingers effectively removing peppers from the pepper plants with the picking bars being of rigid hollow construction and the rotating members being in the form of disks of lightweight material to reduce the weight of the moving components while maintaining the strength and rigidity thereof.  
         [0012]     Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a pepper harvester in accordance with the preceding objects in which each of the rotatable disks supports four picker bars with picking fingers thereon moving in a hay raking motion. The four eccentrically mounted picking bars and fingers moving in a hay rake motion enables the picking bars to move rearwardly and upwardly when in closest facing relation and downwardly and forwardly when in the remotest relation. The disks are inclined so that the moving picking bars and fingers provide a substantially continuous downwardly inclined surface. The inclined fingers convey the peppers being picked by the upwardly moving picking fingers downwardly and outwardly to a flat surface on which the peppers are moved to the rear by a paddle chain conveyor structure.  
         [0013]     A still further object of the invention is to provide a pepper harvester in which the header supporting the picking units can be pivoted upwardly and downwardly about a pivot axis by a lifting and lowering structure located under the header which enables free flow of the picked peppers from the header into a conveying system.  
         [0014]     These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation of the invention as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0015]      FIG. 1  is a schematic side elevational view of the pepper harvester of the present invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  is a top plan view, on an enlarged scale, of the header with three row picking units being illustrated.  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  is a detailed plan perspective view of the rearward upper end of a picking unit illustrating the association of the picking bars, picking fingers and rotating disks on which the picking bars are eccentrically connected.  
         [0018]      FIG. 4  is a detailed plan perspective view of the forward end of the picking bars and picking fingers illustrating the inclination of the rotating disks to maintain the picking fingers in proper relationship during movement.  
         [0019]      FIG. 5  is a detailed plan perspective view illustrating the drive mechanism for the paddle chain conveyor and picking bars at the rearward end of the header.  
         [0020]      FIG. 6  is a schematic plan view of the drive mechanism for the picker bars and paddle chain conveyor.  
         [0021]      FIG. 7  is a plan perspective view of the forward end of the header and picking units.  
         [0022]      FIG. 8  is a schematic elevation view of the picking bars, picking fingers and disks illustrating the inclination thereof.  
         [0023]      FIG. 9  is a schematic side elevational view of the picking bars and disks.  
         [0024]      FIG. 10  is a schematic side elevational view of the harvester illustrating the operating components thereof.  
         [0025]      FIG. 11  is a schematic view of the air separation of the plant stems and leaves from the picked peppers.  
         [0026]      FIG. 12  is a schematic plan view of the rearward ends of the picker bars-and driving disks illustrating the relation of the four picker bars and driving disks. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0027]     Although only one preferred embodiment of the invention is explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its scope to the details of construction and arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways.  
         [0028]     Referring to  FIG. 1  of the drawings, the schematically illustrated pepper harvester is designated by reference numeral  10  and is in the form of a vehicular structure  12  including a rigid frame, front drive wheels  14 , rear steerable wheels  16 , a forwardly extending pepper picking header  18 , a conveying and separating structure  20  and an operator&#39;s cab  22  including controls for controlling the direction of movement, speed of movement and other operational characteristics of the pepper harvester. Of primary significance in the present invention is the construction and operation of the picking header  18  which is shown in plan detail in  FIG. 2 . As illustrated, the picking header  18  includes three picking units  24  for picking peppers from three rows of pepper plants. The number of picking units  24  may vary since the relationship of the picking units  24  to the pepper plants is the same in each picking unit.  
         [0029]     The picking header  18  includes a rigid frame structure  26  including top transverse frame members  27  and longitudinal frame members  43 ,  44  to form a rigid support structure supported forwardly of the vehicular structure  12 . The frame  26  includes forward depending support members  28  arranged in pairs and rigid with frame members  27 ,  43  and  44  to support outwardly inclined vertical plates  30  which define an entrance area  32  for each picking unit  24  to guide the pepper plants  56  (see  FIGS. 7 and 8 ) into the picking unit. The lower end of each inclined plate  30  is provided with a forwardly extending generally horizontal guide plate  34  having rearwardly converging edges  37  forwardly of the vertical plates  30  to engage the lower end portions of the main stem or stalk of pepper plants to guide them into the picking unit  24 .  
         [0030]     Each of the picking units  24  includes a pair of circular disks  36  at the forward end of the picking unit and a pair of circular disks  38  at the rearward end thereof. As illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the forward disks are rotatably supported from a support bolt  40  secured to projecting lug  42  on a support member  28 . The rearward disks  38  are supported from frame members  43  and  44  about a rotational axis parallel to the rotational axis of the forward disk  36  thereby orienting the disks  36  and  38  in parallel relation.  
         [0031]     The circular disks  36  and  38  are interconnected by four picker bars  46 ,  47 ,  48  and  50  as illustrated in  FIG. 12 . The picker bars  46 ,  47 ,  48  and  50  are parallel to each other and the disks  36  and  38 . The opposite ends of the picker bars are pivoted to the disks  36  and  38  at eccentric points equally spaced from the rotational axis thereof by a pivotal connection  52 . As illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 8 , the disks  36  and  38  are inclined on a slight angle of about 10-15 degrees. The rotational axes of the disks  36  and  38  diverge upwardly to maintain outward portions of the periphery of each of the disks lower than inward portions of the periphery. This results in the parallel picker bars  46 ,  47 ,  48  and  50  being of different elevations during their movement in a hay raking motion as illustrated in  FIGS. 9 and 12 .  FIG. 9  also illustrates the inclination of the picking bars  46 ,  47 ,  48  and  50  between their forward ends and their rearward ends and the parallelism of the disks  36  and  38  and the picking bars  46 ,  47 ,  48  and  50 . As illustrated in  FIGS. 8, 9  and  12 , the disks  36  and  38  are inclined and parallel and the picking bars  46 ,  47 ,  48  and  50  are also inclined longitudinally and are parallel to each other and move in an orbital path as determined by the movement of the pivotal connections  52 . This structure enables the picking bars to move past each other when the picking bars are at different elevations as determined by the inclination of the rotational axes of disks  36  and  38 .  
         [0032]     Each of the picking bars includes a plurality of picking fingers  54  which are parallel to each other and parallel to the picking bars and disks  36  and  38 . The disks  36 ,  38 , picking bars  46 ,  47 ,  48  and  50  and fingers on one side of a picking unit being in the same upwardly and inwardly inclined plane as illustrated in  FIG. 8 . As illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the picking fingers  54  taper to their outer tip ends. The outer tip ends of the fingers terminate in laterally spaced relation when they are in opposed relation and moving rearwardly and upwardly in parallel paths from a forward position to their rearward position as the picking bars orbit while in parallel relation to each other as the disks  36  and  38  rotate about their inclined axis. This arrangement of picking bars, support disks and picking fingers moves the picking fingers in an inclined hay raking motion. This provides an open area between the tip ends of opposed picking fingers to enable passage of the pepper plant stalk  56  downwardly between the inwardly extending inclined picking fingers as the picking fingers move vertically during their rearward movement. Also, as illustrated in  FIGS. 8 and 12 , the four inclined picking bars, inclined disks  36  and  38  and the inclined picking fingers provide a generally continuous inclined surface area from a point adjacent the stalk  56  of the pepper plant  56  so that peppers  58  which are removed from the pepper plant by the picking fingers  54  will tumble, roll, fall or migrate laterally outwardly in relation to the disks  36  and  38 , the picking bars  46 ,  47 ,  48  and  50  and fingers  54  onto a flat conveying surface  60  below the picking bars as illustrated in  FIG. 8 .  
         [0033]     This structure enables a chain conveyor  62  with lateral paddles  64  thereon to engage and move the peppers  58  which are deposited on the flat surface  60  in a manner illustrated in  FIG. 8 . The chain conveyor  62  and paddles  64  are provided on each side of each picking unit  24  thus moving all of the picked peppers  58  toward the rear of the flat surfaces  60 . Also illustrated in  FIG. 8  is a gear reduction drive unit  66  having an inclined output shaft  68  for driving each of the disks  38  about an inclined axis with the picking bars  46 ,  47 ,  48  and  50  rotating the disks  36  about an axis having the same inclination as the axis of rotation of disks  38 . Each of the gear units  66  may be supported by brackets  88  that are supported from plate  86 . The edges of plate  86  are supported at the top by top frame member  44  and at the bottom by lower frame members  43 .  
         [0034]      FIGS. 5, 6  and  8  illustrate the drive structure for the disks  36  and  38  as well as the chain paddle conveyor  62  which includes a hydraulic drive motor  70  supported from a bracket  72  supported from the frame structure  44  and provided with hoses  74  to enable supply and return of hydraulic pressure to the motor  70 . The motor  70  includes an output shaft  76  drivingly connected to a drive shaft  84  through a drive coupler  77 . A miter gear  80  on shaft  84  drives a transverse shaft  78  by miter gear  79  as shown in  FIG. 6 . The shaft  84  extends through the miter gear  80  and extends into one of the gear units  66  for driving the output shaft  68  that is connected to a disk  38 . The transverse shaft  78  is supported in bearing blocks  81  and includes a miter gear assembly  82  and  83  at the opposite end thereof which drives an output shaft  84  connected with the other gear unit  66  for driving the other disk  38 . This structure provides rotational movement of the disks  38  at the rearward end of the picking bars  46 ,  47 ,  48  and  50 . The relationship of the drive shafts  84  from miter gears  80  and  82  to the disks  38  is illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 6  with the shafts  84  extending through a transverse frame member  86 . A pair of guide plates  88  protects the rotating shafts  84  from entanglement with plants passing rearwardly between the picking fingers  54  as the harvester advances.  
         [0035]     The transverse shaft  78  includes a centrally located sprocket gear  90  thereon between the bearing blocks  81  for driving a chain  92  which drives a transverse shaft  94  having a sprocket gear  96  thereon with the shaft  94  extending outwardly beyond the frame and including a sprocket gear  98  on each end thereof for driving engagement with the paddle chain conveyor  62 .  
         [0036]     As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the flat surface  60  on which the sprocket chain  62  and paddles  64  are associated terminate just rearwardly of the disks  38  and just forwardly of the support plate  86  for the shafts  84  with the terminal edge of the flat surface  60  being designated by reference numeral  100 . This enables the-peppers which have been picked to drop into a transverse auger conveyor  102  which conveys the peppers laterally into an upwardly inclined cleated belt conveyor  104  which forms part of the conveying and separating structure  20 . In view of the tendency of broken limbs and branches to drop onto the conveying surfaces  60  and the paddles  64  pulling the broken limbs or stems or branches toward the traverse convey. Movement of the limbs, stems or leaves into the traverse conveyor is assisted by the use of protruding fingers  63  on chains  62 . The fingers  63  are L-shaped with one leg attached to and protruding laterally from the chain  62 . The other leg of fingers  63  extend upwardly from the chain  62  as the paddles  64  move rearwardly along surfaces  60  to assist in conveying stems, leaves and limbs toward the transverse conveyor  102 . Fingers  63  are oriented between every other paddle  64 . The upwardly extending leg of each finger  63  is inverted as the chain  62  moves around sprocket gear  98  so that the free end of the vertically extending leg of finger  63  is pointing downwardly for discharge of any leaves, limbs or stems carried by the fingers  63  into the transverse conveyor  102 .  
         [0037]     As schematically illustrated in  FIGS. 10 and 11 , the inclined conveyor  104  discharges the peppers in a separating chamber  106  having a high velocity air flow passing upwardly therethrough at  108  to separate leaves and stems which move upwardly into an exhaust chute  110 . In the event any picked peppers move into the direction of the exhaust chute, a secondary separation chamber  111  is provided so that as the velocity of the air reduces entering the exhaust chute  110 , any picked peppers  58  that may be entrained therein will fall downwardly into the separation chamber  111 . Both separation chambers  106  and  111  discharge onto a sorting conveyor  112  at which position a sorter may manually pick and throw out any leaves or stems that may still accompany the picked peppers. From the sorting conveyor  112 , the peppers are discharged to an unloading conveyor  114  which deposits the peppers in a storage area, bin or trailing vehicle.  
         [0038]      FIG. 10  illustrates schematically the relationship of the header  18 , vehicular structure  12 , operator&#39;s cab  22 , conveyor  104 , air source  108  including a fan, the exhaust chute  110 , sorting conveyor  112  and unloading conveyor  114 . As shown in  FIG. 11 , exhaust chute  110  is provided with a conveyor  113  forming a bottom for chute  110  to quickly discharge leaves and other debris.  
         [0039]     An important feature of the invention is the structure, orientation and operation of the rotating disks  36  and  38 , the picking bars and the picking fingers combined with the flat .surfaces  60  on which the picked peppers drop and conveyed to a rear transverse conveyor by a paddle chain conveyor. As illustrated in  FIG. 8 , the opposing picking units including the rotating disks, the orientation of the picking bars and the orientation of the picking fingers is at a transverse angle of  10 - 15  degrees. This provides a more effective picking angle for the fingers as they enter the plant at a slight upward angle helping to disengage the pepper pods from the plants. When the pods are free from the plant, they are carried on top of the upwardly and transversely inclined fingers and bars and the momentum of the peppers provided by the hay rake motion moves the peppers along with the transverse incline of the picking fingers and bars onto the flat surface  60  to be conveyed as illustrated in  FIG. 8 .  
         [0040]     As the picking bar moves in a hay raking motion and as the ends thereof travel in an inclined circular path with the connection to the disks, the picked pods  58  are delivered to the conveyor surface  60 . Inasmuch as the bars are set on a longitudinal angle, gravity is also used to help move the picked pepper pods  58  onto the conveyor surface  60  so that the paddles  64  on the chain conveyor can move the pods effectively toward the rear and into a transverse auger conveyor  102  for discharge onto and upwardly inclined cleated belt conveyor  104  through a two stage air separation for separating any residual leaves or stems from the pepper pods  58  which are discharged onto a sorting conveyor  112  and then onto an unloading conveyor  114  with the separated leaves and stems being discharged to atmosphere and back onto the ground surface.  
         [0041]     This structural arrangement enables high speed movement of the bars and picking fingers in their hay raking motion to increase the effectiveness of the fingers picking the peppers from the plants in order for the machine to pick at a more efficient and more profitable rate. The angle of the picking bars and fingers also allows the picking units to mirror the row on which the peppers are grown. The lowest fingers at the forward ends of the bars enter the base of the plant, picking the bottom pods which have always been the hardest part of the crop to harvest.  
         [0042]     The picking bars and picking fingers have an open area between the ends of opposed fingers and the timing of the bars so that as one bar extends, the bar on the opposite side of the row retracts at the same time. Therefore, the open area neither gets larger or smaller and allows room for the plant&#39;s main stem  56  to pass through the open area thereby reducing plant breakage. The structure for powering the row units is unique with each side of each separate row unit being powered by a single hydraulic motor through a series of beveled gears and enclosed gear boxes which provides the timing of the picking bars. The paddle chain conveyors  62  on each side of each row unit are also powered from the same motor by sprockets and chains. The hydraulic motor provides a safety factor by stopping when a blockage occurs thereby preventing damage to the picking unit.  
         [0043]     The pod conveying system includes chains  62  with paddles  64  mounted thereon which allows the row units to be much closer to the ground since the entire structure is located above the flat conveying surfaces  60 . The paddles  64  run longitudinally of the flat conveying surface  60  and move up the incline at the rear thereof for discharge of the pods  58  into the transverse conveyor  102 .  
         [0044]     The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described. Accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.