Abstract:
A conditioning mechanism is placed forwardly of the cotton harvesting mechanism on a cotton harvester. Opposing elements compress portions of the cotton plant to compress the cotton bolls and deform the cotton boll hulls. The deformation loosens the cotton fiber relative to the hulls to improve the ability of the harvesting mechanism to harvest the seed and fiber. In one embodiment, differential surface velocity of the opposing elements improves boll opening and fiber orientation for more effective spindle contact.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates generally to cotton harvesters, and more specifically to structure for enhancing the ability of a cotton harvesting unit to harvest cotton fiber and seed from the cotton plant.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Cotton fiber is held in a cotton boll, and each fiber is attached to one of several cotton seeds in the boll. When the boll matures, the boll opens to expose the fiber. The seeds are retained in cavities created by the open bolls or hulls.  
         [0003]     Various types of cotton harvesting devices include mechanisms that contact and extract the cotton seed and fiber from the cotton plant. Harvesting efficiency depends on the ability of the mechanisms to remove the seed and fiber from the open bolls which, in turn, depends on the seed and fiber connection to the cotton boll hulls. If the fiber and seed are strongly linked to the hull, harvesting efficiency can be greatly reduced. Fiber orientation also affects the separating efficiency, and if the fibers are not exposed satisfactorily, the ability of the harvesting mechanisms to contact and remove the fiber is reduced.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     It is therefore an object of the present invention to improve harvesting of cotton fiber and seed from cotton plants. It is another object to overcome one or more of the aforementioned problems.  
         [0005]     It is another object of the present invention to provide a structure for improving cotton harvesting efficiency. It is another object to provide such a structure which conditions the cotton boll prior to extraction of the fiber and seed by the harvesting mechanism. It is still a further object of the invention to provide such a structure for various types of harvesters such as spindle type cotton pickers and strippers. It is still a further object to provide such a structure which is mountable at different locations on a harvester, including but not limited to locations ahead of a spindle unit, between two drums of a spindle unit, and upstream of a cotton cleaner.  
         [0006]     It is another object of the present invention to provide a boll preconditioning mechanism for a cotton harvester. It is another object to provide such a mechanism which loosens the connection of the fiber to the boll hull. It is still another object to provide such a mechanism that helps orient fiber to increase the opportunity for harvesting elements to contact the fiber and remove the fiber and seed.  
         [0007]     A conditioning mechanism is placed forwardly of the cotton harvesting mechanism or a portion of the harvesting mechanism. In an embodiment of the invention, opposing elements compress portions of the cotton plant. The compressive action compresses the cotton bolls to deform the hulls and loosen the cotton from the hulls to improve the ability of the harvesting mechanism to harvest the seed and fiber.  
         [0008]     These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in view of the drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a normal cotton boll (with a lock removed to more clearly show burs and seed) showing the burs open and cotton fiber exposed for harvest.  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a tight cotton boll not fully open.  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a view similar to  FIG. 2  but with a lock removed to better show the burs and seeds.  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is a view similar to  FIG. 3  but showing the boll after processing by a cotton conditioner.  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  is a top view of a cotton harvester row unit having a forwardly mounted cotton conditioner.  
         [0014]      FIG. 6  is a top view similar to that of  FIG. 5  but showing the cotton conditioner mounted between two spindle drums.  
         [0015]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a cotton conditioner.  
         [0016]      FIG. 8  is a schematic representation of another cotton conditioner including belts.  
         [0017]      FIG. 9  is a schematic representation of a cotton conditioner upstream of a cotton cleaner on a cotton stripper.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0018]     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , therein is shown a cotton boll  10  from a cotton plant  12 . The boll  10  includes four groupings or locks  14  of cotton fibers attached to seeds  16 . One of the locks  14  is removed in  FIG. 1  for clarity. Burs  18  generally encase the locks  14  as the cotton plant matures. When the plant is ripe, the burs  18  open as shown in  FIG. 1  to expose the cotton fibers. However, many bolls do not open fully, as shown by the boll  10 ′ in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . The fibers on the partially open bolls  10 ′ are not fully exposed and the seeds  16  are tightly held.  
         [0019]     Referring now to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , therein is shown a row unit  20  for a cotton picker. The row unit  10  includes a housing  22  with upright structural members such as at locations  24 ,  25  and  26 . A fore-and-aft extending row-receiving area  20  is defined which extends rearwardly from between a pair of stalk lifters  32  through to the rear of the housing towards a harvesting element  28 . As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the harvesting element  28  includes front and rear upright picker drums  36  and  37  with upright rotational axes  38  and  29  supported within the housing  12  and include spindles  40  supported in rows by a plurality of upright picker bars  42  supported by the drums  36  and  37 . Each picker bar  42  includes a cam arm  48  with an upper cam roller supported within the track of a respective cam  52  or  53  which orients the bars  42  for the desired spindle position as the drum rotates about its upright axis. The spindles are rotated about spindle axes  40   a.    
         [0020]     Doffer columns  58  and  59  are supported for rotation about upright axes  60  and  61  parallel to and rearwardly and outwardly of the corresponding drum axes  38  and  39  for doffing cotton from the spindles. Supported adjacent the forward portion of the drums  36  and  37  are upright moistener columns  62  and  63  with pads  66  for wiping the spindles  40  after cotton is doffed therefrom. A conventional drive mechanism (not shown) located in the upper portion of the housing  22  rotates the drums, spindles and doffers. As the drums  36  and  37  rotate, the path of the spindles  40  is controlled by the cam arrangement so that the spindles  40  project into the row-receiving area through grid bars  74  and  75  and rotate in contact with the cotton. The spindles  40  are barbed and rotate in contact with the exposed fibers of the cotton bolls  10  and  10 ′. As shown in the drawings, the row unit  20  is an in-line unit with the drums and drum axes on one side only of the row-receiving area so that cotton is picked from one side of the plant. Pressure plates  76  and  77  urge the plants inwardly toward the spindles  40 . The spindles  40  are guided under the doffers of the doffer columns  58  and  59 , and cotton is doffed from the spindles and directed rearwardly and outwardly to door structure  80  to be conveyed to the harvester basket (not shown).  
         [0021]     To condition the cotton plants to better expose the fibers to the spindles of the harvesting element  28 , a cotton conditioner structure indicated generally at  90  in  FIG. 7  is provided forwardly of at least one of the drums  36  and  37  in the row-receiving area  30  and forwardly of a harvesting mechanism. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the conditioner structure is located at the throat of the row unit  20  just forwardly of the forward drum  36  and forwardly of the pressure plate  76 . Alternatively, the conditioner  90  can be located between the drums of a multi-drum picking unit. As shown in  FIG. 6 , the conditioner structure  90  is centrally located in the housing  22  between the drum axes  38  and  39  forwardly of the rear pressure plate  77 . In this embodiment, the conditioner structure  90  conditions bolls  10  and  10 ′ remaining on the plants after the plants are contacted by the spindles  40  on the forward spindle drum  36  and just prior to entry of the spindles  40  of the rear drum  37  into the plants.  
         [0022]     One embodiment of the conditioner structure  90  as shown in  FIG. 7  includes a conditioner housing  100  supporting a pair of upright cylinders  102  and  104  for rotation about upright axes generally parallel to the drum axes  38  and  39 . The cylinders  102  and  104  are carried on pivoting supports  106  and  108  and are biased inwardly towards each other and towards the cotton row centerline by adjustable spring assemblies  112  and  114  mounted on the sides of the housing  100 . The spring assemblies  112  and  114  bias the cylinders  102  and  104  to a generally closed position (shown). The cylinders  102  and  104  pivot move outwardly and slightly rearwardly against the bias as the cotton plants  12  pass between the cylinders. The bias of the spring assemblies  112  and  114  can be changed to accommodate different harvest conditions to assure adequate cylinder pressure against the plants  12  for boll conditioning.  
         [0023]     The cylinders  102  and  104  may be driven in any suitable fashion, such as by motors  122  and  124  supported above the cylinders and connected to shafts  126  and  128  projecting through bearing assemblies in the cylinder mount. The motors  122  and  124  may be, for example, hydraulic or electric motors. Alternatively, the cylinders  102  and  104  can be driven by a belt, chain or gear drive powered by a single motor or from the drive for the row unit  20 . The cylinders  102  and  104  are driven at a speed so that surface velocity approximately matches the velocity vector of the plants or portions of the plants as they pass through the cylinders. To maximize boll conditioning and optimize fiber orientation for better spindle contact with the fibers, one of the cylinders  102  and  104  can be rotated so the surface velocity is greater than that of the other cylinder. The differential surface velocity tends to roll the bolls  10  and  10 ′ to better separate and open the burs  18 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . The differential surface velocity also tends to draw and string out the fibers in a direction to increase the perpendicular component of the fibers relative to the axes of the rotating spindles  40 , thereby increasing the likelihood of the spindles making effective contact with the fibers.  
         [0024]     Various other types of surfaces other than cylindrical surfaces may also be used for the conditioner structure  90 . As shown in  FIG. 8 , the conditioner structure  90 ′ includes cylinders  102 ′ and  104 ′ driving belts  105 ′. The belts  105 ′ can each be a single wide belt or a plurality of narrow belts generally defining a conditioning plane  130 ′ aligned with the plant row or plant path  30 . The belts  105 ′ are also trained around an idler or drive arrangement  132  and  134  to define the conditioning plane which is upstream of the input or throat to the particular harvesting element utilized in the machine. Although two driven surfaces are shown, it is also possible to utilize other combination of driven or non-driven elements such as a single driven belt or cylinder and an opposed non-driven element. The non-driven element can be a device similar to a pressure plate or a rotatable cylinder, belt, stacked wheel or idler device. If a more aggressive gripping arrangement is desired, the belt, wheel, cylinder or other moving surface device can be equipped with treads or protrusion to engage the cotton plant material. As shown in  FIG. 9 , the conditioner structure  90  or  90 ′ can be utilized with a cotton cleaner such as shown at  140 . Conditioner structure  90  can also be utilized with other non-spindle type harvesting mechanisms wherein boll conditioning and/or fiber orientation would be advantageous.  
         [0025]     Having described the preferred embodiment, it will become apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims.