Patent GB-106389-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Beet Harvesters.
Inventor: SMITH WALTER BENNETT
IPC: A01D23/04
Filed: 1916-08-31
Abstract: 106,389. Smith, W. B. Aug. 31, 1916. Crops, root, digging, topping, and tailing machines for.-A beet-harvester comprises means for packing the tops of the beets together so that they may be gripped by a lifting-device, two shares to loosen the soil around the beets, a transporting-device by which the beets are turned from a vertical to an horizontal position and carried to a rotary cutter by which they are topped, and an elevator for discharging the beets into a wagon or on to the ground. The flaring leaves of beets are engaged and pushed up by outwardly extending fingers 31 in front of vertical fenders 30 carried by arms 29 projecting downwards from the supports for the axles of the front wheels. The movement of the machine brings each beet in succession to the top-gripping device which, with soil-loosening and tap root breaking shares is carried on a V-shaped frame 15, 16 pivoted on a shaft 14 extending between the main frames 1, 2 and adapted to have its forward end raised to lift the digging and lifting devices clear of the ground when desired by a hand-lever 23, drum, and chains 22. The shares have horizontally disposed wing pieces 26 curved to conform to the contour of the beets and are preceded by cutting disks 28 adapted to divide any weeds, grass or the like which might otherwise clog the shares. The beet tops, after leaving the fenders 30, are gripped between two endless chains 39, 41 provided with projections 40, 42 and are held between these chains until they are delivered to a second set of endless chains by which they are gripped and the beets lifted. The second set of chains comprises a single endless chain on the right-hand side of the machine which co-operates with a pair of chains, situated alongside each other, on the left-hand side. These chains pass at their rear ends over sprocket-wheels which are connected by gear-wheels and driven through a knuckle joint from a countershaft 65 The rear sprocket-wheels of the co-operating lifting members are arranged in a vertical plane so that the beet, as it is raised and carried to the rear of these members, is turned to lie in an horizontal plane. Casings round the gripping- chains assist in maintaining them at the desired inclination. A plate 112 assists in twisting the beets to the horizontal position, and an elevator 71 provided with wings 70 carries the body of each beet to the rear in line with its top. The chains and the elevator carry the beets to a rotary saw tooth disk 78 for cutting off the tops which fall upon a curved shield and thence to the ground. The beets are held firmly during the cutting operation by a pair of guide-rails 79 which extend along the elevator and which are bent slightly towards the body of the beet in the neighbourhood of the cutter. The severed body portions of the beets fall from the wings 70 upon the floor 129 of a second elevator by which they are delivered to a wagon or to a desired position upon the ground. This elevator, which is adjustably secured to the frames 1, 2 of the machine and which is driven by chain gearing from the shaft 65, is provided with carrying-paddles 128 by which the beets are carried up to a shoot 136 which delivers them to the wagon or to the ground. The beet-lifting devices are driven by an internal-combustion engine 81 or other form of motor. This engine operates, through a chain 84, a sprocket-wheel 85 sleeved upon a countershaft 86 and adapted to be clutched to this shaft by the operation of a clutch lever 110. The machine may be arranged to operate upon beet rows of all widths by adjusting the main wheels 12 laterally.