Abstract:
A harvester push tool has a concave body portion with broad and flat fingers extending therefrom to facilitate the harvesting of grounded nuts or other items. Grounded nuts or fruit are those that have either naturally fallen to the ground or are on the ground as a result of mechanically shaking the tree during the harvesting process.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates to harvester tools. The invention is particularly directed to manually operated harvester tools.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Typical harvested items are: grounded nuts and fruit; acorns, pine cones, leaves, grass clippings, etc.; orchard tree pruning residue; commercial landscaping debris; small arms ranges (e.g., picking up of spent shotgun shell casings); lawn thatch and aerating residue; wood chips, bark, twigs; crabapples, cherries, fallen fruit, etc.; rocks and stones; and pet/animal droppings (less dust is produced during pick-up).  
           [0003]    The commercial harvesting of nuts is typically accomplished by mechanically shaking the nut tree and then gathering up the grounded nuts using large mechanized harvesters. Some varieties of nuts, such as the American Chestnut, are almost exclusively harvested, after naturally falling to the ground, by the use of the gloved hand. Presently, there are no mechanical harvesters or manual implements capable of efficiently collecting chestnuts.  
           [0004]    Manual rakes, such as the garden and leaf variety, have also been used but these require considerable effort to grip and operate for long periods of time. They are normally pulled over the ground surface and require considerable effort since the tines penetrate the grass cover down to the base of the grass where thatch and roots exert significant resistance (the tines are the slender, projecting parts of the rake). Furthermore, a quantity of uprooted grass and thatch ends is unnecessarily collected along with any fruit. If the rakes are used for collecting leaves then they do have a tendency to clog up by impaling leaves or other debris and can also pierce the soft fleshy covering when nuts are raked. Furthermore, these rakes can produce blisters on even a gloved hand and quickly tire the worker&#39;s arms and back. The legs which are the strongest limbs of a human being are not effectively used for any purpose other than standing.  
         OBJECT OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    It is an object of the present invention to provide a harvester tool in which the above-mentioned disadvantages are reduced or substantially obviated.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    According to the present invention there is provided a harvester push tool for harvesting items comprising a concave body portion with integral outwardly tangentially extending fingers at its lower end, in use, adapted to slide over ground when the harvester tool is caused to travel in a direction in which the fingers extend from said concave body portion whereby harvested items are collected,  
           [0007]    said fingers being each of substantially rigid material and of such a width as not to bend unduly during said travel over said ground, and  
           [0008]    said fingers being substantially flat on their lower surface to facilitate passage over said ground.  
         DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
     
    
    
       [0009]    Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a harvester tool according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 is a frontal view of the body portion of the harvester tool of FIG. 1;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 is a rear view of the body portion of the harvester tool;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 4 is a side view of the body portion of the harvester tool;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 5 is a view, on an enlarged scale, of the fingers of the harvester tool;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a harvester tool according to a second embodiment;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 7 is a side view of the harvester tool of FIG. 6 but at a slight angle;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 8 is a view, on an enlarged scale, of the fingers of the harvester tool in FIGS. 6 and 7; and  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 9 is a side view of another embodiment of the invention.  
     
    
       [0019]    The same reference numerals are used for like parts throughout the figures.  
         [0020]    Referring to the figures, a concave body portion or blade  2  is provided with integral outwardly tangentially extending fingers  4  at its lower end. The body portion in side view substantially presents an arc of a circle and, in use, the fingers are adapted to slide over ground when the harvester tool is moved forward to pick up items such as nuts, apples or leaves. The fingers are each of substantially rigid material and of such a width as not to bend unduly during the travel over the ground.  
         [0021]    In FIG. 1 it will be seen that a handle  6  is provided extending rearwardly of the concave body portion. The concave body portion  2  is about 26 inches wide, about 10 inches high, and provided with a handle  6  fastened to a rearwardly facing gusset portion  8 .  
         [0022]    As shown in FIG. 2 and in FIG. 5, the fingers  4  are formed with upturned side edges  10  to prevent items such as fruit or nuts from spilling off the side of the fingers. The upturned sides  10  are outwardly curved as can be seen in FIG. 5. The tips  12  of the fingers  4  may be provided with round edges and may be slope-chamfered on the tip.  
         [0023]    Blade wings  14  are provided on the outside edges of the body portion to prevent items, such as nuts, etc., from spilling off the sides of the body portion. The wings  14  are only about 1 inch high and are outwardly curved.  
         [0024]    It will be seen that the space  16  between each finger  4  is so shaped as to be broader at the front than at the rear. At the rear the space  16  enlarges into a circular space  18  which is approximately 1½ inches higher than the front of space  16 . This may be regarded as a spiral shape and facilitates the release of grass which may be pinched by the tool passing over the ground (not shown).  
         [0025]    The fingers are broad, (for example, about 1½ inches) and flat for about 3 inches at their ends, then curve upwards to join at a slightly rounded portion approximately 1½ inches from the bottom. Different breadth of fingers may be provided an the same tool, for example a middle finger about 6″ wide. The leading part of the top surface of each finger may be slightly humped for approximately 1¼ inch of the top surface to prevent some rocks, acorns, etc. from rolling off the front of the fingers.  
         [0026]    In FIG. 3 the rear of the fingers can be seen and they are provided with wear rails  20  which are about ⅛ inch wide and on the underside center of each of the fingers  4 . These wear rails  20 , sometimes called stiffening rails, usually taper in height from the leading edge of each finger to their full height of approximately ⅛ of an inch at about 4 inches back from the leading edge. They are shown on the center line of the finger but could be on an edge.  
         [0027]    The spiral notches of the fingers allow the blades of living grass to pass through whilst preventing items such as nuts from passing. The nuts then collect in the body portion of the tool and remain there until the user dumps them where desired. The fingers are formed so as to turn upward after approximately 3 inches, joining at a portion approximately 1½ inches in height from the body bottom. FIG. 4 is a side view of the body portion to show the concave shape thereof.  
         [0028]    In FIG. 6 the harvester tool is provided with a substantially straight handle  6  having an intermediate softer cushion portion made of rubber, foam, or plastic, etc. The harvester tool may advantageously be made of plastic.  
         [0029]    In FIG. 7 the body portion  2  of the harvester tool is shown with the fingers  4  and blade wings  14  whilst in FIG. 8 details of the fingers can be more clearly seen. The fingers  4  are rounded at their ends, i.e. their leading edges, and bevelled down at their tips  32  from ⅛″ to {fraction (1/16)}″. The upturned sides  10  are tapered, as can be seen in FIG. 8, so that nuts, etc. are caused to fall into the channels on the fingers  4 .  
         [0030]    In FIG. 9 the body portion  2  is in the shape of part of an ellipse. It is less in height than the embodiment of FIG. 1 being only 6 inches instead of 10 inches. It presents a more squat appearance.  
         [0031]    The described embodiments are of a manual harvester push tool but it will be understood that the tool may be constructed with different dimensions and may be readily adapted for a machine harvester. Due to the fingers being broad they ride on the surface of grass which is thus only squeezed and then springs back. With rakes the tines press into grass.  
         [0032]    The shape or the described harvester tool facilitates scooping (or shovelling) or fruit or debris, etc. which is collected. This avoids the provision or an additional tool such as a shovel.  
         [0033]    It will be readily apparent to a person skilled in the art that a number of variations and modifications can be made without departing from the true spirit of the invention which will now be pointed out in the appended claims.