Patent ID: 7614208

Claim:
A cotton picker row unit including a spindle-type cotton picker drum rotatable about an upright drum axis and movable at a forward harvesting speed through cotton plants, the drum rotatable about the drum axis at a drum speed generally synchronized with the harvesting speed and comprising a plurality of pivotable upright bars, each bar including rotating picker spindles, each spindle including a spindle base and a spindle tip projecting from the bar, a cam arm connected to the bar and having a cam-engaging portion, a cam track connected to the row unit and receiving the cam-engaging portion, the cam track orienting the picker bar about an upright picker bar axis to position the spindles in a fore-and-aft extending picking zone for engagement of the spindles with cotton plants in the zone, the cam track including a first track portion pivoting the upright bars and changing the orientation of the spindles in a first picking portion of the picking zone to slow spindle tip speed in a fore-and-aft direction and thereby decrease fore-and-aft spacing of the spindle tips to increase spindle density in the first picking portion of the zone, the slowing of the spindle tip speed reducing synchronization of the spindles relative to the engaged cotton plants adjacent a transition area between the first picking portion and a second picking portion rearwardly adjacent the first picking portion, wherein the spindle penetration of the picking zone approaches a maximum adjacent the transition area, the cam track including a second track portion maintaining spindle tip spacing generally equal to spindle base spacing to adjust relative velocity between the plants and the spindles in the second picking portion of the zone, the cam track increasing synchronization towards the aft end of the second picking portion.