Patent ID: 8371572

Claim:
A detachable pick mechanism, comprising: a reversible drive transmission having a drive shaft gear operatively connected to a pick axle gear, the drive shaft gear having a center opening for receiving a cantilevered drive shaft extending from a housing, the drive shaft gear being slidably engageable onto the cantilevered drive shaft via the center opening; a pick axle having a pick wheel mounted at each end, the pick axle operatively connected to the pick axle gear for rotating the pick wheels; and a transmission housing having: a top, a bottom, and a side defining a cavity therein for containing the reversible drive transmission; an opening in a front portion and in a rear portion of the transmission housing through which the pick axle and the cantilevered drive shaft, respectively, pass, the front portion dimensioned so that the surfaces of the pick wheels each extend beyond the top and the bottom of the front portion; and a releasable latch mounted on the side for rotatably engaging a portion of the cantilevered drive shaft adjacent a free end of the cantilevered drive shaft to axially position the pick mechanism for mounting on the cantilevered drive shaft; wherein one of rotation and counter-rotation of the cantilevered drive shaft produces one of rotation and counter-rotation of the pick wheel.