Patent ID: 7743593

Claim:
A cotton picking machine, comprising: a chassis for moving said machine in a traveling direction; a vacuum pump supported by said chassis and provided to create a predetermined vacuum; and a cotton picking unit including a first cotton picking head supported by said chassis, said first cotton picking head including: an upper vacuum compartment and a lower vacuum compartment both in fluid communication with said vacuum pump, said upper and lower vacuum compartments spaced from each other in vertical direction; and a plurality of connecting tubes vertically extending between said upper and lower vacuum compartments, said connecting tubes movable along a predetermined endless path so as to be in sliding contact with said upper and lower vacuum compartments at the corresponding distal ends of said connecting tubes; each of said connecting tubes including a set of hollow picking fingers radially outwardly extending therefrom along the length thereof at intervals from top to bottom; each of said picking fingers having an access opening and being in fluid communication with the corresponding connecting tube; said predetermined endless path including an extracting zone and an inoperative zone; said connecting tubes fluidly connecting said upper and lower vacuum compartments only when said connecting tubes passing said extracting zone of said predetermined endless path so that cotton fibers being extracted from cotton plants and suctioned into at least one of said upper vacuum compartment and said lower vacuum compartment through said picking fingers only when said connecting tube being in said extracting zone due to the predetermined vacuum created by said vacuum pump in said upper and lower vacuum compartments; said connecting tubes fluidly disconnecting said upper and lower vacuum compartments only when said connecting tubes passing said inoperative zone of said predetermined endless path.