Patent ID: 8375690

Claim:
A pollen harvesting machine comprising: a motorized chassis, a ramp operatively connected to the chassis, a plurality of harvesting heads, the ramp comprising a mounting structure to which all of the plurality of harvesting heads are fixedly mounted, each harvesting head having an inlet fixed to the ramp and a frustoconical suction hood narrowing upwardly from the inlet opening, the ramp being adjustable in terms of position, height and tilt to thus also simultaneously adjust all of the plurality of heads fixed thereon to optimize the position, height and tilt of the heads for the plants and the pollen to be recovered from the plants, the upper ends of the frustoconical suction hoods being connected to ducts of a suction circuit for carrying away the pollen, the ducts being connected to a separation cyclone positioned to receive the pollen directly from the heads, and a suction fan positioned downstream from the separation cyclone so as to exert suction to draw the pollen from the heads, through the ducts and into the separation cyclone, the separation cyclone and the suction fan being constructed to separate out the pollen particles and direct them downwardly and permit the drawn-in air, essentially free of pollen particles, to continue to the suction fan, and a recovery hopper positioned below the separation cyclone to collect the pollen particles separated out by the separation cyclone.