Patent ID: 7805915

Claim:
A cotton picker spindle bar assembly including an upright spindle bar, the spindle bar supporting a plurality of vertically spaced spindles having spindle ends and gear ends, the spindle ends adapted to enter cotton plants to remove cotton therefrom, each of the spindles rotatable about a spindle axis, a drive shaft supported by the bar for rotation about an upright drive shaft axis in driving relationship with the gear ends, wherein the spindle axes of adjacent spindles are angled relative to each other about the drive shaft axis to offset the spindle ends so adjacent spindle ends are nonaligned in a vertical direction, and wherein the spindles are supported in at least two sets of spindles, the first set of spindles having spindle axes offset at an angle about the drive shaft axis relative to the axes of the second set of spindles, wherein the axes of the first set of spindles are offset at an angle about the drive shaft axis of approximately 6 degrees relative to the axes of the second set of spindles.