AU599011B2 - Improvements to harvesters - Google Patents

Description

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JU UU I This document contains the amendments made under Section 49 and is correct for printing.

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APPLICANT:

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FILING DATE: FLETCHERS ENGINEERING PTY. LTD.

PG 8982 22nd January 1985 FORM Regulation 13(2) COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1952-1973 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR THE INVENTION ENTITLED:- "IMPROVEMENTS TO HARVESTERS" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us:- 1 2 _j ~Jcui*riicN Z. FX G. Ahearn) rMIArL 01 1 1 f To: The Commissioner of Patents, Commonwealth of Australia.

TGA-34 L~I Y~y ~3 4' 1$ 4 I 4t4 4 4( 1 4 4 *4 4i 4 4 4' 1 4i 44I 4f 4 4g 0 Ii

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THIS INVENTION relates to improvements to harvesters and in particular to tea harvesters.

Commonly, tea harvesting machines employ a cutting head at the forward portion of the machine which is operable to cut the tea leaves from the tea bushes and air conveyor means are then employed to move the cut leaves rearwardly from the cutter to a bin for collection.

A difficulty associated with this arrangement is that the harvested leaves tend to be damaged during conveyance 10 from the cutting head to the collection bin and accordingly the yield achieved by such harvester is not maintained at a maximum. Another disadvantage of the above machines is that with the use of air conveyance systems, maintenance and repair costs can be relatively high. Furthermore, in 15 such arrangements the harvester machine cannot operate efficiently in adverse weather conditions.

The present invention aims to overcome or alleviate at least some of the above disadvantages by providing an improved harvester for tea leaves or the like which enables tea leaves to be conveyed from the cutting head to the collection bin with minimum damage thus resulting in a higher yield. The present invention also aims to provide apparatus which may be easily maintained and which is suitable for use in adverse weather conditions. The present invention also aims to provide improved cutter means for such harvesters. Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent hereunder.

In order that the invention may be more readily 2 To: The Commissioner of Patents Signature of Declarant(s)

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understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention and wherein:- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the harvester according to the present invention; Figs. 2 and 3 are perspective views of the cutting head; Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing details of the cutter drum and conveyor; Fig. 5 illustrates details of the connection between the conveyor duct and cutting head; Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate in perspective 15 view further details of the conveyor at the 14 discharge end; Fig. 8 illustrates the harvester bin in an unloading attitude.

Referring to the drawings and firstly to 20 Fig. 1, there is illustrated a tea harvester 10 according to the present invention including a chassis 11 supported by forward steerable wheels and rearward driving wheels 12 and 13 respectively, and having an operator cabin 14 disposed substantially above the steerable wheels 12.

5 The harvester 10 includes a forward cutting assembly a conveying assembly 16 and a receiving bin 17 disposed rearwardly of the machine to collect harvested tea leaves discharged from the conveyor assembly 16.

-3- As shown more clearly in Figs. 2 and 3, the cutter assembly includes a cutting drum 18 extending substantially transversely of the harvester and supported rotatably on a frame assembly 19 which is supported for vertical adjustable movement along guide rails 20 under the control of a hydraulic ram 21 or the like. In this instance, the hydraulic ram 21 is connected to a cable 22 which passes about an elevated pulley wheel fixed to the harvester and extends downwardly to be connected at 1 0 23 to the frame assembly 19 so that retraction of the ram will cause the frame assembly 19 to move vertically upwardly and vice versa.

As shown, the cutter drum 18 includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced helically extending blades 24 and a pair of side arms 25 extend forwardly of the drum 18 to guide the tea plants towards the cutter drum 18.

Preferably the cutter drum 18 is driven by an hydraulic motor and chain 26 at one side of the frame assembly 19, however, any other driving arrangement may be used if required. Preferably also the cutter drum 18 includes a plurality of generally inwardly extending baffles 27 (see Fig. 4) which define compartments 28 for receiving the cut leaves and directing the leaves rearwardly to the conveyor. It has been found that baffles 27 arranged as shown in Fig. 4,rather than extending radially, extending in chord like fashion ensures that maximum cut crop is directed to the conveyor without wastage. The cutter drum 18 is adapted in use to co-operate -4-

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A*1 if If with an adjustable fixed blade 29 arranged at the lower side of the cutter drum 18 so that in use a shearing action will occur to shear the leaves from the tea bushes.

Arranged rearwardly of the cutter drum 18 is a duct 30 which comprises part of the conveyor assembly and is arranged to receive cut leaves as they are cut by the rotating cutter drum 18. Communicating at each end with the recovery duct 30 are respective elbows 31 comprising portions of further ducts 32 which extend rearwardly and upwardly to a position above the bin 17 where they communicate with each other via a transverse discharge duct 33. As is apparent, the conveyor duct assembly 16 is substantially rectangular in plan view and respective sprockets 34 are provided at each corner of the duct assembly 32 to receive therearound an endless chain 35 which is maintained under tension so as to lie substantially centrally or coaxially with the ducts of the duct assembly 16.

As shown in Figs. 4, 6 and 7, a plurality of circular disc like paddles 36 are supported at spaced apart positions along the chain 35 and each paddle 36 is of a smaller diameter than the diameter of the duct so that in use, minimum damage to the tea leaves is caused. Furthermore, each paddle is provided with a cut out section 37 so that the paddles 36 can pass by the respective sprockets 34 which project into the ducts without fouling.

Each respective elbow 31 at the lower end of the duct assembly 16 is supported rotatably on the 5 frame assembly 19 so that as the frame assembly 19 is raised or lowered, the duct assembly 16 will be raised or lowered at its forward end and undergo pivotal motion.

For this purpose and as shown in Fig. 5, each elbow 31 is provided with a flange 38 to which a frame member 39 N for supporting the axle 40 of the sprocket 34 is fixed, and an extended tubular portion 41 defining a bearing surface 42 on its internal face. The recovery duct

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which is fixed to the frame assembly 19 includes a portion 43 rotatably supported within the portion 41 so as to permit the pivotal movement of the duct assembly 16 on raising or lowering of the frame assembly 19. As shown the duct 30 is also cut away at 44 so as not to foul the sprocket 34 during the relative pivotal movement.

The upper end of the duct assembly 32 is supported by respective pivotal links 45 pivotally connected at one end to the ducts 32 of the duct assembly 16 and at their opposite ends to the bin 17. As shown in Fig. 8, the bin 17 is supported at 46 for pivotal movement about a transverse axis of the harvester and is arranged to be pivoted under the control of a hydraulic ram 47 which extends between the harvester chassis and bin 17.

The pivotal links 45 ensure automatic pivotal adjustment of the duct assembly 16 as the bin 17 is pivoted.

As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the transverse duct 33 which extends over the bin 17 is provided with a discharge opening 48 so that the tea leaves may fall from the duct 33 as they are moved past the discharge opening 48 by the paddles 36. One of the sprockets 34 6 L- is driven preferably by a hydraulic motor so that the paddles always move in the same direction along the duct assembly 16 to convey the leaves to the bin 17.

Furthermore as the chain 35 is located co-axially within the ducts and in particular within the collection duct 30 which extends transversely of the machine, the cutter assembly 15 may be raised and lowered whilst the conveyor continues to operate.

Preferably the harvester is also provided with a pair of spaced apart slasher assemblies 49 which are located between the forward and rear wheels of the harvester and which in use are arranged to pass on either side of the tea bushes to cut the grass therebetween. Each slasher assembly 49 may be lowered and raised as desired to achieve the required cut.

In use, the harvester 10 is aligned with respective rows of tea bushes so that the arms 25 are arranged on opposite sides of the bushes and the cutter assembly 15 adjusted to its required height. The cutter drum 18 is rotated so that the leaves are cut from the bushes and directed rearwardly into the duct 30 as the harvester moves along the row. The movement of the paddles 36 along the ducts 30, 32 and 33 will convey the tea leaves upwardly to a position where they are discharged through the opening 48 into the bin. The frame assembly 19 which supports the cutter drum may be raised or lowered as desired to harvest selected leaves whilst at all times the leaves will continue to be conveyed upwardly and rearwardly for depositing into the bin 17. When the bin 7 is full or required to be emptied, the ram 47 is actuated to pivot the bin 17 about its axis 46 so that the leaves are discharged into a container or the like carried by say a transport vehicle. During harvesting, the slashers 49 may be operated so that the grass between the tea bushes is slashed during the harvesting process.

The harvester 10 may be converted for other purposes by removing the cutting drum assembly and conveyor assembly 16. For this purpose the links 45 may be detached from the bin 17 and pins 50 which support the cutter drum assembly on the frame assembly 19 are detached so that the whole cutter assembly and conveyor duct assembly 16 may be lifted from the harvester. Thereafter any other implement may be fitted to the frame assembly 19.

It will be realised that many other modifications may be made to the apparatus without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example the conveyor duct assembly 16 may extend in any desired attitude from the collection area for the leaves, such as horizontally or vertically whilst other cutting arrangements may be employed for cutting the leaves from the tea bushes, if desired. Preferably, the cutter drum 18 is driven by a variable speed hydraulic motor so that the cutting rate can be matched to the ground speed of the harvester. It will be seen that as the paddles 36 of the conveyor assembly 16 move within an enclosed duct the harvester may be used in adverse weather conditions.

Furthermore, the paddles are preferably formed of plastics material and as stated above, suspended by the 8 chain 35 so that they are spaced from the duct walls.

Thus any leaves escaping between the paddles and duct walls will be carried along by the next paddle 36.

Referring now to Fig. 9, there is illustrated an alternative form of conveying means for the harvest.

In this instance the conveying chain 35 is, rather than being supported centrally of the duct 33, supported to one side thereof to be located adjacent the inner side wall of the duct. For this purpose, the sprockets 34 are reduced in diameter so that the teeth thereof are disposed adjacent to the inner side wall of the duct 33. In this arrangement, the paddles 36 are of generally disc like form and secured to the chain 35 adjacent their circumference. This arrangement will reduce the possibility of blockages and also reduce the chance of harvested leaves being caught between the chain and the teeth of the sprocket wheels 34.

The apparatus of the present invention is primarily suited to the harvesting of leaves from tea bushes, however, the apparatus of course may be employed for harvesting other crops.

Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative example of the invention, it will of course be realised that many modifications and variations may be made to the above described embodiment by persons skilled in the art without departing from the broad scope and ambit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

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Claims (2)

1. 3. A harvester as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the ducting is circular in cross-section.
2. 4. A harvester as claimed in claim 3, wherein the paddles are of substantially circular disc configuration i i with a cut out section, and are supported at spaced apart ;1 positions along the chain. A harvester substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this 12th day of April 1990 FLETCHERS ENGINEERING PTY LTD ©7 By their Patent Attorneys G.R. CULLEN CO.