US1132102A - Cotton-harvester. - Google Patents

Description

W. J. LEE. COTTON HARVESTE'R. 7 APPLICATION FILED NOV. 30, 1912., 11,132,102. Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

.4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

W. J. LEE.

COTTON HARVESTER.

APPLICATION IILED NOV. 30, 1912 Patented Mar.16,191 5.

W. J. LEE.

COTTON HARVESTER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 30, 1912.

4 SHEETSSHEET 3.

Patented Mmfl 6, 1915.

. IL 1/ p 2 a 2 a I T o o D a D .I p q M,

I v W I @JQQ a 6 6 c D Q Q Q 6 q Q m 0 J un/memo 75 W. J. LEE.

COTTON HARVESXL APPLICATION llLED NOV. 30. 912,

1,1 32,102, Patented Mar. 16,1915.

4 SHEETS SHEET 4.

WALDO JONATHAN IE2, or MUNSON, smears, oemme.

COTTON-HABVESTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

Application tiled November 30, 1912. Serial No. 734,352.

T all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, WALDO J. LEE, a citizen of the United States, residing in Munson, in the Province of Alberta and Dominion of Canada, have invented a new an useful Improvement in Cotton-Harvesters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in cotton harvesters operating upon the principle of a suction or vacuum device, the cotton being drawn from the bolls by means of said suction, and being carried through suitable pipes or tubes to a convenient place of storage. I am aware of the fact that this principle of extracting the cotton from bolls and conveying the same to a suitable receptacle through the agency of a strong current of air has been employed or tested in a number of different machines, but in many of these devices the operation has been practically as slow as hand picking owing to the fact that the various suction nozzles carried at the ends offlexible tubes were required to be placed by hand in position to operate upon each boll.

It will be obvious that any device which requires the presentation of nozzle or other picking devices to each separate boll can have little advantage over hand picking.

The object of my invention is to so construct a machine of the pneumatictype that by driving the same over the field, the entire ripened crop may be gathere pidly and with certainty. This picki process can be best carried on after the leaves have fallen, at which time from one-half to twothirds of the entire crop can be gathered at one picking.

The invention consists substantially in conveying two parallel drums along opposite sides of the row of plants being operated upon, said drums being longitudinally slotted and a strong current of air being drawn into the drums through said slots. Suitable devices corresponding with picking fingers are caused to operate in alinement with said slots and catch and draw the cotton into the drum. At the same time certain other means will cause the plants to be presented to the drums and also serve to keep said openings clean and prevent limbs and branches from being also carried into the drums.

The invention also consists of a number of minor features adapted to cooperate with said drums so that the entire picking operation Wlll proceed smoothly and under control of the operator.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1s a side elevation of the complete device.

Fig. 2 is a detail view, a platform being in section, of a front truck axle. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the bolts employed in mounting the drum. Fig. 4 is a plan view. Fig. 5 is a detail plan view of means for holding the drums in proper spaced relationship with each other. Figs. 6 and 7 are perspective views of separate parts of a drum spacing device. Fig. 8 is an inverted plan viewof a drum support. Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the inner face of one of the drums, the truck platform being shown in section, and parts of a guide being broken away. Fig. 10 is an elevation of one of the picking rollers. Fig. 11 is a cross section upon the line 11-11 of Fig. 10. Fig. 12 is a section on the line 12-42 of Fig. 10. Fig. 13 is a section on the line 1318 of Fig. 10. Fig. 14 is a perspective view of a pin carrying plate. Fig. 15 is a vertical section through oneof the drums. Fig. 16 is a section on the line 16-16 of Fig. 14. Fig. 17 is' a detail view of the front of the truck, parts being in section.

In constructing the device, I employ a suitable truck 1 having rear wheels 2 and smaller front wheels 3. While it is not essential that the truck be self-propelled it is desirable that such form of truck be used in order to obtain the necessary power to operate the picking device and to create the air suction necessary to the successful operation of the machine. Any suitable form of engine 4 may therefore be mounted upon the truck and upon the rear portion of the truck there is mounted any suitable form of basket or casing 5 for the purpose of receiving the cotton.

The wheels 2 carry suitable driving gears 6, which mesh with smaller gears? carried by a shaft 8. These in turn are driven by means of a large gear 9 fixed upon the shaft 8 and which meshes with a suitable gear 10 carried by a transverse shaft 11. The shaft 11 carries at one end a beveled gear 12 which meshes with a suitable beveled gear 13 carried by the lower end of a vertically arranged shaft 14. Said shaft has slidably keyed upon it a friction disk 15 which is moved vertically across the face of a verti cally arranged disk 16, the disk 16 being carried by a crank shaft 17 driven by the piston rod 18 of the engine.

A suitable hand operated screw 19 works through a block 20, which incloses the disk 15 and as said block is moved upwardly and downwardly upon the shaft 14 it will carry the disk 15 with it. The screw 19 works through an angled portion of a threaded block 21 through which also works hori- Zontally a threaded rod the inner end portion of which is formed into a handle and the outer end portion into a suitable eye inclosing and forming an adjustable hearing at the upper end of the shaft 14. By operating this last mentioned rod 22, it will be obvious that the pressure of the friction disk 15 upon the vertically arranged disk 16 can be regulated. Through the means above described driving power is transmitted to the wheels 2, and also as will be hereinafter explained to certain cotton picking devices.

To create the required vacuum or air suction a suitable fan casing 23 is mounted upon the forward portion of the truck and Within said casing is arranged any suitable type of fan. To drive thefan I mount upon the end portion of the shaft 17 opposite the disk 16 suitable step pulleys 24, and suitable band operated o positely stepped pulleys 25 are carried by t e transverse shaft 26 provided with a beveled gear 27, which meshes with a beveled gear 28 carried by the fan shaft. As types of these fans are well known it has not been considered necessary to illustrate the fan blade.

The front wheels 3 are mounted upon an arched front axle 29, and the platform of the truck 1 is mounted upon a comparatively large gear segment 30, which is either integral with or rigidly secured to a curved segment '31. The segment 31 and the arched portion of the axle 29 are L-shaped in cross section and said segment 31 rests loosely upon the arch 29 and carries upon its front face guide brackets 32, the arched portion 29 of the front axle resting in said brackets and being adapted to move longitudinallv with respect to the segment 31, having a sliding movement between said brackets and said segment. By means of this construction the elevation of one of the frontwheels 3 above the other wheel due to unevenness of the ground produces simply a sliding movement of the front axle along the face of the segment but without tipping the front of the truck to any appreciable extent. I also provide upon the under side of the platform a suitable. gear wheel 33 which meshes with the gear 30, and said gear 33 is provided with a hand operated steering shaft 34, and a suitable ratchet 35 and a foot operated pawl or looking detent 36. By means of the parts last mentioned the front wheels may be turned for the purpose of steering the casing are arranged upright posts 37, provided with parallel vertical grooves 38 and 39, the grooves 38 being the rear ones, and in said grooves are slidably mounted rectangular end members of a frame 39 comprising a cylindrical top member 40 and a similar lower member41. Depending from the bottom member 41 of the frame are rack bars 43, said rack bars being engaged by suitable gears of gear trains 42 operated through a handle 44, said handle having at its lower end a beveled gear 45 meshing with a beveled gear 46 fixed upon a shaft 47, which extends beneath the platform of the truck and carries adjacent each end one gear of each of the gear trains 43. The object of employing more than one gear 43 is simply to remove the handle 44 a slight distance to the rear of the frame so that the handle will not project beneath the frame and I do not of course desire to be limited to any particular construction of gearing or any specific method of converting rotary movement of the handle 44 into a vertical movement upon the part of the rack bars 42. Any construction which will impart a vertical movement to the bars 40 and 41 may be employed. These bars form a support for the cotton picking mechanism, and this mechanism is preferably supported upon two platforms 48, and to distinguish them from the platform of the truck they will hereafter be referred to as foot portions of standards 49, as they may be integral with said standards.

Each of these standards has an angled end portion 50 forming an arm terminating in an eye and slidably mounted upon the bar 40 of the rectangular frame 39 and each standard has also a rearwardly extending mounted upon the arm 51 which is slidably bottom member 41 of the frame. The arms 51 also act as a support for a shaft 52, the ends of which slide vertically in the grooves 39, and which will be referred to in detail hereafter.

The essential features of my invention reside especially in the cotton picking mechanism carried by the foot portion 48, and as these are duplicates, a detailed description of the mechanism supported by one of said foot portions will also serve as a description of the other. As shown in Fig. 8 the foot portion 48 is substantially circular and is centrally cut Out as shown at 53. Upon the underside of the foot portion is placed a bracket 54 over Which works a lever 55, any suitable means being employed for locking the lever in adjusted position uponthe bracket, and said lever terminates in an oblong loop 56 which is secured to the bottom of a flan ed plate 57 fitting in the opening 53, the ange and the loop preventing said plate moving either upwardly or downwardly in the said opening. The plate 57 is provided centrally with a square opening in which fits the lower end of a bolt 58. It will be noted from Fig. 3 that this bolt is of a peculiar shape having a square head, having a reduced squared portion 59 adjacent said head fitting in the opening of the plate, a cylindrical portion 60 between the reduced portion and the square body portion of the bolt and an upper cylindrical threaded portion 61. Resting upon said foot portion is a cylindrical drum support 62 to the exterior of which is bolted a gear ring 63. Arranged within this support is a gearing comprislng a gear train 64 the main member of which meshes with an internal gear 65 carried by the support. This gear train also drives a train of active and idle pinions 66 and 67, respectively. This gear mechanism is inclosed between upper and lower'plates 68, said plates having central square openings fitting the body portion of the bolt 58, the drum support 62 being adapted to turn upon a cylindrical portion 60 of the bolt. It willbe obvious therefore that upon rotation of the drum rotation of the various gears 64, 66 and 67 will be imparted by reason of the engagementof the main gear of the train 64 with the gear ring 65 carried by theinterior ofthe revolving drum support. Mounted within the upper portion of the sup on 62 but held against rotation by the bo t is a picking drum 69. A suitably threaded nut 70 works upon the upper threaded end of the bolt 58 and locks said drum to the foot portion 48.

The drum is provided with two parallel slots 71 and within the drum is arranged a funnel shaped casing 72 which fits against the slottedside of the drum. It may be stated here that the two drums have these slots formed in their adjacent sides, and in operation the drum is moved along the row of. plants to be picked, one drum traveling upon one side of the row and the other drum upon the other side, the slots 71 of course opening toward the row of plants, the cotton extracted being drawn into the drums and into the funnels 72 through said slots. To assist in this operation and make certain that the cotton drawn by air suction enters the funnel I provide shafts 73 provided with suitable obliquely arranged pulling fingers 74, said shafts being arranged in pairs, one shaft of each pair being arranged adjacent one side of the slot and the other shaft of that pair being arranged upon the opposite side as shown in Fig. 16.

It is of course understood that the funnel 72 hasconnected to it a suitable conveyer pipe'75 which runs to the fan casing 23.

From this point cotton is carried by means of a suitable pipe 76, arranged under the truck 1, to the receptacle 5. ortions of the pipe 75 may be flexible and such construction is preferred and in fact necessary if the drums are to be shifted to any appreciableextent from their normal positions.-

I prefer to form the shafts 73 into two longitudinal halves, recessing the inner faces of the said sections as shown at 77, in Fig. 10, the space so formed being filled with any suitable packing material 73*. This allows the pulling fingers 74 to be inserted from the inside of each section before placing said sections together, and makes it very easy to replace any finger that might become broken. The extreme end portions of the shaft sections are provided with suitable caps 78, and screws 78 may also be employed as indicated for holding the said sections together. These shafts are mounted at their lower ends upon the upper ends of the arbors of the active pinions 66 and are therefore driven through the medium of the gear train 64. The upper portion of the drum carries an exterior gear ring 79 and suitable bars 80 are arranged circumferentially about said drum, their upper. and lower ends being secured respectively to the ear rings 63 and 79.

It wlll be obvious that the rotation of the gear rings will carry the bars 80 circumferentially about the drum, and I prefer to form these bars triangular in cross section, the apex portions extending outwardly, and their inner faces being sli htly curved to conform to the curvature 0% the drum. As these bars cross the slots 71 of the drum they will shear off any branches which might otherwise be drawn through said slots and into the funnel 72.

There is of course a possibility that drooping branches or those which may have become broken might pass between the drums without the cotton carried thereby being drawn into the slots. To prevent this and catch the branches after passing the first slot of each drum I provide the followingbranch engaging mechanism: Between the slots the drum is provided with a plurality of openings 81 and above and below the row of openings with circumferentially extending slots 82 within the funnel 72 and alinin'g with the openings 81 and the slots 82 is a sectional telescoping casing '83, the front portion of the casing being adapted to slide over the rear portion as shown in Figs. 15 and 16 and springs 84, one of which is shown, are interposed between the two sections and hold them in their normal relative position, returning the outer section to position after it has been forcedinwardly. The front movable section carries upper and lower beveled blocks 85 whichwork through the slots 82, and the intermedia re portion of this section carries pins 86, which work through the openings 82. The beveled blocks 85 are engaged by-the bars 80 and forced inwardly, thereby carrying the pins 86 inwardly and permitting passage of the bars. These pins catch and hold the branches thereby giving ample time for the cotton to be caught in the air current and drawn into the first slot, and

any branch overhanging or obstructing any boll of cotton from entering the first slot is retarded or pushed forward by the pins thereby uncovering the boll and exposing it to the second slot.

Any suitable form of gearing may be employed for imparting rotation to the gears 63 and 79 but I have shown a shaft 87 pro vided with a beveled gear 88 which meshes with the gear 12 and which in turn by means of a gear 89, meshing with the inner cogged'face of a friction disk 90 drives the said disk. This disk in turn drives an adjustable friction wheel 91 having a shaft 92 and beveled gear 93. An upright shaft 94 is provided with a beveled gear 95 which meshes with the gear 93 and also with a beveled gear 96 which meshes with the beveled gear 97 carried upon an end of the shaft 52.

It will be obvious that as previously stated this shaft passes through the arms 51 and in order that the said shaft may move vertically the post through which the shaft entirely extends is slotted, throughout a portion of its length as indicated at 98, said slot of course communicating with the groove 39 of said post. Bevel gears 100 are carried by stub shafts 101 which are supported from, parallel to and spaced from the arms 51. Bevel gears 99 are slidably keyed on the shaft 52'and mesh with the gears 100, the gears 99 being held between the arms 51 and the bevel gears 100, so that movement of the arms 51 and the gears 100 slide or carry the gears 99 with them. The shafts 101 carry at their forward ends beveled gears 102, which mesh with beveled gears 103 carried by vertically arranged shafts 104, which shafts are mounted in suitable brackets 104 carried by the standards 49. At their lower ends these shafts carry gears 105 which niesh with the gear rings 63 of the drum'supports, and adjacent their upper ends the shafts 104 carry gears 106 which mesh with the gear rings 79 of the drums: It is obvious therefore that the gear rings and bars 80 of each drum are driven at the same rate of speed and in practice I prefer to have the speedof these parts equal to that of the forward advance of the truck orat least be in some definite ratio to the forward advance of the truck.

Arranged immediately in advance of the drums and supported or braced in any desired manner are suitable guides 107 the object of. which is to lift and compress tomadam get'her the plants, guiding them to the drums and presenting them in the bestposition for effectually extracting the cotton from the bolls. The exact shape and manner of mounting these guides may be changed without in any way departing from the essential features of my invention.

It will be noted that the arms 50 and 51 are slidably mounted upon the members 40 and 41, and consequently the distance between the drums may be varied. But in order to prevent the drums from working either too closely together or too far apart due to the jolting of the truck in driving over rough grounds I prefer to connect the arms 51 together by means of a spring 108, and in Fig. 5 I have shown in detail the preferred form of spring connection. It will of course be understood that other forms maybe substituted in place of the one shown. i

It may frequently happen that owing to some slight irregularity in a row of plants it may be desirable to change the relative position of the drums in order to follow such irregularity rather than to try to follow the same by steering a zig zag course with the truck. It also frequently occurs that the plants in one portion of a row may be thicker and more bushy in type than in other portions due to changing soil conditions and I have therefore provided an operating lever 109 which is pivoted to an upright post 110 carried by the front of the truck and said arm carries a pin which engages one of a series of suitable openings 111 in a bar 112. In order that said bar may be adjusted to accommodate various spacings of the drums I- secure the same in a sleeve 113, provided with suitable pin openings 114, and said sleeve has a T-head at one end provided with an opening 115 through which onearm 51 can pass and the bar 112 has a head at one end with an opening 116 through which the other arm 51 may pass. By adjusting said bar in the sleeve the distance'between the two arms may be regulated, and suitable pins passing through the openings 114 and alining openings 111 secure the bar and sleeve together. By pinning the operating lever 109 to the bar 112 it will be obvious that the swinging of said lever will shift the drums slightly along the frame thereby causing them to follow any slight irregularity in the row. i

It is believed that from the drawings and above descriptiona clear and full understanding of my invention will be bad.

What I claim is z- 1. In a cotton harvester, a drum having parallel longitudinal slots, means for, creating a suction of air through the slots, means for moving said drum along a row of plants, picking fingers arranged within said drum and adjacent said slots, means for operating said fingers, and shearing means rotatable about the exterior of the drum passing transversely across said slots, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a cotton harvester, a drum having longitudinal slots, means for presenting the slotted portion of said drum to a cotton plant, means for creating a suction of air through said slots, means operatively mountmay be ed within the drum for drawing said cotton inwardly, a series of projecting pins adapted to work outwardly and inwardly between said slots, shearing devices adapted to rotate about said drum, and means for retracting said pins and permitting passage of said shearing devices.

3. A cotton receiving receptacle provided with suitable slots through which the cotton drawn in the said receptacle, and series of openings being formed between said slots, a bar carrying a plurality of pins adapted to Work through a portion of said openings, beveled blocks carried by the bar and adapted to work through the other openings, and a series of shearing devices adapted to travel across the exterior face of said receptacle, and across the slots, the said beveled blocks being pressed inwardly by said shearing devices thereby retracting the pins.

4. In a cotton harvester, a drum support, said support being vertically adjustable, a drum mounted upon said support, said drum being provided with cotton receiving slots, means for effecting a partial rotation of said drum, gear rings arranged respectively adjacent the upper and lower portions of the drum, and having independent rotation with respect to said drum, a series of shearing bars carried by said gear rings and adapted to revolve about said drum, and means for rotating said gear rings.

In a cotton harvester a vertically ad justable rectangular frame, drum supports slidably mounted upon the horizontal members of said frame, cotton collecting drums carried respectively by said supports, said drums being slotted upon their opposing faces, means for causing cotton to enter said slots, a series of shearing bars adapted to revolve about said drums and across said slots, means for revolving said bars, and means for effecting a partial rotation of said drum.

6. A device of the kind described comprising a truck, a vertically adjustable frame carried by said drum, standards having circular foot portions, arms extending from said standards, said arms being slidably mounted upon the horizontal members of the said frame, spring means connecting an arm of one standard with an arm of the other standard, means for sliding said arms along the frame members, cotton collecting drums mounted upon said supports, said drums being slotted upon their opposing faces, cotton extracting fingers arranged within said drums and adjacent said slots, means for operating said fingers, shearing devices adapted to travel across the slots means for operating said shearing devices and means for causing a current of air to pass inwardly through said slots.

WALDO JONATHAN LEE.

Witnesses:

D. W HENDERSON, C. W. ROBINSON.

Images