University of California

Daniel L Freeman

Thomas S Bettencourt

Darryl G Bettencourt

William C Friedel, Jr

George E Marshall, Jr

A tomato harvester pickup and harvesting method. A pickup conveyor with a relatively flat pickup angle is combined with an overhead assist system. An assist frame pivotally secured to the pickup frame above and spaced from the forward end of the conveyor pivotally supports, with spring return, the front end of a plurality of generally horizontal guideways forward of and above the forward end of the pickup conveyor. The rear end of each guideway is steeply upwardly and rearwardly inclined but forward of the pickup conveyor. A corresponding plurality of powered endless overhead assist chains are supported by the front and rear ends of the assist frame and the guideways for movement in a path extending horizontally rearwardly along the guideways, then up steeply with increasing spacing from the pickup conveyor to the rear end, and then downwardly and forwardly to the front end. From each chain a series of flexible projections extend out substantially normally. When the assist chain moves along its guideway, some projections extend down into tomato vines and engage them, and then they carry the vines upwardly steeply along the steeply inclined portion of the loop. A series of vine releasing tines extend downwardly and then rearwardly and act to free the cut vines from the assist chains when the vines lie over the pickup conveyor, thereby insuring transfer of the vines fully to the pickup conveyor.

Harvesting tomatoes

An improved trash separation mechanism at the rear cross-conveyor assembly of a tomato harvester. A frame of the harvester supports a centrally located fruit collecting conveyor for delivering fruit rearwardly to the rear cross-conveyor assembly. A blower directs a strong rearward airstream from adjacently below the rear end of the collecting conveyor across the rear cross-conveyor assembly. A rearwardly rotating roller is mounted adjacently behind the cross-conveyor assembly and moves vegetative and mineral trash away from the cross-conveyor. A slide plate behind the roller may deflect the trash to the ground. A series of resilient fingers depending downwardly from above the roller move in circular vertical patterns to agitate the trash as it collects at the roller to prevent accumulation of the trash upon the roller and to enhance rearward movement thereof upon the roller and deposit of the trash on the ground.

Trash-freeing rear cross-conveyor for tomato harvester

A known and commercially available electronic sorter is positioned between the sorting conveyor of a tomato harvester and the front cross-conveyor thereof. This sorter includes a rejector mechanism for rejecting tomatoes of colors other than those corresponding to red-ripeness. A rejection chute receives culls impelled thereinto by the rejector mechanism dropping the rejected fruit on the ground, while accepted fruit falls to a front cross-conveyor. A preparatory mechanism associated with the sorting conveyor impels the tomatoes at a desired trajectory toward the electronic sorter, and preferably includes an elevating flighted conveyor for receiving tomatoes from the sorting conveyor, raising them to a higher level, and then dropping them forwardly on to an intermediate generally level conveyor. The intermediate conveyor is driven at a constant speed regardless of the speeds of all other moving parts of said harvester. A dampening mechanism engages the tomatoes on the intermediate conveyor and brings them to relative rest thereon, so that there is substantially no relative movement between the tomatoes and the intermediate conveyor as they approach the forward end thereof, so that the forward end of said intermediate conveyor thereby impels all tomatoes thereon at the desired trajectory toward the electronic sorter.

Growing community of inventors

Rio Vista, CA, United States of America

Daniel L Freeman