Ag-right Enterprises, Inc.

Fmc Corporation

Dennis Raymond Schultz

Phillip Ray Scott

Marty D Youman

Franklin P Orlando

Michael Brian Fitzgerald

An array of foliage contacting rods having a certain stiffness and trunk contacting rods having a greater stiffness is assembled in combination for mounting on an oscillatory shaker head configured to be carried over row cultivated crops by a mobile harvester to effect crop harvesting by both foliage shaking and trunk shaking using a single shaker head. Moreover, the number of rods of each type may be varied to suit harvesting conditions while the oscillatory shaker head remains in place in the mobile harvester and the stiffness of each rod is adjustable within limits to further conform to harvesting conditions. The rod array in one embodiment provides simultaneous harvesting of multiple rows of a crop cultivated in parallel row configuration.

Crop harvesting rod array

A self-propelled mechanical harvester for harvesting above ground crops includes a shaker assembly that operates in a single plane. The shaker will oscillate from side to side in the plane without pivoting of the plane around a pivot point. The assembly includes crop contacting rods in one embodiment and crop contacting striker bars in another embodiment. The force used to impart the oscillatory motion to the shaker is supplied by a force balance shaker using two weights operating at the same frequency of rotation, in opposite directions. The weights are timed and maintained in time by a geared relationship to produce maximum force laterally outboard and no force in a direction corresponding to the machine's direction of travel.

Pivotless mechanical crop harvester

A harvester for tree borne fruit is disclosed wherein a power driven vehicle is provided for following a course adjacent and parallel to a row of fruit trees. The vehicle carries a vibratory brush having tines for engaging and shaking the tree's fruit bearing branches. The brush is yieldably held in engagement with the fruit bearing branches and is adjustable in three aspects, elevation, tilt angle and lateral position, to assume an optimum position relative to the row of trees. A brake is provided to control a net rotation speed of the vibratory brush within the branches. A resilient screen deflects randomly projected harvested fruit toward a harvested fruit catch apparatus. The tines are covered with an optimally designed resilient cover for reducing cullage in the harvested fruit.

Growing community of inventors

Madera, CA, United States of America

Dennis Raymond Schultz