GB675866A - Improvements in or relating to machines for harvesting ground crops such as potatoes - Google Patents

Abstract

675,866. Potato harvesters. THORNS, G. H., and JACKSON, R. R. Oct. 9, 1950 [July 11, 1949]. No. 18310/49. Class 6(iii) In a potato-harvester comprising a share 60 followed by an inclined elevator 53 feeding the crop to a frusto-conical drum 30 rotating about a horizontal axis, the material is carried through the drum by the elevator and deposited on to the lower, inclined, surface 95 of the drum, down which it gravitates towards pockets 39 formed in a stepped portion of the forward part of the drum. The openings to the pockets are flush with the inner surface of the drum and are bridged by a coarse grating which excludes haulms. The pockets successively dump their contents into a shoot 71 leading to a transverse conveyer 64. Operators standing on a platform 12 manually separate stones from the crop as it passes along the conveyer 64, the crop being discharged into a truck 100 and the stones being deflected by a screen 72. The conveyer 64 is foldable about a hinge 70, for transport. The drum 30 includes flanged end-rings 33, 34 supported on rollers carried by the main frame, the rear rollers 28 being transversely adjustable for altering the inclination of the drum. A chain 46, tightly stretched around the front ring 33, is engaged by a driving pinion. The share 60 is integral with a scoop 59 pivoted on a shaft 61 and adjustable by a lever 62. A short conveyer 89, having transverse tine-bars 93, is arranged beyond the elevator 53 for discharging haulms rearwardly. Potatoes roll between the tines and fall through a gap 94 into the drum 30. The various moving parts are driven from the tractor through a coupling 11 and a universally-jointed shaft 75, 78, connected to a gear-box 73 from which chain drives are taken.