US1362285A - Berry-picker - Google Patents

Description

l. C! GENEROUSS.

BERRY PICKER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG- 11919.

Patented Dec. 14,1920.

WITNESS.- FIE j A TTORNE Y.

JAMES C. GENEBOUSS, OF WESTFIELID, MASSACHUSETTS.

BERRY- ICKEB.

Specification of Letters latent.

Patented Dee. 1st, 1920.

Application filed August 7, 1919. Serial No. 315,838.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that 1, James C. GnNnnoUss, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of lV-estfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Berry- Picker, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in hand devices for gathering berries. such as blueberries, blackberries, huckleberries, and the like, from the bushes upon which they grow, and consists essentially of a structure comprising a plurality of troughs or channels, and having a receiver at the rear end, together with such other parts and members as may be necessary or desirable in order that the picker shall be entirely eflicient and serviceable, all as hereinafter set forth.

The primary object of my invention is to produce a device with which small berries. such as those enumerated above and even in many cases berries which grow upon vines, can be expeditiously gathered without injury to the berries.

Another object is to provide a device of this character which is not only highly efficient, but comparatively inexpensive and simple in construction.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the course of the following description.

I attain the objects and secure the ad vantages of my invention by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a top plan of a berry picker which embodies a practical form of my invention; Fig. 2, a side elevation of said picker; Fig. 3, a vertical section taken from front to back on lines 3-3, looking in the direction of the associated arrow, in Fig. 1; and, Fig. 4;, an enlarged cross-section through one of the channels or troughs and parts of two others, on lines 4- 1, looking in the direction of the associated arrow, in Fig. 1.

Similar characters of reference designate similar parts throughout the several views.

In the present embodiment of the invention the picker comprises a curved back 1, two side frames each consisting of top and bottom, horizontal members 2 and 22. respectively, separated'or spaced apart by a pair of uprights 5, and an oblique member 6 connecting the forward ends of said members 2 and 22, the latter being longer than the former and extending beyond the vertical plane of the forward end the self. side pieces 7 of fabric which are attached to the inner sides of said frames, a plurality of troughs or channel members which form fingers 8, and a handle 9.

The back member 1 may be of metal and may be extended to form a drop bottom 10, which is below the plane of the channel 8, and further extended to form a horizontal projection 11 upon which the rear terminal portions of said fingers are mounted and to which they are secured by rivets 12 or other suitable means. The back 1 may extend beyond the side frames and be provided at the ends with side pieces 18. These side pieces are attached to rearwardly extending portions of the frame members 2 and 22. The fabric 7 not only covers the inner sides of the frames, but may also be extended to cover the inner sides of the side pieces 13, and the inside of the back 1, the bottom 10, and the part 14, which latter connects said bottom with the projection 11, may be covered with fabric if desired, or said bottom might consist wholly or partially of fabric. The purpose of the fabric is to afford or provide yielding surfaces'upon which the berries are received during the picking operation, so that they will not be bruised or otherwise injured.

The fingers 8 are spaced from each other to receive between them the branches, twigs, or runners of the bushes or vines from which the berries are gathered. Each finger 8 has an interiorly concave bottom and parallel sides, and is pointed at its front end, as represented at 15, so as to enable the fingers to be readily inserted in or introduced into the bushes or vines. The pointed portions or teeth 15 of the fingers 8 are extensions of the bottoms or floors of said fingers, which extensions project beyond the front ends of the sides of said fingers. The upper edges of the sides of each finger 8 are bent or rolled over, as best shown at 16 in Fig. 4, so that they will not be liable to cut or bruise the berries when the latter are shaken from the bush or vine.

The handle 9 is mounted on the back 1, at the top in the center, and projects for wardly over the adjacent fingers 8.

A receiver 17 is provided at the back end of the picker, such receiver being formed by the back 1, the sides 13, the bottom 10, and the part 14.

In practice the picker is held by means of the handle 9 with. the pointed members or teeth 15 projecting forwardly, and pushed into a berry bush, for example, as far aspossible or until a number of the twigs of the bush are received between the fingers 8, even as far back as the front edge of the projection 11, and then said picker is shaken somewhat vigorously sidewise. This action causes the berries above the fingers 8 to become detached from the bush and drop into said channels. The berries which are thus shaken off. and caused to fall into the fin gers 8, roll down the latter into the receiver 17, provided the picker be held at an incline with the teeth 15 uppermost, or such berries may be, caused to pass into said receiver upon removing said picker from the bush and tilting it so as to incline said fingers downwardly from front tov rear.

After the bottom part of the receiver 17 is filled so that, more berries can not conveniently be introduced into the same, the picker is inverted. and the berries carefully poured out into a suitable receptacle for further disposition.

l/Vith. this picker it is not only possible but: feasible to gather berries rapidly and in large quantities. Of course, small twigs, leaves, and a few unripe berries may be gatheredwiththe ripe berries, but. it is a comparatively simple matter, after removing the berries from the picker, to separate from the ripe berries whatever dross may have been accumulated.

The outermost fingers 8 may be attached to the framework of the sides of the picker, inv which event the bent-over portion or roll 16 on the exterior sidesof such fingers may be omitted.

The fingers-8 are more or less yielding or resilient, a characteristic or quality which enables; themthe more readily to be introduced into. the berry bushes.

More or less change may be made in the size, shape, arrangement, and construction ofsome or all of the parts of this device without departing from thespi-rit ofqny in.- vention. or exceeding the scope of what is claimed.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A berry picker comprising a receiver at the back end having a berry-receiving drop-bottom portion which is provided in front with a horizontal projection, a plurality of resilient horizontal fingers mounted on and attached to said projection and extending forwardly therefrom, said projection and fingers throughout their entire lengths being on. a plane above. the plane of the floor of said drop-bottomv portion, and said fingers being spaced from each other, and side members forward of said receiver and rising above said fingers.

2. A berry picker comprising fabric-covered side frames, a member attached to. the rear ends of said frames and extended to form a berry-receiving drop bottom and to provide a support and place of attachment for fingers, and a plurality of resilient horizontal fingers, between said frames, spaced from each other and having their rear-terminal portions mounted: on and attached to said support, the. latter and said fingers throughout the entire lengths being on a plane above that of the floor of said drop bottom.

3. A berry picker comprising skeleton side frames covered with fabric, a member attached to the rear endsof saidframes, and extended to form a, berry-receiving drop bottom and to provide a support and place of attachment for fingers, a plurality of resilient horizontal fingers, between said frames, spaced from each other and having their rear-terminal portions mounted on and attached to said support,the latter and said fingers being on a plane above that of the floor of said drop bottom, the bottoms of said fingers extending forward of the sides thereof and the extended portions being pointed, and the upper edges of said finger sides being bent over, and a handle mounted on said member which is attached to the rear ends of said frames, and projecting forward over the fingers.

JAMES o. GENEROUSS.

WVitnesses:

F. A. CUTTER, ARTHUR A. BETH.

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