Harvester for nuts and the like

Claim 1

A HARVESTER FOR GATHERING NUTS AND THE LIKE FROM THE GROUND COMPRISING, A HOUSING HAVING BOTTOM, FRONT, TOP, BACK AND SIDE WALLS WITH AN OPENING IN THE BOTTOM WALL AND AN OPENING IN EACH SIDE WALL, MEANS FOR MOVING THE HOUSING OVER THE GROUND WITH THE BOTTOM THEREOF ADJACENT THE GROUND, A SHAFT EXTENDING TRANSVERSE THE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL OF THE HOUSING, A PLURALITY OF FLEXIBLE FINGERS OF ELASTOMERIC MATERIAL MOUNTED ALONG THE SHAFT AND EXTENDING RADIALLY THEREFROM TO BE BENT REARWARDLY BY THE GROUND WITH EACH ROTATION OF THE SHAFT, MEANS ROTATING THE SHAFT TO MOVE THE FINGERS ACROSS THE GROUND IN THE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL OF THE HOUSING TO CAUSE THE FINGERS TO FLIP NUTS, LEAVES, AND OTHER LOOSE DEBRIS ON THE GROUND UPWARDLY AND FORWARDLY AGAINST THE FRONT SIDE OF THE HOUSING BY THE STRAIGHTENING OF THE FINGERS WHEN THEY MOVE OUT OF ENGAGEMENT WITH THE GROUND, CONVEYOR MEANS EXTENDING TRANSVERSE THE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL OF THE HOUSING AND LOCATED ADJACENT THE FRONT WALL TO CATCH THE NUTS AS THEY FALL FROM THE FRONT SIDE OF THE HOUSING TO CARRY THE NUTS LATERALLY OUT OF THE HOUSING, AND BLOWER MEANS LOCATED IN THE OPENING IN ONE SIDE WALL OF THE HOUSING TO BLOW A STREAM OF AIR LATERALLY THROUGH THE HOUSING ACROSS THE PATH OF THE NUTS, LEAVES, AND DEBRIS AS THEY ARE FLIPPED UPWARDLY AGAINST THE FRONT WALL OF THE HOUSING TO BLOW OUT OF THE OPENING IN THE OTHER SIDE WALL AT LEAST A PORTION OF THE LEAVES FLIPPED UPWARDLY INTO THE AIR STREAM BY THE FINGERS.