US3601959A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and apparatus for harvesting tobacco
Assignee: RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co
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Filing: 1969-08-29
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Granted: 1971-08-31
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Expires: 1989-08-29
Abstract
Abstract Method and apparatus for defoliating vertically limited sections of tobacco plants including a vehicle capable of straddling and passing along a row of tobacco plants and a defoliator mounted on the vehicle for stripping the leaves from the stalks upon movement of the vehicle. The defoliator comprises a pair of flexible rotating webs having scalloped, twisted edges; a pair of leaf removal means, one on each side of the apparatus, carry away the leaves to collector boxes, the leaf removal means being provided with a device for preventing the leaves from being trapped between or falling between the two leaf removal means. There are also provided: a device for positioning misaligned stalks; a mechanism for positioning the defoliator both transverse to the row of plants and vertically along selected sections of the plants; a device for steering the vehicle along a path longitudinal of the row of plants; and independent means connecting at least each of the front wheels to the frame of the apparatus, and operable to change the vertical position of each wheel relative to the frame, so as to accommodate changes in the contour of the ground.
Inventors
- 👤 Jessee R Pinkham
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 22:20
CPC Classifications
A; A01; A01D; A01D45/00; A01D45/16
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
150 words
Apparatus for harvesting tobacco leaves, including: a. a vehicle adapted to pass along a row of tobacco plants; b. an elongated defoliator mounted on said vehicle adjacent the row of plants and rotatable about an axis extending along said row, said defoliator having its front end higher than its rear end; c. means for rotating the defoliator concurrently with forward motion of the vehicle; and d. at least one flexible web on said defoliator extending outwardly from said axis; wherein the improvement comprises: e. said web has a radius varying cyclically along its length to define a plurality of nodes and troughs along the outer edge of the web, said nodes and troughs cooperating upon rotation of said web to engage the tobacco leaves at the front and rear as well as the adjacent side of a stalk of a tobacco plant, and remove the engaged leaves from the stalks.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
150 words
Apparatus for harvesting tobacco leaves, including: a. a vehicle adapted to pass along a row of tobacco plants; b. an elongated defoliator mounted on said vehicle adjacent the row of plants and rotatable about an axis extending along said row, said defoliator having its front end higher than its rear end; c. means for rotating the defoliator concurrently with forward motion of the vehicle; and d. at least one flexible web on said defoliator extending outwardly from said axis; wherein the improvement comprises: e. said web has a radius varying cyclically along its length to define a plurality of nodes and troughs along the outer edge of the web, said nodes and troughs cooperating upon rotation of said web to engage the tobacco leaves at the front and rear as well as the adjacent side of a stalk of a tobacco plant, and remove the engaged leaves from the stalks.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
15 words
Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein each said web has a tapered leading edge.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
24 words
a piston within said cylinder and connected to a piston rod having a pivotal connection with a swinging link of the parallelogram linkage; and
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
a piston within said cylinder and connected to a piston rod having a pivotal connection with a swinging link of the parallelogram linkage; and
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
38 words
conduits connecting the ends of the cylinder on one side of the vehicle to the respectively opposite ends of the cylinder on the opposite side of the vehicle, so that the two pistons move concurrently in the cylinders.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
38 words
conduits connecting the ends of the cylinder on one side of the vehicle to the respectively opposite ends of the cylinder on the opposite side of the vehicle, so that the two pistons move concurrently in the cylinders.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
42 words
Apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which each cycle of variation of the web radius, proceeding from the front toward the rear of the defoliator, comprises a portion of rapidly increasing radius followed by a portion of relatively slowly decreasing radius.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
41 words
Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein each cycle of variation of the web radius, proceeding from the front toward the rear of the defoliator, comprises a portion of slowly increasing radius followed by a portion of relatively rapidly decreasing radius.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
54 words
Apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which each cycle of variation of the web radius, proceeding from the front toward the rear of the defoliator, comprises a portion of increasing radius followed by a portion of decreasing radius, both the increase and decrease being substantially equal functions of the distance along the defoliator.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
47 words
Apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising an engine on said vehicle for driving its wheels; and a flexible transmission link for transmitting mechanical motion from said engine to said defoliator to drive the defoliator at a speed proportional to the forward speed of the vehicle.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
30 words
Apparatus as defined in claim 6, including a parallelogram linkage for supporting the defoliator so that it may move substantially horizontally toward and away from the row of tobacco plants.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
61 words
Apparatus as defined in claim 7, including: a. a roller conveyor supported by said parallelogram linkage and located under the defoliator: b. said roller conveyor comprising a plurality of rollers extending in the fore and aft direction of the vehicle and effective to catch leaves stripped from the plants by the defoliator and move them laterally away from the tobacco stalks.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
156 words
Apparatus for harvesting tobacco leaves, including: a. a vehicle adapted to pass along a row of tobacco plants; b. an elongated defoliator mounted on said vehicle and adapted to engage at least one side of the tobacco plants as the vehicle passes them and to remove the leaves therefrom; and c. conveyor means located under the defoliator for catching and removing the leaves stripped from the plants by the defoliator; wherein the improvement comprises: d. said conveyor means comprising a plurality of rollers rotating about axes parallel to the fore and aft direction of the vehicle and effective to convey the leaves laterally away from the row of tobacco plants; e. a collector receptacle positioned alongside the roller conveyor at the outside thereof; f. resilient idler roller means yieldably engaging at least the outermost roller in the conveyor means and cooperating with said outermost roller to grip the tobacco leaves and drive them into the receptacle.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
156 words
Apparatus for harvesting tobacco leaves, including: a. a vehicle adapted to pass along a row of tobacco plants; b. an elongated defoliator mounted on said vehicle and adapted to engage at least one side of the tobacco plants as the vehicle passes them and to remove the leaves therefrom; and c. conveyor means located under the defoliator for catching and removing the leaves stripped from the plants by the defoliator; wherein the improvement comprises: d. said conveyor means comprising a plurality of rollers rotating about axes parallel to the fore and aft direction of the vehicle and effective to convey the leaves laterally away from the row of tobacco plants; e. a collector receptacle positioned alongside the roller conveyor at the outside thereof; f. resilient idler roller means yieldably engaging at least the outermost roller in the conveyor means and cooperating with said outermost roller to grip the tobacco leaves and drive them into the receptacle.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
116 words
Apparatus for harvesting tobacco leaves including: a. a vehicle adapted to pass along a row of tobacco plants; b. two defoliators, one on each side of the row of tobacco leaves; and c. two leaf removal roller conveyors, one located below each defoliator; d. means to drive all the parallel rollers in one conveyor in the same direction; e. means to drive all the parallel rollers in the other conveyor, except the roller nearest the center gap between the conveyors, in the opposite direction; and f. means to drive said roller nearest the center gap in said one direction so that a leaf falling across the gap engages two rollers, both rotating in the same direction.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
116 words
Apparatus for harvesting tobacco leaves including: a. a vehicle adapted to pass along a row of tobacco plants; b. two defoliators, one on each side of the row of tobacco leaves; and c. two leaf removal roller conveyors, one located below each defoliator; d. means to drive all the parallel rollers in one conveyor in the same direction; e. means to drive all the parallel rollers in the other conveyor, except the roller nearest the center gap between the conveyors, in the opposite direction; and f. means to drive said roller nearest the center gap in said one direction so that a leaf falling across the gap engages two rollers, both rotating in the same direction.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
156 words
Apparatus for harvesting tobacco leaves, comprising: a. a vehicle adapted to pass along rows of tobacco plants with its wheels moving in the spaces between the rows; and b. a defoliator supported on said vehicle for engaging the leaves and stalks of plants in an adjacent row in a vertically limited section where the leaves have ripened and stripping from the stalks the leaves in said section without disturbing the unripened leaves above said section. wherein the improvement comprises: c. power lift means controllable by an operator of the vehicle for changing the elevation of the defoliator to select the particular vertical section oF the plants to be defoliated; and in which d. the front end of the defoliator is higher than the rear end; and including power means controlled by the operator for changing the angle or tilt of the defoliator so as to control the vertical dimension of the section of the plants defoliated.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
156 words
Apparatus for harvesting tobacco leaves, comprising: a. a vehicle adapted to pass along rows of tobacco plants with its wheels moving in the spaces between the rows; and b. a defoliator supported on said vehicle for engaging the leaves and stalks of plants in an adjacent row in a vertically limited section where the leaves have ripened and stripping from the stalks the leaves in said section without disturbing the unripened leaves above said section. wherein the improvement comprises: c. power lift means controllable by an operator of the vehicle for changing the elevation of the defoliator to select the particular vertical section oF the plants to be defoliated; and in which d. the front end of the defoliator is higher than the rear end; and including power means controlled by the operator for changing the angle or tilt of the defoliator so as to control the vertical dimension of the section of the plants defoliated.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
120 words
Apparatus for harvesting tobacco leaves including: a. a vehicle adapted to pass along a row of tobacco plants; b. an elongated defoliator mounted on said vehicle adjacent the row of plants and rotatable about an axis extending along said row, said defoliator having its front end higher than its rear end; c. means for rotating the defoliator concurrently with the forward motion of the vehicle; and d. means supporting the defoliator on the vehicle; wherein the improvement comprises: e. said supporting means includes a parallelogram linkage allowing the defoliator to move horizontally toward and away from the row of tobacco plants; and f. power operating means supported by said parallelogram linkage for controlling the angle of tilt of the defoliator.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
120 words
Apparatus for harvesting tobacco leaves including: a. a vehicle adapted to pass along a row of tobacco plants; b. an elongated defoliator mounted on said vehicle adjacent the row of plants and rotatable about an axis extending along said row, said defoliator having its front end higher than its rear end; c. means for rotating the defoliator concurrently with the forward motion of the vehicle; and d. means supporting the defoliator on the vehicle; wherein the improvement comprises: e. said supporting means includes a parallelogram linkage allowing the defoliator to move horizontally toward and away from the row of tobacco plants; and f. power operating means supported by said parallelogram linkage for controlling the angle of tilt of the defoliator.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
120 words
Apparatus for harvesting tobacco leaves including: a a vehicle adapted to pass along a row of tobacco plants; b. a pair of elongated defoliators mounted on said vehicle adjacent the row of plants and rotatable about an axis extending along said row, said defoliators having their front ends higher than their rear ends; c. means for rotating the defoliators concurrently with the forward motion of the vehicle; d. means supporting the defoliators on the vehicle, said supporting means including a parallelogram linkage for each of the defoliators, thereby allowing the defoliators to move horizontally toward and away from the row of tobacco plants; and e. means connecting the defoliators for concurrent movement in the horizontal direction, said connecting means comprising:
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
120 words
Apparatus for harvesting tobacco leaves including: a a vehicle adapted to pass along a row of tobacco plants; b. a pair of elongated defoliators mounted on said vehicle adjacent the row of plants and rotatable about an axis extending along said row, said defoliators having their front ends higher than their rear ends; c. means for rotating the defoliators concurrently with the forward motion of the vehicle; d. means supporting the defoliators on the vehicle, said supporting means including a parallelogram linkage for each of the defoliators, thereby allowing the defoliators to move horizontally toward and away from the row of tobacco plants; and e. means connecting the defoliators for concurrent movement in the horizontal direction, said connecting means comprising:
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1974-08-30 | 1975-03-01 | 1975-08-31 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1978-08-30 | 1979-03-01 | 1979-08-31 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1982-08-30 | 1983-03-01 | 1983-08-31 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |