Multiple-row tobacco harvesting machine

Claim 2

An improved multiple row tobacco harvesting machine comprising: a laterally stationary frame movable in rolling contact with the ground along several of a plurality of laterally spaced rows of tobacco plants, a plurality of vertical support bars, means for supporting said plurality of laterally spaced, vertical support bars from said frame at laterally spaced intervals corresponding to the spacing of the tobacco plant rows, cutting saw assemblies carried by said vertical support bars at their lower ends, above the surface of the ground, said cutting saw assemblies comprising cutting discs mounted for rotation about vertical axes at positions corresponding to said rows for severance of said plants just above said ground surface, guide members affixed to said support bars and having portions for adjacent rows which extend from a point in advance of said cutting discs to positions laterally aligned with the axis of rotation of said discs for deflection of said plants of said adjacent rows towards each other and for lifting the leaves vertically upwardly, and means for driving said discs for said cutting assemblies for adjacent rows in given opposite directions to cause, along with the deflection of said plants by said guide members, plants of adjacent rows, upon severance, to fall with their butt ends extending rearwardly, on top of each other to form rows of severed tobacco plants numbering one-half of the rows being harvested to facilitate subsequent pick-up of the severed plants.

Claim 3

The machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said vertical support bars for said cutting assemblies for given adjacent parallel rows are mounted to said frame at longitudinally spaced positions such that one of said cutting assemblies effects cutting of the plants of one of said adjacent rows just prior to the cutting of the plants of the other of said rows by the other cutting saw assembly of the adjacent row, such that the plants cut by the assembly on the forward support bar are covered by plants severed by the cutting saw assembly of the rearwardly positioned vertical support bar.

Claim 4

The machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said guide members for each of said cutting saw assemblies comprise unitary sheet metal guide plates overlying the cutting discs and extending forwardly thereof in the direction of frame movement, said guide plates being formed of upper and lower side sections which are inclined rearwardly, outwardly and upwardly such that the leaves of the plants in the path of the cutting saw assemblies are lifted and said severed plants are guided by contact with the guide plate when thrown laterally and rearwardly by the momentum of the cutting discs during severance, such that the butt ends of the severed plants are directed away from the direction of movement of the machine along the rows to form piled severed plant rows intermediate of the path of advance adjacent oppositely oriented cutting saw assemblies.

Claim 5

The machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein said guide members for each of said cutting saw assemblies comprise unitary sheet metal guide plates overlying the cutting discs and extending forwardly thereof in the direction of frame movement, said guide plates being formed of upper and lower side sections which are inclined rearwardly, outwardly and upwardly such that the leaves of the plants in the path of the cutting saw assemblies are lifted and said severed plants are guided by contact with the guide plate when thrown laterally and rearwardly by the momentum of the cutting discs during severance, such that the butt ends of the severed plates are directed away from the direction of movement of the machine along the rows to form piled severed plant rows intermediate of the path of advance adjacent oppositely oriented cutting saw assemblies.

Claim 6

The machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein for each of said cutting saw assemblies, a base plate is mounted to the lower end of its vertical support bar for pivoting about a horizontal axis, a cutting saw support arm is mounted to said base plate for pivoting about a vertical axis at a point along said base plate remote from said horizontal pivot axis, each assembly includes means for locking said pivotable arm to said base plate at an angularly adjusted position with respect thereto, a drive motor is mounted to said saw support arm, said cutting disc is mounted to said arm for rotation about a vertical axis, and belt and pulley drive means are carried by said arm drivingly couple said cutting disc to said drive motor such that rotation of said drive motor causes said disc to rotate about its axis to effect severance of the stalk in a given row and a ground contact shoe fixed to the bottom of said base plate contacts with the ground to define the vertical height of said cutting disc during traverse of said machine and causes said base plate and said cutting disc carried thereby to pivot about said horizontal pivot axis in response to varying contour of the ground surface over which said shoe traverses.

Claim 7

The machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein for each of said cutting saw assemblies, a base plate is mounted to the lower end of its vertical support bar for pivoting about a horizontal axis, a cutting saw support arm is mounted to said base plate for pivoting about a vertical axis at a point along said base plate remote from said horizontal pivot axis, each assembly includes means for locking said pivotable arm to said base plate at an angularly adjusted position with respect thereto, a drive motor is mounted to said saw support arm, said cutting disc is mounted to said arm for rotation about a vertical axis, and belt and pulley drive means are carried by said arm and drivingly couple said cutting disc to said drive motor such that rotation of said drive motor causes said disc to rotate about its axis to effect severance of the stalk in a given row and a ground contact shoe fixed to the bottom of said base plate contacts with the ground to define the vertical height of said cutting disc during traverse of said machine and causes said base plate and said cutting disc carrier thereby to pivot about said horizontal pivot axis in response to varying contour of the ground surface over which said shoe traverses.

Claim 8

The machine as claimed in claim 3, wherein for each of said cutting saw assemblies, a base plate is mounted to the lower end of its vertical support bar for pivoting about a horizontal axis, a cutting saw support arm is mounted to said base plate for pivoting about a vertical axis at a point along said base plate remote from said horizontal pivot axis, each assembly includes means for locking said pivotable arm to said base plate at an angularly adjusted position with respect thereto, a drive motor is mounted to said saw support arm, said cutting disc is mounted to said arm for rotation about a vertical axis, and belt and pulley drive means are carried by said arm and drivingly couple said cutting disc to said drive motor such that rotation of said drive motor causes said disc to rotate about its axis to effect severance of the stalk in a given row and a ground contact shoe fixed to the bottom of said base plate contacts with the ground to define the vertical height of said cutting disc during traverse of said machine and causes said base plate and said cutting disc carried thereby to pivot about said horizontal pivot axis in response to varying contour of the ground surface over which said shoe traverses.

Claim 9

The machine as claimed in claim 4, wherein for each of said cutting saw assemblies, a base plate is mounted to the lower end of its vertical support bar for pivoting about a horizontal axis, a cutting saw support arm is mounted to said base plate for pivoting about a vertical axis at a point along said base plate remote from said horizontal pivot axis, each assembly includes means for locking said pivotable arm to said base plate at an angularly adjusted position with respect thereto, a drive motor is mounted to said saw support arm, said cutting disc is mounted to said arm for rotation about a vertical axis, and belt and pulley drive means are carried by said arm and drivingly couple said cutting disc to said drive motor such that rotation of said drive motor causes said disc to rotate about its axis to effect severance of the stalk in a given row and a ground contact shoe fixed to the bottom of said base plate contacts with the ground to define the vertical height of said cutting disc during traverse of said machine and causes said base plate and said cutting disc carried thereby to pivot about said horizontal pivot axis in response to varying contour of the ground surface over which said shoe traverses.

Claim 10

An improved multiple row tobacco harvesting machine comprising: an open frame, laterally spaced, longitudinally extending frame members and transverse end frame members welded thereto and extending therebetween and defining a rectangular open frame platform, a first transverse beam extending between said longitudinal frame members and fixed thereto and being spaced from said end frame members, a second transverse beam spanning across said longitudinal frame member, spaced longitudinally from said first transverse beam and terminating at each end, beyond respective longitudinal frame members, first vertical support bars fixed to said frame member on opposite sides thereof and supporting respectively front wheels for rotation about horizontal axes, a steerable wheel mounted along the platform longitudinal center line to said platform frame member remote from said vertical support bars bearing said front wheels, means for powering said steerable wheel to effect traversal of said platform along several of a plurality of laterally spaced rows of tobacco plants, second vertical support bars including a central vertical support bar mounted to said first transverse beam in line with the longitudinal axis of said platform and each of said second vertical support bars terminating in forwardly and downwardly inclined forward ends, and paired outboard vertical support bars mounted to said second transverse beam outside of said platform, plural cutting saw assemblies mounted to said second vertical support bars including a plate pivotably mounted to the lower end of the inclined portion of each of said second vertical support bars for pivoting about a horizontal axis, at least one cutting saw support arm pivotably mounted to said base plate rearwardly of said horizontal pivot axis for pivoting about a vertical axis, means for adjustably, angularly fixing said arm angularly outwardly of the longitudinal center line of said base plate and to a given side thereof, a cutting disc mounted to each arm at the end remote from said vertical pivot axis for said arm for rotation about a vertical axis for severance of said plants just about the ground surface, a triangular shaped, sheet metal guide plate overlying each cutting disc and extending forwardly thereof in the direction of frame movement and being formed of upper and lower side sections inclined rearwardly, outwardly and upwardly to a given side of said second support arm bearing the same, and means for driving said discs for said cutting assemblies for adjacent rows in given opposite directions such that the leaves of the plants in the path of the cutting discs are lifted and the severed plants are guided by contact with the guide plates as the butt ends of the plants are thrown laterally and rearwardly of said assemblies of the momentum of the cutting during severance, such that the butt ends of the severed plants are directed away from the direction of movement of the machine from opposed sides of respective cutting assemblies for said adjacent rows to form piled severed plant rows intermediate of the path of advance of adjacent oppositely oriented cutting saw assemblies.

Claim 11

An improved multiple row tobacco harvesting machine comprising: an open frame, laterally spaced, longitudinally extending frame members and transverse end frame members welded thereto and extending therebetween and defining a rectangular open frame platform, a first transverse beam extending between said longitudinal frame members and fixed thereto and being spaced from said end frame members, a second transverse beam spanning across said longitudinal frame member, spaced longitudinally from said first transverse beam and terminating at each end, beyond respective longitudinal frame members, first vertical support bars fixed to said frame member on opposite sides thereof and supporting respectively front wheels for rotation about horizontal axes, a steerable wheel mounted along the platform longitudinal center line to said platform frame member remote from said vertical support bars bearing said front wheels, means for powering said steerable wheel to effect traversal of said platform along several of a plurality of laterally spaced rows of tobacco plants, second vertical support bars including a central vertical support bar mounted to said first transverse beam in line with the longitudinal axis of said platform and each of said second vertical support bars terminating in forwardly and downwardly inclined forward ends, and paired outboard vertical support bars mounted to said second transverse beam outside of said platform, plural cutting saw assemblies mounted to said second vertical support bars including a plate pivotably mounted to the lower end of the inclined portion of each of said second vertical support bars for pivoting about a horizontal axis, at least one cutting saw support arm pivotably mounted to said base plate rearwardly of said horizontal pivot axis for pivoting about a vertical axis, means for adjustably, angularly fixing said arm angularly outwardly of the longitudinal center line of said base plate and to a given side thereof, a cutting disc mounted to each arm at the end remote from said vertical pivot axis for said arm for rotation about a vertical axis for severance of said plants just about the ground surface, a triangular shaped, sheet metal guide plate overlying each cutting disc and extending forwardly thereof in the direction of frame movement and being formed of upper and lower side sections inclined rearwardly, outwardly and upwardly to a given side of said second support arm bearing the same, and means for driving said discs for said cutting assemblies for adjacent rows in given opposite directions such that the leaves of the plants in the path of the cutting discs are lifted and the severed plants are guided by contact with the guide plates as the butt ends of the plants are thrown laterally and rearwardly of said assemblies of the momentum of the cutting during severance, such that the butt ends of the severed plants are directed away from the direction of movement of the machine from opposed sides of respective cutting assemblies for said adjacent rows to form piled severed plant rows intermediate of the path of advance of adjacent oppositely oriented cutting saw assemblies.