Harvester with selective force balanced shaking mechanism

Claim 1

A harvester for shaking crops such as grapes from plants grown in a row comprising a vehicle movable along said row, means defining a front force balanced shaking unit with a shaking head on each side of the row, means defined a rear force balanced shaking unit with a shaking head on each side of the row, means for pivotally supporting said front and rear heads on said vehicle for pivotal movement only about a common axis extending longitudinally of the row during harvesting, and selectively operable power means on the vehicle connected to said front unit and said rear unit for oscillating said heads transversely of the row only about said common axis; the improvement which comprises a foliage shaker assembly rigidly secured to each of said heads each foliage shaker assembly including a plurality of substantially horizontal flexible resilient tines each having a mounting end fixed to the associated head and a free end projecting rearwardly and inwardly toward the adjacent sides of said plants and movable relative to said associated heads only in response to resilient deflection of said tines, said tines being responsive to forward movement of the vehicle and to oscillation of the heads only about said common axis by said power means for striking the vines thereby removing the crop therefrom.

Claim 7

A method of harvesting a plurality of varieties of crops from rows of plants with a harvester having a front force balanced shaking unit and a rear force balanced shaking unit pivoted on the harvester for oscillation only about a common axis with each unit including a shaking head on each side of the row, said method including the steps of: selectively connecting a foliage shaker including a plurality of resilient tines and/or a trunk shaker to each of the front and rear heads; when harvesting crop varieties which are easily removed from their plants, mounting only foliage shakers rigidly to each head and oscillating said front and rear shaking units only about said common axis for striking the foliage of the plants as the harvester is driven along said row of plants; when harvesting crop varieties which are difficult to remove from the plants, mounting one end of a foliage shaker rigidly to each head and a trunk shaker on each pair of front and rear shaker heads on each side of said row, and oscillating said front and rear shaking units about said common axis at selective rates which will most effectively remove the crop from the plants as the harvestor is driven along said row of plants.

Claim 8

A method of harvesting a plurality of varieties of crops from rows of plants with a harvester having a front force balanced shaking unit and a rear force balanced shaking unit pivoted on the harvester for oscillation only about a common axis with each unit including a shaking head on each side of the row, said method including the steps of: selectively connecting a foliage shaker including a plurality of resilient tines and/or a trunk shaker to each of the front and rear heads; when harvesting crop varieties which are easily removed from their plants, mounting only foliage shakers rigidly to each head and oscillating said front and rear shaking units only about said common axis for striking the foliage of the plants as the harvester is driven along said row of plants; when harvesting crop varieties which are difficult to remove from the plants, mounting one end of a foliage shaker rigidly to each head and a trunk shaker on each pair of front and rear shaker heads on each side of said row, and oscillating said front and rear shaking units about said common axis at selective rates which will most effectively remove the crop from the plants as the harvestor is driven along said row of plants.