Conveyor-Stripper Assembly for Selective Hop Cone Harvesting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hop harvesting devices often miss hop cones, resulting in lower crop yields and unnecessarily remove side arms, leading to increased labor and transportation costs for waste disposal.
Innovation Solution
A conveyor-stripper assembly with counter-rotating tires and adjustable gap-sized endless belts that allow the hop bine to pass through while retaining plant material, ensuring efficient removal of desirable parts and leaving undesirable material on the bine.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If known hop harvesting devices are used to remove and transport the entire hop bine and support twine to a central processing facility, then the hop cones can be processed, but additional labor and transportation costs are incurred to transport waste material
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the valuable hop cones from the hop bine, leaving the worthless side arms and other waste material behind in the field. The stripping mechanism selectively removes cones while depositing waste material directly into the field, eliminating the need to transport entire bines to processing facilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different treatments to different parts of the hop plant: valuable cones are extracted and collected for processing, while worthless side arms are left in the field for composting. This localized quality differentiation optimizes resource allocation and reduces unnecessary transportation costs.
2Productivity
If known hop harvesting devices are used, then harvesting can be performed, but hop cones can be missed resulting in lower crop yield
Solution Approach 1:
The hop bine is processed segment by segment as it passes through the stripping mechanism. The continuous feeding and stripping action ensures that every section of the bine is thoroughly processed, minimizing missed cones and maximizing harvest completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The hop bines are pre-positioned and fed into the stripping mechanism in an organized manner, allowing the stripping action to systematically process the entire length of each bine. This preliminary organization ensures thorough processing and complete cone removal.
3Productivity
If known hop harvesting devices are used, then hop cones can be removed, but side arms are unnecessarily removed requiring separation during processing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the valuable hop cones from the hop bine, leaving the worthless side arms and other waste material behind in the field. The stripping mechanism selectively removes cones while depositing waste material directly into the field, eliminating the need to transport entire bines to processing facilities.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables thorough and efficient harvesting of hop cones while minimizing damage and waste, reducing labor and transportation costs by effectively separating desirable plant material from the bine in the field.
Implementation Method 1
The tire assembly comprises two counter-rotating tires having a contact point therebetween, and is configured to grasp and continuously pull the plant body through the gap
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for removing plant material from a plant body generally comprising a conveyor-stripper assembly having a pair of parallel driven endless belts, with a gap between the belts sized to allow the passage of the plant body but not the plant material growing thereon. A method for harvesting plant material from a plant body comprising pulling the plant body through a gap between two moving endless belts to strip the plant material from the plant body and convey the plant material to a collection point.