US203457A - Improvement in fruit-pickers - Google Patents

Description

J. HOLMANV Fruit-Picker.

No. 203,457. PatentedM ay 7,1878.

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, being bent into the wood.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-Ion,

JOHN HOLMAN, OF ROCHESTER, KENTUCKY.

IMPROVEMENT IN FRUIT-PICKERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 203,457, dated May 7, 1878; application filed February 23, 1878.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN HOLMAN, of Rochester, in the county of Butler and State of Kentucky, have invented anew and valuable Improvement in Fruit-Pickers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

The figure of the drawings is a perspective view of my fruit-picker.

The nature of my invention consists in the construction and arr-an gem ent of a fruit-picker, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

The annexed drawing, to which reference is made, fully illustrates my invention.

A represents the wooden staff or handle of my fruit-picker, which may be made of any desired length, and may have suitable couplings connected to it, so that it can be extended by attaching it to poles of different lengths.

At the upper end of the staff A is attached a circle, B, made of one piece of wire, having its ends bent downward along the sides of the staff, as shown at b b, the extreme ends The arms b b are held to the staff A by staples a a. fastened in the wood, as shown.

The circle B is supported in a horizontal position by means of wire braces O G, and to said circle is to be attached a bag or sack for receiving the fruit.

D represents a semicircular jaw, made of one piece of wire, one end attached to the center of the circle B, and the other end passing down thefront of the staff A, to which it is permanently secured by having its extreme end fastened into the wood, and by a staple, d, secured on the end of the staff, as shown. This jaw ,D thus is stationary, and each end of the wire forming said jaw is bent to form an eye, 0, in which is connected the ends of a similar jaw, D, also made of a single piece of wire, and capable of being turnedto and from the stationary jaw D.

On the front of the staff A is pivoted an elbow-lever, F, made of a single piece of wire, bent to form an eye for the passage of the pivoting-screw. One arm of this wire lever is connected to the movable jaw D, while to the other arm is connected a wire, I, which is to extend down the stafi and handle through suitable guide-staples.

By pulling the wire I the jaw D opens, when the-device is extended up into the tree and receives the apple in the jaws. Then by a small push of the wire the jaw D closes on the apple, so that by a slight pull with the staff the apple comes loose and falls through the circle in to the bag or sack connected thereto.

In a full sized machine each jaw is to be covered with soft leather, to prevent them from hanging on the limbs of the tree. The movable jaw should be made a trifle smaller, so as to pass slightly under the stationary jaw, and said stationary jaw should be braced by a wire from the circle B.

It will thus be seen that the entire fruitpicker is made of wire, making the same very light, and also cheap to manufacture.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a fruit-picker, a skeleton-frame consisting of the wire circle B, having its ends bent downward along the side of the staff, the extreme ends being bent into the wood and secured thereto by staples a, and supported in a horizontal position by means of Wire braces O O, the wire semicircular stationary jaw with eyes 6, one end of which is attached to the center of the circle, and the other end passing down the front of the staff to which it is secured, and the semicircular movable jaws D connected to the eyes of the stationary jaw, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the skeleton-frame,

constructed substantially as hereinbefore described, of the elbow-lever F, made of a single piece of wire, bent to form an eye for the passage of the pivoting-screw and connected 7 to the movable jaw D, and operating-wire I, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN HOLMAN.

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