초록 ▼

A pickup head having a materials lifting end and a materials lofting end, the pickup head including a lifting roller, a transfer roller and a lofting roller. The lifting roller is adapted to rotate about an axis of rotation and disposed on the materials lifting end and includes picking fingers protr

A pickup head having a materials lifting end and a materials lofting end, the pickup head including a lifting roller, a transfer roller and a lofting roller. The lifting roller is adapted to rotate about an axis of rotation and disposed on the materials lifting end and includes picking fingers protruding from the lifting roller. The transfer roller is adapted to rotate about an axis of rotation and includes picking fingers protruding from the outer surface of the tube of the transfer roller. The transfer roller is disposed at an elevation higher than the lifting roller between the materials lifting end and the materials lofting end. The lofting roller is adapted to rotate about an axis of rotation and includes lofting effectors protruding from the outer surface of lofting roller. The lofting roller is disposed at an elevation higher than the transfer roller at the materials lofting end.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A pickup head (2) having a width, a materials lifting end and a materials lofting end, said pickup head (2) comprising: (a) a lifting roller (6) comprising a sprocket (86), two ends along a first axis of rotation of said lifting roller (6), said sprocket (86) of said lifting roller (6) is attache

1. A pickup head (2) having a width, a materials lifting end and a materials lofting end, said pickup head (2) comprising: (a) a lifting roller (6) comprising a sprocket (86), two ends along a first axis of rotation of said lifting roller (6), said sprocket (86) of said lifting roller (6) is attached to one of said two ends of said lifting roller (6), wherein said lifting roller (6) is disposed on the materials lifting end;(b) a transfer roller (8) comprising a sprocket (80), two ends along a second axis of rotation of said transfer roller (8), said sprocket (80) of said transfer roller (8) is attached to one of said two ends of said transfer roller (8), wherein said transfer roller (8) is disposed at an elevation higher than said lifting roller (6) between said materials lifting end and said materials lofting end;(c) a lofting roller (10) comprising a tube having a width and two opposingly disposed ends along a third axis of rotation of said lofting roller (10), an outer surface and a plurality of lofting effectors (56) disposed across said width of said tube of said lofting roller (10), said plurality of lofting effectors (56) protruding from said outer surface of said tube of said lofting roller (10) about said third axis of rotation of said lofting roller (10), a sprocket (82) attached to one of said two opposingly disposed ends of said lofting roller (10) and a plurality of strippers interspersed between said plurality of lofting effectors (56), said plurality of strippers are configured such that exposure of said plurality of lofting effectors (56) about said third axis of rotation of said lofting roller (10) is configured to be angularly altered with respect to said third axis of rotation of said lofting roller (10), wherein said lofting roller (10) is disposed at an elevation higher than said transfer roller (8) at said materials lofting end, wherein said sprocket of said lifting roller (6), said sprocket of said transfer roller (8) and said sprocket of said lofting roller (10) are configured to be rotatably coupled with a roller chain (86), said lifting roller (6) is adapted to rotate about said first axis of rotation in a first direction, said transfer roller (8) is adapted to rotate about said second axis of rotation in a second direction that is identical to said first direction, said lofting roller (10) is adapted to rotate about said third axis of rotation in a third direction that is identical to said first direction, said lifting roller (6) is configured to lift materials disposed upstream of the materials lifting end of said pickup head (2) while said pickup head (2) advances in the direction from the materials lifting end to the materials lofting end, said transfer roller (8) is configured to receive materials lifted with said lifting roller (6) and conveying the materials to said lofting roller (10), subsequently lofting the materials downstream from the materials lofting end of said pickup head (2) and said exposure is configured to diminish in the direction of movement of the materials, causing the materials to be separated from said lofting roller (10) downstream of said lofting roller (10). 2. The pickup head of claim 1, further comprising a float control mechanism adapted to adjust the pressure exerted by at least a portion of the weight of said pickup head (2) on a ground upon which said pickup head (2) is disposed. 3. The pickup head of claim 2, wherein said float control mechanism is an air bag (22) having a first end and a second end, wherein said first end is adapted to urge against said pickup head (2) and said second end is adapted to urge against a frame to which said pickup head (2) is mounted, whereby if said air bag (22) is increasingly inflated, the pressure exerted by at least a portion of the weight of said pickup head (2) on a ground is decreased and if said air bag (22) is increasingly deflated, the pressure exerted by at least a portion of the weight of said pickup head (2) on the ground is increased. 4. The pickup head of claim 1, further comprising a ground gauging device (24). 5. The pickup head of claim 4, wherein said ground gauging device (24) comprises a plurality of skid shoes (24) distributed along the width of said pickup head (2).