| 摘要 |
A fruit collector for hillside orchards, which includes a channel spaced chute formed of inflated tubes, the two sides of the chute being joined by a cross web having a series of fruit receiving openings approximately the spacing between rows of trees, the chute being laid downhill between sloping rows of trees. In a first embodiment, the openings are formed by U-shaped slits to receive fruit, and retarding flaps extend into the chute to retard movement of the fruit. In a second embodiment, the cross web is tubular, but non-inflated, and receives a series of longitudinally extensible and retractable ribbons protruding from the upper margins of the openings and extending into the chute between the openings; the strips serve to retard movement of the fruit and may be in axially overlapping relation, and adjustable to change their retarding effect thereby to compensate for different degrees of slope. In a third embodiment, which may be incorporated with the first or second embodiments, selected inflated tubes may vary between a small area and a large area to retard the fruit by creating lateral movement of the fruit. A further embodiment having a cross section similar to any of the other embodiments, is arranged in a zig-zag pattern causing the fruit to move laterally in alternate directions so as to restrict the rate of movement of the fruit, thereby permitting use on a steeper slope.
|
