How it works - Keeping It
Simple!
The spear sensor detects only spears 9 inches or taller.
The pickup rollers are counter-rotating shafts covered with small rubber fingers
that gently pull up on the spears.
If a spear is not tall enough to be cut, but is tall enough for the rollers to
engage, then it just passes on through the back of the
rollers without damage.
When the spear reaches the correct position to be cut the blade extends and
severs the spear at or below ground level. The blades
extend approximately 20 inches in less than a tenth of a second, and fully
retract in less than another tenth of a second.
When the spear is severed the rollers pick it up and transfer it to a conveyor
and on to the rear sorting area on the machine where
it is placed in lug boxes.
Automatic Cut Timing
The control circuitry checks the speed of the machine every 2 inches and will
provide correct cut timing from about 0.1 mph to
about 3.5 mph. The driver does not have to maintain any particular speed, the
machine automatically takes care of the timing.
See It For Yourself!
Check my movie page
and see our prototype machine operating in Pasco, Washington in 2006.
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