Hemp picking machine for picking hemp
A hemp machine for processing hemp includes a self-propelling vehicle including a vehicle chassis and a hemp picking unit mounted on the vehicle chassis for the purpose of picking the hemp plants. The hemp picking unit comprises a first picking element embodied to pick the lower part of the hemp plants and a second picking element embodied to pick the upper part of the hemp plants. The second picking element has a cutting unit for cutting the hemp plants at a position between the upper and lower part of the hemp plants.
1 . A hemp picking machine for picking and processing hemp plants, the hemp picking machine comprising:
a self-propelling vehicle comprising a vehicle chassis with at least a conveyor configured to transport picked and processed hemp plants in at least two streams from a first end to an opposite second end, and at least a delivering system provided at or close to the second end to receive the respective streams of picked, processed and transported hemp plants and then place the received hemp plants on the ground in at least two rows; and
a hemp picking system mounted or mountable on the vehicle chassis and configured to pick the hemp plants, the hemp picking system comprising:
a lower picking element configured to pick the lower part of the hemp plants, and
an upper picking element configured to pick the upper part of the hemp plants,
wherein the lower picking element has a first transport installation configured to grip the part of the hemp plants that is the lower part relative to the ground surface, pull the gripped hemp plants from the ground along with the roots, and transport the lower parts of the hemp plants to the conveyor of the vehicle,
wherein the upper picking element has a cutter configured to cut the hemp plants at a position between the upper and lower part of the hemp plants, the cutter comprising elongate cutting element, the cutter being mounted rotatably on the upper picking element to provide for upward of downward movement of the elongate cutting element, upper picking element having a second transport installation configured to grip the part of the hemp plants being the upper part relative to the ground and to transport the upper parts of the hemp plants to the conveyor of the vehicle, the cutter being configured to cut the hemp plants during transport.
2 . The hemp picking machine according to claim 1 , wherein the lower picking element and the upper picking element are disposed relative to each other such that during travel of the vehicle the upper picking element first grips and cuts loose the upper parts of the hemp plants and only then does the lower picking element grip the lower parts of the hemp plants.
3 . The hemp picking machine according to claim 1 , wherein the engaging position of the second transport installation on the hemp plants is situated at a greater distance from the first end of the vehicle than the engaging position of the first transport installation,
wherein the difference between a first distance of the first end of the vehicle to the engaging position of the second transport installation and a second distance of the first end of the vehicle to the engaging position of the first transport installation may be at least 10 cm.
4 . The hemp picking machine according to claim 1 , wherein the conveyor of the vehicle is configured to receive the upper parts and lower parts of the picked hemp plants separately and to deliver the received and transported upper parts and lower parts of the picked hemp plants separately.
5 . The hemp picking machine according to claim 1 , wherein the conveyor of the vehicle comprises:
a first conveyor configured to receive the upper parts of the hemp plants from the upper picking element, and
a second conveyor, substantially parallel to the first conveyor and configured to receive the lower parts of the hemp plants from the lower picking element.
6 . The hemp picking machine according to claim 1 , wherein the transport installations are configured to rotate the hemp plants during transport, particularly to rotate the hemp plants from a substantially upright position to a substantially lying position.
7 . The hemp picking machine according to claim 1 , wherein the cutter comprises at least a displaceable support which is disposed on the upper picking element or is formed integrally therewith, and
wherein the displaceable support comprises a remotely controllable actuator configured to remotely control the adjustment of the height of the cutting unit relative to the rest of the upper picking element.
8 . The hemp picking machine according to claim 1 , further comprising a root cutter configured to cut a root part off the lower parts of the hemp plants.
9 . The hemp picking machine according to claim 1 , further comprising a top cutter configured to cut a top part off the upper parts of the hemp plants.
10 . The hemp picking machine according to claim 9 , further comprising a first discharge system configured to discharge the cut-off top parts from the top cutter to a collector on the self-propelling vehicle.
11 . The hemp picking machine according to claim 1 , further comprising a first lifting system disposed between the vehicle chassis and the lower picking element set the pivot position of the lower picking element relative to the vehicle chassis.
12 . The hemp picking machine according to claim 1 , wherein the transport installations each comprise at least one pair of endless conveyor belts which are trained over pulleys and are configured to grip the hemp plants therebetween and transport the hemp plants in gripped state.
13 . The hemp picking machine according to claim 1 , wherein the upper picking element is disposed pivotally on the lower picking element.
14 . The hemp picking machine according to claim 1 , further comprising a compacting system configured to compact the hemp plant parts transported by the upper picking element.
15 . The hemp picking machine according to claim 1 , further comprising a collector configured to collect and store cut-off parts of picked hemp plants therein.
16 . The hemp picking machine according to claim 1 , wherein the cutter comprises at least one displaceable L-shaped support,
wherein the at least one displaceable L-shaped support is mounted rotatably via at least one respective support provided on the underside of a frame part of the upper picking element.
17 . A method for picking and processing hemp plants with a hemp picking machine, the method comprising:
driving the hemp picking machine over a ground surface, and, while travelling over the ground surface:
gripping hemp plants rooted in the ground with an upper picking element,
rotating a cutter mounted rotatably on the upper picking element to provide for upward or downward movement of an elongate cutting element comprised in the cutter,
cutting the upper parts of the hemp plants loose from the lower parts using the elongate cutting element of the cutter,
gripping the remaining lower parts of the hemp plants which are rooted in the ground and from which the upper parts have been cut loose using a lower picking element after the upper parts have been cut loose,
pulling the lower parts from the ground along with the roots using the lower picking element,
transporting the upper parts and lower parts of the hemp plants to respective delivering systems, and
placing the received parts of the hemp plants on the ground in at least two rows by the delivering systems.
18 . The method according to claim 17 , further comprising, during travel of the vehicle, first picking and cutting loose the upper parts of the hemp plants by the upper picking element and only then gripping the lower parts of the hemp plants by the lower picking element.
19 . The method according to claim 17 , further comprising receiving the upper parts and lower parts of the picked hemp plants separately and delivering the received and transported upper parts and lower parts of the picked hemp plants separately.
20 . The method according to claim 17 , further comprising placing the lower and upper parts on the ground surface separately.
21 . The method according to claim 17 , further comprising rotating the hemp plants during transport.
22 . The method according to claim 17 , further comprising pivoting one or more of the lower picking element and the upper picking element relative to the vehicle.
23 . The method according to claim 17 , further comprising cutting the top parts off the upper parts which have been cut loose.
24 . The method according to claim 17 , further comprising compacting the upper parts of the fiber plants.
25 . The method according to claim 17 , further comprising cutting the root parts off lower parts of the fiber plants.
26 . The method according to claim 17 , further comprising compacting the lower parts of the fiber plants.