Abstract: In this harvesting machine using shaker members in the form of rods to shake the fruit-bearing bushes and harvest the fruit, each shaker rod has an elongate base part which has, in use, a required flexibility characteristic for the rod in a horizontal plane and which has an oblong cross-section whose height is greater than its width, said cross-section having two main geometrical axes which are respectively horizontal and vertical and dimensions of height and width such that its moment of area about the horizontal main axis is significantly greater than its moment of area about the vertical main axis and its height is less than a predefined value. The base part forms a core for the rod, which can further include a wear part which covers the core and which is made of a material and has a thickness such that the rod has flexibility characteristics in the horizontal and vertical planes that are practically unchanged relative to those of the core, even after substantial wear of the wear part.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for harvesting fruit determines the proportion of fruit in a mixture of products containing fruit and bodies foreign to the fruit by capturing at least one initial image of a surface of the mixture to be examined. The device then assigns to each image pixel of one of two extreme grey levels according to the initial grey level of the pixel relative to a set threshold and then records the number of pixels of at least one extreme grey level to determine a area ratio between areas occupied by fruit and foreign bodies in the image. The invention has particular application to the harvesting of fruit, berries and the like produced on trees or bushes grown in rows to use the calculated proportion of fruit to adapt at least one of the functioning parameters of the machine.

Abstract: A utility vehicle, such as a grape harvester (1), comprises a straddling frame (2), supported at its front and rear ends by double-acting hydraulic cylinders (17, 18 and 23, 24), which can be extended or retracted for levelling the frame (2). During horizontal or uphill travel, the rear cylinders (23, 24) are blocked for providing the vehicle (1) with a fixed rear axle (55), while the front cylinders (16, 17) are hydraulically interconnected in order to let them extend or retract in opposition to each other for providing the vehicle (1) with an oscillating front axle (56). During downhill travel the front cylinders (17, 18) are blocked for fixing said front axle (56) to the frame (2) and the rear cylinders (23, 24) are hydraulically interconnected for letting the rear axle (55) oscillate to the frame (2). The rear and front oscillation is controlled by an inclination sensor (91).