Today in 1894, US Patent 526594 A was issued, an invention of Brayton A. Weatherbee, for his “Machine for Picking and Separating Hops.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
My invention relates to machines for picking and separating hops. It is my purpose to provide a mechanism of this type which may be driven by hand, or by power, and by which the vines may be fed and stripped, the leaves and refuse matter eliminated, and the hops separated therefrom and approximately assorted in such manner as to separate the larger from the smaller sizes, and the clusters of hops from both. It is my purpose, also, to provide a mechanism of this type having a repicking apparatus which is combined with the fan and air-conduit by which the hops are separated from the leaves and other trash; the arrangement being such that the clusters will pass to the repicking apparatus by their own weight, and after being duly and properly separated, or detached from the vines, will be again delivered to the sieve. It is my further purpose to combine with a hop-picking and separating machine a novel and simple form of sieve, and an endless rake mechanism, with novel means for operating the latter.
