Automatically adjustable doffer column for a cotton picker

摘要

Self-adjusting supporting structure for positioning an upright column of doffer pads automatically with respect to corresponding rows of spindles in a cotton harvester row unit. A tapered roller bearing assembly supporting the doffer column includes an externally threaded housing threaded into an internally threaded adjuster housing support mounted on the row unit. The drag of the roller bearings is adjustable, and under normal operation of the row unit the drag force tends to thread the bearing assembly upwardly. However, this force is opposed by an opposite force caused by the weight of the doffer assembly which tends to thread the assembly downwardly to move the doffer pads closer to the spindles. The pitch of the screw threads is selected and the drag on the tapered bearings is adjusted so that the force created to move the doffer column downwardly into contact with the spindles is slightly larger than the drag force which tends to rotate the bearing assembly in the direction to move the doffers away from the spindles so that proper clearance is automatically maintained between the spindles and the doffers.