Plant husbandry – Miscellaneous
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-02
2001-11-27
Jordan, Charles T. (Department: 3644)
Plant husbandry
Miscellaneous
C426S237000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06321484
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an improvement in the method used to cut and plant seed potatoes during spring planting. More specifically, to a method of cutting the seed potatoes prior to their planting in a manner that ensures that the cut potatoes will not be contaminated due to the possible presence of bacteria and other pathogens that are common to and create problems in potato crops.
It is well known to cut and size seed potatoes in a variety of ways prior to planting. In the past seed potatoes have often been cut by hand with a common knife prior to planting. In the last twenty years large automatic seed cutters which still use a blade to cut potatoes have gained in popularity. One of the issues with the use of a blade to cut seed potatoes has been the spread of disease from one potato to the next. When a blade cuts a potato that is diseased and is subsequently used again without cleaning, the disease may be spread to the next few potatoes that are cut. One solution to this has been the use of chemicals such as a bleach solution which may be used to clean the knife blade between cuttings. Although this practice can be effective if done properly this practice is both time consuming and can be unreliable if the blade is not cleaned thoroughly. Further, the use of a cleaning solution is not practical with most large seed cutting apparatus and may only be effective when cutting seed by hand.
From this discussion it can be seen that it be desirable to find a method of cutting potatoes with a large commercial cutter and sorter that prevents the spread of disease from one piece of cut seed potato to the next.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide a method of cutting seed potatoes in such a manner that any bacteria or other pathogens that are present within a given seed potato will not be passed on to others by means of the cutting instrument.
It is an additional objective of the present invention to provide such a method of cutting seed potatoes that effectively cauterizes the cut surfaces of the seed potatoes to ensure that the transfer of pathogens from one potato to another does not occur either during or after the cutting process.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide such a method of cutting seed potatoes that utilizes a contained high intensity laser beam to perform the cutting operations.
It is a still further objective of the present invention to provide such a method of cutting seed potatoes that can be easily used with existing potato cutting and planting machines that are common in the market place today.
These objectives are accomplished by the use of a laser cutter housing that can be fitted to the frame of a conventional potato cutter or built in as part of a specialized piece of equipment. This cutter housing contains a plurality of laser cutting tubes and/or a multiple laser beam horizontal cutting areas through which the seed potatoes pass, as are coming off of a series of rollers that are typically part of a conventional potato cutter. These rollers are used to move the seed potatoes to the actual cutting component of the machine and also to align and sort the potatoes prior to their entering the cutter housing. Once the potatoes enter the laser cutter housing and are cut by the laser beams, they drop, exit the invention, and fall onto the lower conveying apparatus which carries them away from the invention to a point where they can be handled by the equipment operator.
The type of laser used, its power source wavelength and power density or pulse energy type and degree of focus may be readily determined and varied by one of skill in the art. Different types of lasers such as carbon dioxide, argon or nitrogen may be used. The type of focus that is used may also be varied depending upon the circumstances encountered. However, all of these factors are known and may be taken into account by one of skill in the art. At this point, it may also be stated that many commercially available potato sizers may first be used prior to cutting the seed. The type of sizer and it's specific operation may be tailored to the growers requirements and tolerances. Further, the arrangement of the lasers may be varied to match the particular sizer being used.
The laser cutting tubes house a laser beam generating system which is made up of laser source which projects the laser beam through the center of the cutting tube and a laser energy absorber which contains the laser energy not used in the cutting process within the confines of the body of the invention. The laser generating system can be oriented in a variety of different configurations to obtain different types of cuts in the seed potatoes but, in its simplest configuration, a single laser beam is projected across the interior of the cutting tube. This bisects the cutting tube and as a potato falls through the laser beam, the potato is cut in half before it exits the invention.
The use of a laser cutting system to cut seed potatoes prior to planting not only provides an effective method to do so, but also eliminates one of the biggest problems associated with this process. When using a mechanical device to cut the seed potatoes prior to planting, any bacteria or other pathogens that are contained within an individual potato and that come into contact with the cutting instrument can easily be passed to additional potatoes that are subsequently cut. Thus, a significant percentage of the seed can be infected which can drastically reduce the ultimate yield of the crop. The use of the laser cutting system eliminates this problem as the heat generated by the laser beam cauterizes the exposed potato flesh. This cauterization of the cut destroys any pathogens contained within individual potatoes and ensures that other potatoes will not be infected. With this source of disease eliminated by the present invention, the ultimate yield of the crop being planted will be increased dramatically which will also increase the profits made on the crop.
For a better understanding of the present invention reference should be made to the drawings and the description in which there are illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the present invention.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3096801 (1963-07-01), Miles et al.
patent: 3582466 (1971-06-01), Quirk
patent: 4358467 (1982-11-01), Patel
patent: 4726272 (1988-02-01), Forney
patent: 4839181 (1989-06-01), MacMurray et al.
patent: 5106637 (1992-04-01), Forwood et al.
patent: 5170698 (1992-12-01), Kirk
patent: 5897797 (1999-04-01), Drouillard et al.
patent: 2654662 (1989-11-01), None
Tallackson Thomas Keith
Zelinski, Jr. William John
Harr Curtis V.
Jordan Charles T.
Palo Francis T.
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