Laterally reinforced produce roller

Details Laterally reinforced produce roller Laterally reinforced produce roller

1999-08-31

2001-06-05

Walsh, Donald P. (Department: 3653)

Classifying, separating, and assorting solids

Sorting special items, and certain methods and apparatus for...

Separating means

C209S667000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06241100

ABSTRACT:

THE FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to the field of agricultural processing equipment and more specifically to equipment for grading, sorting, conveying and cleaning oblong and round produce. More particularly, the present invention is a roller for use on produce grading equipment with conveyors comprised of substantially parallel, driven roller shafts and is most suitable for use in processing potatoes and similar produce.
BACKGROUND
When produce such as potatoes, onions and other crops are harvested, the produce varies greatly in size, shape and weight. Different markets and customers often have disparate needs for produce of a given dimension or attribute. Frequently, produce of a given size or shape is in higher demand and will command a higher price. Consequently, harvested produce must be segregated according to size, shape or some other attribute to meet the needs of the customer and the market. Once sorted or graded, the produce of a specific size or characteristic may be shipped to the customer or market demanding that size or characteristic.
Potatoes, onions and other subterranean produce often have large amounts of soil and small rocks adhered to the produce when harvested. This material must be removed before the produce is weighed for sale. Soil removal can become difficult when the soil is relatively moist because the mud will adhere to equipment sometimes causing it to clog and sometimes causing it to become lubricated with a film of mud.
Potato harvesters often use a grading apparatus which comprises a succession of closely spaced roller shafts containing rollers with protrusions thereon which act to propel the potatoes along a grading path. The first roller shafts encountered by the potatoes are typically closely spaced with radial protrusions which serve to turn and propel the potatoes thereby loosening soil, rocks and mud which may have adhered to the potatoes. Subsequent sets of roller shafts are spaced increasingly further apart to allow the smaller and then larger grades of potatoes to pass between the rollers and fall into grading containers or conveyors for each grade of potato.
Problems may arise with this type of grader or sorter when excess mud is allowed to build up on the surfaces of the rollers. One problem occurs when mud builds up on the roller surfaces which define the opening through which the potatoes are graded. Mud buildup causes an effective decrease in the opening size and therefore a decrease in the potato size passing through the grader opening. Another problem occurs when roller surfaces become lubricated and clogged with mud such that potatoes are not properly propelled along the grader path. This causes potatoes to build up on the grader without forward movement. If this condition persists, potatoes accumulate and spill over the sides of the grader path putting a halt to grading operations.
Another problem occurs when grading rollers do not have proper elastic deflection during operation. Rollers and protrusions therefrom must deflect in a direction parallel with the grading path so as to prevent excessive impact forces on the produce. However, the protrusion must be sufficiently rigid to propel the produce along the grading path. Roller protrusions must also have sufficient lateral rigidity to retain a uniform shape through grading openings as produce is propelled across the openings. Proper protrusion rigidity contributes to uniform grading and efficient produce propulsion.
In reference to
FIG. 1
, a prior art roller may be used to illustrate the problems of the prior art. Prior art rollers, such as the “acorn” roller of
FIG. 1
, have tightly spaced ribs
2
and nubs
4
which create narrow crevices
6
where mud and dirt can easily accumulate. The concentration and density of the ribs
2
and nubs
4
also produces non-aggressive propulsion characteristics with no defined protrusions to grasp and propel the produce along the grading path. This lack of propulsion results in diminished production rates, especially in muddy conditions when the rollers are lubricated with mud.
The easy accumulation of mud and dirt in the many crevices
6
on the “acorn” roller also results in inaccurate sizing. In reference to
FIG. 2
where a prior art “acorn” roller shaft layout is shown, it can be seen that these prior art roller are configured in such that the centerline
10
of each roller on a first shaft
14
aligns with the centerline
12
of each roller on the next successive shaft
16
thereby creating a somewhat distorted hexagonal pocket
20
or opening between rollers
14
and shafts
16
and
18
.
Produce of a particular size or grade will fall within this opening
20
unless dirt and mud build up on the surface of rollers
14
thereby decreasing the size of opening
20
and consequently the size of the produce falling through the opening
20
. It can also be seen that produce slightly larger than opening
20
will rest over opening
20
without being propelled down the grading path if an aggressive protrusion pattern is not available. This is often the case when tightly spaced ribs
2
and nubs
4
clog with dirt and mud.
SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
The present invention comprises a novel roller for a produce grader roller shaft which provides improved produce propulsion and grading uniformity under muddy and dirty conditions.
Some embodiments of the present invention comprise an elastomeric roller preferably constructed of rubber or similar material. These embodiments of the present invention comprise a central cylindrical roller hub from which elongated fingers protrude in a direction perpendicular to the cylindrical axis of the hub. These fingers may be inclined away from the direction of rotation of the roller such that the base of the fingers leads the tips of the fingers during rotation. Additionally, the sides of these fingers are reinforced by lateral support shoulders which extend from the sides of the fingers outer surface of the roller hub thereby providing lateral support for the roller fingers. These lateral support shoulders are segregated by grooves which separate the shoulders of each distinct finger. This shoulder separation provides lateral support to the finger against excessive flexure in the lateral direction while allowing the finger to flex along its path of rotation so as to prevent excessive impact and bruising of the produce.
The outer surface of these shoulders also serves to define the shape and size of the grading openings between roller shafts. As potatoes are generally oval in shape, a substantially oval opening shape will provide the most uniform grading. This oval opening shape is achieved by giving the shoulders a concave outer surface shape. In this manner, two adjacent rollers will form a half-oval shape as one side of the grading opening thereby approximating an oval produce shape.
Accordingly, it is an object of some embodiments of the present invention to provide a produce grader with more uniform and reliable grading capacity.
It is another object of some embodiments of the present invention to provide a produce grader with increased propulsion capacity.
It is a further object of some embodiments of the present invention to provide a produce grader with improved capacity and accuracy under muddy and dirty conditions.


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