CA1122105A - Machine for washing, grading, cleaning and slicing mushrooms - Google Patents
Machine for washing, grading, cleaning and slicing mushroomsInfo
- Publication number
- CA1122105A CA1122105A CA000299808A CA299808A CA1122105A CA 1122105 A CA1122105 A CA 1122105A CA 000299808 A CA000299808 A CA 000299808A CA 299808 A CA299808 A CA 299808A CA 1122105 A CA1122105 A CA 1122105A
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- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- mushrooms
- tub
- cutting
- guides
- machine according
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
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Abstract
Abstract of the Disclosure A machine for washing, grading, cleaning and slicing the stalks of mushrooms. The machine includes a water tub in which the mushrooms are received in bulk, and an elevator for lifting the mushrooms from the water and delivering them to a belt mechanism through which smaller mushrooms are dropped and thereby graded by head size.
The mushrooms, which do not fall through are discharged into a hopper. The graded mushrooms fall into guides with stalks downward, and cutting devices are provided for removing the soiled end and removing an additional portion, whereby the remaining stalks on the heads are all of a predetermined length.
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The mushrooms, which do not fall through are discharged into a hopper. The graded mushrooms fall into guides with stalks downward, and cutting devices are provided for removing the soiled end and removing an additional portion, whereby the remaining stalks on the heads are all of a predetermined length.
?
Description
The purpose of the present inven-tion is to provide a machine whereby mushrooms may be washed, graded, have the end of the stalk which is dir-ty removed, and have a part of the stalk cut off in order to reduce it to a predetermined leng-th.
As is known, edible mushrooms, especially cultivated mushrooms, must be throroughly washed and the end of the stalk, and the mould which is nearly always present, must be removed before the mushrooms are placed in suitable containers for sale~
In many cases, especially in accordance with certain foreign re~ulations, the stalk must be reduced to a predeter-mined dimension, and this is done by cutting a piece therefrom, thus producing an edible seyment known as a slice.
All of these operations require a large amount o~ labour which substantially increases the cost of the product, without always ensuring perfect execution of the work.
~ lowever, hy using the present invention, a machine is obtained whereby all of these operations may be carried out -:
automatically and whereby the mushrooms ma~ be graded according to the dimensions of their heads and may be collected into groups of similar dimensions, as is.usually re~ulred f.or mar.keting....
According to the~present invention there is provi~ed a machine for washing, siziny and cutting the stems of mushrooms, which machine includes a tub full of water into which.the fresh mushrooms to be treated are poured in bulk, a second tub, and means for conveyiny the mushrooms from the firs.t. tub into the second tub. A selector device is provided for sizi.ny the mushrooms, and means is.pro~ided for liftiny.the :..
.ushrooms onto the selec-tor deyice. A plurality of inclined channels is located under the selector device with means beiny provided Eor carrying the mushrooms onto the inclined ch~nnels.
The selector device is arranged to permit the mushrooms to fall, the more advanced the bigger the size, into positions on the inclined channels. A cutting device is provided, and guides are provided for transporting the mushrooms -toward the cutting device with the stems downward. The cutting device is arranged to cut the dirty end of the stem to be thrown away.
According to one embodiment of the invention the cutting deYice .includes a first endless toothed belt. There may be further provided additional second cutting means for cutting an edible section of the stem to a predetermined value.
In a specific embodiment of the invention the selector device includes a plurality of rotating valves divergently arranyed so that spaces of progressively increasing widths are formed between the valves. The mushrooms obtained from the above described machine therefore have been washed, created according to size, and have had their stocks reduced to predeterMined dimensions.
~ ong other features of a specific embodiment of the invention is the provision of at least one jet of water providing a surface flow which moves the mushrooms to an elevator in the form-of an endless rotating belt having projec-ting vanes which raise the mushrooms and cause them to drop onto a grading deYice according to slze, the said grading device being~ for example, in the form of a series of rotating belts diverging slightly from each other.
The smaller mushrooms soon drop from these belts into the
As is known, edible mushrooms, especially cultivated mushrooms, must be throroughly washed and the end of the stalk, and the mould which is nearly always present, must be removed before the mushrooms are placed in suitable containers for sale~
In many cases, especially in accordance with certain foreign re~ulations, the stalk must be reduced to a predeter-mined dimension, and this is done by cutting a piece therefrom, thus producing an edible seyment known as a slice.
All of these operations require a large amount o~ labour which substantially increases the cost of the product, without always ensuring perfect execution of the work.
~ lowever, hy using the present invention, a machine is obtained whereby all of these operations may be carried out -:
automatically and whereby the mushrooms ma~ be graded according to the dimensions of their heads and may be collected into groups of similar dimensions, as is.usually re~ulred f.or mar.keting....
According to the~present invention there is provi~ed a machine for washing, siziny and cutting the stems of mushrooms, which machine includes a tub full of water into which.the fresh mushrooms to be treated are poured in bulk, a second tub, and means for conveyiny the mushrooms from the firs.t. tub into the second tub. A selector device is provided for sizi.ny the mushrooms, and means is.pro~ided for liftiny.the :..
.ushrooms onto the selec-tor deyice. A plurality of inclined channels is located under the selector device with means beiny provided Eor carrying the mushrooms onto the inclined ch~nnels.
The selector device is arranged to permit the mushrooms to fall, the more advanced the bigger the size, into positions on the inclined channels. A cutting device is provided, and guides are provided for transporting the mushrooms -toward the cutting device with the stems downward. The cutting device is arranged to cut the dirty end of the stem to be thrown away.
According to one embodiment of the invention the cutting deYice .includes a first endless toothed belt. There may be further provided additional second cutting means for cutting an edible section of the stem to a predetermined value.
In a specific embodiment of the invention the selector device includes a plurality of rotating valves divergently arranyed so that spaces of progressively increasing widths are formed between the valves. The mushrooms obtained from the above described machine therefore have been washed, created according to size, and have had their stocks reduced to predeterMined dimensions.
~ ong other features of a specific embodiment of the invention is the provision of at least one jet of water providing a surface flow which moves the mushrooms to an elevator in the form-of an endless rotating belt having projec-ting vanes which raise the mushrooms and cause them to drop onto a grading deYice according to slze, the said grading device being~ for example, in the form of a series of rotating belts diverging slightly from each other.
The smaller mushrooms soon drop from these belts into the
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irst series of inclined channels located under the belts, whereas the larger mushroorns fall Earther ahead into other channels following the first. At the ends of the belts, oversize mushrooms fall into a basket. Undersized mushrooms fall into a discharge hoppe.r at the beginning of the belts.
Arranged at the -tops of the inclined channels are jets of water which cause the mushrooms to move downwardly, channelling them ~2a-into suitable ducts each consisting of two profiles suitably shaped and at different distances apart.
Arranged in each duct, at the bottom of the section, are two -travelling drive cables.
Each drive cable consists o~ a pair of cross sectionally circular elements joined together by a core in the form of a belt, the straight guides having breaks of a certain length containing supports which hold the outer element of a pair in order to tilt the conveyiny plane of the pair of feed ~uides and bring the said plane close to the vertical at least to an angle greater than 60.
This causes any mushrooms not properly held between the two moving wires of the guide to drop into a suitable container, whereas the correctly held mushrooms pass to the cutting device.
~ he advantage of this is that the great majority of mushrooms are correctly held and positioned and are correc-tly presented for the cutting operationt This eliminates the need ~or any grading while the mushrooms are being processed in the machine.
Located immediately after the inclined plane, above the grooves, are rotating brushes mounted upon shafts, two per groove, the purpose of the said brushes- being to s-traigh-ten up the mushrooms and arrange them with their stalks downwards, in the empty spaces between the sections, and with their heads resting upon the base o~ the section~
Two or more water sprays per groove may be arranged on the sections, the purpose of the said sprays being to straighten up any mushrooms not already straigh-tened by the aforesaid brushes.
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The mushrooms are carried by the drive cables past two consecutiv~ bandsaws, the first of which cuts oEf the end of the stalk soiled wi-th earth, while the second removes a section o:E the stalk cons-tituting the slice. If the s-talk is alread~ short enough, this second cut obviously does not take place.
It is pointed out tha-t~ according to a further characteristic o the invention, the pair of cables carrying the mushrooms may run at different speeds~ since this causes the mushrooms advancing between them to rota-te about their own axes and thus posi.tions them better Located under the first bandsaw is an elevating device, for example a rotating roller with a sponge-rubber coating, :~ which lifts the mushrooms to allow the soiled end ~E the stalk to be cut off.
A device of this kind may, of course, be of various desi~ns Located above the grooves, and in alignment with the two bandsaws, i.s a cylinder made o~ a so~t material (rubber)~ the first of which presses the mushrooms agains-t the lower positioning roller arranged below the saw7 in order to prevent them from being turned upside down when they are lif~ed by -the positioning roller, while the second holds the mushrooms with their heads against the transfer cables, Arranged under this part of the machine are special containers, the firs-t of which collects mushrooms! or parts thereof, which fall from the transporting wires bcfore the first bandsaw, and which are then carried to the collec-ting tub by means of an appropri.ate conveying channelr the bot-tom oE which is covered with flowing water.
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~ second hopper is arranged under the first bandsaw for -the soiled ends of the stalk which are discharged, thro~lgh a sui-table tubular conduit, in-to a lateral pocket (? sump).
A third, smaller tub is arranged below the second cutting blade ~or the purpose of collec-ting the slice, i.e.
the parts of the mushroom stalks cut o:Ff by -the second saw.
These slices fall, through an appropriate duc-t, into a collecting vessel.
At the end of the transporting wires, the cut mushrooms drop onto an inclined plane under which are arranged collecting boxes, the number o~ the said boxes corresponding to the desired number o~ groups graded by sizes.
The machine will now be described in greater detail, in conjunction with the drawings attached hereto, in one particular example o~ embodiment, purely by way of example, which is in no way restrictive. In the said drawings:
~ g. 1 is an overall plan view o~ the machine.
Fi`g. 2 is a vertical section through the machine along the l:ine II - II in Fig. l;
Fi~. 3 is a vertical section along the line III ~ III
in Fig. l;
Fig. 4 is a ~ertical section along the line IV - IV
in Fig~ 1.;
Fig. 5 is a ver-tical section along the line V - V
in Fig. l;
Fi.g. 6 is a vertical section, at the ~irst cutting device, along the line VI - VI in Fig. l;
Fiy. 7 is a ver-tical sec-tion, at the secon~l cutting device, along the line VI:[ - V:[I in Fig. l;
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.
Fig. 8 is a transverse ver-tical section, along the line VIII - VIII in Fia. 1, and to an enlarged scale as compared with Fiy. 1, through a part of the mushroom-transporting line, at the ~eed guides;
Fig. 9 is a sec-tion along the line IX - ~X in Pig~ 1 at the break in the feed guides.
The machine according to the inven-tion comprises a tub 1 (Fi~s. 1 and 2) in which the fresh mushrooms are placed in bulk.
The said tub is full of water and the mushrooms, which, as is known, float, are caused to move by a flow of water from a pump 2, driven by an electric motor 3, through a passaqe 4 (Fig. 3) o~ reduced height, into tub 5 whence they are lifted, by means of an elevator 6 consisting of an endless rotating belt equipped with inclined blades which pick up varying numbers of mushrooms, and are allowed to fall, down an inclined plane 7, onto a series of elastic, endless, rotating belts 8 carried on expanding ~uide pulleys. The mushrooms fall according to head size, first the smaller and ~hen the larger ones, while oversize mushrooms, ox those that do not fall along the straiqht sections of belts 8, are discharged, through a hopper 9, into a suitable container 9'.
The smaller mushrooms drop, at the beginning of belts 8, into a basket 10 and are used for ~arious purposes.
The divergent arrangement of belts 8, best seen in Fig. 1, allows the mushrooms to be graded by sizes. The -mushrooms then drop onto inclined plane ll subdivided into parallel channels 12 of different dimensions, so that the smaller mushrooms drop into the first channels and the larger mushrooms
irst series of inclined channels located under the belts, whereas the larger mushroorns fall Earther ahead into other channels following the first. At the ends of the belts, oversize mushrooms fall into a basket. Undersized mushrooms fall into a discharge hoppe.r at the beginning of the belts.
Arranged at the -tops of the inclined channels are jets of water which cause the mushrooms to move downwardly, channelling them ~2a-into suitable ducts each consisting of two profiles suitably shaped and at different distances apart.
Arranged in each duct, at the bottom of the section, are two -travelling drive cables.
Each drive cable consists o~ a pair of cross sectionally circular elements joined together by a core in the form of a belt, the straight guides having breaks of a certain length containing supports which hold the outer element of a pair in order to tilt the conveyiny plane of the pair of feed ~uides and bring the said plane close to the vertical at least to an angle greater than 60.
This causes any mushrooms not properly held between the two moving wires of the guide to drop into a suitable container, whereas the correctly held mushrooms pass to the cutting device.
~ he advantage of this is that the great majority of mushrooms are correctly held and positioned and are correc-tly presented for the cutting operationt This eliminates the need ~or any grading while the mushrooms are being processed in the machine.
Located immediately after the inclined plane, above the grooves, are rotating brushes mounted upon shafts, two per groove, the purpose of the said brushes- being to s-traigh-ten up the mushrooms and arrange them with their stalks downwards, in the empty spaces between the sections, and with their heads resting upon the base o~ the section~
Two or more water sprays per groove may be arranged on the sections, the purpose of the said sprays being to straighten up any mushrooms not already straigh-tened by the aforesaid brushes.
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.
The mushrooms are carried by the drive cables past two consecutiv~ bandsaws, the first of which cuts oEf the end of the stalk soiled wi-th earth, while the second removes a section o:E the stalk cons-tituting the slice. If the s-talk is alread~ short enough, this second cut obviously does not take place.
It is pointed out tha-t~ according to a further characteristic o the invention, the pair of cables carrying the mushrooms may run at different speeds~ since this causes the mushrooms advancing between them to rota-te about their own axes and thus posi.tions them better Located under the first bandsaw is an elevating device, for example a rotating roller with a sponge-rubber coating, :~ which lifts the mushrooms to allow the soiled end ~E the stalk to be cut off.
A device of this kind may, of course, be of various desi~ns Located above the grooves, and in alignment with the two bandsaws, i.s a cylinder made o~ a so~t material (rubber)~ the first of which presses the mushrooms agains-t the lower positioning roller arranged below the saw7 in order to prevent them from being turned upside down when they are lif~ed by -the positioning roller, while the second holds the mushrooms with their heads against the transfer cables, Arranged under this part of the machine are special containers, the firs-t of which collects mushrooms! or parts thereof, which fall from the transporting wires bcfore the first bandsaw, and which are then carried to the collec-ting tub by means of an appropri.ate conveying channelr the bot-tom oE which is covered with flowing water.
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~ second hopper is arranged under the first bandsaw for -the soiled ends of the stalk which are discharged, thro~lgh a sui-table tubular conduit, in-to a lateral pocket (? sump).
A third, smaller tub is arranged below the second cutting blade ~or the purpose of collec-ting the slice, i.e.
the parts of the mushroom stalks cut o:Ff by -the second saw.
These slices fall, through an appropriate duc-t, into a collecting vessel.
At the end of the transporting wires, the cut mushrooms drop onto an inclined plane under which are arranged collecting boxes, the number o~ the said boxes corresponding to the desired number o~ groups graded by sizes.
The machine will now be described in greater detail, in conjunction with the drawings attached hereto, in one particular example o~ embodiment, purely by way of example, which is in no way restrictive. In the said drawings:
~ g. 1 is an overall plan view o~ the machine.
Fi`g. 2 is a vertical section through the machine along the l:ine II - II in Fig. l;
Fi~. 3 is a vertical section along the line III ~ III
in Fig. l;
Fig. 4 is a ~ertical section along the line IV - IV
in Fig~ 1.;
Fig. 5 is a ver-tical section along the line V - V
in Fig. l;
Fi.g. 6 is a vertical section, at the ~irst cutting device, along the line VI - VI in Fig. l;
Fiy. 7 is a ver-tical sec-tion, at the secon~l cutting device, along the line VI:[ - V:[I in Fig. l;
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.
Fig. 8 is a transverse ver-tical section, along the line VIII - VIII in Fia. 1, and to an enlarged scale as compared with Fiy. 1, through a part of the mushroom-transporting line, at the ~eed guides;
Fig. 9 is a sec-tion along the line IX - ~X in Pig~ 1 at the break in the feed guides.
The machine according to the inven-tion comprises a tub 1 (Fi~s. 1 and 2) in which the fresh mushrooms are placed in bulk.
The said tub is full of water and the mushrooms, which, as is known, float, are caused to move by a flow of water from a pump 2, driven by an electric motor 3, through a passaqe 4 (Fig. 3) o~ reduced height, into tub 5 whence they are lifted, by means of an elevator 6 consisting of an endless rotating belt equipped with inclined blades which pick up varying numbers of mushrooms, and are allowed to fall, down an inclined plane 7, onto a series of elastic, endless, rotating belts 8 carried on expanding ~uide pulleys. The mushrooms fall according to head size, first the smaller and ~hen the larger ones, while oversize mushrooms, ox those that do not fall along the straiqht sections of belts 8, are discharged, through a hopper 9, into a suitable container 9'.
The smaller mushrooms drop, at the beginning of belts 8, into a basket 10 and are used for ~arious purposes.
The divergent arrangement of belts 8, best seen in Fig. 1, allows the mushrooms to be graded by sizes. The -mushrooms then drop onto inclined plane ll subdivided into parallel channels 12 of different dimensions, so that the smaller mushrooms drop into the first channels and the larger mushrooms
3~ into the last.
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The descent o~ the mushrooms down inclined plane 11 is facilita-ted by je-ts of water issuing from nozzles 13 (Fi~. 3), the said al-ter being supplied direc-tly from pump 2 through pipeline 1~.
The mushrooms then drop onto a series of sultably shaped, parallel guides at varying distances apart, thus allowing - the stalk, but not the head, of each mushroom to pass between the~..
Arranged above the first section of guides 15 are 1~ rotating brushes 31 wi-th bristles made of hair or rubber, ~referably two brushes per guide, the purpose of the said brushes being to straighten any inproperly positioned mushrooms so that the stalks are between the transporting wires while the heads are restinq thereupon.
Arranged in suitable grooves in guides 15 are two drive cables 16 which support the mushrooms under their heads while allowing the stalks to pass through in a downward direction.
Cables 16 may, with advantage~ be arranyed to travel at different speeds, thus causing the mushrooms to rotate about their own axes. rrhis ensures better positioning of the mushrooms upon the said cables.
Each cable 16 consists of two parallel elements 17,18 (Fig. 6), preferabl~ of circular cross section, united by means of a central core in the form of a bel-t, the whole being made of an appropriate plastic material, for example nylon, in order that the wires ma~ be sufficiently flexible.
. It is desirable that the profile of yuicle 15 to be such as to ensure maximal orientation stability of wires 17,18 rrhis is achie~ed by means of a cover 19 (Fig, 8), trapezoidal i.n shape, the sides of which bear upon the cores of cables 16, ~,.
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.
leaving free ou-ter elemen-t 18 o:E each cable~ upon which -the head of the mushrooms res-ts, the latter thus travelling upon outer elements 18,18' of moving parallel cables 16,16 .
Fixed guides 15 have an intermed;.ate break area 20 (~`i.g. 1) where the said moving cables are supported by two sui-table hook elements. In the case of cable 16' there are two of these hook elements which travel in a straight line with uniform orientation. In the case of cable 16 there are three of these elements which are adapted to descent and rota-te~ as shown in ~ig. 9.
It may also be gathered fronl Fig. 9~ that cable 16 is held, at the central break area by a device in the form of a hook 21 which is located at a level lower than that of hooking devices 22 located at the end of the break between the fixed guides, and which.is also close to alignment with the said guides~
in order to alter the orientation of elements 17,18 and cause them to assume a positlon close to the yertical~ or at least at an angle greater than 60D~ but maintaining a constant distance between ou-ter elements 17,17', for example~ wh.ich su~?port the mushroom When the mushroom is held securely by the stalk~ as shown at the left of Figs~ 8 and 9 r although it undergoes temporary rotation at the break in the fixed guides~ it continues to advance correctly until it reaches the operating area of the cutting devices llowever, if the mushroom is merely resting upon the guides, as shown at the right of ~igs. 8 and 9, it is no lonyer supported in the break and is therefore turned upside down onto the lower wire, whence it falls into an underlyiny collecting tub and is carried to the washing tub bm: ~
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~ his prevents mushrooms which are not properly held by the s-talk between -the wires from pass:ing -the cutting devic~es and falling into -the collec-ting bo~ along with the correctly cut mushrooms, which would require manual yrading oE the processed mushrooms.
According to another characteristic of the invention, provision is made to provide, above each of the cutting devices, two rollers 23,2~ (Figs. 1 and 3) made of foam rubber or the like soft material, the first of the said rollers ensuriny that the mushroom, which is lifted by underlying roller 25 ~ig. 3), to allow the ear-thy end of the stalk to be cut off by cutting belt 26, remains correctly oriented during this cutting operation, after which the mushroom falls back with its head resting upon the feed wires, whereas the second rol:ler 24 ensures that the mushroom is lowered completely, with its head on the wires, while it is being cut by belt 27. This ensures that mushrooms issuing from the machine have stalks of uniform length, which improves the appearance of the processed mushrooms.
Correct positioning of the head of the mushroom also .involves adjustment of the vertical orientation of the stalk during the cutting operation, and thus substantially improves -the quality of the output from the machine.
Blades 26,27 run on guides 28 (Fig. 5), the height of which is a~justable by means of screws 29.~ This makes it possible to control the level of the cut accurately, Blade--yuide 28 may also be used to located cutting belt 27 in such a manner as to determine the length of the stalk as a function of the diameter of the head, as required by certain regulations.
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This par-t of -the stalk, normally reEerred to as the slice, is used for food, especially in pizza par:lours.
The mushrooms, with -the stalks cut to predetermined lengths, Eall down an inclined plane 30 (~ig. 3) in-to underlying collecting boxes, not shown, the number of boxes being in accordance with the number of grades re~uired based upon the desired dimensional limits.
It is obvious that the s-tructural details of the machine have been described and illustrated herein in a particular example of embodiment given merely as a non-restrictive example. These details may therefore assume various shapes and aspects while retaining the essen-tial characteristics of the invention and there~ore not departing from the scope thereof.
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The descent o~ the mushrooms down inclined plane 11 is facilita-ted by je-ts of water issuing from nozzles 13 (Fi~. 3), the said al-ter being supplied direc-tly from pump 2 through pipeline 1~.
The mushrooms then drop onto a series of sultably shaped, parallel guides at varying distances apart, thus allowing - the stalk, but not the head, of each mushroom to pass between the~..
Arranged above the first section of guides 15 are 1~ rotating brushes 31 wi-th bristles made of hair or rubber, ~referably two brushes per guide, the purpose of the said brushes being to straighten any inproperly positioned mushrooms so that the stalks are between the transporting wires while the heads are restinq thereupon.
Arranged in suitable grooves in guides 15 are two drive cables 16 which support the mushrooms under their heads while allowing the stalks to pass through in a downward direction.
Cables 16 may, with advantage~ be arranyed to travel at different speeds, thus causing the mushrooms to rotate about their own axes. rrhis ensures better positioning of the mushrooms upon the said cables.
Each cable 16 consists of two parallel elements 17,18 (Fig. 6), preferabl~ of circular cross section, united by means of a central core in the form of a bel-t, the whole being made of an appropriate plastic material, for example nylon, in order that the wires ma~ be sufficiently flexible.
. It is desirable that the profile of yuicle 15 to be such as to ensure maximal orientation stability of wires 17,18 rrhis is achie~ed by means of a cover 19 (Fig, 8), trapezoidal i.n shape, the sides of which bear upon the cores of cables 16, ~,.
,.. 7 bm:/~....
.
leaving free ou-ter elemen-t 18 o:E each cable~ upon which -the head of the mushrooms res-ts, the latter thus travelling upon outer elements 18,18' of moving parallel cables 16,16 .
Fixed guides 15 have an intermed;.ate break area 20 (~`i.g. 1) where the said moving cables are supported by two sui-table hook elements. In the case of cable 16' there are two of these hook elements which travel in a straight line with uniform orientation. In the case of cable 16 there are three of these elements which are adapted to descent and rota-te~ as shown in ~ig. 9.
It may also be gathered fronl Fig. 9~ that cable 16 is held, at the central break area by a device in the form of a hook 21 which is located at a level lower than that of hooking devices 22 located at the end of the break between the fixed guides, and which.is also close to alignment with the said guides~
in order to alter the orientation of elements 17,18 and cause them to assume a positlon close to the yertical~ or at least at an angle greater than 60D~ but maintaining a constant distance between ou-ter elements 17,17', for example~ wh.ich su~?port the mushroom When the mushroom is held securely by the stalk~ as shown at the left of Figs~ 8 and 9 r although it undergoes temporary rotation at the break in the fixed guides~ it continues to advance correctly until it reaches the operating area of the cutting devices llowever, if the mushroom is merely resting upon the guides, as shown at the right of ~igs. 8 and 9, it is no lonyer supported in the break and is therefore turned upside down onto the lower wire, whence it falls into an underlyiny collecting tub and is carried to the washing tub bm: ~
~2.~
~ his prevents mushrooms which are not properly held by the s-talk between -the wires from pass:ing -the cutting devic~es and falling into -the collec-ting bo~ along with the correctly cut mushrooms, which would require manual yrading oE the processed mushrooms.
According to another characteristic of the invention, provision is made to provide, above each of the cutting devices, two rollers 23,2~ (Figs. 1 and 3) made of foam rubber or the like soft material, the first of the said rollers ensuriny that the mushroom, which is lifted by underlying roller 25 ~ig. 3), to allow the ear-thy end of the stalk to be cut off by cutting belt 26, remains correctly oriented during this cutting operation, after which the mushroom falls back with its head resting upon the feed wires, whereas the second rol:ler 24 ensures that the mushroom is lowered completely, with its head on the wires, while it is being cut by belt 27. This ensures that mushrooms issuing from the machine have stalks of uniform length, which improves the appearance of the processed mushrooms.
Correct positioning of the head of the mushroom also .involves adjustment of the vertical orientation of the stalk during the cutting operation, and thus substantially improves -the quality of the output from the machine.
Blades 26,27 run on guides 28 (Fig. 5), the height of which is a~justable by means of screws 29.~ This makes it possible to control the level of the cut accurately, Blade--yuide 28 may also be used to located cutting belt 27 in such a manner as to determine the length of the stalk as a function of the diameter of the head, as required by certain regulations.
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This par-t of -the stalk, normally reEerred to as the slice, is used for food, especially in pizza par:lours.
The mushrooms, with -the stalks cut to predetermined lengths, Eall down an inclined plane 30 (~ig. 3) in-to underlying collecting boxes, not shown, the number of boxes being in accordance with the number of grades re~uired based upon the desired dimensional limits.
It is obvious that the s-tructural details of the machine have been described and illustrated herein in a particular example of embodiment given merely as a non-restrictive example. These details may therefore assume various shapes and aspects while retaining the essen-tial characteristics of the invention and there~ore not departing from the scope thereof.
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Claims (15)
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A machine for washing, sizing and cutting the stems of mushrooms which comprises a tub full of water into which the fresh mushrooms to be treated are poured in bulk, a second tub, means for conveying the mushrooms from the first tub into the second tub, a selector device for sizing the mushrooms, means for lifting the mushrooms onto said selector advice and a plurality of inclined channels located under said selector device, means for carrying the mushrooms onto said inclined channels, said selector device being arranged to permit the mushrooms to fall, the more advanced the bigger the size, into positions on said inclined channels, a cutting device, guide means for transporting the mushrooms toward the cutting device with their stems downward, said cutting device being arranged to provide for cutting the dirty end of the stem to be thrown away.
2. The machine of claim 1, wherein said selector device includes a plurality of rotating valves divergently arranged whereby spaces of progressively increasing width are formed between the valves.
3. The machine of claim 2, wherein said cutting device includes a first endless toothed belt.
4. The machine according to claim 3, wherein the cutting device additionally comprises second cutting means for cutting an edible section of the stem and reducing the length of the stem to a predetermined value.
5. A machine according to claim 1,which comprises means for forming water currents in the second tub which carry mushrooms into the proximity of the means for lifting the mushroom through a passage of reduced section to hold back the dirt and foreign bodies.
6. A machine according to claim 1,wherein the means for lifting the mushrooms from the second tub to the selector device consists of an endless rotating band with radial vanes by which the mushrooms are raised in groups to be discharged by means of an inclined plane onto the selector device.
7. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said guides are provided at the bottom thereof with wires convergently arranged and the mushrooms are forced by said guides and wires to place themselves with their stems downwards and their caps supported on said wires, said guides being convergent in the path up to the cutting device and being divergent after the cutting device at the discharge point of the mushrooms.
8. A machine according to claim 1, which comprises a series of jets of water arranged on said inclined channels causing a final washing of the mushrooms and causing the mushrooms to fall downwardly and a tub is disposed under said guides to return the water to the first tub.
9. A machine according to claim 7, which comprises at least one rotating brush downstream of said inclined channel to straighten the mushrooms with stem downwards.
10. The machine according to claim 3, wherein the cutting device comprises means for adjusting the height of said endless toothed belt and the machine comprises means for lifting the mushrooms to bring them in contact with said belt.
11. A machine according to claim 10, wherein the cutting device additionally comprises a rotating toothed blade arranged downstream of said toothed belt.
12. A machine according to claim 10, wherein said means for lifting the mushrooms is a first roller and a second roller is provided to press the mushrooms against said endless first toothed belt.
13. The machine according to claim 1, which comprises means for forming water jets acting on the mushrooms in said guides to cause them to converge towards said cutting device with the stems downwardly.
14. The machine according to claim 7, wherein said wires which diverge after contact with said cutting device transport the mushrooms to collection means.
15. A machine for washing and selecting mushrooms and cutting their stalks to a predetermined length comprising:
a first tub containing water for receiving and washing the mushrooms;
a second tub containing water and connected with said first tub by a channel along which mushrooms float;
a means for lifting the mushrooms from said second tub;
a selecting means onto which the mushrooms are delivered by said lifting means and which allows each mushroom to drop at a point along the length of said selecting means determined by the size of that mushroom;
a series of guides extending in a direction transverse to the length of said selecting means and arranged so that mushrooms dropping from the selecting means are supported by said guides with their stalks downwards;
a first cutting means for removing the dirt covered end of each of the stalks of the mushrooms on the guides, and a second cutting means for trimming the stalk of each mushroom on the guides to a predetermined length.
a first tub containing water for receiving and washing the mushrooms;
a second tub containing water and connected with said first tub by a channel along which mushrooms float;
a means for lifting the mushrooms from said second tub;
a selecting means onto which the mushrooms are delivered by said lifting means and which allows each mushroom to drop at a point along the length of said selecting means determined by the size of that mushroom;
a series of guides extending in a direction transverse to the length of said selecting means and arranged so that mushrooms dropping from the selecting means are supported by said guides with their stalks downwards;
a first cutting means for removing the dirt covered end of each of the stalks of the mushrooms on the guides, and a second cutting means for trimming the stalk of each mushroom on the guides to a predetermined length.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000299808A CA1122105A (en) | 1978-03-28 | 1978-03-28 | Machine for washing, grading, cleaning and slicing mushrooms |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000299808A CA1122105A (en) | 1978-03-28 | 1978-03-28 | Machine for washing, grading, cleaning and slicing mushrooms |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1122105A true CA1122105A (en) | 1982-04-20 |
Family
ID=4111082
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000299808A Expired CA1122105A (en) | 1978-03-28 | 1978-03-28 | Machine for washing, grading, cleaning and slicing mushrooms |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1122105A (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN108851029A (en) * | 2018-07-01 | 2018-11-23 | 闽清县盛旺佳食用菌农业专业合作社 | A kind of Multifunctional mushroom is soaked device |
-
1978
- 1978-03-28 CA CA000299808A patent/CA1122105A/en not_active Expired
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN108851029A (en) * | 2018-07-01 | 2018-11-23 | 闽清县盛旺佳食用菌农业专业合作社 | A kind of Multifunctional mushroom is soaked device |
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| Date | Code | Title | Description |
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