EE05798B1 - Belt sort - Google Patents

Abstract

The berry belt sort used to sort the berries by size includes an adjustable belt drum designed to smooth the belt spacing, which includes belt bearings, a guide shaft inside the pulleys and a tubular slotted gusset guide sleeve, , distributor disc, handle and retainer. The adjustable belt drum guide shaft includes a sleeve and sleeve core which are interconnected by a thread. The tubular sleeve around the guide shaft is provided with at least three slots. A hexagonal cross-sectional adjusting shaft disposed within the sleeve cores is connected to the handle and sleeve cores to rotate the sleeve cores around its axis and to displace the pulleys relative to the tubular sleeve.

Description

TECHNOLOGY FIELD

The present invention belongs to the field of agricultural and horticultural technology, more specifically to post-harvest primary processing machines for berries, and is used for mechanized sorting of berries by size.

STATE OF THE ART

The main physical-mechanical properties of berries when sorting are geometric dimensions, which requires sorting berries by size. There are many berries and berry varieties, and table berries of different varieties should preferably be of the same diameter. For example, the minimum diameter of a blueberry table berry is 8mm.

There are two known sorting methods - sequential and parallel. In the sequential sorting method, size groups are separated from the total amount of tubers in order of size, first small, then medium and finally large. In the parallel sorting method, grouping is done in the opposite way, i.e. in decreasing order. According to the structure of the working body, roller, mesh, series, drum and belt sorters are distinguished.

The present invention concerns an adjustable drum for a belt sorter, which is intended for a belt sorter operating on the principle of a sequential sorting method to increase its usability.

According to patent document NL1024173, a sorter is known which comprises a conveyor belt with holes through which berries of smaller diameter can fall and which comprises at least one longitudinal strip without sorting holes. A device for collecting the sorted crop is mounted partially below the conveyor belt.

According to patent document US 2316159, a device for washing and sorting berries is known. The known sorter for wild berries, blueberries and other similar berries is a belt conveyor, which includes two drums with belts, wherein the gap between the belts is designed to increase in the direction of material movement on the sorting surface formed on the conveyor. The berries conveyed on the sorting surface of the conveyor fall down between the belts to the collecting device if the belt gap is of sufficient width.

If the gap between the belts is of the same width, then with such a sorter it is possible to separate only one fraction from the berry mixture on the sorting surface of the conveyor, the geometric dimensions of which allow it to sink between the belts. If the gap between the belts is of variable size, as described in patent document US2316159, then more than one fraction from the berry mixture can be separated on the sorting surface of the conveyor.

According to patent document GB745730-A, a potato sorting device is known, which is a belt conveyor. The belts have a flat cross-section, a groove is formed in the lower half of the belts, and diamond-shaped elevations are attached to the belts to separate the potatoes from each other during sorting. The gap between the belts and the guide flanges is adjustable by means of guide fingers, the end of which is located in the lower groove of the belt. The position of the guide fingers relative to the width of the sorting surface can be changed by rotating a guide shaft, which includes threads of different hands and different pitches. The guide shaft is located at the end of the sorting surface, immediately before a second smooth belt drum located at the end of the sorting surface. The known potato sorting device does not use an adjustable drum, the adjustment mechanism does not rotate in the operating state.

According to patent document W09848951, a sorting device suitable for fish is known. The known sorting device is a belt conveyor comprising two drums with belts, the gap between the belts being designed to increase in the direction of material movement on the sorting surface formed on the conveyor. Three guide shafts and guide fingers located on them are used to guide the belts. The known sorting device does not use an adjustable drum, the adjustment mechanism does not rotate in the operating position. The guide shafts have 4 adjustment stages.

According to patent document US20060113224, an adjustable sorting device for smaller items is known. The known sorting device is a belt conveyor that includes 4 drums. The gap between the elastic belts is adjustable. The mechanism is located at the end of the sorting area, just before the second belt drum in the sorting area. The gap between the belts is adjustable by raising and lowering the belts over one.

According to patent document DE10359369, a sorting device is known. The known sorting device is a belt conveyor. The gap between the belts can be changed by manually moving the guide fingers of the belts one by one.

According to patent document GB2140712, a sorting device is known. The known sorting device is a belt conveyor. The gap between the belts is changed by manually moving the pulleys one by one at the beginning and end of the sorting area. The pulleys are not located on a common axis, each pulley has a separate mounting bracket.

According to patent document FR1248240, a sorting device is known. The known sorting device is a belt conveyor. The gap between the belts is manually adjustable. The pulleys are located on a common shaft. Each pulley has a guide finger, the end of which is located in the belt groove of the pulley. Adjustment is made by moving the guide fingers one by one.

According to patent document WO2006120706, a sorting device is known. The known sorting device is a belt conveyor. The gap between the belts can be changed by moving the guide fingers. The adjustment mechanism is based on the wedge principle, where round wedges are arranged between the guide fingers, and when rotated, the distance between the guide fingers changes. The adjustment mechanism uses compression springs that press the alternately arranged round wedges and the guide fingers against each other. The known sorting device does not use an adjustable drum, and the adjustment mechanism does not rotate in the operating position.

According to patent document NZ314846A, a device for sorting mussels is known. The sorting area is formed by fingers that are inclined downwards towards the end of the sorting area. The lower ends of the fingers rest on a round guide shaft, on which a central annular groove and left-hand and right-hand threads are formed, the pitch of the threads increasing as they move away from the central annular groove. The ends of the fingers rest on grooves located on the guide shaft, and by rotating the guide shaft it is possible to change the width of the gap between the fingers.

According to patent document EP0884113, a sorting device is known. The known sorting device is a belt conveyor. The gap between the belts is variable by moving the pulleys. The adjustment mechanism is solved by a scissor mechanism, which connects the fastening brackets of the pulleys. To move and fix the scissor mechanism, a control shaft is used, on which one side is formed a left-hand thread and the other side a right-hand thread. In the known sorting device, an adjustable drum is not used, the adjustment mechanism is passive and does not rotate in the working condition.

The closest technical solution is the belt sorter for sorting berries known from patent document EE05642 Bl, where the slots between the belts forming the sorting surface are adjustable with a rear adjustable drum, which includes pulleys, a control shaft and a tubular sleeve with a slot around it, control rods, a distribution disc, a handle and a retainer. The disadvantage of the known belt sorter is the play of the belt washers forming the adjustable drum along the axis of the adjustable drum and the limited length of the adjustable drum. The play is due, on the one hand, to the loose fit of the belt washers on the tubular control shaft sleeve and, on the other hand, to the fixation of the belt washers with a guide groove of the control shaft via one guide rod. The length of the adjustable drum is limited by the thread pitch of the guide grooves of the control shaft, which becomes too large in the case of a longer adjustable drum.

ESSENCE OF THE INVENTION

The essence of the present invention is to create an adjustable belt drum for a belt sorter that is different from the previously known solutions, which would also be free from the aforementioned disadvantages. The belt sorter includes at least one adjustable belt drum for stepless adjustment of the spacing between the pulleys. Such a device is used in a berry sorter, the sorting surface of which is formed by at least two belt drums with belts mounted on them. Looking at the sorting surface in the direction of movement of the berries, the first belt drum is designed as a drum equipped with recesses with a constant distance for holding the belts and a shaft. The rear adjustable belt drum of the sorting surface includes pulleys, a control shaft, control rods, a tubular control shaft sleeve, spacers, a corrugated cover for the control shaft, a handle mounting bushing with a handle, a distribution disc and a fixing disc with a retainer.

The drive shaft of the adjustable rear belt drum of the belt sorter consists of alternately arranged sleeves and sleeve cores. A non-passing hole with a right-hand thread is formed inside the sleeve, a left-hand rough thread is formed on the protruding part of the sleeve, at least three threaded holes are formed on the side surface of the sleeve, and a hole with a round cross-section is formed on the long protruding part of the sleeve. A non-passing hole with a left-hand thread is formed inside the sleeve core so that a flange is formed, in which a hole with a hexagonal cross-section is formed, and a right-hand thread is formed on the sleeve core. The depth of the right-hand threaded hole inside the sleeve is equal to the height of the sleeve core, and the height of the protruding part of the sleeve is equal to the depth of the left-hand threaded hole inside the sleeve core. The tubular sleeve is equipped with longitudinal slots in the sleeve, which are intended to direct the movement of the guide rods along the axis of the adjustable belt drum. The number of slots in the sleeve is equal to the number of threaded holes in the side surface of the sleeve. The sleeve cores are connected through hexagonal holes to a hexagonal cross-section adjusting shaft. The threads of the sleeve and the sleeve core are designed so that the guide rods, which are arranged through pulleys, spacers and sleeve slots and which are rigidly attached to the sleeve with a threaded connection, ensure the same distance between the pulleys at any angle or position of the adjusting shaft. A distribution disk is rigidly connected to the tubular sleeve. A fixing disk with a retainer is rigidly connected to the adjusting shaft. The distribution disk, fixing disk and retainer ensure stepless fixation of the position of the adjusting shaft and the distance between the belt washers. A corrugated cover is attached between the pulleys, preventing debris from entering the sleeve through the slots in the tubular sleeve and into the threads of the sleeve core.

LIST OF DRAWINGS

The present invention is described in more detail in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4, which are included in the examples. The invention is not limited to these examples, but only to the accompanying claims.

Figure 1 shows a side view of a belt sorter in one possible constructive embodiment,

Figure 2 shows the components of an adjustable rear belt drum in one possible constructive embodiment of the belt drum,

Figure 3 shows a cross-section of the adjustable rear belt drum drive shaft sleeve,

Figure 4 shows a cross-section of the adjustable rear belt drum drive shaft sleeve core.

EXAMPLE

The invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown. However, the present invention may be modified in various ways and therefore the illustrations should not be construed as the only possible embodiment. Rather, the embodiments are illustrated to provide a complete and comprehensive overview of the invention and its scope of application to those skilled in the art.

The device shown in FIG 1 is stationary, but it can also be designed as a mobile device. The mobile device is equipped with support wheels (not shown in the figure). The belt sorter includes a frame 1, to which three belt drums are attached: front 2, rear 3 and lower 4 with belts 5 arranged on them and a drive. The belts 5 are designed as endless belts and form a closed contour arranged over the front 2, rear 3 and lower 4 belt drums. The belts 5 form a berry sorting surface in the area between the front 2 and rear 3 belt drums. The lower belt drum 4 is arranged below the said sorting surface with the calculation that devices for diverting the fractions sorted out from the berry mixture would be arranged in the closed contour formed by the belts under the sorting surface. In this embodiment, these devices are a waste chute 6, a small berry chute 7 and a movable apron 8. The waste chute 6 and the small berry chute 7 can also be performed by transverse conveyors (not shown in the figures). The frame 1 is preferably a welded structure. The waste chute 6 and the small berry chute 7 are attached to the frame 1. The large berry chute 9 is also attached to the frame 1, but is arranged at the end of the sorting surface.

The berry mass consisting of small and large berries and impurities is fed to the sorting surface near the front belt drum 2. The berries moving over the rear belt drum 3 leave the sorting surface and head to the next technological device of the post-harvest processing line. The task of the lower belt drum 4 is to create space for placing auxiliary devices, chutes 6 and 7 and a movable apron 8 under the sorting surface, between the branches of the belts 5. The belt sorter is driven by a motor 10.

The first belt drum 2 has belt grooves with the same distance between them for holding the belts 5. The rear belt drum 3 is attached to the frame of the belt sorter by means of bearings seated at the ends 11 and 12 and bearing blocks holding the bearings. The adjustable rear belt drum 3, seated on bearings at both ends, is ready to rotate around its longitudinal axis. The adjustable rear belt drum 3 shown in FIG 2 is composed of a row of identical odd-numbered pulleys 13. The distances between the pulleys 13 of the adjustable rear belt drum 3 are smoothly variable. The adjustable rear belt drum 3 additionally includes a control shaft 14, which is assembled in sleeves 15, sleeve cores 16, a tubular sleeve 17, spacers 18, an adjustment shaft 19, which has a square, more precisely hexagonal cross-section, guide rods 20, a distribution disc 21, a fixing disc 22, a handle mounting bushing 23 and a handle 24. The function of the adjustment shaft 19 is to transfer torque to the sleeve core and therefore it can be a square (triangular, quadrangular or hexagonal) cross-section or a round shaft equipped with a slat. In this embodiment, it is an adjustment shaft with a hexagonal cross-section.

To adjust the distance between the pulleys, the control shaft is composed of sleeves 15 and sleeve cores 16. In FIG. 3, a non-passing hole 25 with a right-hand internal thread 26 is formed inside the sleeve 15, and a left-hand external thread 28 is formed on the part 27 protruding from the sleeve, with both the internal and external threads having the same thread pitch. The side surface of the sleeve 15 has at least three threaded holes 29 for fixing the guide rods 20, and the long protruding part of the sleeve 27 is formed with a round cross-section hole 30, the diameter of which is larger than the diameter of the adjustment shaft 19 with a hexagonal cross-section. A left-handed internal threaded blind hole 31 is formed in the sleeve core 16 (FIG. 4) so as to form a flange 32 in which a hexagonal cross-sectioned opening 33 is cut, and a right-handed external thread 34 is formed on the sleeve core 16, with the internal and external threads having the same thread pitch. The depth of the blind hole 25 provided with the right-handed internal thread 26 inside the sleeve 15 is equal to the height of the sleeve core 16, and the height of the protruding part 27 of the sleeve 15 is equal to the depth of the left-handed internal threaded opening 31 inside the sleeve core 16. The right-hand internal thread 26 of the sleeve 15 is matched with the right-hand external thread 34 of the sleeve core 16, and the left-hand external thread 28 of the sleeve 15 is matched with the left-hand internal thread hole 31 of the sleeve core 16. The guide shaft 14 is composed of alternating sleeves 15 and sleeve cores 16.

The tubular sleeve 17 is provided with slots 35, which are intended to direct the movement of the guide rods 20 along the axis of the adjustable rear belt drum 3. In the center of the tubular sleeve 17, openings 36 are formed for rigidly fixing the middle sleeve 37. The slots 35 are located on both sides of the openings 36 of the tubular sleeve 17. The guide rods 20 are arranged through the openings 38 of the pulleys 13, the spacers 18 and the slots 35 or openings 36 of the tubular sleeve 17, and the ends of the guide rods 39 are rigidly attached to the sleeve 15 through threaded openings 29 by means of a threaded connection.

The adjustable rear belt drum (3) of the belt sorter works as follows: An adjustment shaft 19 with a hexagonal cross-section is placed inside all the sleeves 15 and sleeve cores 16. By rotating the hexagonal cross-section adjusting shaft 19, the torque is transmitted to the sleeve cores 16 through the hexagonal cross-section openings 33 inside the sleeve cores 16. Since the freedom of movement of the sleeves 15 is limited by the guide rods 20 passing through the slots 35 of the tubular sleeve 17, the sleeves 15 receive rectilinear movement from the sleeve cores 16 via threads 26, 28, 31 and 34 along the adjustable belt drum 3. The middle sleeve 37 is rigidly fixed through the openings 38 of the tubular sleeve located at the center of the adjustable rear belt drum 3, and this ensures that when the adjustable rear belt drum 3 is adjusted, the pulleys 13 move equally to the same distance relative to the center of the adjustable rear belt drum 3.

To fix the adjustment position, the fixing bushing 23 of the handle 24 is rigidly connected to the fixing disk 22, which is placed on the adjustment shaft 19 with a hexagonal cross-section and forms a fixed joint with it by means of a tightening screw 40. The fixing disk 22 is thus rigidly connected to the adjustment shaft 19 with a hexagonal cross-section together with the fixing bushing 23 of the handle 24. The distribution disk 21 is equipped with a threaded retainer 41, which is located at a distance from the axis of the distribution disk 21 equal to the diameter of the fixing disk 22. Such a constructive solution makes it possible to fix the relative position of the fixing disc 22 and the dividing disc 21 by means of the threaded retainer 41 of the dividing disc 21 and the wing nut 42, and consequently, it makes it possible to rotate the sleeve core 16 inside the sleeve 15 and, with a suitable setting, to rigidly fix the relative position of the sleeve core 16, the sleeve 15 and the tubular sleeve 17. The handle 24 can be attached to the mounting bush 23 with a threaded connection and, after adjusting the adjustable rear belt drum 3, can be removed to ensure the safety of the belt sorter user.

A corrugated cover 43 is arranged between the pulleys 13, which prevents debris from entering the threads 26, 28, 31 and 34 of the sleeve 15 and the sleeve core 16 located inside the tubular sleeve 17. For the corrugated covers 43, corrugated cover grooves 44 are cut into the side surfaces of the pulleys 13, which ensures the possibility of using such a degree of adjustment of the adjustable belt drum 3, in which the pulleys 13 are pressed against each other and the corrugated covers 43 are located completely inside the grooves 44 of the corrugated covers.

Claims (8)

1. A belt sorter comprising three belt drums, one of the belt drums, an adjustable rear belt drum (3), being designed to smoothly change the spacing between the belts (5) forming the sorting surface, and comprising pulleys (13) carrying the belts (5), a guide shaft (14) located inside the pulleys (13) and a tubular sleeve (17) provided with a slot around it, guide rods (20) connecting the pulleys (13) and the guide shaft (14), a distribution disc (21), a handle (24), a fixing disc (22) and a fixator (41), characterized in that the guide shaft (14) of the rear adjustable rear belt drum (3) comprises a sleeve (15) and a sleeve core (16) connected to each other by a thread, a tubular sleeve (17) located around the guide shaft (14) and provided with at least three slots (35), an adjusting shaft (19) connected to the handle (24) and the sleeve cores (16) for rotating the sleeve cores about their axis and displacing the pulleys (13) relative to a tubular sleeve (17) located around the control shaft (14), and a corrugated cover (43). 2. A belt sorter according to claim 1, characterized in that the components forming the control shaft (14) of the adjustable rear belt drum (3), the sleeve (15) is provided with a right-hand internal thread (26) and a left-hand external thread (28) and the sleeve core (16) is provided with a right-hand external thread (34) and a left-hand internal thread (31), wherein the distance between the pulleys (13) is adjustable by the relative position of the sleeves (15) and the sleeve cores (16) and by changing this within the tubular sleeve (17). 3. Belt sorter according to claim 1, characterized in that the adjusting shaft (19) of the adjustable rear belt drum (3) has a square cross-section. 4. Belt sorter according to claims 1 and 3, characterized in that the adjusting shaft (19) of the adjustable rear belt drum (3) has a hexagonal cross-section. 5. A belt sorter according to claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the handle (24) of the adjustable rear belt drum (3) is connected via the adjustment shaft (19) to the sleeve cores (16) through openings (33) with a hexagonal cross-section inside the sleeve cores (16). 6. Belt sorter according to claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the pulleys (13) and the sleeves (15) of the adjustable rear belt drum (3) are connected to each other through guide rods (20) arranged in at least three slots (35) inside the tubular sleeve (17). 7. Belt sorter according to claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the middle sleeve (37) of the adjustable rear belt drum (3) is fixed in a longitudinally immobile manner relative to the adjustable belt drum (3) through openings (38) in a tubular sleeve located at the center of the adjustable belt drum (3). 8. Belt sorter according to claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the mutual position of the sleeves (15) and sleeve cores (16) of the adjustable rear belt drum (3) and the mutual distance of the pulleys (13) is fixed by fixing the mutual position of the distribution disc (21) connected to the regulating shaft (19) arranged between the sleeves (15) and sleeve cores (16) and the fixing disc (22) connected to the tubular sleeve (17).