FR2796249A1 - Cleaning of grapes after harvest by separation of large and small foreign bodies and segregation of rotten grapes, giving clean grape juice, and better wine flavor - Google Patents

Abstract

Grapes are cleaned by passing along (22) a vibrating slotted table (14) where small pieces of stalk, leaves and other debris pass through (28), helped by sprays (26) of grape juice. Large pieces of debris are separated when the grapes pass between (36) more plates (34). The grapes fall onto a rotating drum (44). Rotten grapes are separated by this drum. Firm grapes bounce off the drum into a collection hopper (50) while soft rotten grapes stick to the drum and are scraped (56) off into a second hopper (54).

Description

The present invention relates to a device for sorting the harvest allowing, after destacking, to automatically remove from the harvest foreign bodies such as pieces of leaves or stalks as well as rotten grapes.

To improve the quality of the wine, the harvest is sorted after picking in order to remove rotten grapes, leaves, and other foreign bodies. In general, this operation is carried out in situ manually by operators disposed on each side of a conveyor on which the harvest occurs.

This long and tedious manual sorting operation does not make it possible to obtain a high yield and has a relatively high cost price for a quality that is often mediocre.

According to some winemaking techniques, after this first sorting step, the harvest undergoes a destemming stage in order to separate the grapes from the stalks. This destacking step is performed using devices well known to those skilled in the art.

Despite the many improvements made to these devices, there is still in the harvest after this stage pieces of leaves or stalks, rotten grains, or other foreign bodies that interfere with the organoleptic qualities of the wine.

Also, the present invention aims to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a grape sorting device that allows after the de-stemming step to automatically remove foreign bodies and rotten grapes of the grape harvest. This device also eliminates the first manual sorting step, which reduces costs while improving the quality of sorting.

To this end, the subject of the invention is a device for sorting the harvest which has previously undergone a staling step and essentially consists of grapes, characterized in that it comprises sprinkling means which ensure the disintegration of the grapes. the harvest and first sorting means consisting of an inclined distribution plate disposed above a drum or conveyor belt driven by a rotation movement opposite to the direction of flow of the grapes to separate the rotted grapes, or possibly soft foreign bodies, healthy grapes.

Preferably, this device comprises, from upstream to downstream, a vibrating table equipped with spraying means and the first sorting means. According to one embodiment, the vibrating table is made in several parts arranged in cascade in the direction of the flow of the harvest, each of said parts comprising a plurality of cylinders, arranged longitudinally, spaced apart from each other in order to retain the vintage while allowing foreign bodies of small dimensions to pass through, said bodies being entrained by the trickling of a cleaning liquid coming from the spraying means.

Advantageously, the cleaning liquid is recycled grape juice. According to a preferred embodiment, the device comprises second sorting means between the vibrating table and the first sorting means which make it possible to remove from the harvesting foreign bodies larger than those of a grape.

According to a first variant, the second sorting means comprise at least one vibrating plate, substantially horizontal, arranged in the extension of the vibrating table and offset downwards in order to leave a gap capable of allowing the grapes to pass and to retain the foreign bodies larger than those of a grape. According to another variant, the second sorting means comprise a succession of vibrating plates disposed in cascade and between which are formed interstices likely to let the grapes pass and to retain the foreign bodies of dimensions greater than those of a grain of grapes.

According to another variant, the first sorting means comprise a succession of sorting modules each consisting of a distribution plate and a drum, the distribution plate of the module N being disposed near the rising portion of the drum of the module N-1 to recover the grapes from the sorting of the N-1 module.

Other characteristics and advantages will emerge from the following description of the device according to the invention, a description given by way of example only and with reference to the appended drawings in which:

- <SEP> the <SEP> figure <SEP> 1 <SEP> is <SEP> a <SEP> schematic <SEP> schematic <SEP> lateral <SEP> of <SEP> device <SEP> according to
<tb> the invention,
<tb> - <SEP> The <SEP> figure <SEP> 2 <SEP> is <SEP> a <SEP><SEP> view of <SEP> on <SEP> of the <SEP> device, <SEP>, and
<tb> - <SEP> the <SEP> figure <SEP> 3 <SEP> is <SEP> a <SEP><SEP> side view <SEP> of <SEP> device <SEP> according to <SEP> a <SEP > second <SEP> mode <SEP> of
<tb> achievement. A device 10 for sorting the harvest according to the invention is shown in FIG. 1. It comprises, from upstream to downstream, a receiving hopper 12, a vibrating table 14, first sorting means 18 and possibly second means 16 sorting arranged between the vibrating table and the first sorting means.

This device 10 makes it possible to treat the harvest after a de-stemming step in order to remove the foreign bodies as well as the rotten grains. Preferably, the unraveling device not shown discharges the harvest directly into the receiving hopper 12.

The vibrating table 14 illustrated in FIG. 2 is made in several parts 20, arranged in cascade in the direction of flow of the grape referenced 22. Each part 20 comprises on each side a rim 24 in order to ensure the guiding of the and a plurality of cylinders arranged longitudinally, slightly divergent, spaced apart from each other to retain the harvest while allowing foreign objects of small dimensions such as pieces of leaves, pieces of stalks or the like. To allow the flow of the harvest, each part 20 of the table is vibrating. The slightly divergent cylinders make it possible to distribute the grapes evenly over the entire width of the vibrating table 14 and to prevent jamming of the elements constituting said harvest.

The vibrating table 14 is set in motion by appropriate non-detailed means, as known to those skilled in the art.

The separation of small foreign bodies from the rest of the harvest is achieved by the runoff of a cleaning liquid from spraying means 26, for example nozzles, arranged above the vibrating table. Thus, the nozzles 26 sprinkle the harvest with the cleaning liquid which causes run-off small foreign objects to a retention tank 28 located under the vibrating table.

Advantageously, the cleaning liquid is recycled by being filtered by filtering means 30 arranged in the lower part of the tank 28 in order to be used again and injected towards the nozzles 26 by means of a pump 32. This cycle makes it possible to save a considerable amount of energy. cleaning fluid which helps to reduce the cost of use.

Preferably, the cleaning liquid is grape juice in order to limit water inputs that could affect the quality of the elaborated wine.

The sprinkling of the harvest also allows the disintegration of the harvest and the separation of the various elements constituting it which facilitates the subsequent sorting as will be explained later.

This disintegration is also accentuated by the vibration movements of the table 14.

After the vibrating table, the harvest is conveyed to the second sorting means 16 which ensure the separation of foreign bodies larger than a grape, such as the petioles, from the rest of the harvest consisting essentially of grapes.

These sorting means 16 comprise at least one horizontal plate 34 arranged in the extension of the vibrating table 14, shifted downwards so as to leave a gap 36 capable of allowing the grapes to pass and of retaining the foreign bodies of large dimensions, especially higher than those of a grape.

Preferably, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the sorting means 16 comprise a series of horizontal plates arranged in cascade and between which interstices 36 are formed.

To enable sorting, the plates 34 are vibrated in order to cause the grapes to fall below said plates 34 in a chute 38. A tank 40 also makes it possible to recover the foreign bodies resulting from this process. sorting.

As a variant, each plate 34 is in the form of a comb capable of allowing the grapes to pass and of retaining the foreign bodies of large dimensions.

The grapes thus sorted are then conveyed to the first sorting means 18 which make it possible to remove the rotten grains from the harvest and thus obtain a harvest consisting essentially of healthy grapes.

These means comprise a distribution plate 42 disposed above a drum 44 driven by a rotational movement 46 opposite to the direction of flow 48 of the grapes.

The distribution plate 42 ensures a substantially homogeneous distribution of the harvest over the entire width of the drum 44 and comprises inclination adjustment means which make it possible to adjust the angle and the speed of fall of the grapes on said drum in order to to obtain a more or less selective sorting.

The distribution plate 42 is also vibrating to ensure good disintegration of the harvest and thus allow better sorting of the harvest. This plate 42 also ensures a better distribution of the harvest over the entire width of the drum.

The first sorting means 18 operate in the following manner. The rotten or healthy grapes flow on the distribution plate 42 and fall on the drum 44, substantially at the level of the upper generatrix, with a certain speed.

Healthy grains that are harder than rotten grains bounce off the drum and flow countercurrent to the direction of rotation 46 to fall to a container 50 sorted grape disposed disposed under the rising portion of the drum.

The rotten grains or possibly foreign bodies, softer than the healthy grapes, do not bounce but tend to crash on the drum 44 so that they are driven by the drum in the direction of rotation 46 in order to falling into a waste container 54 disposed under the falling part of the drum.

A scraper 56 is also provided in the lower part of the drum in order to take off any rotten grapes.

Preferably, as illustrated in Figure 1, a conveyor belt 52 is provided between the rising portion of the drum and the container 50. Like the drum 44, this conveyor belt has a rotational movement opposite the direction of flow of the harvest so to ensure the sorting between the healthy and rotted grapes as previously described. This conveyor belt also includes a scraper 56.

According to another variant illustrated in FIG. 3, the first sorting means 18 comprise a succession of sorting modules, each consisting of a distribution plate 42 and a drum 44 arranged in the same manner as above for each module.

In this case, the upper part of the distribution plate of the second module (or module N) is disposed near the rising portion of the drum of the first module (or module N-1) to recover the grapes from the first module (or module n-1).

The operation of the sorting device is now described with reference to the figures.

The harvest resulting from the destacking arrives at the level of the hopper 12 and flows towards the vibrating table 14. Thanks to the vibrations on the one hand and to the sprinkling by the recycled grape juice on the other hand, the harvest is disintegrates in order to obtain a separation of the constituent elements. The sprinkling of the harvest also makes it possible to remove small foreign bodies that run off under the vibrating table.

Then, the foreign bodies larger than those of a grape are removed from the harvest at the second means 16 sorting. The thus sorted harvest falls into the trough 38 arranged under the plates 34.

Finally, the partially sorted harvest arrives at the level of the first sorting means 18. There, the rotten grapes are removed from the rest of the harvest consisting essentially of healthy grains that are stored in a tray 50.

This device therefore makes it possible to obtain quality sorting after sorting, at a relatively low cost, with a yield that is much higher than that of manual sorting.

Of course, the invention is obviously not limited to the embodiment shown and described above, but covers all variants, particularly with respect to the forms of the vibrating table, the second sorting means , as well as the number of sorting modules of the first sorting means. Similarly, each drum of the first sorting means can be replaced by a conveyor belt.

Claims (1)

CLAIMS 1. Sorting device of the harvest having previously undergone a stalking step and consisting essentially of grapes, characterized in that it comprises means (26) for sprinkling which ensure the disintegration of the harvest and the first means (18). ) of sorting constituted by an inclined distribution plate (42) disposed above a drum (44) or a conveyor belt driven by a rotational movement (46) opposite to the direction of flow (48). ) grapes so as to separate the rotted grapes, or possibly soft foreign bodies, from healthy grapes. 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises, from upstream to downstream, a table (14) equipped with vibrating means (26) spraying and the first means (18) sorting. 3. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the vibrating table (14) is made of several parts (20) arranged in cascade in the direction of the flow of the harvest, each of said parts comprising a plurality of cylinders arranged longitudinally, spaced apart from each other to retain the harvest while allowing small foreign bodies to pass through, said bodies being entrained by the runoff of a cleaning liquid from the means (26) for spraying. 4. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the cleaning liquid is grape juice. 5. Device according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the cleaning liquid is recycled. 6. Device according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that it comprises second means (16) for sorting between the vibrating table (14) and the first means (18) of sorting which can remove the harvesting of foreign bodies larger than those of a grape. 7. Device according to claim 6, characterized in that the second means (16) for sorting include at least one plate (34) vibrating, substantially horizontal disposed in the extension of the vibrating table (14) and shifted downwards to to leave a gap (36) that can let the grapes pass and retain the foreign bodies larger than those of a grape. 8. Device according to claim 7, characterized in that the second means (16) for sorting comprises a succession of plates (34) arranged in cascade and between which are arranged interstices (36) may pass the grapes and to retain foreign bodies larger than those of a grape. 9. Device according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the plate or plates (34) of the second sorting means are in the form of a comb capable of allowing the grapes to pass and to retain foreign bodies larger than those of a grape. 10. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the first sorting means (18) comprise a succession of sorting modules each consisting of a plate (42) of distribution and a drum ( 44), the distribution plate of the module N being disposed near the rising portion of the drum of the N-1 module in order to recover the grapes from the sorting of the N-1 module.