GB1262837A - Sorting machine - Google Patents

Abstract

1,262,837. Sorting machine. P. WITTMANN. 22 Dec., 1970 [29 Dec., 1969; 17 March, 1970], No. 60916/70. Heading B2H. A potato sorting machine comprises a number of rotary rollers 20 which are made up of individual discs 21 of non-cylindrical profile which lie side by side, the rollers between them defining sorting spaces, and the distance between the discs of the individual rollers being adjustable. The rollers 20 form part of an endless sorting belt 16 in which the discs 21 made of resilient material are mounted on shafts 23 rotatably supported at both ends in endless chains 24a, 24b. Adjacent the chain 24b a gear 25 is attached to each shaft 23 and meshes with a rack 26 attached to the machine frame 11 and extending parallel to the top run of the belt 16 so that the rollers when in this region rotate around their own axes. A series of strips 30 of L-section extend parallel with a lateral run of the sorting belt 16 with their inner surfaces co-acting with the chamferings 22 of the discs 21 so that the latter are aligned by the strips 30 on each rotation of the belt 16 and are adjusted in their mutual distances by the lateral displacement of the strips. For this purpose, the strips have sliding blocks 31 which slide on horizontal rods 32 attached to lateral frame members 33, the blocks having guide pins 34 extending through slots 35 in a guide plate 36 which can be moved up or down by a screwthreaded spindle 42 rotatable through bevel gears 45 by a shaft 44 and a crank 43. The slots 35 are inclined at various angles with the central slots extending parallel with the strips 30 and the inclination of the slots increasing with increasing distance from the centre line. When the plate 36 is moved far enough downwards for the guide pins 34 to move in the top ends of the slots 35, the strips 30 are at mutual distances S min. apart and the discs 21 are brought to their closest position corresponding to the minimum sorting diameter. On the other hand, movement of the plate 36 upwards for the pins 34 to abut the bottom ends of the slots 35, causes the strips to be S max. apart and the discs to be at their maximum distance apart corresponding to the maximum sorting diameter D max. A pivotably mounted plate formed with arcuate slots may be substituted for the guide plate 36 with linear slots. A number of machines 10, 10' may be disposed one after the other with a rail 19 bridging the gap between each machine and the sorting spaces between the discs of each machine being different so that sorting can be performed to different sizes.