GB1340139A - Apparatus for washing potato cuttings - Google Patents

Abstract

1340139 Apparatus for washing potato cuttings INSTITUUT VOOR BEWARING EN VERWERKING VAN LANDBOUWPRODUKTEN 19 April 1971 [3 April 1970] 25759/71 Heading A4C (Also in Division F1) Apparatus for washing potato cuttings comprises a driven rotary drum 1, Fig. 1, one or more non-perforated partitions 8 dividing the drum into a plurality of compartments, one or more conveyer blades 13a, 13G having water through-flow orifices, provided in each compartment for conveying the cuttings over a partition to a successive compartment or out of the drum, and a water supply device 7, the water being conveyed over said partitions in the opposite direction to the cuttings. Cuttings enter the drum through the orifice 2. Mixing blades 12 are provided in each compartment to thoroughly mix the water and cuttings. The conveyer blades are curved in both a radial and axial plane to facilitate the conveyance of the cuttings to conical plates 20a, 20b, upon which the cuttings slide into the next compartment or out of the drum. Water leaves the drum through the orifice 2 and is collected in a tank 27. The drum 1 is supported on a set of bearings 23 and rollers 22, two of said rollers being interconnected by a chain driven shaft. An alternative drive may consist of a centrally disposed rotating shaft; in this case the water may be fed to the drum through orifices in the shaft. In an alternative embodiment, Fig. 4, the cuttings are conveyed down the slope of the drum and the water conveyed up the slope. The water is conveyed over each individual partition 8 by means of a pipe 35, said pipe communicating with the drum at 36 on the lower side of the partition and with the drum at 37 on the higher side, rotation being in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 4. A second pipe may also be provided at each partition diametrically opposite the first, as in the embodiment of Figs. 5 and 6 (not shown); the partitions (8) of the latter embodiment are frusto-conical. In a further alternative embodiment, Fig. 7 (not shown), the drum has a square cross-section and mixing plates are not included.