GB1581060A - Cleaner suitable for cleaning root crops such as beets - Google Patents

Abstract

The cleaner comprises a cleaning drum (4), a transverse elevator (5) for loading onto the truck, and an elevating conveyor (7) located below the cleaning drum for the purpose of returning the earth falling from this drum to the rear of the cleaner. The cleaning grid consists of metal wires arranged at equal intervals at the periphery of the drum and parallel to its axis. This cleaner serves to clean all roots stored in silos on the site where they are lifted, and may also be installed at a fixed station. <IMAGE>

Description

(54) CLEANER SUITABLE FOR CLEANING ROOT CROPS SUCH AS BEETS (71) We, SOCIETY NOUVELLE DES ETABLISSEMENIS A. MAGUIN, a French body corporate, of Charmes 02800 La Fere, France, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: - This invention relates to a cleaner suitable for cleaning root crops such as beets.

Cleaners for cleaning beets and other root crops are known which comprise, mounted on a trailer or on a self-propelled chassis, a root crop supply hopper into which a crane, having picked up beets from elongated heaps known as silos or clamps, drops the beets, the hopper being placed at the rear of the machine and feeding a rotating drum, the beets rubbing on the drum outer wall to remove some of the earth dropping to the ground either through perforations in the drum or between rods or bars or the like which form the drum.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved cleaner suitable for cleaning beets and other root crops.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a cleaner suitable for cleaning root crops such as beets, and comprising a hopper feeding a rotatable cleaning drum having a peripheral cleaning lattice, an elevator for conveying cleaned root crops to means for receiving the same said elevator being mounted for pivoting around a vertical axis between an operative position extending transversely of a longitudinal axis of the cleaner and an inoperative longitudinally extending position, the cleaner including an elevating conveyor disposed below the drum to collect earth or other foreign material dropping through the gaps in the peripheral cleaning lattice of the cleaning drum, said elevating conveyor being mounted for pivoting around an axis extending'transversely of said longitudinal axis between a horizontal position and a tilted position adopted'for discharging earth or other material, collected by the elevating conveyor.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, during use thereof to clean beets, the earth removed from the beets is collected on the elevating conveyor disposed below the drum, and is returned to the rear of the cleaner. In this preferred embodiment, the cleaner comprises a vehicle having said hopper, cleaning drum, elevator and conveyor mounted thereon, the longitudinal axis of the cleaner corresponding to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. In this preferred embodiment, the last-mentioned conveyor is arbitrarily inclinable by hydraulic actuator and can be moved substantially into a horizontal position for onroad travelling, the inclination of the elevating conveyor in use being variable according to the amount of earth to be discharged behind the cleaner.

In the preferred embodiment, after cleaning, the beets are collected at the front end. of the drum by known rod type devices on which they rise inside the drum to be ejected through a central orifice in the front end of the drum and passed to said elevator for conveying cleaned root crops, this elevator, in the preferred embodiment, being a truck-loading elevator, the pivotal mounting of which allows the truck-loading elevator to be positioned lengthwise of the vehicle for on-road travelling, or transversely for field work so as to load. the beets into a truck moving parallel to and simultaneously with the cleaner.

In the preferred embodiment, to achieve self-cleaning of the drum, which is rotated by a hydraulic motor supplied with hydraulic fluid under pressure via a hose enabling the motor to continue to be supplied even when the rear part of the drum nearer the supply hopper is raised relatively to the cleaner chassis, the drum, instead of having its periphery. formed by perforated sheetmetal elements or. equidistant rigid rods, as in known cleaners, has its periphery formed by a large number of parallel metal cables resiliently fitted to a rigid drum frame which comprises two circular end collars having a channel section shape in axial section through the drum, the end collar being interconnected by a small number of crossmembers, preferably ten or less, the crossmembers being rigidly interconnected by two intermediate stiffening collars, the area of the actual cleaning lattice, the same taking up inter alia the spaces between the cross-members, taking the form of a large number of metal cables spaced close enough together for beets not to be able to pass through between two adjacent cables, the cables being mounted resiliently in tension through the agency of spring washers so as to be able to be vibrated as a result of the carrying loads applied to the cables by the beets present in the drum, the metal cables, for instance, bending under the weight of the load of beets on them as the cables pass the lowest part of the drum and straightening again as the cables approach the highest part of the drum where the cables are not stressed by the beets being cleaned.

As will be seen hereinafter, it is possible to provide, for instance, a drum whose peripheral lattice is formed by 180 metal cables of 15 mm outside diameter at a between-axis spacing from one another of 38 mm-i.e. a gap less than the smallest dimensions of the root crops to be cleaned-the cables extending parallel to the drum axis.

Advantageously, the cables which form the peripheral wall of the drum can be sheathed in plastics or rubber or some other similar product to prevent as far as possible any damage to the root crops cleaned.

In the preferred embodiment, the cables referred to are also acted upon, as they pass the highest part of the drum and are thus beyond the zone where they are loaded, by hammers which are distributed over the length of the drum and are operated by means of cams, the same raising the hammers consecutively, whereafter the hammers drop by their own weight on to the cables.

Another feature of the preferred embodiment of cleaner according to this invention is that the frame of the truck-loading elevator is formed in two parts, i.e. an upper part and a lower part, which are articulated to one another so that the height from which the beets drop from the truckloading elevator into a truck to be loaded can be varied as the truck fills up or for any other reason, so as to reduce the risk of damage to the beets when they are loaded on to trucks after cleaning. In this embodiment, the angle between the two parts of the truck-loading elevator is controlled by a hydraulic actuator and a hydraulic actuator is also provided to provide auto- matic tensioning of the elevator belt at any inclination of the upper part of the elevator relative to the lower.

Another result of this articulated connection betwen the two parts forming the elevator and of the provision of the hydraulic actuators referred to is that the upper part of the elevator can be folded down into a vertical position when the elevator is in its longitudinal position for on-road travelling, so that the centre of gravity of the front of the cleaner, whether self-propelled or trailermounted can be lowered, with the result that the stability of the vehicle on the road is improved.

Also, in the preferred embodiment of the invention the rotary axis of the drum can be inclined variably to vary the throughput of beets or other similar products through the machine, with the removal of a prop or tion of the earth varying with the percentage of earth retained by the beets-i.e. according to the harvest regions and the time of year.

In a preferred embodiment, the truckloading elevator also has improved slats instead of the constant-inclination rigid slats used in conventional elevators. The slats for the elevator take the form of dished rubber members retained on supports bolted to the elevator conveyor belt at a fixed orientation thereto, the dished members themselves being bolted to the belt at their other end.

At the elevator ends, particularly at its top end, the rubber slats stretch as they run around the elevator end rollers, a feature which assists the emptying of the slats and also unsticks any mud which stuck to them during lifting of beets discharged from the cleaning drum.

In a very useful embodiment of the invention the cleaning apparatus comprising the tiltable cable type drum according to the invention can, with advantage, be used within a processing factory, the cleaner being installed in the factory at a location where the beets or other root crops are processed so as to remove much of the earth sticking to them before they are placed in store. The earth thus removed preferably goes on bulk conveyors, which may or may not have a spare hopper, to the trucks in which the beets or other roots have arrived at the factory.

Embodiments of the invention are described below by way of non-limitative example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a self-propelled cleaner embodying the invention in its position for field work; Figure 2 is a view partly in cross-section and partly in front elevation of the cleaner of Figure 1 during loading of a truck disposed beside the cleaner and shows the various operative positions of a truck loading elevator forming part of the cleaner and the relative positions of the cleaner and truck in which the beets are to be loaded after they have passed through a cleaning drum forming part of the cleaner; Figure 3 is a view in side elevation of a trailer-mounted variant of the cleaner of Figures 1 and 2 in its on-road travelling position in which a lower part of a truck loading elevator is in its longitudinal position an upper part is folded into a vertical position and in which a cleaning drum forming part of the cleaner is disposed with its rotary axis in the horizontal position; Fgure 4 is a diametric view in longitudinal section through the cleaning drum forming part of the cleaner of Figures 1 and 2 wherein for simplicity only some of a plurality of parallel cables stretched between end collars of the drum are shown; Figure 5 is a view in longitudinal section and to an enlarged scale of one of the cross-members of the frame of the drum of Figure 4 and shows one of the resiliently suspended cables forming the periphery of the drum; Figure 6 is a plan view showing a cablevibrating device disposed at the top of the drum in the embodiments of Figures 1, 2.

4 and 5 and serving to detach particles of earth sticking to the outside surface of the cables; Figure 7 is a diagrammatic side view to an enlarged scale showing the construction and operation of the cable-vibrating device shown in Figure 6; Figure 8 is a sectional view of one of the slats of the truck-loading elevator of the embodiment of Figures 1, 2 and 4 to 6.

and Figure 9 is a side view to an enlarged scale of the truck-loading elevator of the embodiment of Figures 1, 2 and 4 to 7 in the position in which the upper part is folded into the vertical position, the view showing how the dished rubber slats are stretched at the elevator ends and the slat positions near the reversing rollers enabling the upper part of the elevator to be folded vertically.

Referring to Figure 1, a beet cleaner 1 is in the form of a self-propelled vehicle having road wheels and a driver's cab at the front. At the back of the cleaner 1 is a supply hopper 2 adapted to receive beets to be cleaned, which beets, in practice, are picked up by a crane, not shown, from a silo and deposited in the hopper 2.

At the bottom of hopper 2 there is a substantially horizontal conveyor 3 which conveys the beets to a central aperture in the rear end wall of a generally cylindrical drum 4 disposed with its central axis run ning fore and aft of the vehicle. The drum 4 is mounted for rotation about its central axis and the beets are cleaned in the drum during such rotation by rubbing on the drum periphery. The beets leave the drum via an aperture in the centre of its front end wall and drop by cavity down a chute 4a on to the lower end of an elevator 5 which is shown in its transverse orientation in Figure 1 and which serves to load the cleaned beets on to a truck alongside the cleaner moving parallel to and at the same speed as the cleaner, as shown in Figure 2.

So that the tilt of the rotational axis of the drum may be varied, the drum 4 is rotatably mounted in a support which is pivotably mounted on the vehicle, via pivot 6 visible in Figure 1, for pivoting about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. Means which are not shown but which can take the form, e.g. of a screw device or actuator can vary the tilt of the rotational axis of drum 4 as required, by varying the angle of said support relative to the vehicle.

Below the drum 4, the earth dropping from the drum drops on to an elevator 7 which discharges the earth behind the cleaner to form earth heaps 8 which can extend longitudinally as the cleaner advances.

The elevator 5 comprises, as shown in Figure 2, an upper part and a lower part which are articulated relative to each other, The lower part, which supports the upper part, is inclined with respect to the horizontal, as shown in Figure 2 and is pivotally mounted, at its lower end, for pivoting about a vertical axis relative to the vehicle chassis. The articulation between the upper part and the lower part of the elevator allows the upper part to pivot about a hori zontal axis relative to the lower part, so that the inclination of the upper part, and more particularly the height of the free end of the upper part above the ground, can be varied.

Referring to Figure 2, an uppermost position of the upper part of the elevator 3 is shown at Sa, and a lower position is indicated by chain-dotted lines Sb in Figure 2. The upper part of the elevator 5 can be raised and lowered by means of a hydraulic actuator 9 also visible in Figure 2. Thus, by appropriate adjustment of the height of the free end of the upper part of elevator 5, the risk of damage to the cleaned beets when they fall from the free end of the upper part of elevator 5 to strike the truck platforms or beets 11 already deposited in the truck can be minimised by minimising the distance through which the beets must fall.

The elevator 5 comprises a single endless flexible conveyor belt which passes around reversing rollers 14 and 13 at the lower end of the lower part and the free end of the upper part of the elevator respectively.

Furthermore, in the region of the articulation between the upper part and the lower part, the inner side of the upper run of the conveyor belt passes over further guide rollers, not shown, whilst the outer side of the lower run of the conveyor belt runs over an articulation roller 12.

The bottom roller 14 is displaceable and is permanently acted upon by a hydraulic actuator 15 which keeps the elevator belt tensioned in any position of the upper part of the elevator relative to the lower part.

The embodiment of Figure 3 differs from that of Figures 1 and 2 only in that, whereas the vehicle in Figures 1 and 2 is self-propelled, the vehicle in Figure 3 is intended to be towed by a tractor, and to this end has a tow-bar 16 at its front end in place of cab 17. In Figure 3 parts indicated with parts in Figures 1 and 2 have the same references.

In Figure 3, in which the various parts of the machine are shown in their positions for on-road travelling, the elevator 5 has been swivelled, as a whole, about the vertical pivotal axis of the lower part, into a longitudinal position in which the longitudinal direction of the lower part of the elevator is parallel with the vertical plane in which lies the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, while the upper part of the elevator 5 has been folded into a vertical position, as indicated at 5c.

In the on-road position shown in Figure 3, the drum 4 is disposed with its axis in horizontal position and the conveyor 7 has also been brought into a substantially horizontal position by pivoting around a pivot 7b by means of which the conveyor 7 is mounted for pivoting about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle chassis. The conveyor 7 also comprises an endless flexible conveyor belt which passes around reversing rollers at opposite ends of the conveyor, one of these reversing rollers being displaceable and being acted on, to tension the conveyor belt, by a hydraulic actuator 7a.

-A hydraulic motor is provided for rotating the drum 4 about its central axis in the support which is pivotally connected at 6 to the vehicle chassis.

The hydraulic motor for the drum 4 is supplied with hydraulic fluid under pressure through a hose (not shown in Figures 1 and 3) such that it can supply the motor even when the same and the.drum-bearing rollers are raised above the frame of the machine, as when the drum 4 is in its tilted position shown in Figure 1.

The chute 4a is so devised and mounted as t6 ensure that it is possible to- load the elevator 5 when the drum 4 is in operation in any of its possible inclined positions.

Referring now to Figure 4, the drum 4 comprises inter alia two annular channelsection circular end collars 18 interconnected by 10 rigid tubular cross-members 19, six of which can be seen in Figure 4, and which extend parallel with the longitudinal axis of the drum, are equally spaced therefrom and are regularly distributed around the drum. All the cross-members 19 are also rigidly connected to two intermediate annular collars 20 which serve to stiffen the drum frame. The drum has at each end a respective end wall 21, 22 respectively formed with a central aperture 23, 24 respectively through which the beets respectively enter and leave the drum, in the latter case by way of the chute. 4a.

A plurality of metal cables 25 are stretched in tension between the end collars 18. As will be apparent from Figure 4, each end collar 18 is channel shaped in axial section through the drum and thus provides two axially spaced apart radially outwardly extending flanges. The flange of each end collar 18 which is nearer the other end collar 18 is referenced at 18a in Figure 4. Each cable 25 is supported at its ends by the flanges 18a of the two collars 18. In the example described there are 180 equidistantly spaced parallel cables 25 arranged at a between-axis spacing of 38 mm. For the sake of clarity, only some of the cables 25 are shown in Figure 4.

The resilient mounting of the metal cables 25 in tension will be described hereinafter with reference to Figure 5.

At the right-hand end of the drum of Figure 4 there are known bar or rod devices 2628; they are distributed evenly around the periphery of drum 4, pick up beets at the bottom of the drum and convey the beets to the central aperture 24 in drum end wall 22 and to the chute 4a.

Figure 5 shows fragmentarily the drum end walls 21, 22, one of the tubular crossmembers 19, the end collars 18 and one cable 25. As Figure 5 shows, the ends of each cable are rigidly secured by any apappropriate means to respective couplers or the like 29, each of which is extended by a pespective screwthreaded rod 30 which is passed through a respective hole in the appropriate radial flange 18a and is retained by a nut 31 and a locknut 32, the suspension of the cables 25 being made- resilient through the agency of - spring washers 33 engaged around the rods 30 between the nuts 30 and the adjoining flanges 18a.

In. a variant, spring washers-are also engaged around the rods 30 between the couplers 20 and the flanges -18a. FigureS also shows that the metal cables 25 are covered by sheathing 25a of plastics or rubber or some similar material, which helps to reduce damage of the roots.

Figures 6 and 7 are diagrammatic views showing how, during rotation of the drum 4, successive cables coming into positions occupied by cables indicated at 25a, 25b and 25c in Figures 6 and 7 are vibrated by means of sets of hammer devices 26a, 26b and 26c respectively adapted to act simultaneously or consecutively at various parts of each of the cables 25a, 25b and 25c.

The hammer devices are each pivotally connected to the support upon which the drum is rotatably mounted, in a manner not shown in detail, the hammer devices preferably all having a common pivotal axis parallel with the rotary axis of the drum, this axis being indicated at 27" in Figure 7.

The hammer devices are arranged to be alternately lifted from the cables 25 and dropped back thereon by respective snailcams 30' carried by a common cam shaft 27'. Figure 6 shows bearings 28' for the cam shaft 27' and a cam shaft-driving motor 29'.

In Figure 7, which is a cross-section through the drum 4 on the line VII-VII of Figure 6, the solid-line position of cam 30f and of hammer 31' (corresponding to the hammer devices 26b in Figure 6) corresponds to the hammer 31' being in a bottom position in which its free end has just struck the cable 25b. In the chain-line positions 30a, 31a of the cam 30' and hammer 31', the cam 30' is raising the hammer, the same then dropping by its own weight and striking the cable 25b to vibrate the same so as to detach any mud sticking to it, before the cam 30' has reached a position in which in can raise the hammer 31 again. The hammers 31' can of course also be springbiased as well as or instead of weightloaded, the spring being compressed when the cams raise the hammers. The impacts when the hammers 31' strike the metal cables vibrate the same satisfactorily and effectively detach mud sticking to the cables, giving more intensive self-cleaning than can be provided just by the variable loadings applied to the various cables by the The hammer devices 26a, 26b, 26d, 31 beets or the like in the drum 4.

etc., may be arranged to strike the periphery of the drum, defined by cables 25, at any position above the level which in use of the cleaner will be occupied by beets.

Thus, the hammer devices may be disposed half-way- up one side of the drum, as -indicated in Figure 7, or may be disposed at the top of the drum.

Referring now to Figures 8 and 9, the elevator S has at intervals slats-in the form of flexible rubber dished members 32' each secured tangentially, along one edge, to a respective place 33' on conveyor belt 34 of elevator 5, and each secured adjacent its other edge, at 35, to the central part 36 of a respective inclined channel section supw port 37 comprising two longitudinal end members 38, forming the sides of the channel, the supports 37 being secured at 39, at their ends remote from the fixing position 35.

Because the supports 37 are inherently rigid, their rigidity being enhanced by the channel section shape thereof, and because the supports 37 are firmly secured, as at 39 for the support shown in Figure 8, the orientation of each support 37 with respect to the portion of the belt 39 to which it is secured is substantially fixed.

As can be seen clearly in Figure ,9, the slats 32' stretch at ends 13 and 14 of elevator 5 as indicated at 32a and 32b respec tively in Figure 9, but are bent to a more pronounced extent on the underside of the elevator in the region of the internal angle between the upper and lower parts of the elevator 5, as indicated at 32c and 32d.

The slats 32' and the supports 37 do not occupy the entire width of the conveyor belt 34, but marginal zones of the belt are left free. The roller 12, which guides the belt on the outer side thereof in the region of the articulation of the elevator 5 engages these marginal zones of the belt, adjacent the ends of the roller 12, but intermediate its ends the roller 12 is interrupted or recessed to clear the slats 32' and supports 37.

The cleaner according to the invention is also of use for sorting demolition debris or ores where relatively large elements are loaded on to trucks and fine particles and dust are discharged behind the cleaner.

A cleaner for beets or other root crops, installed at a fixed location in a processing factory, may comprise a cleaning drum identical with the drum 4 described rota-' tably mounted in a similar support pivotally mounted, as at 6 in the embodiments described, to allow the tilt of the rotary axis of the drum described, and with hammer devices, as described, for vibrating the cables forming the periphery of the drum.

In such a factory installation a conveyor, corresponding to conveyor 3 in the embodiments described would be provided for conveying- roots to the drum, a conveyor extending from underneath the drum for conveying away earth, etc., removed by the drum, and a conveyor provided for con veying the cleaned beets to storage Or to some other desired location. In su'ch a factory installation the conveyor conveying the removed earth, etc., from below the drum preferably returns this earth; etc., back to the trucks which have carried the roots to the factory.

Claims (15)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1. A cleaner suitable for cleaning root crops such as beets, and comprising a hopper feeding a rotatable cleaning drum having a peripheral cleaning lattice, an elevator for conveying cleaned root crops to means for receiving the same, said elevator being mounted for pivoting around a vertical axis between an operative position extending transversely of a longitudinal axis of the cleaner and an inoperative longitudinally extending position, the cleaner ineluding an elevating conveyor disposed below the drum to collect earth or other foreign material dropping through the gaps in the peripheral cleaning lattice of the cleaning drum, said elevating conveyor being mounted for pivoting around an axis extending transversely of said longitudinal axis between a horizontal position and a tilted position adopted for discharging earth or other material, collected by the elevating conveyor.

2. A cleaner according to claim 1, in which the peripheral cleaning lattice comprises a plurality of metal cables extending parallel to the drum axis and arranged at regular intervals round the periphery thereof, said cables being extended in tension between end collars at opposite ends of the drum.

3. A cleaner according to claim 2 wherein said end collars are channel shaped in axial section through the drum, the side walls of each such channel being afforded by two axially spaced-apart, radially-extending, peripheral flanges of the respective end collar, that flange of each said end collar which is nearer the other end collar providing support for a respective end of each said cable, and each cable being connected, at at least one end thereof, to the respective end collar via resilient tensioning means.

4. A cleaner according to any of claims 1 to 3, in which the drum is mounted for pivoting about an axis transverse to its rotational axis, means being provided to vary the tilt of the drum about said pivotal axis.

5. A cleaner according to claim 2, in which means is provided for vibrating the metal cables consecutively as they come into their uppermost position during rotation of the drum, the last mentioned means comprising a plurality of hammers each movable betwen a position in engagement with the cleaning lattice formed by the cables and a position spaced from the lattice, the hammers being biased towards their positions engaging said lattice and means being provided for periodically moving the hammers away from said lattice and for releasing the hammers to return under said bias to strike said lattice.

6. A cleaner according to claim 5 wherein said hammers are mounteå for pivoting about a common axis extending parallel with the rotational axis of the drum and the means for periodically moving the hammers away from said lattice and for allowing the hammers to return under their bias comprises a rotatable cam-shaft extending parallel with the pivotal axis of the hammers and carrying snail cams acting on the hammers.

7. A cleaner according to any preceding claims, in which said elevator for conveying cleaned root crops comprises an upper part and a lower part which are articulated relatively to one another so as to enable the height of the upper part of the elevator to be varied, and also so as to enable the upper part to be folded down completely into a vertical position, in which it extends downwardly of the articulation with the lower part, more particularly in the longitudinal position of the elevator.

8. A cleaner according to claim 7, in which said upper part of said elevator for conveying cleaned root crops is actuated by a hydraulic ram, and in which said elevator for conveying cleaned root crops comprises an endless conveyor belt guided around end rollers, the conveyor belt of the elevator being kept tensioned by means of a second hydraulic ram in any position of the upper part of the elevator.

9. A cleaner according to any preceding claim, in which said elevator for conveying cleaned root crops comprises an endless conveyor belt guided around end rollers and in which the conveyor belt has equidistant elements in the form of dished members made of flexible elastomeric material, each dished member being rigidly secured at its edge remote from the belt to one end of a respective metal support having its opposite end rigidly secured directly to the conveyor belt, so that the flexible dished members can be stretched as they move along the elevator end rollers and be emptied more readily, at the same time re leasing more readily any foreign material sticking to the dished members.

10. A cleaner according to claim 9 when dependent on claim 7 or claim 8, wherein a reversing roller is provided engaging the exterior of the conveyor belt in the internal angle between the upper and lower part of said elevator for conveying cleaned root crops near the place where the top and bottom parts of the elevator are articulated to one another, said reversing roller engaging the exterior of the belt only along the margins thereof, or said reversing roller being formed over the width thereof with a groove deep enough for the flexible members to take up a position which is partially closed as compared with the position of normal opening on the linearly extending part of the conveyor belt.

11. A cleaner according to any preceding claim comprising a vehicle having said hopper, cleaning drum, elevator and conveyor mounted thereon, said longitudinal axis of the cleaner corresponding to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, whereby said elevator for conveying cleaned root crops can be disposed in said operative position for loading cleaned beets into a truck travelling beside the first-mentioned vehicle and said elevating conveyor disposed in said tilted position for discharging earth or other material, collected by the elevating conveyor, behind the cleaner as the first-mentioned vehicle advances in operation of the cleaner, and whereby said elevating conveyor can be disposed in a horizontal position, and said elevator for conveying cleaned root crops can be pivoted into said inoperative position, for on-road travelling.

12. A method of cleaning beets and other similar root crops comprising using a cleaner according to any of the previous claims to load a truck with cleaned root crops and to discharge behind the cleaner the dirt removed from the root crops.

13. A method of sorting large pieces from finer pieces and dust in a material such as demolition debris, ore or the like, comprising using a cleaner according to any of claims 1 to 11 to load a truck with large pieces and to discharge behind the cleaner the fine particles and dust.

14. A method of cleaning beets and other similar root crops, characterised in that it comprises installing a cleaner according to any of claims 1 to 10 within a processing works, supplying the cleaner so that it provides pre-cleaning of the beets or other roots before their storage and returns the earth moved from the beets or the like in the cleaner drum on conveyor belts to the trucks which have trucked in the beets or other roots to be cleaned.

15. A cleaner suitable for cleaning root crops, such as beets, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.