GB1588022A - Separating apparatus for potato harvesters - Google Patents

Description

(54) SEPARATING APPARATUS FOR POTATO HARVESTERS (71) We, SAMRO BYSTRONIC MAS CHINEN AG., of 130 Kirchbergstrasse, 3400 Burgdorf, Switzerland, a Swiss body corporate 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: The present invention relates to separating apparatus for potato or like crop harvesters and more especially complete potato harvesters having an endless rotating separating belt.

A large number of material separating units and devices are known. Recently separating belts comprised of rubber-elastic belts having deformable fingers projecting therefrom have come to the fore for use as separating devices and, for example, a separating device is disclosed in German Offenlegungsschrift 2 024 954 which is provided in itself with a resiliently deformable auxiliary separating member to increase the separating action; said member being fixed at securing points on both sides of the separating belt and traversing the working section of the separating belt above the ends of the fingers of the separating belt. By this means stones, lumps of soil and the like heavy objects to be separated from the potatoes are pressed still deeper into the separating belt and carried along by the separating belt, whilst the potatoes remain on the tips of the fingers or sink into such to a lesser extent and are scraped off by the scrapers. The applicants, moreover, know of a complete potato harvester which has a separating device with belt and an adjustable calibrating or grading device.

Thus, the graded potatoes and also larger stones reach a central conveyor belt and the stones are then picked-out by operators travelling on the harvester. Further conveyor belts are mounted on both sides of this conveyor belt which permit the separation of small potatoes.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a separating device or apparatus with improved separating output compared with prior art devices.

According to the present invention there is provided separating apparatus for potato or like crop harvesters including a first, endless rotatable separating belt with fingers extending therefrom for assisting in the separation of potatoes or like crop from stones or the like and a second, endless separating belt with fingers extending therefrom also for assisting in the separation of potatoes or like crop from stones or the like, mounted adjacent an edge of the upper run of said first separating belt extending between reversing regions of the first belt, and with said first and second separating belts being so mounted and connected to drive means that the second separating belt is rotatable in a direction opposite and parallel to that of the first separating belt.

In a preferred embodiment of the separating apparatus, the separating belts are made of rubber-elastic having fingers tapering towards their top ends. Preferably, the two separating belts form an obtuse angle.

The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a complete potato harvester having a separating unit or apparatus illustrated; Figure 2 is a side view of two belts of the separating apparatus; and Figure 3 is a plan view of the two belts of Figure 2.

A potato harvester is shown in the drawings and includes a lifting wheel 1 which conveys the material to be separated i.e. potatoes, stones, lumps of soil and greens or tops onto a first separating belt 2 for separating potatoes from soil and stones, and which, seen from the shaft, moves from left to right. This separating belt 2 in the present example comprises an endless rubber-elastic belt having upwardly tapering elastic or resiliently deformable fingers projecting therefrom and is inclined towards the horizontal by the angle a,, which is between 5 and 15 .

A scraper 3 is mounted over the belt 2 and is inclined to retain larger materials such as calibrated or graded potatoes, large stones and tops. Smaller material such as soil, small stones and small potatoes, drops from the first separating belt 2 onto a first lateral chain conveyor belt 4, from which potatoes may possibly be further gleaned.

The larger materials to be separated arrive from the first belt on a second separator belt 5, which rotates from right to left and thus in an opposite direction to that of the belt 2. A stop ledge 6 and a second scraper 7 are mounted above the second belt 5. A further separating process occurs on this second belt 5 whereby the remaining lumps of soil are reduced and the remaining greens or tops are substantially removed.

Graded potatoes and large stones mainly arrive from belt 5 on a main central conveyor belt 8 which comprises an endless rotating chain, and such large stones may be removed by the operators travelling with the harvester said operators being able to stand on running boards 9 and are protected from falling off by railing 10. Two smaller conveyor belts 11 and 12 are provided on the other side of the main conveyor belt and are separated from each other and allow smaller, ungraded potatoes from belt 5 to be separately picked out and to be filled into sacks. The graded potatoes are delivered from the main conveyor belt 8 in a container 13. The container may, of course, be replaced either by a bunker or a sack filling apparatus connected to the conveyor belt 8. The remaining of the details of the complete harvester are not of importance in the operation of the invention and are consequently not mentioned further.

Figures 2 and 3 show the arrangement of the two separating belts whereby special attention has to be paid to the fact that the second separating belt 5 is also inclined at an angle 22 relative to the horizontal whereby Oc may lie between 3 and 10 , said separating belts defining an obtuse angle. Figure 3 especially shows the directions of rotation of both separating belts and the arrangement of both scrapers 3 and 7 and the ledge 6. It is readily seen that by coupling together two separating belts rotating in opposite directions there is attained an increased separating output, i.e. within the same time unit a greater separating action is attained, moreover the tubers are treated more carefully. This in turn means that the operators can gather potatoes faster thereby permitting the travelling speed to be increased. To enable the separating apparatus to be adapted to different conditions, i.e. ground conditions, the degree of moisture and the existence of tops it is necessary to enable the speed of the two separating belts to be separately controlled and also the position of the scrapers to be adjusted.

Tests have shown that the separating apparatus in accordance with the invention compared with the prior art produces double the output-in other words the travelling speed may be substantially doubled using the same number of operators. This output increase is still more important when difficult conditions prevail, such as, for example, in clay soil. It is readily seen that the embodiment of separating apparatus in accordance with the invention allows for variations without departing from the inventive concept. It is also possible to place the second separating belt 5 on a vibrating device so as to obtain a better separation of the materials requiring separation. Whilst the separating apparatus has been conceived and described for a potato harvester in particular, it is also possible to use this separating unit on a different machine for separating other produce.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. Separating apparatus for potato or like crop harvesters including a first endless rotatable separating belt with fingers extending therefrom for assisting in the separation of potatoes or like crop from stones or the like and a second, endless separating belt with fingers extending therefrom also for assisting in the separation of potatoes or like crop from stones or the like, mounted adjacent an edge of the upper run of said first separating belt extending between reversing regions of the first belt, and with said first and second separating belts being so mounted and connected to drive means that the second separating belt is rotatable in a direction opposite and parallel to that of the first separating belt.

2. Separating apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the separating belts are made of rubber-elastic belts with elastic or resiliently deformable fingers projecting therefrom and tapering towards their top ends.

3. Separating apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the separating belts are arranged so as to define an obtuse angle between them.

4. Separating apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, in which the first separating belt is inclined at an angle which is between 5 and 15 relative to the horizontal.

5. Separating apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4, in which the second separating belt is inclined relative to the horizontal at an angle which lies between

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (7)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. the angle a,, which is between 5 and 15 . A scraper 3 is mounted over the belt 2 and is inclined to retain larger materials such as calibrated or graded potatoes, large stones and tops. Smaller material such as soil, small stones and small potatoes, drops from the first separating belt 2 onto a first lateral chain conveyor belt 4, from which potatoes may possibly be further gleaned. The larger materials to be separated arrive from the first belt on a second separator belt 5, which rotates from right to left and thus in an opposite direction to that of the belt 2. A stop ledge 6 and a second scraper 7 are mounted above the second belt 5. A further separating process occurs on this second belt 5 whereby the remaining lumps of soil are reduced and the remaining greens or tops are substantially removed. Graded potatoes and large stones mainly arrive from belt 5 on a main central conveyor belt 8 which comprises an endless rotating chain, and such large stones may be removed by the operators travelling with the harvester said operators being able to stand on running boards 9 and are protected from falling off by railing 10. Two smaller conveyor belts 11 and 12 are provided on the other side of the main conveyor belt and are separated from each other and allow smaller, ungraded potatoes from belt 5 to be separately picked out and to be filled into sacks. The graded potatoes are delivered from the main conveyor belt 8 in a container 13. The container may, of course, be replaced either by a bunker or a sack filling apparatus connected to the conveyor belt 8. The remaining of the details of the complete harvester are not of importance in the operation of the invention and are consequently not mentioned further. Figures 2 and 3 show the arrangement of the two separating belts whereby special attention has to be paid to the fact that the second separating belt 5 is also inclined at an angle 22 relative to the horizontal whereby Oc may lie between 3 and 10 , said separating belts defining an obtuse angle. Figure 3 especially shows the directions of rotation of both separating belts and the arrangement of both scrapers 3 and 7 and the ledge 6. It is readily seen that by coupling together two separating belts rotating in opposite directions there is attained an increased separating output, i.e. within the same time unit a greater separating action is attained, moreover the tubers are treated more carefully. This in turn means that the operators can gather potatoes faster thereby permitting the travelling speed to be increased. To enable the separating apparatus to be adapted to different conditions, i.e. ground conditions, the degree of moisture and the existence of tops it is necessary to enable the speed of the two separating belts to be separately controlled and also the position of the scrapers to be adjusted. Tests have shown that the separating apparatus in accordance with the invention compared with the prior art produces double the output-in other words the travelling speed may be substantially doubled using the same number of operators. This output increase is still more important when difficult conditions prevail, such as, for example, in clay soil. It is readily seen that the embodiment of separating apparatus in accordance with the invention allows for variations without departing from the inventive concept. It is also possible to place the second separating belt 5 on a vibrating device so as to obtain a better separation of the materials requiring separation. Whilst the separating apparatus has been conceived and described for a potato harvester in particular, it is also possible to use this separating unit on a different machine for separating other produce. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1. Separating apparatus for potato or like crop harvesters including a first endless rotatable separating belt with fingers extending therefrom for assisting in the separation of potatoes or like crop from stones or the like and a second, endless separating belt with fingers extending therefrom also for assisting in the separation of potatoes or like crop from stones or the like, mounted adjacent an edge of the upper run of said first separating belt extending between reversing regions of the first belt, and with said first and second separating belts being so mounted and connected to drive means that the second separating belt is rotatable in a direction opposite and parallel to that of the first separating belt.

2. Separating apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the separating belts are made of rubber-elastic belts with elastic or resiliently deformable fingers projecting therefrom and tapering towards their top ends.

3. Separating apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the separating belts are arranged so as to define an obtuse angle between them.

4. Separating apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, in which the first separating belt is inclined at an angle which is between 5 and 15 relative to the horizontal.

5. Separating apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4, in which the second separating belt is inclined relative to the horizontal at an angle which lies between

3 and 10 .

6. Separating apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5, in which the speed of rotation of both separating belts may be separately regulated.

7. Separating apparatus constructed and arranged to operate substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.