GB191312414A - Potato Cleaner and Sorter. - Google Patents

Abstract

12,414. Carlson, C. L. May 28. Cleaning potatoes. -Comprises a machine for cleaning potatoes of soil and then sorting them according to size. Pairs of uprights 2, 3 on a bed-plate 1 support a fixed bed 4, in which are arranged inclined screens to receive the sorted potatoes which emerge at shoots 6. An oscillating bed 7 above the bed 4 is supported on flexible rods 8, 9. The rod 10 extends longitudinally and is connected at its ends to a crank-shaft 11 and to a cross-rod joining two blocks 10<b> secured to the bed 7. The crank-shaft is driven through gearing 14, 12 from a handturned shaft 15. A charging-hopper 22 is secured to the uprights 2 and has passing through it a shaft 21, upon which two disks 24 are mounted. The disks are joined by spaced rods 25, upon which are formed nodes. The shaft 21 is driven by belt gearing from the crank-shaft 11. A perforated semicircular guide-plate 27 serves to prevent the potatoes from falling out of the hopper before coming to the discharge opening. The bottom of the movable bed 7 is formed of longitudinal bars 30 spaced a little further apart at the end of the machine away from the hopper than at the near end. The bars are pivotally mounted and are connected to a rod 36, which may be moved by a lever 31 to adjust the size of the openings. Runways 39 are supported on the inside of the bed 7 and form guides for a rack 41 having dependirg prongs which move between the bars 30. This is manually moved from one end of the machine to the other to clear the strips 30 of dirt. The potatoes are placed in the hopper and the soil removed by rubbing against the nodes. They then fall on to the strips 30 and are moved forward by the reciprocating bed, the bigger potatoes dropping through on to the sieves at the further end.