MXPA00005505A - Coconut processing - Google Patents

Abstract

Coconut processing takes coconuts in a bin (10) via a conveyor (12) to a cutter (18) with the halves exposed to jets (49, 50) to remove meat. The removed meat can be conveyed (26) to a mill (40) and dryer (41). The coconut halves may be carried on a conveyor (28, 31) to a husk remover (35). The removed husks can be used as fuel for the dryer (41).

Description

PROCESSING OF COCOS FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention is concerned with the processing of coconuts and in particular with the generation of copra and other coconut products.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Copra is the dried meat of a coconut. The coconut oil is pressed from the copra. The oil can be used sex - in the production of soap, margarine, detergent and other products. The cake after the pressing, called coconut stearin, can be used as animal fodder. Copra is produced by drying La. Coconut meat either in the sun or by using hot air or ovens. The drying allows the coconut meat to be maintained for longer periods, allowing the transport of the plantation to the processing plant. The coconut meat needs to be extracted from the coconut. The coconut has a bark commonly of more than 2.5 to 5 cm of fibrous pod surrounding a wooden shell containing meat. Traditionally, the coconuts are peeled, open when they are split or cut the wooden shell and then the meat is taken out with a spoon to dry it or dried on it. peel of wood to cause the meat to shrink or contract from its wood peel and free itself from it.

Some of the drying of the meat is effected by fire or commonly by passing through a hot-air tunnel. The fibers of the pod, called bonnet or fiber of the coconut bark can be made into mats, ropes, brooms and other products. The wood shell can be charred for use as fuel or used for another - for other purposes. The processing of coconuts is intense work since it is a manual process. As such, it faces problems with hygiene. The typical drying process exposes coconut meat to contamination, also being exposed to rain and dust when it is dried in the sun, subjecting it to heat degradation, in excess in ovens and in addition to smoke when it is dried by fire. The drying must be effective to reduce the moisture content to less than 10%, otherwise the molding will damage the copra. In general, the production of coconut around the Pacific is effective in supplying copra to Europe where the oil is extracted and enters into the production of a range of products, with coconut stearin being used as a feed for livestock. The pod and wood shell are usually left in plantations and are widely wasted. The copra is transported as pieces or halves of shell. In this way, approximately a maximum of five tons can be packed and transported in a standard container of 6 meters (20 feet).

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide improvements in methods and apparatus for the processing of coconuts, such improvements reduce labor inputs, provide greater control in production and reduce the degradation and contamination cited above. Additional advantages will be realized in preferred ways, as will be made clearer later herein, such as in the provision of a product that is transported more efficiently from the point of production. to the end users.

NATURE OF THE INVENTION The invention obtains its objective in the provision of a method of processing coconuts comprising: separating the coconut meat from open coconuts; and process the coconut meat; characterized in that: the coconuts are fed in series via a conveyor to a distribution means; the whole or dehusked coconuts are distributed to expose their meat in respective portions; and the coconut meat is separated from its respective portions. In a preferred form the method is one in which the pods are harvested and used in heat generation to dry the meat by using at least the pod as fuel. The method can be put into operation additionally to separate the wood shell from the pods to allow it to be charred - separately as a by-product. In addition, the method can utilize water tanks to separate the coconut meat from its wooden shell and / or the sheath from the wooden shell. In a refined way, the method can be put into operation to separate the hard skin from the coconut meat to allow the production of dried coconut. The invention additionally provides an apparatus for the processing of coconuts comprising: a dryer that converts coconut meat to copra, characterized in that: a conveyor feeds the coconuts in series to a coconut splitter; a coconut splitter sections the coconuts into portions of coconut; a meat remover separates the coconut meat from the coconut portions; and means of supply collect the separated coconut meat and supply it to the dryer. _ _ Preferably the apparatuses is one in which there is a burner that can be put into operation to heat the drying, which uses the pods and / or wooden shell of the coconuts that remain after the meat is removed. Ideally, the apparatus is one in which the coconut splitter that divides the coconuts uses one of: a circular saw, a saw band or a water jet. Preferably, the dryer converts the meat to copra using a conventional fluidized bed dryer or "" 5 a jet dryer, as will be well known to those skilled in the drying art, preferably operating in the range of 90-120. ° C. The copra is preferably reduced to a granular material compacted for transport. If the material is reduced to a granular dry granular material, approximately twelve-tons will be packed in the same container of 6 meters (twenty feet). In a preferred form, the apparatus for the processing of coconuts effects the removal of the coconut meat by the use of high pressure water jets. These devices are well known to those skilled in the art and any of the articles in stock that provide an appropriate jet to the present application could be purchased for use in the present invention. The section with jets of water could use an impulse to the hollow of a section of coconut, the impulse removes or separates the coconut meat like a shell, the jet works through the meat and then takes the line of least resistance, It works around the inside of the wooden shell to effect the separation of the coconut meat. "Alternatively, to avoid the task of repeatedly changing or boosting the jet at high pressure, the jet could be put into operation continuously.Thus, the jet cuts from one edge, to the meat and returns to the wood shell, where it breaks another time it takes the line of least resistance working • between the coconut meat and the wooden shell to effect its separation.In another preferred form of the apparatus for the processing of coconuts, the husk or fiber of coconut bark is preferably separated from the hardwood shell also by the use of a water jet.The coconuts or the remains of the portions of coconuts, of which JThe coconut meat has been removed, can pass under a jet, the side of the fiber of coconut bark exposed to the jet and_ again the jet will cut the wood core, where it will take the line of least resistance, working behind the fiber of coconut bark, on the hard wood shell for r a separation of the two.

In still other preferred forms of the coconut processing apparatus, the coconut meat that can be removed as a shell can be laminated or otherwise treated to flatten or otherwise form it to allow the skin existing around the side outside of the shell be flattened or removed in another way. When this skin is flattened or otherwise removed, the coconut meat so prepared can be dried to be used as dried coconut. The residues of the planer can be fed to the copra production section of the apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be described with reference to several preferred embodiments which will be described herein with reference, to the accompanying drawings in which: Figures 1 and 2 show schematically, in a generalized plan view and in elevation, the components of a coconut processing plant that is in accordance with the present invention; Figure 3 shows a detailed elevation view of an aspect of the processing apparatus. coconuts that carry out the processing indicated in figure 1; Figure 4 shows an alternative form of the feeder for feeding coconuts of a silo for processing according to the invention; Figure 5 is a plan view of an alternative means of an arrangement whereby the coconuts can be fed for sectioning into portions of coconut for processing according to the invention; Figures 6 and 7 are detailed views showing how the coconut bark fiber could be separated from its wood shell, according to the invention and Figure 8 shows in elevation a mechanism - by which the meat husks of coconut, they could be processed to separate their skin, according to the invention. _ PREFERRED MODALITIES In FIGS. 1 and 2 a holding container, a silo, a storage hopper or a tray 10 (hereinafter referred to simply as a tray for convenience) can be used to retain, maintain or store an amount. of coconuts that are going to be processed. The coconuts may be fed or dispensed from the tray 10 by any suitable means, as will be well known to those skilled in the art or otherwise fed to an appropriate feeding mechanism, hauler or conveyor 11 (hereinafter here referred to simply as a conveyer for convenience) that transports, moves or transports it to a processing station, zone or space between rollers, in this mode two coplanar wheels 13, 14 (hereinafter referred to simply as space) -between rollers for convenience), wherein a coconut, such as the coconut 12 can be supported, retained or coupled thereto, with retaining means or accessories, retaining devices or hooks 15, 16 (hereinafter in the present simply referred to as hooks for convenience) projected therefrom or mounted thereon, which may be pressed or driven, in the Space between rollers, to the sheath of a coconut, fed to it, to hold it firmly between the wheels. The conveyor 11 can be a cup or cup conveyor on which the coconuts are oriented longitudinally to make them advance to the divider, distribution or sectioning device where they are sectioned longitudinally and portions. An alternative mechanism by which the carriers are brought into the sectioning device is described in greater detail hereinafter. A splitting, cutting or dividing device, such as a saw or water jet, located at 18, cuts or divides the coconut into portions, preferably into hemispheres, which are split to separate, 19, 20, as the wheels rotate to cut-the coconuts through the space between rollers- The jets of water located at 23, can be used to strike the meat in the respective halves 24, 25 to cause the removal of the meat from its wooden shell, with the meat_ collected on an appropriate conveyor 26 to transport it ideally to. a hammer mill 40 or the like and then to the dryer 41 via the conveyor 27 or the like. The peels can be collected on a conveyor 28, after their separation from the wheels 13, 1. by means of levers, projections, ejectors or ramps 29, 30"that enter or pass under the peels to release or separate the pods from their hooks The collected pods can be brought to a high pressure water jet 35, on an appropriate conveyor 31, which passes them or transports them beyond the water jet where the wooden shells can be separated by means of the action of the jet and dropped on a conveyor 36 for "" its passage or feeding to a granulator, mill or operable mill to reduce them, ideally to a granular form, if desired and a carbonization chamber to convert the wood shell material The pods can be collected on a conveyor 37 for processing to an oven.The two wheels can be driven by any suitable means, as it will be known by those skilled in the art, such as a chain 40 ^ energized by a driving gear 41, in circuit around gears 42, 43 on respective wheels. The tray 10 may incorporate a vibrator or shaker, as will be well known to those skilled in the art, energized by an engine 44 and connected at 45 to a conical base 46 with outlet 47 from which the coconuts may fall onto the conveyor 11. Drop ramp or gate 48 can be provided as a means by which any waste produced in the distribution or slicing station is transported. The coconut meat remover 23 can feed two water jets 49, 50 properly oriented to point to the hollow of the coconut portions, as shown. In the particular embodiment of Figure 2, the coconut shells on the conveyor 31 are cut or transported, the open side down, under raised coupling means or stabilizer 52, which may be a band or the like, commonly mounted around of rollers, as will be well known to those skilled in the art, for transporting or driving. pods up to and beyond a jet 53 which is put into operation to separate the coconut bark fiber from the wood shell. In the particular embodiment of Figure 3, the space between rollers between the wheels 13, 14 is seen in a lateral view. The wheel rings are ideally concave to present faces 38, 39 that complement the shape of a coconut tipleo. The hooks 15, 16 can be arranged on the surfaces 38, 39 to ensure a good coupling with and support to the coconuts fed thereto. Since a coconut can be commonly 30-40 in one dimension and 25 to 35 cm transverse to it, some compensation for the variation in size is desirable. In this regard the wheels may have a deformable ring or one or both wheels could be mounted on movable shafts which are predisposed to close the space between rollers to engage "sufficiently with the coconuts, but movable to compensate for larger or smaller nuts. the particular embodiment of figure 4 shows an alternate mechanism by which coconuts are fed from a silo or tray 54 to the conveyor 11 to be transported by this to the processing station.The base of the tray can feed into the conveyor channel. feed 55, which can be vibrated or shaken by a mechanism 56, as will be well known to those skilled in the art, to move the coconuts to a feed wheel 57 whose periphery can be segmented or hollowed to collect and carry coconuts individual, such as coconut 58 to conveyor 11.

In the particular embodiment of Figure 5 there is an alternative mechanism by which coconuts fed on the conveyor 11 can be sectioned or divided. Two chains 59, 60 can be driven around sprockets to create an extension therebetween to support or coupling ~~ with a coconut in the space between rollers, at 61, where division or sectioning can be carried out. The chains can be equipped with hooks, as above with respect to the wheels, for coupling "in the pods of the coconuts, by this means the two sections of coconut that are created by the sectioning are separated in the zone 62, where they can mount jets by means of which the coconut meat is separated as described above.The cogwheels 63, 64, 65 can be fixed.The cogwheels 66, 67 can be loaded by spring to maintain tension in the chain and accommodate coconuts of different sizes The toothed wheel 68 can be driven by a chain 69 of a motor 70. The other chain can be run on a similar configuration of sprockets.The chains can be equipped with cup or cup-shaped elements that are They complement the shape of a coconut, the hooks can be mounted inside these cups, the chains can be aligned vertically to feed a larger number of coconuts beyond of the respective processing stations. In zone 61 there may be three saws 71, 72, 73 in a three-row system, displaced as shown. In a three-row system there could be three. Removal projections 74, 75, 76 oriented as shown. In the particular embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7 a zone is seen in more detail in which the fiber of coconut bark can be released or removed from its wooden shell. The coconut sections 78 produced by the The above apparatus can be transported, face downwards, on a flat grooved conveyor 79, under a through conveyor 80 ideally loaded by spring 80 to the water jet 81. The action of the jet a. high ^. pressure 81 can be operative to release or separate the coconut bark fiber from the wood shell, the water pressure causes the pods to move to the sides and leaves the shell free of wood to continue on, the conveyor-plane 85 under the spring-loaded conveyor 84. The effect of two spring-loaded conveyors 80, 84 is to retain the portions before and after the jet 81. In the particular embodiment of Fig. 8, the coconut meat husks 86 they are transported by a flat conveyor 87 to a bulldozer or roughing machine 91 where the outer skin can be sliced or otherwise separated A through conveyor 88 can be supported on the coconut meat shells, with its roller 89 of the effective end to flatten the 9C-coconut shell before encountering the '91 trowel .The chips can be collected and fed to the copra dryer at 92. The shaved coconut meat 93 can be fed to the sec. deco for, sex stuffed. The water jets 23 in Figure 1_ can be standard jets produced as cutting tools energized normally from a high pressure piston pump, as will be well known to those skilled in the art. Normally, these can be put into operation at 14 Kg / cm2 (2,000 pounds / square inch), feeding 50 liters / minute in a jet that is normally fed from a 2.8 mm nozzle. It will be clear to those of experience, e? the technique that there is a relationship., between parameters such as pressure and flow velocity and that these parameters can be varied considerably with an ideal effect on the. cutting operation. In the operation of the present invention, the water jets can be put into operation in a continuous manner, effective to cut through the meat as the wheel carries a half or portion of coconut beyond the same. In a joint towards the middle of the portion, the water can be effective to blow the meat shell outwards -d.e_ your madexa hull. Alternatively, the jets of water could be changed to drive a burst of water when the portion is properly positioned, but this complicates the control of the apparatus. The divisor that divides or divides the coconuts can be a circular saw, a band saw, a water jet, etc. , ideally with a capacity to cut from one to four coconuts per second. The dryer which converts the meat to a final form can be a conventional fluid bed dryer or jet dryer, which commonly operates at 9 ° C -120 ° C, with the temperature maintained below 120 ° C because at temperatures The oil is usually oozed and discolored. The invention can also be applied to other nuts in which a pulp meat is to be released from its wood peel, with appropriate dimensional variation to adapt to the nut. The water jet technique could be. used to pod nuts before being split if this is desired. Walnuts with pods could then be processed by means of a division device with their meat, then separated. But a process like separating the pod which is a convenient means by which portions can be mounted on the apparatus and some other mechanisms need to be used to engage with the wooden shells to retain the portions while the meat is separated. __

Claims (12)

1. CLAIMS 1. A method of processing coconuts is described comprising: separating the meat from open coconuts; and process the coconut meat; characterized because: the coconuts are fed in. series on a conveyor to a dividing medium; whole or unsheathed cocci are divided by exposing their meat in respective portions; and the coconut meat is separated from respective portions. -
2. 2. A method of processing coconuts according to claim 1, characterized in that high pressure water jets are directed to the hollow of the portions to separate the coconut meat from its wooden hull and / or to the outside of the coconuts. Separate the pod from the wooden shell.
3. 3. A method of processing coconuts according to any of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the coconut meat shells are flattened and shaved to separate their outer skin before drying to produce dried coconuts. ___
4. 4. A method of processing coconuts according to any of claims 1 or 3, characterized in that the coconut shells are harvested and used in the generation of heat for the drying of the coconut meat, by the use of at least the pod as fuel.
5. A method of processing coconuts according to any of claims 1 or 4, characterized in that the wood peel in respective portions is separated from the peels and carbonized producing carbon as a by-product.
6. 6. An apparatus for processing coconuts comprising: a dryer that converts coconut meat to copra; characterized in that: a conveyor feeds coconuts in series to a coconut splitter; a coconut splitter cuts whole cocos or, ^. unsheathed to portions of coconut; a remover separates the coconut meat from the coconut portions; and feeding means collect the separated coconut meat and feed it to the dryer. -
7. 7. An apparatus for processing coconuts according to claim 6, characterized in that the meat remover is a water jet directed to the hollow in the coconut portion, either run continuously in through portions or driven to the portions.
8. 8. An apparatus according to any of claims 6 or 7, characterized in that a jet of water is directed to the outside of a coconut to separate the pod from its wooden shell.
9. 9. An apparatus for processing coconuts according to any of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that flattening means flatten the coconut meat and a flattener shaves the surface of the flattened coconut meat and the shaved coconut shells. s-pn dried to produce dried coconut.
10. 10. An apparatus for processing coconuts according to any of claims 6 to 9, characterized in that a burner can be put into operation to heat the dryer, using the pods and / or wooden shell of the coconuts, which remain after that the meat is separated, as fuel.
11. 11. An apparatus for the processing of coconuts according to any of claims 6 to 10, characterized in that the dryer that converts the meat into copra is a conventional fluidized bed dryer or jet dryer, which is put into operation preferably in the range of 90-120 ° C.
12. 12. An apparatus for processing coconuts according to any of claims 6 to 11, characterized in that a granulator reduces the copra to a compacted granular material.