NL1001865C1 - Appts. for complete removal of waste and cleaning of onions etc. - includes bunker and supply unit, orientation system, rotating gripping system, topper and tailer, peeling unit etc. - Google Patents

Abstract

An appts. for preparing onions (1) and other globe and root prods. consists of a bunker and supply unit (3), an orientation system (16-18), a rotating gripping system (I-X), a topper and tailer (II), a peeling unit (93), a blower system and removal systems (9) for cleaned prods. and waste. The prods. are individually ordered, gripped and transported by the gripping system, either horizontally or vertically, and the crowns and roots are removed. They are then held for peeling and the outer layers finally discarded by a blower.

Description

-1-

Industrial device for processing onions.

The device relates to an industrial machine for onions and the like bulbous and tuberous plants.

Mainly a machine, consisting of a bunker, a lifting unit, a straightening unit, a reading station, a rotary gripper system, a removal / depilation unit, a packaging and notching unit, a blow-off unit and discharge systems of cleaned product and residual product.

From the bunker, the products are presented in a wide range in shape, at random to a conveyor belt known in the art, with which the products are raised single pieces to a height, whereby the products are then rolled down over their largest diameter, so that some 15 direction is then given, if necessary, to be manually placed on the reading belt in the correct position and to be removed from any inaccuracies. Subsequently, the products are transported one by one to a rotating, horizontally or vertically placed gripper system in order to subsequently be removed from the head and tail in the correct position or, as is the case with certain products, the haulm end and root end, after which the product is transferred. to be scored, so that a blow-off system rotatably removes the outer shell and the outer skirt, 1001865 -2- so that the product is discharged cleanly to a discharge system, which is arranged separately from the discharge of the waste stream.

Such a machine, although elongated, is partly known from Dutch patent application 8801850. Since increasingly strict requirements are imposed on the microbiological quality of the product, as well as on the machine, it is increasingly important that the machine be compact accessible, easy to clean, and simple in construction.

Hygiene, cleanability and large capacities are essential for fast and efficient processing of the products.

Some vegetables other than onions, such as shallots and pineapples, etc., are usually peeled in the same way as onions.

Burst, both ends (useless parts) of the vegetables or fruit are cut off, after which the outer covering of the vegetables or fruit is removed.

In the future, the onion will count as a product.

The already existing onion processing machines involve a lot of manual intervention, a lot of maintenance, large floor space required due to the elongated design, high susceptibility to failure, since the machines without adapters are suitable for a limited shape and size grading.

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The peeled onion has undergone minimal peeling loss, because the shape of the unpeeled onion is scanned and is the basis for the peel profile, which is followed when making the notches.

5 The original onion shape remains after peeling.

To achieve effective machine operation, especially with a variety of size and shape grades, auto-adjusting components have been selected using spring settings, while keeping the clean onion completely separate from the useless parts, such as skins, heads and tails.

Thanks to the rotating gripper system, a compact machine is created, in which the topping / de-tailing, the notching and the rotary ejection take place.

The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to drawings, wherein by way of example an embodiment of an onion processing machine is shown.

In principle, the same embodiments can be used for products other than onions.

In the drawing shows:

Fig. 1 shows an arrangement overview of the present invention, it being noted that the supply bunker is not shown, from which the singler advances the onions one by one to the 1001865-4 machine. The rotary gripper system is vertically chosen as an embodiment.

Fig. 2 shows a side section of the machine

Fig. 3 shows a principle cross section of the machine.

Fig. 4 shows a detailed version of the removal head / tailing unit.

Fig. 5 shows a detailed embodiment of the notch device.

Fig. 6 shows a detail embodiment of the transfer unit, which is slidable over a guide, which is rotatable in the gripper system.

Fig. 8 shows a cross-section and a view of the gripper system.

Fig. 1 shows an arrangement overview of the present invention, in which the onions 1 advance one by one from the stock bunker (not shown) through the detachable singulator 2, which makes the onion 1 describe a sloping path.

The onions roll downwards at the feed distance to the two-part reading conveyor 3, whereby the onion comes to lie at the processing distance 5 via conical recesses 4, which are not further described.

If an onion of the wrong quality or not has been rolled in the correct position, or there is an injustice; the person standing next to the reading belt 3 can then intervene.

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It is essential for the further process that the onion is in the correct position, with regard to the head / tail direction, as well as the processing distance 5.

The correct position must be reached for the processing input 6 of the 5 reading belt 3.

The reading belt 3 is fixed in frame 7, which is integral with the rest of the processing machine 8, from which the discharge hands 9 and 10 discharge the respectively cleaned onions 12 and the remnants 13 far beyond the machine.

The frame 7 is surrounded by removable plates which are not further described.

The panels are easy to clean and do not contain any gaps or "hidden" openings for bacteria etc.

The blown air used can escape near the conveyor belts 9 and 10.

Figure 2 shows a side section of the present machine.

The reading belt 3 is driven in the bearing hinge point 14, around which the reading belt 3 is adjusted in height 20 by means of the height adjustment 15.

Since extremely large and extremely small onions differ in diameter, the center point 16 of the "pointed onion" 17 displaces in the vertical sense and as a result the onion 17 can be improperly gripped by the gripper jaw 18 in extremely large or extremely small batches.

1001869 -6-

The gripper jaw 18 does have a center-finding function, but with the extreme size of onions, the height of the reading belt 3 must be adjusted.

Incidentally, this is the only adjustment, whether automatic or not, of the entire machine.

The gray per system pivots between the 2 belt divided in 2 lanes and grips and closes the jaws 18 in the middle above the divided circulation roller 19 of the belt 3.

The onion is held almost in the middle between the head and tail 10 and moved via the circular path 20.

The gripper system goes through ten positions I to X and is further elaborated in figure 7.

While the gripper system is rotating, the onion is removed from the head and tail by the head removal system 15 as shown in figures 3 and 4. The entire head removal system consists of 2 driven circular knives 21 and 22, which are arranged at a slight angle relative to the feed direction p l. The knives 21 and 22 are detachably mounted on each an electric motor 23 and 24, each of which is mounted on a subframe 25 and 26 pivotable according to arrow p 2, rotatable by means of the pivot points 27 and 28 relative to the frame 7.

The entire knife units are drawn in by means of the adjustable springs 29 and 30, such that the scanning members 31 and 32 with the obliquely extending search edge 33 and 34 press on the oncoming onion.

1001865 -7-

The size and shape of the onion determine the deflection of the head / tail system and therefore also the location of the cut surfaces VI and V2 of the onion.

On the wings 35 and 36 of the subframes 26 and 25, pneumatic cylinders with pressure dies 37 and 38, not shown, are mounted on the piston rods, so that the position of the blades 21 and 22 is maintained during cutting. The air cylinders are energized by the sensing means actuating valves, not shown, through which the cylinders are energized.

Figure 4 shows the slant of the cutting units somewhat exaggerated, since the subframes 25 and 26 are of relatively long design.

The fast-rotating cutting blades 21 and 22 are smooth-blade-shaped, but may likewise have a roughly serrated shape, the direction of rotation being against the direction of rotation of the machining feed-through direction pl.

The cutting unit is made somewhat schematic in figure 3. The gripper system is in the II-e 20 position.

During the Ill-e position of the gripper system, the headed and tailed onion is taken over by the notch station, the principle sketch of which is shown in figure 3, wherein the onion is shown by means of the left-stamping device and the right-stamping device according to the arrow. p 3 is moved to the right towards ui position 40.

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Figure 5 shows an embodiment of the two, almost identical, stamping devices.

The numbering is therefore the same.

The punch 41 has a slightly serrated side 42 to be pressed into the onion on the flat side of the onion.

The concentrically serrated punch 41 is mounted on the rotatable sprung stem shaft 43, which adapts to the width of the onion.

The shaft 43 has double bearings in the sliding stem housing 44, which follows the profiled guide 46 via a bearing wheel 45. The profiled guides on the left and right of course run parallel to each other.

By means of the continuous shaft 43 and the gear wheel 47 mounted thereon, the whole including the onion 40 is rotated as soon as the gear wheel 47 engages a circular rack 48 required later in the cycle.

During the shifting to the right of the clamped onion 37, the stationary notched blades 20 49 and 50 are passed, after the follower rollers 51 and 52 have scanned the onion.

Figure 6 shows a detailed version of the notch station.

The clamped onion, sliding from left to right 25, abuts the bearing follower rollers 51 and 52, which deflect against the spring action of the adjustable springs 53 and 54.

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The springs 53 and 54 are attached at the other end to the rods 56 and 57, which are provided with stops 58 and 59.

As soon as the onion comes into contact with the follower rollers 51 and 52, the rods 56 and 57 also spring away, supported against the frame frame 7.

The knives 49 and 50 are attached to the identical knife / roller carrier 60 with their follower rollers 51 and 52.

The stationary, but eccentrically adjustable knives 49 and 50 about shafts 61 and 62 10 contain a limited number of knives 62, which are grouped in such a way that all grades of onions are notched deeply enough on both sides, because the knives 62 are paired mounted.

The notched onion 40 is then rotated from the packing and notching station III, clamped between the stamps 41 and following the circular path 20, to the positions V and VI, whereby the onion 40 is blown in such a way that the skirt is removed 20 in the direction of the discharge belt 10.

The rotation occurs because the gear wheel 47 engages in the rack 48, which starts between the stations IV and V.

Rotation of the gear wheel 47 goes against the direction of rotation of the gray per system.

The gripper system is shown in detail in Figure 7, which consists of a view and a cross section 1001865-10- across the pivot points.

The gripper system rotates continuously at the same peripheral speed as the transport speed of the reading belt 3.

The gripper system consists of a rod system, 5 which rolls over a stationary cam disc 63, which is attached to the frame 7.

The cam disc 63 controls the opening and closing of the grippers 64 and 65 during the entire revolution of the gripper system.

The two grippers 64 and 65, optionally rubber-coated, are grouped around the gripper jaw 18.

The ten positions drawn are only snapshots in the machining cycle.

The cam roller 66 follows the cam disk 63, while on the cam roller shaft 67 the rods 68 and 69, via the bearings 70 and 71, follow the radial movement of the cam roller 66.

The cam roller shaft 67 is guided radially through the slots 72 and 73 contained in the discs 74 and 75 rotating with the gripper system.

The rods 68 and 69 are then hingedly coupled to the grippers 64 and 65, respectively, which are hingedly mounted around the gripper shafts 78 and 79 by means of the rotary forks 76 and 77.

Bearings 80 and 81 are mounted on gripper shafts 78 and 79.

The disks 74 and 75 are coupled by means of the bolts 82 and 83 and the mounting shaft 84.

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The grippers 64 and 65 are each provided with the hinge sleeves 85 and 86, both of which are independently double-mounted about the mounting shaft 84.

The double bearings 87 and 88 are axially enclosed by means of the bush 89.

The concentric spring 90 provides the clamping force on the onion and provides the tracking force on the disc 63.

The cam roller shaft is extended on both sides with shaft ends 91 and 92 for optional additional spring attachment and for electrical indication option for monitoring purposes. The blow-off units 93 are placed at an angle of 15 degrees with the direction of movement of the gripper system, so that the air is blown behind the notched shells (skirt), so that this skirt separates from the onion.

The radiation of the skirt takes place on the entire circumference of the onion, because the onion rotates against the radiation. The blown-off skirts and shells end up on the discharge belt 10 by means of the air flow. The cleaned onion 12 is released via the stamping devices via position VII at position VIII, because the profiled guide 48 commands this in position VIII due to its shape.

The profiled guide 46 can face inward as shown, but also face outward so that less dirt can get between the teeth of the rack 58 and the teeth of gear 47. Onion 12 thus lands on discharge conveyor 9 towards the unspecified collection bunker for cleaned onions.

1001865

Claims (6)

Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the gripper system consists of exchangeable gripper arms, so that maintenance time is reduced to a minimum. 3. Device according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the gripper system is arranged according to a compact vertical or horizontal carousel system, so that minimal floor space is required, while accessibility and cleanability are great. 4. Device according to claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the only adaptation to shape and size takes place when the transfer belt is taken over to a gripper system 1001865 -13 and only at the transition to an extremely different difference in size sorting. 5. Device according to claims 1 to 4, characterized in that notches are made on the basis of the scanned onion shape, so that the same depth of notch is created over the entire circumference. 6. Device as claimed in claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the notched onion is blown at an angle to the skirt while rotating, so that the skirt comes off and a cleaned onion is left behind. Device according to claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the blown-off onion residues, the tops of the leaves and the root ends are kept completely separate from the cleaned onions. 1 0 0 1 8 6 5