GB811255A - Improved hop cleaning machine - Google Patents

Abstract

811,255. Screening apparatus. BENSEMANN, E. G. March 25, 1957, No. 9674/57. Class 117. A hop-cleaning machine, which may be mounted on wheels 77, has a hopper 39 from which the hops together with leaves, twigs and hop petals are fed by a tined roller 43 on to a curtain 33 and a screen 37 The curtain consists of a flexible chain mesh attached at its upper end to a windlass 34 and at its lower end to a batten 36 from which extend spaced flexible fingers constituting the screen. Hops fall through the fingers on to the machine floor, and are blown over a floor 15 to a receptacle 64 by the air stream of a fan 16 flowing through a duct 17. The fingers of the screen. 37 have their ends adjacent the lower end of an endless conveyer screen 18 of wire mesh or gauze provided with rows of flexible pegs 32 which carry the leaves, twigs and petals upwardly. The rollers 22, 23 and 24 support the conveyer, and one or more fans 38 force air through that part of the conveyer extending between the rollers 22 and 23 to hold the leaves and twigs in contact therewith and to force hop petals therethrough. The latter are carried with the hops to the receptacle 64. A rotary agitator 27 vibrates the conveyer and causes any hops thereon to roll down it to the screen 37.. Spiked rollers 44, 45 co-operate with the roller 43 to even out the feed and to separate hop clusters which are passed between the rollers 44 and 45. The spikes of the latter interengage, and roller 45 is driven in an opposite direction at higher speed. An adjustably mounted spiked roller 47 allows leaves to pass between it and the conveyer whereby they are fed to a trash delivery channel 59, but the roller makes contact with any hops to throw them down the conveyer. Twigs are also caught by the roller 47 and thrown upwardly to spoked rollers 50, 51 which throw them towards the upper end of the conveyer which delivers them to the channel 59. A spoked roller 52 urges any hop petals that may be blown over the roller 23 through the conveyer. Such petals and hop seeds are guided by deflectors 54 on to the floor 15. An adjustably mounted brushing roller 56 removes leaves and twigs stuck to the conveyer and feeds them to the channel 59. Grid wires 57 suspended from a bar 58 and curved over the roller prevent material being carried around thereunder. A number of transverse shafts 62 carrying spoked rollers 63 are mounted in the channel 59 and push the trash to one side of the machine and at the same time urge hop petals through a perforated floor 60 to the receptacle 64. The conveyer, fans 38 and rollers are driven by a petrol engine or an electric motor via a main drive shaft 66 and endless chains passing over sprockets.