IE20110118U1 - A root crop washer - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT A root crop washer (1) has a rotatable washing drum (2) which is partially immersed in a water trough (3), and a stone separator (4) mounted before an inlet of the drum (2). A loading hopper (7) is provided for delivering a root crop to the stone separator (4). An elevator (9) is mounted at an outlet (10) of the washing drum (2) for discharge of cleaned produce from an outlet of the washing drum (2). Rotating paddles within the stone separator (4) impart a swirling motion about a vertical axis to water in the stone separator (4). The root crop is supported by the water and moved around an inner sidewall of the stone separator (4) between an inlet (25) and an outer (22) of the stone separator (4). At the same time unwanted heavier material such as stones and clay falls downwardly through the stone separator (4) for discharge through a waste outlet (18) at a bottom of the stone separator (4).

Description

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This invention relates to a root crop washer.

Jill aa.$.1.?./..! ....... .. eff” .t.>2[?s2.'7- The invention particularly relates to a root crop washer of the type comprising a rotatable washing drum which is partially immersed in a water trough and an associated stone separator mounted before an inlet of the drum. A root crop washer of this type is described in my previous patent specification publication No. EP 0568489. The problem arises with the removal of stones and unwanted clay materials from the unwashed root crop in that the de—stoning apparatus provided to date has only been of limited success. The present invention is directed towards overcoming this problem.

Summary of the Invention According to the invention there is provided a root crop washer comprising a rotatable washing drum which is partially immersed in a water trough and a stone separator mounted before an inlet of the drum, characterised in that the stone separator comprises a cyclonic separator. This advantageously provides an excellent separation of unwanted clay and stone materials from the root crop.

In one embodiment of the invention the cyclonic separator comprises a separator housing and means for swirling the water within the separator housing for generating a vortex within the housing. Advantageously the water carried the root crop outwardly by centrifugal action whilst the heavier stone and clay materials drop through the water to the bottom of the separator housing.

In another embodiment the cyclonic separator includes means for delivering a water stream upwardly through the separator housing between a water inlet at a lower end of the separator housing and a water outlet at a top of the separator housing. This aids in supporting the root crop within the separation housing and overspill carries the root crop to the washing drum. lE’l‘l0i‘l3 in another embodiment the separator housing has a waste outlet at a bottom of the separator housing.

Conveniently a waste removal conveyor is mounted below the waste outlet. This prevents any undesirable build-up of waste materials at the outlet. in another embodiment the cyclonic separator and waste removal conveyor are mounted within the water trough together with the washing drum. Thus conveniently all water required for operation of the washing drum and separator is retained within the trough.

In a further embodiment a pump is provided having an inlet communicating with an interior of the trough and an outlet connected to the water inlet on the separator housing.

In another embodiment the waste outlet of the separator housing forms the water inlet.

In a further embodiment the means for swirling water within the separator housing is a rotatable paddle which is rotatably mounted within the separator housing. Any other suitable mechanism for imparting a swirling motion to water within the separator housing may be used.

In another embodiment the separator housing has a frusto-conical side wall which narrows between a top and a bottom of the separator housing.

In a preferred embodiment the trough is mounted on a mobile chassis. Thus conveniently the root crop washer can be transported between root crop harvesting sites.

Ideally the conveyor extends longitudinally on the chassis. This provides a compact construction to facilitate transport by road. lE110130 grief Description of the Invention The invention will be more clearly understood by the following description of some embodiments thereof, given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a side, partially sectioned elevational view of a root crop washer according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a detail elevational view of a stone separator forming portion of the root crop washer; and Fig. 3 is a detail exploded view showing portion of the root crop Washer.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated a root crop washer according to the invention indicated generally by the reference numeral 1. The root crop washer 1 has a rotatable washing drum 2 which is partially immersed in a water trough 3 and a stone separator 4 mounted before an inlet 5 of the washing drum 2. in accordance with the present invention, the stone separator 4 comprises a cyclonic separator. A loading hopper 7 is provided for delivery of a root crop such as beet or potatoes to the stone separator 4. An elevator 9 is mounted at an outlet 10 of the washing drum 2 for discharge of cleaned produce from an outlet of the washing drum 2.

The cyclonic separator 4 comprises a frusto—conical container forming a separator housing 12 having a side wall which narrows between a top 13 and a bottom 14 of the separator housing 12. A set of paddles 16 is rotatably mounted within the separator housing 12 and is operable to impart a swirling motion to water within the housing 12 such that the water swirls about a central vertical axis of the separator housing 12. An open outlet 18 is provided at a bottom of the housing 12 for lE11or1a discharge of stone and clay material from the housing 12.

A water pump 20 mounted within the trough 3 has an inlet communicating with the trough 3 interior and an outlet which discharges pressurised water through the outlet 18 and into an interior of the separator housing 12. Thus, operation of the pump 20 creates a water stream flowing upwardly through the separator 12 which overflows at an outlet 22 at a top of the separator housing 12 back into the trough 3. Operation of the paddles 16 also imparts a swirling motion to the water generating a vortex within the housing 12 and thus root crops such as potatoes and beet are sufficiently supported by the water within the housing 12 and are moved between an inlet 25 and the outlet 22 which discharges the produce into the washing drum 2 with the overflow water. While the root crop is supported by the water and is thrown outwardly towards the sides of the housing 12 by centrifugal action stones and heavy clay material collects in the centre of the housing and drops through the water to the outlet 18 at the bottom of the separator housing 12.

A waste conveyor 30 is mounted at a bottom of the trough 3 and passes beneath the outlet 18 to carry away stone and clay material. As can be seen in Fig. 1 the conveyor 30 has a discharge end 32 which projects outwardly of the trough 3 at a front end of the trough 3 for discharging the clay and stone waste material from the trough 3.

The elevator 9 may be a fotding elevator as shown in Fig. 1, the elevator 9 folding about a hinge 36 intermediate its ends between a raised in-use position and a downwardly depending folded position for storage and transport. A chopper 38 is provided at an outer end of the folding elevator 9. This chopper 38 is hingedly mounted at the end of the elevator 9 and can be swivelled to one side if it is not desired to chop the produce.

The trough 3 is mounted on a chassis supported on wheels 40 to facilitate towing behind a tractor vehicte. Hydraulically operable stabilising legs 42 on the chassis can be lowered to the ground to stabilise the apparatus in use. It will be noted that both the elevator 9 and the waste conveyor 30 are oriented in a longitudinal direction on the chassis. This advantageously provides a compact construction suitable for transport on public roads.

The various rotating elements and conveyors can be conveniently hydraulically driven and powered by the power take off of a tractor vehicle.

In use, the trough 3 is filled with water to the normal operating water level W. The pump 20 is operated to deliver water up through the separator housing 12 and overspill back into the trough 3, and the paddles 16 impart the swirling motion to the water. The root crop such as beet or potatoes is loaded into the hopper 7. A certain amount of loose stones and clay material will drop through spaced-apart bars of the loading hopper 7. Best or the like discharged from the loading hopper 7, falls into the inlet 25 of the separator housing 12, the beet is carried on the water stream and swiried about the hopper 12 towards the outlet 22. At the same time heavy materials such as stone and clay will drop through the water in the separator housing 12 to the outlet 18 from where it is removed by the conveyor 30. Beet discharged from the outlet 22 of the separator housing 12 is fed into the washing drum 2 where it is washed and discharged onto the elevator 9.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbetore described which may be varied in both construction and detail. m7564.spec.mar1 1 -1 1