PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION

A. Background and the prior art:
Sugarcane is grown world over. For cultivation of sugarcane the conventional method is to plant sugarcane pieces in the ground. This leads to wastage of large quantity of sugarcane. Moreover, if some seeds do not germinate, the yield will be affected. Therefore use of sugarcane seedlings grown in nursery is preferred. This method increases the yield as there will be no uncertainty about germination. For growing seedlings, only a small piece of sugarcane around seed is sufficient. Extraction of small portion of sugarcane with the seed in the required quantity is a challenging task.

Different types of hand operated sugarcane seed extraction machines are available. These machines are not economically viable as they are labour intensive and the quantity of seeds that can be extracted is very small. For economical viability and to meet the farmer's requirement in terms of quantity, a power operated sugarcane seed extraction machine is very much in need. Manually operated sugarcane bud chipper is available locally. It is a floor or bench mounted machine operated using a lever, with a cutting capacity of 100 to 250 buds per hour and hence is labour intensive. Under power operated machine, there is reference of 'Sugarcane Node Cutting Machine' (Indian Patent Application No 739/CHE/2007), which uses two circular saws, mounted on a shaft driven by a 0.5HP motor and has an output of about 8000 nodes per day. In this machine whole length of sugarcane is fed into the machine and cut, and hence, handling these pieces is laborious and also use of saw is unsafe (particularly for unskilled labourers). On an average, seed requirement per acre is about 6000.

B. Objectives of the Invention:
Objectives of present invention is to develop a machine, for removing sugarcane seeds / buds from sugarcane, which is safe, easy to use (even by unskilled workers), economical, meeting very huge requirements in a short time and also that which can be used for other similar applications.

C. Summary of the invention:
This invention involves design and development of a power operated sugarcane seed extraction machine. The power is supplied by an electric motor. The speed is reduced to about 30 rpm using a combination of belt drive and worm gearbox. The gearbox output shaft drives the seed scooping tool using quick-return mechanism. The scooping tool fixed to the end of a slotted pipe slides up and down on a guiding shaft for every shaft rotation. A portion of the sugarcane kept on a platform below the cutting tool is cut by the tool during its down ward movement. By the time the tool moves up and comes down again, sugarcane can be moved and positioned such that the next seed is available for extraction. Two persons can be engaged to extract seeds simultaneously (both on front and rear sides of the machine), thereby, saving power and doubling the output. Using this machine, the seeds (for growing seedlings) required for one acre sugarcane planting can be cut by two operators in about 2-3 hours.

COMPLETE
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed

4. DESCRIPTION
The invention will be further described with reference to the following example read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

A. Description of the accompanied drawings:
To assist understanding the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which are as follows:

• Fig 1 shows the pictorial view of machine, with each part numbered and detailed.

• Fig 2(a) shows front view and Fig 2(b) shows the top view of the machine indicating important dimensions

• Fig 3 shows the photograph of the machine

• Fig 4 shows the photograph of gearbox-shaft-bearing assembly.

• Fig 5 shows the photograph of the machine in operation

• Fig 6 shows the photograph of extracted sugarcane seed
In the following description, the part numbers are mentioned in brackets. Same part numbers are used to refer to same parts in other drawings also. The photographs are included for better understanding of the equipment described herein.

B. Detailed description of the preferred embodiment:

Fig 1 shows the pictorial view of the power operated sugarcane seed scooping machine. Fig 2(a) and Fig 2(b) show the front and top views of the machine indicating some important dimensions. The machine consists of the frame (1) made of L-angles supporting different components. The motor (2) is supported at about 250mm from the base. Worm gearbox with a reduction factor of 25 is supported above the motor. Power from motor is transmitted to gearbox by a belt drive. Gearbox output shaft (3) is a long shaft supported at either ends by bearings, fixed in plummer blocks (part marked (13), in the Fig 4). At the extreme ends of -this shaft are connected the cranks (4). The machine is fitted with cutting mechanisms at two locations - one in the front and the other on the rear side. Each of the cutting mechanism is operated by the respective cranks (4). The crank rotates the rectangular sliding block (5). While rotating with the crank, the sliding block slides inside the slotted lever (6). The slotted lever is hinged at one end in supporting block (8) and the other end is fitted with two links (7). The guide shaft (9) is fixed to the support frame (also shown in the Fig 3). A reciprocating slotted pipe (10) with a sleeve fitted at the top end slides on the guide shaft. The links connecting the slotted lever (6) and slotted pipe (10) convert the oscillatory motion or the slotted lever into sliding motion of the slotted pipe. The bottom end of the pipe is fitted with the cutter (11). At the base of support frame is fixed a platform (12) which is fitted with a plate having grooves for cutting tool to pass through and also for collection of scooped sugarcane seeds.

Fig 3 shows the photograph of the complete machine, clearly showing locations of cutting mechanisms on front and rear sides of the machine. Fig 4 shows the photograph of gear box-shaft-bearing assembly, location of plummer block (13), supporting the shaft and assembly of cranks (4), slotted levers (6) and links (7). Same part numbers, as indicated in Fig 1, are retained in Fig 4 also.

During operation, as the power is switched on, motor drives the gearbox shaft. Belt drive and gearbox together reduce speed to about 30 rpm. The output shaft supported in bearings rotate the cranks (4). The sliding block (5), while rotating as the crank rotates, will slide inside the slotted lever (6). This motion of the sliding block results in oscillatory motion of the slotted lever. The links (7) convert this oscillatory motion into reciprocating motion of the slotted pipe carrying the tool. When the pipe with the cutting tool (11) guided by the guide shaft (9) moves down, it cuts the portion of the sugarcane containing the seed. The cut portion is separated as portion of cutting tool passes through the groove in the support plate.

C. Operation:
The entire machine is fixed on a rigid platform at a convenient height (so that the operator can place the sugarcane properly at the cutting location). The cutting operation is carried on both sides (front and rear) of the machine. Fig 5 shows the seed scooping operation, clearly showing positioning of the sugarcane so that the portion containing the seed is scooped by the cutter. Fig 6 shows the extracted sugarcane seed.

D. Advantages:
As the mechanism used for driving the tool is a quick-return motion mechanism, the cutting stroke is faster than the idle stroke. Because of this reason out of 2 seconds available for one cycle, more time is available to the operator to position the sugarcane properly so that the portion containing seed is made available for cutting. This minimizes operator fatigue and increases his efficiency. This is the greatest advantage of this design. The cranks (4) are fitted at the shaft ends with 180 degree offset. Therefore when the tool at the front end moves downward the tool at the rear end moves up, thus giving a uniform cutting operation. As two persons, one at each side can simultaneously extract the seeds, with the same power utilization, seed extraction is doubled. An average of 40 seeds can be extracted from the sugarcane per min and about 2500-3000 in an hour. About 16000 seeds can be extracted in a shift of 8 hours by two operators which will be sufficient for growing sugarcane seedlings required for about 3 acres.

While conventional method of planting sugarcane requires 4 tons of sugarcane per acre, the extracted seeds required for one acre will weigh only about 600 kg thus saving about 3.4 tons of sugarcane per acre. The seeds required for growing seedlings required for one acre area can be cut using this machine by two operators in about 2-3 hours. Thus, the use of this machine will save about 85% of sugarcane needed for planting, saves precious time in the process of sugarcane cultivation, increases yield. Therefore, this machine has potential to revolutionize the sugarcane cultivation.

5. CLAIMS:

We claim,

1. The "Power Operated Sugarcane Seed Scooping Machine" consisting of L-angled frame in which is mounted an electric motor, gearbox having long output shaft delivering power on both sides, crank fitted at the end of the output shaft, sliding block fitted to crank, slotted lever hinged at one end to the frame and provided with a rectangular slot for movement of sliding block in it, a pair of links fixed to the other end of the. slotted lever, reciprocating slotted pipe connected to other end of links, a guide shaft to guide the vertical motion of reciprocating slotted pipe, cutting tool fixed rigidly to the lower end of reciprocating pipe and rigid platform fixed to frame of the machine; the resultant of chain of actions of these individual components leading to cutting / scooping of sugarcane seeds placed on the rigid platform at the bottom.

2. Electrical motor, referred in claim (1), consisting of a 0.75 HP motor coupled with suitable belt drive-gearbox mechanism, rigidly fixed to the frame and gear box output shaft mounted on bearings, supported by plummer blocks; providing a rotational motion of about 30 rpm at the output shaft.

3. Crank, referred in claim (1), fixed at the end of the output shaft, rotating at the same speed as the output shaft, having a sliding block, also referred in claim (1), fixed to it and allowing sliding block move inside the slot provided in the slotted lever

4. Slotted lever, referred in claim (1), hinged to the frame of the machine at one end and having a long rectangular slot wide enough to accommodate the sliding block in it, allowing sliding block to move inside the slot, thereby, causing oscillating movement at the other end of the slotted lever.

5. Pair of links, referred in claim (1), one end of which is coupled to oscillating end of the slotted lever and other end coupled to reciprocating slotted pipe, also referred in claim (1), converts oscillatory motion of slotted lever into reciprocating upward and downward motion (stroke) of the reciprocating slotted pipe, guided by the guide shaft, also referred in claim (1), rigidly fixed vertically to the frame of the machine.

6. Cutting tool, referred in claim (1), consists of semi-circular blade, fixed to the lower end of reciprocating pipe, will cause the cutting action of sugarcane seed, placed on the platform, also referred in claim (1), rigidly fixed horizontally to the frame of the machine, provided with a slot to allow cut pieces of sugarcane (seed) to drop into the receptacle.

7. Power Operated Sugarcane Seed Scooping Machine, referred in claim (1), employs a quick-return motion mechanism of the cutting tool, by suitably designing the crank-lever-link combination, making the cutting stroke faster than the idle stroke, thereby, providing sufficient time for the worker to position the sugarcane for subsequent seed scooping operation.

8. Power Operated Sugarcane Seed Scooping Machine, referred in claim (1), provides cutting facility symmetrically on both front and rear sides of the machine replicating similar mechanism, thereby, allowing extraction of two seeds for each rotation of gear shaft.

9. Power Operated Sugarcane Seed Scooping Machine, referred in claim (1), with engagement of two operators, can extract about 2500-3000 seeds per hour, meeting the seed requirement of one acre in about 2-3 hours.

10. Power Operated Sugarcane Seed Scooping Machine, referred in claim (1), is substantially described herein with reference to the drawings and photographs accompanying this specification.