FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a mechanism for cleaning root crops. Particularly, the present invention relates to a roller conveyor for cleaning of root crops. More particularly, the present invention relates to a roller conveyor for cleaning root crops to get rid of vines, dirt, clods, rocks and other debris.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Harvesting of root crops that predominantly grow underground is done either manually or mechanically by using harvester. Normally, such root crops present a unique problem upon harvest because they are well rooted in the ground and a considerable quantity of stem, dirt, clods, rocks and other such debris clings to them. In addition, root crops are damage-prone and must be handled carefully. None of the conventional mechanisms have yielded satisfactory results without damaging the crops.

There is therefore a need in the art for a mechanism that cleans root crops without damaging the crops.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION

The present invention as embodied by a roller conveyor for cleaning root crops succinctly fulfils the above-mentioned need(s) in the art. The present invention has objective(s) arising as a result of the above-mentioned need(s), said objective(s) being enumerated below. Inasmuch as the objective(s) of the present invention are enumerated, it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, the enumerated objective(s) are not exhaustive of the present invention in its entirety, and are enclosed solely, for the purpose of illustration. Further, the present invention encloses within its scope and purview, any structural alternative^) and/or any functional equivalent(s) even though, such structural alternative(s) and/or any functional equivalent(s) are not mentioned explicitly herein or elsewhere, in the present disclosure. The present invention therefore, encompasses also, any improvisation{s)/modification(s) applied to the structural aIternative{s)/funotional alternative^) within its scope and purview. The
present invention may be embodied in other specific form{s) without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a roller conveyor for cleaning root crops, which cleans the root crops without damaging it.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a roller conveyor for cleaning root crops, which ensures smooth flow of the root crops to the other end.

Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a roller conveyor for cleaning root crops, in which a novel idler bar arrangement prevents the smaller root crops from falling down and also prevents damage to the surface/ skin of the root crops.

Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a roller conveyor for cleaning root crops, in which a novel idler bar arrangement prevents the roller conveyor from getting stuck due to mud or clod thus and eliminates possible damages that may be caused to the roller.
Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a roller conveyor for cleaning root crops, which reduces the amount of manual labour engaged, and thus is cost effective.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention as embodied by a roller conveyor for cleaning root crops, succinctly fulfils the objective(s) of the present invention as broadly enumerated in the present disclosure. However, it would be perfectly clear to a person skilled in the art that, inasmuch as the objectives have been enumerated, said objectives are only indicative of the scope and general coverage of the present invention.

The present invention discloses a roller conveyor comprising a plurality of paired parallel rollers. All the rollers in the roller conveyor are maintained in the same horizontal planar surface for smooth movement of root crops. Each pair of parallel rollers comprises a plain roller and a fluted roller, wherein the plain roller and the fluted roller rotate towards each other. The speed of rotation of every fluted roller is slower than that of the corresponding plain
roller in a pair for maintaining the differential peripheral velocity between the fluted roller and the plain roller. This helps to move the root crops axially and create a scrubbing action to remove mud associated with the root crops. While the root crops travel through the roller conveyor, the counter- rotating rollers suck and remove the debris clinging to the root crops. A plurality of mountable, non-rotating, cylindrical idler bars are introduced in between the fluted roller and the plain roller in each pair of rollers for preventing smaller root crops from falling down and also to eliminate damage to the surface/skin of the root crops. The rollers are driven by a spur/helical gear arrangement or Chain/Belt Drive arrangement, while the entire roller conveyor is driven by a mechanical drive or a motor.

Each fluted roller comprises of flute on its surface, wherein the direction of flute on one fluted roller is different from that of the flute on an adjacent fluted roller. The flutes of the fluted rollers are alternately embodied in clockwise and counter-clockwise directions. The flute on every fluted roller is innovatively arranged so as to make the root crops, jump onto the next roller and also to enable them to move in a zigzag path on the roller conveyor, thus extending the moving distance and the duration of movement of the root crops on the roller conveyor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The description of the present invention in conjunction with the drawings, illustrating the present invention and in application(s) illustrative of the present invention, explains in detail, the working of the present invention. It will be amply clear to a person skilled in the art, that the application as disclosed in the drawings are merely illustrative of the scope of the present invention and not exhaustive of the scope of the present invention, in its entirety.

Figure 1 illustrates the roller conveyor with its components.

Figure 2 illustrates the flute arrangement on a clockwise fluted roller (CWFR)

Figure 3 illustrates the flute arrangement on a counter clockwise fluted roller (CCWFR)

Figure 4 illustrates the non-rotating, cylindrical idler bars (IB) with idler bar link sliding slot (LS), cam and follower mechanism (CF).

Figure 5 illustrates the enlarged view of idler bar link sliding slot (LS), and cam and follower mechanism (CF) of roller conveyor (RC).
5 Figure 6 illustrates the roller conveyor (RC) removably attached to a double row root crop harvester.

Figure 7 illustrates the roller conveyor (RC) removably attached to a single row root crop harvester. 10

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Harvesting of root crops is different when compared with the harvesting of other types of crops due to the presence of a considerable quantity of debris that clings onto the crops. Additionally, such root crops are damage-prone and need to be handled carefully.. The present invention discloses a mechanical gear box driven/motor-driven roller conveyor (100) that enables cleaning of root crops without causing any damage to the crop. Said roller conveyor (100) is shown in Figure 1.

The roller conveyor (100) comprises a plurality of paired parallel rollers that are driven by a spur gear or a helical gear arrangement. Alternatively, the rollers can also be driven by a chain drive or a belt drive or any other equivalents. All the rollers in the roller conveyor (100) are maintained in same horizontal planar surface for smooth movement of root crops. Each pair of parallel rollers comprises a plain roller (101) and a fluted roller (102), wherein the plain roller (101). and the fluted roller (102) rotate towards each other. The speed of rotation of every fluted roller (102) is slower than that of the corresponding plain roller (101) in a pair for maintaining the differential peripheral velocity between the fluted roller (102) and the plain roller (101). This helps to move the root crops, axially and create a scrubbing action to remove mud. While the root crops travel through the roller conveyor (100), the counter-rotating rollers suck and remove the debris clinging to the root crops. A plurality of mountable, non-rotating, cylindrical idler bars (104) are introduced in between the fluted roller and the plain roller in each pair of rollers for preventing the smaller root crops from falling down and also to eliminate the damage to the surface/skin of the root crops. The fluted roller (102)

comprises of flute (103) on its surface, wherein the direction of flute (104) on one fluted roller (102) is different from that of the flute (103) on an adjacent fluted roller (102). The flutes (103) of the fluted rollers (102) are alternately embodied in clockwise and counter-clockwise directions. The flute (103) on every fluted roller (102) is innovatively arranged so as to make the root crops jump onto the next roller and also to enable them to move in a zigzag path on the roller conveyor (100), thus extending the distance of movement and the duration of movement of the root crops on the roller conveyor. This innovative arrangement, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, comprises splitting the total length of every fluted roller (102) into two parts, preferably in the ratio of 3/4 and 1/4 i.e. 3/4th of the length of one fluted roller (102) comprises flute (103) in the clockwise direction (CWF) (201) and the remaining 1/4th of the length comprises flute in the anticlockwise (or counter-clockwise) direction (CCWF) (202); such a fluted roller (102) is referred to as clockwise fluted roller (CWFR) (200). On an adjacent fluted roller (102), the arrangement is reversed i.e. 3/4th of the length of the adjacent fluted roller (102) comprises flute in the anticlockwise direction (CCWF) (301) and the remaining 1/4th of the length comprises flute in the clockwise direction (CWF) (302); such a fluted roller (102) is referred to as anticlockwise fluted roller (CCWFR) (300). The length of the flute (103) is calculated with respect to a drive end (105) shown in Figures 1,2, and 3.

The plurality of non-rotating, cylindrical idler bars (104) are shown in Figure 4. A bar link sliding mechanism (401) is applied to the plurality of non-rotating, cylindrical idler bars (104) to adjust the height and the placement of the plurality of idler bars (104). A cam and follower mechanism (402) enables the bar link sliding mechanism (401) to move in an upward and downward direction, which allows the bigger clods to move along with the root crops, once in each rotation. The Cam and follower arrangement (402) gives a sliding motion to the idler bars (104), which helps to prevent the plain rollers (101) and the fluted rollers (102) from getting stuck with debris and ensures the smooth operation of the roller conveyor (100). The cam and following mechanism (402) and the bar link sliding mechanism (401) are shown in Figure 5.

The roller conveyor (100) is removably attachable to either a single row (Fig 7) or a double row root crop harvester (Figure 6) at an angle that ranges from 15° to 25° (preferably 20°) in an inclined manner to enable smooth flow of the root crops.

The roller conveyor (100) disclosed can be used with all root crops, but works best with potatoes. The motor used to drive the roller conveyor (100) could be hydraulic, pneumatic, or electric in nature. Other suitable transmission mechanisms may also be used to drive the rollers.

The plain rollers (101) are preferably made up of nylon or steel or like materials and the fluted rollers (102) are preferably made up of food grade rubber material with shore A hardness in the range of 40 to 60 (preferably 45). The diameter ratio of the fluted roller (102) and plain roller (101) can be maintained in different ranges such as 1:1, 2:1,4:1. A diameter ratio of 4:1 minimizes the area and depth between each pair of rollers which reduces the possibility of the root crops getting damaged while moving through the roller conveyor.

ADVANTAGES

The below-mentioned advantage(s) arising out of the application in conjunction with the enclosed drawing(s) are merely indicative and are not to be considered as exhaustive of the entire advantage(s) arising by the deployment of the present invention.

It will be amply clear to persons skilled in the art that, any primary advantage(s) arising out of the present invention as against the problem(s) in the conventional root crop cleaning or separating mechanism are to be construed to be well within the scope and purview of the present invention. Further, any secondary advantage(s) arising as a result of the primary advantage(s) are also to be construed to be well within the scope and purview of the present invention.

In the context of the present invention, an advantage of the present invention is to provide a roller conveyor for cleaning root crops, which cleans root crops without damaging the crops. Further, the counter-rotating rollers on the roller conveyor suck and remove debris easily and thus reduce the amount of manual labour engaged, thereby saving time. Also, the present invention comprises of fluted rollers made up of food grade rubber materials which are non¬toxic. Arrangement of the flutes on the fluted rollers enables the root crops to move in a zigzag path, thereby increasing the moving distance which further enhances effective removal of debris.. Due to the differential peripheral velocity maintained between the fluted roller and the plain roller in a pair of rollers (fluted roller being slower than the plain roller), the root crops are caused to move axially and get scrubbed which facilitates easy removal of the mud. Also,the inclined arrangement of the roller conveyor ensures a smooth flow of root crops from one end to the other. Still another advantage arises from the novel idler bar arrangement which prevents the smaller root crops from falling down and getting damaged. Said idler bar arrangement also prevents the roller conveyor from getting stuck due to mud or clod and hence prevents any damage caused to the rollers.

We claim:

1. A roller conveyor (100) for cleaning root crops, comprising:
a plurality of paired parallel rollers and a plurality of non-rotating, cylindrical idler bars
(104), wherein:
8�31
each paired roller comprises a plain roller (101) and a fluted roller (102) comprising flute (103), with an idler bar (104) present in between the plain roller (101) and the fluted roller (102), wherein the plain roller (101) and the fluted roller (102) rotate towards each other and the speed of rotation of the fluted roller (102) is slower than that of the plain roller (101); the plurality of paired parallel rollers are maintained in the same horizontal planar surface for smooth movement of the root crops; the flute (103) is arranged such that 3/4th of the length of one fluted roller (102) from a drive end (105) comprises flute (103) in the counter-clockwise direction and remaining 1/4th of the length comprises flute (103) in the clockwise direction, with the flute arrangement on an adjacent fluted roller (102) being vice versa; and
the plurality of non-rotating, cylindrical idler bars (104) comprise a bar link sliding mechanism (401) to adjust the height and the placement of the plurality of idler bars (104) and a cam and follower mechanism (402) that enables the bar link sliding mechanism (401) to move in an upward and downward direction.

2. A roller conveyor (100) for cleaning root crops as claimed in claim 1, wherein the root crops are potatoes.

3. A roller conveyor (100) for cleaning root crops as claimed in claim 1, wherein the roller conveyor (100) is driven by a motor.

4. A roller conveyor (100) for cleaning root crops as claimed in claim 3, wherein the motor is a hydraulic motor, an electric motor, or a pneumatic motor.

5. A roller conveyor (100) for cleaning root crops as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of paired parallel rollers are driven by a spur gear or a helical gear arrangement.

6. A roller conveyor (100) for cleaning root crops as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of paired parallel rollers are driven by a chain drive or a belt drive or the like.

7. A roller conveyor (100) for cleaning root crops as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plain roller (101) is made up of nylon or steel or the like materials.

8. A roller conveyor (100) for cleaning root crops as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fluted roller (102) is made up of food grade rubber material with shore A hardness in the range of 40 to 60.

9. A roller conveyor (100) for cleaning root crops as claimed in claim 8, wherein the fluted roller (102) is made up of food grade rubber material with shore A hardness of 45.

10. A roller conveyor (100) for cleaning root crops as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ratio of the diameter of the fluted roller (102) and the diameter of the plain roller (101) is 4:1.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

100 Roller Conveyor

101 Plain Roller

102 Fluted Roller

103 Flute

104 Idler Bar

105 Drive End

200 Clockwise Fluted Roller

201 3/4 Length Clockwise Flute

202 1/4 Length Counter-Clockwise Flute

300 Counter-Clockwise Fluted Roller

301 314 Length Counter-Clockwise Flute

302 1/4 Length Clockwise Flute

401 Bar Link Sliding Mechanism

402 Cam and Follower Mechanism