APPARATUS FOR THE PROCESSING AND THE SORTING OF AN OLIVE

HARVEST

DESCRIPTION

Field of the invention

The present invention concerns an apparatus for the defoliation or sorting of fruits and more in particular an apparatus for the defoliation or the sorting of olives.

Background of the invention

The harvesting of olives, as known, provides collecting the fruit from the trees manually (through the use of special rakes) or mechanically (through mechanical olive harvesters). Both harvesting methods, however, do not prevent undesired plant waste like leaves or twigs from being removed, together with the fruit. Moreover, during the harvesting, olives can be mistakenly taken from the tree with leaves or portions of branch still attached to them. This plant waste must be eliminated before proceeding on to the pressing since they can alter the flavour and the colour of the oil, substantially reducing the quality thereof.

Currently, there are several examples of machines that are used for sorting olives; such machines are known as defoliator machines or sorting machines.

Some known defoliator machines use blowers or ventilation systems that separate the lightest plant waste from the olives simply by exploiting the weight difference. An air flow indeed acts on the picked fruit falling inside the defoliator machine, separating the lightest material such as the leaves or small portions of twigs, from the heaviest part, like the fruit.

Such a type of defoliator machine however has many drawbacks. Firstly, it is not capable of selecting and separating heavier twigs, with a weight that is equal to or greater than that of single olives. Furthermore, it is not capable of eliminating the branches and the leaves that are still attached to the olives. In this last case, the fruit still attached to the branches or foliage is eliminated together with the waste, with a consequent waste of money and a reduction in the income from the harvest.

Known defoliator machines, therefore, are not capable of suitably separating the harvested rough product; for such a reason, part of the sorting must be carried out manually with a substantial waste of time and energy.

Examples of known defoliator machines such as those above described are disclosed e.g. in French patent publication FR2516743 and International patent publication WO2009/016115.

Summary of the invention

The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a sorting apparatus for olives with a greater efficiency in the separation of the olives from leaves, twigs and other waste.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a sorting apparatus that is capable of recovering also the olives remaining attached to leaves or parts of branches.

These and other objects are achieved by the sorting apparatus according to the invention, the essential characteristics of which are defined by the first of the attached claims. Further important characteristics are defined by the dependent claims.

Brief description of the drawings

The characteristics and the advantages of the sorting apparatus according to the present invention shall be more apparent from the following description of embodiments thereof provided by way of non-limiting example with reference to the attached drawings wherein:

- figure 1 shows a front view, with parts omitted, and according to a functional representation, of a sorting apparatus according to the invention;

figure 2a is a top view of a movable sorting means of the apparatus of figure 1 , shown schematically and according to a functional representation with parts that have been omitted;

- figure 3 is again a top view, shown schematically and functionally, of a mobile grid surface of the apparatus, with the aforementioned movable sorting means that have been omitted in order to simplify its representation.

Detailed description of the invention

With reference in particular to figure 1 , the sorting apparatus according to the invention comprises a main body 1 that is kept lifted with respect to a ground plane by a base 2. On the main body 1 (or rather on an outer frame thereof) three apertures are formed, including an inlet feeding aperture 3, a first outlet aperture 4 of the olives (or the fruit in general) and a second outlet aperture or discharge aperture 5 of the plant waste.

The feeding and discharging apertures 3, 5 open up on opposite sides of the main body and define, between them, an immaterial processing direction of the plant waste (highlighted in the figure by a bold broken line, indicated with X) inside the defoliator.

The first outlet aperture 4 opens, on the other hand, on the bottom of the main body 1 and allows for the fruit or the olives to come out, cleared from the plant waste.

Such a first outlet aperture 4 opens on the bottom of a funnel-shaped outlet duct

40 of the defoliator, such a duct being positioned substantially below fixed and mobile processing means for sorting the harvested rough product. Such processing means, which will be discussed further on, have the task of separating the fruits from the waste plant material (twigs, leaves, etc.).

In greater detail, a conveyor belt 6 is arranged at the feeding aperture 3. The belt

6 occupies the aperture by penetrating it partially, for allowing the harvested rough product to be transported inside the main body of the defoliator. At the end of the conveyor belt a first vibrating table 7, actuated by a vibrant electric motor 70, is arranged in succession and in continuity with the belt.

The first table 7, thanks to the effect of the vibrations, spreads out the rough product on the entire surface of the table itself and also obtains at least a partial separation of the rough product (due to the vibrations for example the leaves, which are lighter, tend to move to the surface and rearwards). Moreover, the inclination and the very movement of the table push the harvest forwards according to the processing direction X.

In succession with the table, the apparatus provides for mobile processing means such as a group of counter rotating comb wheels 8, arranged in sequence and interfering one with the following one so as to move the rough material forwards according to the processing direction X.

In particular, the group of comb wheels 8 comprises a first wheel or greater wheel

81 , a second wheel or central wheel 82 and a third wheel or smaller wheel 83. The three wheels have rotation axes that are perpendicular with respect to the processing direction X and are staggered with one another, according to vertexes of an imaginary triangle. Each wheel comprises a central hub 8a through which the support and drive of the wheel are carried out; for such a purpose the hub is connected to motor drive means, not shown in the figures. From the hub, the wheel develops with ranks of teeth 8b that are radially arranged with respect to the rotation axis of the wheel itself. Each rank of teeth forms a comb 8c: the teeth are indeed connected at one end to the hub, whereas the opposite end is free, indeed like in the case of the teeth of a comb. According to a preferred embodiment, the teeth consist in respective portions of metal bar that is suitably curved at the free end.

The greater wheel 81 is the one closest to the vibrating table 7 and has a faster speed. The third wheel or smaller wheel 83, on the other hand, has a slower speed and the central wheel 82 has a speed of around four times greater than the slow wheel. The central wheel and the smaller wheel both rotate in a clockwise direction, whereas the greater wheel 81 counter rotates with respect to them, rotating in an anti-clockwise direction.

The aforementioned fixed sorting means are arranged so as to interlock with the above wheels. In greater detail, the greater wheel 81 and smaller wheel 83 cooperate with fixed comb shaped grids, that are integrally connected to the frame of the apparatus. As shown in particular in figure 1 , the greater wheel 81 interlocks with two comb grids, of which one is a horizontal grid 91 and one is a vertical grid 92 (were by the terms horizontal and vertical it is meant the arrangement of the grids with respect to a ground plane on which the apparatus rests). Both the grids are formed by a plurality of straight rods 9a that are parallel to one another, which are connected at an end thereof to the frame and are free at the opposite end as well as mutually spaced so that the gaps defined between adjacent small rods can be crossed in motion by the teeth 8b during the rotation of the wheel.

The rods 9a of the grids and in particular of the horizontal grid 91 are spaced so as to allow the fall of the olives but not that of the waste plant material, such as twigs, foliage, to which fruit can still be attached. Such a material thus remains blocked on the surface of the grid so as to be affected by the rotation of the greater wheel 81 , as explained hereafter. The first horizontal grid therefore allows for a first selection, for gravity fall of the material, being arranged at the end of the vibrating table 7.

With respect to the interlock region of the second wheel 82 with the first wheel 81 , and taking as a reference the direction of rotation of the first wheel, the horizontal grid is placed in a upstream position whereas the vertical grid is placed in a downstream position. The vertical grid treats therefore therefore the material downstream with respect to the first grid.

Finally, a second horizontal fixed comb grid 93 is positioned so as to interlock with the smaller wheel 83, at the end of the group of wheels 8. Also the second horizontal fixed grid has rods that are sufficiently spaced so as to allow the insertion of the teeth of the smaller wheel between the rods of the grid, following the rotation movement of the wheel.

The apparatus, and in particular of the group of wheels 8, works thus as follows. The combs 8c of the greater wheel 81 pass close to a downstream end 71 of the vibrating table promoting the fall of the harvest on the first horizontal grid 91.

One part of the rough product, that is the part consisting of fruits or leaves, or anyway by elements having small dimensions, penetrates inside the gaps of the comb- grid 91 falling inside the funnel-shaped duct 40, towards the first outlet aperture 4.

As shown in figure 1 , the funnel-shaped duct 40 is affected by at least one air flow and in particular by two airflows that are generated by respective blowing or ventilation means 10. These comprise electrical fans for introducing a forced air convection inside the duct. The fans are arranged over one another with respect to the falling direction of the elements (that is, with respect to the ground plane); in particular an upper fan 10a is positioned substantially so that the air flow generated by it runs over the discharge aperture 5, whereas a lower fan 10b is arranged so that its stream is in correspondence with the first outlet aperture 4.

Thanks to such air streams the leaves, or in any case the waste lighter than the fruits, are deviated towards the second outlet aperture 5 so as to be eliminated (according to a stream that is highlighted by the broken line indicated in figure 1 with the letter A). The fruits on the other hand fall towards the first outlet aperture, as highlighted by the broken line indicated in the figures with the letter B. The part of harvest that has not already fallen towards the funnel-shaped duct 40 (the part which is made up of material with greater dimensions like gravel or twigs and foliage to which fruit can still be attached) is trapped, as mentioned above, by the first comb-grid 91. The interlock between the combs of the wheel 81 and the grid 91 , ensures that the plant waste is at least partially fragmented and the fruit is separated from the plant elements still attached to it (foliage or twigs). Indeed, the interference between the combs of the wheel and the fixed grid, firstly makes it possible to trap sufficiently elongated waste material, such as twigs or foliage and secondly, due to the rotation movement of the wheel, to detach the fruit that is still attached to such waste. In order to promote such a detachment effect, the interlock between the wheel combs and the grid is such that each tooth is almost in contact with two consecutive small rods of the grid itself. This tight relationship between the tooth and the small rods indeed determines a "combing" effect of the twigs or foliage.

The branches and the harvest that have not undergone processing, are brought into rotation by the greater wheel 81 until the vertical grid 92 is reached, and there the same combing effect and a sorting step of the fruits is repeated. After the passages through the two comb shaped grids a great part of fruits have been sorted. However, to improve the sorting effect the material proceeds also through the second and third wheel. In particular, the rough material that is not able to pass through the vertical grid falls back towards the central wheel 82 which, counter rotating with respect to the greater wheel, pushes the material towards the third wheel 83. Here, there is a third sorting step thanks to the interlock (that is completely analogous to that described above between the greater wheel and the first horizontal grid) between the smaller wheel 83 and the second horizontal comb-grid 93.

Only when the fruit is free from the plant waste it falls towards the funnel-shaped duct (as indicated by the broken line C), since the combs of the wheel or the fixed grid are no longer able to further hold it and trap it.

Possibly, also fragments of plant waste with small dimensions can fall in the duct but are, in any case, directed towards the discharge aperture by effect of the air streams described above.

According to a further aspect of the invention and with particular reference to figure 3, below the first comb wheel 81 a horizontal grating 11 is arranged on which waste with great dimensions or waste that is particularly heavy (like gravel) falls. The grating has gaps with dimensions such as to allow the fruit to fall towards the outlet duct 40 (as indicated by the broken line E in figure 1 ). The grating 11 is engaged by a comb 12 that translates according to a translation axis that is perpendicular with the processing direction X (that is, parallel to the rotation axes of the wheels).

Due to the translation movement of the comb 12, all the waste present on the grating is directed towards a further lateral outlet aperture 13.

The grating is moreover affected by a lateral air stream 14 which makes it possible to keep the lighter material (such as, in particular, twigs or foliage) lifted from the grating so that it can be recollected by the greater wheel 81 and again pulled into the sorting process described above.

Returning now to the funnel-shaped duct 40, at an opposite side with respect to that on which the fans are mounted, a second vibrating table 15 (associated with a vibrant electric motor 150) is arranged, substantially below the wheel group 8, between the first outlet aperture 4 and the discharge aperture 5. The second table 15 is inclined towards the outlet aperture and is affected in particular by the air stream of the lower fan 10b.

Thanks to the vibrating movement, not only are the olives directed more quickly towards the outlet aperture 4, but in case of possible waste material still present, the vibration allows for it to be sorted, separating it from the fruit so that it can be easily blown towards the discharge aperture.

The discharge aperture 5 is moreover associated with a beak-shaped discharge tube 16 pointing to the ground so that the waste is directed towards the outside in a correct manner. The discharge channel 16, made from metal mesh, prevents the waste from being thrown out and accidentally and hurting the worker in charge of the apparatus.

Below the discharge aperture 4, thanks to the fact that the base 2 keeps the main body 1 of the apparatus lifted, it is possible to position a harvesting collector, such as a case or, in case of a great amount of harvest to be processed, a conveyor belt 17 (as shown in the figure). The defoliator according to the invention has numerous advantages. In particular it obtains an efficient separation of the fruit from the plant waste. Furthermore, it also allows for even the fruits remaining attached to twigs or foliage to be separated. Such fruits are torn away from the twig or from the foliage thanks to the "combing" effect of the mobile wheels on the fixed grids and are sent to the outlet aperture, whereas the plant waste is in turn shredded and easily eliminated.

The defoliator thus achieves a surprising result in terms of reliability and performance. Almost all of the fruit entering the apparatus are indeed recovered, significantly reducing the amount of fruits lost by mistake in the sorting of the rough material. It is therefore also an obvious advantage in economic terms for the owner of the harvest.

The present invention has been described herein with reference to preferred embodiments thereof. It should be observed that there can be other embodiments referring to the same inventive concept, all falling within the scope of protection of the following claims.