CH406075A | 1966-01-15 | |||
DK64565A | ||||
DE938300C | 1956-01-26 | |||
US4170076A | 1979-10-09 |
1. | A method for drying cones, in which the cone mass is treated by blowing warm air through the mass and, if necessary, wetting the cone mass, character!zed in that the cone mass to be treated is divided into small, 10 100 kg., most advantageously 50 70 kg., batches, and that several batches are treated simultaneously individually with the aid of several independent heating and wetting unit processes, in such a way that the batches are moved along a track, in which there are the aforesaid unit processes at regular intervals. |
2. | A method in accordance with Patent Claim 1, characterized in that in each batch the untreated cones are distributed in the track direction in a single 5 30 cm. thick layer, and that drying is carried out by blowing warm dry air through the layer. |
3. | A method in accordance with Patent Claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the independent unit processes each carry out at least one of the following measures: warming, drying, wetting, cooling, lighting with ultraviolet light of the cone mass, there being a treatment delay between two treatment processes. |
4. | A method in accordance with Patent Claim 2, characterized in that at least a part of the unit processes contain an alternative possibility to carry out heating by blowing warm air either from the foot upwards or from the top downwards. |
5. | A method in accordance with Patent Claim 2, characterized in that at least a part of the unit processes contain an alternative possibility to carry out the warm air blowing as either high pressure or vacuum. |
6. | A cone or other material drying and treatment apparatus intended to implement the method in accordance with Patent Claim 1, which includes airpenetrable bins and a warm air device to blow warmed air through the mass located in the bin (2) , characterized in that the apparatus consists of bins (2) set sequentially on a chain conveyor, independent warming and wetting units formed in connection with several bins, each of which include a warming air input and output connection (23, 20) pressing against opposite sides forming first and second connections, and that the apparatus includes devices (19, 4, 14) for disconnecting the aforesaid connections from the bins for the period of operation of the chain conveyor. |
7. | A cone drying and treatment apparatus in accordance with Patent Claim 6, characterized in that the apparatus forms a horizontal conveyor, in which the opentopped bins (2) equipped with a grill in the foot are connected to one another with jointed intermediate pieces (5) to form an endless chain. |
8. | A cone drying and treatment apparatus in accordance with Patent Claim 6, characterized in that the upper cir¬ culation (9) bins (2) are arranged to travel along a track (6), which can be lifted by means of a lifting device in order to disconnect the first connection from the bin, and that the apparatus also includes devices to raise the second connections free of the bins in order to make it possible to transfer them. |
9. | A cone drying and treatment apparatus in accordance with Patent Claims 7 and 8, characterized in that each bin (2) includes two sequential carrying wheels (4) on each side, these being adapted to the track (6) , and that the conveyor chain formed by the sequentially coupled bins is arranged at one end to rise from the lower circulation (8) to the upper circulation (9) around a pulley wheel and that at the opposite end the carrying wheels (4) are arranged to drop from the end of the track (6) of the upper circulation onto a cable (16) or similar, which directs them onto the track (7) of the lower circulation (8) . |
10. | A cone drying and treatment apparatus in accor¬ dance with Patent Claim 8, characterized in that the first connections are set permanently between the lower and upper circulation in such a way that each connection attaches itself to the bottom of the bin at its position in the operating position and that at least a part of the second connections are connected to a common duct by means of a flexible duct, and that the apparatus includes devices for connecting the warm air blowing to the first connections or to the aforesaid second connections at the same time as the opposing connection is connected to the exhaust duct. |
11. | A cone drying and treatment apparatus in accor¬ dance with one of Patent Claims 6 10, characterized in that the input and output connections (23, 22) and the upper and lower edges of the bins (2) include flanges and in each connection one or other flange includes a rubber seal or similar. |
12. | A cone drying and treatment apparatus in accor¬ dance with one of Patent Claims 6 10, in which the input connection (23) includes an air distribution/removal lower funnel (3) , characterized in that lower funnel includes a connection for a drain line. |
The object of the invention is a method and device for drying cones, in. which the cone mass is treated by blowing warm air through the mass and is necessary wetting the cone mass. The invention is also directed to a cone drying and treatment apparatus intended to implement the method in which there is a bin allowing air penetration and a warm air device for blowing - warmed air through the cone mass located in the bin.
An important stage in the production chain of conifer seeds is the drying of the cones, so that the scales of the cones open and the seeds separate from the interior of the cone. At present extraction stations use tower-like groups of silos, in which the cones are placed on shelves one on top of the other and drying air blown from below is directed vertically through the silo and the cone mass in it. Due to the drier model it is impossible to direct drying air evenly through the entire layer of cones, even though some degree of evening out takes place between the various layers. As the drying progresses the volume of the cones increases, the space between them diminishes, and evening out is less.
As the drying air travels through the cone mass it becomes damp and thus the last cones in the direction of travel of the air are subject to the dampness removed from the first layers. Due to this these last cones do not always dry before the first cones have dried to a considerable degree. When using a drier of this type it is not possible to simulate other variables that appear in nature. Wetting has, however, been added to this type of drier, when particularly the cones in the lower part are subject to a back and forwards treatment, in which the scales open by drying, close by wetting, and open again by drying. This kind of back and forwards treatment has been shown to be beneficial.
The main purpose of the treatment of the cone mass is to produce as many germinable seeds as possible per unit of weight of cone mass. Thus purely quantitative production is not sufficient, but rather the seeds obtained must be germinable
for there to be benefit from large production. In present types of driers more efficient drying e."g. by heating the air or lengthening the heating period generally cause a reduction in germinabi1it .
The intention of this invention is to remove the aforementioned defects and to create a new kind of efficient method and device for the treatment and drying of cones, by means of which it is possible to produce seeds with a great germinability substan- tially more efficiently than previously. The characteristic features of the method in accordance with the invention are presented in Patent Claim 1 and the characteristic features of a device implementing a corresponding method are presented in Patent Claim 6. The invention is to a great extent based on the observation that homogenous drying is only possible up to an absolutely determinable mass limit in the same way that it is possible to absolutely determine the maximum layer thickness of the cone mass being treated. Because of this the cone mass must be divided into sufficiently small batches and the drying and treatment stage must be carried out separately for each batch of cones. It is then possible to copy the phenomena taking place in nature better. Phenomena of this kind are variations in temperature, moisture content, atmospheric pressure, and amount of light. Other advantageous forms of application and advantages of the invention appear in the examples of ap¬ plication shown later.
In what follows the invention is illustrated by reference to the accompanying figures, which show one kind of cone drying and treatment apparatus in accordance with the invention.
Figure 1 shows the treatment apparatus seen from the side. Figure 2 shows a cross-section of the apparatus in Figure 1 a point II - II. Figure 3 shows a corresponding cross-section to that in Figure 2, but with the bins in the transfer position.
The device in accordance with the invention is formed of a kind of conveyor, in which the cone drying bins 2 are sequentially
connected to one another be means of intermediate pieces 5, and the corners of the bins have Wheels 4 to transport them along the desired track. Here the bins are transferred to the device in the transfer position in the upper circulation 9 along track 6 and in the lower circulation 8 along track 7, which tracks are formed of beams set in the sides of the device. The upper track 6 is formed at the transfer stage, as is described later. At the feed end the conveyor has a normal pulley wheel 10 to transfer the bins from the lower circulation 8 to the upper circulation 9. At the discharge end on the other hand the arrangement is more complicated. The wheels 4 of the bins are permitted to drop onto the cable 16 at the end of the track 6, which leads them to the lower circulation 8. In this way a rapid emptying movement is achieved, in which the bins turn quickly into a downwards sloping position to drop the cones into the hopper 19, which is shown in Figure 1 with broken lines.
The upper funnels 1 are connected to the output channel 12 by means of a flexible connection 11. The flexible connection 11 permits the funnels to be raised by about 10 cm..
In Figures 1 and 2 the device is shown in the drying, and treat¬ ment position, when the bins 2 have pressed with their lower flanges 21 tightly against the input connections 23 of the fixed lower funnels 3 and further the output connection 20 of each upper funnel is pressed against the upper flange 22 of the corresponding bin. The flanges of both the bins 2 and the connections 23, 20 are 40 mm. wide. There is a rubber seal in the input and output connection flanges 23, 20. When they are pressed together these simple connections are tight and in addition a reasonable tolerance is permitted in the positioning of the bins.
In the experimental apparatus depicted the size of the bins is 1200 mm. x 500 mm. x 300 mm.. In this case about 40 kg. of fresh cones will fit each bin (in a layer of about 10 cm.), when it is taken into consideration that the volume of the cones will increase as much as 2,5 times in drying. In an
apparatus intended for proper production operation the size of the bins is greater (capacity about 65 kg.) being, however, sufficiently small that the homogenous treatment of the entire batch is possible. In principle the size of the batch may be 10 - 100 kg, with an optimum size of batch of 50 - 70 kg, when a suitable flow resistance over the cone layer is achieved with a practical fan output. In the experimental apparatus each lower funnel 3 had its own fan, with an output of 0,15 - 0,20 m 3 /s at a counterpressure of 250 Pascals.
Figures 2 and 3 show how the transfer of the bins 2 is carried out. Figure 2 corresponds to the situation in Figure 1 and there the input connection 23 of the lower funnel 3 and the output connection 20 of the upper funnel 1 are attached to bin 2. The bins 2 of the upper circulation 9 lie on top of the fixed lower funnels 3 and the carrying wheels 4 are in the air. Upper funnel 1 is correspondingly set by its own weight on top of bin 2. Figure 2 shows that at this stage the track 6 is at a distance to the carrying wheels 4. The lifting cylinder 13 first lifts the upper funnels 1 clear of the bins 2 by means of beam 14, but beam 6 should come upwards by a pre-set amount until it contacts carrying wheel 4. After this the upper circulation bins 2 rise along with the upper funnel 1, when gaps 17 and 18 are created between input and output connections 23, 20 are the flanges 21, 22 of bin 2. After this stepped hydraulic cylinder 15 can be used to move the bins forward by one unit.
The solution in accordance with the invention makes possible a simple but reliable seal construction, which does not come under any stress during the movement of the bins.
The upper funnels 1 include wetting nozzles and the lower funnels drain connections (not shown) . In addition the upper funnels include ultra-violet lamps for lighting the cone mass (not shown) .
Independent units include control automation, by means of which among other things the heat blowing is controlled on the basis
of the temperature of the incoming air and data based on experience. For more accurate' control the system would include measurement of the moisture content of the outgoing air.
The apparatus can either be used in such a way that all the bins are filled and all the stages are carried out for each bin with the same unit, or each unit can specialize to provide heating, wetting, or other treatment, in which case the bins are moved one step at a time.
Naturally the apparatus is applicable to the drying of other materials than cones. For example when drying batches of gun¬ powder it is important that the opposing seals never rub against one another.
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