Specifically, this patent involves an improved distance roller design that minimizes the debris accumulation and blocking in the roller assembly. This design improves the units polishing productivity by allowing an efficient discharge of polished white rice grains without wet or sloughed grains being stuck at the interface area between the polishing section and the transport screws sloped surface.

[Background of invention] Typically, quite a bit of heat is generated by friction in the polishing section of a portable rice-polishing machine during the polishing process.

Sloughed rice grains tend to stick and press together under friction, heat, and pressure, and the grain discharge process does not tend to work well due to the blocked grains. As a result, the electrical consumption is increased, and the polishing helical unit and the slough screen tend to be damaged often by the accumulated debris, requiring frequent replacements of the machine parts and making operating a portable polishing machine

inconvenient and uneconomical. With polished white rice grains not being discharged properly and efficiently, the rice-polishing job becomes unproductive. Wet or sloughed rice grains often tend to be stuck at the interface between the polishing section and the sloped surface of the transport screw. This phenomenon tends to get worse when operating a small sized rice-polishing machine for a long period of time.

[Detailed statement of invention] This patent involves the introduction of V-shaped guide grooves/notches at the sloped interface section between the transport screw and the polishing helical shaped assembly, in order to minimize the accumulation and blocking problems described previously, resulting in much improved and productive rice grain polishing. The V-shaped guide grooves/notches keep wet or braking sloughed rice grains from sticking together, and then being stuck in the transport shaft by agitating the rice gains apart forcefully, before they are driven to the polishing section/chamber. This patent is about this special feature to the distance roller in a portable/small sized rice-polishing machine.

[Briefing of drawing]

Fig. 1 is a three dimensional graphical representation of the distance roller with the patent feature.

Fig. 2 is a top view of the distance roller with the patent feature.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the distance roller with the patent feature.

Fig. 4 is a front view of the distance roller with the patent feature in a slightly angled position.

Fig. 5 is a drawing of the distance roller with the patent feature in operation and shown installed in a typical portable rice polishing machine.

* Name of symbol for the main part in the figures 1: Distance Roller 2 : Polishing Section 3: Transport Screw 4: V-shape Guide Notch/Groove 6,6a : Helical Polishing Unit L: Interface Line R: Interface Surface 7,7a, 8,8a : Added Feature [Example of practical application]

Using the drawings included here, how this patented feature works is explained in detail below.

Fig. l2 and 3 show the top and front views of the distance roller, respectively, with the patent V-shaped notch, while Fig. 4 is a front view of the distance roller with the groove at a slight angle.

The distance roller (1) assembly is made up of the transport screw (3), the polishing section (2) and the polishing unit (6) (6a) in a helical shape integrated at both sides of the polishing section (2). The interface between the transport screw (3) and the polishing section (2) becomes narrower toward the polishing section (2) by the sloped interface surface (R). By extending the entry side of the helical shaped polishing unit (6) (6a) at both sides of the polishing section (2) with notches/grooves (7) (7a), they get closer to the discharge side of the transport screw (3) at the same slope as the interface surface. The notches/grooves (8) (8a) can be angled slightly as shown in Fig. 4. Within the interface surface (R) and the interface line (L) of the polishing section (2), the V-shaped guiding grooves/notches (7) (7a), (8) (8a) are found to work well in braking the stuck rice grains apart for smooth and continuous

transport in the improved rice polishing machine.

Fig. 5 shows other parts of a typical portable/small sized rice-polishing machine not explained previously.

(9) is the main body of a portable rice polishing machine.

(10) is the hopper entry for sloughed rice grains.

(11) is the slough screen (12) is the step style discharge opening.

(13) is an angle plate.

(14) is the hopper fan.

(15) is the motor driven pulley assembly.

In a small sized rice polishing machine, sloughed rice grains put into the hopper entry (10) of the main body (9) are moved toward the polishing section (2) covered by the slough screen (11) by the rotating transport screw (3) and get polished into white rice grains by the helical shaped polishing assembly (6) (6a) in the polishing section (2). Polished white rice grains then drop to the sloped plate (13) through the slough screen (11) before going out to the step style discharge (12). The slough screen filters the slough debris, and the slough debris accumulated inside the

main body of the rice-polishing machine gets blown out to the outside by the hopper fan (14). This is how a portable rice-polishing machine typically works.

The following explains how the distance roller assembly (1) works in the rice polishing process with the patent feature.

As sloughed rice grains are moved toward the polishing section (2) by the rotating transport screw (3) of the distance roller (1), they go through the interface surface and the interface line smoothly, when the rice-polishing machine is operating normally. However, as friction, heat, and pressure build up in the machine, the sloughed rice grains tend to stick and press together and become stuck at the interface section. The patent V-shaped guide grooves/notches (7) (7a), (8) (8a) are slightly misaligned and agitate sloughed grains concentrated at the sloped interface surface (R) apart violently as the distance roller rotates, making them not to stick together or not to be stuck at the interface. During lengthy operations of the rice polishing machine, even if wet or sloughed grains get stuck at the interface occasionally, the patent V-shaped guide notches/grooves make possible the normal, smooth, and continuous transfer of sloughed grains

to the polishing section through the interface.

[Possibility of using in industry] With this patent, a portable rice-polishing machine can be operated more economically and more productively. The electrical power consumption is minimized, because the machines motor does not have to work so hard, when the machine is operating smoothly without sloughed rice grains stuck in the interface section. The maintenance costs are also minimized, because machine parts, such as the slough screen and the polishing unit, do not get damaged as often. The productivity is further improved by an efficient discharge of polished white rice grains.