Article grading apparatus
US4466545A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 18, 1982 |
| Grant date | Aug 21, 1984 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 18, 2002 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S209/921
- WIPO fieldChemical engineering
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
Potatoes which are to be graded according to their size prior to further processing, for example in the manufacture of a snack food product, are deposited in a hopper 16 at the lower end of an upwardly inclined walking beam conveyor 18. Pockets 35, 37 formed in the conveyor 18 pick up potatoes from the hopper 16 and convey them along the conveyor by transferring each potato from pocket to pocket. Any potatoes whose dimensions are greater than those of the pockets 35, 37 are either not picked up or fall out of the pockets under gravity as the conveyor 18 is operated and drop back into the hopper 16. Periodically, a base wall 17 of the hopper 16 is opened to discharge the accumulated large-size potatoes therefrom.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.