The present invention relates to processing of agricultural modules of crop produce and more particularly relates to an assembly and methods for processing modules containing produce such as but not limited to seed cotton. The invention further relates to an assembly capable of removing seed cotton from seed cotton modules covered with a plastics sleeve. The present invention further relates to a method and an apparatus which enables removal of a plastics sleeve from a seed cotton module and which allows release of the seed cotton for further processing.
The invention further provides an apparatus which receives and retains a seed cotton module and facilitates removal of the seed cotton from a plastics sleeve which captures the seed cotton. The present invention also relates to a method of processing a seed cotton module for presentation to such apparatus for removing the plastics sleeve.
The invention further relates to a device for handling cylindrical seed cotton modules each having their circumference wrapped with a plastics wrapping material. The device includes primary support space frame having arms and feet members each hydraulically controlled to grip and remove the plastics wrapping material from the cylindrical seed cotton module.
Cotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant. This is known as seed cotton. Once harvested, seed cotton must be removed from the harvester and stored before it is delivered to gins. Seed cotton is removed from the harvester and placed in modules, which are relatively compact units of seed cotton. A cotton module, can be large weighing up to 25,000 pounds. Most cotton in the United States, Europe, and Australia is harvested mechanically, either by a cotton picker, a machine that removes the cotton from the boll without damaging the cotton plant, or by a cotton stripper, which strips the entire boll off the plant.
From the field, seed cotton moves to nearby gins for separation of lint and seed. The cotton first goes through dryers to reduce moisture content and then through cleaning equipment to remove foreign matter. These operations facilitate processing and improve fiber quality. The cotton is then air conveyed to gin stands where revolving circular saws pull the lint through closely spaced ribs that prevent the seed from passing through. The lint is removed from the saw teeth by air blasts or rotating brushes, and then compressed into bales weighing approximately 500 pounds. Cotton is then moved to a warehouse for storage until it is shipped to a textile mill for use.
The agricultural industry commonly uses modules to retain produce for transportation and storage before further processing.
Produce is commonly wrapped in a plastics cover creating cylindrical modules with open ends. This practice is adopted for food produce such as lucerne and hay also for seed cotton produce. Once seed cotton is harvested, the produce is wrapped using a tight plastics sleeve forming a generally cylindrical module with open ends. Various methods have in the past been used for removal of the seed cotton from the modules
According to the prior part there is already in existence an apparatus for removing seed cotton from a plastics sleeve. This apparatus is complicated and includes a mechanism for rotation of the module into an optimal attitude for processing and includes cutting means for removing the seed cotton from a plastics sleeve. Due to the inclusion of the rotating mechanism, this leads to a machine which is complicated in construction, more expensive to maintain and operate and which has a large number of moving parts.
There are various other assemblies and apparatuses which mechanically process bales of produce textiles and the like. One example of a device which removes textile form a bale is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,920 which describes a method and apparatus for removing textile fiber from a compacted bale. Textile fiber formed as a compacted bale is loosened, stripped from the bale and rolled into a wound package in preparation for delivery for subsequent processing. Loosening, stripping and rolling are accomplished by compound motion of tines of a rake, with the tines having relatively fast movement in a closed path of travel generally about a center of movement and with a lower reach in which the tines move in one direction and the rake having relatively slow movement in that direction, such that repeated relatively quick strokes of the tines cooperate with the slower movement of the rake for stripping and rolling the textile fiber.
Another apparatus for removing material from a bale is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,269 which describes an apparatus for removing a layer of predetermined thickness from a bale of fiber material including an array of rigidly secured, juxtaposed, vertically oriented tines and carriers for moving the tines downwardly to a selected depth in the bale and then horizontally to remove a top layer from the bale. The invention described in that patent provides an apparatus for the removal of cotton of the above described type which enables layers of cotton to be removed from a bale toward the side and which is structurally simple.
To achieve this, the tines penetrate into the uppermost region of the bale. Thereafter, a frame holding the tines is laterally displaced to slide along the support so that the upper region gripped by the tines is simply pulled away to the side. After the frame has been pushed back over the bale, the support is moved vertically downwardly along the movable frame so that the tines which are fastened to the frame can penetrate the fiber bale anew, likewise in a vertical direction.
Another apparatus associated with bale processing is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,250,783 which discloses an apparatus for cutting straps wound on a bale of material in which the bale of material is brought into contact with a cutter blade which is forcibly retracted against the action of a spring. The cutter element is released under the pressure of a compressed spring and is thrust forwardly against the bale to cut straps on the bale.
By way of another example of the prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,708 discloses a fiber bale opening machine having an inclined opening roller provided with a conveying apparatus for stepwise displacement of fiber bales in the direction of the opening roller. The roller is movable transversely with respect to the direction of the displacement. The conveying apparatus includes at least one stationary support for supporting the bale and at least one shifting device for performing a repetitive movement cycle starting from an initial position and returning back to it. In the initial position, the lifting device is lower than the stationary support and the bale is supported on such support. Later the lifting device moves up to take over support of the bale and during this time it shifts in the direction of intended bale displacement.
In the more specific seed cotton module processing step of removing seed cotton from a retaining plastics sleeve there is a long felt want in the industry to provide a more cost, labor and time efficient method of and apparatus for removing seed cotton from a seed cotton bale sleeve and which is simple to operate with a minimum of labour and reduces processing time.
To meet that objective there is provided an assembly which is adjustable to receive a seed cotton module and which can be adjusted to allow engagement with the module presented in an optimal attitude for sleeve removal and subsequent release of seed cotton for further processing along a production conveyor.
The present invention seeks to provide an improved method and apparatus for removing produce from a module &/or bale created by field wrapping in a plastics sleeve.
More specifically, the present provides an assembly and methods for processing seed cotton modules and more particularly relates to an assembly capable of removing seed cotton from seed cotton modules covered with a plastics sleeve without necessarily cutting the sleeve. The present invention further relates to an apparatus which enables removal of a plastics sleeve from a seed cotton module by gravitation and which allows release of the seed cotton for further processing.
The invention further provides an apparatus which receives and retains a seed cotton module by application of compression and facilitates removal of the seed cotton from a plastics sleeve which is wrapped about the seed cotton. The present invention also relates to a method of processing a seed cotton module for presentation to such apparatus for removing the plastics sleeve.
Although the invention will be predominantly described with reference to its application in the cotton industry, it will be recognised by persons skilled in the art that the invention has other applications beyond those limited to seed cotton module processing. For instance, the assembly could be used to removing plastics wrapping from hay and lucerne bales.
In its broadest form the present invention comprises:
an apparatus for enabling the removal of a covering from a produce module/bale, the apparatus comprising;
a primary support frame including legs fixed to ground surface via feet a gantry which supports a compression assembly capable of receiving and retaining a module;
wherein the compression assembly moves between a non working state in which compression arms supported by said gantry are retracted away from a workspace in which a module is located and a working state in which the compression arms apply sufficient pressure to the bale to allow removal of a plastics sleeve as the compression assembly is moved from a location in which the compression arms grip the module to a location in which the sleeve is released from the module.
According to a preferred embodiment, the plastics sleeve is removed by elevating the sleeve relative to the module contents so that the module contents are left in a work station. Elevation of the plastics allows the produce to gravitate away from the sleeve via the open end of the module for further processing.
Preferably the compression assembly is supported by a gantry which is adapted for vertical extension and retraction. Preferably the apparatus includes four legs which engage ground anchored pivot connections enabling the legs to rotate freely as the gantry is vertically advanced and retracted.
Struts connected to the gantry are connected to ends of respective legs via pin connections which allow the struts to rotate through an arc in a substantially vertical plane through at least 100 degrees enabling the gantry to descend and ascend. The ascent and descent of the gantry is preferably assisted by hydraulically actuated struts. The gantry includes an auxiliary frame from which depends the compression assembly which includes evenly spaced compression arms which radially oppose a circumferential wall of a module. Preferably, the compression arms are urged radially inward towards a module placed under the assembly.
In another broad form the present invention comprises:
an apparatus for enabling the release of produce from a module/bale retained by a plastics sleeve, the apparatus comprising;
a primary support frame including legs fixed to ground surface via feet
a gantry which supports a compression assembly capable of receiving and retaining a module;
means to enable the compression assembly to moves between a non working state in which the compression assembly is elevated above a work station and a working state in which the compression assembly is at a work station in which compression arms are capable of retaining a produce module; wherein the compression assembly includes means to enable the arms to apply a radial force to the module sufficient to allow the compression assembly to remove the plastics sleeve and allow the produce to gravitate through a free end of the module as the plastics sleeve is elevated away from the produce.
According to a preferred embodiment the produce is a cotton crop.
Preferably the compression assembly is retained by an overhead gantry which ascends and descends as the apparatus moves between the working and non working states. Preferably the compression arms apply sufficient pressure to the bale to allow removal of a plastics sleeve using a friction force as the compression assembly is moved from a location in which the compression arms grip the module to a location in which the sleeve is released from the module.
In another broad form of a method aspect the present invention comprises;
a method of releasing a produce module from a retaining sleeve, using an apparatus comprising; the method comprising the steps of:
an apparatus for enabling the release of produce from a module retained by a plastics sleeve, the apparatus comprising;
a primary support frame including legs fixed to ground surface via feet
a gantry which supports a compression assembly capable of receiving and retaining a module;
means to enable the compression assembly to moves between a non working state in which the compression assembly is elevated above a work station and a working state in which the compression assembly is at a work station in which compression arms are capable of retaining a produce module;
the method comprising the steps of;
a) placing the produce bale at a work station underneath the apparatus so that the module is sitting on an open end;
b) advancing arms of the compression assembly so that a radial force is applied to a wall of the module sufficient to friction grip the sleeve;
c) elevating the compression assembly so that the sleeve is elevated away from the produce module until the sleeve is released from the module,
d) allowing the produce to gravitate through a free end of the plastics sleeve as the sleeve is elevated away from the produce;
e) discarding the plastics sleeve and advancing the produce to a further processing state away from the apparatus.
The present invention provides an alternative to the known prior art and the shortcomings identified. The foregoing and other objects and advantages will appear from the description to follow. In the description reference is made to the accompanying representations, which forms a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments will be described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In the accompanying illustrations, like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is best defined by the appended claims.
Although the present invention will be described with reference to its application in cotton processing, it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the assembly to be described below according to various embodiments may be adapted for use in other applications.
Telescopic hydraulic actuator 48 attached to leg 21 and strut 28, allows strut 28 to move between an elevated state (see
In use, a module 72 is fed via a conveyor as described in
The present invention obviates the disadvantages of the prior art and provides other advantages which are apparent from the description herein. One major advantage of the present invention is that it does not require the significant power which is otherwise required to rotate a module to an optimal attitude before processing. Since a cotton module is very heavy and can weigh up to 3 ton, a strong rotation capability is required on the prior art machines. According to the present invention the rotation step is eliminated from the apparatus as the improved conveyor configuration presents the module to the apparatus in an optimal attitude—i.e. it is already rotated to an end up geometry. In the past this rotation was also performed by a front end loader. The present invention apparatus can process at least 260 bales per day.
It will be recognised by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and modifications may be made to the invention described herein without departing from the overall spirit and scope of the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2009903856 | Aug 2009 | AU | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCT/AU10/01044 | 8/14/2010 | WO | 00 | 5/7/2012 |