Claims
- 1. A sugar cane mill comprising
- (a) a frame,
- (b) an inlet roller and an outlet roller mounted on the frame,
- (c) an upper roller resiliently biased towards the inlet and outlet rollers, the upper roller defining inlet and outlet nips with the inlet and outlet rollers, respectively,
- (d) a support and a pivot extending parallel to the inlet and outlet rollers and pivotally mounting the support on the frame,
- (e) a fourth roller mounted on the support forwardly of and at about the same level as the upper roller and above the inlet roller, the fourth roller having about the same diameter as and defining an opening with the upper roller,
- (f) means acting upon the support for resiliently biasing the fourth roller mounted thereon towards the upper roller,
- (g) adjustable stop means arranged to prevent the fourth roller resiliently biased towards the upper roller from contacting the upper roller, and
- (h) a trash plate placed between the fourth roller and the inlet roller, the trash plate being mounted on the support.
- 2. The sugar cane mill of claim 1, wherein the opening between the fourth roller and the upper roller is between 1.8 and 2.5 times the width of the opening between the upper roller and the inlet roller.
- 3. The sugar cane mill of claim 1, wherein the means acting upon the support comprises hydraulic jack means connected to the support and a hydro-pneumatic accumulator connected to, and controlling, the hydraulic jack means.
- 4. The sugar cane mill of claim 1, wherein the frame is comprised of two side plates supporting respective ends of the inlet and outlet rollers, and further comprising two levers pivotally mounted on the side plates and supporting respective ends of the upper roller, and bearings being arranged between the levers and the respective side plates.
- 5. The sugar cane mill of claim 1, further comprising a screen mounted on the trash plate and extending between the fourth roller and the inlet roller for preventing juices extracted in the opening between the fourth roller and the upper roller from dripping onto the inlet roller and for guiding said juices towards an inlet end of the mill.
- 6. The sugar cane mill of claim 5, further comprising a pivoting gate mounted on the support for movement between two selected positions with respect to the screen, a main juice collector arranged to collect juices received from the inlet and outlet openings, a separate juice collector arranged to collect juices from the opening between the fourth and upper rollers, and the gate guiding the juices into a respective one of the collectors in a respective one of the selected positions.
- 7. A system for the extraction of sugar from sugar cane, which comprises a battery of sequentially arranged sugar cane mills each including an inlet roller, an outlet roller and an upper roller resiliently biased towards the inlet and outlet rollers, the upper roller defining inlet and outlet openings with the inlet and outlet rollers, respectively, wherein the sugar cane is crushed into bagasse in the openings and juices are extracted from the bagasse in the openings; permeable conveyors arranged between successive ones of the mills for feeding the bagasse from mill to mill in a feeding direction; means for directing the juices extracted in each one of the mills to the bagasse fed on the conveyors to a preceding one of the mills, except for a first one of the mills, for imbibing the bagasse with the extracted juices from the succeeding mill; one of the mills being a mill comprising a frame, an inlet roller and an outlet roller mounted on the frame, an upper roller resiliently biased towards the inlet and outlet rollers, the upper roller defining inlet and outlet openings with the inlet and outlet rollers, respectively, a support and a pivot extending parallel to the inlet and outlet rollers and pivotally mounting the support on the frame, a fourth roller mounted on the support forwardly of, and at about the same level as, the upper roller and above the inlet roller, the fourth roller having about the same diameter as, and defining an opening with, the upper roller, means acting upon the support for resiliently biasing the fourth roller mounted thereon towards the upper roller, adjustable stop means arranged to prevent the fourth roller resiliently biased towards the upper roller from contacting the upper roller, a trash plate placed between the fourth roller and the inlet roller, the trash plate being mounted on the support, a screen mounted on the trash plate and extending between the fourth roller and the inlet roller for preventing juices extracted in the opening between the fourth roller and the upper roller from dripping onto the inlet roller and for guiding said juices towards an inlet end of the one mill, a pivoting gate mounted on the support for movement between two selected positions with respect to the screen, a main juice collector arranged to collect juices received from the inlet and outlet openings, a separate juice collector arranged to collect juices from the opening between the fourth and upper rollers, and the gate guiding the juices into a respective one of the collectors in a respective one of the selected positions; and further comprising means for recycling the juices extracted in the nip between the fourth roller and the upper roller of the one mill for imbibing the bagasse fed to the one mill.
- 8. The sugar extraction system of claim 7, wherein the means for recycling the juices is arranged to imbibe the bagasse fed to the last-mentioned mill upstream of the point where the bagasse fed to the last-mentioned mill is imbibed with the juices extracted from the succeeding mill.
- 9. A system for the extraction of sugar from sugar cane, which comprises a battery of sequentially arranged sugar cane mills including rollers defining openings wherein the sugar cane is crushed into bagasse and juices are extracted from the bagasse in the openings; one of the mills being a mill comprising a frame, an inlet roller and an outlet roller mounted on the frame, an upper roller resiliently biased towards the inlet and outlet rollers, the upper roller defining inlet and outlet openings with the inlet and outlet rollers, respectively, a support and a pivot extending parallel to the inlet and outlet rollers and pivotally mounting the support on the frame, a fourth roller mounted on the support forwardly of, and at about the same level as, the upper roller and above the inlet roller, the fourth roller having about the same diameter as, and defining an opening with, the upper roller, means acting upon the support for resiliently biasing the fourth roller mounted thereon towards the upper roller, adjustable stop means arranged to prevent the fourth roller resiliently biased towards the upper roller from contacting the upper roller, a trash plate placed between the fourth roller and the inlet roller, the trash plate being mounted on the support, a screen mounted on the trash plate and extending between the fourth roller and the inlet roller for preventing juices extracted in the opening between the fourth roller and the upper roller from dripping onto the inlet roller and for guiding said juices towards an inlet end of the one mill, a pivoting gate mounted on the support for movement between two selected positions with respect to the screen, a main juice collector arranged to collect juices received from the inlet and outlet openings, a separate juice collector arranged to collect juices from the opening between the fourth and upper rollers, and the gate guiding the juices into a respective one of the collectors in a respective one of the selected positions; permeable conveyors arranged between successive ones of the mills for feeding the bagasse from mill to mill in a feeding direction; and means for recycling the juices extracted in each one of the mills, except for a first one of the mills, for imbibing the bagasse fed on a respective one of the conveyors to the respective one of the mills and for directing the juices extracted in each one of the mills succeeding the first mill to the bagasse fed on the conveyors to a preceding one of the mills for imbiding the bagasse additionally with the extracted juices from the succeeding mill.
- 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the means for recycling the juices to the one mill and for directing the juices from the succeeding mill to the last-mentioned mill are arranged to imbibe the bagasse fed to the last-mentioned mill first with the juices extracted in the opening defined by the fourth and upper rollers of the last-mentioned mill, then with the juices extracted in the inlet and outlet openings of the last-mentioned mill, and finally with the juices from the succeeding mill, in the feeding direction.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
78 22927 |
Mar 1978 |
FRX |
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Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 058,185, filed July 17, 1979, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Foreign Referenced Citations (4)
Number |
Date |
Country |
2050660 |
Mar 1971 |
FRX |
2153574 |
Sep 1973 |
FRX |
2310409 |
Nov 1974 |
FRX |
2350400 |
May 1976 |
FRX |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
58185 |
Jul 1979 |
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