US2281860A - Continuous feed and pressure press - Google Patents

Description

May 5,19424 I .1. c. RENAULT `2,281,860l

CONTINUOUS FEED AND PRESSURE PRESS Filed May 27, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 A Qi Q n Y i E n o @1 /gwdg.

J. C. RENAULT CONTINUOUS FEED AND PRESSURE PRESS May 5, 1942.

Filed May 27', 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 5. Z z u l l i l l l Il l l lLAl/IliiW lllll IIJ I l l I l l l nr .,r il@ H fw lill l| I l... lllll l.. IXIII A VINI( f wi n n 0 1 IVA. .n 44 n n F n 0 .r Mw 3,\ n u 3 mm D@ Zf\ a 4MM` m Am k IIIPII M/o INVENTOR JEAN 6'. f/wwz BY 5M# M.

ATTRNEYS May 5 1942- J. c. RENAULT 2,281,860

ICONTINUOUS FEEDAND'PRESSURE PRESS Filed May 27, 1959 5 sheets-sheet s INVENTOR ATTORNEYS `the pressure medium to adjust itself, to a, cer- Pntented May 5,

miren l stares v 2,281,860

coN'rrNUoUs FEED AND PRESSURE mass reso c. mossa, senses, conf. aol-,lisation May 21, 193e, seran No. 276,205 s claims. (or. '10o-35) The present invention relates to improvements Figure 4, a perspective view of a conveyor slat in a continuous feed and pressure press yadapted. used in my invention; to compress material for various purposes. Figure 5, a schematic detail view showing the My invention has been particularly developed relative arrangement of the two conveyor reaches for the purpose of squeezing natural juices from 5 as seen from line V--V of Figure 3; and different kinds of vegetable materials to prepare Figure 6 a detail View, in side elevation, of a the solids for drying and further disposal. It fragmentary portionof a modied form of comhas scial reference to the treatment of oi-fall pression means.

leaves of lettuce in large growing and packing While l have shown only the preferred forms establish-monts, where the disposal of the said l of my invontioml Wish to have it understood olif-fall has becomeaserious problem. that various changes or modifications may be My invention is designedto allow these leaves made within the scope of theclaimshereto atand vegetable matter to be quickly divastedy of tached without departing from the spirit of the their liquid contents in a continuous process so invention. as to leave a relatively dry pulp, which may be l Referring to the drawings in detail, my invenus'ed for feed or burned or otherwise disposed of. non comprises in its principal features, two end- While my invention has been designed for the leSS Chain Conveyors Ii and 2 and means indioperatlon described,'it should be understood that cated at 3 for forcing registering reaches 4 and its principles maybe employed for many other 5 of the conveyors upon one another for compurposes, wherever it may be desired to oompressing'the material interposed therebetween.

press, commlnute or crush material, whether The conveyor l ispreferably mounted in a. vegetable or mineral, in a continuous `process vertical plane on a set of drive sprockets 6 and and inamost effective manner, WO Sets 0f, idler sprockets 1 and 8, in Such a In carrying out my invention it is particumanner as to present its long upper reach 4 in larly `proposed to utilize a pair of endless cona hOIiZOntal Planeveyors arranged to present reaches running' in The shafts 9, I 0 and Il of the sprockets are confronting relation so that the material may suitably supported in frame structure parts of be fed between and advanced by the said reaches, which are SllOWll at l0' in Fgure.3 The idler while special means are provided for exerting shaft Ill is preferably mounted with freedom of pressure on the reaches for compressing'the ma- 30 adjustability and under Spring tension as inditerial passing therebetween. cated at I2.

In this connection it is propgsed to provide A suitable table i3 with reinforcing ribs I4 a compressing means by means of which a great Supports the upper reach of the conveyor. amount of force may be applied, while at the The conveyor l. is made up 0f a plurality 0f same time, it has sufficient flexibility to allow links l5 hinged together as at I6. Each link comprises a transverse slet l1 having a plurality tain degree at least, to variations in resistance 0f Sets 0f, brackets I8 prOjecting inwardly thereand volume oiered by the advancing material. from, the brackets of adjacent links being inter- Itis further proposed to provide suitable means Connected by the hinge pins l5 which carry rollfor collecting the juices or liquids squeezed from 40ers 2 adapted fOr engagement by the sprockets the material. 9 l0 and H. These rollers also ride on the table Further objects and advantages of my inveni3 and Serve as anti-friction supports for the tion will appear as the specification proceeds and upper reach 0f the Conveyor. the novel features thereof will be set forth in A detail perspective view of one of the slats the claims hereto attached. i5 (with brackets and 'ro1lers`omitted) is shown in The preferred forms of my invention are il- Figure 4f. It comprises an elongated plate exlustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming tending transversely across the conveyor and part of this application, in which: may be perfectly fiat in its outer face, In its Figure l shows a side elevation of the operapreferred form, however, it is formed with lattive parts of my invention, the frame structure :10` eral flanges 2l projecting outwardly, grooves 22 being omittedto simplify the disclosure; adjacent the ilanges, ports 23 leading from the Figure 2, a detail section of a pulp remover, grooves underneath the flanges to the outer taken along line liI--eIll of Figure 1; edges of the slats and slits 24 in the body por- Figure 3, a transverse section taken along line tion of the slats. III- III of Figure 2; v The front and rear edges of the slats are preferably tapered or bevelled as at 25 (see particularly Figure 5), and the width of each slat is such, as compared with the supporting brackets, that throughout the upper reach of the conveyor the slats form a continuous surface. as diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 5, the front and rear edges of adjacent slats being in contact while the bevelled edges form V-shaped, selff cleaning openings preventing the accumulation of matter between the slats.

The flanges 2| and the grooves 22 of the different slats are alined so that in the upper reach there is a continuous flange withacontinuous groove forming a discharge gutter.

The conveyor 2 is similarly constructed. It is in the form of an endless conveyor riding over the sprockets 26 and 2l, ,suitably supported on portion of the shoe support a similar bell crank shafts 23 and 29 and this conveyor is mounted over the first conveyor so that its lower reach runs parallel to the upper reach of the first conveyor and in slightly spaced relation thereto.

The upper conveyor is shorter than the lower one and the latter projects at both ends to allow of feeding of the material thereon and removal of the treated material therefrom. The two conveyors are operated soA that the two coacting reaches run in the same direction.

The shaft 29 has a spring 29' urging the shaft rearward and a spring 30' allowing the shaft to rise under the influence of material entering between the conveyors.

The links of the upper conveyor are arranged similarly to those of the lower conveyor `except that the slats 3|! may be plain (the flanges,y grooves, slits and bevelled edges of the lower conveyor slats being omitted) and are .slightly shorter than the slats of the lower conveyor so that the' upper'slats nt between the flanges of the lower slats (see Figure 3) e The two conveyors are preferably arranged in such a manner that the slats 'stagger as shown in Figure 5,'a joint of one conveyor being oplever-including a shaft d3, an upward arm @d w and a forwardly extending arm is engaging under a second cross-member d6 supported over the shoe in links il rising from the table i3.

The upper ends of the two arms 32 and fit are interconnected by a suitable, controllable expansion means, here shown as a hydraulic press t3 having two plungers i9 operating the arms and a suitable pressure indicator as shown at 50.

, When the pressure in the hydraulic press is increased, the upper ends of the arms 39 and 44 are forced apart, withthe result that the shafts 38 and t3 are forced downward, increasing the pressure of the' shoe upon the lower reach of the upper conveyor.

It will be noted that this application of pres- 'sure is flexible in the sense that the shoe is allowed a certain amount of oscillating movement in response to variations in resistance offered by the passing material. It is also allowed to adjust itself to a slight angularity so as to have a Wedge action causing the material to thin out as it advances between the conveyor reaches so that the squeezing action may continue throughout the length of the shoe.

The pressure means thusr far described bears down on the heel of the shoe and a central portion of the saine. thus allowing the toe portion,

" which has a slight upward bend as at 5|, to rise posite the center of the slat in the other conveyor.

Suitable supporting plates I3 and I3" may also be arranged for the upper reach of the upper conveyor and the lower reach of the lower conveyor. j

In operation the material, such as waste lettuce leaves, is fed on the rear end of the lower conveyor, from a chute 3l.. is spread over the conveyor by means of' a suitable rotary brush 32 and thereupon advances into the space between the coacting reaches of the conveyor chains where the juice is squeezed out of the material and allowed to run off, through the slits 24. the grooves 2.2, ports 23 and possibly through slight cracks between the slats, into a drippan 33 hav ing a suitable outlet 3l.

To allow of perfect control of the pressure brought to bear on the material passing between the two reaches. I provide the special compression means 3. This means comprises a pressure shoe or plate 35 overlying the lower reach of the upper conveyor and suitable means for urging this pressure shoe toward the table I3 Supporting the upper reach of the lower conveyor.

This pressure shoe has an alined series of brackets 36 rising from its heel end and a similar series of brackets 31 rising from an intermediate'section thereof. The brackets 36 support a transverse shaft 33 having an arm 39 extending in substantially upward direction and. two arms 40 extending rearwardly and underneath a cross-member 4l.

and to ride more easily over new material coming in. Yielding resistance is offered to such rising movement by a cross-bar 52, opposite ends of which are engaged by bolts 53 straddling the conveyor reaches and passing through lugs 54 projecting from the table i3, springs 55 exerting downward pressure on the bolts.

After the material passes the upper conveyor it is removed from the bottom conveyor by means of a blade 56 (Figure 2) which extends across the conveyor at an angle so that i-tsimultaneously i engages a number of slats and is then sucked into a pipe 5T by means of a cyclone collector.

Material adhering to the upper conveyor may be similarly removed by means of a blade 58 for discharge through pipe 59, which Joins the former pipe at 6Fl. The final product may be suitably disposed of, as by burning, in which case the heat created may be used for heating the pipes 51 and 59 to further dry the material before burning.

Heat may also be applied to the lower conveyor, as at 6i, and streams of air may be di-l rected through the grooves 22 of the slats on the lower conveyor by means of nozzles 62.

The operation of my machine will be readily understood from the foregoing description. 'Ihe material is fed on the projecting rear'end of the lower conveyor from the chute 3|, is distributed by means of' the brush 32 and then enters between the two coacting reaches of the conveyors. It is then squeezed and pressed while it advances,

the'squeezing and pressing gradually increasing until finally a very large percentage of the juices is removed and the material emerges in the formv of a thin sheet of pulp. 'Ihe'liquid nds its way to the trough 33, while the solids are picked up by the blades 56 and 58 for discharge into the cyclone collector.

A modified form, of my invention is disclosed and illustrated in Figure 6 in which the pressure is exerted by two coacting drums 63 and 64 mounted above and below the coacting reaches l and ofthe conveyors. ' I'he shafts 65 and 66 may be drawn toward one another for increasing the pressure by any suitable means, such vas the' hydraulic press 61 shown in dotted lines, oomprising a cylinder 68 attached to the lower shaft, a piston 69 sliclable therein and having a piston rod attached to the other shaft and means 1| for admitting a pressure medium between the piston and the closed end of the cylinder.

I claim:

l. In a continuous feed and pressure press, a pair of endless conveyors arranged to have confronting reaches adapted to advance material therebetween, a pair of plates bearing on opposite sides ofvsaid confronting reaches, links projecting from one of the plates, a pair of crossmembers supported in the links in spaced relation to the other plate, bell crank levers pivoted on the latter plate, one arm of each of said levers being positioned to bear underneath one of the cross-members, and pressure means disposed between the other arms of said levers and being operative thereon for urging the plates toward one another to compress material between said confronting reaches.

2. In a press, a pair of pressure members adapted to bear on material interposed therebetween for compressing the same, a pair of girdles encircling the pressure members at spaced points, a pair of levers fulcrumed on one of said members and arranged to pry underneath said girdles, and expansion means operative on said levers for forcing the pressure members toward one another.

3. In a press, a pair of pressure members adapted to bear on material interposed therebetween for compressing the same, a pair of girdles encircling the pressure members at spaced points, a pair of levers fulcrumed on one of said mem-A bers and arranged to pry underneath said girdles,

' and expansion means carried .by said levers and operative thereon for forcing the pressure memr bers toward' one another.

4. In a press, a pair of pressure members adapted to bear on material interposed therebetween for compressing the same, a pair of girdles fronting flexible reaches adapted to advance material therebetween, a pair of plates bearing on opposite sides of said confronting reaches, separate means disposed at spaced points for urging the plates toward one another, and common operating means for the latter means operable to permit of rocking movement of one of the plates with respect to the other and about an object passing between the reaches.

6. In a continuous feed and pressure press, a pair of endless conveyors arranged to have confronting flexible reaches adapted to advance ma' terial therebetween, a'pair of plates bearing on opposite sides of said confronting reaches, separate means disposed at spaced points for urging the plates toward one another, and common operating means for the latter means operable to permit of rocking movement of the plates with respect to one another and about an object passing between the reaches.

7. In a continuous feed and pressure press, a pair of endless conveyors arranged to have confronting flexible reaches adapted to advance material therebetween, a pair of plates bearing on opposite sides of said confronting rfi-aches, sepa rate means disposed at spaced points for urging the plates toward one another, and a movably mounted hydraulic motor operative on both of said means for actuating the same with freedom of rocking motion of one of said plates with respect tothe other and about an object passing between the reaches.

8. In a continuous feed and pressure press, a pair of endless conveyors arranged vto have confronting ilexible reaches adapted toA advance material therebetween, a pair of plates bearing on opposite sides of said confronting reaches, separate means disposed at spaced points for urging the plates toward one another, and a movably mounted hydraulic motor operative on both of said means for actuating the same with freedom of rocking motion of both of said plates with respect to one another and about an object passing between the reaches.

JEAN C. RENAULT.

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