Abstract:
A method of cutting seed potatoes prior to their planting is provided in which a laser beam is employed to slice the potatoes into the desired sized pieces. The present invention employs a plurality of laser cutting tubes and/or a multiple laser beam horizontal cutting areas which hold laser beam generating systems made up of laser beam sources that project the laser beams through the center of the cutting tubes or the cutting area and laser energy absorbers which contains the laser energy not used in the cutting process within the confines of the body of the invention. The laser beams bisect the cutting areas and as a potatoes pass through it the laser beams effectively cut the potato into the desired size before it leaves the body of the present invention. Additionally, the use of a laser to cut seed potatoes prior to their planting also cauterizes the cut surfaces of the potatoes which ensures that any diseases contained within an individual seed potato will not be passed to additional potatoes during the cutting process.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an improvement in the method used to cut and plant seed potatoes during spring planting. More specifically, to a method of cutting the seed potatoes prior to their planting in a manner that ensures that the cut potatoes will not be contaminated due to the possible presence of bacteria and other pathogens that are common to and create problems in potato crops. 
     It is well known to cut and size seed potatoes in a variety of ways prior to planting. In the past seed potatoes have often been cut by hand with a common knife prior to planting. In the last twenty years large automatic seed cutters which still use a blade to cut potatoes have gained in popularity. One of the issues with the use of a blade to cut seed potatoes has been the spread of disease from one potato to the next. When a blade cuts a potato that is diseased and is subsequently used again without cleaning, the disease may be spread to the next few potatoes that are cut. One solution to this has been the use of chemicals such as a bleach solution which may be used to clean the knife blade between cuttings. Although this practice can be effective if done properly this practice is both time consuming and can be unreliable if the blade is not cleaned thoroughly. Further, the use of a cleaning solution is not practical with most large seed cutting apparatus and may only be effective when cutting seed by hand. 
     From this discussion it can be seen that it be desirable to find a method of cutting potatoes with a large commercial cutter and sorter that prevents the spread of disease from one piece of cut seed potato to the next. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide a method of cutting seed potatoes in such a manner that any bacteria or other pathogens that are present within a given seed potato will not be passed on to others by means of the cutting instrument. 
     It is an additional objective of the present invention to provide such a method of cutting seed potatoes that effectively cauterizes the cut surfaces of the seed potatoes to ensure that the transfer of pathogens from one potato to another does not occur either during or after the cutting process. 
     It is a further objective of the present invention to provide such a method of cutting seed potatoes that utilizes a contained high intensity laser beam to perform the cutting operations. 
     It is a still further objective of the present invention to provide such a method of cutting seed potatoes that can be easily used with existing potato cutting and planting machines that are common in the market place today. 
     These objectives are accomplished by the use of a laser cutter housing that can be fitted to the frame of a conventional potato cutter or built in as part of a specialized piece of equipment. This cutter housing contains a plurality of laser cutting tubes and/or a multiple laser beam horizontal cutting areas through which the seed potatoes pass, as are coming off of a series of rollers that are typically part of a conventional potato cutter. These rollers are used to move the seed potatoes to the actual cutting component of the machine and also to align and sort the potatoes prior to their entering the cutter housing. Once the potatoes enter the laser cutter housing and are cut by the laser beams, they drop, exit the invention, and fall onto the lower conveying apparatus which carries them away from the invention to a point where they can be handled by the equipment operator. 
     The type of laser used, its power source wavelength and power density or pulse energy type and degree of focus may be readily determined and varied by one of skill in the art. Different types of lasers such as carbon dioxide, argon or nitrogen may be used. The type of focus that is used may also be varied depending upon the circumstances encountered. However, all of these factors are known and may be taken into account by one of skill in the art. At this point, it may also be stated that many commercially available potato sizers may first be used prior to cutting the seed. The type of sizer and it&#39;s specific operation may be tailored to the growers requirements and tolerances. Further, the arrangement of the lasers may be varied to match the particular sizer being used. 
     The laser cutting tubes house a laser beam generating system which is made up of laser source which projects the laser beam through the center of the cutting tube and a laser energy absorber which contains the laser energy not used in the cutting process within the confines of the body of the invention. The laser generating system can be oriented in a variety of different configurations to obtain different types of cuts in the seed potatoes but, in its simplest configuration, a single laser beam is projected across the interior of the cutting tube. This bisects the cutting tube and as a potato falls through the laser beam, the potato is cut in half before it exits the invention. 
     The use of a laser cutting system to cut seed potatoes prior to planting not only provides an effective method to do so, but also eliminates one of the biggest problems associated with this process. When using a mechanical device to cut the seed potatoes prior to planting, any bacteria or other pathogens that are contained within an individual potato and that come into contact with the cutting instrument can easily be passed to additional potatoes that are subsequently cut. Thus, a significant percentage of the seed can be infected which can drastically reduce the ultimate yield of the crop. The use of the laser cutting system eliminates this problem as the heat generated by the laser beam cauterizes the exposed potato flesh. This cauterization of the cut destroys any pathogens contained within individual potatoes and ensures that other potatoes will not be infected. With this source of disease eliminated by the present invention, the ultimate yield of the crop being planted will be increased dramatically which will also increase the profits made on the crop. 
     For a better understanding of the present invention reference should be made to the drawings and the description in which there are illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical seed potato cutting machine which may be used in conjunction with the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a top elevation view of a typical seed potato cutter illustrating the manner in which the rollers are used to align and transport the potatoes from one side of the cutter to the invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a top elevation view of the internal components of the present invention showing the laser tubes into which the potatoes are fed for cutting. 
     FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the internal components of the present invention showing the laser tubes into which the potatoes are fed for cutting. 
     FIG. 5 is a side elevation cut-away view of the cut tube component of the present invention illustrating the manner in which a potato is cut by the laser as it passes through the laser cutter. 
     FIG. 6 is a top elevation view of the cut tube component of the present invention illustrating the position of the laser beam within the cut tube. 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the present invention in which a set of reflecting mirrors are used to project a second laser beam through the cut tube to make multiple cuts in a potato that is passing through. 
     FIG. 8 is a top elevation view of an alternative embodiment of the present invention illustrating the position of the laser beams within the cut tube. 
     FIG. 9 is a side elevation view of a further alternative embodiment in which multiple laser beam sources are used to make multiple cuts in seed potatoes that are passing through the cutter. 
     FIG. 10 is a front elevation view of a further alternative embodiment in which multiple laser beam sources are used to make multiple cuts in seed potatoes that are passing through the cutter. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to the drawings, and more specifically to FIGS. 1 and 2, the laser operated seed potato cutter  10  may be used in conjunction with a typical seed potato cutting machine  12 . The seed potato cutting machine  12  is available in a wide variety of configurations but most typically is made up of a substantially rectangular box cutting frame  16  which houses a plurality of rotationally driven alignment rollers  18 . The alignment rollers  18  serve a variety of functions. The first of these is to move the seed potatoes  36  from the end of the cutting machine  12  at the point where they are deposited on the rollers  18  by the upper conveyor apparatus  14  to the laser cutter housing  20  located at the opposite end of the potato cutting machine  12 . The second function of the alignment rollers  18  is to channel the seed potatoes  36  into discreet rows which are fed into the cutter housing  20 . These discreet rows aid in the cutting process as they make sure that the seed potatoes are fed through the present invention one at a time which ensures that each seed potato  36  is properly cut. Finally, the rollers  18  also sort the seed potatoes  36  according to their size for purposes that are relevant to the present invention and that will be more fully discussed below. 
     Once the potatoes  36  have passed through the cutter housing  20  and have been cut by the present invention, they fall out the bottom of the cutter housing  20  and on to the lower conveyor apparatus  22 . The lower conveyor apparatus  22  is located on the opposite end of the potato cutting machine  12  to the location of the upper conveyor apparatus  14  and functions to move the cut seed potatoes  38  to a point at which they can be removed from the apparatus by the operator. Thus, the present invention is employed by placing seed potatoes  36  and feeding them into the cutting machine  12  by placing them on the upper conveyor apparatus  14  which deposits them onto the alignment rollers  18  of the potato cutting machine  12 . The rollers  18  align the potatoes  36  into discreet rows and sizes them by allowing small seed potatoes  36  to drop. The rollers  18  then transports the potatoes  36  to the laser cutter housing  20  where they are cut into smaller pieces and dropped on to the lower conveyor apparatus  22  where the process may be repeated depending upon the particular users need. The lower conveyor apparatus  22  then transports the cut potato  38  to a point where they are either stored for later use or immediately planted by a planting machine. 
     The primary method of construction of the laser operated seed potato cutter  10  is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. The laser operated seed potato cutter  10  is made up of a laser cutter housing  20  which is located at the terminal end of a potato cutting machine  12 . The seed potatoes  36  that are being transported, aligned, and sorted by the rollers  18  are fed into the cutter housing  20  through the cutter housing upper opening  56 . Upon entering the cutter housing  20 , the smaller sized seed potatoes  36  are deposited onto the feed platform  24  which is a downwardly angled shelf leading to the interior of the cutter housing  20 . The angle of the feed platform  24  forces the potatoes  36  to slide deeper into the interior of the cutter housing  20 . 
     Once the seed potatoes  36  pass over the length of the feed platform  24 , they fall into one of the plurality of laser cutting tubes  26  which are used to cut the smaller sized potatoes  36  and which form the majority of the lower end of the cutter housing  20 . It is within the laser cutting tubes  26  that the seed potatoes  36  are cut into pieces prior to their being planted in the field. Finally, once the cutting process has been completed, the seed potatoes  36  fall out of the cutter housing lower opening  58 , which is located at the terminal ends of the cutting tubes  26  and they are transported away from the invention by the lower conveyor apparatus  22  as described above. 
     Additionally, the cutter housing  20  is also equipped with a fan apparatus  62  which is used to keep the air within the cutter housing moving during operation. This is very important to the use of the invention as the cutting of organic material with a laser can produce smoke and debris which may inhibit the effective operation of the laser. The fan apparatus  62  can either be constructed to provide a positive pressure within the cutter housing  20  which would force the smoke out or to provide a negative pressure within the cutter housing which would serve to draw the smoke out. The movement of air created by the fan apparatus  62  eliminates the potential build up of smoke in the cutting area which enables the laser to function properly during all phases of operation of the present invention. 
     The basic manner of operation and the internal location of the laser beam  32  within the laser cutting tubes  26  of the present invention are illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. The small seed potato  36  falls into the laser cutting tube  26  (indicated by the direction of travel arrow  54 ) to the point at which it encounters the laser beam  32 . The laser beam  32  is generated by the laser source  28  which itself is attached to the exterior and extends slightly inside of the laser cutting tube  26  at about the midpoint of the laser cutting tube  26 . Thus, the laser source  28  projects the laser beam  32  through the center of the laser cutting tube  26  from one outside surface to the other. At the point at which the laser beam  32  contacts the other surface of the laser cutting tube  26  there is also located a conventional laser energy absorber  30 . The laser energy absorber  30  serves to retain any unused laser energy to ensure that it is not released into the environment surrounding the invention where it could be a potential source of unwanted problems. 
     Therefore, as the seed potato  36  falls through the laser cutting tube  26 , it comes into contact with the laser beam  32  that is bisecting the interior space of the laser cutting tube  26 . The intense heat that is generated by the laser beam  32  quickly cuts through the seed potato  36  as it falls through the laser cutting tube  26  which effectively produces the cut seed potato  38  that is desired for potato field planting. Additionally, the use of the laser beam  32  for this purpose also has the effect of cauterizing the cut edges  60  of the seed potatoes  36  which eliminates the possibility of the spread of disease and bacteria between the seed potatoes  36  that are being processed by the present invention. This benefit of the invention greatly increases the productivity of a potato field as it helps eliminates a source of diseases that are common to other methods of cutting seed potatoes  36 . 
     An alternative embodiment of the present invention in which a single laser source  28  is employed to produce a double cut seed potato  50  is illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8. The dual beam seed potato cutter  40  uses a plurality of conventional reflecting mirrors  42  to direct the laser beam  32  back through the interior of the cutting tube  26  once it has initially passed through. This is accomplished by placing one of the reflecting mirrors  42  at a 45 degree angle directly opposite of the laser source  28 . When the laser beam  32  strikes this reflecting mirror  42 , it is deflected at a ninety degree angle to where it contacts a second reflecting mirror  42  which deflects it an additional ninety degrees so that it is now traveling in a direction that is one hundred eighty degrees from its initial line of travel. From this point, the laser beam  32  contacts a third reflecting mirror  42  which is oriented to deflect it an additional ninety degrees in a location so that it is directed back through the center of the laser cutting tube  26  just below or above the point at which it initially passed through the tube  26 . This creates an X-type laser beam  32  configuration within the cutting tube  26  which produces a dual cut seed potato  50  which is useful when the operator desires to cut seed potatoes  36  into smaller size pieces for planting. Additionally, the cauterizing effect and benefits of the original embodiment are retained by the dual beam seed potato cutter  40 . 
     A still further embodiment of the present invention in which a plurality of laser sources  28  are employed to produce multiple cut seed potatoes  36  is illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10. It is this embodiment of the present invention which is employed to cut seed potatoes  36  that are either medium or large in size and that cannot fit through the laser cutting tubes  26 . The horizontally fed multiple beam seed potato cutter  44  utilizes a laser cutting configuration that cuts the medium or large size seed potatoes  36  in their line of travel  54  as they come off the alignment rollers  18 . Additionally, this embodiment uses a plurality of laser sources  28  that are arranged in this location to produce a grid of intersecting laser beams  32 . This typically consists of a single horizontal laser beam  48  which bisects the horizontal field of travel of the seed potatoes  36  at a point that is just above the upper surfaces of the alignment rollers  18  and a plurality vertical laser beams  46  which divide the vertical field of travel of the seed potatoes  26 . It is important to note that the configuration depicted here is simply for illustrative purposes and that virtually any configuration of the horizontal and vertical laser beams,  48  and  46 , can be employed with this embodiment of the invention to obtain the desired cut patterns in the seed potatoes  36 . 
     This embodiment of the present invention is also equipped with a plurality of laser energy absorbers  30  that are equal in number to the laser source  28  that are being used and are positioned in locations so they can contain any excess laser energy once it has passed through the seed potato  36  cutting zone. Finally, the embodiment of the invention is very useful in producing double cut seed potatoes  50  and triple cut seed potatoes  52  when the operator is using large seed potatoes  36  or desires to produce cut seed potatoes  38  of smaller and more uniform sizes. 
     The seed potatoes  36  are typically sized first before being sent through the various laser cutting tubes  26  or the potato alignment rollers  18 . The laser cutting tubes  26  may then be arranged so that smaller seed potatoes would go through the laser cutting tubes  26  in FIG.  6  and larger ones would go through laser cutting tubes  26  which may be arranged as in FIG.  8 . In FIGS. 9 and 10, the seed potatoes  36  would be sized. The smaller seed potatoes  36  would go through the laser cutting tubes  26  and the larger seed potatoes  36  would go through an arrangement as in FIG. 10 so that upon completion of the cutting with the laser the cut seed potatoes  38  are as uniform as possible. 
     Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versions are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein.