Abstract:
A oscillating sorting conveyor is adapted for separating whole berries of wine grapes from undesirable components such as “shot berries” (immature grapes), stems, raisins, leaf material, bugs, pebbles and the like. The sorter deploys a downward tilting trough that is driven to oscillate. A screen is disposed at the bottom of the trough such that whole berries are conveyed over the screen while the undesirable components pass through the screen. The preferred embodiment of the screen has a non-uniform cross-section to improve the efficiency of removal the undesirable components without clogging or requiring constant maintenance. The preferred embodiment of the oscillating conveyor is driven by a cam and cam follower, in which the cam driving shaft is counterweighted to minimize vibration. The more preferred embodiments minimize damage to the grape berries while efficiently removing the undesirable components.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application is a Division of the US patent application of the same title filed on Jul. 6, 2005, having application Ser. No. 11/176,431, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to the processing of wine grapes, and more specifically to an apparatus, process and related equipment for separating wine grape berries prior to conversion into must and juice for wine making 
         [0003]    The manufacture of the highest quality wines requires the use of nearly perfect wines grapes, which are of perfect ripeness and free form foreign and extraneous matter that would lead to off flavors and/or hinder or degrade the fermentation process. 
         [0004]    Wine grapes, being a natural agriculture product that is harvested in large commercial quantities for commercial wine making, inevitably contains some quantity of foreign or otherwise undesirable matter, be it from field contamination, so-called MOG (an acronym for “material other than grapes”) or natural variation in fruit ripeness and quality as caused by weather, pestilence, genetic variation and the like. MOG may include stems or portions thereof (such as sheared stem material produced by the action of the destemming machine), leaf material, bugs, pebbles and the like. 
         [0005]    Current industrial practice at premium commercial wineries is to employ crews that visual inspect grapes, either before or after de-stemming, in order to manually cull and remove the undesirable matter. However, hand sorting is limited in efficiency, completeness and in particular, is not practical to remove some undesirable components. Indeed it is difficult to remove by hand sorting “shot berries” (immature grapes) as well as overripe grapes or raisins, both of which although technically grape matter, adversely effect wine taste, flavor and aroma. 
         [0006]    Accordingly, there is a need for automated equipment and processes to remove undesirable matter from wine grape berries after de-stemming. 
         [0007]    It is therefore a first object of the present invention to provide such equipment and a process that has the general attributes of removing MOG from de-stemmed grape berries. 
         [0008]    It is another objective of the invention to provide such equipment and a process that removes “shot berries” as well as raisins without damaging or crushing whole ripe grapes. 
         [0009]    It is a further objective of the invention to provide the above automated process that is highly efficient at removing undesirable components, yet does so at a high throughput of grape berries. 
         [0010]    Still yet another object of the invention is to provide such a process and equipment which is relatively easy to maintain, with minimum and infrequent downtime for cleaning or refreshing by removing the separated undesirable materials. 
       SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
       [0011]    In the present invention, the above and other objects of the invention are achieved by providing an oscillating flow platform that receives the de-stemmed grapes at one end directly from a grape de-stemming machine, and then separates out the undesirable mater through a screen as the grapes are conveyed via a trough to holding tank, press or crusher. 
         [0012]    The oscillating flow platform includes a support stand on which a trough having a screen at its bottom surface is oscillated back and forth by a motor driven cam mechanism. The screen in the preferred embodiments has a mesh pattern that facilitates remove of the undesirable MOG other matter without damaging whole grape berries. 
         [0013]    Use of the above apparatus, with a preferred screen results in the removal of MOG, “shot berries” (immature grapes), raisins, stems, leaf material, bugs, pebbles and the like from de-stemmed grape berries, while largely maintaining the integrity of the ripe grape berries. Further, the device and method provide a high efficiency of removal at a high throughput of grape berries, yet with a minimal of maintenance downtime for cleaning or refreshing the screen. 
         [0014]    The above and other objects, effects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0015]      FIG. 1  is a side elevation of the oscillating flow platform; 
           [0016]      FIG. 2A  is rear elevation of the oscillating flow platform; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2B  is a cross-sectional elevation of the oscillating flow platform at section line II-II′ in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3A  is a detailed view of a portion of the rear elevation in  FIG. 2  to illustrate the powered drive mechanism of the oscillating flow platform; 
           [0019]      FIG. 3B  is a side elevation of a portion of the power drive mechanism of  FIG. 3A ; 
           [0020]      FIG. 4  is a plan view of the oscillating flow platform in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0021]      FIG. 5A  is a plan view of the screen portion of the oscillating flow platform in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0022]      FIG. 5B  is a detailed view of a portion of the plan view of  FIG. 5A ; 
           [0023]      FIG. 6  is a first cross sectional elevation of section VI-VI′ of the screen in  FIG. 5B ; 
           [0024]      FIG. 7  is a second cross sectional elevation of section VII-VII′ of the screen in  FIG. 5B ; 
           [0025]      FIG. 8  is a side cross-sectional elevation of section VIII-VIII′ of the screen in  FIG. 5B ; and 
           [0026]      FIG. 9  is a plan view of an alternative embodiment of the screen portion of the oscillating flow platform in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0027]      FIG. 10A  is partial cross-sectional elevation of the upper end of the trough and a portion of the screen. 
           [0028]      FIG. 10B  is a partial cross-sectional elevation of the lower or open end of the trough and a portion of the screen. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0029]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 through 10 , wherein like reference numerals refer to like components in the various views, there is illustrated therein a new and improved oscillating flow platform, generally denominated  100  herein. 
         [0030]    In accordance with the present invention,  FIG. 1  is an exterior side elevation of oscillating flow platform  100 . The platform comprises a support frame or stand  110  to which trough  160  is mounted by four pivots legs  101 . The trough is tilted downward from grape receiving end  160   a  toward an open mouth  166 . The trough has an aperture  163  that spans the midsection of the bottom surface for receiving a screen  500 . Thus, in a winemaking operation oscillating flow platform  100  receives grape berries at end  160   a  after de-stemming. As trough  160  oscillates in the plane of  FIG. 1 , about the four pivot legs  101 , the de-stemmed grape berries and MOG arriving from the de-stemmer are agitated as they flow downward with gravity toward open mouth  166 . Open mouth  166  is preferably tapered inward, as shown in  FIG. 4 , so that the still oscillating berries are directed into the next conveyor, storage or process vessel in the winemaking process. 
         [0031]    The agitation induced by the oscillating trough  160  results in multiple opportunities for the MOG, raisins and shot berries to contact and pass through screen  500 . In contrast, the larger whole berries, being bigger than the slots in the screen  500 , pass over it and exit the trough  160  at open mouth  166 . As will be further described with respect to  FIG. 5-8 , the screen  500  is configured such that whole berries pass over the screen while the majority of the undesirable mater falls through the screen. As a preferred embodiment, the trough has a solid area  161  for receiving de-stemmed grapes before entry to screen area. Initially dispensing grape berries on the solid area  161  has been discovered to result in a lower yield of juice being produced by the rupture of berries during the separation process. While the percentages of berries that rupture during the separation process is small, it can be significant for winemakers that plan to use a carbonic maceration process during the initial stages of fermentation, wherein fermentation initially occurs within the whole, un-ruptured berries. Further, avoiding the rupture of berries also minimizes the possibility that a portion of the grape juice will become oxidized before the start of fermentation. 
         [0032]    The matter passing through screen  500  is directed by funnel trough  106 , placed there under, into a removable open box-like catch basin  108 . Catch basin  108  has a secondary screen  560  its bottom surface. Secondary screen  560  has a finer mesh pattern than screen  500  so that solid MOG is now retained, but grape juice generated from broken berries passes through, to be collected in the underlying secondary trough  167 . Secondary trough  167  has a solid bottom surface that tapers toward a drain hole  168  and connected drain pipe  169 . Thus, any juice produced by rupturing the grape berries, either during the de-stemming process or separation of MOG in oscillating flow platform  100 , is readily removed and collected via a hose line or bucket placed under drain  168 . Catch basin  108  rests on secondary trough  167  so that it is readily removed therefrom to periodically disposed of the solid materials separated from the grape berries by screen  500 . It should be appreciated that catch basin  108  need not be limited to a discrete fixed member as illustrated, but in other embodiments may take the form of a screen conveyer belt so that that MOG, raisins and shot berries are continuously removed from the apparatus, before they have a chance to accumulate as they would in the discrete catch basin  108  illustrated herein. 
         [0033]    Trough  160  is oscillated about the four pivot legs  101  via motor  120  and drive assembly  125 . The upper ends of the pivot legs  101  are connected to trough  160  via upper bearings  164 , whereas the lower ends of the pivot legs  101  are connected to trough  160  via lower bearings  102 . The upper  164  and lower  102  bearing structures are preferably bushings, but are alternatively a roller bearing, a ball bearing and the like. 
         [0034]    The motor  120  and drive assembly  125  are mounted to support frame  110  just below the upper end  160   a  of the trough  160 . The oscillation frequency of trough  160  is readily varied to suit the characteristics of the grape variety being treated by modulating the speed of motor  120  via frequency drive controller  125 . Frequency drive controller  125  allows the user to control the speed of electric motor  120  by modulating the applied current. 
         [0035]    As shown in further detail in  FIGS. 3A and 3B , drive assembly  125  also comprises a drive shaft  140  supported for free rotary motion within a pair of block bearing  142 , which are mounted to frame  110 . A drive belt  130  is mounted at one end to surround the belt sleeve  132  attached to the motor drive shaft  121 . The opposite end of drive belt  130  is wrapped to surround drive shaft belt sleeve  134 . Thus, the rotation of motor  120  rotates drive shaft  140  via drive belt  130 . Laterally disposed about the center of drive shaft  140  is a cam  150 . The cam  150  has a cam follower  155  attached, which extends perpendicular to drive shaft  140 . The cam follower  155  is coupled to the cam  150  to oscillate back and forth along its principle axis as the cam surface is displaced in the same direction with every rotation of drive shaft  140 . The other end of the cam follower  155  is attached via the rotary coupling of central bearing block  162  (shown in  FIG. 1 ) to the bottom of trough  160 , just forward of screen aperture  163 . Thus, as the cam  150  rotates eccentrically with respect to drive shaft  140 , the cam follower  155  is driven to oscillate in the plane of  FIG. 1  and likewise drives trough  160  to oscillate in the same plane via pivoting legs  101 . 
         [0036]    Still referring now to  FIGS. 3A and 3B , further details of the preferred embodiment of the drive system  125  will now be described. Drive shaft  140  has at each end, outward of cam  150  and block bearings  142 , a pair of drive shaft counterweight assemblies  145 . An external side elevation of the drive shaft counter weight assembly  145  is shown in  FIG. 3B . 
         [0037]    It should be appreciated that support stand  110  is attached to or rests on the ground via stand feet  105 . The stand support feet terminate in rubber damping pads  104  which contact the supporting floor or ground surface  10  to minimize vibration transmitted from the oscillatory motion of the trough  160 . However, it has been discovered that the counterweight assembly  145  vastly minimizes such vibration. In the most preferred embodiment, the counter weight is configured to provide a non-uniform radial distribution of weight with respect to the axis of drive shaft  140 . The weight is distributed such that the center of gravity of each counterweight assembly  145  is directly on the opposite side of drive shaft  140  from cam  150  and cam follower  155 . 
         [0038]    In  FIG. 3B  the drive shaft counterweight assembly  145  is shown as composted of two disks segments ( 145   a  and  145   b ) and two annular segments ( 145   c  and  145   d ) secured together by common bolts  146  bolted together. However, each counterweight assembly can also be constructed as a monolithic component. Each counterweight assembly  145  is preferably secured to the end of drive shaft  140  as shown by end bolt  147 . The non-uniform radial distribution of counter weight  145  is provided in this embodiment by the stacking two wedge shaped segments  145   d  and  145   e . The two wedge shaped segments  145   d  and  145   e  affixed to the other portions of counterweight assembly on the end of drive shaft  140  such that center of gravity of the counterweight assembly  145  with respect to drive shaft  140  is opposed to the center of gravity of cam  150 . The preferred masses of counterweights  145   a - e  are 6, 3, 3 and 1.5 pound respectively, for a total mass of 13.5 pounds on each side of drive shaft  140 . 
         [0039]    Reducing vibration of oscillating flow platform  100  not only reduces noise to nearby workers, but also greatly reduces the tendency for the unit to move during use, and is expected to generally extend the useful product life. Without wishing to rely on theory, it is believed that as vibration is reduced with counterweight assembly  145  there is also a more efficient coupling of the rotary motion of motor  120 , into the oscillatory motion of trough  160 , increasing the potential throughput of whole berries in trough  160  while maintaining the high separation yield of undesirable material through screen  500 . 
         [0040]    The optimum construction and function of screen  500  is more fully described below with respect to  FIG. 5-9 . However, it should be appreciated that one method of mounting screen  500  in aperture  163  is with the long axis of the slots  502  parallel with the principle axis of the trough  160 ; oriented to incline downward with the trough  160 . An alternative method of mounting a different screen, shown in  FIG. 9 , results in the long axis of the slots  502 ′ oriented perpendicular to the principle axis of the trough  160 . Referring now to the first embodiment shown in  FIG. 5 , screen  500  has a rectangular frame  530 . Inset and connected to each interior corner of frame  530  are four solid rectangular mounting corners  540 . Each mounting corner  540  has a stud  541  for receiving a wing nut assembly (not shown) for secure attachment to the trough  160  to fill aperture  163 . The remainder of the screen  500  within frame  530  is formed from an interconnected array of triangular shafts and wires. The spacing between the shafts is less than that between the wires to define the array of rectangular slots  502 . Thus, connected to opposing sides of the frame  530  is a parallel array of triangular shafts  510 , each shaft being oriented so that sides of equal width define a common plane  505  at the entrance side of screen  500 , as shown in section VI-VI′, in  FIG. 6 . The wires within parallel array  520  are connected at the ends to other pair of opposing sides of frame  530 . Each wire in the parallel  520  is connected to each of the triangular shafts in array  510  that it traverses so as to stabilize the entire parallel ray of shafts. As shown in  FIG. 7 , corresponding to section line VII-VII′ in  FIG. 5 , it can be seen that each wire connects to the traversing triangular shaft at the apex thereof, opposite the side that defines a portion of plane  505 . 
         [0041]    In the embodiment of screen  500  in  FIG. 5-9 , it is preferable that the edge to edge spacing of the triangular shafts at the upper surface, W, within screen  500  is less than about 0.5 inches, and more preferably less than about 0.35 inches, but most preferably less than about 0.25 inches, with the orthogonal wires separated by a distance, L, of about 1.75 inches. The sides of each triangular shaft preferably has a width of about 0.25 inches wide. The wire preferably have a diameter of about 0.25 inches. Thus, in this preferred embodiment screen  500  consists of slots  502  having an aspect ratio of L/W. L/W is preferably greater than about 3, and more preferably greater than about 4, and most preferably at least about 6. 
         [0042]    In the preferred embodiment of the oscillating flow platform  100 , as shown in  FIG. 10A , the screen  500  is mounted with the leading edge (that is the side closer to grape receiving end  160   a ) depressed or at least level with the adjacent interior bottom of the trough and in  FIG. 10B  with the trailing edge (the side closer to open mouth  166 ) above or at least level with the adjacent interior bottom of the trough  160 . 
         [0043]    The screen construction shown in  FIG. 5-9  has several surprising advantages for separating grapes. From the interior of the trough  160 , plane  505 , the screen appears to the arriving grape matter as a series of slots. The slot spacing W is narrow enough to return ripe whole berries, yet let smaller raisins, shot berries and most forms of MOG pass through. It should be noted that as the wires  520  are connected to the triangular shafts  510  near the lower and downward faxing apex, this adjacent area is wider, having a width, w, as shown in  FIG. 7 . 
         [0044]    Not wishing to be bound by theory, it is currently believed that one reason for the higher throughput of screen  500  is that once MOG particles passes through aperture  501 , they are unlikely to re-enter in the opposite direction. Further, the size and spacing of the triangular rods and wires is such that high aspect ratio MOG, (such as stems, twigs and insects and the like) will not collect on these members, but rather fall downward toward secondary screen  560  for catching separated MOG. Likewise, it is believed that the inverted shape of the triangular shafts  510 , with the narrow opening W at the upper or entry surface at plane  505  makes it unlikely that matter vibrating free or hitting wires  520  will reverse direction and pass back up above plane  505  into trough  160 . Although the wires  520  are a locus for the potential buildup of matter that passes through the gap W (between triangular shafts in plane  505 ), the tendency toward build-up is reduced as the inverted triangular shape of the shafts  510  provides a wider gap, w, and hence more space for such matter to tumble free of the wires  520  due to the oscillation induced vibration of the matter as it enters and then traverses screen  500 . 
         [0045]    It should be appreciated that for some varieties of grapes it has been discovered that the orientation of the rectangular slots  502 ′ in screen  500 , as shown in  FIG. 9 , may be preferable for removing MOG and other undesirable components. Screen  500  has a rectangular frame  530 . Inset and connected to each interior corner of frame  530  are four solid rectangular mounting corners  540 . The remainder of the screen  500  within frame  530  is formed from an interconnected array of triangular shafts and wires that as in the embodiment of  FIG. 5 , to define the slots  502 ′. However, the array of triangular shafts and wires are now reversed in orientation with respect to the long and short sides of screen  500 . That is the parallel array of shafts  510  is now oriented parallel to the short axis of screen  500  and the parallel array of wires is oriented in the transverse direction or parallel to the long axis of screen  500 . The spacing between the shafts is less than that between the wires to orient the rectangular slots  502 ′ with their longer axis parallel to the shorter side of screen  500 . 
         [0046]    While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the particular form set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.