Abstract:
A canola seed sample crusher features a frame, and a drum rotatably carried on the frame and having an array of seed pockets on an outer periphery thereof. The seed pockets are sized and shaped to receive individual canola seeds respectively therein. A pathway is arranged to receive a length of adhesive tape and guide same over the seed pockets in the outer periphery of the drum during rotation thereof to adhesively collect the sample of canola seeds from the seed pockets onto the adhesive tape. A crushing mechanism is carried on the frame and operatively installed at a position along the pathway to crush the sample of canola seeds collected on the adhesive tape during passage of the tap through the crushing mechanism.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/329,000, filed Apr. 28, 2016. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to a device for crushing samples of canola seeds, whereupon a count of the number of green seeds among the crushed sample can be used to gauge the quality of a particular canola crop. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    In the field of agriculture, it is known that canola seed having a distinctly green colour throughout is an immature seed, and accordingly a grade or quality of a harvested canola crop can be assessed as a percentage by weight of distinctly green seeds among a sample of the harvested seeds. To accurately detect the colour throughout the seeds, it is common practice to perform a crush test, where a predetermined number of sample seeds are crushed with a hand-held roller, and the crushed state of the seeds enables a proper assessment. 
         [0004]    To easily layout a sample of the predetermined size for crushing, commercially available test kits include a strip-shaped plastic tray or ruler with an array of holes laid out in a rectangular grid in a quantity matching the desired sample size. Each hole is sized and shaped to seat an individual canola seed therein, whether by dipping of the ruler into a container of canola seed or pouring of canola seed over the ruler. A length of adhesive tape is then laid adhesive-side-down over the ruler, whereupon the array of sample seeds on the ruler adheres to the tape. The separate roller is then rolled over the array of sample seeds on the adhesive side of the tape, thereby crushing the sample seeds to reveal the internal colour thereof. 
         [0005]    The standard test procedure therefore involves several steps requiring use and manipulation of multiple tools. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an improved or alternative solution for perform crush testing of canola seed samples. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a canola seed sample crusher comprising: 
         [0007]    a frame; 
         [0008]    a drum rotatably carried on the frame and having an array of seed pockets on an outer periphery thereof, said seed pockets being sized and shaped to receive an individual canola seed in each pocket; 
         [0009]    a pathway arranged to receive a length of adhesive tape and guide said length of adhesive tape over the seed pockets in the outer periphery of the drum during rotation thereof to adhesively collect the sample of canola seeds from said seed pockets onto said adhesive tape; and 
         [0010]    a crushing mechanism carried on the frame and operatively installed at a position along said pathway to crush the sample of canola seeds collected on said adhesive tape during passage thereof through the crushing mechanism. 
         [0011]    Preferably a seed hopper is carried on the frame and has an inlet through which a volume of canola seeds is receivable therein, and an outlet positioned to direct said volume of canola seeds toward the outer periphery of the drum, where the sample of canola seeds collect in the seed pockets thereof. 
         [0012]    Preferably the seed hopper is movable between a useful position placing its outlet proximate the outer periphery of the drum, and a dumping position withdrawn away from the drum to release unused seeds from the hopper. 
         [0013]    Preferably the hopper is biased into the useful position. 
         [0014]    Preferably a tape wheel is rotatably carried on the frame for rotatably carrying a roll of adhesive tape from which said length of adhesive tape is deployed. 
         [0015]    Preferably a tape cutter is positioned proximate the cutting mechanism at an outlet side thereof to cut free an area of the adhesive tape that carries the crushed seed sample thereon. 
         [0016]    Preferably a press wheel is rotatably carried on the frame with an outer periphery of the press wheel positioned to urge the adhesive side of the adhesive tape into contact with the sample of canola seed in the seed pockets. 
         [0017]    Preferably the crushing mechanism comprises a pair of crushing rollers rotatably carried on the frame in counter-rotating relation to one another with outer peripheries of said crushing rollers in contact or close proximity across the pathway to define a nip through which the adhesive tape is passed to crush the sample of canola seeds thereon. 
         [0018]    Preferably a common drive mechanism is shared by the rotatable drum and the crushing mechanism. 
         [0019]    Preferably the common drive mechanism comprises a flexible drive member entrained about respective roller elements of the drum and the crushing mechanism. 
         [0020]    Preferably a hand crank is operably connected to the drum for manually driven rotation thereof. 
         [0021]    Preferably the hand crank is operably connected to the crushing mechanism for manually driven operation thereof. 
         [0022]    Preferably the hand crank is attached to a rotational shaft of the crushing mechanism for direct drive thereof. 
         [0023]    Preferably the hand crank is indirectly coupled to the drum for manually driven rotation thereof simultaneously with the crushing mechanism. 
         [0024]    Preferably the hand crank is operatively connected to the drum by the flexible drive member entrained about the respective roller elements on rotational shafts of said hand crank and said drum. 
         [0025]    Preferably the flexible drive member is a chain and the respective roller elements are sprockets. 
         [0026]    According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a canola seed crusher comprising: 
         [0027]    a frame; 
         [0028]    a drum rotatably carried on the frame and having an array of seed pockets on an outer periphery thereof, said seed pockets being sized and shaped to receive individual canola seeds respectively therein; 
         [0029]    a seed hopper carried on the frame and having an inlet through which a volume of canola seeds is receivable therein, and an outlet positioned to direct said volume of canola seeds toward the outer periphery of the drum, where a sample of said canola seeds collect in the seed pockets thereof; 
         [0030]    a tape wheel rotatably carried on the frame for carrying a roll of adhesive tape thereon; 
         [0031]    a press wheel rotatably carried on the frame with an outer periphery of the press wheel in cooperating relation to the outer periphery of the drum; and 
         [0032]    a pair of crushing rollers rotatably carried on the frame in counter-rotating relation to one another with outer peripheries of said crushing rollers in close proximity or contact to define a nip therebetween; 
         [0033]    wherein the drum, tape wheel, press wheel and crushing rollers are positioned so as to accept passage of a length of adhesive tape from the tape wheel on a pathway passing between the press wheel and the drum with an adhesive side of said tape facing the drum periphery to adhesively withdraw the sample of canola seeds from the seed pockets onto said length of tape, and extending onward through the nip of the crushing rollers for crushing of said sample of canola seeds by counter-rotation of the crushing rollers. 
         [0034]    Any of the preferable or optional features listed above in relation to the first aspect of the invention may likewise be employed in relation to the second aspect of the invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0035]    One embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0036]      FIG. 1  is a rear perspective view of a canola seed sample crusher of the present invention from a right side thereof. 
           [0037]      FIG. 2  is a rear perspective view of the canola seed sample crusher of  FIG. 1  from a left side thereof. 
           [0038]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of the canola seed sample crusher of  FIG. 1  through a longitudinal mid-plane thereof. 
           [0039]      FIG. 4  is an exploded front perspective view of the canola seed sample crusher of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0040]      FIG. 5  is a right side perspective view of the canola seed sample crusher of  FIG. 1  with a chain guard thereof removed to reveal details of a chain drive mechanism of the apparatus. 
       
    
    
       [0041]    In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0042]    The canola sample tester  10  of the illustrated embodiment of the present invention is made up primarily of a frame  12 , a rotatable drum  14 , a seed hopper  16 , a rotatable tape wheel  18 , a rotatable press wheel  20 , and a pair of crushing rollers  22 ,  23  supported in counter-rotational relationship with one another. The drum has an array of seed pockets  24  defined in a partial circumferential area of the drum&#39;s outer periphery thereof to pick up a predetermined sample size of canola seeds from the hopper as this area moves past the hopper. A length of adhesive tape fed off of a roll on the tape wheel passes between the press wheel and the drum with the adhesive side of the tape facing the drum so that the sample of canola seeds in the see pockets of the drum are adhered to the tape as each row of seeds in array passes the roller. The tape continues onward between the pair of counter-rotating crushing rollers, where the array of sample seeds now adhered to the tape are crushed row as the row as they move through the nip of these crushing rollers. Each and every step of a canola seed sample crush test, including organization of the seeds into a grid layout of predetermined size, adherence of the sample seeds to a strip of adhesive tape, and crushing of the sample seeds, are all performed through convenient use of a singular apparatus. 
         [0043]    The frame  12  of the illustrated embodiment features a pair of parallel side walls  26 ,  28  standing upright in respective vertical planes that are horizontally spaced from one another. The drum  14 , press wheel  20  and crushing rollers  22  are all rotatably supported between the two side walls  26 ,  28  by way of fixed attachment to respective horizontal shafts  14   a ,  20   a ,  22   a ,  23   a  that pass through the side walls  26 ,  28  to define the respective rotational axes of the drum, press wheel and crushing rollers. Accordingly, each of the drum, press wheel and crushing rollers is rotatable in a vertical plane normal to its horizontal rotation axis by driven rotation of its respective shaft. The shafts  20   a ,  22   a ,  23   a  of the press wheel  20  and two crushing rollers  22  are situated radially outward of the drum  14  in elevated positions above the two upper quadrants of the cylindrical drum. The press wheel  20  resides over a rear upper quadrant of the drum  14 , while the two crushing rollers  22 ,  23  reside over a front upper quadrant of the drum  14 . The terms front and rear are used herein only to differentiate between two opposing ends of the apparatus spaced radially outward from the rotational axis of the drum in a horizontally longitudinal direction parallel to the planes of the side walls, and not to denote any particular position or orientation in which the apparatus must reside relative to its operator or environment. 
         [0044]    The hopper  16  is mounted at the rear end of the side walls  26 ,  28  above the upper rear quadrant of the drum  14  behind the press wheel  20 . The hopper  16  features a vertically upright rear wall  30  and an opposing vertically upright front wall  32  that stand parallel to one another and span horizontally between two side walls  34  of the hopper. These side walls of the hopper are respectively affixed to the inner sides of the frame&#39;s two side walls  26 ,  28 , whereby the side walls of the hopper reside in vertical planes parallel and adjacent to the side walls of the frame. The hopper&#39;s front wall  32  is taller, and reaches further downwardly than, the hopper&#39;s rear wall  30 . The hopper  16  is finished off by a sloped bottom wall  36  that angles obliquely downward from a bottom end of the hopper&#39;s rear wall  30  toward the plane of the hopper&#39;s front wall  32 . Here the hopper&#39;s sloped bottom wall  36  passes by the bottom end of the hopper&#39;s front wall  32  at a short distance therebeneath, as best shown in the cross-sectional view of  FIG. 3 . Here the sloped bottom wall  36  of the hopper continues forwardly toward, and stops just short of, the outer periphery of the drum  14 . The gap left between the hopper&#39;s sloped bottom wall  36  and the bottom edge of the hopper&#39;s front wall  32  defines an outlet of the hopper  38 , while an open area delimited by the front, rear and side walls of the hopper at the upper ends thereof denotes an inlet  39  of the hopper. 
         [0045]    During use of the apparatus, canola seed is loaded into the hopper by a user through the inlet  39  at the topside of the hopper  16 , and the sloped bottom wall  36  of the hopper  16  gravitationally feeds the canola seed to the periphery of the drum  14  at the upper rear quadrant thereof. Accordingly, when the drum  14  is rotated in a working direction W that moves the periphery of the drum upwardly and forwardly past the outlet of the hopper, canola seeds from the hopper  16  fall onto the periphery of the drum  14  at the rear upper quadrant thereof, where the seeds settle into the seed pockets  24  when this pocketed area of the drum&#39;s periphery moves through this quadrant. 
         [0046]    The first side wall  26  of the frame  12  is taller than the opposing second side wall  28 , and the tape wheel  18  is rotatably supported on the taller first side wall  26  by a respective rotational shaft  18   a  at an elevated position above the hopper  16  and the shorter second side wall  28  of the frame. A roll  40  of adhesive tape is removably and replaceably mounted on the tape wheel  18 , which may of a conventional type commonly employed on commercially available tape guns commonly used for applying packing tape to shipping cartons. As best shown in  FIG. 3 , the adhesive tape  41  unwinds from the roll at the lower front quadrant thereof, from which it angles rearwardly and downwardly into the space between the front wall  32  of the hopper  16  and the press wheel  20 . Here, the tape  41  wraps downwardly around the rear quadrants of a guide pin  42  that spans horizontally between the side walls  26 ,  28  of the frame just behind the press wheel  20  in close radial proximity to the outer periphery of the drum  14 . The tape wraps under the guide pin  42 , from which the tape continues forwardly and passes between the press wheel  20  and the outer periphery of the drum  14 . 
         [0047]    The press wheel  20 , or at least an outer portion thereof that defines an outer peripheral surface of the press wheel, is made of a resiliently compressible material, the outer diameter of which slightly interferes with the outer peripheral surface of the drum  14  in the normal uncompressed state of the material. This is best seen by  FIG. 3 , where the material at the underside of the press wheel  20  can be seen to conform under compression to the outer periphery of the drum  14 . The adhesive tape passes forwardly between the press wheel  20  and the drum  14  from the lower rear quadrant of the press wheel, and during the tape&#39;s passage between the press wheel and the drum  14 , the resiliency of the press wheel&#39;s outer material applies pressure to the tape  41 , forcing it against the outer periphery of the drum  14 . The adhesive tape is single sided, and its adhesive side faces upwardly and rearwardly as the tape feeds of the roll  40  at the lower front quadrant thereof, whereby the redirection of the tape  41  about the guide pin  42  into the forward direction places the adhesive side of the tape downwardly as it travels under the press wheel  20 . Accordingly, during rotation of the drum  14  in the working direction W to pick up seeds at the outlet of the hopper and convey the collected seeds forwardly from the hopper, the adhesive side of the tape is pressed into firm contact with the seeds in the seed pockets of the drum by the press wheel  20 , whereupon the seeds on the drum  14  become adhered to the tape. 
         [0048]    With continued reference to the cross-section of  FIG. 3 , the length of adhesive tape  41  unwound from the roll  40  continues forwardly from under the press wheel  20  to reach over center of the drum  14  to the upper front quadrant thereof. Here, the tape  41  passes under the rearmost crushing roller  22  in the gap between this roller and the drum&#39;s outer periphery, and turns upwardly through the nip of the adjacent crushing rollers  22 ,  23 . The size of the nip between the rollers is selected to be smaller than a canola seed, and the two crushing rollers  22 ,  23  are driven in counter-rotating relation to one another (i.e. in opposing rotational directions) so that the outer periphery of each crushing roller moves upwardly through the nip. Accordingly, this counter-rotation of the crushing rollers acts to both urge the tape  41  upwardly through the nip and off of the outer periphery of the underlying drum  14  while crushing the collection of sample seeds currently adhered to this unwound length of tape  41 . 
         [0049]    The crushing rollers  22 ,  23  are harder and less compressible than the outer portion of the press wheel  20 . The softer, more compressible press wheel will therefore encourage the tape  41  into adhesive contact with exposed sides of the seeds that reach outwardly from the pockets  24  in which the seeds are temporarily seated, but without crushing the seeds while still seated within the pockets. On the other hand, the harder peripheries of the crushing rollers  22 ,  23  will confidently crush each tape-carried seed passed through the nip of the rollers. Crushing the seeds while still in the pockets of the drum would be undesirable, as the crushed state of the seed may reduce its adherence to the tape, possibly resulting in less than a full sample of seeds being picked up by the tape, and leading to potential inaccuracies in calculating the percentage of immature green seeds in the sample when a user breaks off the seed-carrying piece of tape to count the green seeds thereon and divide the counted number by the expected sample size (i.e. by the number of seed pockets known to be on the drum). 
         [0050]    The rotational shaft  22   a  of the rear crushing roller features a first projecting portion  22   b  that reaches outwardly from between the two side walls  26 ,  28  of the frame to a location laterally outward from the first side wall  26 . The same rotational shaft  22   a  also features a second projecting portion  22   c  that reaches outwardly from the second side wall  28 . To operate the device, a hand crank  44  features a horizontally oriented grip handle  46  rotatably pinned to a lever arm  48  that lies in a vertical plane and links the grip handle  46  to the second projecting portion  22   c  of the rear crushing roller&#39;s rotational shaft  22   a . The first projecting portion  22   b  of the rear crushing roller&#39;s rotational shaft  22   a  on the other side of the apparatus has a first sprocket  50  affixed thereto. As shown in the exploded view of  FIG. 4 , the rotational shaft  22   a  may be assembled from two pieces, each defining a respective projecting portion of the shaft, and one of which carries the rear crushing roller  22  between the two side walls  26 ,  28  of the frame  12 . 
         [0051]    The rotational shaft  23   a  of the front crushing roller  23  likewise carries a second sprocket  52  affixed thereto at a projecting portion  23   b  thereof that reaches outwardly from the first side wall  26  of the frame  12 . The respective sprockets  50 ,  52  of the two crushing rollers  22 ,  23  are of equal size and tooth count in order to rotate the two crushing rollers at the same rotational speed. A larger third sprocket  54  is affixed to the rotational shaft  14   a  of the drum at a projecting portion  14   b  thereof that also reaches outwardly from the first side wall  26  of the frame. Each sprocket is affixed to its respective rotational shaft for rotation therewith. A flexible drive chain  56  is entrained around all three sprockets outside the first side wall  26  of the frame, such that driven rotation of the hand crank  44  about its horizontal rotational axis (as defined by the axis of the rear crushing roller&#39;s rotational shaft  22   a ) drives rotation of the two crushing rollers  22 ,  23  and the drum  14  simultaneously. The flexible chain thus rotationally couples all three sprockets together to form a drain drive of the apparatus. 
         [0052]    As the two crushing rollers need to rotate in opposing directions, the chain must entrain about the two respective sprockets  50 ,  52  in opposing directions. To accomplish this, the chain also wraps about a redirection member  58  that is carried at the outer side of the first side wall  26  of the frame  12  at a location above, and offset slightly rearward from, the sprocket  50  of the rear crushing roller  22 . A chain guard  59  normally mounted to the outer side of the first side wall of the frame to reside over the chain and sprockets at a distance outward from the side wall of the frame is removed in  FIG. 5  to reveal the fully assembled state of the chain drive, with otherwise is only visible in the exploded view of  FIG. 4 . Referring to  FIG. 5 , the chain  56  wraps around a majority of the larger drum sprocket  54  at the underside thereof, reaches upwardly from the lower front quadrant of the drum sprocket  54  to engage about the front quadrants of the front crushing roller&#39;s sprocket  52 , from which the chain continues upward and rearward to engage over the upper quadrants of the redirection member  58 , where the chain is redirected downwardly and forwardly about the lower rear quadrant of the redirection member to engage downwardly around the front quadrants of the rear crushing roller&#39;s sprocket  50  before returning downwardly and rearwardly to the larger drum sprocket at the upper rear quadrant thereof. 
         [0053]    In the illustrated embodiment, the press wheel  20  is not driven by the chain drive, and any rotation of the press wheel  20  is solely due to the frictional interface occurring between the press wheel, the tape and the drum during driven rotation of the drum by the chain drive. Likewise, the tape wheel is not driven by the chain drive, but is only rotated by tension of the tape being pulled through the apparatus by the frictional action between the press wheel and drum and between the two counter-rotating crushing rollers. When a roll of tape is fully depleted, a new roll is simply installed in its place, and the free end of the new tape is manually fed around the guide pin  42  into a feeding position pinched between press wheel  20  and the drum  14 , whereupon rotation of the hand crank  44  will feed the tape  41  forwardly between the press wheel and drum to the crushing rollers  22 ,  23  at the upper front quadrant of the drum, where the free end of the tape will naturally be fed upward by contact with the lower rear quadrant of the front crushing roller, whose upward rotational motion will guide the tape upwardly through the crushing nip. This places the tape in a ready-condition following the above described path between the press wheel and drum, and onwardly through the nip of the crushing rollers. 
         [0054]    While the illustrated embodiment employs a chain to drive simultaneous rotation of the drum and crushing rollers in a timed manner, other drive configurations may be employed, for example using a suitable gear train rather than chain-linked sprockets. As another option, a double sided belt may be used in conjunction with suitably notched pulleys rather than the chain and sprocket combination of the illustrated embodiment. The operation of either option is similar, where the belt or chain serves as a flexible drive member entrained about suitable rotational elements (sprockets or pulleys). The redirection element  58  may be a stationary or free-wheeling bushing, or an idler sprocket or pulley. 
         [0055]    The frame of the illustrated embodiment employs separate side walls  26 ,  28  formed by respective metal brackets that also feature horizontally out-turned flanges  60  at the bottom ends of the side walls, with fastener holes  62  in these horizontal flanges  60  for receipt of bolts or screws therethrough to fasten the frame to a suitable structure at a desired site for stationary use of the apparatus. Alternate embodiments intended for portable, hand-held use may optionally forgo such stationary mounting features. 
         [0056]    Suitable cross-members  64 , for example in the form of pins or bolts, interconnect the side walls of the frame near the lower ends thereof to help maintain fixed spacing therebetween and thereby provide the frame with suitable rigidity. Another cross-pin  66  spans horizontally between the side walls just outside the front wall  32  of the hopper  16 . The front wall  32  of the hopper is fixed to this cross-pin  66 , which is rotatable about its horizontal axis to allow rotation of the pin and hopper relative to the frame. The cross-pin  66  thus defines a pivot point of the hopper, whereby after a seed test has been completed, the hopper outlet  38  can be tilted rearwardly away from the drum  14  about the axis of the pivot pin  66  in order to dump out any leftover seed from the hopper  16 . The hopper is normally biased into its useful position placing the hopper outlet  38  at the periphery of the drum  14 , whether solely by gravity or by addition of a return force by a suitable return spring (not shown). The illustrated embodiment also features a tape cutter  68  attached to and horizontally spanning between the side walls  26 ,  28  of the frame at a position over the crushing nip between the two crushing rollers, where the free end of the tape  41  emerges at an outlet of the roller-defined crushing mechanism. A sharpened or serrated front edge of the tape cutter  68  is therefore available for cutting free the crushed seeds on the sample carrying area of the tape after feeding thereof through the crushing rollers  22 ,  23 . 
         [0057]    While the illustrated embodiment employs a hand crank for manual operation, other embodiments may alternatively use a motor as the input drive source for the drum and crushing mechanism. One particular version of the apparatus may employ an array of 250 seed pockets in the drum, but this number may of course be varied. The seed pockets may be defined by through-holes in an outer cylindrical band of the drum, the through-holes being suitably sized and shaped to allow each seed to be partially recessed into a hollow interior of such a drum without falling fully through the hole. Alternatively, the seed pockets may be defined by recessed dimples that do not open fully through the drum&#39;s outer periphery into a hollow interior thereof. 
         [0058]    In summary, the described canola seed tester is designed to produce a crushed canola sample on tape to inspect for percentage of green seed. The test is quick, convenient and smooth. The tester can replace multiple steps of processing a sample by conventional methods. First, the user drops a seed sample into hopper, and then turns the hand crank a suitable number of times to fully fill the array of seed pockets on the drum with seed transferred from the hopper&#39;s outlet opening, while rolling the tap onto the seed-filled area of the drum where the tape sticks to the seed and is gently pressed thereagainst to make better contact and ensure adequate adhesion. The seed-carrying area of the tape is transferred onward to the two crushing rollers, where the seed-carrying area of the tape emerges with a processed seed sample, fully crushed and ready for counting. The sample-carrying area of tape is torn off using the tape cutter, and thus ready for counting of the number of green seeds relative to the predetermined sample number, the division of which is used as a percentage-by-weight grading value for the quality of the sampled canola crop. 
         [0059]    Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made within the scope of the claims without departure from such scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.