Patent Description:
Cereal acceptance criteria for use in different industries require the measurement of a number of parameters of the cereal grains. This allows the identification of the most suitable cereal grain batches as well as the storage and subsequent use of homogenous cereal grain batches.

Some current solutions offered to industries to measure quality parameters for the cereals are based mainly on individual sampling of each bulk load of cereal grains received, followed by its measurement with laboratory equipment. Certain companies have developed methods and devices able to measure higher amounts of cereals, but a limiting factor remains the capacity that is able to be processed with such equipment. Solutions have been offered by different companies for in-line measurement of different cereal parameters which either have a limited capacity of the system, and as such are not suitable for production scale, or the values measured are only collected for information purposes, without any action for separation into different cereal grain batches based on the quality of the cereal grain.

<CIT> discloses an apparatus and method for sorting of particles such as seeds, grains and the like. Patent No. <CIT> discloses an optical sorting apparatus for beans or grains which provides sorting on the basis of size and colour. <CIT> discloses a colour sorting apparatus for grains.

A grain sorting process and apparatus is described in our US Patent No. <CIT> for analysing grain in-line and separating grain into batches on the basis on one or more sensed parameter values, such as protein content or moisture content for example. The separation process separates the grain into homogenous batches which is desirable for subsequent processing of the grain. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved process and apparatus of this type.

<CIT> discloses a process in accordance with the preamble of claim <NUM> and an apparatus in accordance with the preamble of claim <NUM>.

According to the invention, there is provided a process for analysing bulk quantities of grain in-line and separating the grain into batches, each batch corresponding to at least one pre-selected grain parameter value, the processing including:.

In another aspect the invention provides apparatus for analysing bulk quantities of grain in-line and separating the grain into two or more batches in response to at least one sensed grain parameter value, the apparatus comprising:.

In an embodiment, the angled guide flap is curved between an inlet end and an outlet end of the angled guide flap.

In another embodiment, the outlet ends of the tapered funnel side walls connect to a funnel neck portion having parallel neck walls extending outwardly from each funnel side wall.

In another embodiment, an outlet end of the angled guide flap extends partially into the funnel neck portion between the neck walls.

The invention will be more clearly understood by the following description of some embodiments thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:.

Referring to the drawings, and initially to <FIG> thereof, there is illustrated grain sorting apparatus according to the invention, indicated generally by the reference numeral <NUM>. The apparatus <NUM> includes a grain infeed chute <NUM> for delivery of bulk cereal grain into the apparatus <NUM>. An in-line measurement station <NUM> analyses selected parameters of grain delivered through the infeed chute <NUM> into the apparatus <NUM>. The grain infeed chute <NUM> discharges onto a horizontal grain sorting conveyor <NUM> which discharges the grain into storage silos <NUM>, <NUM> in response to one or more measured parameters of the grain determined at the measurement station <NUM>.

The measurement station <NUM> has a sensor unit <NUM> which includes a near-infrared (NIR) light source for emitting light onto grain delivered through the grain infeed chute <NUM>. The light is reflected from the grain and reflected light is detected by the sensor <NUM> to provide a spectrum of the grain. A spectrometer <NUM> connected to the sensor unit <NUM> converts the spectrum into one or more corresponding preselected grain parameter values. The grain parameter values generated by the spectrometer <NUM> are delivered to a controller <NUM>. The controller <NUM> then controls operation of the sorting conveyor <NUM> in response to the measured grain parameter values to deliver the cereal grain into a storage silo <NUM>, <NUM> having a grain parameter corresponding to the measured grain parameter.

Two storage silos <NUM>, <NUM> are shown in <FIG> by way of illustration, although it will be appreciated that any desired number of storage silos may be provided. Discharge chutes <NUM>, <NUM> communicate between the sorting conveyor <NUM> and each silo <NUM>, <NUM>. An inlet <NUM> of the first discharge chute <NUM> has a slide plate <NUM> moveable by means of a pneumatic ram <NUM> between a closed position across the inlet <NUM>, closing the inlet <NUM>, and an open position to allow discharge of cereal grain from the sorting conveyor <NUM> through the discharge chute <NUM> and into the silo <NUM>.

The second discharge chute <NUM>, which is downstream of the first discharge chute <NUM>, may be fitted with a similar slide plate or may be open as shown in <FIG>. Thus, when the slide plate <NUM> at the inlet <NUM> of the first discharge chute <NUM> is open, cereal grain is delivered to the first silo <NUM> and when the slide plate <NUM> is closed the cereal grain is delivered into the second silo <NUM>. The controller <NUM> regulates operation of the slide plate <NUM> in response to sensed grain parameters to deliver the cereal grain into the required silo <NUM>, <NUM> for collecting homogenous cereal grain in each silo <NUM>, <NUM>.

The sorting conveyor <NUM> has a box-section housing <NUM> with an inlet end <NUM> and an outlet end <NUM>. A grain feed conveyor <NUM> is mounted within the housing <NUM> for delivery of grain through the hosing <NUM> between the inlet end <NUM> and outlet end <NUM> of the housing <NUM>. Grain is discharged from the infeed chute <NUM> onto the grain feed conveyor <NUM> at the inlet end <NUM> of the housing <NUM> and is transported by the grain feed conveyor <NUM> to the outlet end <NUM> of the housing <NUM> for discharge through one of the discharge chutes <NUM>, <NUM>.

Referring in particular to <FIG>, the in-line measurement station <NUM> is shown in more detail. In this case the sensor unit <NUM> is mounted on a bottom side wall <NUM> of the grain infeed chute <NUM>. A funnel <NUM> is mounted within the infeed chute <NUM> in alignment with the sensor unit <NUM> to deliver a portion of the grain passing through the infeed chute <NUM> in an optically dense grain layer stream past the sensor unit <NUM>. The optically dense grain layer stream is about <NUM> deep against an inside face <NUM> of the bottom side wall <NUM> of the infeed chute <NUM>.

The funnel <NUM> has an upper tapered portion <NUM> with inwardly tapered side walls <NUM>, <NUM> leading to a lower narrowed neck portion <NUM> within which a sensing head of the sensor unit <NUM> is mounted. The funnel side walls <NUM>, <NUM> and neck portion <NUM> project outwardly from the inside face <NUM> of the bottom side wall <NUM> of the chute <NUM>. The neck portion <NUM> is formed by two spaced-apart substantially parallel neck walls <NUM>, <NUM> extending outwardly and downwardly from each funnel side wall <NUM>, <NUM> and forming extensions thereof.

In addition, an angled guide flap <NUM> narrows a grain passage <NUM> through the funnel <NUM> between an inlet <NUM> and an outlet <NUM> of the funnel <NUM>. This provides a consistent depth of grain at the sensor unit <NUM> throughout delivery of cereal grain through the grain infeed chute <NUM> to promote sensor accuracy. The angled guide flap <NUM> extends between the funnel side wall <NUM>, <NUM> and is spaced-apart from the bottom side wall <NUM> of the infeed chute <NUM>. The angled guide flap <NUM> tapers inwardly from the inlet <NUM> of the funnel <NUM> towards the bottom side wall <NUM> of the infeed chute <NUM>. An outlet end <NUM> of the flap <NUM> is spaced apart from the inside face <NUM> of the bottom side wall <NUM> of the grain infeed chute <NUM> by a required distance to produce a desired grain layer stream depth at the sensor unit <NUM>, which in this case is about <NUM>. The angled guide flap <NUM> may be straight or curved between an inlet end <NUM> and the outlet end <NUM> of the angled guide flap <NUM>.

In use, grain is delivered through the infeed chute <NUM> past the in-line measurement station <NUM>. The sensor unit <NUM> emits NIR light onto the grain delivered through the grain infeed chute <NUM>. The light is reflected from the grain and reflected light is detected by the sensor <NUM> to provide a spectrum of the grain. The spectrometer <NUM> connected to the sensor unit <NUM> converts the spectrum into one or more corresponding preselected grain parameter values. The grain parameter values generated by the spectrometer <NUM> are delivered to the controller <NUM>. The controller <NUM> then controls operation of the sorting conveyor <NUM> in response to the measured grain parameter values to deliver the cereal grain into a storage silo <NUM>, <NUM> having a grain parameter corresponding to the measured grain parameter.

Referring now to <FIG>, there is shown another grain sorting apparatus according to a second embodiment of the invention, indicated generally by the reference numeral <NUM>. Parts similar to those described previously are assigned the same reference numerals. The apparatus <NUM> has a grain infeed chute <NUM> discharging to an inlet end <NUM> of a grain sorting conveyor <NUM>. The grain sorting conveyor <NUM> has a box-section housing <NUM> at a bottom of which is mounted an elongate trough <NUM>. A grain feed conveyor <NUM> is mounted within the housing <NUM> such that a lower pass <NUM> of the grain feed conveyor <NUM> is located in and travels along the trough <NUM> between the inlet end <NUM> and an outlet end <NUM> of the housing <NUM> for delivery of grain received from the infeed chute <NUM> at the inlet end <NUM> to the discharge chutes <NUM>, <NUM> at the outlet end <NUM> of the housing <NUM>.

The grain feed conveyor <NUM> has two spaced-apart parallel endless drive chains <NUM>, <NUM> mounted on drive sprockets <NUM>, <NUM> at the outlet end <NUM> of the housing <NUM>. A drive mechanism <NUM> rotates the drive sprockets <NUM>, <NUM> which are mounted on a drive shaft <NUM> drivably connected to the drive mechanism <NUM>. Opposite ends of each drive chain <NUM>, <NUM> are carried on associated rotatable sprockets (not shown) mounted on a rotatable shaft <NUM> at the inlet end <NUM> of the housing <NUM>.

A plurality of spaced-apart scraper paddles <NUM> are mounted between the drive chains <NUM>, <NUM>. Each scraper paddle <NUM> extends substantially perpendicular to the direction of travel of the drive chains <NUM>, <NUM>. Grain delivered from the grain infeed chute <NUM> into the housing <NUM> collects in the trough <NUM> between scraper paddles <NUM> on the lower pass <NUM> of the grain feed conveyor <NUM> which project vertically upwardly from a bottom wall <NUM> of the trough <NUM> and is delivered along the trough <NUM> between the inlet end <NUM> and the outlet end <NUM> of the housing <NUM> by movement of the scraper paddles <NUM> along the trough <NUM>.

In this case the sensor unit <NUM> is positioned on a side wall <NUM> of the housing <NUM>. The depth of the scraper paddles <NUM> is such that the sensing head of the sensor unit <NUM> is fully covered by the depth of grain retained in the trough <NUM> between each adjacent pair of scraper paddles <NUM>.

The process and apparatus of the invention is able to measure any desired grain parameter, such as protein content, moisture content, etc., of the cereal grain during intake of bulk cereal grain material. The intake of cereal grain is separated into quality groups based on the different measured levels of the parameter or parameters under consideration and each quality group is separated out in-line and stored in its own silo <NUM>, <NUM> by the process and apparatus of the invention. Thus, the cereal grain is separated in-line into homogenous batches of cereal grain which ensures consistently high quality when the cereal grain is later processed.

It will be appreciated that the invention provides a process and apparatus for highspeed, non-destructive measurement in real time and providing a high level of measurement accuracy.

The sensor head of the sensor unit <NUM> is in direct contact with the cereal grain product and measures the required parameters using NIR technology. To ensure that the NIR sensor produces correct measured values, the measurements are taken in the compact product flow in which the cereal grains are closely packed together. The compact product flow is permanently illuminated with NIR light. The absorption behaviour and hence the spectrum of the reflected light changes depending on the concentration of the parameters in the passing cereal grain. Through comparison of the reflected light with a calibration database created with the help of a laboratory, the respective properties such as the protein content can be determined.

The terms "comprise" and "include", and any variations thereof required for grammatical reasons, are to be considered as interchangeable and accorded the widest possible interpretation.

Claim 1:
A process for analysing bulk quantities of grain in-line and separating the grain into batches, each batch corresponding to at least one pre-selected grain parameter value, the processing including:
delivering the grain continuously past an in-line measurement station (<NUM>),
analysing the grain by emitting light onto the grain passing the in-line measurement station (<NUM>) and detecting the light reflected from the grain to provide a spectrum of the grain,
converting the spectrum into the or each parameter value, and
separating the grain in-line into batches in response to the or each measured grain parameter value,
the process including controlling grain flow through the measurement station (<NUM>) for forming an optically dense grain layer at the measurement station (<NUM>) for reflecting the light emitted onto the grain,
characterised in that the process includes funnelling the grain for delivering the grain in an optically dense grain layer stream past a sensor unit (<NUM>) at the measurement station (<NUM>), delivering the grain through an infeed chute (<NUM>) having the sensor unit (<NUM>) mounted at a side wall (<NUM>) of the infeed chute (<NUM>) at the measurement station (<NUM>), passing grain delivered through the infeed chute (<NUM>) through a funnel (<NUM>) mounted on the side wall (<NUM>) at the sensor unit (<NUM>), forming the optically dense grain layer by means of the funnel (<NUM>) and delivering the grain in an optically dense grain layer stream against the side wall (<NUM>) past a sensing head of the sensor unit (<NUM>) mounted on the side wall (<NUM>), channelling the grain between tapered funnel side walls (<NUM>, <NUM>) projecting outwardly from the side wall (<NUM>) of the grain infeed chute (<NUM>) at which the sensor unit (<NUM>) is mounted and between an angled guide flap (<NUM>) and the chute side wall (<NUM>), the angled guide flap (<NUM>) extending between the funnel side walls (<NUM>, <NUM>) and spaced-apart from the chute side wall (<NUM>) at which the sensor unit (<NUM>) is mounted, said angled guide flap (<NUM>) tapering inwardly from an inlet (<NUM>) of the funnel (<NUM>) towards the chute side wall (<NUM>) on which the sensor unit (<NUM>) is mounted.