Apparatus and method for processing plant material
AssigneeBritish American Tobacco (Investments) Limited
InventorsJeronimo Scremin, Eleandro Crestani, Renato Martini
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus are provided for processing plant material to remove leaves from a plant stalk. The apparatus comprises a conveyor for transporting a plant with leaves hanging down from the stalk; and a defoliator mechanism having two opposing surfaces, the opposing surfaces being movable between (i) a disengaged position for receiving leaves hanging down from the conveyor, and (ii) an engaged position in which the opposing surfaces are configured to grip leaves received by the defoliator mechanism; wherein the opposed surfaces act in the engaged position to apply a force on the gripped leaves to separate them from the stalk.
Claims17
Apparatus for processing plant material to remove leaves from a plant stalk, the apparatus comprising:
- a conveyor for transporting a plant with leaves hanging down from the stalk;
- a defoliator mechanism having two opposing surfaces, the opposing surfaces being movable between (i) a disengaged position for receiving leaves hanging down from the conveyor, and (ii) an engaged position in which the opposing surfaces are configured to grip the leaves received by the defoliator mechanism;
- wherein the opposing surfaces act in the engaged position to apply a force on the gripped leaves to separate them from the stalk;
- and
- a leaf sorting system configured to separate the defoliated leaves into different categories corresponding to position on the stalk;
- wherein the leaf sorting system includes multiple guides, each guide being configured to receive and direct a respective category of leaves such that each category of leaves is received and directed by a different guide;
- wherein the guides are configured such that the relative position of the guides can be adjusted along an axis which is parallel to the orientation of a plant stalk being transported by a conveyor;
- and
- wherein the guides are configured such that they can be adjusted to be closer together along said axis for sorting smaller plants and further apart from one another along said axis for sorting larger plants.
Apparatus for processing plant material to remove leaves from a plant stalk, the apparatus comprising:
- a conveyor for transporting a plant with leaves hanging down from the stalk;
- a defoliator mechanism having two opposing surfaces, the opposing surfaces being movable between (i) a disengaged position for receiving leaves hanging down from the conveyor, and (ii) an engaged position in which the opposing surfaces are configured to grip the leaves received by the defoliator mechanism:
- wherein the opposing surfaces act in the engaged position to apply a force on the gripped leaves to separate them from the stalk;
- and
- a leaf sorting system configured to separate the defoliated leaves into different categories corresponding to position on the stalk;
- wherein the leaf sorting system includes multiple guides, each guide being configured to receive and direct a respective category of leaves such that each category of leaves is received and directed by a different guide;
- wherein the relative position of the guides can be adjusted along an axis which is parallel to the orientation of a plant stalk being transported by a conveyor;
- and
- wherein the apparatus further comprises one or more sensors for detecting the size of a plant to be defoliated, wherein the apparatus is configured to adjust the relative position of the guides along said axis in response to the detected size of the plant.
Apparatus for processing plant material to remove leaves from a plant stalk, the apparatus comprising:
- a conveyor for transporting a plant with leaves hanging down from the stalk;
- and
- a defoliator mechanism having two cylindrical rollers, the rollers being movable between (i) a disengaged position for receiving leaves hanging down from the conveyor, and (ii) an engaged position in which the rollers are configured to grip the leaves received by the defoliator mechanism;
- wherein the rollers are configured such that, in the disengaged position, the separation between the axes of the rollers is greater than the separation between the axes when the rollers are in the engaged position;
- wherein when the two rollers are in the engaged position, the defoliator mechanism is configured to rotate the two rollers to apply a force to separate the leaves from the stalk.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.