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US 2019/0271506 A1Published application
Modular oast floor panels and oast drying system
AssigneeHopsharvester LLC
InventorsJohn Bonzo, Jeffrey Heintz
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A modular oast floor panel and an oast drying system is disclosed, particularly for use in drying agricultural crops such as herbs, hops and the like.
Claims20
A modular agricultural product drying panel comprising:
- a rectangular frame defining at least a perimeter of the product drying panel, where at least a portion of the frame is downwardly angled to prevent the retention of agricultural product thereon;
- a plurality of perforated rectangular gates, each of the gates being pivotally connected to the frame at opposite ends, the gates further including a downward extending position control member having a connecting feature at the bottom;
- and
- an actuator arm pivotally connected to the connecting feature of each of the gates, whereby movement of the actuator arm in a direction generally perpendicular to longitudinal axes of the gates concurrently controls a tilt position of the plurality of gates, wherein the tilt position may be varied between a horizontal position and downwardly-tilted position suitable to allow the agricultural product to pass through the drying panel.
1 more element
An agricultural product drying system comprising:
- a) a drying chamber having a plurality of drying surfaces therein;
- b) each of said drying surfaces including at least one modular drying panel for the support of the agricultural product thereon, each modular drying panel being operable to pass dried agricultural product through said panel into a space below;
- and
- c) a source of a drying gas for discharge through said plurality of drying surfaces.
1 more element
An automated agricultural product drying system, comprising:
- a) a drying chamber having a plurality of drying surfaces therein;
- b) each of said drying surfaces including at least one modular drying panel for the support of the agricultural product thereon, each modular drying panel being operable to pass dried agricultural product through said panel into a space below;
- c) a source of a drying gas for discharge through said plurality of drying surfaces;
- and
- d) a programmable control system for receiving inputs from at least one sensor and controlling operation of the drying system, including the movement of agricultural product through the system.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.