Sugarcane separation

An apparatus for separating sugarcane stalk material into component parts thereof comprising a base portion including stalk splitting means, at least one wing section pivotally mounted on said base portion and including means for feeding sugarcane stalk material to said splitting means, said base portion and said wing section further including milling means for separating components of the sugarcane stalk material, and means for manipulating said wing with respect to said base, said manipulating means including:

• power-operated jack means operably connected between said base portion and said wing section for pivoting said wing section toward and away from said base portion;
• and
• power-operated latching means operably mounted on said base portion and said wing section for selectively locking and unlocking said wing section with respect to said base portion;
• said latching means and said jack means being arranged, upon sequential operation thereof, to:
• unlock said wing section from said base portion and swing open said wing section to operably disengage said wing section and said base portion;
• and
• swing said wing section closed and lock said wing section to said base portion to operably engage said wing section and said base portion.

An apparatus for separating the components of sugarcane stalk material comprising stalk-splitting means;

• means for feeding sugarcane stalk material to said splitting means;
• and means for milling pith from the sugarcane rind portion of the sugarcane stalk material;
• the improvement wherein:
• said pith-milling means includes a power-rotated milling roll and an oppositely-spaced, power-rotated gripping roll;
• said gripping roll being provided with a plurality of gripping teeth;
• said gripping teeth including a plurality of outwardly converging surfaces;
• said surfaces extending non-radially toward oncoming sugarcane stalk material to resist the tendency for the teeth to impale the stalk material as the sugarcane stalk material is gripped thereby;
• and a supporting plate being positioned downstream of said pith-milling means to support sugarcane stalk material as it is advanced therealong from said pith-milling means;
• said supporting plate including an extension projecting toward a discharge zone defined by said pith-milling roll and said gripping roll;
• said extension having a generally smooth configuration at its terminal end to facilitate the discharge of sugarcane stalk fibers therefrom.

An apparatus for separating sugarcane stalk material into component parts thereof comprising stalk-splitting means, rotary feed roll means for feeding sugarcane stalk material toward said splitting means, rotary milling roll means for separating components of the sugarcane stalk material, and rotary gripping roll means arranged opposite the milling roll means for regulating the speed of the sugarcane stalk material during milling thereof by said milling roll means;

• the ends of each of said feed roll means, milling roll means, and gripping roll means including outwardly open, inwardly tapered sockets and being supported at each end by a rotary mounting assembly, each rotary mounting assembly comprising:
• rotary bearing means;
• rotary axle means being mountable in said bearing means, said axle means including:
• a hollow axle member comprising:
• a rotational support portion extendable through and rotatably mountable in said bearing means, and
• a tapered gripping portion;
• and tightening means extendable through said hollow axle member and engageable with a respective roll means for drawing together said tapered gripping portion and said tapered socket into rotation-transmitting engagement;
• said rotational support portion and said gripping portion being dimensioned for passage through said bearing means.

An apparatus for separating sugarcane stalk material into its component parts comprising a base portion including sugarcane stalk splitting means, a pair of wing sections pivotally mounted on opposite sides of said base portion, each wing section carrying a feed roll for feeding sugarcane stalk material toward said splitting means;

• a deflecting chute for directing sugarcane stalk material to said feed rolls;
• said base portion and said wing sections including milling rolls for separating components of split sugarcane stalk material, and gripping rolls arranged oppositely to said milling rolls for regulating the speed of split stalk material being milled by said milling rolls;
• rotary mounting assemblies for rotatably supporting the ends of said feed rolls, milling rolls and gripping rolls;
• and means for manipulating said wing sections with respect to said base portion;
• the improvement wherein:
• each of said feed rolls comprises:
• a generally cylindrically-shaped body;
• at least an outer portion of said body being composed of an elastomeric material;
• the peripheral surface of said outer portion being provided with a plurality of axially-spaced grooves defining a series of outwardly projecting flexible ridges;
• said outer portion having a plurality of apertures extending end-to-end therethrough;
• a plurality of tines being mounted in said grooves
• and projecting outwardly therefrom;
• said feed rolls being arranged to resiliently grip oncoming sugarcane stalk material, with the sugarcane stalk material being impaled by said tines to advance the sugarcane stalk material toward said stalk-spitting means;
• said deflecting chute comprising:
• a generally arc-shaped deflector plate having a concave surface;
• a plurality of generally parallel walls extending outwardly from said concave surface to define with said deflector plate a series of channels;
• said walls including faces which are convergent toward a discharge end of the chute to provide channels of gradually increasing width;
• said channels being arranged to receive sugarcane stalk material directed along a first path of travel toward an intake end of the concave surface and to guide the sugarcane stalk material toward a discharge end of the chute for being discharged along a second path of travel toward said feeding means;
• said rotary mounting assemblies each comprising:
• rotary bearing means;
• rotary axle means being mountable in said bearing means, said axle means including:
• a hollow axle membeer comprising:
• a rotational support portion extendable through and rotatably mountable in said bearing means, and
• a tapered gripping portion being tapered complementary to tapered socket means formed in the ends of said rolls;
• and tightening means extendable through said hollow axle member and engageable with a respective roll for drawing together said tapered gripping portion and said socket means into rotation-transmitting engagement;
• said rotational support portion and said gripping portion being dimensioned for passage through said bearing means;
• the hollow axle member at one end of each roll being supported against longitudinal sliding movement within its bearing means;
• the other hollow axle member being supported for limited longitudinal sliding movement within its bearing means;
• said manipulating means comprising:
• power-operated jack means operably connected between said base portion and said wing section for pivoting said wing sections toward and away from said base portion;
• and
• power-operated latching means mounted on said base portion and said wing section for selectively locking and unlocking said wing sections with respect to said base portion;
• said latching means and said jack means being arranged, upon sequential operation thereof, to:
• unlock said wing sections from said base portion and swing open said wing sections to operably disengage said wing sections and said base portion;
• and
• swing said wing sections closed and lock said wing sections to said base portion to operably engage said wing sections and said base portion.