Bean treating apparatus

Apparatus for hulling beans and for separating hulls from seeds comprising:

• initial hulling means receiving beans and effecting initial separation operation to remove the bean hulls from the seeds, said initial hulling means operating to exhaust therefrom the separated hulls and seeds through a joint flow path;
• flowing water separation means receiving said hulls and seeds from said initial hulling means and performing a further separation process, said flowing water separation means comprising a generally quadrilateral water tank;
• water supply means at one end of said tank introducing water into said tank at said one end and directing said water flow toward the opposite end of said tank, said tank including at said opposite end overflow wall means, said water flow being directed to overflow said overflow wall means;
• means for introducing into said tank at a location generally above said one end said hull and seed exhaust from said initial hulling means;
• seed collection means located at the bottom of said tank toward said one end thereof;
• hull collection means located adjacent said overflow wall means for collecting said water overflowing therefrom and hulls entrained in said overflowing water;
• and control plate means located within said tank in the vicinity of said opposite end thereof generally adjacent but spaced from said overflow wall means, said control plate means comprising a plurality of separable planar members each vertically aligned with each other to extend within a generally common vertical plane, said planar members being vertically movable relative to each other to effect control over said water flowing toward said overflow wall means at said opposite end of said tank.