HONEY EXTRACTOR

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a honey extractor comprising a container in which a rotatable basket with receptacles for honeycombs and a rotation axis can be set in rotation, wherein each receptacle has a receiving space whose longitudinal orientation is arranged, at least during the spinning process, at an angle between 30° and 150° to a line radial from the rotation axis and passing through the receiving space, and wherein the honey extractor has a drive for the rotation of the basket.

[0002] Honey extractors are sold in various designs by a wide variety of manufacturers and are well-known. The container is usually a cylindrical stainless steel pot with an outer diameter between 400 and 1000 mm. Inside, there is at least one so-called basket, which has holders for one or more honeycombs.

[0003] The term "honeycomb" refers to the honeycomb with its cells in a so-called frame, which has been removed from the hive (the beehive's housing). The frames are usually made of wood with edge lengths between 150 and 450 mm and can be inserted into the hive, for example, with additional frames. Bees use beeswax to build the frame into a honeycomb, which has the familiar hexagonal honeycomb cells.

[0004] Although manual crank drives with freewheels also exist, this invention relates to rotatably mounted baskets, preferably driven by a motor. Their rotation axis is usually vertical. FR88950 E and FR988728 A disclose typical honeycomb extractors, with a container containing a rotatable basket with holders for honeycombs, a rotation axis, and a motor.

[0005] Honey extractors are essentially divided into a) Tangential centrifuges b) Radial centrifuges and c) Self-turning centrifuges.

[0006] In tangential extractors, the honeycombs are inserted tangentially into a holder within the basket. As the basket rotates, the honey is initially extracted only from the side closest to the container wall until the honeycomb is turned by hand.

[0007] With the radial centrifuge, the honeycombs are arranged in a star pattern within the basket's holders, and centrifugal forces empty both sides of the honeycomb, i.e., the honeycomb cells located there. However, this process is prone to honeycomb breakage.

[0008] In the third centrifuge, each basket holder pivots around an axis from a radially aligned starting position, depending on the direction of rotation of the basket, to an at least almost tangential position, so that both sides can be emptied when the direction of rotation of the basket is changed.

[0009] For the purposes of this application, a receptacle is understood to be a generally cage-like compartment with a generally upwardly open insertion opening for a honeycomb, and the entire assembly is located on a rotatable basket. Furthermore, a rotation axis is understood to be a straight line around which a basket or receptacle rotates, while a rotation axis is understood to be the spatially formed axis or shaft.

[0010] When extracting honey, the honeycombs can break due to mechanical overload. Higher centrifugal forces are particularly effective on full or partially empty honeycombs. Therefore, the honey extractor is usually initially operated cautiously at a lower speed, which can be adjusted using a control unit on the most modern honey extractors. When the honeycomb is almost empty, the beekeeper can then attempt a higher rotation speed. With self-turning extractors, selecting the rotation speed is even more challenging.

[0011] In addition, the viscosity of the honey and the weight of the honeycombs can vary greatly, so empirical values ​​are not necessarily transferable.

[0012] The pivoting movements of the holders, which serve to allow both sides of the honeycomb to be turned towards the container wall or to allow the honeycomb cells on both sides of the honeycomb to be effectively emptied by the centrifugal force from the rotation of the basket, require a larger space for the holders than is the case with tangential centrifuges.

[0013] In Typically, the containers are cylindrical with thin walls made of stainless steel or Plexiglas. While a tangential centrifuge with four chambers requires an inner diameter of 430 mm, a self-turning centrifuge with four chambers requires an inner diameter of over 600 mm, often 690 mm.

[0014] Despite the advantage of not having to manually turn the honeycombs as in tangential extractors, self-turning extractors require more space and use more material.

[0015] The object of the invention is therefore to reduce the size of honey extractors and to accommodate more receptacles in the existing container space than before.

[0016] With regard to the honey extractor, the object is achieved by the features of claim 1 and in particular by the fact that the receiving spaces of adjacent receptacles partially overlap in the circumferential direction of the basket, at least during the spinning process.

[0017] In the prior art, the receptacles in a tangential centrifuge are arranged on the sides of a polygon. In a self-turning centrifuge, the receptacles do not come into contact with the neighboring receptacle during the oscillating motion. In conventional arrangements, the entire surface of each honeycomb faces an inner wall of the container. In this case, in both centrifuge types, the longitudinal orientation of a receptacle chamber during the spinning process is at an angle of approximately 90° to a line radially extending from the rotational axis of the basket through the receptacle chamber.

[0018] The inventors have now realized that this isn't absolutely necessary, because honey can't be extracted from the honeycomb in the area of ​​the frames. In fact, it's possible for the receiving spaces to overlap slightly without preventing extracted honey from being extracted as desired.

[0019] In the case of self-turning extractors, the longitudinal alignment of a receiving chamber can be arranged at an angle of between 30° and 150° to a line radial from the axis of rotation of the basket and passing through the receiving chamber during the extracting process, without problems occurring during the extracting process, for example without part of the honey being able to be thrown against the inner wall of the container.

[0020] The longitudinal alignment of the receiving spaces is defined by the center axis of the longest horizontal dimension. The inventive overlap of the receiving spaces in the circumferential direction of the basket allows up to 50% more receptacles to fit into the same container size.

[0021] It is advantageous if the longitudinal alignment of a receiving space is arranged at an angle of between 60° and 120° to a line radial from the rotation axis and passing through the receiving space, at least during the spinning process.

[0022] In this case, it is guaranteed that the receptacle rotates very close to the inner wall of the container and that one surface faces the inner wall. The angle is significantly closer to the 90° angle that has proven advantageous to date, where the receptacles are approximately the same distance from the inner wall of the container at both ends of the longitudinal alignment. In contrast to the prior art, however, the slight angle to the radial line means that more receptacles can be accommodated in the same container than before, because this also allows overlap in the circumferential direction. Although the invention can also be implemented in tangential extractors, it is preferably used in a honey extractor in which the receptacles are each pivotally mounted with respect to a rotation axis and can optionally pivot in two directions depending on the direction of rotation of the basket.

[0023] When the basket is stationary, these mounts are radially aligned and are mounted near the inner wall of the container via a rotating axis attached to the basket. As the rotational speed increases, the mounts are aligned tangentially until they touch each other in the overlap area.

[0024] According to the invention, a deflector plate is provided in an overlapping area of ​​two receptacles.

[0025] Such a deflector plate catches the honey spun out from the honeycomb located in the holder further inside the container and directs the honey downwards towards an outlet opening. This ensures that honey spun out by centrifugal force from a holder located further inside the container is not thrown onto the back of a holder located further outside. According to the invention, the deflector plate is attached to a holder itself. This also prevents the honey from a honeycomb located further inside the container from re-introducing its honey into the back of the honeycomb located closer to the inner circumference of the container.

[0026] In the prior art, the axes of rotation at one end of a holder outside the holding chamber are formed by a vertical axis of rotation at the outermost edge of the basket. With a reset device, usually formed by a spring or an elastomer, the holder and its holding chamber are positioned radially within the container when the honey extractor is stationary. This means that all the holders form a star-shaped arrangement when the honey extractor is stationary. As the basket rotates, the holder pivots about the axis of rotation attached to the outer circumference of the basket into a tangential position in order to centrifuge the honey from the honeycomb cells on one side of the honeycomb against the container wall using centrifugal force. When the direction of rotation is reversed, the other side of the honeycomb is operated accordingly.

[0027] The inventors have now realized that the pivot radius of the mounts is very large if the rotation axis is located at the end of a mount outside the mount space, as is currently the case, and also between the mount and the inner wall of the container. It is therefore particularly advantageous if a pivot bearing for the mount is located below the mount space.

[0028] By relocating the rotation axis through the receiving chamber, the receiver can reach closer to the inner wall of the container. Furthermore, the swivel radius is smaller. This significantly reduces the space required for the swivel movement of the receivers.

[0029] To continue with the above example, the diameter of the container could be reduced from 690 mm to 660 mm, resulting in significant material savings. Or, to put it another way, a container with a diameter of 690 mm could accommodate six pivoting supports instead of four, significantly increasing production capacity by 50% in the same period.

[0030] This means in the context of this invention that in addition to the overlapping of the recordings, which already saves space for the recordings, a further space saving or increase in the number of possible recordings is created if the axis of rotation of a recording runs through the recording space.

[0031] Preferably, the distance between two rotation axes of two adjacent recordings is shorter than the greatest length of the longitudinal alignment of the recording space

[0032] If a pivot bearing for the holder is located below the holder space, the insertion of a honeycomb into the holder space is not hindered by a pivot axis.

[0033] It is preferable to provide the distance between the two rotation axes of two adjacent receptacles shorter than the length of the receptacle space.

[0034] This limits the pivoting movement of the holders until they touch the adjacent holder, resulting in a brief overlap. However, this also allows for further space savings or a reduction in the diameter of the container. Following the previous example, two more holders could be accommodated in the same container size. The overlap of the holders is not critical in the edge area, as the honeycomb has its frame there.

[0035] In the following, the invention will be further explained using exemplary embodiments and four figures.

[0036] Show Fig. 1 a three-dimensional view of a self-turning centrifuge according to the invention, Fig. 2 a schematic plan view of a self-turning centrifuge according to the invention Fig. 3 a detailed plan view of a tangential centrifuge according to the invention and Fig. 4a and Fig. 4b a detailed top view of the movement of the recordings with a shifted axis of rotation.

[0037] The embodiments shown in the figures refer to honey extractors 1 of the self-turning extractor and tangential extractor categories.

[0038] In order to obtain an overview of the honey extractor 1 according to the invention, Fig. 1 a self-turning centrifuge with four receptacles 4 is shown three-dimensionally. For reasons of clarity, the lid of the container 2 has been Fig. 1 omitted.

[0039] A rotatable basket 3 is provided inside the container, which can be set in rotation about the rotation axis 6 by a drive 8 comprising a motor 9. The receptacles 4 are preferably pivotally mounted on this basket, so that they assume a different position depending on the direction of rotation due to centrifugal forces. The rotation axis 10 of the receptacles 4 is located closer to the inner wall 14 of the container than to the rotation axis 6 of the basket 3. When the basket 3 is stationary, the receptacles are brought into the radial position in the basket 3 by a return device (not shown).

[0040] The receptacles 4 have a receiving space 5 for honeycombs 20, which are shown in black for simplicity. In this embodiment, the receptacles 4 have a grid structure so that honey can be ejected from the honeycombs against the inner wall 14 of the container due to centrifugal forces, either from the first or second honeycomb side, depending on the direction of rotation.

[0041] The honey then runs down the inner wall 14 of the container and can be removed from the 12. Understandably, the weight of the honeycombs decreases, which influences the centrifugal force on the honeycomb 20 itself, as well as a possible imbalance of the basket 3.

[0042] To continuously monitor the weight of the honeycombs during the spinning process, at least one measuring device 17 is provided, which provides information about the weight of the honeycombs 20 and transmits this measured value to a control unit 15 of the drive 8, whereby the speed of the basket can be directly influenced via the motor 9 to prevent damage. Accordingly, an automatic control of the basket speed can be set up so that a critical limit for the centrifugal force is not exceeded.

[0043] The measuring devices 17 can work with different physical measuring methods. For example, in Fig. 1 A sensor 21 is provided for determining the moment of inertia, from whose measured value the weight of the honeycomb can be calculated. As an alternative or additional method, a force or weight sensor 18 ( Fig. 2) is mounted in the holder 4, which, for example, can transmit its measurement data wirelessly as a piezoelectronic sensor. Or, as a third example, which is not exhaustive for the invention, a protractor is provided, which determines the deflection of the holder 4 based on the centrifugal force against the force of the reset device and can thus also indicate the weight. The deflection angle can also be determined using optoelectronic methods.

[0044] The control unit 15 stores a maximum speed dependent on the honeycomb weight or weight distribution. The honey extractor operator can, for example, monitor the exact speed change on a monitor 16.

[0045] Fig. 2shows a schematic top view of a self-turning centrifuge with 10 receptacles in a basket (not shown for reasons of clarity), which rotates around the rotation axis 6, specifically in a rotating state. The receptacles 4 pivot about a rotation axis 11 or rotation axis 10 located outside the receptacle space 5. In this example, the pivot angle is so large that adjacent receptacles overlap and touch each other.

[0046] The greatest length of a receiving chamber 5 is referred to here as the longitudinal alignment 19. This longitudinal alignment should form an angle α of between 30° and 150°, preferably even 60° to 120°, with a line (25.1, 25.2) radial from the rotation axis (6) and passing through the receiving chamber. This positions the receiving chambers in a direction in which the honeycombs 20 can still project their honey onto the only schematically shown container inner wall 14 without risk of breakage.

[0047] The frames of the honeycombs 20 are generally located at the ends of the receiving space 5 in the longitudinal direction 19, so that there is no danger of honey being spun out from there and possibly hitting a receptacle 4 located further out in the container. However, to completely eliminate this danger, at least one deflector plate 23 is provided in the overlapping area 24 between two receptacles, which can catch spun-out honey and divert it into the lower area of ​​the container. Fig. 2 In the self-turning centrifuge shown, the receptacles 4 have at least one deflector plate 23 on both sides, since the receptacles 4 point with the other side towards the inner wall 14 of the container when the direction of rotation is reversed.

[0048] The overlapping area 24 is the space formed by two radial lines 25.1 and 25.2, which touch the ends present in the longitudinal direction of a receiving space and form the angle β, as well as two longitudinal sides of adjacent receptacles 4.

[0049] The same applies to Fig. 3 , where a tangential centrifuge is shown, in which the honeycombs 20 must be manually rotated, but where the receptacles also have an overlapping area 24 in order to accommodate more receptacles 4 in the same container size. Here, fixed receptacles 4, namely every second one on the circumference of all receptacles in the basket, are arranged somewhat further inward than fixed receptacles 4 arranged further outward.

[0050] Finally, show Fig. 4a and Fig. 4b schematically the same self-turning centrifuge with ten shots 4 in standing ( Fig. 4a ) and in rotating ( Fig. 4b) state. All of the receptacles rotate around the axis of rotation 6 of the basket, which is not shown here for the sake of simplicity and clarity. The axes of rotation 10 are arranged so close to one another that their distance is less than the longitudinal alignment 19, i.e. the longest extent of the receptacle space 5, which in turn means that the receptacle 4 cannot assume the same distance from the inner wall of the container with both ends, even when pivoted completely by centrifugal force, but neighboring receptacles overlap slightly. So that the honey from the honeycombs is not thrown against the side of the neighboring receptacle facing away from the container wall, deflector plates 23 are arranged in the overlap area.

[0051] The radial auxiliary line 25.1, which represents a centrifugal force direction emanating from the rotation axis 6, clearly shows that the deflector plate 23 ends exactly at or near the auxiliary line where the auxiliary line passes the end of the next receptacle. Thus, the extracted honey cannot settle on the next receptacle, which is closer to the inner wall of the container. This is possible because the deflector plate only covers the part of receptacle 4 where the (wooden) frame of the honeycomb is primarily located in the receiving space.

[0052] With this overlap of the receptacles 4, in this embodiment the rotation axis 10 of each receptacle 4 has additionally been moved into the area of ​​the receptacle space, which means that the container space can be reduced even further. List of reference symbols 1 Honey extractor 2 container 3 Basket 4 Recording 5 recording room 6 Rotation axis basket 7 Basket rotation axis 8 drive 9 Motor 10 Rotation axis recording 11 Rotation axis recording 12 Outlet opening 13 Pivot bearing 14 Container inner wall 15 Control unit 16 monitor 17 measuring device 18 Weight sensor, force sensor 19 Longitudinal alignment of the recording 20 honeycomb 21 Sensor for determining the moment of inertia 23 deflector plate 24 Overlap area 25.1, 25.2 auxiliary line α Angle between radial line 25.1 and longitudinal alignment 19 β Angle between two radial lines 25.1 and 25.2

Claims

1. Honey extractor comprising a container (2) in which a rotatable basket (3) having compartments (4) for honeycombs and an axis of rotation (6) can be set in rotation, wherein each compartment (4) comprises a reception space (5), the longitudinal alignment (19) of which is arranged at least during the extraction process at an angle of between 30° and 150° with respect to a radial line (25.1) of the axis of rotation (6) passing through the reception space, wherein the honey extractor comprises a drive (8) for the rotation of the basket (3), and wherein the reception spaces (5) of neighbouring compartments (4) partially overlap at least during the extraction process in the circumferential direction of the basket (3), a deflector plate (23) being provided at least in an overlap region (24) of two neighbouring compartments (4), characterised in that the deflector plate (23) is fastened to a compartment (4) itself.

2. Honey extractor according to Claim 1, characterised in that the longitudinal alignment (19) of a reception space is arranged at least during the extraction process at an angle α of between 60° and 120° with respect to a radial line (25.1) of the axis of rotation (6) passing through the reception space.

3. Honey extractor according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the compartments (4) are each mounted rotatably with respect to an axis of rotation (10).

4. Honey extractor according to Claim 3, characterised in that the compartments (4) can be pivoted in two directions depending on the direction of rotation of the basket (3).

5. Honey extractor according to any one of Claims 3 to 4, characterised in that the distance between two axes of rotation (10) of two neighbouring compartments (4) is less than the greatest length of the longitudinal alignment (19) of the reception space (5).

6. Honey extractor according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, characterised in that a pivot bearing for the compartment (4) is located below the reception space (5).