Arrangement for breaking up pulses, in particular cocoa beans, and for separating shells

Abstract

Arrangement for breaking pulses, in particular cocoa beans (8), and for separating shells (12) and nibs (10) of the pulses, comprising a housing arrangement (4) which includes at least one crusher arrangement (6) and an air classifier arrangement (36), wherein the air classifier arrangement (36) includes at least one conveying screen arrangement (14) movable by means of a drive device and at least one suction device (58, 60) with at least one blower for suctioning shell parts of the pulses, wherein at least one image acquisition device (72, 74, 76, 78, 80) is provided at least for detecting shells (12) in the area of ​​the air classifier arrangement (36), such that a determination of the volumetric quality of the separation is possible.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to an arrangement for breaking legumes, in particular cocoa beans, and for separating shells and nibs of the legumes, comprising a housing arrangement which has at least one crusher arrangement and an air sifting arrangement, wherein the air sifting arrangement has at least one conveyor sieve arrangement movable by means of a drive device and at least one suction device with at least one fan for sucking out shell parts of the legumes.

[0002] Such arrangements are well known in the art. European patent EP 0 455 023 B1 discloses a crushing arrangement designed as a throw-type crusher, with which pulses are crushed for subsequent cleaning in a downstream air separation arrangement, known, for example, from German Offenlegungsschrift DE 42 18 318 A1 or French publication FR 1 270 289 A, which discloses the preamble of claim 1. In particular, the hulls of the pulses are separated from the nibs. In this process, the hulls are suctioned off one or more conveyor screens in several steps using an air stream. The cleaned nibs may ultimately contain a certain percentage of hulls, for example 5%. This percentage must not be exceeded in order not to compromise the required quality, but should also not be too far below, as this would excessively reduce the quantity of nibs produced.To ensure that an optimal amount of shells remains in the nibs, samples are taken regularly to adjust the air classifier settings, which is time-consuming and therefore expensive. Other air classifier devices are also known from German patent application DE 37 06 134 A1 and German patent application DE 36 41 016 A1.

[0003] The object of the invention is therefore to avoid the above-mentioned disadvantage in the simplest and most cost-effective way possible.

[0004] This object is achieved according to the invention in that at least one image recording device is provided at least for detecting shells in the region of the air sifting arrangement in such a way that the volumetric quality of the separation can be determined, wherein a display device is provided which displays the volumetric quality of the separation, wherein the at least one image recording device is arranged on the housing arrangement in the region of a shell removal channel of the air sifting arrangement in such a way that a portion of a volume flow of the extracted shells can be detected. This makes it particularly easy to monitor the separation process in order to adjust the speed of the conveyor screen arrangement and / or the air flow of the extraction device if necessary. The display device makes it particularly easy to react to changes in the crushing or separation process.It should be noted that the conveyor screen arrangement is preferably designed as a vibrating screen arrangement, in which case the vibration speed can also be adjusted.

[0005] In this context, reference is also made to German patent application DE 10 2015 118 547 A1, which discloses a sorting system for recyclable materials, wherein an optical detection device is provided to optimize the sorting process. Japanese patent applications JP H02 293076 A and JP H02 268876 A further disclose a grain sorting machine in which an image recording device is provided for monitoring a sorting area.

[0006] In a particularly advantageous manner, the at least one image recording device is a camera, for example with a CCD sensor, CMOS sensor, etc., a laser sensor, or the like.

[0007] In order to be able to evaluate the quality of the crusher assembly even more quickly, the at least one image recording device can be arranged on the housing assembly in such a way that at least a partial area of ​​a screening surface of the conveyor screening assembly can be detected. This also allows differences in the raw material to be quickly identified. It is particularly advantageous if

[0008] To enable a classic, manual quality check, a sampling device can be provided.

[0009] A particularly advantageous embodiment is characterized in that a control device is provided which is control-technically connected to the at least one image recording device as well as to the crusher arrangement and / or the air sifter arrangement and / or the conveyor screen arrangement. This allows the arrangement to be automatically adjusted in a simple manner in order to achieve an optimal product result. If the control device is data-technically connected to a server for evaluating the recorded data, monitoring and, if necessary, adjustment of the arrangement can also take place in a decentralized manner. Furthermore, it is easy to save the data for later analysis. By providing a handheld device with a camera, such as a smartphone, which is data-technically connected to the server, manual samples, for example, can also be easily checked.

[0010] The invention is explained in more detail with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawing, wherein the single figure shows in a schematic side view an arrangement for breaking legumes, in particular cocoa beans, and for separating shells and nibs of the legumes.

[0011] The single figure shows a schematic side view of an assembly 2 for crushing and separating pulses. This assembly includes a housing assembly 4, which in the present case is essentially designed as a frame assembly and on which all essential components of the assembly 2 are located.

[0012] Reference numeral 6 denotes a crusher assembly in which, in the present embodiment, cocoa beans 8 are crushed. This crusher assembly is formed here by two single-roll reflex crushers, but can also be formed by a centrifugal or multi-roll crusher.

[0013] From the crusher assembly 6, the cocoa beans 8, broken up into so-called nibs 10 and husks 12, are guided in a known manner to a conveyor sieve assembly 14, which in the present embodiment consists of five vibrating sieves 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 arranged in a cascade. These vibrating sieves 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 sieve out small nibs 10 or pieces thereof, as well as husks 12 or pieces thereof, in a known manner, so that they fall onto the nearest vibrating sieve 16, 18, 20, 22, 24. The vibrating sieves 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 are driven by a drive device (not shown), for example an electric motor. The vibrating sieves 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 each have a sieve surface 26, 28, 30, 32, 34 on which several layers of nibs 10 and shells 12 can lie.

[0014] This conveyor screen assembly 14 is part of a known air classifier assembly 36, which comprises five air classifiers 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, whose respective side discharge channels 48, 50, 52, 54, 56 engage the end of the respective screen surface 26, 28, 30, 32, 34 of the vibrating screens 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, and extract light nibs 10 and shells 12. In the respective subsequent air classifier 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, the shells 12 are then separated, and the light nib pieces 10 are returned. Here, too, the suction devices with fans used are known per se and are only schematically designated by the reference numerals 58, 60. It should also be noted that cocoa beans 8 not broken up by the first sieve surface 26 are returned via a return line 62 to a loading arrangement 64, in order to then be led back to the crusher arrangement 6 together with fresh cocoa beans 8 via a feed arrangement 66.

[0015] In this way, nibs 10 or pieces thereof and, in the optimal case, a 5% portion of shells 12 are sieved out and collected in a container 68. In order to be able to check the quality of the separation, a sampling device 70 is provided on the container 68.

[0016] To ensure consistently high quality, even with changing raw materials, five image recording devices 72, 74, 76, 78, 80 in the form of cameras with a CCD sensor are arranged on the housing assembly 4 in such a way that a partial area of ​​each screen surface 26, 28, 30, 32, 34 can be detected. Furthermore, the cameras 72, 74, 76, 78, 80 are arranged at an angle to the screen surface 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, so that a layer thickness of the nib-shell mixture 10, 12 can be detected. According to the invention, image recording devices 72, 74, 76, 78, 80 can also be provided on the housing arrangement 4 in the region of one or more tray removal channels 48, 50, 52, 54, 56 of the air separation arrangement 36, so that at least a partial region of a volume flow of the suctioned trays 12 can be detected.

[0017] In order to enable the user to quickly assess the quality of the separation, a display device 82 is provided on which, in the simplest case, images from the image recording devices 72, 74, 76, 78, 80 can be called up. In the present case, however, a control device 84 is also provided, which is connected for control purposes to the cameras 72, 74, 76, 78, 80 as well as to the crusher arrangement 6, the air sifter arrangement 36 and the conveyor screen arrangement 14. The control device has an evaluation unit 86 which processes the information from the cameras 72, 74, 76, 78, 80 and, if there is a risk of the proportion of shells 12 deviating too greatly from a preset value, controls the crusher arrangement 6 and / or the air sifter arrangement 36 and / or the conveyor screen arrangement 14 such that the preset value is maintained again.For this purpose, for example, the dosage of cocoa beans 8, the crusher settings, the settings of the vibrating sieves 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 or the blower settings of the air sifter arrangement 36 can be varied.

[0018] To further simplify evaluation and, if necessary, maintenance, the control device 84 can also be connected to a server 88 for data processing, which enables even more detailed evaluation through comparisons, databases, etc. Additionally, a handheld device 90 with a camera, for example a smartphone, can be provided, which photographs samples taken with the sampling device 70 and sends them to the server 88 for evaluation via a data connection.

Claims

1. Arrangement for crushing legumes, in particular cocoa beans (8), and for separating shells (12) and nibs (10) of the legumes, with a housing arrangement (4) which comprises at least one crusher arrangement (6) and a wind sifter arrangement (36), wherein the wind sifter arrangement (36) comprises at least one conveyor sieve arrangement (14) that can be moved by means of a drive device and at least one suction device (58, 60) with at least one blower for sucking away shell parts of the legumes, characterized in that at least one image recording device (72, 74, 76, 78, 80) is provided at least for detecting shells (12) in the region of the wind sifter arrangement (36) in such a way that it is possible to determine the volumetric quality of the separation, wherein a display device (82) is provided which displays the volumetric quality of the separation, wherein the at least one image recording device (72, 74, 76, 78, 80) is provided on the housing arrangement (4) in the region of a shell extraction channel (48, 50, 52, 54, 56) of the wind sifter arrangement (36) in such a way that at least a partial region of a volume flow of the extracted shells (12) can be detected.

2. Arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one image recording device (72, 74, 76, 78, 80) is a camera, for example with a CCD sensor, a CMOS sensor, a laser sensor, a infrared sensor.

3. Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one image recording device (72, 74, 76, 78, 80) is arranged on the housing arrangement (4) in such a way that at least a partial region of a sieve area (26, 28, 30, 32, 34) of the conveyor sieve arrangement (14) can be detected.

4. Arrangement according to claim 3, characterized in that the at least one image recording device (72, 74, 76, 78, 80) is arranged on the housing arrangement (4) in such a way that a layer thickness of the nibs-shell mixture can be detected.

5. Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a sample device (70) is provided.

6. Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a control device (84) is provided, which is connected in terms of control to the at least one image recording device (72, 74, 76, 78, 80) as well as to the crusher arrangement (6) and / or to the wind sifter arrangement (36) and / or to the conveyor sieve arrangement (14).

7. Arrangement according to claim 6, characterized in that the control device (84) is connected in terms of data transmission to a server (88) for evaluation of the recorded data.

8. Arrangement according to claim 7, characterized in that a handheld (90) with a camera, such as for example a smartphone, is provided, which is connected to the server (88) in terms of data transmission.

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