Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
5~
Means for pneumatic gathering of milled peat
The present invention concerns a means for pneumatic gathering of
peat, consisting of a carriage moving on the bog and comprising a
blower or equivalent member Eor producing suction, a conduit for
sucking up peat from the surface of the bog, a separator for sep-
arating the peat from the suction air, and a receptacle wherein the
peat gathers.
In gathering milled peat, a pneumatic procedure has been applied on
the side of mechanical procedures, in said procedure the peat being
drawn from the surface of the bog along with an air flow into a
gatherer carriage moving on the bog~ The pneumatic procedure pre-
sents the ad~antage of a chance to influence the quality of the
peat being gathered by adjusting the driving speed or the velocity
of the ~uction air, because heavier, wet peat particles are left on
the surface of the bog at a low velocity of the suction air or~with
a high driving speed, and only the dried layer of peat is gathered.
Hereby, it is possible to mill and gather thick layers during
favourable drying periods and when rainy weather is impending9 to
draw only a thin, dried layer from the surface of the bog. When the
pneumatic procedure is used, the average once-Lhrou~h harvests
decrease if compared with the mechanical ~ethods, but experience
has taught that ~he annual overall yield is beween 15 and 40%
higher.
Gathering carri~,ages of different types have been used in pneumatic
paet gathering, comprising a blower with the aid of which the peat
i5 drawn into the carriage, a separator with which the peat is
separated from the suction air~ and a receptacle in which the peat
is gathered. The suction air may be circulated in these carriages
or it may be bLown lnto open air after the peat separation. The
location of the blower varies: it is located either after the
receptacle, in which case the receptacle carries a vacuum, or
before the receptacle and the peat separator, whereby the air flow
containing peat particles flows therethrough. A cyclone has been
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employed as peat separator on the carriages, into which the whole
air flow drawn from the bog and containing the peat is conducted.
In peat gathering carriages in present usage, the cyclones serving
as peat separators have to be dimensioned very large. On one hand,
thls is due to the powerful abrasive effect of the peat in the air
flow, owing to which the velocity of the air Elow must not attain
high values9 and on the other hand it is due to the arching ten-
dency of the peat. Big cyclones, however, present the drawback of
poor separating power and heavy weight. Since the cyclone must be
located above the receptacle in the carriage9 the stability of the
carriage is impaired by the high location o the centre of gravity
owing to the weight of the cyclone and, ln addition, the great
weight of ~he cyclone detracts from the useful load of the carriage
compared with the overall weight.
The obJect of the present invention is to provide a carriage to be
used as a pneumatic peat gathering means and wherein the drawbacks
presented in the foregoing are avoided. The invention is charac-
terized in that the peat-gathering receptacle of the carriage has
been constructed in two parts so that one part of the receptacle~
with the suction tube connected to it and wherefrom the suction air
flows further to the separator, serves as gatherer of coarser peat
particles, and the other part gathers the more finely divided peat
particles separated from the suction air by the separator. By this
design is achieved that only a small portlon of the peat that is
gathered enters the separator together wlth the suctlon alr,
whereby the size of the separator can be reduced and its degree of
separation improved. Since also the wear of the separator is less
than before, it is possible to reduce the thickness of its walls
and thereby to increase the useful load oE the carriage and to
improve its stability.
One embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the
suctior. tube is connected to the upper part of the part of the
receptacle which gathers the coarser peat particles so that said
peat particles descend to the bottom of the receptacle under
~ravity eEfect. In the subsequent separation of more finely divided
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peat particles, a cyclone known in itself may further be used
wherein the separation of peat particles from the suction air takes
place by the effect of centriEugal force.
One e~bodiment of the invention is furthermore characterized in
that the carriage can be dumped for emptying the receptacle of the
peat collected therein and that the parts of the receptacle are
separated by a flap which opens when the carriage is dumped so that
both parts of the receptacle are emptied simultaneously. The flap
may be mounted by the aid of hinges in the upper part of the flap,
whereby when the carriage is dumped it opens automatically under
gravity effect. Closing of the flap takes place similarly when
after being dumped the carriage is lowered back to its normal
position.
The invention is described more in detail in the following by the
aid oE an example by referring to the drawing attached, wherein:-
Fig. l presents a means according to the invention in ele-vational?
view and partly sectioned, and
Fig. 2 is the section II-II of Fig. l.
The means depicted in the drawing and intended for pneumatic gath-
ering of peat consists of a gatherer carriage 2 provided with
wheels1 and which may be attached e.g. to a tractor. The carrlage 2
comprises a blower 3, suction tubes 5 provided with suction heads
4, a receptacle 6, in the upper part of which the suction tubes 5
terminate and which has been divided with the aid of a flap 8
hinged on its top end, into a larger part 9 and a smaller part 109
a cyclone ll located above the smaller part 10 of the receptacle
and communicating with each part 9 and lO of the receptacle, and a
tube 12 which connects the cyclone ll to the blower 3.
The gatherer carriage 2 is used to collect the dried peat layer 13
from the surface l4 of the bog. The gathering takes place while che
carriage 2 is moving and the suction heads 4 are drawing peat 13 by
action of the suction produced by the blower 3. This causes the
peat to be drawn by the suction tubes 5 into the upper part of the
part 9 of the receptacle 6, wherefrom the co~se peat particles
descend onto the bottom of the receptacle under gravity efect. In
contrast, the suction air and the more finely divided peat part-
icles move as indicated by the arrow 15 in Fig. 1, to the cyclone
11 where separation of the finely divided particles takes place by
the centrifugal force effect. Elereby, the said particles gather, as
shown by the arrows 16, in the part 1~ of the receptacle, the
suction air proceeding, as sho~n by the arrows 17, lnto the tube 12
departLng from the cyclone 11, and thence further through the
blower 3 into open alr.
During peat gathering, the flap 8 is in the position in which i~
constitutes an airtight partition between the parts 9 and 10 of the
receptacle. When the carriage 2 is dumped for emptying from the
receptacle the peat collected therein9 the flap carried by the
hinges 7 turns under gravity effect into the position 8' indicated
by interrupted lines in Fig. 1, whereby the peat is enabled to flow
out rom both parts of the receptacle. ~1hen the carriage 2 after
being emptied is lowered down to its normal horizontal position,
the flap returns to its intial position.
It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that different embod-
i~ents of the invention are not confined ~o the embodiment example
presented in the foregoing and may instead may vary within the
scope of the claims ollowing below. For instance, it is possible
that the part of the receptacle gathering coarser peat particles is
provided with a cyclone, or that a cyclone constitutes the said
part of the receptacle in its entirety, whereby the separation of
coarser peat particles is also based on centri~ugal force.
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