Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
6~47
EQUIPMENT FOR PRESSING INCOHERENT HUMID MATERIALS
in the name of Michelangelo SPINAL
o
The invention refers to presses of the type for pros-
sing incoherent humid materials in order to obtain the
liquid contained therein as, for instance, it is required
in agriculture to press squashed grapes, olive husks and
the like.
More precisely the invention refers to an equipment
intended to substitute presses, as screw or hydraulic
presses at present in use.
Screw presses, which are at present the pressing
equipments most widely used in agriculture, comprise
a cylindrical compartment or "cage" adapted to receive
the material to be pressed, having a stationary bottom
and an open top through which the cage can be filled.
This cave has also an upper wall that can be Verdi-
gaily moved up and down inside the cage by means of a it-'
Ted screw and a mobile screw nut fitted thereon.
The screw nut is rotated by means of levers in one direct
lion to lower the wall and to compress the material inside
the cage and in the opposite direction to lift the wall.
Screw presses of this type has many drawbacks, the
most serious of which is that the pressing operation
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of the load cannot be performed continuously but it must
be performed through subsequent steps. Indeed, after
loading of the material inside the cage, the upper wall
is lowered through a certain length by rotating the
screw in order to obtain a certain pressure on the mate-
fiat and, accordingly, a certain quantity of liquid. Al-
ton this initial pressing it is necessary to wait at
least about half an hour before lowering the upper wall
by another length to further compress the material and
so on.
This is a very serious drawback firstly because
the pressing operation requires the constant presence
of labor near the press and secondly because any
operation lasts at least two hours.
Furthermore, these presses of the prior art are
very heavy and costly. The same drawbacks affect the
hydraulic presses with the aggravating circumstance
that they are more costly and comprise very delicate
hydraulic equipments.
Accordingly it is an object of the invention to
provide a press especially but not exclusively adapt
ted to be used in agriculture, of completely new con-
caption and construction that is completely free from
the above mentioned drawbacks.
According to the invention, the vertically moving
upper wall as well as the mechanical devices associated
thereto are completely eliminated and they are subset-
tuned by a compartment or cage having stationary wells
and containing a bag or "balloon" adapted to be inflated
by a fluid supplied by a suitable source outside the
compartment.
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In operation, the cage, that can be opened, is lit-
led with the material to be pressed, while the bag is in
the deflated condition and, once the cage is closed a-
gain, the bag is inflated through the fluid supplied byte source connected thereto. the increase of the volt-
me occupied by the bag inside the cage causes an identi-
eel decrease of the space available for the material and,
consequently, the compression of the material between
the bag and the cage walls.
Another important feature of the invention is that
the equipment can make partial use of the presses of the
prior art, and more precisely of the cage, that is usual-
lye made of circun~ferentially spaced wood staves, and the
support thereof, suitably modified.
The main features of the various parts of the equip-
mint of the invention are as follows:
The cage must have strong walls adapted to withstand the
pressure created by the inflation of the bag and at
least one of the walls must be provided with closely spa-
god openings for allowing the liquid contained in the
pressed material to come out of the cage;
The bag must be made from a strong, resilient, flexible
and fluid-proof material adapted to be used in the pro-
diction of food;
The fluid source must be able to supply fluid under a
pressure between 2 and kg/cm ;
A three-way pressure limiting valve must be connected
between the bag mouth and the fluid source in order to
eliminate any danger of burst of the equipment.
The invention will be now described in detail with
reference to the attached drawings which show a prefer
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Z~68~7red embodiment of the equipment in a first version who-
rein the equipment is completely new and a second version
wherein the equipment makes use of the cage and support
structure of a screw press of the prior art.
In the drawings:
Fig. 1 is an axial section of a preferred embodiment,
wherein the cage and the bag are of a cylindrical shape
and the bag is concentrical with the cage, the equipment
being in a initial step with the bag in the deflated con-
diction and the material interposed between the deflated
and the walls of the cage that is closed.
Fig. 2 is a similar section but showing the bag
in the inflated condition with the material pressed bet-
wren the bag wall and the cage walls;
Fig. 3 is a similar section but showing the Yen-
soon of the equipment using the structure of an already
existing screw press; and
Fig. 4 is a schematically view of the equipment in
a "country" version to be used in places where the water
network is practically non-existing or lacks the nieces-
spry pressure.
Referring now firstly to fig. 1, it can be seen that
the equipment of the invention substantially comprises:
a supporting structure 10;
a cylindrical compartment or cage 20, supported by
structure 10;
a bag (or ballot) 30 of generally cylindrical shape
having an inlet or mouth 31;
a tube length 37 inside bag 30 for delivering there-
to the fluid under press ion; and
a fluid source delivering a fluid under pressure ox-
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sty
amplified by hose 45 which delivers, for instance, water
from -the water network.
Supporting structure 10 is very simple and comprises
more legs 11 and a supporting rink 12 fixedly attached the-
Wright
Cylindrical compartment 20 has an upper solid dome-
-shaped wall 21, a cylindrical wall 22 provided with do-
sly spaced openings 23, a solid bottom wall 24, having
a similar shape to top wall 24, a ring-shaped basin for
the collection of the liquid obtained by the pressing
operation, located below cylindrical wall 22; and a con-
netting pipe 26 for the discharge of the liquid.
Bag 30 is of a resistant, resilient, flexible and
water-proof material as for instance rubber used in the
food trade, and comprises (fig. 2) a mouth 31, a body
having a conical portion 32, a cylindrical wall 33 and a
bottom wall 34, the bag being arranged with mouth 31 in
the lover part and bottom wall 34 in the upper part of
cage 2Q.
Mouth 31 is tightly sealed, through a suitable sea-
lying device 35 to the lower end of delivery tube 37, that
passes through sealing device 35 and extends axially with
respect to cage 20 inside bag 30, having its open end 38
at level with the connection CA between cylindrical wall
22 and upper wall 21.
Besides, tube 37 may present hoses JOY spaced there-
along.
Tube 45, exemplified as a source of fluid under pros-
sure suited for use in the equipment of the invention,
can be a flexible hose having one end connected to a tap
of a water network for drinking or irrigation purposes
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(having a minimum pressure of approximately 2 kg/cm )
and the other end tightly connected to lower end 39 of
tube 37 that protrudes below sealing device I
As can be seen from Figures 1 and 2, the delivery
of water under pressure from the water network into bag
I trough hose I and tube 37, obtained simply by open
nine the tap, will be sufficient to press the humid ma-
tonal SUP which is compressed between the walls of bag
30 and the walls of cage 20.
In hose 45, a three-way limiting valve LO is connect
ted for security reasons to limit the pressure inside
bag 30 at a preselected maximum value in order to avoid
the danger of excessive inflation of the bag and con-
sequent "bursting" of the cage.
The equipment of the invention installed in a stay
Ye "cage" 20' of the type which is usually used in screw
presses of the prior art can be seen in figure 3.
Since the base structure of said equipment and its
operation are identical with the specification already
given in connection with figures 1 and 2, they will not be
repeated here.
It should be noted that cage 20 must be adequately
resistant, or rendered still more resistant in case of
compartments of already existing presses, particularly
in correspondence with connection area PA between the
lateral wall and the upper and bottom walls, since the
pressure of pressing is uniformly distributed against
the cage walls.
In figure 4, finally, an embodiment of the equip-
mint is schematically shown to be used in places where
the water distribution network is missing or does not
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~Z~47
have sufficient pressure.
In this case the equipment is integrated by a pump
DO and it is sufficient to arrange for a water tank, as
exemplified by well WE, to draw water therefrom through
pipe Of and to supply this water to bag 30, (not shown
in this figure as it is inside cage 20) through limit
station valve LO, of the three-way type, and hose 45; duct
C2 returning the water to well AL in case of excessive pros
sure.
Naturally pump DO must have such a power to supply
water with a sufficient pressure as indicated.
The embodiments which have been described and ill-
striated herein are preferred at present, while, however it
is within the scope and concepts of the invention any
equipments to press humid incoherent materials comprising
a solid compartment of whatever shape, having at least
one wall provided with closely spaced openings, suited
to contain humid incoherent material to be pressed and
a bag, also said bag of any suitable shape, arranged
in any way inside the compartment and suitably connected
with a source outside the compartment, but able to deli-
Yen any fluid under pressure as to inflate the bag ins-
de the compartment and progressively to reduce the space
available for the material to be pressed, which material
therefore will be compressed and pressed, so that the it-
quid obtained in this way, can be collected outside the
compartment.
