WO2009128086A1

WO2009128086A1 - Sugar cane crushing and juice vending machine

Info

Publication number: WO2009128086A1
Application number: PCT/IN2008/000484
Authority: WO
Inventors: Velumani Aravind
Original assignee: Velumani Aravind
Priority date: 2008-04-16
Filing date: 2008-08-04
Publication date: 2009-10-22

Abstract

A Hygienic version of crushing sugar cane juice and vending machine is disclosed. Rollers are provided to pick up and break the cane in to half to avoid overloading torque to the gears and to crush 95% of the juice in a single crush. The juice crushed from the rollers are passed through various set of filters made of S.S mesh. Each filter varies in different microns. After the filtrations it is passed through a specially developed rapid chilling system. The juice is cooled instantaneously to 10-14 deg. Then juice is vended using a solenoid switch controlled by a GSM microcontroller. The controller records the sale of juice in various filling such as 250ml, 500ml&1000ml. It simultaneously transmits data through GSM to the remote location where all machines are monitored at single point.

Description

0484

SUGAR CANE CRUSHING AND JUICE VENDING MACHINE THE FIELD OF INVENTION

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a sugarcane crushing apparatus and method for crushing sugarcane to obtain sugar cane juice provided with means for vending the said juice, more particularly concealed highly hygienic condition with four/Three roller single crushing, Three stage filter and rapid chilling system using GSM microcontroller device to control the output of the juice and the said apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The harvested cane stalks are from the fields and transported to the nearby sugar mills. The cane stalks are crushed or macerated between heavy grooved iron rolls while concurrently being sprayed with dilute juice to help extract the residual juice. Bagasse is a fibrous substance from the cane stalk after the juice has been extracted. It is usually burned in boilers to provide energy for the sugar mill and also be used in the manufacture of paper and pressed boards.

A known type of mill is a three roll mill which consists of two bottom rolls next to each other and a top roll, the arrangement being that the centres of the roll shafts form a triangle. In this arrangement, a blanket of sugar cane or bagasse passes through the rolls in a generally horizontal or slightly inclined manner and juice is extracted during the crushing process. Another known mill employs a pair of counter rotating rollers one above each other such that the sugar cane moves horizontally between the rolls. Sometimes, the mill has one or more additional rolls in front of the main crushing or primary rolls.

A common feature of all current conventional mills is that the lower roll functions to drain most of the sugar juice from the crush. This is primarily because of gravity 008/000484

effects causing the extracted sugarcane juice to move under the influence of gravity to the bottom roll. However, the top roll is also a crushing roll and extracted sugar juice also accumulates on top of the horizontally moving blanket of cane of bagasse. To remove this juice, openings are sometimes present in the top roll through which the sugarcane juice can pass and drain from each end face of the roll. Such rolls are known as "lotus" rolls.

US 4,420,863 discloses a feed roller for a sugar crushing mill said roller having a central shaft from which radially extend a plurality of discs which are co-axially mounted on the shaft, a plurality of teeth formed on each disc, and a plurality of annular spacers co-axial with the shaft and holding the discs in a longitudinally spaced relationship.

US 4,168,660 described a sugar mill utilizing an arrangement of rolls joumalled between a pair of frame members, having a driven anvil roll as the lowermost roll. An adjustment cane roll is disposed between the frame members above the anvil roll. Intermediate and to one side of the cane and anvil rolls is a crusher/feed roll, and to the other side of the cane and anvil rolls there is a bagasse roll. The three uppermost rolls are adjustable with respect to one another, the side rolls may each be mounted in an eccentric or screw adjustable bearing support arrangement. A generally vertically disposed chute drops chopped sugar cane between the feed and cane rolls to permit gravity to aid in feeding of the chopped cane to the sugar mill. This arrangement of the rolls permits a higher sugar mill output per revolution of the rolls, than that of the prior art.

US Patent application 20040129811 A disclosed an improved two roll sugarcane crushing mill is provided by the present invention comprising a plurality of improved two roll mill modules in tandem, each comprising a pair of main crushing rolls consisting of bottom and top roll. The bottom and the top rolls are rotatingly mounted in a pair of main frames/head stock and a pair of top beams/lever arms at the two ends respectively. One end of each of the top beams is pivotally attached 008/000484

near upper end of the headstocks towards feed side for swinging top beams along with top roll. At least one feeder roller is provided with a scrapper cum deflector with juice drainage means in the close proximity of the main crushing rolls. The feeder rollers are mounted on an auxiliary frame which is rigidly/pivotally mounted on mainframe to adjust the loading/setting the feeder roller in desired position.

Aline Cristine Garcia Oliveira et al., Cad. Saύde Pύblica, Rio de Janeiro, 22(5):1111-1114, 2006 had conducted a survey to study the fresh sugarcane juice is sold by street vendors without any heat treatment in Brazil. Twenty-four samples of point-of sale juice were tested by standard methods to determine heterotrophic bacteria, total and thermo-tolerant coliform counts, Salmonella, and parasites in the juice. 25% of samples showed poor sanitary conditions, with thermotolerant coliform levels higher than allowed by Brazilian standards. Salmonella spp. and parasites were absent in all samples. Thermo-tolerant coliforms were detected on the hands of 37 % of juice handlers, and heterotrophic bacterial counts reached 2.0 x 103 cfu/per hand. Escherichia coli was detected in one hand sample, and no Salmonella spp. was detected. The data presented shows that sugarcane juice could have been contaminated microbiologically by factors such as equipment and utensils with inadequate hygienic conditions, utensils left uncovered, trash cans left open and in unsuitable places, and infrequency of hand-washing. Cross- contamination during food preparation has been identified as an important factor associated with food-borne illness. The sugarcane press, utensils, and food handlers' hands were not properly washed and only used plain water to wash their hands, the press, and working surfaces.

Subbannayya K et. Al., Indian J Med Microbiol 2007;25:73-4, studied the hygienic condition and contamination of sugarcane juice selling in various parts of Kamataka, India. They observed that the hygienic standards are usually not maintained during the transport of sugarcane from field to the point of extraction and preparation of juice. Further, the juice is consumed unpasteurised. Therefore, it is possible that the sugarcane juice may be contaminated and pose health hazards. Fresh sugarcane juice (150 mL) samples were collected in sterile screw capped containers and processed within 30 minutes after the collection. Sugarcane juice was diluted 10- folds in phosphate buffered saline (pH 7.3) and bacterial count was determined by surface plating on blood agar and MacConkey agar plates. For the isolation of Salmonella More Details spp. and Shigella spp, sugarcane juice (50 mL) was inoculated into equal volumes of double strength selenite F broth and incubated at 37oC for 12 hours. Subculture was done on desoxycholate citrate agar. For the isolation of V ibrios , 50 mL of sugarcane juice was inoculated to equal volume of double strength alkaline peptone water (pH 8.6), incubated at 37oC for 6hours and subcultured on thiosulphate citrate bile sucrose agar. Identification of bacteria was done using standard methods. They have concluded that the bacterial contamination of sugarcane juice may occur at different stages such as by contamination of sugarcane, roller drum crushers, collecting vessels, ice added to the juice, hands of the personnel and the filter. Further, sugarcane attracts flies that may contaminate the juice. Health education of the vendors and implementation of standard hygienic protocols may reduce contamination of sugarcane juice.

Indian patent application 513/DEL/2004 published 2006-05-26, disclosed an improved device for continuous extraction of sugarcane juice. The machine of the present invention is particularly useful for continuously and hygienically extracting juice from cleaned sugarcane of any length and diameter. Cleaned sugarcane is passed through set of rollers with special profile of the surface and guides for maximum juice extraction under suitable enclosure to ensure hygiene of the juice collected. Device is enclosed with suitable covers to avoid fly or dust interference with juice extraction and single pass extraction avoids even human interference which results in a hygienically extracted fresh sugracane juice. The bagase is automatically collected inside a closed chamber for hygienic surroundings. Also the same machine can be used for extracting juice from any other plant source. The conventional machine fails to extract the maximum output in a single crush and repeated crushing is required to extract the maximum limit. The main problem with the machine is operated by a human and exposed to environmental pollution, which would affect hygienic content of the juice. More over, the conventional machine uses the manual filtering of the juice, which usually fails to ensure the maximum cleaning of the dust particles of the juice. Also, the juice would be served with the ice, which would dilute and reduce the hygienic content of juice as the quality of the ice used in question. The open exposure of crushed bagasses attracts flies and other insects that further damage the hygienic content of the juice.

In the conventional machine the juice is measured and offered with the human help, which would not ensure the quantity of the required output of juice. The conventional machine which normally has two roller crushing machine which would not crush the cane with the single crush. The intervention of human help would further dilute and make the juice harmful to human consumption. The four roller crushing machine is different from conventional machine which has fixed rollers mounted in a pair of closed frame with gears mounted on both sides of the frame which restricts the removal of rollers for cleaning.

The major focus on invention is different from the conventional two-roller machine with manual filtering and cooling with ice, which dilutes the hygienic content of the sugar cane juice, which could be prone to harmful to human consumption.

To negate the problem, the focus has been taken to develop four roller crushing machine, machine associated with five stage filter and the rapid chilling system which instantaneously cools the juice without ice which ensures the hygienic consumption and friendly to human use.

To overcome the above prior art problems the following objects are provided in the present invention.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention is to provide a concealed sugarcane crushing apparatus to obtain a fresh cane juice that restricts the intrusion of environmental pollution, flies and other insects. 84

Another object of the present invention to provide a apparatus for crushing the juice which is concealed, highly hygienic, with five stage filter and rapid chilling system using micro-controller device to controls the output of the juice.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a four roller-crushing machine to extract the maximum bagasse output preserved with natural content and in a single crush about 95% of juice is extracted from the sugarcane.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a five-stage filter system to get a clear cane juice free from small pieces of bagasse, dust particles and other solid wastes.

Further object of the invention is to provide a rapid chilling system to cool the filtered cane juice with different required temperature.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a GSM based micro-controller vending system, controlling many operations of the apparatus, sending information time to time to the server about the various functions and status of the apparatus and providing protection to the apparatus.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, one embodiment of the invention provides an apparatus for extracting and vending cane juice from sugarcane comprising: plurality of rollers to crush the sugarcane to produce cane juice; a three-stage filer system to get a clear cane juice free from small pieces of bagasse, dust particles and other solid wastes; a rapid chilling system to cool the filtered cane juice with different required temperature; a GSM based micro-controller vending system for ensuring the accurate quantity of required output of juice.

Another embodiment of the invention is to provide an apparatus for crushing sugar cane juice with natural and fresh content dispensed with any contamination and the said apparatus is completely covered with metal sheet or polymeric material to ensure the hygienic output. 84

Still another embodiment of the present invention to provide an apparatus for extracting cane juice from sugarcane and vending chilled cane juice comprising: an inlet to feed the cane through a cylindrical guide into the crushing system (4) in a frame member provided with a roller assembly (5) having plurality of crushing rollers for crushing cane juice wherein each roller having a central shaft and other side of the said shaft is provided with gears which is mounted onto the blocks with bearing means and lubricating means for smooth rotation; a gear systems is assembled between the two blocks having plurality of gears having a main shaft (15) which is connected to the gearbox output shaft (14) through a connecting means to enable the shaft to rotate; a chute (24) is provided at the rear side of the filter section to guide the bagasses into the garbage bag (2); a filter system (6) provided beneath the roller assembly comprising plurality of filters to filter the juice which falls onto the said filters wherein each of the said filters provided with different microns filter mesh; filtered juice exit through connecting means to the cooling system; a cooling system is provided to chill rapidly the filtered cane juice with different required temperature; a level tank (26) provided therein to store the chilled juice; a valve to refill and drain out the liquid in the said cooling system; metering means (27) control the output and allow required/preset volume of cane juice through the outlet; plurality of flavor storage units are connected to the plurality of metering means (27); a GSM based micro-controller vending and controlling system for ensuring the accurate quantity of required output of juice and control the said apparatus.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention to provide a method for crushing sugarcane to get a sugarcane juice comprising:

(i) introducing sugarcane into an inlet through a cylindrical guide into the crushing system (4) in a frame member provided with a roller assembly (5)

(H) drawing and crushing the said cane that introduced onto the plurality of crushing rollers wherein each roller having a central shaft and other side of the said shaft is provided with gears which N2008/000484

is mounted onto the blocks with bearing means and lubricating means for smooth rotation;

(iii) spinning the roller using gear systems is assembled between the two blocks having plurality of gears having a main shaft (15) which is connected to the gearbox output shaft (14) through a connecting means;

(iv) separating bagasses through a chute (24) provided at the rear side of the filter section into the garbage bag (2);

(v) filtering the crushed cane juice with a filter system (6) provided beneath the roller assembly comprising plurality of filters to filter the juice which falls onto the said filters wherein each of the said filters provided with different microns filter mesh and the filtered juice exit through connecting means to the cooling system;

(vi) cooling the filtered juice utilizing a cooling system with different required temperature

(vii) storing the chilled juice in a level tank (26) to facilitate uniform output speed of the said juice to the metering means;

(viii) cleaning and refilling the said cooling system with a liquid, a valve is provided at one side of the cooling system;

(ix) delivering the chilled cane juice of predetermined volume with metering means (27) through the outlet;

(x) mixing the required flavor with the juice using plurality of flavor storage units that are connected to the plurality of metering means (27);

(xi) controlling and vending the chilled juice with a GSM based microcontroller system.

Further embodiment of the invention is to provide a four roller-crushing machine to extract the maximum bagasse output preserved with natural content and in a single crush about 95% of juice is extracted from the sugarcane. T/IN2008/000484

Still embodiment of the present invention to provide a easily removable four roller crushing machine for cleaning and rescaling the said rollers wherein one side of the central shaft of the rollers are mounted onto the frame and the other side of the said central shaft of the rollers are allowed to hang.

Another embodiment of the invention is to provide a five-stage filter system to get a clear cane juice free from small pieces of bagasse, dust particles and other solid wastes.

Still embodiment embodiment of the invention is to provide a rapid chilling system to cool the filtered cane juice with different required temperature.

Further embodiment of the invention is to provide a detachable garbage bag to collect the bagases after extracting the cane juice.

Further embodiment of the invention is to provide GSM based micro-controller system comprising human interface section, inputs/sensors section, output/control section, communication Ports, ice bank control Integration and the GSM is connected to the remote server. The outputs/controls section comprising plurality of flavor valves, dispense valve, motor contactor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are intended to provide further understanding of invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of invention. The drawings illustrate an embodiment of invention and together with the description illustrate principle of invention. The drawings should not be taken as implying any necessary limitation on the essential scope of invention. The drawings are given by way of non-limitative example to explain the nature of the invention. For a more complete understanding of the instant invention reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with accompanying drawings. 000484

1. FIG 1. Illustrates the schematic view of the apparatus for crushing cane juice from sugar cane.

2. FIG 2 shows a schematic view of the elevation of the structure.

3. FIG 3 shows a schematic view of the roller system

4. FIG 4 shows a schematic view of the filter assembly

5. FIG 5 shows a schematic view of the cooling system

6. FIG 6 shows a schematic view of four roller system in the mounting block

7. FIG 7 illustrates schematic view of three roller system in the mounting block

8. FIG 8 shows a schematic view of the cylinder

9. Microcontroller

The foregoing description is outlined rather broadly preferred and alternative feature of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing and modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should realize such equivalent conception do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention the apparatus for crushing sugarcane comprises four major parts such as four roller crushing machine, three stage filtering system, rapid chilling system and GSM based micro-controller juice vending system. 008/000484

Referring to Fig. 1 , an apparatus for crushing sugar cane juice hygienic with natural and fresh content comprising a plurality of rollers assembly for crushing sugarcane (1), a multistage filtering assembly (6), a detachable cooling assembly (3) and a garbage bag (2) to collect the bagases, motor and gearing means to provide movement to the main shaft connected therewith which in turn rotate the rollers for crushing cane.

The cane crushed through the rollers is collected in the garbage bag on the rear side of the machine, which could be detachable. The garbage bag is provided with a capacity to store up to 200 cups of bagases rolled out of the machine. There is a locking means to fix the garbage bags provided with the clips on four sides for easy removal and fixture of the bag.

Referring to Figure 2, the complete view of the crushing system (4) of the present invention comprising a frame member; a roller assembly (5) having plurality of crushing rollers for crushing cane juice wherein two pairs of rollers with a central shaft are mounted onto the two blocks provided with bearing means and lubricating means for smooth rotation and a gear systems is assembled between the two blocks, which enables the shaft to rotate which leads to the crushing of sugar cane. The main shaft of the roller system is connected to the reduction gearbox through a connecting coupling or direct shaft means.

Plurality of rollers is provided in the apparatus to crush the cane wherein three or four roller assembly is used in the present invention. In the four roller assembly, two pairs of roller are assembled in tandem in the roller assembly wherein the first pair longitudinally opposed rotatable feed rollers form a inlet chute to feed the sugarcane into the said roller assembly which pick up and break the cane into halves to avoid overloading torque to the gears and the second pair of longitudinally opposed rotatable rollers are mounted beneath the said first set of rollers. The second pair of rollers crush 95% of the juice in a single crush. The Crushing rollers are provided to remove from the shaft for cleaning and it is said to be designed as hanging rollers without any support on the other end. IN2008/000484

In the three roller assembly, the rollers are assembled in such way that one roller draw the sugarcane and feed onto the space between the two crushing rollers. The crushing rollers crush the cane and allow the bagase into the garbage bag (2) through the aperture provided therein. All the rollers are made of stainless steel 316 food grade.

The filter system (6) provided beneath the roller assembly comprising plurality of filters to filter the juice which falls onto the said filters wherein each of the said filters provided with different microns filter mesh. The filter system tray is as a rectangular tray moulded with S.S mesh of different grades and easily detachable to slide out the filter mesh of each stage for easily removable resulting in reducing the difficulty in cleaning and saving time. There are three-stage different filter systems having different microns filter mesh or combination thereof. Each filter tray in the filter system consists of plurality of perforation to filter the clear juice. The filter system is mounted on the blocks. The filtered juice collected and exit through an "L" tube to the cooling system after filtration. The mesh is made up of 304 grade stainless steel material to prevent corrosion. This system ensures the maximum removal of dust particles, which is not applicable in conventional filter mechanism where by the normal filter used to clean the juice.

Filtered juice flow from the filter system into cooling system (7) through the connecting means wherein the connecting means is a SILICON tube, any tube made up of flexible material, and steel tube. Heat exchange process takes place immediately after the juice flows through the heat exchange coils in the chilling tank. The heat exchange coils are made of 316 L stainless steel food grade material. The level of the temperature of the juice is evenly maintained up to 250 cups/hour. The metering means i.e., Food Grade solenoid valve (27) controls the dispensing quantity of the juice output wherein the solenoid valve is controlled by GSM controller in order to ensure the required output quantity. High-grade silicon is used in the manufacturing of the solenoid valve. The solenoid valve is detachable from the apparatus for regular cleaning to ensure hygiene. A storage N2008/000484

section is provided to store the cups, which receives the juice from the outlet point and the solenoid valve controls the said outlet.

The cooling system (7) is having an inlet on the top of the said system to introduce the filtered juice and pass through heat exchange coiled tube. The evaporating coils are enclosed within a polyurethane container sealed with a foaming agent of inner periphery of the said cooling system. A trolley is provided at the bottom of the cooling system for easy removal and replacing the said cooling system. The juice get cooled when passing through the cooling system without adding the ice, which is unlike in the conventional machine where the juice would be offered with the mix of ice cubes. This chilling system ensures the hygienic output with the natural content of juice without dilution. The cleaning motor is provided to clean the heat exchange coil periodically. The cleaning motor is self-priming pump. The micro controller checks for periodic cleaning of the said motor. The means to circulate the water inside the tank motor or pump, and preferably submersible pump.

The gearbox is of worm type gear system. The outer shell of the gearbox is made up of Alluminium or cast iron. The center axis is bored using a Jig-boring machine to maintain perfect center axis. The input of the gearbox is a hollow type design where the motor is connected using a flange. The gearbox and the main shaft of the roller system are connected at zero axis using a star coupling. The star coupling is made of hardened steel.

Referring to Figure 3, the gearbox (12) is connected to the motor and mounted on the tubular alignment system (13). The tubular alignment system helps to vary the vertical and horizontal movement of the gearbox to connect to the main shaft (15) of the roller system. The gearbox output shaft (14) is connected to the roller system wherein the main shaft (15) from the roller system is connected to the said gearbox output shaft (14) using a star coupling. This makes the other shaft to rotate. The shafts are mounted on the blocks of the roller system. The spur gears N2008/000484

(17) Mounted in the shaft (16) rotates the roller , The gears are made of EN-8 material with two-module design. The spur gears are optionally hardened to 30 RC before assembling. The oring (18) is provided in the each shaft of roller system. The oring prevents the flow of any liquids to the bearings mounted on the blocks. This increases the life of the bearing, as there is no flow of liquid. Motor 0.5 hp to 2 hp is connected to the gearbox through a flange. The speed of the motor is about 1440 rpm / 900 rpm reduced by the gearbox and give an output speed 10 rpm to 50 rpm through output shaft (14), which is connected to the main shaft using star coupling. The said main shaft is provided with a spur gear that affects the rotation of the other shafts having connected with spur gears. The rollers having worm gears mounted onto the said shafts started rotating which in turn crush the cane.

Referring to Figure 4, an inlet where the cane is fed through a cylindrical guide attached to the filter compartment (19) onto the crushing rollers. The cane guide is made of 304 stainless steel material. The inner wall of the said filter compartment (19) is coated with Teflon i.e polytetra fluoro ethylene, which is food grade and approved by FDA. Due to the said coating and nonstick nature, the cane juice or any other material if happen to fall on the side or upper wall which instantaneously drain/fall onto the filter system. The filter system (6) provided beneath the roller assembly comprising plurality of filters to filter the juice which falls onto the said filters wherein each of the said filters provided with different microns filter mesh. The filter system tray is designed to slide out the filter mesh of each stage for easily removable resulting in reducing the difficulty in cleaning and saving time. There are three-stage different filter systems having three different microns filter mesh or combination thereof. Each filter tray in the filter system consists of plurality of perforation to filter the clear juice. The said trays are placed on the holding means of the filter system. The filter system is mounted on the blocks. The mesh is made up of 304 grade stainless steel material to prevent corrosion. This system ensures the maximum removal of dust particles, which is not applicable in conventional filter mechanism where by the normal filter used to clean the juice. The filter mesh (20) is made up of 100 micron stainless steel mesh spot welded on 008/000484

a rectangular frame. The rectangular frame from the filter system is removable which simplifies the cleaning process. The filter mesh (21) is made up of 80 micron stainless steel mesh spot welded on a rectangular frame or Moulded to Plastic tray. The rectangular frame from the filter system is removable which simplifies the cleaning process. The filter mesh (22) is made up of 60 micron stainless steel mesh spot welded or moulded on a rectangular frame. The rectangular frame from the filter system is removable which simplifies the cleaning process. Plurality of level sensing means are provided on the side wall of the filter system in which one at the higher level and other at the lower level. If the filter system filter the juice slowly or there is a obstruction or any other reason the juice reaches the higher limit during crushing, the sensing means provided on the side wall which is connected to microcontroller stop the motor without any delay so that crushing is stopped and overflowing is also avoided. If the juice reaches the lower limit, the sensing means provided on the sidewall give a signal to the microcontroller, which in turn stop the motor at once. An elbow tube (23) fixed at the bottom of the filter assembly, which in turn is connected to the cooling system using a silicon tube. A chute (24) is provided at the rear side of the filter section to guide the bagasses into the garbage bag.

Referring to Figure 5, the cooling system comprising tank (25); evaporating coil which is provided in the inner periphery of the side walls of the said tank; the heat exchange coil made of S.S tube is placed in a liquid preferably water inside the tank wherein the said heat exchange coil is cooling the cane juice as it flows through the tube at a preset temperature. Means to circulate the water is provided inside the tank, which cope up with flowing speed of the juice and facilitate the effective cooling. The juice attains the preset temperature during the travel in the heat exchange coil or before leaving the said coil. The temperature of the cooling tank is set with the controlling means wherein the controlling means is connected to the microcontroller. To clean and refill the water in the cooling tank whenever required, a valve is provided at one side of the said tank. An ice level controlling means is provided to keep the cooling system at a desired preset temperature. There are three sensing means disposed at three different layers of the inner circumference of the cooling tank wherein one sensing means disposed in the water, second sensing means provided to sense the maximum ice forming level and the third sensing means to sense lowest ice forming level. A leveling tank (26) that stores the juice temporarily and allows the constant flow of the juice is provided at the end of the heat exchange coil and the capacity of the said tank (26) is about 500ml

A metering means (27), i.e a solenoid valve allows the preset volume of cane juice through the outlet wherein the flow is controlled by the micro controller. Plurality of flavor storage units are provided wherein the desired flavor is allowed to mix with the juice just before the outlet through the plurality of metering means (27). A low backpressure compressor and a condensing unit with a fan motor and an expansion valve are provided at the bottom of the cooling system. The whole cooling system is mounted on a bearing means at the bottom of the four sides of the frame. In case of any maintenance required, the unit can be easily removed and replaced without any down time.

The dispenser unit is having a provision to hold the container such as cups and pet bottles. The cooling tank is insulated with the insulating means known in the art that keeps the temperature constant for several hours even the machine switched off. Input temperature of the juice is between 20 and 35 ⁰C and the juice output temperature is between 7 and 15 ⁰C wherein the juice out put temperature is set using the microcontroller.

According to Fig.6,7 and 8, the roller assembly (31) and the roller is illustrated. In case the roller assembly is four-roller assembly, two pairs of roller are assembled in tandem in the roller assembly wherein the first pair longitudinally opposed rotatable feed rollers (32) form a inlet chute to feed the sugarcane into the said roller assembly which pick up and break the cane into halves to avoid overloading torque to the gears and the second pair of longitudinally opposed rotatable rollers are mounted beneath the said first set of rollers. The second pair of rollers called crushing rollers (33), crushes 95% of the juice in a single crush. Rollers are having T/IN2008/000484

a slot longitudinally in the center of the said roller to introduce the shaft. One side of the said shafts of the roller assembly is mounted onto the blocks provided therein and the other side of the said shafts of the roller assembly is allowed to hang and fastened into the said shaft with fastening means that helps the rollers to be easily removed for cleaning and descaling purposes. In the three roller assembly, the rollers are assembled in such way that one roller i.e., feeding roller (32) draw the sugarcane and feed onto the space between the two crushing rollers (33). The crushing rollers crush the cane and allow the bagase into the garbage bag (2) through the aperture provided therein. The distance between the center points of the two rollers is between 50 and 100 mm, preferably between 55 and 95mm, more preferably between 60 and 90mm. The feeding angle of the sugarcane into the roller assembly is between 35 and 55°. The diameter of the roller can be of any size depending upon the purpose and requirement, preferably between 50 and 120 mm. The length of the roller is of any size depending upon the need and necessity, preferably between 90 and 200 mm.

In the roller assembly, the blocks are made of cast iron or casted aluminum. The blocks are then shaped on all sides. The blocks are bored to fix the roller shafts. The rollers are made of 316 grade stainless steel material. The rollers are machined and milled for the crushing design. The shafts are made of 304 grade stainless steel material fixed to the blocks. There are bearings on the shaft which allows rotating freely. This is a rectangular fixture connected in-between the two mounting blocks where gear system are assembled. The rectangular fixture can be adjusted to align the two blocks. The front and the rear blocks fixed to the bottom plate. The whole system is assembled on the trolley of the crushing mechanism.

Accordingly, an apparatus for extracting cane juice from sugarcane and vending chilled cane juice comprising: an inlet to feed the cane through a cylindrical guide into the crushing system (4) in a frame member provided with a roller assembly (5) having plurality of crushing rollers for crushing cane juice wherein each roller having a central shaft and other side of the said shaft is provided with gears which T/IN2008/000484

is mounted onto the blocks with bearing means and lubricating means for smooth rotation; a gear systems is assembled between the two blocks having plurality of gears having a main shaft (15) which is connected to the gearbox output shaft (14) through a connecting means to enable the shaft to rotate; a chute (24) is provided at the rear side of the filter section to guide the bagasses into the garbage bag (2); a filter system (6) provided beneath the roller assembly comprising plurality of filters to filter the juice which falls onto the said filters wherein each of the said filters provided with different microns filter mesh; filtered juice exit through connecting means to the cooling system; a cooling system is provided to chill rapidly the filtered cane juice with different required temperature; a level tank (26) provided therein to store the chilled juice; a valve to refill and drain out the liquid in the said cooling system; metering means (27) control the output and allow required/preset volume of cane juice through the outlet; plurality of flavor storage units are connected to the plurality of metering means (27); a GSM based microcontroller vending and controlling system for ensuring the accurate quantity of required output of juice and control the said apparatus.

Accordingly, a method for crushing sugarcane to get a sugarcane juice comprising:

(xii) introducing sugarcane into an inlet through a cylindrical guide into the crushing system (4) in a frame member provided with a roller assembly (5)

(xiii) drawing and crushing the said cane that introduced onto the plurality of crushing rollers wherein each roller having a central shaft and other side of the said shaft is provided with gears which is mounted onto the blocks with bearing means and lubricating means for smooth rotation;

(xiv) spinning the roller using gear systems is assembled between the two blocks having plurality of gears having a main shaft (15) which is connected to the gearbox output shaft (14) through a connecting means; T/IN2008/000484

(xv) separating bagasses through a chute (24) provided at the rear side of the filter section into the garbage bag (2);

(xvi) filtering the crushed cane juice with a filter system (6) provided beneath the roller assembly comprising plurality of filters to filter the juice which falls onto the said filters wherein each of the said filters provided with different microns filter mesh and the filtered juice exit through connecting means to the cooling system;

(xvii) cooling the filtered juice utilizing a cooling system with different required temperature

(xviii) storing the chilled juice in a level tank (26) to facilitate uniform output speed of the said juice to the metering means;

(xix) cleaning and refilling the said cooling system with a liquid, a valve is provided at one side of the cooling system;

(xx) delivering the chilled cane juice of predetermined volume with metering means (27) through the outlet;

(xxi) mixing the required flavor with the juice using plurality of flavor storage units that are connected to the plurality of metering means (27);

(xxii) Controlling and vending the chilled juice with a GSM based microcontroller system.

Referring to Figure 8, the crushing rollers are provided with a slot longitudinally in the center to accommodate the shaft, which is mounted onto block. The peripheral surface of the said roller is having grooves longitudinally such as messacheart grooves, toothed grooves or any such type suitable for crushing the cane. The rollers are made of 316-grade stainless steel material. The rollers are machined and milled to the specified design. The feeding and braking rollers grooves are different from the crushing rollers. The grooves provided on the feeding roller facilitate a grip to pull the cane from the inlet. 008/000484

According to figure 9, GSM interface to the Cane juice Vending Controller is illustrated. The human interface section, inputs/sensors section, output/control section, communication Ports, ice bank control Integration and GSM which is connected to the remote server.

1. Human Interface a. Display: Graphic display (128*64) b. Keys: Touch keypad in Navigation format c. Finger print module for operator identification

2. Inputs/Sensors a. Dispense keys b. Level sensor at filter c. Over load / 3 Phase balance sensor for crusher d. Level sensors for flavor

3. Outputs/Controls a. Flavor valve - 3 b. Dispense valve -1 c. Motor contactor - 1

4. Communication Ports a. RS232 b. GSM Modem

5. Ice bank control Integration a. Level probes - 3 inputs b. Compressor control - 1 output c. Compressor current monitoring and overload trip

The microcontroller controls the motor operations, particularly it stop the said motor when overload on the roller or phase imbalance or the juice cross the higher limit in the filter assembly or business condition.

Flush trigger can be operated when the machine is Idle for more than 15 Min, then check the crusher motor condition or the motor is running reset the flush time or the motor is stopped then start Flush sequence. T/IN2008/000484

Flush Sequence, prompt the operator to drain out the remaining juice using dispense valve, pour water, and drain out the water also. Allow normal dispensing or cane crushing ONLY after the operator finishes the above.

4. Outgoing GSM Message number (SERVER)

GSM message center sends the message when the operator is not near the machine for more than 15 mins a message should be sent or the motor/ compressor draws more current or the flavor level goes below and also displays the status or biometric login (with time, date and user information) of operator, supervisor and support thereof or starting reading, mid day, closing reading emitted automatically or using some menu item in the screen once the support engineer has completed his task, should be able to update the server or new operator is introduced, his finger print needs to be scanned and transmitted to server or the machine starting and closing time of sales. Machine sends a message to the server with that information the latest status, problem solved and all other status can be valuated.

6. Message receiving capability: a. Ability to check the number of juices vended until that time that day and also total juices the machines has vented so far in life. b. Ability to check the status of motor, cooling compressor c. Ability to push the finger prints as well as the names of the operators who can operate the machine from server. d. Prepaid offers & discounts

We should have ability to push the offers and discounts to the machines

7. Biometric login

Only the following persons will be recognized and appropriate messages shall be displayed on the screen.

1. Operator

2. Supervisor 008/000484

3. Support personal

8. Information that displayed to the operator a. When 3 phase supply is not available, we should display that information so that the operator knows why the motor is not running b. When the flavor has gone below the threshold level, then operator should know via the display c. If the machine is idle for 15 mins, the operator should be asked to login using biometric login. d. The price of the juice should be displayed all the time. e. Operator should have menu item to charge a prepaid card. f. When the user swipes the card or the operator swipes on behalf of the user, appropriate amount should be detected from the card and juice should be vended. If enough money is not available, the operator should be able to collect the remaining balance and vend the juice. g. End of the day, card #s and amount detected transmitted to the server.

9. Information that displayed to the supervisor a. Ability to program start and closing time. b. Ability to introduce new operator c. Ability to set the price of the juice. d. Ability to set the quantity of the juice & flavor

Though the present invention was shown and described with references to the preferred embodiments, such are merely illustrative of the present invention and are not to be construed as a limitation thereof and various modifications of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is therefore not intended that the present invention be limited to the disclosed embodiments or details thereof, and the present invention includes all variations and/or alternative embodiments within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

I claim:

1) An apparatus for extracting cane juice from sugarcane and vending chilled cane juice comprising: an inlet to feed the cane through a cylindrical guide into the crushing system (4) in a frame member provided with a roller assembly (5) having plurality of crushing rollers for crushing cane juice wherein each roller having a central shaft and other side of the said shaft is provided with gears which is mounted onto the blocks with bearing means and lubricating means for smooth rotation; a gear systems is assembled between the two blocks having plurality of gears having a main shaft (15) which is connected to the gearbox output shaft (14) through a connecting means to enable the shaft to rotate; a chute (24) is provided at the rear side of the filter section to guide the bagasses into the garbage bag (2); a filter system (6) provided beneath the roller assembly comprising plurality of filters to filter the juice which falls onto the said filters wherein each of the said filters provided with different microns filter mesh; filtered juice exit through connecting means to the cooling system; a cooling system is provided to chill rapidly the filtered cane juice with different required temperature; a level tank (26) provided therein to store the chilled juice; a valve to refill and drain out the liquid in the said cooling system; metering means (27) control the output and allow required/preset volume of cane juice through the outlet; plurality of flavor storage units are connected to the plurality of metering means (27); a GSM based micro-controller vending and controlling system for ensuring the accurate quantity of required output of juice and control the said apparatus.

2) An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the roller assembly is three or four roller assembly, in the four roller assembly, two pairs of roller are assembled in tandem in the roller assembly and the first pair longitudinally opposed rotatable feed rollers form a inlet chute to feed the sugarcane into the said roller assembly which pick up and break the cane to avoid overloading torque to the gears and the second pair of longitudinally opposed rotatable rollers are 84

mounted predetermined angle beside the said first pair of rollers and the said second pair of rollers crush about 95% of the juice in a single crush

3) An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the rollers are assembled in the three roller assembly with predetermined angle so that one roller draw the sugarcane and feed onto the space between the other two crushing rollers, the crushing rollers crush about 95% of the juice in a single crush the cane and allow the bagase into the garbage bag (2) through the aperture provided therein.

4) The apparatus claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the inner wall of the said filter system (6) is coated with food grade polymer, preferably polytetra fluoro ethylene which facilitates the cane juice or any other material that fall on the side or upper wall instantaneously drain/fall onto the plurality of filters.

5) The apparatus claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the plurality of filters having three different microns filters mesh or combination thereof are placed on the holding means and each filter tray in the filter system consists of plurality of perforation to filter the clear juice.

6) The apparatus claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the first filter mesh (20) is about 100 micron mesh; second filter mesh (21) is about 80 micron mesh; third filter mesh (22) is about 60 micron mesh.

7) The apparatus claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the filters are fixed in a rectangular frame or any other suitable shape and each filter in the said filter system is removable for periodical cleaning.

8) The apparatus claimed in any preceding claim, wherein plurality of level sensing means is provided on the sidewall of the filter system in which, one at the higher level and other at the lower level connected to the microcontroller to stop the motor wherever the prescribed limit is crossed.

9) The apparatus claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the cooling system comprising tank (25); evaporating coil in the inner periphery of the side walls of the said tank; heat exchange coil placed in a liquid preferably water inside the said tank wherein the said heat exchange coil is cooling the cane juice as it flows through the tube at a preset temperature; means to circulate the water 008/000484

inside the tank to facilitate the effective cooling of the juice; plurality of sensing means disposed at different layers of the inner circumference of the cooling tank wherein one sensing means disposed in the water, another sensing means provided to sense the maximum ice forming level and the third sensing means to sense lowest ice forming level; a low backpressure compressor and a condensing unit with a fan, motor and an expansion valve are provided at the bottom of the cooling system wherein the whole cooling system is mounted on a bearing means at the bottom of the four sides of the frame.

10)The apparatus claimed in any preceding claim, wherein means to circulate the water inside the tank motor or pump, and preferably submersible pump.

11)The apparatus claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the dispenser unit is having a provision to hold the container such as cups and pet bottles.

12)The apparatus claimed in any preceding claim, wherein input temperature of the juice is between 20 and 35 ⁰C and the juice output temperature is between 7 and 15 ⁰C wherein the juice out put temperature is being set using the microcontroller.

13)The apparatus claimed in any preceding claim, the rollers are having a slot longitudinally in the center of the said roller to introduce the shaft wherein one side of the shaft is mounted in the block and the other side is allowed to hang and fastened into the said shaft with fastening means that helps the rollers to be easily removed for cleaning and descaling purposes.

14)The apparatus claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the distance between the center points of the two rollers is between 50 and 100 mm, preferably between 55 and 95mm, more preferably between 60 and 90mm.

15)The apparatus claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the feeding angle of the sugarcane into the roller assembly is between 35 and 55°.

16)The apparatus claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the diameter of the roller can be of any size depend upon the purpose and requirement, preferably between 50 and 120 mm and the length of the roller is of any size depend upon the need and necessity, preferably between 90 and 200 mm. 17)The apparatus claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the peripheral surface of the said roller is having longitudinal grooves such as messacheart grooves, toothed grooves or any such type suitable for crushing the cane and the grooves of the feeding roller facilitate a grip to pull the cane from the inlet.

18)The apparatus claimed in any preceding claim, the gearbox (12) is connected with a motor and mounted on the tubular alignment system (13) wherein the main shaft (15) of the roller system is connected to the gearbox output shaft (14) using a star coupling.

19)The apparatus claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the gear system comprising spur gears (17) mounted on the shaft (16) rotates the roller wherein o-ring (18) is provided in the each shaft of roller system to prevent flow of juice inside the bearing blocks.

20)The apparatus claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the motor connected to the gearbox is 0.5 hp to 2 hp and the speed of the motor is about 1440 rpm / 900 rpm reduced by the gearbox and give an output speed 10 rpm to 50 rpm through output shaft (14), which is connected to the main shaft (15) using star coupling and the said main shaft is provided with a spur gear that affects the rotation of the other

21)The apparatus claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the rollers having worm gears mounted onto the said shafts started rotating which in turn crush the cane.

22) The apparatus claimed in any preceding claim, wherein GSM based microcontroller system comprising human interface section, inputs/sensors section, output/control section, communication Ports, ice bank control Integration and the GSM is connected to the remote server.

23)The apparatus as claimed in claim 21, wherein the human interface section comprising a graphic display (128*64), touch keypad in Navigation format and finger print module for operator identification.

24)The apparatus as claimed in claim 21, wherein the inputs/sensors section comprising dispense keys, level sensor at filter, over load / 3 Phase balance sensor for crusher and level sensors for flavor. 0484

25)The apparatus as claimed in claim 21, wherein the outputs/controls section comprising plurality of flavor valves, dispense valve, motor contactor. 26)The apparatus as claimed in claim 21 , wherein the communication Ports having

RS232 and GSM Modem.

27)The apparatus as claimed in claim 21, wherein ice bank control integration section plurality of level probes, compressor control and compressor current monitoring and overload trip. 28)A method for crushing sugarcane to get a sugarcane juice comprising:

(ii) drawing and crushing the said cane that introduced onto the plurality of crushing rollers wherein each roller having a central shaft and other side of the said shaft is provided with gears which is mounted onto the blocks with bearing means and lubricating means for smooth rotation;

(v) filtering the crushed cane juice with a filter system (6) provided beneath the roller assembly comprising plurality of filters to filter the juice which falls onto the said filters wherein each of the said filters provided with different microns filter mesh and the filtered juice exit through connecting means to the cooling system; (vi) cooling the filtered juice utilizing a cooling system with different required temperature

(vii) storing the chilled juice in a level tank (26) to facilitate uniform output speed of the said juice to the metering means; (viii) cleaning and refilling the said cooling system with a liquid, a valve is provided at one side of the cooling system; (ix) delivering the chilled cane juice of predetermined volume with metering means (27) through the outlet;

29)The method claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the microcontroller controls the motor operations, particularly it stop the said motor when overload on the roller or phase imbalance or the juice cross the higher limit in the filter assembly or business condition.

30)The method claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the flush trigger is operated when the machine is Idle for more than 15 Min, then check the crusher motor condition or the motor is running reset the flush time or the motor is stopped then start Flush sequence.

31)The method claimed in any preceding claim, wherein flush sequence, prompt the operator to drain out the remaining juice using dispense valve, pour water, and drain out the water also. Allow normal dispensing or cane crushing ONLY after the operator finishes the above.

32)The method claimed in any preceding claim, wherein GSM message center sends the message to the server when the operator is not near the machine for more than 15 minutes or the motor/ compressor draws more current or the flavor level goes below and also displays the status or demanding biometric login (with time, date and user information) of operator, supervisor and support thereof or starting reading, mid day, closing reading emitted automatically or using some menu item in the screen once the support engineer has completed his task, capable of updating the server or new operator is introduced, his finger print needs to be scanned and transmitted to server or the machine starting and closing time of sales and the machine sends a message to the server with that information the latest status, problem solved and all other status can be valuated.

33)The method claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the message receiving capability is to check the number of juices vended until that time that day and also total juices the machines has vented so far in life, check the status of motor, cooling compressor and push the finger prints as well as the names of the operators who can operate the machine from server.

34)The method claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the prepaid and discount facility is also provided with the system.

35)The method claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the biometric login is recognized and appropriate messages is displayed on the screen when the operator or supervisor or support personal is used.

36)The method claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the information displayed to the operator to login using biometric login, when 3 phase supply is not available or flavor has gone below the threshold level or the machine is idle for more than 15 minutes

37)The method claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the price of the juice is displayed all the time, operator having menu item to charge a prepaid card, the user swipes the card or the operator swipes on behalf of the user, appropriate amount is detected from the card and juice is vended wherein enough money is not available, the operator able to collect the remaining balance and vend the juice and end of the day, card #s and amount detected transmitted to the server.

38)The method claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the information displayed to the supervisor is to program start and closing time, introduce new operator, set the price of the juice and to set the quantity of the juice and flavor.

39)The apparatus for extracting cane juice from sugarcane and vending chilled cane juice substantially herein described and exemplified with reference to the accompanying drawing. ΓUI / irø υ a / u u u -r w -r

40)The method for extracting cane juice from sugarcane and vending chilled cane juice substantially herein described and exemplified with reference to the accompanying drawing.

Dated this 16^th day of April, 2008.

(ARAVIND VELMANI)

To

The Controller of Patents,

Chennai.