• 专利附录
  • 专利说明
  • 权利要求
  • 类似技术
  • 同族专利
  • 引用文献
  • 法律状态
  • 优先权
    • 专利摘要:
    A coir pellet has coconut pith mixed with at least one other material, and binder mixed into the coconut pith, wherein the coconut pith, at least one other material and the binder are compressed at a ratio of at least 3:1. A method of producing coir pellets includes conditioning coconut pith and at least one other material to produce conditioned material, first compressing the conditioned material to produce pellets of a first size at a first compression ratio, at least a second compressing the pellets of a first sized to produce pellets of at least a second size at a second compression ratio, wherein the second size is smaller than the first size, and the second compression ratio is higher than the first compression ratio, polishing the pellets of at least a second size to produce polished pellets, and drying the polished pellets to produce the coir pellets.
    公开号:ES2841780A1
    申请号:ES202190025
    申请日:2019-11-11
    公开日:2021-07-09
    发明作者:David E Shoup
    申请人:Genus Ind dba Icoir Products Group LLC；
    IPC主号:
    专利说明:

    [0002] Grass and coconut fiber for lawns
    [0004] Cross reference to related application
    [0006] This application claims the priority and benefit of US Provisional Application No. 62 / 769,316 filed on November 19, 2018, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
    [0008] Background
    [0010] The use of soil modifications and additives provides users with increased soil fullness and richness, and increased productivity of plants and trees. However, many of the soil modifications involve chemicals that, until absorbed, can be dangerous to people and animals during application. Furthermore, the cost of these materials is relatively high and they generate high levels of waste during their manufacture. Safer and less expensive organic soil modifications and additives would be desirable.
    [0012] Brief description of the drawings
    [0014] Figure 1 shows an inside view of a coconut.
    [0015] Figures 2 and 3 show embodiments of coconut pellet manufacturing.
    [0016] Figure 4 shows an embodiment of a ball granulator.
    [0017] Figures 5-6 show diagrams of roller compactors.
    [0018] Figure 7 shows an example of a ball roller with cup-shaped cavities. Figure 8 shows an example of a screening process that can be used in the pellet manufacturing process.
    [0019] Figures 9-10 show examples of different ball finishers / polishers.
    [0020] Figure 11 shows an example of a rotary dryer.
    [0021] Figure 12 shows an embodiment of a coconut fiber for grass, also which can be used as cat litter.
    [0022] Detailed description of the realizations
    [0024] Figure 1 shows a coconut 10 open, with its shell 12 next to it. Most people refer to the inner white material 14 as their "meat", "copra", which also contains coconut water. The pith 16 constitutes the foam layer 16 between the meat 14 and the hard outer shell 18. The pith is highly absorbent and is used in many applications, such as soil modifier or supplement, kitty litter, etc.
    [0026] Coconut pith can exist in the form of highly compressed blocks of material. If the marrow takes some other form, some of the parts of the process can be made optional. Figure 2 shows an embodiment of a process for manufacturing coconut grass pellets. In the embodiment of Figure 2, the coconut fiber is composed of blocks compressed in step 20. However, it can also consist of loose material and fibers. If necessary, the process breaks the blocks into loose material in step 22. The reference to "loose material" means pith material. Loose material may have fibers mixed with it. This material can be washed and dried below 15% humidity before being subjected to any modification.
    [0028] As will occur throughout the process, between the different forming processes, the resulting loose or formed material will be screened to remove any unused loose material and return it to the beginning of the process flow, as in step 24 This preserves the loose material in the marrow and reduces waste. Although some implementations may include this process of recovery and return after each step, it should be noted that it may occur less frequently. Loose material may not be present after some processes, so the process may not need further screening and material return.
    [0030] A binder and other modifications can be added to the loose material to aid in the formation of the round balls, as well as to provide additional benefits, such as nutrients for the turf, including grass seeds. Washing, drying, and addition of modifications can take place before or after screening, and can comprise a single process or two different processes, as shown in Figure 2, to condition the loose material in step 26.
    [0032] In one embodiment, the marrow is mixed and conditioned with molasses at a concentration of 0.5-1.0%, a starch, such as tapioca, at a concentration of 0.3-0, 9%, and can also receive small pieces of hard granulated coconut shell, at a concentration of 2.0 - 5.0%, the small pieces having a size ranging from about 2mm to 10mm. This brings the accumulated moisture content to between 10 and 12%. The modified material is then dried for up to 1 to 2 hours, then further mixed to produce a more conditioned pith material.
    [0034] The process heats the loose material conditioned in step 28 before introducing the material into the first ball granulator at step 52, which the document may also refer to as a nonstick concave shaped pocket ball roller. As will be discussed in more detail later, these machines compress loose materials into dies that form half spheres. The machine then presses the half spheres to form balls or pellets. The resulting material will have shaped material in the form of pellets and may possibly include loose material.
    [0036] The addition of additional, drier, unmodified loose pith material can control the moisture content of the conditioned pith material entering the pelletizing bead processor in step 30. This occurs in parallel with the conditioning material entering at a flow rate necessary to cope with any material sticking within the ceramic-coated ball-forming cavities, or to cope with conditioned non-balling material upon contact with the first granulator of balls. The term "ball granulator" as used herein refers to a double cylindrical drum with concave shaped cavities for individual ball formation. These machines have cylinders with hemispherical impressions into which loose material is pressed. The two halves are then pressed together to form a ball, or pellet, of the material. Instead of ceramic, the ball-forming concave cavities could have a non-stick coating such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), the most common brand name of which is Teflon®. Other nonstick coatings could be anodized aluminum, silicone, enameled cast iron, and other prepared metal surfaces.
    [0038] In some cases, not all loose material is ball shaped, and in other processes not all balls are subjected to further compression by subsequent ball granulators. Periodically, the process will pass the resulting combination of the formed material, which are the balls, and the loose material, whether it is less compressed balls or loose material, through a screening process like the one shown in step 32. You have to have Note that while the figures show various ball screening processes, the process can only be screened once. Each ball granulator Successively compresses the balls to a smaller size, so that the process can screen the larger balls.
    [0040] After passing through a first ball granulator and then through the screen, the balls from the first ball granulator pass through a second ball granulator in step 34. This particular embodiment screens the resulting material and returns in step 36 any loose material or larger balls to the first ball granulator. The process then polishes and dries the balls in step 38, with another screening option in step 40. The balls can then be subjected to a drying and cooling process in step 42. If desired, the process you can perform a final screening in step 44. The process results in compressed coconut pith pellets with some modifications, such as the starches, molasses, and hard shell granules mentioned above, as well as other modifications, such as the material used for fertilization, deodorizing materials in the case of cat litter, etc.
    [0042] Figure 3 shows another way to make coconut grass pellets. The pith material can receive the conditioning mentioned at the beginning of the discussion of Figure 2. The conditioned loose material flows into a hopper like the one shown in Figure 3, where it begins to take the shape of half balls, which are then compressed in pairs, thus forming individual balls together, in a compression ratio of approximately 3-1 in section 52 of Figure 3. It must be taken into account that each subsequent ball granulator makes smaller pellets than the previous one, therefore that the pellets or balls resulting from each have undergone an ever tighter compression. The specific compression ratios mentioned here are merely examples and are not intended to limit compression ratios to any specific ratio. The ratio is the ratio of compressed material to loose material. For example, a compression ratio of 10: 1 means that compressed material takes up one-tenth the space that the same amount of loose material takes up.
    [0044] The small pieces of hard coconut shell exert a pulling effect on the ball-shaped material to dislodge the concave-shaped cavities by pulling the cup-shaped material out of the ceramic-coated drum concave cavities. The material is compressed into the half cups and then compressed to form balls, also called pellets. A problem that can arise is the detachment of the balls from the concave cavities, since the The compression used to form them can cause them to stick to the cavities in a concave shape.
    [0046] In one embodiment, two horizontal rotary spiked spacers strike each of the cylindrical drums with concave shaped cavities to dislodge and remove any fine material or undersized material balls from the drum ball cups in the passage. 54 of Figure 3. The resulting formed material passes to a second pair of cylindrical drums with double ball-forming concave cavities at step 34 and step 56. The process clears the formed material from the concave cavities of the first ball granulator to allow concave cavities to receive more loose conditioned material.
    [0048] Before feeding the formed material to the second ball granulator in step 56, the process can add additional modifications, if desired, to modify or aid material processing, yield, or desired product consistency. The unique feature of ball compactors is that the cups get progressively smaller and the balls are compacted more.
    [0050] The first set of concave shaped recessed drums coupled in step 52 has combined the coupled halves to make single balls combined in Figure 6, the formed material, or balls, then leave the first dual set of cylinder drums with concave shaped cavities and is moved on the concave shaped cavities dual ball drums in passage 56 to form slightly smaller balls from the above highly compressed material ball halves, which are larger. Ball granulators with concave cavities reattach the ball halves to form a complete material ball. In one embodiment, the first set can compress the balls in passage 52 at a ratio of 3: 1 and the second can have a compression ratio of about 5: 1.
    [0052] At step 58, two horizontal rotary spiked spacers strike each opposing concave shaped cavity cylindrical drum to dislodge and remove any fine material or undersized material balls from the concave shaped cavities of the ceramic lined drum. The resulting material passes to a material screen 60 located below the opposing ball cylindrical drums of step 56. The process cleans the second concave cavity granulator to allow the concave cavities to receive more conditioned material.
    [0054] In addition to striking the concave shaped cavities to loosen jammed balls, they can pass through two opposing spiked rollers to remove and separate any excess loose material or soft balls before falling into the material fines screen 60, which then you can go back to hopper 50.
    [0056] The process is repeated with the balls formed, transporting them via conveyor 64 to hopper 66, where they undergo further compression in step 70, possibly at a ratio of 8: 1. The strikers then remove the balls from the concave-shaped recessed drums in passage 70, and the balls enter, in passage 72, into a fourth cylindrical drum / cone-shaped recessed ball granulator.
    [0058] In addition to ball cleaners with concave cavities, rotary separators separate material fines and material balls smaller than fully formed balls. Although they are only shown in step 76 of Figure 3, they can function in different parts of the process, as desired. The material fines fall to screen 78 separately from the combined balls for further processing to give coupled material balls. The final compressed version of the balls can have a compression ratio of approximately 10-1. The final compressed material from the balls then goes into the ball polishing process.
    [0060] In one embodiment, the highly compressed and uniform balls of material from the last set of cylindrical drums with concave shaped cavities and covered with ceramic are moved to the first of the three rotating polishing buckets used for drying, adding modifications or additional material. and shaping and finishing the material balls to the desired specifications. In this particular embodiment, the process uses three ball polishers in steps 80, 82, and 84, but there is no requirement for that particular number.
    [0062] The balls may receive additional conditioning, such as additional binder, etc., as they enter a first ball polisher / drier 80. They then go to a second ball polisher / drier 82, and then to a third ball polisher / drier. 84. Depending on the specifications for moisture content, etc., different ball polishers may use different speeds of rotation and have different temperatures. of hot air. As will be discussed in more detail later, the balls can also go into a rotary dryer for further drying and cooling after undergoing polishing.
    [0064] Having covered the general processes for manufacturing coconut fiber turf pellets, the discussion now turns to the individual examples and the embodiments of various machines and other equipment used in processes such as those disclosed in the embodiments. For example, Figure 4 shows a diagram of the pelletizers / ball presses. In Figure 4, loose material or larger balls enter the machine through hopper 98. The two opposing rollers 90 and 92 receive the material as it falls into concave shaped cavities such as 94 and 96. The rollers rotate, pressing the material into each of the cavities in a concave shape to form pellets or balls such as 100.
    [0066] Figure 6 shows an embodiment of the rotary tine separator such as 76 in Figure 3. The two rollers 105 and 106 rotate in opposite directions, allowing them to pass the material from the hopper 104 down to the next state.
    [0068] Figure 7 shows one embodiment of a vibrating screen 110 possibly employed in the various screening and retrieval processes of Figures 2 and 3. This provides just one example of a possible screen. Other possibilities provide laterally vibrating screens that cause the smaller material to fall from the larger material, leaving the balls more decompressed at the top, with the fines falling to the bottom. As can be seen in figure 7, the mixture of balls of different sizes and loose material enters through the inlet 112. In the upper compartment 114, the vibration of the screen causes the larger uncompressed balls to exit through the outlet. 116. The smaller balls and the fines fall into compartment 118, the smaller balls exiting through outlet 120 and the fines falling at outlet 124. The vibration in this particular embodiment is the result of a central tensioning ball 126 and the assembly of springs 130. The domed piece 128 allows movement of the fins outward along its slope.
    [0070] Figure 8 shows a more detailed view of an embodiment of a ball polishing process. As mentioned above, this embodiment uses three rotary ball polishers, but the number of ball polishers and the specific type used is left to the discretion of the system designer. In figure 8, the balls come out of the compression process with more likely after a screening process. The resulting balls fall into a first ball polisher, in this case a rotary ball polisher that rotates the balls within a cavity to polish them. The addition of hot air also helps in the drying process. After a predetermined time, or if the balls reach a predetermined moisture / water content level, they go to a second ball polisher, where the process is repeated until they pass to the third ball polisher. The determination of the balls that pass from one polisher to another can depend on time, temperature, humidity, etc. In addition, other modifications can be made to the balls as they are polished.
    [0072] After the polishing process is complete, the polished balls can undergo a rescreening in step 140, and then a conveyor belt 142 can take them to a rotary dryer or another final dryer 144. Another screening process can take place in step 146 and the finished balls pass through a conveyor 148 to a container 150. The final dryer can agitate the balls and cool them from their heated state after polishing.
    [0074] The resulting balls are screened in step 96 and conveyor 98 passes them to a rotary dryer 100. If desired, the balls can be further screened in step 120 and then deposited by conveyor 104 into a final container 106.
    [0076] Figures 9 and 10 show two different types of ball polishers such as the 80 of figure 8. In figure 9, a rotary ball polisher has a horizontally and vertically inclined tray that rotates, in turn making the balls rotate and buff against the sides of the pan and against each other. In Figure 10, a horizontal ball grinder rotates the ball inside it along a horizontal axis.
    [0078] As shown in Figure 8, after polishing the balls enter a rotary dryer for drying and typically cooling, as indicated in Figures 2 and 3. Drum 144 may have a drill or spike 152 that rotates internally in the drum to move the pellets and prevent sticking, as well as to allow air movement. If desired, a dispenser 154 can dispense a binder or other material into the drum. The binder helps maintain the shape and structure of the pellets or balls for packaging and shipping. The process can also apply other modifications. For example, in addition to molasses and tapioca starch, fertilizer pellets may also contain dolomite lime, worm castings, grass seeds, or other fertilizers.
    [0079] Figure 12 shows examples of round pellets obtained by this process. The resulting pellets can serve as lawn and grass pellets, garden and potting soil, and cat litter. The only differences that can exist between the two is that different modifications and conditioning can be added to the grass and grass pellets during the different steps of the process.
    [0081] In this way, an organic material can be produced that is not dangerous for humans and animals. It has various uses such as garden soil, potting soil, greenhouse plant soil, essentially any kind of plant soil, turf soil formers, as a soil modifier or conditioner. It can act as a conditioner for bare tree roots or as an erosion control material. Outside of the ground realm, it is used as cat litter, reptile litter, bird litter, animal litter, hazardous materials cleanup, equestrian trail litter, and K-9 kennel litter.
    [0083] It can also include plant seeds such as grass seeds, vegetable seeds, field crops, vegetation on the ground after a forest fire such as that thrown from an airplane, soil additives and other fertilizing elements, or it can be packaged from another way for making pet litter, animal litter or coconut shell filler for synthetic sports fields.
    [0085] It will be appreciated that the variants of the above and other features and functions, or alternatives thereto, can be combined in many other different systems or applications. Those skilled in the art may subsequently make various alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements not currently envisaged, which are also intended to be encompassed by the appended claims.
    权利要求:
    Claims (13)
    [1]
    1. A coconut pellet, comprising:
    coconut marrow mixed with at least one other material; Y
    binder mixed into the coconut kernel, wherein the coconut kernel, at least one other material, and the binder are compressed in a ratio of at least 3: 1.
    [2]
    The coconut pellet according to claim 1, wherein the at least one other material comprises one selected from the group consisting of: hard-shelled coconut granules, dolomite lime, worm waste, deodorizing agents, grass seeds, molasses, starch and compost material.
    [3]
    The coconut pellet according to claim 1, wherein the compression ratio is at least 5: 1.
    [4]
    The coconut pellet according to claim 1, wherein the compression ratio is at least 8: 1.
    [5]
    The coconut pellet according to claim 1, wherein the compression ratio is at least 10: 1.
    [6]
    6. A process for the manufacture of coconut pellets, comprising:
    conditioning the coconut core and at least one other material to produce a conditioned material;
    first compressing the conditioned material to produce pellets of a first size at a first compression ratio;
    at least a second compression of the pellets of a first size to produce pellets of at least a second size with a second compression ratio, wherein the second size is smaller than the first and the second compression ratio is greater than the first;
    polishing the pellets of at least a second size to produce polished pellets; and drying the polished pellets to produce the coconut pellets.
    [7]
    The process according to claim 6, further comprising adding modifications to at least one of the conditioned materials, the first size pellets, the second size pellets and the polished pellets.
    [8]
    The process according to claim 7, wherein the modifications include at least one of hard shell coconut granules, dolomite lime, worm waste, deodorizing agents, grass seeds, molasses, starch and compost material.
    [9]
    The method according to claim 6, further comprising a screening process applied to at least one of the first size pellets, the second size pellets, the polished pellets and the coconut pellets.
    [10]
    The method according to claim 9, wherein the screening process produces waste material and the method further comprises returning the waste material to the first compression.
    [11]
    The method according to claim 6, wherein the first compression and the second compression comprise the use of opposing concave shaped cavity dual ball cylinders.
    [12]
    The method according to claim 6, further comprising a third compression to produce pellets of a third size and with a third compression ratio, wherein the third size is smaller than the second and the third compression ratio is higher. than the second compression ratio.
    [13]
    The method according to claim 6, further comprising a fourth compression to produce pellets of a fourth size and with a fourth compression ratio, wherein the fourth size is smaller than the third size and the fourth compression ratio is greater than the third compression ratio.
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    同族专利:
    公开号 | 公开日
    AU2019384491A1|2021-05-27|
    WO2020106484A1|2020-05-28|
    CN113226015A|2021-08-06|
    US20210243969A1|2021-08-12|
    引用文献:
    公开号 | 申请日 | 公开日 | 申请人 | 专利标题
    US6408568B1|2001-01-23|2002-06-25|Oms Investments, Inc.|Compressed blends of coconut coir pith and a non-coir/non-peat materials, and processes for the production thereof|
    US20040025422A1|2002-04-19|2004-02-12|Macquoid Malcolm|Pelletized coconut coir and method of use|
    WO2004078892A1|2003-03-07|2004-09-16|Dainton Limited|Coir pith|
    US20090113791A1|2007-10-29|2009-05-07|Oms Investments, Inc.|Compressed Coconut Coir Pith Granules and Methods for the Production and use Thereof|
    法律状态:
    2021-07-09| BA2A| Patent application published|Ref document number: 2841780 Country of ref document: ES Kind code of ref document: A1 Effective date: 20210709 |
    优先权:
    申请号 | 申请日 | 专利标题
    US201862769316P| true| 2018-11-19|2018-11-19|
    PCT/US2019/060756|WO2020106484A1|2018-11-19|2019-11-11|Turf and lawn coir|
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