PEACH-SIZING MACHINE. 5 



The ropes at this end of the machine are parallel and remain so for 

 the first 3 feet. They are spaced to permit all fruit too small for pack- 

 ing to drop through into a canvas chute which delivers it into a basket 

 or bin. After the first 3 feet the ropes begin to diverge and continue 

 to do so till they reach the far end of the machine. The amount of 

 divergence of the ropes is governed by the sizes desired in the bins. 

 When the sizes are uniform and an equal distribution is desired to all 

 bins the divergence will be less per foot than if there were a wide 

 variation in the sizes of the fruit passing over the ropes. One of each 

 pair of ropes travels slightly faster than the other, which tends to 



Fig. 5.— View showing the driving pulleys, the track-adjusting wheel, and the galvanized iron chute used 

 to distribute the fruit from the roller-sorting conveyer to the sizing unit. 



cause the peaches to straighten out lengthwise on the ropes, so that 

 the transverse diameter is subjected to measurement. Very few 

 peaches ever get on the ropes crosswise, as the V-shaped trough 

 which extends for the first 3 feet serves to straighten them out. Thus 

 the peaches are sized on the basis of their minimum transverse 

 diameter. 



The largest peaches go over the end of the ropes and pass over 

 galvanized-iron adjustable chutes (see fig. 1), which facilitate the 

 distribution of the fruit to all parts of the end bin. The size of the 

 fruit which passes into the end bin is, of course, regulated by the wheel- 

 and-lever adjusters at the end of the machine. 



