no more cull apples entered the utility boxes than when there were four sorters 

 and utilities were boxed by hand. 



Sizing with the Experimental Line 



Each apple was sized according to its greatest diameter. This operation 

 was performed by the dimension sizer (fig. 5), which consisted of a singulator, 

 sizing cups, and take-away conveyors. 



How Apples Were Sized 



As apples rolled off the sorting table they were distributed on the 

 spreader belt which carried them to the singulator. The purpose of the 

 singulator was to arrange apples to enter the sizer cups with their stems up, 

 and with only one apple to a cup. In practice, apples settled in the cups 

 in a completely random manner, but the singulator did do a good job of 

 spacing fruit. After dropping off the end of the spirals, an apple would 

 fall into a pocket between rubber paddles of a paddlewheel. As this device 

 rotated it delivered the apple into a plastic sizing cup. 



As cups moved forward, their front and back hemispheres gradually 

 separated until the apple fell through onto a take-away conveyor. The point 

 at which the apple dropped through determined its size classification. The 

 smallest size dropped out first; the largest size last. Six take-away belts 

 delivered apples to distributor belts, which in turn delivered apples to the 

 return-flow belt. Take-away belts underneath the sizers were separated from 

 adjoining belts by inverted V-dividers padded with sponge rubber. 



Accuracy of the Sizer 



Results of any sizing test will reflect the precision with which each 

 sizer unit was adjusted. Since there were no predetermined settings, adjust- 

 ment was largely by judgment. There was no way of knowing the state of adjust- 

 ment at the time samples were drawn, and the data should not be considered as 

 conclusive. Samples were drawn from each of the six take-away belts. In the 

 reference, the first belt refers to the one for the smallest size apples, and 

 the 6th belt to the one for the largest size. The data are presented in 

 table 7. 



A range in apple diameter of 1/2 inch was found with each belt, but an 

 average of 79 percent of the apples from each belt were within a 1/4-inch 

 range. The first belt had the greatest range, with apples from 2-1/4 to 

 2-7/8 inches in diameter. Within the diameter range of 2-5/8 to 3-1/8 inches 

 were 73 percent of all the apples. They appeared in about equal numbers on 

 the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th belts. 



The degree to which precision sizing is necessary depends on requirements 

 of individual packinghouses. In some the accuracy obtained with a dimension 

 sizer will suffice; in others greater accuracy would be required. Whatever the 



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