METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING THE FLOW OF PRODUCT OVER A PRODUCT ATRRITION BED

摘要

A method and apparatus for controlling a flow of a product over a product attrition bed, where the product comprises a plurality of product units, for example, potatoes. In one aspect, apparatus comprises a product attrition bed and an auger positioned above the product attrition bed. The auger comprises a flow restriction mechanism to restrict a discharge flow of the product from the auger. In a second aspect, the method comprises feeding the product to the auger to provide a product charge; substantially confining the product charge in a charge space; rotating the auger to move the charge space, and thereby the product charge, in the flow direction; and discharging the product charge from the auger through a flow restriction mechanism. In a third aspect, the method and apparatus controls the feed of product to the auger, for example, providing one control volume of product per revolution of the auger.