Johnson & Johnson Gmbh

Richard Nolin

John Dery

An attachment mounted to an articulated boom of a carrier vehicle for harvesting and dewatering peat moss material. The attachment comprises an apertured bucket for digging peat moss material and a ram movable with relation to the bucket between an extended position and a retracted position. The ram and the bucket define a variable volume press chamber which is contractible in response to movement of the ram member toward the extended position for expressing water from the load of peat moss material gathered in the bucket. The invention also extends to a novel method for harvesting and dewatering peat moss material.

Method and apparatus for harvesting and dewatering peat moss material

An apparatus for fragmenting a block of frozen vegetable tissue such as peat moss, without causing wide-spread damage to the individual vegetable fibers, comprising a pair of planar jaw members movable between opened and closed positions. Each jaw member has a grating-like configuration defining a plurality of discharge apertures in a spaced apart relationship and also comprises projecting crushing teeth. In the closed position, the jaw members are in a mating relationship, whereby the crushing teeth of each jaw member deeply penetrate the discharge apertures of the opposite jaw member. In operation, a block of frozen vegetable tissue is loaded between the jaw members while they are in the opened position. The jaw members are closed for bursting into fragments the block of frozen vegetable tissue under the effect of multiple pressure points created by the crushing teeth on the block surface and for expelling the fragments through the discharge apertures. The invention also relates to a novel method for fragmenting a block of frozen vegetable tissue without causing wide-spread damage to the individual vegetable fibers.

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Repentigny, Canada

Richard Nolin