Apparatus and method for cleaning peeling machines

1. Apparatus for cleaning the peeling section of a roller-type peeling machine having peeling channels formed by a plurality of parallel, overlapping rollers, comprising:

an x-y robot disposed above a peeling section of a peeling machine and having a cleaning tool as an end effector translatable along x and y axes over a range of x and y coordinates defining a working envelope encompassing the peeling section, wherein the y axis is parallel to the lengths of the rollers and wherein the x axis is perpendicular to the y axis and parallel to the width of the peeling section;

a controller coupled to the robot to move the cleaning tool along a predetermined cleaning path within the working envelope to clean the peeling section.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the cleaning tool is selected from the group consisting of liquid-spray nozzles, air nozzles, brushes, and scrapers.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the cleaning tool comprises a spray nozzle spraying the peeling section and the apparatus further comprises a pump controlled by the controller for selectively supplying liquid to the spray nozzle.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the controller controls the robot to advance the cleaning tool along a cleaning path that runs sequentially along the lengths of the rollers.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the x-y robot comprises x- and y-axis assemblies for controlling instantaneous x and y coordinates of the cleaning tool, the x- and y-axis assemblies selected from the group consisting of lead screws, toothed belts, and rack gears.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the x-y robot comprises:

an x-axis assembly having a first motor and a first lead screw rotated by the first motor and defining the x axis and a first nut mounted on the first lead screw and to which the cleaning tool is connected for movement along the x axis; and

a y-axis assembly having a second motor and a second lead screw rotated by the second motor and defining the y axis and a second nut mounted on the second lead screw and to which the x-axis assembly is connected for movement along the y axis.

7. A peeling machine comprising:

a frame;

a plurality of side-by-side peeling channels supported in the frame and defining a peeling section of the peeling machine, each peeling channel formed by a reciprocating bottom roller and a pair of flanking side rollers rotated by contact with the bottom roller;

a plurality of cylindrical inserts occupying spaces between the bottom and side rollers along the length of the peeling channels;

an x-y robot mounted to the frame above the peeling section and having a cleaning tool as an end effector translatable along x and y axes over a range of x and y coordinates defining a working envelope encompassing the peeling section, wherein the y axis is parallel to the length of the peeling channels and wherein the x axis is perpendicular to the y axis and parallel to the width of the peeling channels;

a controller coupled to the robot to move the cleaning tool along a predetermined cleaning path within the working envelope to clean the peeling section.

8. The peeling machine of claim 7 wherein the cleaning path runs sequentially along the lengths of the inserts.

9. The peeling machine of claim 7 wherein the cleaning tool includes a spray nozzle.

10. The peeling machine of claim 9 further comprising a pump controlled by the controller for selectively supplying liquid to the spray nozzle.

11. The peeling machine of claim 7 wherein the x-y robot includes a pair of orthogonally disposed lead screws defining the x and y axes.