Automated Grading System

An Automated Grading System for fresh green beans automatically removes defective green beans and foreign material (FM), while also separating green beans in clusters or with attached stems and then directing them for further processing. This integrated grading solution, consisting of Key’s Iso-Flo vibratory and rotary separation equipment combined with a VERYX digital sorter, significantly reduces labor requirements, increases throughput, and achieves consistent product quality.

This automated grading system removes product with defects such as tip rot, wind scars, and wormhole damage as well as a wide range of FM including rocks, insects and animal parts, glass, metal, cardboard, corn cobs and roots, cotton stalks, peanuts, and more. The Iso-Flo vibratory feed shakers ensure good product spread while the rotary separator removes small particles and small FM. The VERYX digital sorter separates incoming product into three streams. The ‘accept’ stream sends good green beans on to final inspection and packaging. A second sort stream is dedicated to green beans in clusters or with attached stems, which are directed for further processing to recover more good beans. A third sort stream collects green beans with defects and FM, which go to waste.

This versatile grading system can be configured with a variety of vibratory and mechanical solutions to optimize overall system performance. Key’s Iso-Flo shakers can be designed to remove small, broken, and curved beans. A PSG separator combined with an integrated Iso-Flo feeding shaker can size the product by length and diameter to remove short and thin green beans, as well as other small objects such as insects, loose stems, soil, and small rocks.