ASME 1957 Citrus Engineering Conference CEC1957 March 20, 1957, Winter Haven, Florida, USA CEC1957-0306

VOnODERX HANDLIblG OF CITRUS FRUIT FROM GROVE T5 PLANT

Harry A. Clapp, Material Handling Consultant, Blooming Grove, ?T.Y. Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/CES/proceedings-pdf/CEC1957/99441/60/2369952/cec1957-0306.pdf by guest on 02 October 2021 And E. J. Dunham, Chief Engineer, Industrial Truck Division, Clark Fquipment Co. Battle Creek, Michigan

The Florida Citrus Industry can now be classed as big business.

The introduction of frozen concentrates has made possible the full utilization of the crop and its distribution to markets which readily absorb this product.

In 1950-51 there were more than 31 million citrus trees in Florida, of which approximately 86 percent were bearing trees. For the 195657 season, ll,4OO,OOO additional bearing orange trees and 8,000,000 grape- fruit trees have been projected. This is concrete evidence of the rapid growth of the citrus industry.

The 1952-53 citrus production of Florida was approximately 109,600,000 . Of this total, 46 percent was used for frozen concentrate.

It is estimated that the 1956-57 crop will be approximately 134,L00,000 boxes of citrus fruit.

This volume of citrus fruit presents a big material handling problem, since every field has to be handled manually at least 4 times before it reaches the packing or processing plant. For the 1952-53 season, there were approximately L+36,000,000 separate handlings of 90 lb. field boxes. Material handling adds nothing to the basic value of a product but it can be, in most cases, a considerable addition to the cost.

This non-productive cost for material handling has, since the raise in wages, been receiving more and more serious consideration by all indus- tries producing for general com2etitive markets.

Be9ore the last 170rld War, one of the largest companies in the United States found that approxinately 35 percent of their total factory payroll was required for merely handling material from receiving to processing, and processing to production storage. The introduction of 2ew ri~thodsfor packaging and unit loads handled with mechanized equipment resulted in a reduction of approximately one-half of the original 35 percent of the factory payroll for material hand1ir.g.

Published with permission. This is a concrete example of what can be accompliehed either by the Blimination, or a considerable reduction, of multiple handling.

Briefly, the new method recommended for citrus handling is based primarily on the elimination, as far as possible, of the multiple hand- ling which exists under the present method and a considerable reduction in tie-up time for road equipment at the plant.

The method, as recommended, is subdivided into two main classifi- Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/CES/proceedings-pdf/CEC1957/99441/60/2369952/cec1957-0306.pdf by guest on 02 October 2021 cations: first, grove to roadside operation; second, roadside to plant operation. These two operations can be integrated or operated independ- ent of each other.

For the operation, grove to roadside, the 90 lb. field boxes will be replaced with a large field box holding the equivalent of 18 reg- ulation field boxes. This large box will be moved by a special gas powered truck equipped with clamp arms for horizontal movement from the grove to the roadside trailer.

This special truck has four wheel drive, large size flotation tires, a lifting height of approximately 1@feet, and controls for rotating the box and dumping the fruit into t!le bulk containere.

This method will eliminate the present "goatu or "Riley", the vertical powered con7reyor, the two loaders, and the multiple handling now required for the tandiirg of the present 90 lb. fruit boxes.

Citrus fruit for packing plant operation will be loaded in the Same large field box for horizontal movement to the flat bed trailer. The new grove truck will load 24 of these large-size field boxes, without dumping, onto a flat bed truck for movement to the packing plant.

For the concentrate operation, roadside to plant, flat bed trail- ers will each have two large bulk , each capable of holding 2L,000 lbs. of citrus fruit. These containers are 17 ft. long, 8 ft. wide, and 5 ft. deep. For transit, each is anchored to the flat bed trailer.

On arrival at the plant, a straddle truck will unload the two bulk containers and immediately replace two empty bulk containers on the trailers. This will elininate tie-up time for over-the-road equipment at the plant.

These filled bulk containers can be weighed, if necessary, using the straddle truck for handling and stored in any available part of the yard until needed for dumping at the conveyor.

For dumping, a hydraulically operated ti1tir.g platform is provided. The straddle truck places the loaded bulk container on the hydraulically operated tilting platform and removes it when the dumping operation is completed. The empty bulk container can be placed in yard storage or directly onto a flat bed trailer, if available.

This new type bulk container, when placed on the hydraulically operated platform, can be discharged freely onto the conveyor belt without manual assistance for moving the fruit to the tailgate. The

rate of flow to the conveyor is controlled by manual operation of the Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/CES/proceedings-pdf/CEC1957/99441/60/2369952/cec1957-0306.pdf by guest on 02 October 2021 tailgate.

Last year, a cost study of tb present operations from grove to plant was made with the permission and cooperation of the Minute Maid Corporation by the Clark Equipment Company of Battle Creek, Kichigan.

This study shows that the average cost of the present operation covering field foremen, pickers, grove drivers, loaders and hauling grove-to-plant was approximately 40.45 cents per regulation 90 lb. field box. It ie pertinent to etate that this figure of 40.45 cents coneisted partly of coats compiled by the Florida Department of Agri- cultural Economics and from the records of the Kinute hid Corporation.

The estimate for the proposed operation shows that a reduction of approximately 7 cents per field box can be obtained.

The reduction of 7 cents per regulation field box should make possible an annual saving, which would return the required capital investment in less than two seasons.

After several conferences between the Minute Maid Corporation and the Clark Fquipment Company, it was determined that a demonstra- tion should be made in order to serve as a check comparison between the present methods and the new methods.

For this demonstration, the Minute Maid Corporation have fur- nished the necessary number of new type field boxes, bdk containers, road equipment and dumping platform.

The Clark Quipment Company has furnished the new type grove truck and a straddle carrier together with engineering and service personnel for cooperation with the I

It should be possible to start this new operation shortly after March 1st and the period of demonstration will run for approximately 60 days. It is, therefore, impossible to include in this , as presented to you gentlemen, any concrete results forthcoming from this demonstration. DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES TO FOLLOW

1. Field Box This box is made of 1" hardwood boards, approximately 6" wide, and has structural corners and bottom edges made from 3 x 3 x 1/4 Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/CES/proceedings-pdf/CEC1957/99441/60/2369952/cec1957-0306.pdf by guest on 02 October 2021 angle. Caps are welded to the top of the angle so that the boxes can be stacked. For handling, a plate is placed across the end with a projecting lug for lifting and rotating. The inside dimensions of the box are 53-1/2 long, 44 wide, and 33 high. This box held 18 measured field boxes, but by volume calculation holds 16 boxes. Undoubtedly, compression of the fruit accounts for the difference. The top of the box is 36" - 3 feet from the ground and, by observation, the pickers emptied their easily at this height. The 48" outside is main- tained so that two of these will not exceed the 96" allowable trailer road width when placed on a flat bed trailer. The sample boxes cost around $90.00 each, but in quantities this figure might be lower.

2. Grove Truck This truck is ~rovidedwith larae flotation tires - 11:OO-20 for the sandy citrus groves and is provided with four wheel drive so as not to get stuck in the sand and hold up operations. Axles can be disconnected from the power drive if desired, to tow this truck on the highway at high speed.

We have provided four speeds, either in forward or in reverse, at 5, 8, 15, or 25 mph.

The truck has a lift of 12-1/2 ft. to allow for dumping boxes into highway trailers which are 10 ft. high.

Power steering is provided for the rear wheels, which are also drive wheels and are thus limited to 30° turns. This gives a larger turning radius than we like and we will reduce this by design changes.

The lifting speed is now 35 ft per min. but will be increased to 54 ft. per min.

The truck is powered by a Continental 6 cylinder gas engine having a displacement of 209 cu. in. and develops 55 brake horsepower, with a maximum torque of 153 ft-lbs.

The truck as shown is provided with a standard friction clutch but a torque converter drive can be installed in this machine at an extra cost.

The ground clearance is 12" and the rear axle is center pivoted so that the truck can operate over very uneven ground. 3. Grove Truck Picking Up Box In Grove This shows how the device engages the lifting luge on the new field box for lifting, transporting and dumping into bulk boxes.

4. Grove Truck hunping Box Into Trailer This shows the truck with the box raised to its maximum height

and the box rotated 120 into a dumping position. Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/CES/proceedings-pdf/CEC1957/99441/60/2369952/cec1957-0306.pdf by guest on 02 October 2021 5. Flat Bed Trailer With Two Bulk Boxes This is a standard flat bed trailer equipped with box hold down device to lock the box for transit.

The bulk boxes are 17 ft. long, 8 ft. wide, and 5 ft. deep; weigh about 2150 lbs, empty and will hold up to 24,000 lbs of citrus fruit which is about 15 of the new field boxes. These boxes are supplied with ledges on the underside to allow for the engagement of the carrier lifting lips end have non-slip lugs for safety when the box is raised.

They have the same type tail gate as in the bulk trailers now used.

6. Straddle Truck With Box In Place This is a Clark-Ross Series 99 straddle carrier having a capacity of 30,000 lbs.

It is powered by a 6 cylinder gas engine having 404 cu. in. displace- ment and develops 140 H.P. at 2800 RPM.

The carrier is provided with a lift of about 66") sufficient to lift the loaded bulk boxes off the trailer bed and to allow for tire deflection.

The machine has four wheel hydraulic steer and has 14:OO-20 pneumatic tires. Hydraulic brakes are provided on all four wheels.

It has a 14 ft. turning radius and a top speed of 20 mph. 7. Straddle Truck Placing Box On Trailer This shows how the box is placed on the trailer bed by the carrier. After being set in place the box is locked securely by pins for transportation to the grove for loading.

8. Hydraulic Box Dwqp This device inclines the loaded bulk box, hydraulically, so that the fruit runs freely out of the rear gate onto the conveyor which carries the fruit to storage and processing. The rate of flow is controlled by the conveyor operator using the rear gate.

9. Hydraulic dump Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/CES/proceedings-pdf/CEC1957/99441/60/2369952/cec1957-0306.pdf by guest on 02 October 2021

Fig. 1 Fig. 4

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Fig. 2 Fig. 4A Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/CES/proceedings-pdf/CEC1957/99441/60/2369952/cec1957-0306.pdf by guest on 02 October 2021

Fig. 7A

Fig. 7 Fig. 8