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Feeding subassembly

The feeding subassembly is the per-station module within the fruit intake system that gates a column of oranges and releases one at a time onto the fruit support. Each unit consists of a mount plate, flanged 90° entry tube, straight tube with spring guide, and a sync spring mechanism — all riveted to the feeder body for easy swap during design iteration.

Description

The feeding subassembly regulates the flow of oranges from the entry tubes and releases them one at a time onto the fruit support. Rollers on the extraction/synchronisation system push open the yellow sync spring to allow a single orange to drop. The whole subassembly is mounted to a tan mount plate , which is then mounted onto the feeder body.

Assembly structure

Mount plate — tan; base of subassembly; mounts to feeder body.
Entry tube assembly (welded unit, riveted to mount plate):
- Flanged 90° entry tube — green; curved tube where oranges roll down to the feed.
- Entry tube flange — pink.
- Entry tube mount plate — light green.
Flanged straight tube and spring guide (welded unit, riveted to mount plate):
- Flange — beige.
- Straight tube — purple.
- Spring guide — dark blue/teal.
Sync spring mechanism — yellow sync spring; pushed open by rollers on the extraction/sync system to drop an orange onto the fruit support. The sync spring is mounted to 2× dark green sync spring mounts on two pink rollers.

Colour key (this subassembly's figures)

Applies only to the CAD views in this section. Other subsystems use their own colour sets.

Colour	Component
	Mount plate — tan; subassembly base; mounts to feeder body
	Flanged 90° entry tube — green; curved tube for orange flow
	Entry tube flange — pink; and pink rollers (sync spring mounts)
	Entry tube mount plate — light green; rivets/welds the 90° tube assembly to the mount plate and sets tube position.
	Flange (straight tube assembly) — beige; bolted interface for the straight tube/spring-guide unit.
	Straight tube — purple; guides fruit to the sync spring opening and sets the release location above fruit support.
	Spring guide — dark blue/teal; locates the sync spring path and prevents snagging/misalignment.
	Sync spring — yellow; pushed open by extraction/sync rollers
	Sync spring mounts — dark green (2×); clamp/locate the spring and transfer roller force into spring deflection.

Figures

The exploded labeled view below is a static reference and is not part of the rotating gallery. The numbered carousel shows the current set: assembly with CIP nozzle installed, standard orthographic views, sync-spring detail, and pusher / roller vs sync-spring interaction.

Exploded / labeled assembly (static)

Exploded labeled feeding subassembly — Exploded, labeled view of major components (reference only — excluded from the gallery below).

Assembly & interaction gallery

Refer to Figure 1 through Figure 6 in the carousel.

Feeding subassembly isometric with CIP nozzle

Figure 1. Isometric — full subassembly with CIP nozzle/feed visible; mount plate, 90° entry tube, straight tube, spring guide, sync spring.

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Recommended figures (contractor clarity)

Add figure: dimensioned CIP nozzle pocket / cut-out on the 90° tube if contractors need tighter fab tolerances than the photos imply.
Add figure: rivet / modular mount pattern on the tan mount plate (drill-out swap concept) with callouts.
Add figure: short sequence (3–4 stills or clip) of roller stroke vs sync spring from "closed" to "fully open" for timing review.

Spring sizing design parameters

Spring placed at 45° angle to tube (110 mm forward of tube center, 250 mm behind).
Fruit support pusher is placed 5 mm away from tube at closest point to prevent collision.
Pusher extends the spring 5 mm past the outside of the tube.
Pusher range 178 mm as determined by 870 drivetrain.

Spring specification

Static length = 250 mm
Wire diameter = 2 mm
Outer diameter = 22 mm
In the static position, the spring is 250 mm in length; in the stretched position, 306 mm.

90° pipe parameters

Refers to the flanged 90° entry tube .

Standard: 3″ NPS / 90 DN Pipe, Schedule 5S — manufacturers should choose whatever is available to them in China with similar specs.
Food-zone flow constraint: target inner diameter is ~90 mm (choose the closest China-available pipe meeting the internal flow diameter requirement).
Dimensions: 88.9 mm OD, 2.11 mm wall thickness.
Slotted index for welded flanges.
Curved tube cut at 62°.
Vertical cut-out for CIP spray nozzle — included in the latest CAD; photos/figures should be refreshed to show the final nozzle position.

Interfaces

Input: Oranges from beige entry tubes (feeder top-level) roll into the 90° entry tube.
Output: Rollers on the extraction/synchronisation system push open the yellow sync spring; one orange drops onto the fruit support.
Mount: Subassembly mount plate attaches to the feeder body.
Downstream: After extraction, juice and peels flow to the collection system (peelers, filter tube).

Fruit placement guardrail (left/right tube alignment)

Verify that the left/right tube positions release fruit directly onto the correct rails/landing zones on the fruit support.
Treat tube lateral placement as a functional tolerance because misplacement increases jam/collision risk.

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