Wyma is proud to present a Vege-Polisher that is smarter, easier to maintain and more hygienic than ever before. Twenty years of refinement and insightful customer feedback, combined with Wyma’s internal drive to develop innovative leading technologies, have led to the redesign of the Vege-Polisher. In 1994, the Vege-Polisher journey began with a simple need to lighten the manual workload of a local potato farmer. The search for improvements has never ceased.

The new Wyma Vege-Polisher offers smart and automated operation, controllable via a touch screen. The touch screen is on a cantilever swing arm, eliminating the need for loose cables around the machine. Remote control via smart phones, tablets or desktop is possible.

The automation software provides drive load feedback, with the user able to set their own optimal torque settings to maintain a consistent level of polish. Favourite settings can be saved for a variety of produce types and conditions for quick touch-of-a-button changeover between produce batches. Other automation aspects include data logging (running hours, water usage etc…), service and cleaning reminders, automatic brush reversal and rinse cycles to prolong the life of the bristles, and connectivity to Wyma  After-Sales for online service and technical assistance.

The side doors and drive guards have been completely re-designed to provide full access without the need for tools, reducing cleaning and maintenance time. The side doors are two-leafed folding doors, hinged horizontally. They provide unobstructed access along the full length of the drum and brush shafts. The doors are dual-dependent and rise and lower vertically. They have a 180 degree positioning angle, giving complete access to the door’s internal surface area for cleaning. They also have a unique slam guard mechanism which ensures the doors stay in any open position they are left in.

At the in-feed and out-feed ends, the end guards are on hinged cantilevers to provide quick and easy access for maintenance without the need for tools. The top end guard lifts vertically while the two side guards open out and can be folded back against the side of the machine to minimise obstruction.

The R&D team took a strong look at hygiene improvements, with the objectives of ensuring food safety and facilitating maintenance and cleaning tasks. One of the main features is a partitioned wash zone around the brushes, isolating the drive, belt and electrical zones. This partitioned wash zone reduces the amount of waste at out-feed and in-feed ends, and minimises waste and water from penetrating into the drive areas.

The side doors have been re-shaped to remove catch points and other risks for waste accumulation. Consequently, the inside of the wash zone can be easily washed down and debris is guided to the catchment tray or recycle base underneath the machine.
The spray bars are now positioned external to the drum to minimise debris both on and inside the spray bars. This can be supported by a fresh water spray purge upgrade to easily flush excess dirt out of the piping. There are two fresh water nozzles at the out-feed end to provide a final rinse of the produce prior to further processing. An optional soak nozzle is placed at in-feed to provide extra water lubrication and remove excess soil on entry.

Numerous other improvements will be revealed at global trade shows in early 2015. Wyma’s American customers will have the opportunity to view the new Vege-Polisher at Potato Expo in Florida, 7 to 9 January 2015, whereas European customers will be seeing the machine at Fruit Logistica, Berlin, 4 to 6 February.