CA2179434C - Pear processing method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A pear processing method and apparatus is provided which includes several mechanisms for properly orienting the pear prior to coring, peeling and seed celling of the pear. Each pear is tumbled between a pair of orienting rolls to a position wherein the stem of the pear is oriented downwardly.
Whiskers on one of the rolls speed up this orienting of the pear. A friction clutch on the other roll helps maintain the pear in its proper position, once the proper alignment has been attained. The pear is dropped downwardly into a transfer cup having four resilient fingers which tend to orient the pear. The pear is then pushed out of the transfer cup downwardly into a feed cup having a concave receptacle for centering the stem of the pear and three upwardly extending arms which grasp and center the blossom end of the pear. The pear is then transferred to a station wherein the pear is cored and thereafter peeled and seed celled simultaneously.
The stem and blossom are also trimmed. The pear is thereafter passed into a slice cup having a design which more effectively separates the waste from the processed pear.

Description

9~3~

PEAR PROCESSING MET~OD AND APPARATUS

This is a divisional application of copending application 2,119, 631 filed March 22, 1994.

Technical Field This invention relates generally to pear processing 10 ~-~ hinPq More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for peeling, coring, seed celling and trimming pears of various sizes and shapes.

Background of the Invention Pear processing r ~1~ h;nery and methods are known in the prior art . ~owever, this prior art technology suf fers from certain drawbacks. For example, the prior art ln-rh;n~c: and methods tend to be less efficient and the Tn-~h;n~ry tends to utilize more floor space than is desirable. Prior art 20 machines and methods tend to be comparatively slow in processing pears and do not always orientate the pears correctly. Prior art 7n~f~h;n~.c and methods have a tendency to split the pear during the seed celling operation and are less efficient at separating the useable portions of the fruit from waste portions. Also, the prior art machines can be difficult to maintain due to the fact that they have a large number of parts.

217~43~
la Brief Summary of the Invention The general terms, the present invention provides and apparatus and method for efficiently processing pears.
The apparatus includes a pear orienting ~--hAn; cm which receives singulated pears from a feeder and tumbles the pears on orienting rolls until the stems are pointing downwardly. As each pear is properly oriented with its stem po~n~ing downwardly, it is dropped into a transfer cup 10 havinSJ a secondary r-^hAni ~m for orienting misaligned pears.
The transfer cup uses a plurality of resilient, spring loaded fingers wherein a misoriented pear tends to be oriented by one or more of those fingers.
Each pear is discharged from the transfer cup into a feed cup having a generally concave receptacle for receiving the stem of the pear and having a plurality of arms extending upwardly for grasping and centering the blossom or large end ~ 2~7943~
of the pear. The feed cup in effect offers a third orienting ~- i Fm for properly aligning and positioning the pear.
A pusher and set height r-ch~n;Fm is utilized which positions the blossom end of each pear at a prP~etpr-m; nPd height to register the blossom end of the pear with the peeling and seed celling portion of the ap~Lus. The feed cUp ~ - i~m presents the pear to the coring, peeling and seed celling portion of the a~aLaLus wherein peeling and seed celling occur simultaneously after the pear has been cored.
One object of the invention i5 the provision of a set height - j~m for positioning the blossom end of the pear at a preAPt~ m--inpd height in the ~ ~a aLus 80 that the pear can be properly located and aligned for the coring, peeling and seed celling operations.
Another aspect of the invention is that the pear proc~c1!:in~ ~l~a~aLu~ is capable of simul~AnPo~cly peeling and seed celling pears automatically.
Still another aspect of the invention is that the pear proc~CC;nq ._achine utilizes a roll orientor for orienting 20 singulated pears into a position wherein the pear stem extends downwardly, and that whiskers are provided on the roll orientor to more guickly and more Pffi~ntly orient the pears.
A further aspect of the invention is a roll orientor for pears incuL~utating a friction clutch Anirm wherein at least one of the orientor rolls stops rotating when the pear becomes properly oriented.
A further aspect of the invention is a transfer cup for receiving the pears from the orientor, wherein the 30 transfer cup provides an additional measure of orienting of misaligned pears.
A still further aspect of the invention is a feed CUp r- ' ~In;f~" for receiving the pears from the transfer cup wherein the feed cup - j cm provides a further ~ m for orienting misaligned pears. The feed cup ~ hAn;~m incorporates a concave receptacle for locating and positioning the stem of a pear, and in addition a plurality of arms which move simult InPollcly to grasp and center the blossom end of the pear.
:_ _ _ . . , _ _ _ _ _ . .

217~3~
A further a,qpect oi~ the invention is the provision o~ a replaceable coring tube which may be readily removed and replaced.
A still further aspect of the invention is that the pear ~ac~-s~in~ apparatus ;nAl~ F both blossom trim and stem trim t AhAn; I - for efficiently and d~r~-n~Ahly trimming the blossom and stem ends of the pear.
Another aspect of the invention is that the pear proc~ ;nA~ AL~US includes a slice cup t~Ah~nirn for 10 slicing the ~Loc~;,sed pears into a pr~d~t~rm;n~d number of slices, for separating the usable product from the waste and for effectively transferring the usable sliced product to a discharge ~VI~V~:yVL belt.
Another still ~urther aspect of the invention i8 a method for processing pears which ;n~ s multiple in~ r-~n~nt gteps for properly orienting the pear as well as the step of simultaneously peeling and seed celling the pears.
Other aspects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description 20 of the preferred ~ and the drawings wherein:
Fig. 1 is a p~t~pec~;ve view of the pear proc~ q a~.L~lI US according to the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a schematic representation of the pear singulator and roll orientor:
Fig. 3 is a side view of the roll orientor;
Fig. 4 is a front view of the roll orientor showing various portions of the orientor broken away;
Fig. 5 is a schematic representation of the roll orientor after the roll orientor has dropped a pear d- vly 30 into the transfer cup;
Fig. 6 is a p~rFrPct;ve view of the transfer cup according to the present invention;
Fig. 7 is a plan view of the transfer cup according to the present invention;
Fig. 8 is a schematic representation of the pear being pushed downwardly out of the transfer cup and into the feed cup and set height --Ah~n;~
Fig. 9 is a sectional view of the feed cup ~?Ah~n;~m and set height Ah~niFm according to the present invention;
_ _ _ _ .

217~'134 ~ .

Fig. lo is a top view of the feed cup ~~~hAn;r~ of Fig. 9;
Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the pusher - -n j ~m which also includes the blossom trim knives according to the present invention;
Fig. 12 is ~ sectional view of the a~re-Lu~ shown in Fig. 11;
Fig. 13 is a schematic le~Lesel.L~ t_ion of the feed cup and set height ~ - i ~ after the pear height has been 10 set, the pear has been grasped by the feed cup assembly and wherein the pear is about to he presented to the coring, peeling and seed celling - i rm;
Fig. 14 is a schematic e~.~ese.~l~t iOn of the pear and feed cup assembly having made a 90 turn a~nd having pushed the pear onto the coring tube ~nd having properly positioned the pear for peeling and seed celling;
Fig. 15 is a schematic representatiOn of the pear having been peeled, showing the - i F~ for pushing out the pear core from the coring tube and showing the seed celler 20 actuator assembly;
Pig. 16 is a bottom view showing schematically the path of the peeling knives over the surface of the pear;
~ ig. 17 is a schematic le~Le8e IL~iOn showing the pear k..-~. t ~rr disc discharging the pear from the coring tube into the slice cup - ; ~ m;
Fig. 18 is a perspective view of the peeling cutter - ^.hAni F'm;
Fig. 19 is a s~ct;nn~l view of the internal portion of the coring and seed celling - qn; ~ of the present 30 invention;
Fig. 20 is a side elevational view of the seed celler knife assembly, the coring tube and the drive ~~hqn;~
~or the seed celler and the coring tube;
Fig. 21 is a sectional view of a portion of the drive - ; F''A for the seed celler knives and the coring tube, wherein t_e seed celling knives rotate with the turning fins carried by the coring tube;
Fig. 22 is a s~ nql view of the drive - - ;r~n shown in Fig. 21 wherein the seed celling knives are held _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~ ~ 2~79~34 stationary while the turning fins and coring tube continue to rotate;
Fig. 23 is a sectional view of a portion of the coring tube and seed celler support tube drive means wherein the coring tube is rotatin~ with the seed celler support tube;
Fig. 24 is a sr~-t; ~nAl view of a portion of the drive means for the coring tube and seed celler support tube where: the seed celler knives are held stationary but wherein the coring tube Gont;nll~C to rotate;
Fig. 25 is a ~ ive view of the pear kn~r l~ff disc aischarging a p~vcessed pear from the coring tube into the slice cup -- - i ~ and which shows in phantom the discharge position of the slica cup; ~_ Fig. 26 is a 5chematic ~ ~ ~L~;,~-l~-ion showing the slice cup discharging the usable sliced pears onto a discharge ~v~
Fig. 27 i a p-~r-l,P -ive view, partially ~YplO~
showing the replaceable coring tube according to the present invention;
Fig. 28 is a sectional view of the coring tu~e mounting - - i F~^ showing a coring tube mounted for normal operation;
Fig. 29 is a ~ecti~Al view of the coring tube mounting i F~A as the coring tube has been pressed inwardly to detach the coring tube from its mounting;
Fig . 3 0 is a 6ec~ nA l view of the c~ring tube mounting - Ani F~A showing the rt'rlA~eAhl~ coring tube being removed from its mounting, and Fig. 31 is a sectional view of a front roll showing 30 the friction clutch -- Anj~ln, l~e~A i 1 ed Descrimtion Referring to Fig. 1, a pear pror~r~qs;nrJ apparatus according to the present invention is shown. Pears are fed into the ~ aLcl~uS at the upper end of <~ -U~ 10 at which a portion of the roll ~ nt~ ~ 20 is shown. As will be described in greater detail hereafter, the pears are oriented with their stems extending ~ dly and their blossom ends extending upwardly by the roll orientor 20, are dropped _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . _ . . _ . _ _ _ _ . _ _ t 21~3~

downwardly through portions of the r - ' ~n; F~ not visible in Figs. l and 2. The coring, peeling and seed celling station is shown generally as 11 in Fig. l.
Figs. 2 through 5 show the roll orienting ~ ' ;Fr~
of the present inYention.
A singulation device 12 is provided having a plurality of plates 13 which are alternately oscillated in the direction of arrows 14 to present pears one at a time to the upper end of chute 21. A typical pear 7 is shown in Fig. 2 10 with its stem end 8 extending ~- lly and its blossom end g extending upwardly The blossom end 9 is ~ r~ - =d to herein as the butt end and carries the calyx 6.
As the pear enters chute 21, the tllper of the chute, shown best in Fig. 4, causes the pears to tumble ~ lly ~ith the stesl end 8 and blossom end 9 alternately ~,....1 -1 :n~
the floor of chute 21, as shown best in Fig. 3. The pear tumbles ~ dly until it ~onf ~ ~ gate 22 . As gate 22 is opened to its position shown in phantom in Fig. 3, the pear 7 tu~bles '7' - dly on chute 21 and onto orienting rolls 30 20 and 31. Back roll 30 and front roll 31 are mounted for rotation upon spacea horizontal aYes 32 and 33, le~e~Lively.
As shown best in Fig. 4, roll 30 has a left side 34 and right side 35. The rolls are driven by drive belts 39. me three chutes and roll orientors shown in Fig. 4 are shown at three aifferent elevational viewing point with different ~: -broken away. ~~
Each back roll 30 carries a plurality of vh;~ r~
36 on its left side 34 and a plurality of whiskers 37 on its right side 35. Each of the whiskers 36 and 37 extends in a 30 direction radially outward from the axis of rotation 32 of the roll The whiskers 36 and 37 urge the stems of misoriented pears ~ n~;ng beyond the left side 34 or the right si~e 35 of the roll toward the center of the roll. me whiskers help avoid the problem of prior art roll orientors taking excessive time to locate the ste~ of the pear and to tumble the pear to a position shown in Fig. 3 wherein the pear is positioned between rolls 30 and 31 with it stem end ~ extending downwardly The whiskers 36 and 3~ tend to shorten the time nl~oC~fi~ry for the rolls 30 and 31 to tumble the pear to the t 21~9~34 .~

position shown in Fig. 3, wherein the stem of the pear eYtends .1.,, lly.
As shown best in Fig. 31, each front roll 31 is divided into Dy ical halves 31a and 31b, each carried by drive shafts 49a and 49b. A pear 7 tumbles in the space between halves 31a and 31b and roll 30. A friction clutch means 40 is provided for interrupting driving power to both halves 31a and 31b of front roll 31 when a pear is properly oriented between a pair of roll 30 and 31. When a pear becomes 10 oriented with its stem 8 d~ _Ldly between rolls 30 and 31 and with its blossom end or butt end 9 upwardly, the friction generated between the pear 7 and rolls 30 and 31 is ~n~Yimi~
When this position of pear 7 is achieved, frl-~j~l clutch 40 (shown best in Fig. 31) allows both halve of roll 31 to stop rotating about axis 33. By storr;n~ the rotation of roll 31, we have found that pear 7 tQnds to remain aligned between the pair of rolls 30 and 31 with its stem pointed ~ lly. The friction clutch means 40 (Fig. 31~ is preferably achieved by llti~;~ing a wave spring 42 on each of roll halves 31a and 31b 20 carried between each roll half and an ad~ustable collar 43 having a set screw 44. ~oll 31 and collar 43 are carried by bushing 45 having a flange 46 at one end and set screw 48.
Wave spring 42 rides against one side of each roll half.
Collar 43 applies a pred~t~;n~l amount of pressure against wave spring 42. When pear 7 is properly oriented, roll 31 stops rotating on its shaft 49. --A pear stop means 50 is provided and is carried byback roll 30. Pear stop means 50 comprises a vertical or nearly vertical plate 51 which pivots about the axis 32 of 30 roll 30. The lower end of plate 51 is offset slightly from the vertical to the right in Fig. 3 to sustain pear 7 as close to vertical as poss;hle- The purpose of pear stop means 50 is to help retain the pear 7 as shown in Fig. 3 in its vertical position and to help prevent pear 7 from rotating in the direction of arrows 54. The stem 8 of pear 7 tends to rotate backwardly towards the axis of rotation 32 of back roll 30 as the rolls of 30 and 31 are separated to their positions shown in Fig. 5 (and as shown in phantom in Fig. 3) . Cylinder 55 and i~kage arms 56 and 57 hold pear stop means 50 in its nearly _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ` ~ 2 1 7~
vertical or extended position as shown in Fig. 3. When rolls 30 and 31 are separ2ted, as shown in Fig. 5, pear stop cylinder 55 is activated, moving pear stop means 50 to its retracted position shown in Fig 5. Pear stop means 50 i8 moved to its retracted position out of contact with pear 7 abruptly as rolls 30 and 31 are separated in order to keep the pear 7 from rotating in the directions of arrows 54 shown in Fig. 3.
The roll~ 30 and 31 are dic Il~Jc~J~ and separated from the surface of pear 7 slightly prior to the time that pear stop means 50 is retracted so that pear 7 retains its proper Al ~3 1 with the stem 8 F~F.n-ling ,~ dly and the blossom end extending upwardly.
Rolls 30 and 31 are carriea by bars 60 and 61, . es~e.;~ive ly, which in turn are pivoted about shaft 62 . A roll ~e~ ion cylinder 63 is c ~ æd by linkage arms 64 and 65 respectively, to bars 60 ana 61. When roll separation cylinder 63 ls activatea, li~dcage arms 64 ana 65 operate to separate bars 60 and 61 and the ~xes of rotation 32 and 33 of rolls 30 and 3 1.
Rolls 30 and 31 are separated and, either slightly before or simult~n~o~cly with their separation, pear stop means 50 is retracted, so that the points of contact between the pear 7 and the orienting rolls 30 and 31 and with pear stop means 50 are se~ .l ed from the sur~ace of pear 7 abruptly and nearly simult~n~o~cly. This allows pear 7 to fall downwaraly along the path of arrow 68 in Fig. 5 in~o transfer cup means 70.
Transfer cup means 70 is shown best in Figs. 6 and 7. Transfer cup means 70 comprises four fingers 71, 72, 73, 74 and which form a generally "x" shaped array. Each finger extends d~ Ldly towards the center of the "x" at a rest angle of between 30 and 60 to the horizontal. Each finger may ~e pushed downwardly against a spring loaded support until it forms an angle to the horizontal which approaches 90. Each of the ~ingers is resiliently mounted as by a spring 75 shown in Fig. 6. Fingers 71 and 72 are carried by angle support 76 ana fingerg 73 and 74 are carried by angle support 77. Angle supports 76 and 77 are carried by frame member 78. Angle supports 76 and 77 extend in a parallel fashion away from i~ 2~7~3~
frame member 78 forming an opening 79 between tbe ends of angle supportS 76 and 77 distal from frame member 78. Opening 79 receives a pusher 100 described below.
As shown in Fig. 6, each of the fingers 71-74 is pivotally mounted by pins 81-84, respectively, to brackets 85 and 86 carried by angle support 76 and brackets 87 and 88 carried by angle support 77.
Since each of fingers 71-74 is r~q;li~ntly mounted, a pear dropping A~: dly into the center of the "x" formed by fingers 71-74 will experience e~ual yL~Ss.ULæ from each finger and will tend to remain centered in the "y." However, if the pear falls into the "x" off center, the r~ nt finger or fingers against which the pear has fall~n tend to urge the pear tvward the center of tbe "x" with a force yLuyvL Lional to hvw far off center the pear is. The four resiliently mounted fingers Ll.~ruLæ ~ouy~L-Le to urge an off center pear towards the center of the "x" formed by the four fingers. Although it is possible to use a number of fingers different than the four shown, the ~L~ rLæd number of fingers is four as shown in Figs. 6 and 7.
Transfer cup means 70 moves vertically between an upper or first position shown in Fig. 5 in which it receives a pear dropping from the orienting rolls 30 and 31 to a lower or second position shown in Fig. 8. Transfer cup means 70 moves d ~ lly along the path of arrow 89 in Fig. 5 to its lower or second position shown in phantom as 70a in Fig. 5 and as also shown in Fig. 8. Support frame 78 carries trans~er cup means 70 between its upper and lower positions shown in Fig.
5 and Fig. 8, respectively.
Once the transfer cup means 70 has carried the pear to its l. - L position shown in Fig. 8, a pusher arm 100 is rotated from a vertical p~qi~i9n shown in phantom in Fig.
8 to a horizontal position shown in Fig. 8, where it contacts the blossom end 9 of pear 7. After this contact is made, transfer cup means 70 begins traveling upwardly. As trans~er cup means 70 moves upwardly, pusher 100 maintains contact with the blossom end 9 of pear 7. If pear 7 is somewhat misaligned, as transfer cup means 70 ~oves upwardly, the resiliently mounted fingers 71-74 tend to center the stem of the pear in _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~ 2179~

the center of the "x" formed by those ~inger8- As this centering occurs, the blossom end g of pear 7 is free to slide ~gainst its contact point with pusher 100.
As the transfer cup means 70 moves upwardly, as shown in Fig. 8, pusher 100 also begins pushing pear 7 downwardly. After the blossom end of the pear moves the fingers 71-74 of the transfer cup to their nearly vertical position shown in Fig. 8, the stem end 8 of pear ~ is urged into feed cup means 110. Feed cup means 110 in~ c a 10 generally concave shaped receptacle 111 having downwardly sloping walls which assist in cont~rin~ the stem end 8 of the pear as it is urged into feed cup means 110 by pusher 100.
As shown best in Fig. 9, r6~.:~l.acle lll ~s carried by a ~)l~S.-ULe loaded chaft 112 having a constant upwardly extending biased ~,L~-ULe which may be exerted by a spring acting between transfer bar 140 and the base plate 117 which D~JV~ ~S receptacle 111. Base plate 117 is carried at the top of shaft 112. The lower end 113 of shaft 112 is a free end. The purpose of ~ ~5DUL~: loading shaft 112 is to account 20 for the varying vertical di -ionc of pears 7 between their stem and blossom ends. As pusher 100 urges pear 7 ~1 L~lly, the stem ena 8 of pear 7 contacts the l~:c~ cle 111 of feed cup means 110. Pusher 110 continues to urge pear 7 downwardly against ~ 331.1~ loaded shaft 112 until pusher 110 reaches a pr~efe~minP~ "set height" for the blossom end 9 of pear ~.
This particular "set height" is used to register '~be blossom end of the pear into proper ~l i5 1~ with the peeling and seed celling means as di~7lc~d below.
When pusher 100 has urged the blossom end 9 of pear 30 7 to the pr~ n~ "set height, " the ~JL- 53U~C: loaded shaft 112 3U~ JL Ling the feed cup receptacle 111 is locked into position by movable bar 114 with a serrated edge moving to the left in Fig. 9 to engage the serrations 115 formed on the surface of shaft 112.
Shortly before the movable bar 114 locks shaft 112 into position, a plurality of arms 120, 121 and 122 eJctending upwardly relative to said feed cup r~cf~pf~le engage and center the blossom end 9 of pear 7. Arms 120, 121 and 122 are all identical, each pivoting a~out a horizontal axis 121a. The ~ 2~7~4~4 lower end 121b of arm 121 is driven inwardly and outwardly l~y a cam surface 121c. ~he upper end of each arm carries a plastic pad 124, 125 and 126, each of which i5 pivotally connected to each of the arms and each contacts t~e blossom end 9 of the pear 7. As shown best in Flg. 10, the lower end 121b of arm 121 is a cam follower, which fQllows the cam surface 121c. Each of the arms 120, 121 and 122 will move simult~n~o~lcly and will Ille~ ro-è tend to center the blossom ena 9 of the pear 7 as the pads 124, 125 and 126 contact the 10 pear.
A variable force drive means for driving arms 120, 121 and 122 in~ A~S an adjuD able ~rès~ULe air cylinaer 128 which drives, - in~ rod 129. This feature~allous a pr~A.~t ~--min~A amount o~ force to be ~pplied to the pear by arms 120, 121 and 122 to account for pears of different degrees of S<,rl~-e~.
After the pear has been grasped by the three arms 120, 121 and 122 and held against the feed cup receptacle 111, the blossom end of the pear is trimmed by blossom trim means 20 130 comprising blossom trim blades 131 and 132 which rotate about pivot 133. As shown best in Figs. 11 and 12, blossom trim blades 131 and ~32 are driven in the path of arrows 134 and 135, ~ ;I.ively, by drive levers 136 and 137, respectively . A~ drive lever 13 6 is driven to the right in Fig. 12 by pin 138, blade 132 is driven d~ Ldly in the direction of arrow 135. Simulf~n~ol~ly, lever 137 is driven to the left in Fig. 12 by pin 139 which rotates blossom trim blade 131 in the direction of arrow 134 to achieve a generally hr~mi s:rh~ical cut trimming the calyx from the blossom end 9 30 of the pear 7. Lever 136 is connected to blade 132 by link 136a. A similar lirJc joins lever 137 to blade 131.
As shown in Fig. 13, the feed cup assembly inc~--Ain~
the feed cup means 110, the three arms 120, 121 and 122, the ~ ~r-_ ~ e loaded shaft 112 and the serrated locking piece 114 are separated from the pusher means and is carried by transfer bar 140 through a 90 turn and drives the pear onto the coring tube 150. Coring tube 150 is a hollow cylindrical tube having a distal end 151 an a proximal end 152. Coring tube lS0 _ _ _ _ _ _ , 2~794~4 carries near its distal end, 151 a pair of turning fins 153 and 154.
As shown in Fig. 14, the pear 7 has been i~paled upon coring tube 150. Arms 120, 121 and 122 have been opened after the pear has been impaled on the coring tube. After arms 120--122 have opened, feed cup means 110 backs up slightly, and turning fins 153 and 154 begin to rotate, causing the pear 7 to rotate with the coring tube 150.
As the pear is rotated by the coring tube 150 and 10 turning fins 153 and 154, a stem trim knife 160 carried by ~eed cup means llo is activated by stem trim cylinder 161, advancing stem trim knife blade 162 d- lly into position to sever the pear stem as the pear is rotated. During the first complete revolution of the pear 7, the stem is trimmed and thereafter the feed cup assembly 110 is retracted and peeling begins by motion of peeling knives 201 and 202, each peeling approximately one-half of the pear. Rotary cutter 201 starts at the blosso~ end 9 of pear 7 and, as the pear is rotated on coring tube 150, rotary cutter 201 begins rotating 20 and moves from blossom end 9 to cl~yLv..l~ately the center of the pear 7. Simultaneously, rotary peeling knife 202 begins approximately at the center of pear 7 and moves to the right in Fig. 15 to the stem 8 of the pear 7. The peeling knives are aescribed in greater detail in U.S. patent 5,027,699 dated July 2, 1991 and entitled "Peeling ~ead. "
As the pear 7 is ~eing rotated by turning fins 153 and 154, a seed celler knife means 170 rotates with them.
~owever, during the last full revolution of the pear 7 caused by turning fins 153 and 154, the seed celling knife means 170 30 is held stationary as will be described below and, during this final revolution of the pear 7, the seed cell of the pear is severed by the seed celler knife means 170.
During peeling the core 7a is pushed out of coring tube 150 by core push-out rod 155.
As shown in Fig. 17, when the peeling operation has been concluded, the pear is pushed off the coring tube 150 by a kn~< f~ disc 210 which drives the pear into slice cup 220, shown in greater detail in Figs. 25 and Z6 below.
_ _, . , , _ ... . . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 21~9434 Fig. 18 shows the r~tary peeling cuSter~ which are described in full in U.S. patent 5,027,699. Peeling cutters 201 and 202 are driven by a drive wheel 204 and are moved on and off the pear by kick out lcver 205 and are moved forward in the peeling cycle by lever 206.
Referring to Fig. 20, seed celler knife means 170 colDprises two blades 171 and 172 carried by hollow, cylindrical seed celler support tube 180, having a proximal end 181 and a distal end 182. Seed celler blades 171 and 172 are carried by seed celler support tube 180 near its distal end 182.
Coring tube 150, which is a hollow and cylindrical tube, has a proximal end 151 and a distal end 152. Coring tube 150 extends through seed celler support tube 180, the distal end 152 of coring tube extending beyond the distal end 182 of the seed celler support tube 180 and at least one turning fin 153 or 154 is carried by the distal end 152 of coring tube 150. In the yLereLled ~ , two 'curning fins are utilized mounted 180 degrees apart.
Seed celler blades 171 and 172 are aligned with turning fins 153 and 154 so that, as turning fins 153 and 154 rotate to cause pear 7 to rotate, seed celling blades 171 and 172 rotate with turning fins 153 and 154.
Figs. 21 and 22 show in greater detail the drive -^.hs~ni ~ for the coring tube 150 and seed celler support tuhe 180. The coring tube drive pulley 159 receives po er from a pulley 281 driven by stepping motor 280 (Fig. 17) and transmits the power directly to coring tube 150 and indirectly to seed celler support tube 180 through a ~ on~ag~hle drive pin 156. As shown in Fig. 22, power from the coring tube drive pulley 155 to the seed celling support tuhe 180 is ~ n~a~d by separating drive pin 156 from a movable plate 175. As shown in Fig. 23, drive pin 156 is fully engaged with plate 175. In this mode, power is being transmitted from pin 1~6 through plate 175 directly to the seed celler support tube 180.
~owever, as shown in Fig. 24, which ~;ULLe U~55 to Fig. 22, when plate 175 is moved to the right in Fig. 22 and disengages from drive pin 156, the two tangs 176 and 177 of plate 175 engage stops 178 and 179, respeatively. In this condition, the _ 2~ 7~43~-.

seed celling knives 171 and 172 are held stationary but coring tube 150 and turning fins 153 and 154 continue to rotate.
Therefore in the condition shown in Figs. 22 and 24, the seed cell of the pear is being severed by the rotation of the pear - against the stationary seed cell knives. ~5 used in the claims, the phrase "brake means" in~ s plate 175, tangs 176 and 177, as well as stops 178 and 179.
The power to the seed celling support tube is engaged and dif:~n~qed by cam ~urface 190 and cam follower 191 (Fig. 20). The cam surface 190 is formed in ring 192. Ring 192 is movea from the engaged to- di :~l.J,l~ed positions by bar 194 ~nd block 195 which together cause the ring 192 to rotate between the engaged position shown in Fig. 23 and the d;~ ,J,J~d position in Fig. 24. In the d;~n~ d position shown in Fig. 24, the power is dif- `~..J--cl to the ~eed cell support tube, ana simul~n~o-^ly the brake means are engaged to hold the seed celling knives 171 and 172 stationary.
Fig. 25 shows a slice cup means 220 rotatable between a first or upper position and a second or lower 20 position shown in phantom in Fig. 25. In the first or upper position, a blade 221 is positioned to sever the pear 7 into halves as the knock off disc 210 pushes the pear through blade 221. Various blades may be used. Slice cup means 220 comprises a generally U shaped container 222 which, in its first or upper position, contains the severed pear halves as shown in Fig. 25. After the pear halves have been deposited in slice cup 222, the slice cup is rotated ~ dly about shaft 223 in a rather abrupt fashion to fling the pear halves ~ dly against an in~l ;n~d processed pear discharge chute 230 onto 30 ~LvceDDed pear CVI~ JL 232, shown best in Fig. 26. By fl in~; n~ the slice cup d _ldly toward chute 230, the usable pear portions are more effectively separated from the waste seed cell. Nhen slice cup 222 is in its d_ 1Ld position, in which it forms a generally inverted IJ-shape, cup 222 effectively Du..vulla~ the upper portion of discharge chute 230. Any waste product that drops onto cup 222 tends to slide off cup 222 and into the waste discharge chute formed by walls 233 and 234. As shown in Fig. 26, waste CVI~V~:YVL 231 receives waste from waste discharge chute having in~lin~cl walls 233 and ~ 2 1 ~
234 ~na removes the stem trim waste, the peel strings and the core, whereas ~ 232 removes the usable pear product and as little as pocsihl~ of the waste.
Figs. 27-30 show in detail the removable coring and seed celling tubes according to the present invention. Since the coring and seed celling tuhes occasionally become bent or otherwise unusable, it is highly bPn~fi~ii~l to have a coring tube and seed celling tube assembly which is readily removable and repl~ hle. Fig. 27 shows the r~r~ hl~ coring and seed 10 celling tube assembly 350 which in~lllA-~,c coring tube 150 and seed celling tube 180, and turning fins 153 and 154 and seed celling knives 171 and 172. me ascembly 350 has been separated from the coring tube drive - - i F-' 250. me qe~ h~hl" - ' in~ means is shown generally as 260 and ~n~ A~c a pair of spring loaded dogs 261 and 262 carried by the coring tube drive means 250 which engage a pair of holes 271 and 272 formed in the surface of coring tube 150 and seed celler support tube 180. Additionally a second pair of dogs, 263 and 264 engage a pair of U shaped qp~nin~c 273 and 274 20 ~ormed in the proximal end of coring tub, 150 and seed celler support tube 180 (Figs. 28,29).
Fig. 28 shows the ~mit in normal operation with the dog 261 and 262 fully engaged in holes 271 and 272 and dog~
263 an 264 fully engaged in the U shaped ~acesces 273 and 274.
The dogs are maintained in the position shown in Fig. 28 by spring 265. In order to remove the assembly 350" a tool is inserted into the end of hollow coring tube 150 and pressed against the solid wedged shzped piece 266 which, as it is driven to the left, pulls dogs 261 and 262 inwardly as shown 30 in Fig. 29 80 that the coring and seed celling tube assembly 350 may be separated from the core tube drive ~?-h::lni F~ 260 as shown in Fig. 30. A new assembly 350 can thereafter be snapped into position. me time required to remove and replace assembly 350 in this fashion is merely a matter of seconds.

Claims (6)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. In a pear orienting apparatus having a set of orienting rolls including at least a pair of rolls mounted for rotation upon spaced horizontal axes, each of said rolls having two sides, drive means for rotating said pair of rolls, and means feeding singulated pears to the top of the rolls intermediate said spaced axes, the improvement comprising:
a plurality of whiskers carried by at least one of said pair of rolls, said whiskers extending in a direction radially outward from the axis of rotation of said roll, and said whiskers being located at each end of said roll so that said whiskers urge the stems of pears extending beyond either side of said roll toward the center of said roll.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said drive means further comprises a friction clutch means for interrupting driving power to one of said pair of rolls when a pear is oriented between that pair of rolls with its stem end extending downwardly between said pair of rolls and its blossom end extending upwardly.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising retractable pear stop means extending nearly vertically downward from one of said pair of rolls to contact the stem end of an oriented pear, and means for separating said pair of rolls and simultaneously and abruptly retracting said pear stop means to a position out of contact with said pear.

4. In a pear orienting apparatus having a set of orienting rolls including at least a pair of rolls mounted for rotation upon spaced horizontal axes, each of said rolls having two sides, drive means for rotating said pair of rolls, and means feeding singulated pears to the top of the rolls intermediate said spaced axes, the improvement comprising:
friction clutch means for interrupting driving power to one of said pair of rolls when a pear is oriented between said pair of rolls with its stem end extending downwardly and its blossom end extending upwardly.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said friction clutch means comprises a wave spring carried between a roll and its drive shaft.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein each of said pair of rolls rotates in the same direction about its respective axis of rotation.