GB957775A - Citrus juice extracting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

957,775. Juice extractors. BROWN CITRUS MACHINERY CORPORATION. Jan. 28, 1963, No. 3379/63. Heading A4C. A citrus fruit juice extracting apparatus comprises in combination means for halving fruit, means for removing juice from halved fruit, means for separating the juice from the peel remaining after the juice has been removed from the halved fruit and means for separating the oil bearing flavedo portion of the peel from the albedo remainder thereof. Whole fruit is conveyed in cups (not shown) past a halving knife 14 and quartering knives 80 and then fed in nearly quartered halves by divider plates 16 and star wheels 16a to the delivery platforms 18 of a pair of juice extracting mechanisms 17 each comprising a fruit pick up unit 19 and a reamer unit 20. The pickup unit 19 comprises a rotary disc 24 carrying resilient cups 22 formed of two halves, viz. a fixed half 23 secured to the disc 24 and a movable half 25 hinged as at 26 to the fixed half 23, and rollers 32 associated with the hinge 26 co-operate with a fixed cam disc 33 and a cam rail 38 to open the cup halves 23, 25 in the region of platform 18 to pick up fruit halves. The reamer unit 20, which is connected for synchronous rotation with the disc 24 by a universal joint 21, comprises rotary reamers 55 carried in a rotary base plate 56 driven from a sleeve 42 having an axis rotation inclined to that of the disc 24. In operation of the juice extracting mechanism 17 the reamers 55 enter the fruit halves picked up by the cups 22 which subsequently open to release the peel of the de-juiced fruit, the juice passing for collecting via a pan 73 and a shoot 74 and the peel quarters being separated from the juice by a grid 90 in an opening 91 in the pan 73. Beneath the grid 90 is located a pivoted shoot 117 in a feed hopper 115 for for the peel oil recovery unit 116 which includes two pairs of rollers 120, 130 which are rotated as indicated in Fig. 6. The upper rollers 120 are provided with sets of spaced ribs 125 separated by circumferential grooves and peel quarters are randomly fed to the bite 123 to be impaled on one or other of the rolers 120 with the ribs 125 penetrating the relatively soft albedo layer. The impaled peel is then divided by adjustably mounted knives 190 as it is carried between the rib of adjacent rollers 120, 130, the oil bearing flavedo passing in the direction of arrows 225, 226 and the albedo being separated from the rollers 120 by combs 201 whose teeth 100 engage the circumferential grooves in the rollers 120 and passing in the direction of arrows 230, 231. Rotary paddles 211 mounted in the hopper 115 serve to prevent jamming of the bite. Specification 930,562 and U.S.A. Specification 2,199,876 are referred to.