IL151000A

IL151000A - Device for extracting juice sacs from pomegranates

Info

Publication number: IL151000A
Application number: IL151000A
Authority: IL
Original assignee: Itzhak Gvili
Priority date: 2002-07-31
Filing date: 2002-07-31
Publication date: 2007-06-03
Also published as: IL151000A0; WO2004010800A1; AU2003247139A1

Description

o>jjm ase >JIO>I no>ia ipnn Device for separating pomegranate arils Itzhak Gvili C.139847 DEVICE FOR EXTRACTING JUICE SACS FROM POMEGRANATES FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to devices for treating fruit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The pomegranate fruit has a tough skin or rind enclosing an interior that is divided into compartments by membranous walls and white spongy tissue known as "rag". The compartments are packed with a large number of juice sacs. Each sac contains a seed surrounded by fleshy, juicy pulp known as "aril ".

Several methods are known for extracting juice sacs from pomegranates. The fruit may be cut open and the juice sacs removed manually. Alternatively, the fruit may be quartered and crushed, or the whole fruit may be pressed. It is also known to stomp on the fruits with specially designed shoes. The juice sacs may also be extracted by reaming a pomegranate half with an ordinary orange juice squeezer.

U.S. Patent No^ 4,530^278^ to Sarig et al. discloses an apparatus for mechanical separation of juice sacs from pomegranates comprising a gas jet that is directed onto the exposed surface of a pomegranate half.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an apparatus for extracting juice sacs from pomegranates. The apparatus is configured to receive a pomegranate half that is oriented with its exposed surface facing downward. A mallet is configured to strike the peel of the pomegranate half so as to apply a force that deforms the fruit leading to the extraction of juice sacs from the pomegranate half. The extracted juice sacs fall from the exposed bottom surface of the fruit into a collecting receptacle.

A driving mechanism sequentially positions the mallet at each of a plurality of positions relative the pomegranate. At each position, the mallet strikes the pomegranate peel at a different location. By striking the peel at a plurality of locations, a significant number of the juice sacs may be extracted.

The invention thus provides a device for extracting juice sacs from at least a portion of a pomegranate, comprising: (a) a mallet having a mallet arm and a mallet head; (b) a driving mechanism operatively connected to the mallet configured to position the mallet at one or more positions and to swing the mallet when the mallet is positioned at each of the one or more positions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be carried out in practice, a preferred embodiment will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a side view of a device for extracting juice sacs from pomegranates in accordance with one embodiment of the invention showing a platform for supporting a pomegranate half located outside the housing of the device; Fig. 2 shows a side view of the device of Fig. 1 with the platform located inside the housing of the device; Fig. 3 shows a top view of the device of Fig. 1 wit the platform located outside the housing of the device; and Fig. 4 shows a side view of the device of Fig. 1 with the mallet striking a pomegranate half.

DET AILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 show an apparatus, generally indicated by 5, for extracting juice sacs from a pomegranate half in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. A side view of the apparatus 5 is shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 4 and a top view is shown in Fig.3. A platform 15 is used to support a pomegranate half 10. The platform 15 has a circular opening 20 having a diameter somewhat larger than the diameter of the exposed surface 25 of the pomegranate half 10. Elastic cords 30 support a pomegranate half 10 placed over the opening 20. The platform 15 is slidable along a pair of tracks 50 from a first position in which it is outside the housing of the apparatus (as shown in Figs. 1 and 3), to a second position in which it located inside the housing (as shown in Figs. 2 and 4). A cover has an essentially square frame 35 and is pivoted at axle 40. Elastic cords 45 span the frame 35. After positioning the pomegranate half 10 over the opening 20, as shown in Fig. 1, the platform 15 is pushed along the tracks 50 so as to enter the interior of the apparatus. As the platform 15 is pushed into the interior of the apparatus, the frame 35 rotates around the axle 40 so as to immobilize the pomegranate half over the opening 20. The frame 35 is maintained in this position with the elastic cords 45 pressed upon the pomegranate half, by the tracks 50, as shown in Fig. 2.

The interior of the apparatus contains a mallet 55 having a mallet head 60 and a mallet arm 65. The mallet arm 65 is rigidly attached to a cam pin 70 at a fixed angle a to form an assembly consisting of the mallet 55 and the cam pin 70. The mallet -cam pin assembly is pivoted on an axle 75. The axle 75 is attached to a spindle 80 via a support arm 90. The spindle 85 is attached to a spindle of a circular motor 85 via a transmission 86.

The cam pin 70 terminates in a roller head 95 that is free to rotate around the cam pin 70. The roller head 95 fits into a cam track 100 routed in the upper inside surface of the apparatus 5. As shown in Fig. 3, the cam track 100 has a shape that is a closed curve around the spindle 80 of the motor 85. The cam track 100, however, is not circular in shape, rather the distance between the cam track 100 and the spindle 80 varies periodically along the cam track 100.

Rotation of the spindle 80 by the motor 85 causes the support arm 90 to j rotate around the spindle 80. As the support arm 90 rotates, the mallet 55 also ,V / 5 rotates and the roller head 95 moves in the cam track 100 as indicated by the arrow C- ^ 98 in Fig. 3. As the roller head 95 moves in the cam track 100, the distance between the roller head 95 and the axis of the spindle 80 varies. Since the mallet arm 55 is rigidly attached to the cam pin 70 at an angle a, it will be appreciated that as the distance between the roller head 95 and the spindle 80 changes, the height of the mallet head 60 above the pomegranate half 10 will vary accordingly. Thus, when the roller head is located in the cam track 100 in any one of the segments A in the cam track 100, as shown in Fig. 3, (the roller head 95 has a maximum distance from the spindle 80), the mallet arm 55 is horizontal and the mallet head 60 is at a maximum distance from the pomegranate half (as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3).

When the roller head is located in the cam track 100 at any one of the positions B shown in Fig. 3 (the roller head has a minimum distance from the spindle), the mallet arm 55 is at a maximum angle Θ below the horizontal as shown in Fig. 4.

Thus, movement of the roller head 95 in the cam track 100 from a segment A to a subsequent position B swings the mallet from its horizontal orientation shown in Figs. 1 and 2, to the orientation shown in Fig.4, causing the mallet head 60 to strike the pomegranate half 10. Movement of the roller head 95 in the cam track 100 from a position B to a subsequent segment A swings the mallet from the orientation shown in Fig. 4 to its horizontal orientation shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 3, as the support arm 90 makes one complete rotation about the spindle 80, the mallet head 60 strikes the pomegranate half 10 six times (when the roller head is at each of the six positions B). This is by way of example only, and the mallet head 60 may be made to strike the pomegranate half 10 any number of times in a single rotation of the support arm 90.

Each strike of the pomegranate half by the mallet head cause the release of juice sacs 115 from the pomegranate half which fall from the pomegranate half 10 into a collecting receptacle 110.

In an exemplary embodiment, the motor 85 rotates at 75 rpm during operation, and the mallet head 60 strikes the pomegranate half 10 six times during each rotation of the spindle 85. The cam track 100, the mallet arm 65, and the cam pin 70 are dimensioned so that the mallet head 60 strikes the pomegranate half 10 at a speed of about 5-6 meters/sec. With this exemplary embodiment, it was found that treating a pomegranate half for 6-8 sec (depending on the thickness of the peel) removes most of the juice sacs.

Claims

1. for extracting juice sacs from at least a portion of a pomegranate, comprising: (a) a mallet having a mallet arm and a mallet head; (b) a driving mechanism operatively connected to the mallet configured to position the mallet at one or more positions and to swing the mallet when the mallet is positioned at each of the one or more positions.

2. The device according to Claim 1 further comprising a platform configured to support a portion of a pomegranate, the platform being further configured to be positionable relative to the mallet so that the mallet head strikes the at least portion of a pomegranate when mallet is swung by the driving mechanism, when the mallet is in at least one of the one or more positions

3. The device according to Claim 1 or 2 further comprising a receptacle for collecting juice sacs extracted from a pomegranate half.

4. The device according to any one of the previous claims wherein the portion of a pomegranate is a pomegranate half.

5. The device according to any one of the previous claims wherein the driving mechanism comprises: (a) a motor having a spindle; (b) a cam pin attached to the mallet arm at a fixed angle so as to form a cam pin-mallet assembly; (c) a support arm extending from the spindle to the cam pin-mallet assembly, the support arm being pivoted at a first end to the assembly and rigidly fixed at the second end to the spindle; and a cam track configured to receive the cam pin, the cam track having the shape of a closed curve about the spindle, the cam pin moving in the cam track during rotation of the support arm by the motor, the distance between the cam pin and the spindle varying as the cam pin moves in the cam track so that the height of the mallet head varies as the cam pin moves in the cam track. For the Applicants REINHOLD COHN AND PARTNERS By: