JP7398675B2 - Fruit peeling device, fruit processing device, and fruit peeling method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a fruit peeling device, a fruit processing device, and a fruit peeling method that automate the work of peeling the outer skin of fruits.

Fruits are canned, made into juice, and used as ingredients in other foods.
When fruits are made into these foods, they are first peeled, but this process is laborious and inefficient if done manually. Therefore, as an example of a fruit peeling apparatus, an automatic peeling apparatus for mandarin oranges is known from Patent Document 1.

The automatic peeling device for mandarin oranges described in Patent Document 1 includes a grasping device equipped with a sucker that moves in and out and a grasper that rises and falls on the picker, which are arranged opposite to each other so as to rotate so as to grasp and rotate both sides of the fruit being fed. During the rotation, a cutter is applied to make cuts in the outer skin, and a difference in rotation is applied to the grasping devices on both rear sides to twist and remove the outer skin.

Special Publication No. 34-6889

In the automatic peeling device for mandarin oranges described in Patent Document 1, a knife makes an incision by contacting approximately the center of the outer periphery of a rotating fruit, and rotates one spindle with a suction element formed at the tip. By holding the fruit in place and stopping the other support shaft, the outer skin is subjected to a twisting action due to the difference in rotation between them. By regressing the axis, the outer skin is peeled off.

However, with this method, the gripper that grips the outer periphery of the skin simply pulls the skin from side to side, so if the skin is still firmly attached, it may not be possible to peel it off cleanly.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a fruit peeling device that can reliably peel the outer skin.

The fruit peeling device of the present invention is formed into a bowl shape, and includes one cup and the other cup that sandwich the fruit, a suction means for sucking the inside of the one cup and the inside of the other cup, and the one cup and the second cup. the other cup; a cutting blade that cuts into the outer skin of the fruit; and an annular member having a guide portion formed at an opening edge facing toward the fruit; One cup and the other cup sandwich the branch side and the flower drop side of the fruit, and the cutting blade makes a cut in the circumferential direction from the equator of the outer skin toward the branch side or the flower drop side. and while sucking the rind between the one cup and the other cup, rotate the rind with the rotating means to separate the rind due to the difference in rotation, and insert the guide portion of the annular member between the rind and the pulp. It is characterized by peeling off the remaining outer skin.

The fruit skin peeling method of the present invention includes the steps of sandwiching the branch side and the fallen flower part side of the fruit between one bowl-shaped cup and the other cup, and making an incision in the outer skin of the fruit. A step of making a circumferential incision with a blade from the equator of the outer skin toward the branch side or flower drop side, and while sucking the outer skin with a suction means that sucks the inside of the one cup and the inside of the other cup, a step of rotating the one cup and the other cup by a rotation means that provides a rotation difference, and separating the outer skin due to the rotation difference; and an annular member having a guide portion formed at the opening edge facing the fruit side. The present invention is characterized by including the step of inserting the guide portion between the outer skin and the pulp and peeling off the remaining outer skin.

In the present invention, one bowl-shaped cup and the other cup sandwich the branch side and the fallen flower part side of the fruit, and the cutting blade moves the outer skin of the fruit closer to the branch side or the fallen flower part side than the equator. Make a cut and use the difference in rotation to separate the outer skin. Then, the guide portion of the annular member is inserted between the outer skin and the pulp, and the remaining outer skin is peeled off. By doing so, you can separate the rind from the remaining rind, as if you were peeling off a lid. Furthermore, by inserting the guide portion of the annular member between the outer skin and the pulp, the remaining lower outer skin is pushed outward and the remaining outer skin can be peeled off from the pulp.

The one cup is placed below the fruit, the other cup is placed above the fruit, and the one cup includes a cup body that supports the bottom side of the fruit, and a cup body that supports the bottom side of the fruit. a support tube having a suction cup disposed inside the tube, an outer tube supporting the cup body, and an inner tube connected to the suction cup and moving up and down and connected to the suction means. It can be prepared as follows.
One cup is formed from a cup body and a suction cup, and the support tube includes an outer tube and an inner tube. Therefore, by raising the inner cylindrical pipe and raising the suction cup, the outer rind resting on the cup body after the pulp has been taken out can be pushed out from one cup.

It is provided with a pressing part that moves in the direction of the fruit and presses the fruit together with the annular member, and a fruit-splitting auxiliary part that enters the center of the fruit pulp and inflates the balloon by injecting air. I can do it.
While the pressing part presses the upper part of the fruit pulp, the fruit splitting auxiliary part enters the center of the fruit pulp, and air is injected to inflate the balloon. By doing so, the center of the fruit swells and a gap is created between the capsules, which can assist in the fruit splitting by the fruit splitting machine in the next step.

Further, the fruit processing device of the present invention includes a fruit peeling device of the present invention, a steam heating device for steaming the citrus fruit supplied to the fruit peeling device, and a size of the steamed citrus fruit from the steam heating device. a fruit sorting machine that sorts and supplies the citrus fruit to the fruit peeling device installed according to size, and a fruit splitting machine that divides the fruit sacs from the pulp of the citrus fruit from the fruit peeling device. It is characterized by

According to the fruit processing device of the present invention, the steam heating device, the fruit sorting machine, the fruit peeling device, and the fruit splitting device are connected in series, and the fruit peeling devices are installed in parallel according to the size of the citrus fruits. This makes it possible to ship divided sacs from harvested citrus fruits of various sizes.

In the present invention, it is possible to separate the outer rind on the side that has been brought together from the remaining rind by peeling off the lid, and to push the remaining lower rind outward and peel the remaining rind from the pulp. Therefore, it is possible to reliably peel off the outer skin.

1 is a diagram showing a fruit peeling device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, in which (A) is a plan view and (B) is a front view. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a first device installed at the second stage of the fruit peeling device shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a second device installed at the third stage of the fruit peeling device shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a third device installed at the fourth stage of the fruit peeling device shown in FIG. 1; 2 is a diagram for explaining a fourth device installed at the fifth stage of the fruit peeling device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a fifth device installed at the sixth stage of the fruit peeling device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a fruit peeling method using the fruit peeling device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the lower cup at the seventh stage of the fruit peeling device shown in FIG. 1; It is a figure which shows the fruit processing apparatus based on Embodiment 2 of this invention.

(Embodiment 1)
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A fruit peeling device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be explained based on the drawings. The fruit peeling device peels the outer skin of Amanatsu, which is an example of a citrus fruit.

(Configuration of fruit peeling device)
First, the configuration of the fruit peeling device according to the first embodiment will be described.
The fruit peeling device 10 shown in FIG. It is equipped with a board 50.

The stage unit 20 includes a disc-shaped stage main body 21, a lower working part 22 provided on each stage of the stage main body 21, and a rotation drive part 23 that rotates the stage main body 21.
The lower working part 22 includes a lower cup C1, which is one cup on which the lower side of the fruit is placed, and a support pipe 221, which is a suction pipe whose upper end is connected to the lower cup C1 and communicates with the inside of the lower cup C1. There is.

As shown in FIG. 8, the lower cup C1 includes a cup body C11 that supports the lower side of the fruit, and a suction cup C12 that is disposed within the cup body C11 and communicates with the support tube 221 for adsorption to the bottom of the fruit. It is equipped with
The support tube 221 is rotatably connected to the stage body 21, and its rotation is suppressed by controlling a brake mechanism (not shown) by the control panel 50.
As shown in FIG. 8, the support tube 221 includes an outer tube 221a and an inner tube 221b. The outer tube 221a has an upper end connected to the cup body C11, and a lower end connected to the stage body 21. The inner cylindrical pipe 221b has an upper end connected to the suction cup C12, a lower end passing through a through hole formed in the stage body 21, and connected to the suction unit 40. The inner cylindrical pipe 221b is raised and lowered by a lifting means (not shown).
The rotation drive unit 23 has a rotation shaft connected to the stage body 21 . The rotation drive unit 23 can be formed by a motor controlled by the control panel 50.

In the work unit 30, a first device 31 to a sixth device 36 are installed on the outside of the stage main body 21 in each of the second to fifth stages.
The first device 31, the second device 32, and the fourth device 34 are upper working units 60 having the same basic configuration.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 3, the upper working section 60 includes an upper cup C2 which is the other cup that covers the upper side of the fruit, a support pipe 61 that suspends the upper cup C2, and a rotation drive section that rotates the upper cup C2. 62, and an elevating section 63 for elevating and lowering the upper cup C2.
The support tube 61 is connected to the upper end of the upper cup C2, communicates with the inside of the lower cup C1, and is connected to the suction unit 40 (see FIG. 1) via another pipe.
The lower cup C1 and the upper cup C2 are formed in such a size that when a fruit is sandwiched between the lower cup C1 and the upper cup C2, a gap is created between the lower cup C1 and the upper cup C2 for making an incision, which will be described later.

The rotation drive unit 62 rotates the upper cup C2 by having the rotation shaft and the support tube 61 wound around a belt. The upper cup C2 has an autorotation function that rotates in the circumferential direction due to the rotation drive unit 62. The rotation drive unit 62 can be a motor controlled by the control panel 50 (see FIG. 1).
The elevating section 63 expands and contracts under the control of the control panel 50 to move the upper cup C2 up and down.

In the first device 31 shown in FIG. 2, a cutting blade 311 for cutting into the outer skin of the fruit is arranged in the upper working part 60. The cutting blade 311 is positioned closer to the upper half than the lower half. The position of the cutting blade 311 can be, for example, from a position closer to the upper half in the vertical direction to a position up to 7/10.

The third device 33 shown in FIG. 4 includes an annular member 331 for peeling off the skin on the lower cup C1 side of the fruit, a pressing part 332 for pressing the fruit, and a splitting auxiliary part for inflating the balloon by injecting air. 333.
The annular member 331 has a tapered ring-shaped guide portion 331a by forming the outer peripheral edge on the fruit side (lower side) into a tapered surface whose thickness gradually becomes thinner toward the opening. The diameter of the annular member 331 is the diameter of the pulp of the fruit minus the outer skin.
The pressing part 332 includes a disc part 332a in which a through hole is formed in the center position for allowing the fruit splitting auxiliary part 333 to pass through, and a spring member 332b that presses the disc part 332a against the fruit.
The actual splitting auxiliary part 333 has a tip part 333a formed in a tapered shape, a balloon that expands when air is injected into the body part 333b, and a base end part 333c which is a pipe through which air to be injected into the balloon is supplied. is connected.

In the fourth device 34 shown in FIG. 5, a sensor (not shown) for detecting whether peeling is possible and a push-out section 341 for discharging fruit that cannot be peeled are arranged near the upper working section 60. ing.

The fifth device 35 shown in FIG. 6 is provided with a take-out section 351 that discharges the peeled fruit to a conveyance path for transfer to the next process.
The take-out part 351 includes a cylinder part 351a in which the rod expands and contracts, and an upper cup C3 provided at the tip of the rod 351b. A suction tube (not shown) is connected to the upper cup C3 to suck the inside of the upper cup C3.

The suction unit 40 shown in FIG. 1 includes a suction pump 41 and a suction duct to which a tube (not shown) from the suction pump 41 is connected and which is connected to a through hole formed in each stage of a rotating stage main body 21. A tube 42 is provided.
The control panel 50 controls the entire fruit peeling device 10.

By configuring the fruit peeling device 10 as described above, the suction unit 40 including the suction pump 41 and the suction duct pipe 42 functions as a suction means, and the support pipe 221 that supports the lower cup C1 rotates. The brake mechanism that suppresses the rotation and the rotation drive section 62 that rotates the support tube 61 of the upper cup C2 function as a rotation means that provides a rotation difference.

(Operation and usage status of fruit peeling device)
Next, the operation and usage of the fruit peeling device 10 will be explained based on FIGS. 1 to 6 and 7.
In addition, in FIG. 7, when the inner half of the circle showing each stage is filled with black, it indicates suction by the lower cup C1, and when the outer half of the circle is filled with black, it indicates that the upper cup C1 is used. Suction by cup C2 is shown.

First, steamed sweet summer is loaded into the lower cup C1 of the first stage from the carry-in path R1 shown in FIG. At this time, for Amanatsu, the branch side may be on top, or the fallen flower side may be on top.
In the first stage, when the sweet summer is loaded into the lower cup C1, the bottom of the sweet summer is sucked by the suction cup C12 of the lower cup C1. Then, the stage main body 21 rotates and moves to the second stage.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, in the second stage, the upper cup C2 is lowered and pressed while sucking the upper part of the fruit and rotated.
As the upper cup C2 rotates, the lower cup C1 also rotates. Then, the cutting blade 311 is brought into contact with the outer skin. At this time, the cutting blade 311 is applied closer to the branch side or the fallen flower part than the equator of the fruit. For example, it is brought into contact at a height position of 6/10 in the vertical direction. As the upper cup C2 rotates, the lower cup C1 that holds the fruit between them also rotates together with the upper cup C2. Therefore, a cut is made in the circumferential direction of the outer skin at the position where the cutting blade 311 makes contact. For Amanatsu, make a 4mm incision.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 7, in the third stage, the lower cup C1 is also sucked. The support tube 221 that supports the lower cup C1 is kept in a fixed state. The upper cup C2 continues to be in the suction state.
In this state, when the upper cup C2 is raised while rotating, the upper rind is separated from the lower rind at the notch position due to the difference in rotation between the lower cup C1 and the upper cup C2, and the upper rind is separated from the pulp. It can be separated and peeled off.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, in the fourth stage, the third device 33 located above the fruit is lowered while the lower cup C1 is suctioning the fruit whose upper outer skin has been peeled off. At this time, the suction cup C12 of the lower cup C1 is raised.
By doing so, the annular member 331 of the third device 33 allows the guide portion 331a to enter between the lower rind and the pulp, and to push and spread the remaining rind from which the upper rind has been peeled outward. The outer skin on the sides can be peeled off.
Further, as the annular member 331 descends and moves toward the fruit, the fruit splitting auxiliary part 333 enters the center of the fruit while the disc part 332a urged by the spring member 332b presses against the upper part of the fruit. When air is injected into the fruit splitting auxiliary part 333, the balloon expands, so the center of the fruit swells and a gap is created between the capsules. Therefore, it is possible to assist the actual splitting by the actual splitting machine in the next step.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, the outer skin is fixed in a suction state by the lower cup C1, and the pulp is rotated in a suction state by the upper cup C2. By doing so, the upper cup C2 rotates while sucking the pulp, so that the lower portion of the pulp is completely separated from the lower rind being sucked by the lower cup C1.

However, in the process from the first stage to the fourth stage, the outer skin may not be peeled off from the pulp. In such a case, in the fifth stage shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, when a sensor (not shown) detects that the outer skin is not peeled off, the suction between the lower cup C1 and the upper cup C2 is released, and the upper cup C1 and the upper cup C2 release the suction. Cup C2 rises. Then, the extrusion section 341 of the fourth device 34 expands and extrudes the fruit, thereby extruding the defective fruit to the defective discharge path R2.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, in the sixth stage, the lower cup C1 is in a state in which the outer skin is sucked. Next, in the take-out part 351 of the fifth device 35 located on the side of the lower cup C1, the rod 351b is advanced from the cylinder part 351a, and the pulp is sucked into the upper cup C3. Then, when the rod 351b retracts and enters the cylinder portion 351a and the upper cup C3 is located on the take-out path R3, the suction to the pulp by the upper cup C3 is released. By doing so, the pulp can be transferred from the upper cup C3 to the take-out path R3.

Finally, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, in the seventh stage, the lower cup C1 is in a state where the suction is released. Then, by raising the suction cup C12 of the lower cup C1, the outer skin placed on the cup body C11 can be pushed out from the suction cup C12 and discharged into the lower skin discharge path R4.
Note that, as shown in FIG. 7, the eighth stage is an empty stage in which there is no particular work.

As described above, in the fruit peeling device 10, the upper cup C2 is rotated while the lower cup C1 and the upper cup C2 are sucking the outer skin, and the cutting blade 311 moves the outer skin of the fruit upward from the equator to create a circular shape. A cut is made in the circumferential direction, and the outer skin on the upper cup C2 side is separated by the difference in rotation with the lower cup C1, which does not rotate. Then, the guide portion 331a of the annular member 331 is inserted between the outer skin and the pulp, and the remaining outer skin is peeled off.
This allows you to separate the top skin from the bottom skin, much like peeling off a lid. Therefore, the upper skin can be easily peeled off from the pulp.
Further, by inserting the guide portion 331a of the annular member 331 between the outer skin and the pulp, the remaining lower outer skin is pushed outward and the lower outer skin can be peeled off from the pulp. Therefore, the lower outer skin can also be easily peeled off.
Therefore, the fruit peeling device 10 can reliably peel the outer skin.

Further, the lower cup C1 is formed from a cup body C11 and a suction cup C12, and the support tube 221 includes an outer cylindrical tube 221a and an inner cylindrical tube 221b. Therefore, by raising the inner cylindrical pipe 221b and raising the suction cup C12, it is possible to push out the outer skin, which is on the cup body C11 and after the pulp has been taken out, from the lower cup C1.

Further, together with the annular member 331, the pressing part 332 and the fruit-splitting auxiliary part 333 move toward the fruit, and when the pressing part 332 presses the fruit, the fruit-splitting auxiliary part 333 enters the center of the fruit and inflates the balloon. . By doing so, the center part of the fruit swells due to the inflation of the balloon by the fruit splitting assisting part 333, so that fruit splitting can be assisted.

In the first embodiment, the lower cup C1 is described as one cup, and the upper cup C2 is described as the other cup, but the opposite may be used. In addition, the lower cup C1 is placed so as to be in contact with the lower side of the fruit, and the upper cup C2 is placed so as to be in contact with the upper side of the fruit. The cup and the other cup may approach each other from the horizontal direction and sandwich the cup.

(Embodiment 2)
A fruit processing device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be explained based on the drawings.
The fruit processing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 9 has a function of peeling the outer skin of a citrus fruit, which is an example of a fruit, and dividing the capsule.
The fruit processing device 100 includes a steam heating device 101, a fruit sorting machine 102, a fruit peeling device 10 according to the first embodiment, and a fruit splitting machine 103.

The steam heating device 101 is a scolder that heats citrus fruits with high-temperature steam, for example, 98 degrees, to loosen the outer skin. Citrus fruits steamed by the steam heating device 101 are sent from the steam heating device 101 to a fruit sorting machine 102.

The fruit sorter 102 sorts the size of the steamed citrus fruit from the steam heating device 101 and supplies the citrus fruit to the fruit peeling device 10 installed for each size.
The citrus fruits sorted by the fruit sorter 102 are sent to conveyance paths 104a to 104c connected to the fruit sorter 102 based on their size.

In the second embodiment, the fruit sorting machine 102 sorts fruits into four sizes: "large,""medium,""small," and non-standard "extra-large," and removes fruits other than "extra-large" along the conveyance path. Send to 104a to 104c.
Furthermore, citrus fruits determined to be "extra-large" are sent to a discharge path 105 and stored in a box 106.

The citrus fruits conveyed through the conveyance paths 104a to 104c are put into respective water tanks 107 of the fruit peeling apparatuses 10, three of which are arranged in parallel, corresponding to each size.

The pulp of the fruit peeled by the fruit peeling device 10 is collected from the three fruit peeling devices 10 via a conveyance path 108 and is fed into the running water tank 109 of the fruit splitting machine 103.
The fruit splitting machine 103 is for splitting the capsules from the pulp of the citrus fruit from the fruit peeling device 10. The citrus fruit put into the running water tank 109 is split into fruit by a fruit splitting machine 103.

Conventional devices can be used as the steam heating device 101, the fruit sorter 102, and the fruit splitter 103.

In this way, in the fruit processing device 100, the steam heating device 101, the fruit sorting machine 102, the fruit peeling device 10, and the fruit splitting device 103 are connected in series, and the fruit peeling device 10 is connected in parallel according to the size of the citrus fruits. With this installation, it is possible to ship divided sacs from harvested citrus fruits of various sizes.

The present invention is suitable for automation of fruit peeling, and is particularly suitable for citrus fruits.

10 Fruit peeling device 20 Stage unit 21 Stage main body 22 Lower working part 221 Support tube 221a Outer tube 221b Inner tube 23 Rotation drive section 30 Work unit 31 First device 311 Cutting blade 32 Second device 33 Third device 331 Annular member 331a Guide part 332 Pressing part 332a Disc part 332b Spring member 333 Split auxiliary part 333a Tip part 333b Body part 333c Base part 34 Fourth device 341 Pushing part 35 Fifth device 351 Taking out part 351a Cylinder part 351b Rod 36 6 Devices 40 Suction unit 41 Suction pump 42 Suction duct pipe 50 Control panel 60 Upper working section 61 Support tube 62 Rotation drive section 63 Lifting section 100 Fruit processing device 101 Steam heating device 102 Fruit sorting machine 103 Fruit splitting machine 104a to 104c Conveyance Channel 105 Discharge channel 106 Box 107 Water tank 108 Conveyance channel 109 Running water tank C1 Lower cup C11 Cup body C12 Suction cup C2, C3 Upper cup R1 Carrying in route R2 Defective discharge route R3 Removal route R4 Lower skin discharge route

Claims (5)

one cup formed into a bowl shape and holding the fruit, and the other cup;
Suction means for sucking the inside of the one cup and the inside of the other cup;
Rotating means for imparting a rotation difference between the one cup and the other cup;
a cutting blade that cuts into the outer skin of the fruit;
an annular member having a guide portion formed at the opening edge facing the fruit side;
The one cup and the other cup sandwich the branch side and the flower falling part side of the fruit, and the cutting blade makes a circumferential cut from the equator part of the outer skin toward the branch side or the flower falling part side. and while sucking the rind with the one cup and the other cup, rotate it with the rotating means to separate the rind due to the difference in rotation, and insert the guide part of the annular member between the rind and the pulp. A fruit peeling device that peels off the remaining outer skin. the one cup is placed below the fruit, the other cup is placed above the fruit,
The one cup includes a cup body that supports the lower side of the fruit, and a suction cup disposed within the cup body,
2. The fruit peeling device according to claim 1, further comprising a support tube having an outer tube that supports the cup body, and an inner tube that is connected to the suction cup, moves up and down, and is connected to the suction means. 2. The balloon according to claim 1, further comprising: a pressing part that moves in the direction of the fruit and presses the fruit together with the annular member; and a fruit-splitting auxiliary part that enters the center of the fruit pulp and inflates the balloon by injecting air. 2. The fruit peeling device according to 2. The fruit peeling device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, a steam heating device for steaming the citrus fruit supplied to the fruit peeling device, and a steam heating device for steaming the steamed citrus fruit from the steam heating device. A fruit sorting machine that sorts the fruit by size and supplies the citrus fruit to the fruit peeling device installed according to size, and a fruit splitting machine that divides the citrus fruit pulp from the fruit peeling device into capsules. Equipped with fruit processing equipment. a step of sandwiching the branch side of the fruit and the fallen flower part side between one cup formed in a bowl shape and the other cup;
making incisions in the circumferential direction from the equator of the fruit to the branch side or the flower falling part side using a cutting blade that makes an incision in the outer skin of the fruit;
While the outer skin is suctioned by the suction means that sucks the inside of the one cup and the inside of the other cup, the one cup and the other cup are rotated by the rotating means that gives a rotation difference, and the outer skin is removed by the rotation difference. a step of separating the
A method for peeling a fruit skin, comprising the step of inserting the guide part of an annular member having a guide part formed at the opening edge facing the fruit between the outer skin and the fruit pulp, and peeling off the remaining outer skin.

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