NZ234973A - Apparatus for topping, tailing and halving fruit in one operation - Google Patents

Description

23 4 9 7 3 Under the provisions of Regulation 23 (1) the ..GGmfi)?*..

Specification has been ante-dated to 19 NEW ZEALAND ^X.. ...

Initials PATENTS ACT, 1953 Divided from No. 219420 No: Date: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION ? A u- c! b "Hb. >i '% n/' V/,. -v/ £ D FRUIT PROCESSING AND APPARATUS THEREFOR I y^e MARTECH EQUITIES LIMITED, a duly incorporated company having its registered office at 12 Arkley Avenue, Pakuranga, AUCKLAND and COMBINED SOCIAL CLUBS Dl DISCOUNT LIMITED a duly incorporated company having its registered office at ' 6 Arawa Street, Grafton, AUCKLAND &J> R w Iplfo o hereby declare the invention for which/^Aatg pray that a patent may be granted to nvilus, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement 234973 This invention relates to an apparatus and method for peeling fruit. It is particularly suited to the peeling of fruit having a tough skin such as kiwifruit, feijoas or tamarillos but is not limited thereto.

Methods are known for peeling fruit which involve prior treatment of the fruit in lye or by freezing fruit and then abrading the skins off the fruit. Each of these methods result in some deterioration of the quality of the fruit.

It is an object of this invention to go some way towards overcoming this disadvantage or at least to offer the public a useful choice.

Accordingly the invention the subject of New Zealand Patent Specification No. 219420 may be said broadly to consist in a fruit peeling apparatus comprising: a knife having a curved blade, said knife fixed to a frame member pivotal from an inoperable to an operable position, means to pivot said frame member, fruit positioning and restraining means co-operable with said knife and frame member, and fruit rotating means co-operable with said knife, the arrangement and construction being such that in use fruit is in said positioning and restraining means while said knife and frame member are pivoted from said inoperable position to said operable position whereby said curved blade penetrates said fruit immediately to the inside of the fruit skin, said fruit rotating means then contacting the outside of the fruit skin adjacent said blade, the friction of said fruit skin allowing the fruit to be rotated by contact with a surface of said fruit rotatinq means while the knife cuts tie skin free from the fruit pulp. 23 4 9 7 Preferably said knife and said pivotal frame member together with associated fruit guide form in combination a knife assembly, a plurality of said assemblies being mounted on an endless conveyor, said conveyor having means to drive it.

Preferably said endless conveyor is associated with a flat surface along which topped, tailed and halved fruit are advanced by said fruit guides, the fruit sitting upon the fruit halved surfaces, said flat surface forming with said guide said fruit positioning means.

Preferably the plane of said flat surface is' at an acute angle to the horizontal.

Preferably said flat surface is a metal sheet.

Most preferably said metal sheet is a stainless steel sheet.

Preferably each said fruit guide is substantially in the form of a triangle, the base of which is parallel to a lower side of said flat surface and the sides from the base to the apex thereof being curved to correspond to the outside curve of the fruit being guided thereby.

Preferably said fruit restraining means comprises a bar substantially parallel and above said flat surface, said bar being biased against the topped or tailed surface of a fruit passing therebeneath above the position along said conveyor where said knife is advanced into said fruit.

Preferably said fruit rotating means comprises a surface with a high co-efficient of friction mounted to one side of said conveyor adjacent the path of said knife assembly. 234973 Preferably said means to pivot said knife and frame member comprises a cam surface which advances said knife into said operable pos ition.

Preferably said surface with a high co-efficient of friction is biased into the path of each said knife assembly, the length of said surface being calibrated to be at least equivalent to the greatest outside measurement of fruit to be peeled thereby.

Alternatively said surface with a high co-efficient of friction is mounted on a roller, said roller being rotatable in contact with said fruit.

Preferably there is provided an opening in said flat surface downstream from said fruit rotating means down which fruit separated from its skin may be dropped.

Alternatively there is a chute at the downstream end of said flat surface down which fruit being advanced fall.

Preferably there is a bin immediately below the pulley wheel associated with the downstream end of said conveyor into which freed skins on said knives may be dropped.

The invention may be said broadly to consist in a fruit peeling apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1 to 6 of the drawings accompanying this specification.

In a further alternative embodiment said fruit positioning and restraining means is a guideway comprising an elongate conveying surface, a side and a top, said knife and frame member travelling along in close approximation to said conveying surface and side.

Preferably said fruit rotating means comprises said side portion of said guideway.

Preferably there are a pair of said knives and corresponding pairs of said frame members comprising together with a common mounting-- _ ?34 973 frame a knife assembly, said knife assembly being itself mounted on an endless chain, there being provided a pair of said guideways, one to either side of said chain, one knife and frame member being associated with one guideway and the other knife and frame of the pair being associated with the other guideway, the arrangement being such that in use two pieces of fruit may be peeled at the same time.

A further embodiment, the subject of the present invention, may be said broadly to consist in an apparatus for topping, tailing and halving a fruit in a single operation comprising: three parallel fixed blades spaced at even distances from one another, a fruit holder, conveying means for conveying fruit in said fruit holder through the cutting edges of said blades, said fruit holder being constructed so as to retain fruit therein aligned with its main axis perpendicular to the cutting edges of the blades and having spaces to allow the passage of said three blades through the fruit held therein without touching the holder, the arrangement being such that in use said conveying means conveys said holders past said fixed blades, the blades passing through a fruit held in each said holder to top, tail and halve the fruit in one pass.

Preferably said conveying means comprises a pair of concentric spaced discs, each said fruit holder being mounted between said discs, said blades being aligned to be directed between the said discs in the D EC 19 91 ^JJ direction of said holders. ? c\ A still further embodiment, the subject of New Zealand patent specification No. 234972, consists in an apparatus for slicing fruit comprising a plurality of concentric spaced discus rotatable with each other, 234973 cut out portions in the circumferential peripheries of each of said discsforming fruit transport pockets, a guideway below and outside of the discs for guiding fruit in said transport pockets, a number of stationary blades corresponding to spaces between said discs, said blades mounted in said spaces with said blades vertically arranged so as not to be directly above one another, the arrangement being such that in use a fruit in a said transport pocket is rotated by said discs within said guideway against the cutting edges of said stationary blades. The arrangement of the blades being such as to cut in a transverse direction, from the bottom up, slices of fruit as the rotating fruit is advanced against the cutting edges.

The invention may also be said broadly to consist in a fruit peeling apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 7 to 14 of the accompanying drawings.

The invention may also be said broadly to consist in a method of peeling fruit comprising topping, tailing and halving said fruit, aligning each fruit half so produced in an upright position, inserting a curved blade immediately inside the skin thereof, contacting the skin of said fruit outside and adjacent said blade with a friction surface, rotating said fruit while maintaining contact between the friction surface and the skin to thereby separate the skin from the fruit pulp and removing the fruit pulp from the released skin.

Alternatively said fruit is held still and said blade is rotated while the outside of the skin thereof is held still by said friction surface.

Preferably said fruit is stood on its halved surface prior to inserting said blade.

Preferably the fruit is kiwifruit.

Alternatively the fruit is tamarillo. 234973 Alternatively the fruit is feijoa.

This invention may also be said to consist in a method of peeling fruit substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1 to 14 of the accompanying drawings.

The invention may be more fully understood by having reference to Figures 1 to 14 of the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a schematic side elevation of an embodiment of the invention from a plane normal to the axes of rotation of the pulley wheels of the conveyor.

Figure 2 is a schematic top plan view of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 2A is fragmentary schematic top plan view of the embodiment shown in Figure 2 having an alternative way of discharging peeled fruit.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of a knife assembly according to the invention.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of a knife assembly according to the invention.

Figure 5 is an end elevation view of a knife assembly according to the invention.

Figure 6 is the sectional view VI-VI shown in Figure 2.

Figure 7 is a side elevational schematic view of a second embodiment of the invention.

Figure 8 is a top plan view of the embodiment of Figure 7.

V ^ ' ^ , °li " 6DEC|99jm// 234973 Figure 9 is an end elevation of the embodiment illustrated in Figures 7 and 8 taken from the left hand end as seen in Figures 7 and 8.

Figure 10 is a top plan view of a fruit holder for feeding fruit into the top, tail and halving knives.

Figure 11 is an end elevation of the fruit holder shown in Figure 10.

Figure 12 is a side elevation of the fruit holder shown in Figure 10- Figure 13 is the cross-sectional view XIII-XIII in Figure 7.

Figure 14 is a side elevation in enlarged scale of the view XIV-XIV shown in Figure 8.

FIRST EMBODIMENT Referring to Figures 1 and 2 in one embodiment the invention comprises an endless conveyor chain 10 which passes over pulley wheels 12 and 14 and travels in an anti-clockwise direction as shown by the arrows A and B in Figure 1.

On the conveyor chain 10 there are a plurality of knife assemblies 16. The chain 10 pivots on pins 11 (Figure 6) as it passes over sprocket wheels 12 and 14. The construction of the knife assemblies 16 is more particularly described with reference to Figures 3, 4 and 5. Some representative assemblies are shown in Figures 1 and 2. In a preferred embodiment chain 10 will carry a continuous stream of knife assemblies 16. Associated with the conveyor chain 10 and knife assemblies 16 is a flat surface 18, preferably made of stainless steel. This is positioned adjacent to the conveyor chain 10 and works in association with the knife assemblies 16 as will be described below particularly with reference to Figure 6. 234973 For a better understanding of the invention in Figures 1 and 2 the apparatus is described with reference to zones A to E. Above the flat surface 18 in Zone C is a fruit restraining bar 22 which is biased downwardly in the direction of surface 18. Mounted on arm 21 (see Figure 6) below the conveyor chain 10 is a cam surface 20 which begins in Zone B and carries through to Zone E. As will be seen from the cut out portion in Figure 2 cam 20 commences in a position parallel to and to one side of the path followed by the knife assemblies 16 and then curves towards frame 56 (see Figure 6) directly into the path of the knife assembly 16 in a manner to be described with reference to Figure 3 below.

In Zone E of the conveyor chain assembly there is a discharge opening 25 leading to a chute 24 down which fruit which have been peeled by the apparatus are discharged. Immediately below pulley wheel 14 is a bin 32 for catchingthe skins 31 of fruit falling off the knife assemblies 16 as they pass around sprocket wheel 14.

In an alternative construction illustrated in Figure 2A a chute 57 is provided at the downstream end of surface 18 at the end of Zone E. Chute 57 is directly below the position of the peeled fruit as they reach the downstream end of flat surface 18.

Referring to Figure 6 it will be seen that the axes 13 and 15 of sprocket wheels 12 and 14 respectively are, in operation, mounted at an acute angle to the horizontal. In the embodiment illustrated this angle is approximately 30°. The associated frame members 52 and 56 as shown in Figure 6 are mounted at a corresponding angle. Surface 18 extends from the top of frame member 52 along substantially the length of the upper lap of chain 10. A guide or rail surface 54 supports the linkages of chain 10. On the top of frame member 56 234 973 there is provided a side railing 50 extending along Zones A, B, C and E as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 and 2A. There is a gap in railing 50 in Zone D where there is provided a surface 25 having a high co-efficient of friction, for example a nylon brush surface.

This is biased by spring means into the path of the knife assembly 16 in a manner which will be described in relation to the operation of the apparatus.

Toward the upstream end of the conveyor chain 10 there is provided a pair of conveyors 28 and 30 on which halved fruit 29 which have also been topped and tailed are conveyed onto surface 18. Upstream from conveyors 28 and 30 is an assembly comprising three knives which top, tail and halve the fruit to be peeled. The halves are then conveyed into a plough share device which feeds them with their halves face down on to conveyors 28 and 30 and hence onto surface 18.

Referring to Figures 3, 4 and 5 each knife assembly 16 comprises a main frame member 46 having mounted upwardly therefrom a fruit guide 34, a pivotal frame 40 and a winged surface 48. Member 46 and winged surface 48 may be one moulded piece of, for example, polytetrafluoroethylene. The fruit guide 34 is in one embodiment a substantially triangular block having a flat base 35 parallel to the side of the conveyor assembly and a pair of curved surfaces 36 and 37 leading from the base to the apex of the triangular shaped guide 34. It can be made from a suitable moulded plastics material. The curves of surfaces 37 and 36 correspond to the shape of the fruit to be peeled. Alternatively surfaces 36 and 37 can be curved pieces of metal or plastics or other suitable material. 234973 The knife frame 40 has a side member 41 on which is mounted the curved knife blade 38. Frame 40 is pivotal on pivot pin 42. Cam surface 44 contacts in operation cam 20 as will be described below. The knife assembly is illustrated in the operative condition in each of Figures 3 to 5. In the in-operative position frame 40 is pivoted downwardly about pin 42 by gravity and the point of knife 38 is below the top of frame member 46. Knife 38 is in one preferred embodiment offset downstream of frame member 46 to allow peeled fruit to drop clear of frame member 46.

In operation drive is transmitted to one of the sprocket wheels 12 or 14 and the chain 10 is advanced in a counter clockwise direction as illustrated in Figure 1. Each knife assembly 16 in the upper lap of the apparatus advances with guide 34 above and frame member 46 below surface 18. Winged surface 48 in conjunction with the under face of surface 18 and rail 54 maintain each knife assembly 16 substantially stable.

Each fruit half 29 discharged onto the upper face of surface 18 from either chute 28 or chute 30 slides by gravity to the lower (as illustrated in Figure 2) side of the surface 18 to rest against railing 50 and between adjacent guide surfaces 37 and 36. This locating of the fruit occurs in Zones A and B as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. As each knife assembly 16 advances from right to left its cam surface 44 begins to strike cam 20. As cam 20 curves more into the path of the knife assembly 16 it slides under surface 44 which rides up onto the upper surface of cam 20. In Zones D and E cam 20 is directly beneath the lower surface of frame member 40 as is illustrated in Figure 6. Contact of surface 44 with cam 20 in Zone C raises the knife 38 into the pulp 33 of the fruit 29 just inside its 23 49 73 ■ skin 31 as is illustrated in Figure 6. At this time each fruit is passing directly beneath restraining bar 22 which biases the restraining bar 22 against the flat topped or tailed upper surface of the fruit 29 to ensure that the knife 38 penetrates the fruit for the full height of the skin 31 and does not merely raise the fruit 29 from the surface 18.

Penetration of the knife 38 is achieved in Zone C. In Zone D the outside of the skin 31 contacts friction surface 26 which is being biased, by a spring, for example, against the skin to the outside of knife 38. The friction is sufficient to rotate the fruit 29 as the knife assembly 16 passes along the length of friction surface 26. It will be seen that the friction surface 26 must be at least as long as the greatest outer measurement of the fruit being peeled. Preferably some allowance is made for slipping and oversized fruit. As the fruit 29 rotates the skin 31 is peeled from the pulp 33. Toward the downstream end of Zone E after the skin 31 has been separated from the pulp 33 the fruit is directly over opening 25 and drops down along chute 24 for further processing.

In the alternative embodiment of Figure 2A a knife assembly 16 pushes a fruit 29 to the very end of surface 18. The advantage of the offset in knife 38 is shown here. The knife assembly 16 does not pivot down over sprocket wheel 14 until pin 11 reaches the top of the sprocket wheel. Just before this happens knife 38 and frame 41 stand suspended over the end of chute 57 and the peeled fruit falls away past the end of surface 18 onto chute 57.

Each assembly 16 then continues down over sprocket wheel 14 and skins 31 fall by gravity into bin 32. ~ ^fCJ99j 234 97 SECOND EMBODIMENT Referring to Figures 7 and 8, in a second embodiment of the invention disclosed there are four sections of the apparatus which perform four separate functions. Section 60 is a singulator/orientator system which conveys single fruit 61 oriented in the correct direction into the apparatus. The second section is the topping/tailing/halving section 62. The third section is the peeling section 64 in which the skins are removed from the fruit halves. The fourth section is the optional slicing section 65.

The singulator/orientator section 60 consists of a conveyor comprising a series of concave rollers 66 attached at either end to an endless chain 68. The rollers 66 are rotatable as well as being conveyed by the chain 68. Rollers 66 roll on a track 70 over a wheel 72. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 7 the chain 68 moves in a counter-clockwise direction. At the pick-up end of section 60 (not illustrated) fruit 61 are fed on to the rollers 66. Because of the concave construction of rollers 66 and because the rollers 66 are rotating as they roll up track 70 the fruit 61 are oriented with their axes perpendicular to the direction of travel.

At the discharge end of section 60 there is provided a transfer wheel 74. Wheel 74 has a hub of metal or plastics but most of its volume is made of a compressible foam. Wheel 74 is rotatable about a central shaft 75. Its operation will be described below.

The topping/tai1ing/halving section 62 consists in a pair of transfer discs 76 and 77 on which are mounted a series of fruit holders 78. Disc 76 as illustrated in Figure 7 is driven to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction toward topping knife 80, halving knife 82 and tailing knife 84 (see figure 8). 234973 The fruit holders 78 are illustrated in Figures 10 to 12. Each holder consists of a pair of side members 92, a base 112 and fruit end holders 90 and 91. Each holder 78 is pivotal on a pin 88 relative to discs 76 and 77. Pin 88 passes through the discs 76 and 77. A second pin 89 extends to either side of the discs and acts as a stop against the circumferential edge of discs 76 and 77. At one end of the holders there are a pair of end walls 94 and 95 which comprise the sides to the holding compartment for the fruit. A corresponding pair of walls 96 and 97 are provided at the other end of the holder. A slot 110 is provided down the centre of the holder 78 to allow the halving blade 82 to pass completely through the fruit 61 without contacting the holder 78.

Completing section 62 are a pair of chutes 86 and 87 down which the topped, tailed and halved fruit pieces 61 fall. Referring to Figure 7 the face visible in the chute is a flat face along which the halved fruit 61 will slide to a rest position illustrated by arrow 111 in Figures 7 and 8.

The next section of the apparatus is the peeling section 64.

Most of the components of peeling section 64 are illustrated in Figure 13 although reference should also be made to Figures 7 to 9 as wel 1.

At the heart of section 64 is an endless conveyor having a series of pairs peeling knives operating simultaneously on the two fruit halves discharged at the bottom of each of chutes 87 and 86.

When viewed from Figure 13 the right hand part of a peeling station comprises a knife 114 which in a preferred embodiment has something of a half ploughshare shape fixed on to a curved arm 116. The curvature of arm 116 is illustrated in Figures 7 and 8. Arm 116 is pivotaL^.^1— 234973 about a pin 118 from a carrier frame 152. The knife assembly in the left side of Figure 13 is the mirror image of that on the right side. It comprises a knife 132 extending upwardly from an arm 134. Arm 134 is pivotal about pin 136 on knife carrier frame 152. The conveyor frame assembly comprises a rail 150 (below the upper lap of the conveyor chain conveying the knife assemblies) and an upper conveyor frame member 148. Carrier frame 152 has a pair of brackets 154 and 155 extending downwardly from it to either side of chain links 156 and 157. Rotatable between chain links 156 and 157 is a roller 158 which rides on the upper surface of rail 150.

On the upper right hand side of the conveyor frame there is conveying surface 124 along which the fruit half 61 slides. The surface 124 is sloped at about an angle of 45° to the horizontal in a preferred embodiment, but other lesser angles such as 30° (as in the first embodiment) may be used. At the side of surface 124 is a side railing 130. There is a gap 133 between the outer edge of surface 124 and railing 130 which is wide enough to allow blade 116 to pass through it. A flat sheet or restraining member 122 interesects railing 130. Through member 122 there is a slot 123 through which the end of knife 114 may project and ride along. A guard 120 is provided over the top of sheet 122.

To one side of the conveyor chain is a cam surface 126 which raises arm 116 and blade 114 into the operative position illustrated in Figure 13. Below the path of arm 116 is a sloping surface 128 which slopes towards the centre of the apparatus.

Correspondingly on the left hand side there is provided an angled surface 142 along which a fruit half 61 slides. There is a side or railing member 147 and a restraining member 140 having a slot 234975 141 therethrough along its length. A guard portion 138 guards the projecting top of knife 132. A cam surface 144 corresponding to cam surface 126 and sloping surface 146 complete the conveyor frame.

There is an edge 125 at the downstream end of 124. Correspondingly there is an edge 143 at the downstream end of surface 142.

Referring to Figures 7 and 8 there is provided below the upper lap of the knife assembly conveyor chain a conveyor belt 164 which travels over rollers 163 and 165. When viewed in Figure 7 belt 164 is driven in a clockwise direction so that the upper lap is travelling in a direction opposite to the direction of travel of the conveyor chain.

At the downstream end of the upper lap of conveyor belt 164 there is a second conveyor belt 166 which when viewed in Figure 13 is travelling in a clockwise direction, that is, a direction perpendicular to the direction of travel of the knife assembly conveyor apparatus. Belt 166 is mounted on rollers 167 and 169. A guide rail 168 is provided over the top of belt 166.

Referring to Figure 7 the knife assemblies after leaving peeling section 64 pass over sprocket wheel 161 and in their return leg ride along the upper surface of return track 162. On this return track the knives are raised so that arms 116 and 134 are in a substantially horizontal position. The assemblies are then transported around sprocket wheel 160.

Slicing section 65 will now be illustrated. This section is conveniently used with the peeling device'according to the present invention but can also be used in stand alone configuration. The section is illustrated in greatest detail in Figure 14. 234973 The conveying means for transferring fruit 61 discharged from section 64 via the upper lap of belt 166 comprises five concentric discs 170 having a series of fingers 170a, 170b, 170c, 170d and 170e forming a series of pockets 171. The discs 170 are mounted on a geneva wheel 173 which in turn is mounted on a driven shaft 172.

There is a curved conveying surface 175 with a curved side railing 176 forming with the pocket 171 the path of travel of each topped, tailed and halved fruit 61. Interspaced between fingers 170a-e are four blades 174a, 174b, 174c and 174d extending radially outwardly in the path of pockets 171. Below fingers 170a there are provided a series of sloping surfaces 178a, 178b, 178c, 178d and 178e on to which fruit slices 61a, 61b, 61c, 6Id and 61e may fall. A conveyor belt 180 lies vertically below slopes 178a-e.

The operation of the second embodiment will now be described.

Fruit 61 are fed, usually by gravity, to the lower end of singulator/orientator section 60. The concave shape of rollers 66 causes the fruit 61 to be oriented with their axes at substantially right angles to the direction of travel of the conveyor.

As a pair of rollers 66 and a fruit 61 contact wheel 74 the foam is compressed and the wheel is rotated in a clockwise direction.

Discs 76 and 77 in top, tail, slice section 62 are rotated in synchronization with the conveyor chain 68 so that a holder 78 arrives to one side of a roller 66 passing over wheel 72 so as to catch a fruit dropping off the end of the conveyor and convey it in a counter-clockwise direction compressing the foam in wheel 74 as illustrated in Figure 7. This further rotates wheel 74 in a clockwise direction. 234973 As discs 76 and 77 continue to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction blades 80, 82 and 84 pass through the fruit held in each of the holders 78. Blade 82 passes into slot 110 and slices the fruit 61 in half. Blades 80 and 84 top and tail the fruit at the same time and the topped and tailed portions of fruit 61 are held in side holders 90 and 91 until the holder 78 is rotated past the 9 o'clock position as seen in Figure 7. As also seen in Figure 7 a halved and topped fruit half 61 slides down chute 86 to the position 111 at the upstream end of surface 124. Referring to Figure 13 in a similar manner the other fruit half 61 falls down chute 87 to the upstream end of conveyor surface 142.

In the meantime the knife assemblies are being conveyed in a counter-clockwise direction (with reference to Figure 7) over sprocket wheels 161 and 160. Knife arms 116 and 134 contact their respective cam surfaces 126 and 144 slightly upstream from position 111 so that knife blades 114 and 132 pass through gaps 133 and 149 and penetrate the halves 61 fruit just inside the skins 131. The tips of the blades 114 and 132 emerge through slots 123 and 141. As the knife assemblies are advanced along rail 150 below guide 148 the outer surface 131 of the two fruit halves 61 are held by their own weight and friction against sides 130 and 147 of the assemblies so as to rotate the fruit halves 61 relative to the stationary blade as the knife assemblies move along peeling section 64. If desired a friction surface can be provided on the inside of sides 130 and 147.

The length of surfaces 124 and 142 are calibrated to ensure that the fruit halves have been rotated through at least one complete circumference before each half reaches the edges 125 and 143 respectively. The fruit halves then fall away from their skins 131 23 4 9 7 3 to land on sloping surfaces 128 and 146 and then on to conveyor belt 164. Preferably the leading edges of knives 114 and 132 are not razor sharp but are more approximate the sharpness of the non-cutting side of a dinner knife so as to scrape the fruit pulp from the skin.

Because of the curvature of the arms 116 and 134 the peeled fruit halves are able to fall unobstructed on to conveyor belt 164. The skins 131 remain draped about the knives 132 and 114 as they fall to the position shown in ghost in Figure 13 once they have passed the end of cams 126 and 144. The skins 131 fall off the skins 114 and 132 either as they pass down under sprocket wheel 161 or when they are raised to the position shown in Figure 9 as they ride on the return leg on the top of return rail 162.

The peeled fruit halves are conveyed on conveyor 164 in a direction upstream to the direction of travel of the knife assembly conveyor chain and pass onto belt 166 which is travelling laterally in a direction perpendicular to the direction of travel of the knife assembly conveyor chain. Guardrail 168 ensures that fruit passing from conveyor 164 do not fall off the edge of conveyor belt 166.

Conveyor belt 166 takes the fruit into pockets 171 in the slicing section 65 as best illustrated in Figures 8 and 14. Fingers 170a-e rotate in a clockwise direction (as seen from Figure 8) against knives 174a-d and fruit slices 61a-e thereby produced fall onto a conveyor 180 where they are taken for further processing. The staggering of the knives 174a-d ensures that the fruit pulp maintains its structural integrity during slicing while making use of gravity to assist with the pushing motion of the fingers 170a-e.

Both embodiments of the invention have been described in relation to the peeling of kiwifruit which has been topped or 234973 tailed. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that it is possible to align a piece of fruit on its vertical axis and use the knife to penetrate near the bottom end of the top and achieve topping, tailing and peeling using the method of this invention.

Kiwifruit is particularly suited to peeling by this method and apparatus but any fruit having a tough skin and capable of being easily sliced may be treated in the same way. Tamarillo and feijoa are other fruit types particularly suited to treatment by this method.

An advantage of the method and apparatus of this invention is that they can be used to peel fruit that are not circular in section. During separation of skin from pulp the friction surface pushes the skin against a relatively narrow surface of the knife.

This allows the knife to follow a somewhat irregular path while cutting corresponding to the outer shape of the fruit.

The invention has also been described in relation to a conveyor system. It will be appreciated that the method and apparatus of the invention can also be used with the knife in a position where it is pivotal but not lineally movable. The fruit could be sat on a turn table and a frictional surface be rotatable to turn the outer skin of the fruit about the knife.

Other permutations and combinations of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. 234973

Claims (3)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. An apparatus for topping, tailing and halving a fruit in a single operation comprising: three parallel fixed blades spaced at even distances from one another, a fruit holder, conveying means for conveying fruit in said fruit holder through the cutting edges of said blades, said fruit holder being constructed so as to retain fruit therein aligned with its main axis perpendicular to the cutting edges of the blades and having spaces to allow the passage of the three blades through the fruit held therein without touching the holder, the arrangement being such that in use said conveying means conveys said holders past said fixed blades, the blades passing through a fruit held in each said holder to top, tail and halve the fruit in one pass.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said conveying means comprises a pair of concentric spaced discs, each said fruit holder being mounted between said discs, said blades being aligned to be directed between the said discs in the direction of said holders.

3. An apparatus for topping, tailing and halving a fruit in a single operation substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 7, 8 and 9. \ *"6Dfc/99;rj;•* JJ ^ f \r