US2433125A

US2433125A - Tomato coring mechanism

Info

Publication number: US2433125A
Application number: US634211A
Authority: US
Inventors: Sr Thomas Michael Kane
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1945-12-11
Filing date: 1945-12-11
Publication date: 1947-12-23
Anticipated expiration: 1964-12-23

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 11,,1945

Dec, 23, 1947. T. M. KANE, SR I 2,433,125

TOMATO CORING MEGHANI SM Fi1ed Deo. 11, 1945 2 SheetsJ-Shet 2 Patented Dec. 23, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOMATO CORING MECHANISM Thomas Michael Kane, Sr., Baltimore, Md.

Application December 11, 1945, Serial No. 634,211

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a machine for removing the cores from tomatoes.

In the accompanying drawing which illustrates the invention,

Figure 1 is a side View of the machine, the cutting tubes being shown in longitudinal central section;

Figure 2 is an inner side view of the lower half of the internal cutting tube, showing the core depressor fitting in a slot in the tube;

Figure 3 is an edge view of the core depressor;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the pin holding device which centers the tomatoes below the cutting tubes;

Figure 5 is a view illustrating the manner in which the pin-holding device serves to center the tomato below the cutting tubes.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawing, A indicates a supporting frame for the mechanism, comprising a base I, an upright part 2, an arm 3 at the upper end of the part 2 and projecting at a right angle thereto, said arm having a bearing 4 through which the external cutting tube t extends downwardly. Closely surrounding the lower part of the tube t is a shorter cutting tube t. The lower ends of both tubes are sharp and may, if desired, be made with fine saw teeth.

A shaft 5, journaled in a suitable bearing in the upright A is rotatable by a drive wheel 5 and this shaft drives a bevel gear 3 which meshes with a bevel gear I on the cutting tube t and a bevel gear 8 on the tube if, so that when the shaft is rotated the cutting tubes rotate in opposite directions.

Below the gear 3 an arm 9 projects horizontally from the upright part of the frame and this arm supports a tomato centering mechanism D for centering tomatoes with their cores in alignment with the axes of the cutting tubes, and preventing lateral movement of the tomatoes while they are being cored, as hereinafter explained.

Mounted on the base-piece I is a lifting device L comprising a horizontal disk Z movable upwardly by lever Z and having a dished upper surface for holding the tomato. By means of this lifting device a tomato to be cored is moved upwardly into engagement with the centering device D. This device comprises a circular block it shown in plan view in Figure 4, having a central opening d through which the cutting tubes may extend and having a plurality of pinholes (1 circularly arranged, and diametrically opposite eyelets l0 into which the supporting studs I l, extending downwardly from the horizontal arm 9, extend. The pins, thus arranged in circular rows, are

freely movable and have heads on their upper ends which prevent them from dropping out of the holes in the circular block.

As best shown in Figure 5, when a tomato :1: is moved, upwardly into engagement with the lower ends of the cutting tubes, the pins directly above the tomato are moved upwardly by the tomato, while the pins at the side of the tomato remain down. Hence, the sharp coring tubes may sever the core from the tomato and the pins at the side of the tomato will prevent displacement of the latter while the coring tubes are operating on the tomato.

When the lifting device is lowered the cored tomato passes downwardly from engagement with the coring tubes and the centering pins, and the pins which have been displaced by the tomato drop downwardly again.

During the cutting operation, the device r shown in edge View in Figure 3 and in edge view in Figure 2 tends to force the severed core downwardly.

What I claim is:

A tomato coring machine comprising a suitable support, two vertically arranged coring tubes, one within the other, said tubes having cutting edges at their lower ends, means for rotating said tubes simultaneously in opposite directions, means for lifting a tomato into engagement with the cutting edges of the tubes and means for centering the tomato and preventing it from lateral movement while the cutting tubes are operating on the tomato, comprising a horizontally arranged support having an opening to permit the cutting tubes to pass through into the tomato and having a plurality of pin holes surrounding said opening and pins movable vertically in said holes, whereby when the tomato is moved upwardly to engage the cutting tubes the pins above the tomato will be moved upwardly by the tomato and the pins at the side of the tomato will remain down and prevent lateral movement of the tomato.

THOMAS MICHAEL KANE, SR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,152,441 Schlothan Sept. '7, 1915 1,448,532 Harding Mar. 13, 1923 1,485,681 Lake Mar. 4, 1924 2,075,750 Pease Mar. 30, 1937