US3424214A - Pineapple strip peeling and coring machine - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 28, 1969 VADAS PINEAPPLE STRIP FEELING AND CORING MACHINE Filed June 20, 1966 Sheet INVENTOR LESLIE VAOAS ATTORNEY Jan. 28, 1969 L. VADAS 3,424,214

PINEAPPLE STRIP FEELING AND CORING MACHINE Filed June 20, 1966 Sheet 2 of 9 F'II3 3 1 HEL INVENI'OR LESLIE VADAS ATTORNEY Jan. 28, 1969 L. vA As 3,424,214

PINEAPPLE STRIP FEELING AND CORING MACHINE Filed June 20, 1966 Sheet 3 of 9 6 Q 00 SI Q $3 O 0 Q N F F'IG El INVENTOR ATTORNEY LESLIE VADAS- Jan. 28, 1969 'L.VADAS PINEAPPLE STRIP FEELING AND CORING MACHINE Filed June 20, 1966 Sheet N3 6 a 6m 2 INVENTOR LESLIE VADAS QM. NN v3 NON QON ATTORNEY Jan. 28, 1969 VADAS PINEAPPLE STRIP FEELING AND GORING MACHINE Filed June 20. 1966 Sheet @\e qmw mi -EFF INVENTOR LESLI E VADAS ATTORNEY d@ 6 3 m fi DANE & N3 3w 2% N2 E r p wmm: @m. N m@ 3. @N 0% 3. f d v E QWWQN vwN W EM 33 W 1 68 b9 u oww wmw NmN wmN wmw vvN 0m vON muqwmrmf Jan. 28, 1969 L. VADAS PINEAPPLE STRIP FEELING AND CORING MACHINE Filed June 20, 1966 Sheet INVENTOR LE 5 LIE VADAS ATTORNEY Jan. 28, 1969 VADAS 3,424,214

PINEAPPLE STRIP FEELING AND CORING MACHINE Filed June 20, 1966 Y Sheet 9 of 9 F'II3 E I3 O O O O O 292 O '58 2'24 0 O O z ae 298 302 0 0 ,312 ,308

mvemda LESLIE VAOAS ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,424,214 PINEAPPLE STRIP PEELIN G AND CURING MACHINE Leslie Vadas, Los Gatos, Calif, assignor to. FMC Corporation, San Jose, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 20, 1966, Ser. No. 558,984 US. Cl. 146-6 13 Claims Int. Cl. A23m 3/12; A47j 17/14, 25/00 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A strip peeler for pineapples forces a coring tube into the fruit while the fruit is first restrained by movable stop plates at the centering head and then restrained by friction rollers, and the fruit is indexed for strip peeling by a series of knives mounted on pivoted arms.

This invention relates to an apparatus for peeling fruit, particularly pineapples, in a manner which maximizes the amount of edible flesh available for canning.

It has been a longstanding practice, the details of which are disclosed in patented prior art, to prepare pineapples for canning by making planar cuts for removing the butt and crown ends, coring the center of the fruit, and removing the outer skin to produce a cylinder of flesh whose side surfaces are parallel to the longitudinal axis of the fruit. Since a pineapple is generally spheroidal in shape, such methods of preparation resulted in a significant amount of waste. There also remained evidence of eyes at the flesh portions adjacent the planar end cuts.

The present invention peels a pineapple by means of an apparatus which removes a substantially constant thickness of skin thereby producing a peeled product having a shape similar to the unpeeled pineapple. This method of peeling is known as contour peeling and it is the subject of my copending application Ser. No. 414,121 filed Nov. 27, 1964, now United States Patent No. 3,352,337, issued Nov. 14, 1967 and application Ser. No. 558,815 filed June 20, 1966.

The second mentioned application discloses an improved knife control arrangement which reduces the loss of high quality fruit. In each application there is disclosed a disc-shaped rotary cutting knife located in a plane parallel to or containing the axis of the pineapple. The pineapple is mounted on a rotary core tube. During the peeling operation the knife and the core tube are rotating and the knife is additionally translated along the length of the pineapple. With such an arrangement the knife describes a helical line of cut along the surface of the pineapple.

This method of contour peeling will be characterized as torsion peeling since the cutting force is located in a plane which is normal to the axis of the fruit. The peeling rate of this method is limited to the tangential force that the average pineapple will tolerate without fracturing. Due to the fact that the fibers of a pineapple extend generally radial of its longitudinal axis, the force necessary to cause separation between fibers by torsion peeling limits the speed of pineapple rotation and cutting tool translation.

In an effort to increase the rate at which pineapples are peeled and yet contour peel the pineapple, in order to maximize the amount of high quality product, this invention provides an organization of structure which removes longitudinal strips of pineapple peel by moving a core-tube supported pineapple longitudinally past a knife which is adapted to follow the contour of the pineapple and produce a strip of peel which is of substantially constant thickness. When the peeling force is applied in a lCC longitudinal direction the possibility of the pineapple rupturing does not arise since the compressive force that the pineapple will tolerate in the longitudinal direction is substantially greater than that encountered during torsion peeling.

In accordance with one feature of this invention there is provided means associated with a conventional Ginaca centering head for preventing longitudinal movement of the pineapple located therein until such time that a traveling coring tube has completed coring of the pineapple. Upon completion of the coring the pineapple is free to progress to the peeling stations of the machine. The above mentioned means preferably are in the form of flat transversely movable door halves which are opened and closed by a power cylinder which is actuated in response to the position of the core tube.

It is another feature of this invention to provide means for impaling the pineapple on projecting lugs provided on the core tube structure. The impaling means disclosed in this application take the form of a pair of transversely spaced rollers mounted for restrained rotation on spring biased pivotally mounted support arms carried by the frame of the machine. As the pineapple passes between and contacts these rollers the force of restrained rotation impales the pineapple on the driving lugs.

Another feature of this invention is the provision of stationary knife supporting structures which are located in the path of movement of the core-tube-supported pineapple and which are effective to follow the contour of the pineapple and remove circumferentially spaced longitudinal strips of peel as the pineapple passes therethrough. Complete removal of the pineapple peel is effected by one or more subsequent peeling stations that engage unpeeled peripheral portions of the pineapple. Between such peeling stations means are provided for indexing the core tube to present the unpeeled portions of the pineapple to the subsequent peeling stations.

Another and equally important feature of this invention is the disclosure of a novel method of peeling pineapples which results in producing a product having a maximum amount of its flesh available for high quality pack.

These and other features, objects and advantages of this invention will be made evident upon consideration of the following description and drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the fruit processing machine incorporating the features of this invention,

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a transverse section ofthe infeed conveyor taken substantially along the line 33 of FIG- URE 1,

FIGURE 4 is another section taken substantially along line 44 of FIGURE 3,

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary of FIGURE 1 showing a pineapple being conveyed to the centering head,

FIGURE 6 is a transverse section taken substantially along the line 6--6 of FIGURE 5,

FIGURE 7 is another transverse sectiontaken substantially along the line 7-7 of FIGURE 5,

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary enlarged plan view of a portion of FIGURE 1 showing the mechanism for impaling the pineapple on the driving lugs of the core tube,

FIGURE 9 is a longitudinal section of FIGURE 8 taken substantially along the line 99 of FIGURE 8,

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary showing a limit switch which is provided for opening and closing the doors located at the exit side of the centering head,

FIGURE 11 is a transverse enlarged fragmentary section of a precut station of FIGURE 1 taken substantially along the line 11-1-1 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 12 is a section taken substantially along the line 1212 of FIGURE 11,

FIGURE 13 is an enlarged transverse section of a peeling station taken substantially along the line 1313 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 14 is an enlarged perspective illustrating the details of the peeling knife,

FIGURE 15 is an enlarged fragmentary illustrating the mechanism for indexing the core tube between peeling stations,

FIGURES 16-19 inclusive are operational views illustrating the manner in which a strip of peel is removed from the surface of the pineapple and also showing how each knife is supported to follow the contour of the pineapple,

FIGURE 20 is an enlarged fragementary of a mechanism which is provided for discharging the peeled pineapple from the core tube, and

FIGURE 21 is an enlarged perspective of a portion of FIGURE 20 showing the form of the discharge finger.

Referring now to the drawings, particularly FIGURES 1 and 2, the general arrangement and over-all operation of the disclosed apparatus will now be described. The fruit preparation machine which is generally designated by the numeral 10 comprises an elongate frame structure 12 provided with suitably spaced supporting legs 14 connected to an elongate framework 16, which is the main frame of the machine. At the left-hand end of the main frame there is provided an infeed conveyor structure 18 including means associated therewith for making a planar cut on the crown end of the pineapple as it is fed to the processing line. From the infeed conveyor 18 the pineapples are discharged onto a V-shaped open-bottom trough 20 whereupon the pineapple is pushed by means of an offset pusher arm or dog 22, which is followed by a coring tube structure 24, to a conventional Ginaca type centering head 26. The discharge end of the centering head is provided with sequentially operated doors or stop members 28 which prevent passage of the pineapple through the centering head until such time that the core tube structure 24 passes completely through the pineapple. The stop members are operated by a pneumatic cylinder 30 operating to open and close the doors depending upon the position of a core tube structure 24.

At the discharge of the centering head 26 there is provided a mechanism 32 for pushing or seating a pineapple, which is supported on the core tube, in contact with lugs or dogs 34 (FIG. which enter the base of the pineapple to insure positive indexing of the pineapple as it progresses through the processing line. Immediately adjacent the mechanism 32, a first precut station 34a (the details of which are shown in FIGS. 11 and 12) is provided for making pairs of longitudinal circumferentially spaced cuts into the skin of the pineapple as the core tube supported pineapple passes threrethrough. Continued movement of the core tube supported pineapple brings it into operative engagement with a first peeling station 36a (shown in greater detail in FIG. 13), which has a plurality of knives corresponding in position and shape so that that portion of the peel, between the pairs of longitudinal cuts made by the precut station 34a, is removed as the pineapple passes therethrough.

The precutting and peeling operations are repeated two more times by precut station 341;, peeling station 36b, precut station 34c, and peeling station 360. Between the peeling station 36a and the second precut station 34b means are provided for indexing the core tube to present an adjacent unpeeled portion of the pineapple to the precutting knives of the station 341:. As the pineapple passes through the precut stations 34b and 36b additional portions of skin are removed. The remaining portion of the skin is removed by the precutting station 340 and the peeling station 36c and in doing so the core tube is indexed between the cutting station 36b and the precutting station 34c.

Once the pineapple emerges through the peeling station 360 it is completely peeled and it then encounters a discharge mechanism 38 for removing the pineapple from the core tube while the core tube is still moving. The pineapples removed from the core tube enter a chute 40 where they may be collected or received by other processing machinery, as desired.

While in this introductory description of the present invention there is provided three distinct precutting and peeling stations arranged in the described sequence, it is to be understood that longitudinal strip peeling of fruit may be accomplished without the need of precut stations and the number of peeling stations would depend upon the diameter of the fruit and the character of the peel. In the case of pineapples the peel is relatively tough, accordingly, requiring the width of the peel strips to be relatively narrow. This, of course, would require a greater number of peeling stations, however, it results in the advantage of producing a peeled fruit whose contour closely resembles the unpeeled shape.

The preferred construction of the infeed conveyor structure 18 is shown in a greater detail in FIGURES 3, 4 and 6. This conveyor comprises a suitable frame structure 42 providing a guideway for a roller chain 44 which is trained about sprockets 46 (only one of which is shown in FIG. 6). The sprocket 46 is fixed to a shaft 48 which is connected to a sprocket chain transmission assembly 50 (FIG. 1) that is, in turn, driven by a motor 52. At spaced intervals along the length of the chain 44 there is secured angle brackets 54. On these brackets generally rectangular support plates 56 are mounted. On alternate ones of the plates 56 spaced right angle ribs 58 are provided to define pockets for carrying the pineapples, indicated by the letter P, upwardly toward the trough 20.

Connected to the frame 42 of the infeed conveyor 18 there is a generally U-shaped housing 60 through which the pineapples travel as they are carried to the discharge end of the conveyor. As shown most clearly in FIGURE 3, the housing 60 is generally U-shaped in construction and it has an upper wall 62 integral with side walls 64a and 64b. Pineapple positioning plates 66 and 68 are carried, respectively, by the upper walls 62 and a side wall 64a. Each of these plates is provided with studs 70 which extend through clearance holes formed in these walls. Compression springs 72 surround the studs and are located between the inner surfaces of the wall and the positioning plates to urge the plates inwardly relative to the respective walls. In the side wall 64]) there is mounted a motor 74 which carries a disc-shaped cutting blade 76. This blade is provided for making a planar cut on the butt or crown end of the pineapple, as desired, before the pineapple is discharged to the trough 20. The above described structure of the infeed conveyor operates in the following manner. Pineapples are fed either by hand, or by some mechanical device, to the inlet end of the infeed conveyor 18. As they are carried upwardly toward the housing 60 the positioning plates 66 and 68 locate the pineapple and hold it firmly while one of its ends is being cut flat by the cutting blade 76. When the pineapple emerges from the housing 60 it therefore has its leading end formed with the planar surface.

Referring now to FIGURE 6, there is shown the relationship of the discharge end of the infeed conveyor 18 and the V-shaped open bottom trough 20. After the pineapple has had its end cut by the blade 76 it is carried upwardly toward the trough 20 until such time that the pineapple rolls off the support ribs 58 over a guide plate 78 which directs the pineapples to the trough 20. As shown best in FIGURE 1, the guide plate 78 is formed with slots 80 which allow the upstanding portions of the ribs 58 to pass therethrough while at the same time providing support for the pineapple as it rolls down the guide plate 78 toward the trough 20. A pineapple that has been conveyed to the V-shaped trough 20 is shown in phantom in FIGURE 5 prior to its entrance to the centering head 26. If desired, a backup plate 82 may be provided to prevent continued rolling of the pineapple, thus insuring that it comes to rest in the trough 20.

On the main frame 16 there is provided laterally spaced endless sprocket chains 84a and 84b which are adapted to carry the core tube structures 24 and oflset pusher arms 22. The sprocket chains are trained about idler sprockets 86 (only one of which appears) which are secured to a shaft 88 that is suitably rotatably mounted on the main frame 16, and drive sprockets 90 (shown in phantom in FIG. 2). The drive sprockets 90 are keyed to a shaft 92 on the end of which is secured a sprocket 94 about which is trained a sprocket chain 96 driven by a motor 98 on whose output shaft there is mounted a small drive sprocket which meshingly engaged the sprocket chain 96. When the motor 98 is energized, the chains 84a and 84b are orbited in a direction indicated by the arrows A in FIGURE 2.

Each of the offset or pusher arms 22 are pivotally mounted on a block 100 which defines a link extending between the chains 84a and 84b. The arm 22 is located within a slot 102 formed in the link 100 and it is pivotally mounted on a pin 104. Torsion springs 106 (FIG. 6) surrounding the pin 104 are provided for urging the pusher arm 22 to the phantom line position shown in FIGURE 5. Each of the offset arms is formed with a trailing arm portion 22a on the end of which is secured a shaft 108 mounting a roller 110. When any one of the pusher arms approaches the sprocket 86 on its lower return run, the roller 108 encounters a track 112 having a cam portion 114 causing rotation of the pusher arm until it assumes the extended position as it passes around the sprockets 86. The track 112 terminates at 116. When the roller 110 reaches the point of termination, the torsion springs 106 are effective to cause retraction of the pusher 22. As shown in FIGURE 5, the pusher 22 is extended as it passes through the trough and through a portion of the centering head 26. It is maintained in its extended position for a suflicient portion of its travel to properly seat or carry the pineapple to the centering head. The point at which the pusher is allowed to retract is chosen so that the largest pineapple being processed would not encounter the doors or stop members 28.

Specific details of the operation of the centering head 26 may be had by reference to Patent 1,060,248 and Patent 2,652,915.

As the pineapple enters the centering head 26 it encounters guide plates 118, being arranged to preliminarily center the pineapple, and the various cooperating centering fingers 120 finally center the pineapple. While the pineapple is so centered the roller 110 leaves the track 112, rendering torsion springs 106 effective to retract the pusher 22, and the core tube structure 24 engages one end of the pineapple pushing it against the stop members or doors 28 which are now closed to prevent further longitudinal movement of the pineapple. However, the core tube structure 24 is still traveling and in doing so it passes completely through the pineapple thereby coring the pineapple.

The core tube structure incorporated in this invention is, in some respects, similar to the core tube shown in my oopending application Ser. No. 414,121 filed Nov. 27, 1964, now Patent No. 3,352,337. Certain differences in operation and construction due to the particular manner in which pineapples are peeled by the present invention will be explained. Still referring to FIGURE 5, it will be noted that the core tube structure 24 comprises a tubular housing 122 rotatably supporting therein a shaft 123 (FIG. 15) on the end of which is mounted a gear 124 which has a projecting square boss 126. The housing 122 is secured to a gear box 128 containing a pair of meshing bevel gears, one of which is secured to the shaft 123 and the other to a core tube 130. In this way, rotation of the gear 124 is transmitted to the core tube 130. The free 6 end of the core tube is tapered at 132 to define a sharp cutting edge which facilitates passage through the pineapple as it is being cored.

Each core tube structure 24 is connected to the laterally spaced chains 84a and 84b by a mounting block 134 extending between the chains and defining a link thereof. The tubular support stem 122 is suitably secured as by welding, or any other desired manner, to the block 134. The link defined by the mounting block 134 is connected to the chains 84a and 84b by elongated pins or axles 136 on the ends of which are mounted rollers 138 traveling in tracks 140a and 14% which are formed by inwardly extending metal strips 142 and 144. These strips are secured to the lateral sides of the main frame 16.

Referring now to FIGURE 7 there is shown the details of construction of the doors or stop members 28. These members comprise door halves 146a and 146b each of which have a semi-oircular coutout to define a hole 148 through which the core tube 130 projects upon completion of the coring operation while the pineapple is located in the centering head 126. Each door is formed with an extension having a spur gear 150 secured thereon. Shafts 152, 153 are provided for pivotally mounting the doors for movement from the full line position to the phantom line position. The shafts are spaced a suflicient distance apart so that when the doors are mounted thereon the spur gears 150 are in meshing engagement. A crank or lever arm 154 is secured to the gear 150 associated with the door 146b. This lever arm is connected by a link 156 to the projecting rod 158 of the pneumatic cylinder 30. When pressure fluid is admitted to the head end of the cylinder 30 by the conduit 159 the doors assume their closed position shown in full outline in FIG- URE 7. To open the doors pressure fluid is admitted to the rod end conduit 160 which rotates the crank 154 in a clockwise direction, thus moving the doors 146b and 146a to the phantom outline position.

Means are provided, actuated by the Position of the pusher arms 22, to open the doors 146a and 146b when the coring of a centered pineapple is completed. In FIG- URES 9 and 10 there is shown longitudinally spaced limit switches 162 and 164 which are mounted on the main frame of the machine and include an operating lever 166 which extends through a slot 168 formed in the frame of the machine. One of the shafts 169, associated with each core tube 24. has an extension 170 which is effective to engage the operating lever 166 and actuate the limit switches as the pusher armand core tube structure 24 is moved by the chains 84a and 84b. Upon completion of the coring operation, and before the dogs or lugs 34 pierce I the pineapple, the switch 162 is actuated operating a valve (not shown) of conventional character admitting pressure fluid to the rod end of the cylinder 130 by the rod end conduit 160 thereby opening the doors 146a and 146b. The limit switch 164 is positioned along the path of movement of the pusher arm such that when the core tube structure is clear of the doors 146a and 146b it is actuated by the extension 170 operating the valve which allows the pressure fluid in the rod end of the cylinder 130 to be exhausted and admits pressure fluid to the head end of the cylinder 130 through the head end conduit 158 thereby closing the doors. This, of course, conditions the centering head so that a trailing core tube structure may effect coring of another pineapple.

It is to be realized that when coring of the pineapple is completed in the centering head 26, the driving lugs or dogs 34 have not pierced the pineapple. This, however, is accomplished by the machanism 32 which is located between the centering head 26 and the first precut station 34a. This is shown in FIGURE 8. The preferred form of the mechanism for pushing the pineapple to impale it on the driving lugs 34 comprises a pair of ribbed rollers 172 rotatably mounted on elongate bolts 174 which extend upwardly through pivotally mounted support arms 176. Each arm is integral with a hub 178 bored to receive a bolt 180 which is threaded into laterally outwardly extending plates 182 carried by the main frame 16. On the underside of each arm there is a depending lug 184 provided with a boss over which one end of a spring 186 is disposed. Small, adjustably mounted angle brackets 188 are secured to the plate 82 by thumbscrews 190 extending through slotted holes 191. The upstanding portion of these angle brackets also include a boss over which the other end of springs 186 are fitted.

The rollers 172 are mounted on the bolts 174 so that they are not freely rotatable. To provide for such restrained rotation, compression springs 192 surround the upper end of the bolts 174. Springs 192 are disposed on the projecting portion of the bolts 174 between washers 193 and 194. When it is desired to increase the rotational restraint of the rollers 172, nuts 196 are turned to compress the spring 192. This, in turn, will increase the contact force between the upper end of the rollers 172 and the washers 193. It is preferable that these rollers be made of suitable rubber-like material having circumferential slots 198 and longitudinal ribs 200 so that intimate and effective gripping action is produced on the surface of the pineapple as it passes therethrough.

According to the above, it will be seen that as the pineapple is moved from the centering head 26 to the first precut station 34 opposite sides of the pineapple encounter the rollers 172. Since the rollers 172 are not freely rotatable they resist passage of the pineapple therethrough and in doing so impales the base of the pineapple on the lugs 34.

On leaving the impaling mechanism 32, the pineapple enters the first precut station 34, the details of construction of which are shown in FIGURES 11 and 12. Since all the precut stations are similar in construction and operation description of the first precut station 34a will suffice for the others. This station comprises a housing 202 carrying precut knives supporting structures 204 which are equally circumferentially spaced about the axis of the core tube 130. Each of the supporting structures comprise a bracket 206 having a base portion secured to the housing 202 by bolts 208. This bracket has an inwardly extending portion 210 and a lateral arm 212 on the end of which there is a threaded hole for receiving a bolt 214 on which is threaded a jam nut 216. As will be explained presently, the bolt 214 limits the minimum diameter of precut.

By means of pivot pins 218 a pair of lever arms 220 and 222, the upper and the lower lever arm respectively, are pivotally connected to the portion 210 of the bracket 206. The upper lever arm 220 is formed with an extension 224 on the end of which is attached a spring 226 that is also attached to each stud 228 secured to the housing 202. The free ends of the lever arms 220 and 222 are pivotally connected to a downwardly extending slightly offset link 230 which carries on the end thereof support means 232 carrying the precut knives. As will be seen by the inspection of FIGURE 12 the links 220, 222, and 230 together with the portion 210 define a parallel linkage mechanism operating to maintain the attitude of the link 230 constant during pivotal movement. The offset link 230 is pivotally connected to the link 220 by a short pivot pin 234 and to the link 222 by an elongate pivot pin 236. The lower end of the link 230 is secured, preferably-by welding at 238, to a U-shaped carrier 240 provided with outwardly extending pivot pins 242 on the ends of its opposite legs. Pivotally connected to the pins 242 is an elongate arcuate depth control gauge 244 formed with lugs 246 having secured thereto binding posts 248. A pair of tension springs 250 are connected between the binding posts 248 and the elongate pivot pin 236. These springs together with the position of the pivot 242 balance the precut mechanism such that it is only slightly affected by the precutting force. As shown in FIGURE 12 the depth control gauge 244 has a central rectangular opening 252 through which precut knives 254 extend. These knives are provided with elongated slotted holes (not shown) and are bolted to transversely spaced mounting ears 256 which are in turn welded to the depth control gauge 244.

There is shown in FIGURE 12 a core tube supported pineapple P as it passes through the precutting station. The leading end of the pineapple engages the arcuate portion of the depth control gauge 244 which assumes an attitude that is substantially tangential to the surface of the pineapple during the precutting process. The tension spring 226 imparts a turning moment urging the precut knives supporting structure 204 inwardly toward the axis of the core tube 130. The force of this moment is sufiicient to maintain the precut knives 254, and accordingly the depth control gauge 244, in forceable contact with the surface of the pineapple. As the largest diameter of the pineapple is encountered the supporting structures 204 move outwardly away from the axis of the core tube, and in following the contour of the pineapple, moves inwardly. As the gear box housing 128 of the core tube structure 24 approaches the support means 232, inward movement of the knife supporting structures 204 is arrested when the link 220 contacts the bolt 21.4. Upon completion of the precutting operation the core tube supported pineapple continues to the first peeling station 36a.

As shown in FIGURE 13 the first peeling station 3611, which is identical to the second and third peeling stations 36b and 360 respectively, has a construction similar to the precutting stations with the exception that instead of the knives 254, a unitary generally U-shaped knife (FIG. 14) is carried by the depth gauge. In view of this similarity the same numerals followed by the letter a will identify the parts common to the precut and the peeling stations. The peeling knife, designated by the numeral 258, is formed with a transverse arched central portion 260 having its ends bent upwardly to define side cutting members 262 and 264. In each of the side cutting members elongated slots 266 are formed. The arched central portion 260 has a cutting edge 268 defined by a beveled surface 270 which angles upwardly and rearwardly from the cutting edge 268. Since the relative cutting motion of the knife is in the direction of the arrow C, the beveled surface 270 assists in keeping the cutting edge 268 into the flesh of the pineapple during peeling. The side cutting members, provided with cutting edges 272a and 2721), are formed by beveled surfaces 274 which are directed inwardly and forwardly and serve the purpose of preventing transverse compression of the strip of peel during the peeling operation and therefore reduce the force necessary to remove a strip of peel from the pineapple.

As in the case of the precutting knives the peeling knife 258 is bolted to the mounting ears 256a and it extends outwardly from a depth gauge 244a a distance equal to the thickness of the peel desired.

The peeling knives of the first peeling station 36a remove those portions of the pineapple skin which have been precut by the preceding precut station 34a. This, of course, further reduces the cutting resistance of the pineapple since the cutting edges 272a and 272b, as a practical matter, generally follow incisions made at the precut station by the knives 254. Consequently, the major cutting action at the peeling station 36a is performed by the cutting edge 268.

After the pineapple emerges from the first peeling station 36a means are provided, supported by the main frame 16, for indexing the core tube before the second precut station 34b comes into operation. In FIGURE 15 there is shown the preferred mechanism for indexing the core tube prior to its entrance into the second and third precut stations 34b and 34c. Mounted on a side wall 16a of the main frame and extending inwardly is a generally rectangular rail 276 welded to studs 278 that are bolted to the wall 16a by nuts 280. This rail extends inwardly toward the longitudinal axis of the machine a sufficient distance to slidably engage, or at least to be closely adjacent, any one of the side surfaces of the square boss 126. While any one of the side surfaces of the boss 126 is slidably engaged with the rail 276 the core tube 130 cannot rotate. At a location between the peeling head 36a and the second precut station 34b the rail 276 is formed with a cutout 282. At this cutout there is mounted a small rack portion 284 located to engage the gear 124 oneach core tube structure 24. As shown in FIGURE the gear 124 has smooth peripheral portions 286 at approximately 90 intervals which serve to rotate the gear 124 90 every time a rack 284 is encountered. In FIGURE 15 there is shown progressive operational positions of a typical core tube as it passes the rack 284. With the core tube moving in a direction indicated by the arrow D one of the peripheral cutout portions 286 comes in contact with the rack. Continued movements of the core tube establishes meshing engagement of the teeth on the gear 124 with the rack. This causes rotation of the gear 124 in a counterclockwise direction, indicated by the curved arrow in FIGURE 15, which in turn, by virtue of the gear box 128 efiects rotation of the core tube 130. As the core tube continues its translational movement meshing engagement between the gear 124 and the rack 284 is discontinued positioning an adjacent surface of the boss 126 in sliding engagement with the inner surface of the rail 276. The downstream side of the cutout 282 is formed with a radius 288 which is generally complementary to the imaginary path described by one of the side surfaces of the boss 126 during translation and rotation thereof. This, of course, insures reliable indexing motion of the gear 124.

It is to be understood that additional means similar to the one described immediately above is provided between the second peeling station 36b and the third precut station 340. Therefore, in moving from the centering head 26 to the discharge station 38 the core tube is indexed twice.

After emerging from the third peeling station 360 the core tube supported pineapple comes under the influence of the discharge mechanism 38, the details of which are shown in FIGURES and 21. The discharge mechanism 38 is mounted on the main frame 16 by a pair of laterally spaced upwardly extending support members 290 rotatably mounting a transverse shaft 292 having sprockets 294 secured thereon in spaced relationship. Idler sprockets 296, rotatably mounted on short stub shafts 298, are mounted on short brackets 300 which are secured in any suitable manner to the support members 290. As shown in FIGURE 1 there are two transversely spaced sprocket chains 302 trained about the described sprockets and they are driven by a suitable conventional mechanism, not shown and not part of this invention, to orbit the sprocket chains 302 at twice the speed as the sprocket chains 84a and 84b.

At selected intervals between the sprocket chains 302 ejection members 304 are provided for removing the pineapples P from the core tube structures 24 and directing them to the discharge chute 40. The action of such ejection members is shown in FIGURE 20. These members comprise a tubular boss 306 having an integral trailing arm 308 slotted to receive a transverse pin 310 being one of the pivot pins of the chains 302. Another pin 312 extends through the boss 306 and is connected to the chains 302. Secured to extend downwardly from the boss is a generally U-shaped fiat pineapple engaging plate 314 having its free ends curved slightly as indicated at 316. The chains 302 are orbited in a direction indicated by the arrows and, it will be recalled, their speed is approximately twice the speed of the chains 84a and 84b. As a core tube structure 24 approaches the discharge mechanism one of the ejection members 304 on the downwardly and forwardly inclined run 302a of the chains engages the end of the pineapple and pushes it off the core tube into the discharge chute 40. The spacing of the ejection member 304 on the chain 302 is such that when a core tube structure 24 approaches the discharge station 28 the peeled pineapple is ejected by one of the ejection members 304. According to the above it is readily apparent therefore that this invention provides a discharge mechanism which removes a core tube supported peeled pineapple without interrupting operation of the chains 84a and 84b.

In FIGURES 16-19 there is shown the sequence of operations effected by the peeling knives. The leading end of the pineapple first encounters the depth gauge 244a. The supporting structure 204a at this time is in contact with the stop bolt 214a. As the pineapple advances the means 232a is positioned as shown in FIGURE 17 whereupon the cutting action 1s commenced. Since there is no indexing between the precut and the peeling stations the knife 258 substantially follows the path defined by the precutting knives 254. Continued advance of the pineapple displaces the supporting structure 204a outwardly while an inward bias is supplied by the spring 226a. At the final phase of removing a strip of peel the supporting structure 204a, moves inwardly until the lever 220a again makes contact with the stop bolt 214a completing that stage of the peeling operation.

It is to be understood that the fundamental concept of this invention can be practiced Without the provision of the precutting stations and that the number of peeling stations would depend upon the size of the fruit being peeled and the character of the peel. For example, two peeling stations may be provided if the peeling knife is sufficiently wide.

While a preferred apparatus and method of peeling pineapples has been shown and described, it is to be understood that the present invention is capable of variation without departing from the principles of the invention and that the scope of the invention should be limited only by the scope and proper interpretation of the claims appended hereto.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and what is desired to be protected by Letters Patent is:

1. A pineapple peeling apparatus comprising means for centering a pineapple, a movable stop plate at the discharge end of said centering means, an indexable traveling core tube for coring and supporting the pineapple while in said centering means, means operable according to the position of said core tube for moving said stop plate to allow the core-tube-supported pineapple to pass through said centering means, a plurality of peeling stations for removing longitudinal circumferentially spaced peripheral strips of skin as the core-tube-supported pineapple passes therethrough, and means between said stations for indexing said core tube between said peeling stations so that unpeeled portions of the pineapple may be removed.

2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said core tube includes driving lugs for entering the flesh of the pineapple, and means at the exit of said centering means for pushing the pineapple on said driving lugs.

3. The invention according to claim 1 further comprising means for making circumferentially spaced pairs of substantially constant depth cuts through the pineapple skin, said cutting means being located in advance of said peeling stations.

4. The invention according to claim 1 further comprising means for removing the pineapple from the core tube while the core tube is traveling.

5. The invention according to claim 4 wherein said removing means comprises a movable member arranged to engage the trailing end of the pineapple with the speed of such movement being sufiicient to remove the pineapple from the core tube and direct the pineapple to a discharge chute.

6. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said stop plate is apertured to allow the core tube to project therethrough to insure insertion of the core tube for the entire length of the pineapple.

7. Apparatus for coring fruit preparatory to the strip peeling thereof comprising a coring tube, means for advancing the coring tube along a path for strip peeling fruit impaled on the coring tube, means for supplying individual fruit ahead of the coring tube, means for frictionally engaging the fruit periphery and centering the fruit on the tube, fruit stop means just downstream of said centering means for restraining motion of the fruit along said path as the coring tube enters the fruit, and means for withdrawing said stop means from the path of the coring tube and the fruit after the fruit has been cored, for accommodating further motion of the fruit along said path for peeling.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said fruit stop means comprises plates mounted for movement into and out of said path, and means formed in said plates to provide a core tube receiving opening when said plates are disposed in the path.

9. A strip peeling head for fruit comprising a support for the fruit, means for causing relative motion of the fruit and said support along a peeling path, generally parallel lever arms pivotally projecting from said support in the direction of said path, an offset link pivoted to the ends of said arms and extending generally normal to said path, said offset link projecting past said arms and toward said path, a knife pivotally mounted on the end of said offset link projection, and spring means for urging said knife toward the fruit path.

10. The peeling head of claim 9, wherein a depth control gauge is mounted to pivot with and project past both ends of said knife, and spring means are provided to urge the leading end of said gauge toward said path.

11. In a fruit peeling apparatus of the character described, a traveling rotatable core tube for coring and supporting fruit, such as pineapple, through successive processing stations, means supporting one end of said core tube, at least one driving lug for piercing the end of the pineapple which is adjacent said support, and means in the path of movement of said core tube for pushing the pineapple to impale it on said driving lug,

said pushing means comprises laterally spaced rollers mounted for restrained rotation and for engaging opposite peripheral portions of the pineapple.

12. The invention according to claim 8 further comprising pivotally mounted arm members mounting said rollers, and means for urging said arm members toward each other.

13. In a machine for contour peeling fruit having the general shape of a spheroid, for example pineapple, while such fruit is supported on a traveling indexable core tube movable along a linear path, said machine comprising spaced cutting stations along said path, means between said cutting stations for indexing said core tube to present unpeeled portions of such fruit to a subsequent station, said indexing means comprises a gear wheel having regularly spaced smooth peripheral portions, a square projecting boss, an elongate rail positioned parallel to said path to slidably engage the sides of said boss, and a rack located in a cut out portion of said rail for engaging the toothed portions of said gear wheel and thus effecting rotation of said gear wheel of an extent whereby an adjacent side surface of the projecting boss is engaged by said rail.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 943,249 12/1909 Jahansan 146-43 1,137,841 5/1915 Cookson 146-6 1,982,709 12/1934 Thompson 14643 1,984,709 12/1934 Taylor 1466 2,034,160 3/1936 Taylor 146-6 X 2,130,980 9/1938 Chattin et al 14643 2,789,603 4/1957 De Back et a1 146-43 2,925,839 2/1960 Mason 14643 3,111,972 11/1963 Anderson et a1. 14652 X 3,115,914 12/1963 Schudt 146-43 W. GRAYDON ABERCROMBIE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 146-52

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