Feeding device for safely feeding fruits in particular to peeling-coring machines

A feeding device, or conveyor, used for safely feeding fruits, particularly but not only to peeling-coring machines for peeling and coring melons and pine-apples, comprising:

• a powered chain conveyor driven intermittently and in synchronism with the internal, fruit grasping mechanisms present in the peeling-coring machines;
• a plurality of cups or other means suited to support the fruits and maintain their orientation, said cups being integrally connected to the chain conveyor by means of height-adjustable supports;
• a main housing or protective frame which covers on all sides and along almost the whole path, both the chain conveyor and the fruit supporting cups, said main housing being located outside the peeling-coring machine;
• a second housing or protective frame, covering the final, upper part of the chain conveyor, and leaving uncovered only the plate of the cup on which said fruit is deposited;
• proximity sensors and/or detectors, controlling the stepwise advancement of the chain conveyor each time a fruit is seized and taken away;
• a structure for supporting the feeding device, which is fixed to the structure of the peeling-coring machine in an appropriate position;
• a covering frame, for covering the fruits which are fed and for preventing the operator's hands from touching said internal mechanisms of the peeling-coring machine;
• wherein, each fruit is displaced, and provided at the required instant, within the peeling-coring machine, at the position where said internal mechanisms grasp the fruit in order to process it;
• and wherein said fruits have been deposited manually on the cups of the feeding device, outside the peeling-coring machine, and with a correct orientation.