Avocado Cutting And Pitting Process And Multi-Lane Machine
AssigneeCti Foodtech S.R.L.
InventorsBiagio Crescenzo, Giovanni CRISPI
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An avocado cutting and pitting process has steps of: vertically approaching pairs of knives to the fruit-holding flights so that blades of each pair of knives are inserted in opposite sides of the avocado and in diametrical slots of fruit-holding flights recesses; horizontally moving the pairs of knives so that the blades approach each other around the same avocado pit; horizontally moving the pairs of knives so that the blades move away from each other with respect to the pit; lowering plungers for beating the pits; lifting the plungers with respect to the pits; and vertically removing the pairs of knives with respect to the avocados cut and pitted on the fruit-holding flights. A multi-lane machine for the process is also described.
Claims12
An avocado cutting and pitting process, including:
- stages of feeding, orienting and advancing along several lines of avocado on fruit-holding flights equipped with recesses with diametrical slots,
- a cutting stage in which each avocado is divided into two halves by means of a pair of knives with facing blades, and
- a pitting stage in which the avocado pit is beaten by means of a plunger to be slightly moved inside the avocado and detached from the pulp, characterized in that the cutting and pitting stages include:
- a vertical approach step of the pairs of knives to the fruit-holding flights so that the blades of each pair are inserted in opposite sides of the avocado and in said diametrical slots of the recesses in which the avocados are placed,
- a horizontal translation step of the pairs of knives so that the blades approach each other around the same pit,
- a horizontal translation step of the pairs of knives so that the blades move away from each other with respect to the pit,
- a lowering step of the plungers for beating the pits,
- a lifting step of the plungers with respect to the pits, and
- a vertical removal step of the pairs of knives with respect to the avocados cut and pitted on the fruit-holding flights.
A multi-lane machine comprising:
- a longitudinal frame,
- a conveyor having fruit-holding flights that are connected, at each end thereof, to links of a chain advancing along the longitudinal frame, the fruit-holding flights being equipped with a series of recesses that are opened at the bottom and transversely spaced, sized according to the caliber of the avocados to be transported,
- a cutting and pitting station, comprising
- a transversal head movable vertically with respect to the fruit holding flights above them, on first vertical guides perpendicular to the longitudinal frame above the conveyor, the transverse head having a lower side;
- a plurality of pairs of knives for each fruit-holding flight, in the transverse head above the respective recesses for cutting avocados,
- a cover element,
- a plurality of plungers in the form of rods fixed to a movable crosspiece by means of a connecting rod-crank mechanism driven by a brushless motor mounted on the cover element, to strike the pit and to move it inside the avocado in order to detach it from the pulp,
- characterized in that the cutting and pitting station also includes:
- transversal sliding coupling guides, located in the lower side of the transversal head;
- a left knife holder slide and a right knife holder slide, equipped at the top with sliding means cooperating with said transversal sliding coupling guides;
- left knives and right knives forming a plurality of pairs of knives suitable for simultaneously cutting a plurality of avocados on each fruit-holding flight;
- and
- drive means able to simultaneously move the left knife holder slide and the right knife holder slide to allow a coplanar translational movement of approaching and moving away of the left knife and the right knife of each pair of knives with respect to said pit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.