Stripping of Brussels sprouts from their stems

Abstract

A method of stripping Brussels sprouts from their stems wherein the sprout plants are fed laterally in succession to the nip between a soft resilient surface of a movable member and a series of laterally spaced pressure members each having a soft resilient surface yieldably urged towards the surface of the movable member, the movable member and the pressure members being adapted to cause rotation of each plant substantially about the axis of its stem as it passes into and through the nip, and the sprouts are removed from the stems by a series of successions of resilient stripping members with the members of each succession being spaced apart in the direction of movement of the plants and adapted to exert resilient stripping pressure on the sprouts as the plants pass rotatably along the nip, the series of stripping members and pressure members alternating in the lateral direction of the nip. An apparatus for carrying out the method is also disclosed.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.