Continuous cycle destoning and halving machine, particularly for peaches, apples and similar fruit

A continuous cycle destoning and halving machine, particularly for peaches, apples and similar fruit, comprising a continuously moving endless conveyor belt extending around two ring gears rotating on spaced vertical axes, one being a drive gear and the other a driven gear, the conveyor belt supporting a row of half cups, said conveyor belt comprising a chain, to each link of which there is connected a half cup for containing fruit, an idle roller on each half cup which slides on a continuing horizontal rail extending around and supported by the machine frame outwardly of and parallel to the chain, there being provided at points along said conveyor belt an automatic loading station above one of the ring gears for loading the fruit onto the conveyor belt, a fruit positioning station disposed downstream of said automatic loading station, a fruit processing station in proximity to the other of said ring gears and a discharge station for the processed fruit disposed downstream of said processing station, said automatic loading station comprising;

• a container including a fixed annular duct having an outwardly sloping bottom wall, an upper wall, an outer wall, an inner generally vertical wall, said inner wall extending along a portion of said outer wall, a group of radial dividing elements driven in synchronism with said conveyor and defining a plurality of generally radial channels which distribute fruit to said duct in radial lines and drag the fruit circumferentially along said duct, one of said duct walls including a single opening through which the outermost piece of fruit of a line is singly discharged onto an underlying aligned half cup of the conveyor.