US 4,727,802 A · Fruit pitting machine

Abstract

A fruit pitting machine includes a feeder tray for feeding fruit singly to a fruit conveyor chain which travels around a rotatable support to convey the fruit along a feed path. The rotatable support carries a plurality of pitting plungers and coring knives which are axially aligned and movable by cams toward each other such that a plunger pierces one end of the fruit and a coring knife cuts out a core cap at the other end of the fruit. Thereafter, the pitting plunger pushes the core cap and pit into the coring knife and the pitting plunger and coring knife are retracted away from the feed path. The plunger is retracted with the pitted fruit thereon past a guide member which strips the pitted fruit from the plunger while the coring knife is retracted until a free end thereof is positioned between another guide member and a pitting chain which is rotated around the rotatable support. A core cap ejection rod slidably fitted in each coring knife causes the pit to be maintained in the pitting chain while the core cap is held in the coring knife. Each core cap is separated from its associated pit by movement of the pitting chain with the pit therein away from the rotatable support. The coring knife is then further retracted and the core cap ejection rod causes the core cap to be ejected from the coring knife. Finally, ejection rods remove the pits from the pitting chain.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A fruit pitting machine, comprising:

fruit conveying means for conveying fruit along a feed path to a portion of said feed path at which core caps and pits are removed from the fruit and for conveying pitted fruit to a subsequent point along said feed path at which the pitted fruit is discharged from said fruit conveying means;
feeding means disposed along said feed path for feeding fruit one at a time to said fruit conveying means;
pitting means disposed along said portion of said feed path from removing core caps and pits from the fruit;
core cap and pit receiving means disposed along said portion of said feed path for cutting core caps in the fruit and for receiving core caps and pits removed from the fruit by said pitting means;
and
pit conveying and separating means disposed along said portion of said feed path for separating pits from core caps by receiving pits with their associated core caps attached thereto from said core cap pit receiving means and conveying the pits away from said feed path to strip the pits from their associated core caps.

3 more elements

A fruit pitting machine, comprising:

fruit conveying means for conveying fruit along a feed path to a portion of said feed path at which core caps and pits are removed from the fruit and for conveying pitted fruit to a subsequent point along said feed path at which the pitted fruit is discharged from said fruit conveying means;
feeding means disposed along said feed path for feeding fruit one at a time to said fruit conveying means;
pitting means disposed along said portion of said feed path for removing core caps and pits from the fruit;
core cap and pit receiving means disposed along said portion of said feed path for cutting core caps in the fruit and for receiving core caps and pits removed from the fruit by said pitting means;
pit conveying and separating means disposed along said portion of said feed path for separating pits from core caps by receiving pits with their associated core caps attached thereto from said core cap pit receiving means and conveying the pits away from said feed path to strip the pits from their associated core caps;
and
rotatable support means for rotatably supporting said fruit conveying means over said portion of said feed path, said pitting means and said core cap and pit receiving means, said pitting means including a plurality of plunger means movable towards and away from said feed path for removing core caps and pits from the fruit conveyed by said fruit conveying means, said core cap and pit receiving means including a plurality of coring knife means movable towards and away from said feed path for cutting the core caps and for receiving the core caps and pits removed from a fruit by said plunger means, each of said plunger means being axially aligned with a corresponding one of said coring knife means, and said fruit conveying means, said plurality of plunger means and said plurality of coring knife means being rotatable in synchronism with each other around said rotatable support means to thereby sequentially remove the core cap and pit from each fruit conveyed by said fruit conveying means, said rotatable support means supporting at least part of said pit conveying and separating means, said pit conveying and separating means including a pitting chain for separating pits from their associated core caps and for conveying the pits away from said feed path, said pitting chain rotatably supported by said rotatable support means at a position adjacent said fruit conveying means for synchronized movement therewith along said portion of said feed path.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Fruit pitting machine

Life of this patent

Fruit pitting machine

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20