Blueberry destemmer

A self-aligning fruit destemmer comprising:

• a first and a second driven shaft;
• a frame for rotatably supporting said first and second driven shafts;
• a wheel and a sprocket mounted on opposite ends of said first and second driven shafts;
• a third driven shaft supported on said frame below said first and second driven shafts;
• a sprocket on each end of said third driven shaft;
• said wheels and sprockets on each end of said first and second driven shafts being oriented in the same plane as a sprocket on the same end of said third driven shaft;
• a pair of continuous endless chains connecting the wheels and sprockets on respective ends of said first and second driven shafts and the sprockets on said third driven shaft;
• a driving means connected to said third driven shaft;
• a plurality of spaced metal rollers rotatably connected between each of said endless chains;
• a gear mounted on one end of each of said rollers with the gears on adjacent rollers being on opposite ends;
• a pair of spaced gear racks mounted on opposite sides of said frame for cooperating with said gears on each end of said rollers for driving adjacent pairs of rollers toward each other as said endless chains and said rollers move about said driving and driven shafts under the influence of said driving means;
• whereby any debris or object which might cause either of said endless chains to go out of time will merely cause said chains to slip on said wheels restoring the timing of said affected chain.

A self-aligning drive for a fruit destemmer having a fruit conveying endless belt made up of counter-rotating rollers rotatably supported at each end by endless chains comprising:

• a supporting frame;
• a first driven shaft rotatably supported by said frame;
• a second driven shaft spaced from said first driven shaft and supported by said frame;
• a wheel and a sprocket mounted on opposite ends of said first driven shaft;
• a wheel and a sprocket mounted on opposite ends of said second driven shaft, said wheel and sprocket being reversed from the orientation of said wheel and sprocket on said first driven shaft;
• a third driven shaft rotatably supported on said frame parallel to and below said first and second driven shafts;
• a sprocket mounted on each end of said third driven shaft;
• said fruit conveying endless belt being movably supported on said wheel and sprocket on each of said first and second driven shafts and being driven by said sprockets on said third driven shaft;
• a driving means for said third driven shaft for causing said fruit conveying endless belt to move about said driven shafts being maintained in proper alignment by said sprockets on said third driven shaft and by the slippage of said endless chains on said wheels when a foreign object attempts to make said endless chains lose alignment.

A roller for fruit destemmers comprising:

• an elongated metal rod having a metal surface for contacting the fruit;
• an enlarged portion of said metal rod having substantially parallel edges forming a roller;
• a gear mounted on one end of said metal rod for causing said metal rod to rotate under the influence of a cooperating gear rack;
• and
• a textured surface on said metal roller for reducing the adhesion of said metal roller for the skin of fruit being destemmed.

An endless fruit conveyor belt for a fruit processing machine comprising:

• a pair of spaced endless chins made up of multiple interconnected links;
• a plurality of support pins projecting from one side of each chain with said support pins on each chain being aligned and facing toward each other;
• a plurality of metal rollers being rotatably supported upon opposed pairs of support pins, each of said metal rollers having a metal fruit contacting textured surface;
• a gear mounted on one end of each roller of said plurality of metal rollers with the gears on adjacent rollers being mounted upon opposite ends.