Cherry pitter

A pitter for removing a pit from a fruit with an outer flesh comprising:

• a platform adapted to support the fruit having an opening sized to allow passage of the pit, the opening also sized to prevent passage of the fruit;
• a pit ejector reciprocal along a longitudinal axis, the ejector comprising an elongate punch with a proximal end near the platform, the punch having at least two arms radiating out from the longitudinal axis, the arms each being inclined from the proximal end of the punch to form a hollow center;
• a first chamber positioned beneath the opening in the platform to receive the pit;
• a second chamber positioned to receive the fruit after the pit has been removed;
• and
• means for reciprocating the pit ejector between a forward position near the platform and a retracted position away from the platform, the pit ejector being movable from the retracted position to the forward position to drive the elongate punch through the fruit and push the pit through the outer flesh of the fruit and through the opening into the first chamber, the pit ejector being movable from the forward position back to the retracted position to pull the fruit towards the retracted position wherein the first chamber is positioned within the second chamber.

A pitter for removing a pit from a fruit with an outer flesh comprising:

• a platform adapted to support the fruit having an opening sized to allow passage of the pit, the opening also sized to prevent passage of the fruit;
• a pit ejector adapted to reciprocate along a longitudinal axis, the ejector comprising an elongate punch with a proximal end near the platform, the punch having at least two arms radiating out from the longitudinal axis, the arms each being inclined from the proximal end of the punch to form a hollow center;
• means for reciprocating the pit ejector so that the elongate punch drives through the fruit and pushes the pit through the outer flesh of the fruit and through the opening;
• an upper reservoir for housing a plurality of fruits;
• and
• a delivery passage connecting the upper reservoir to the platform, the delivery passage having an arcuate channel tapering away from the platform, the channel being sized and positioned to align the fruits and to deliver the fruits from the upper reservoir onto the platform one at a time.