Electric motor driven abrasive roller peeler and cleaning machine

A food processing apparatus for cleaning and peeling food product comprising:

• (a) a stationary frame having an inlet end and an outlet end;
• (b) a pair of spaced apart end plates carried by the frame;
• (c) at least four abrasive rollers each having an axis of rotation with one end of each roller journalled for rotation to one of the end plates and the other end of each roller journalled for rotation to the other of the end plates and the rollers rotatively mounted to the end plates forming a generally upturned U-shaped chamber for receiving food product therein;
• (d) an electric power supply;
• (e) an electric motor coupled to one end of each abrasive roller for rotating each abrasive roller;
• (f) a variable frequency electric motor drive connected to the power supply and to at least one of the abrasive roller drive motors for controlling operation of at least one of the motors to control the rotational speed of at least one of the abrasive rollers coupled to at least one of the motors.

A food processing apparatus for cleaning and peeling food product comprising:

• (a) a frame having an inlet end and an outlet end;
• (b) a pair of spaced apart end plates carried by the frame;
• (c) at least four abrasive rollers each having an axis of rotation with one end of each roller journalled for rotation to one of the end plates and the other end of each roller journalled for rotation to the other of the end plates and rotatively mounted to the end plates with at least a portion of the rollers forming a generally semicircular chamber for receiving food product therein;
• (d) an electric power supply;
• and
• (e) an electric motor electrically connected to the power supply and coupled to one end of each abrasive roller for rotating each abrasive roller such that the output shaft of each motor is generally coaxial with the axis of rotation of the abrasive roller coupled to the motor.

A food processing apparatus for cleaning and peeling food product comprising:

• (a) a frame having an inlet end and an outlet end;
• (b) a pair of spaced apart end plates carried by the frame;
• (c) at least four abrasive rollers each having an axis of rotation with one end of each roller journalled for rotation to one of the end plates and the other end of each roller journalled for rotation to the other of the end plates and the abrasive rollers rotatively mounted to the end plates with at least a portion of the rollers forming a generally semicircular chamber having an inlet for admitting food product into the chamber and an outlet for expelling food product out of the chamber;
• (d) an electric power supply;
• and
• (e) an electric motor for each abrasive roller that is electrically connected to the power supply with each motor having an output shaft and the output shaft having an axis of rotation;
• and
• (f) a cycloidal gear reducer coupled to the output shaft of each abrasive roller drive motor and having the output shaft of each gear reducer coupled to an abrasive roller with the axis of rotation of the gear reducer output shaft generally coaxial with the axis of rotation of the abrasive roller coupled to the gear reducer output shaft.

A method of peeling and cleaning fruits and vegetables comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a stationary frame having a pair of end plates, a plurality of elongate and generally cylindrical abrasive rollers journalled for rotation at each end to an end plate, a gear reducer having an output shaft coupled to each abrasive roller, an electric motor having an output shaft coupled to each gear reducer, and an electric power supply for providing electric power to operate each motor;
• (b) applying electrical power to each motor;
• (c) reducing the output speed of the motor output shaft;
• and
• (d) rotating each abrasive roller.