Feeding device for safely feeding fruits in particular to peeling-coring machines

A feeding device for safely feeding fruit to a fruit handling machine, comprising:

• a powered chain conveyor driven intermittently and in synchronism with internal, fruit grasping mechanisms present in the fruit handling machine;
• a plurality of cups to support manually-deposited fruit and maintain a correct orientation of the deposited fruit, each cup comprising a plate upon which plate the fruit is deposited,
• height-adjustable supports that integrally connect said cups to the chain conveyor;
• a main housing which covers, on all sides, both the chain conveyor and the fruit supporting cups,
• said main housing being located outside the fruit handling machine;
• a second housing, covering a final, upper part of the chain conveyor, and leaving uncovered only the plate of the cup on which the fruit is deposited;
• proximity sensors controlling a stepwise advancement of the chain conveyor each time a fruit is seized and taken away from one of the plates;
• a supporting structure supporting the conveyor, the supporting structure being fixable to the fruit handling machine;
• a covering frame positioned for covering the fruit which are fed by the conveyor and for preventing an operator's hands from touching internal mechanisms of the fruit handling machine, wherein,
• each cup and deposited fruit is displaced, and provided at a required instant, within the fruit handling machine, at a position where the fruit handling machine grasps the fruit in order to process the grasped fruit.