Apparatus for facilitating separation of peel from produce
US4125066A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 31, 1977 |
| Grant date | Nov 14, 1978 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 31, 1997 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA23N7/01
- WIPO fieldOther special machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus for facilitating separation of peel from fruit in which the fruit is sequentially loaded into a plurality of pockets extending around the circumference of a vertical, rotating reel. The reel is mounted in a tank holding a caustic treating solution so that the fruit in the pockets is carried downwardly into the solution as the reel rotates. Incoming fruit is conveyed into a receiving tank containing the solution so that the solution cushions the fall of the fruit from the conveyor. The solution is heated and recirculated into the receiving tank thereby carrying the fruit over a weir and into the pockets in the reel. The pockets are formed by a plurality of spaced apart paddles or dividers extending from a relatively large hub to the outer periphery of the wheel. The inner portions of the paddles are perforated so that the solution flows between pockets and through the fruit which, being less dense than the solution, is urged toward the hub by buoyant forces. The caustic solution passing about the fruit agitates the fruit to assist in loosening the peel from the fruit.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.