PEAR PROCESSER WITH FEED CUP MECHANISM FOR ORIENTING AND PRESENTING PEARS FOR PROCESSING

摘要

A pear processing method and apparatus is provided which includes several mechanisms for properly orienting the pear (7) prior to coring, peeling and seed celling of the pear (7). Each pear (7) is tumbled between a pair of orienting rolls (30) to a position wherein the stem (8) of the pear (7) is oriented downwardly. Whiskers (36,37) on one of the rolls (30) speed up this orienting of the pear (7). A friction clutch (40) on the other roll helps maintain the pear (7) in its proper position, once the proper alignment has been attained. The pear (7) is dropped downwardly into a transfer cup (70) having four resilient fingers (71-74) which tend to orient the pear (7). The pear (7) is then pushed out of the transfer cup (70) downwardly into a feed cup (110) having a concave receptacle (111) for centering the stem (8) of the pear and three upwardly extending arms (120-122) which grasp and center the blossom end (9) of the pear (7). The pear (7) is then transferred to a station wherein the pear (7) is cored and thereafter peeled and seed celled simultaneously. The stem (8) and blossom (9) are also trimmed. The pear (7) is thereafter passed into a slice cup (220) having a design which more effectively separates the waste from the processed pear. IMAGE