GB286415A - A new or improved machine for peeling potatoes and for like purposes - Google Patents

Abstract

286,415. Brenner, J. G. Jan. 13, 1927. Peeling fruit and vegetables; cutting slices in succession.-A machine for peeling fruit or vegetables of the kind having rotary supporting means for the vegetable, and a radius arm having a cutter at its free end arranged to travel over the surface of the vegetable and accommodate itself freely whilst removing a spiral shaving, is provided with a cutter in the form of a flat metal blade with a raised transverse cutting edge b, the cutter having a double pivot connection with the arm 27 which allows the cutter to move freely in two planes at right angles. The cutter has a rectangular opening a, the edge b being struck up to form a cutting edge which may be inclined to the plane of the strip. On each longitudinal edge, the cutter is bevelled, and on the back are formed two pivot lugs c carrying a small plate e having a pivot hole e' for attachment to the radius arm 27. A struck-up sharpened edge f of the opening a nicks the the skin prior to peeling and assists in separating the skin from the vegetable. In the modification shown in Fig. 19, the oblique forward edge has a rolled edge, and the opening a extends to one side of the cutter. The vegetable is impaled on a S-shaped spike 7, journaled in a bearing 5 guarded by a shield 41, and is supported by a pronged member 16, 17 journaled at 15 in a bracket 14 supported by a pillar 12. The arm 27 is carried on a sleeve 23 which is raised or lowered by a screw 19 rotated by bevels 20, 21. The sleeve 23 is coupled to the feed screw by a pin 25 on a plate spring 25a projecting through the sleeve into contact with the screw threads. The arm 27 is carried by a stud 26 rotatable in the lug 23 and in a plate 24, and the cranked end of the arm is engaged by a plate spring 28. The plate 24 is bifurcated to engage the pillar 12 and the spring 28 is adjustably secured to the plate by a screw 29. The spring passes between stop-pins 30 on the plate 24. With this arrangement, the spring 28 keeps the cutter resiliently pressed against the vegetable, or when the arm is swung away from the vegetable, keeps it fully retracted, in which position the arm 27 engages the plate spring 25a and withdraws the pin 25 from the screw 19. Eyes or cores are removed by a gouge 40 attached by a screw thread or bayonet connection to the shaft 10. To remove the unpeeled ends of the vegetable, a slice is provided, Fig. 12, which is hingeconnected to lugs 34 of the frame 1. The plate 35 has an oblique cutting edge 35a and the guide plate 36 is supported on sloping faces on the frame 32. The slice-thickness is adjusted by a screw 37, flange 36b, cross-member 38 and return springs by which the plate 36 is moved to ride up or down the slopes, thereby altering the distance between the planes of the plates 35, 36. According to one of the Provisional Specifications, the slicer is used to slice the vegetable completely. More than one cutter may operate on one vegetable, and more than one vegetable may be impaled and peeled at a time.