WO2003015541A1

WO2003015541A1 - Vegetable core removal apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2003015541A1
Application number: PCT/GB2002/003862
Authority: WO
Inventors: Anthony George Ellis
Original assignee: AEM MACHINERY Ltd
Current assignee: AEM MACHINERY Ltd
Priority date: 2001-08-14
Filing date: 2002-08-13
Publication date: 2003-02-27
Anticipated expiration: 2004-02-14
Also published as: GB0119857D0; GB0402343D0; GB2393108A; GB2393108B

Abstract

Apparatus for the automated removal of cores from vegetables comprises conveyor means (13) including vegetable supports for advancing of vegetables from a loading station (15) to a cutting station (16) and a cutting head assembly (20) comprising at least one hollow tubular cutting element in which the cutting head assembly is movable between a cutting position proximal to a vegetable support in the cutting station (18) and a core-removal position distal to the vegetable support. In use, a core excised from a first vegetable is retained within the cutting element and is pushed therealong and ultimately ejected therefrom by cores from second or subsequent vegetables.

Description

Vegetable Core Removal Apparatus

This invention relates to apparatus for the removal of cores from vegetables. In particular, it relates to automated apparatus for removing the cores of edible-leaf vegetables such as cabbage and lettuce.

In the vegetable processing industry, there is a need for the edible portions of vegetables to be removed from the inedible parts in such a way that they are not spoilt, either by the removal method or by any delay between vegetable harvesting and freezing or use.

The edible leaves of vegetables such as cabbage and lettuce can be removed from the core of the vegetable using various hand-held and/or manually operated cutting devices. On a commercial scale, however, such a processing technique is slow, labour-intensive, prone to cause repetitive strain-type injuries or lacerations to operators and generally unattractive.

It is known from WO 97/13418 that certain vegetables, particularly those of the floretting type, such as cauliflower and broccoli, can have their cores removed efficiently using automated apparatus comprising a vegetable conveyor assembly and core-excision elements comprising a pair of pivotably-mounted lobate or C-shaped cutter blades. The cutter blades are pivotably movable towards each other in such a manner that, when a vegetable is placed in registration with the core-excision elements with the base of its core facing those elements, the blades extract a substantially spheroidal or oblate-spheroidal portion, including the core, from the vegetable. The edible portions of the vegetable then fall away. The core is transferred by the blades to a discharge point whilst the edible portions are conveyed onwards to be further processed or frozen. Such apparatus is less suitable for the removal of cores from vegetables of the edible-leaf type, primarily because the dense packing of the leaves necessitates a stronger cutting force than can be generated by the pivotably mounted blades. A further limitation is that the separation of the leaves following core-excision is not as efficient as the separation of florets.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for the automated removal of cores from vegetables and which gives improvements over the above prior art when used with edible-leaf vegetables.

Accordingly, one aspect of the invention provides apparatus for the automated removal of cores from vegetables, the apparatus comprising conveyor means including vegetable supports for advancing of vegetables from a loading station to a cutting station and a cutting head assembly comprising at least one hollow tubular cutting element in which the cutting head assembly is movable between a cutting position proximal to a vegetable support in the cutting station and a core-removal position distal to the vegetable support.

In use, a core excised from a first vegetable is retained within the cutting element and is pushed therealong and ultimately ejected therefrom by cores from second or subsequent vegetables.

Preferably, the cutting head assembly is movable along a pathway substantially perpendicular to the direction of advancement of the conveyor means and the core-removal position is preferably removed from the pass of the conveyor means.

The cutting head assembly preferably comprises at least one tube of substantially circular cross-section. The end of the tube nearer the vegetable supports is advantageously bevelled to provide a more incisive cutting edge. The diameter of the tube preferably decreases towards the vegetable supports, either in a continuous manner, so as to form a frusto-cone, or in discrete steps with interposing shoulders. The narrowest portion of the tube in the case of a tube with discrete variations in diameter preferably has a length of around 70 to 80 mm. A length of this order ensures penetration into the vegetable to a depth sufficient to remove the bulk of the core.

The conveyor means preferably advances the vegetables in indexed stages and the cutting operation is arranged to be contemporaneous or synchronised with the stationary intervals.

Different length or diameter cutting heads may be provided to enable the efficient coring of different types of vegetables.

The cutting head assembly preferably further comprises at least one core discharge tube dimensioned so as to allow the passage of cores cut by the at least one cutting element and connected to the at least one tubular cutting element at its end remote from the vegetable supports. As the cutting head assembly cycles between its cutting position and its core-removal position, newly cut cores entering the cutting element push previously cut cores into and along the core discharge tube. The core discharge tube may be disposed such that cores, on their exit from the discharge tube, fall into a core receiver placed below the point of exit. The core receiver may comprise a trough or, more preferably, may comprise a core discharge conveyor, the direction of movement of which is preferably substantially orthogonal both to that of the vegetable support conveyor and that of the cutting head assembly. The cutting head assembly is preferably operatively connected to a crank mechanism of which the crank or a crank wheel may be advantageously positioned below the pass of the vegetable supports within the cutting station. Circular motion of the crank shaft thereby provides reciprocating movement of the cutting element between its cutting and core-removal positions.

The conveyor means may comprise a continuous flexible belt actuated by a rotating wheel or drum.

The apparatus may also include one or more light sources positioned above, preferably directly above, the vegetable supports and arranged to project a beam or beams of light towards the loading station to provide a visible or otherwise sensible indication of the central region of the vegetable supports. By means of this indication, it is possible to load vegetables into the supports with the cores substantially centrally positioned and thereby to increase the efficiency of core, rather than leaf, excision.

The apparatus may also be provided with vegetable segmenting means positioned after the cutting station in the direction of advancement. The vegetable segmenting means may comprise one or more blades movable between a segmenting position and a rest position and shaped so as to provide a cutting surface complementary to the vegetable supporting surface of the vegetable supports. A single blade of appropriate length is thereby able to cut a cored vegetable into two parts whereas a double blade, possibly arranged in a cross-formation, is able to cut a cored vegetable into four parts. The segmenting means confers the advantage of smaller pieces of vegetable leaf at the end of the passage of vegetables through the apparatus. Movement of the segmenting blades may be achieved by functional connection of the blades to the crank driving the cutting head assembly. Alternatively, the segmenting means may be actuated by a dedicated driver.

In an alternative embodiment, the segmenting means may comprise a substantially conical or pyramidal block, one vertex of which is pushed into the cored vegetable so as to splay the leaves apart and thus effect a leaf separation step.

In another aspect, the invention provides a cutting element for use in conjunction with apparatus for the automated removal of vegetable cores, the cutting element comprising a hollow tube having a cutting edge at one end, an apparatus attachment interface at the other end and a core passage between the two ends. Preferably, the tube has a substantially circular cross-section. The diameter of the tube may decrease towards the end having the cutting edge, either continuously or in discrete steps.

The apparatus attachment interface may comprise a screw thread suitable for engagement with a complementary thread on appropriate apparatus or may comprise a flange around which a clip can be fitted to enable the cutting element to be fastened to an appropriate part of the apparatus.

In a further aspect, the invention provides a method for the automated removal of cores from vegetables, the method comprising the steps of loading vegetables, with their cores uppermost, onto vegetable supports on a conveyor means, advancing the vegetable supports to a cutting station and removing the cores from the vegetables, the cutting step being performed by a cutting head assembly comprising at least one hollow tubular cutting element and which is movable between a cutting position proximal to a vegetable support in the cutting station and a core-removal position distal to the vegetable support and preferably, in use, removed from the pass of vegetables placed in the supports.

The invention will now be described in more detail by way of example only and with reference to the appended drawings, of which:

Figure 1 shows schematically a side view of core removal apparatus according to the present invention; and

Figure 2 shows a cross section through a cutting element according to the present invention.

In Figure 1, a vegetable core removal apparatus, generally indicated 11, comprises an infeed conveyor 12 and a vegetable support conveyor 13 with a plurality of vegetable support dishes 14. Vegetables arriving at a loading station, generally indicated 15, are loaded, core uppermost, into the support dishes 14 by operatives. The dishes 14 move in an indexed, or stepwise, manner from the loading station 15 to a cutting station, generally indicated 16, by means of the endless conveyor 13 which moves in the direction shown by the arrow A.

Incorporated into the loading station are a number of light sources 17 which, by virtue of their positioning directing above the central points of the same number of vegetable support dishes, are capable of providing operatives with a visible reference for the substantially central location of the vegetable cores within the support dishes. Beyond the loading station in the direction of movement of the conveyor 13 is a cutting station, generally indicated 18. The cutting station 18 has a hood 19 to prevent operatives from injuring themselves by coming into contact with the machinery of the cutting station. The cutting station 18 comprises a tubular cutting element 20, a core discharge tube_21 and a lateral core discharge conveyor 22. The tubular cutting element 20, which is more clearly shown in Figure 2, comprises a tube of substantially circular cross section with a bevelled cutting edge 23. The cutting element 20 has a first portion 24 of a diameter suitable for passing around the core of vegetables placed into the apparatus and a second portion 25 of a larger diameter, the two portions 24, 25 being joined by a sloping shoulder 26. As the cutting element 20 travels in use in a cutting direction through a vegetable, the sloping shoulder 26 and the larger diameter portion 25 act to spread slightly the leaves of the vegetable so as to ease the removal of the cut core and the cutting element. The end of the second portion 25 remote from the shoulder 26 terminates in an external annular flange 27 which can be connected to the screw-threaded end of the core discharge tube 21 by an internally flanged clamp nut 28.

The cutting element 20 and core discharge tube 21 are movable reciprocally in the direction shown by the arrow B. This movement is achieved by a crank assembly 28. A connecting rod 29 is located to one side of the path of the support dishes 14 which are in the cutting station at a given time and is connected at one end to a crank wheel 30 and at the other end to the cutting element 20 and/or the discharge tube 21. As the crank wheel 30 rotates, in either direction, the crank assembly 28 effects a reciprocating core-incision/core-excision motion of the cutting element and discharge tube. Following a core-excision step, at which point the cutting element is at its highest point (as shown in Figure 1) and, in use, contains a vegetable core, the next core-incision step ensues. During the next core-incision step, the cutting element 20 enters another vegetable and, as it does so, the core of that vegetable pushes the core of the previous vegetable along the inside of the cutting element 20 and into and along the core discharge tube. Thus, after the excision of the cores of several vegetables has taken place, a 'train' of cores will be formed in the tube 21. The incision of further cores will then cause discharge of previously excised cores from the free end 31 of the tube 21. Discharged cores fall into the discharge conveyor 22 which moves in a direction substantially into or out of the plane of the page in Figure 1.

Following core excision, the cored vegetables are advanced to the next stage of the cutting station: the segmenting head, generally indicated 32. The segmenting head comprises a blade 33 and a blade holder 34. The blade is shaped so as to have a cutting edge 35 which is substantially complementary to the shape of the inner surface of the supporting dishes 14. The blade 33 and holder 34 are moved in a reciprocating manner from a lower, cutting position to a higher, rest position. This movement is achieved by connecting the holder and/or blade to suitable actuation means (not shown), such as a crank. Indeed, the segmenting head 32 could be actuated, in concert with the cutting element 20, by the crank assembly 28. A plurality of blades 33 can be incorporated into the segmenting head, each positioned along a different diameter of a notional circle described by rotation of the blade 33 about an axis corresponding to the path of its reciprocating movement. When a plurality of blades is used in this way, smaller segments of vegetable leaf are produced at the end of the passage of vegetables through the machine.

Following core excision and segmentation, the vegetable leaves are advanced to an exit or collection point 36. A further conveyor belt may be placed below the point 36 to collect the leaves as they fall out of the dishes 24. This further conveyor then advances the leaves to the next stage of their processing. Alternatively, the leaves may be removed from the dishes by operatives positioned around the point 36.

Claims

1. Apparatus for the automated removal of cores from vegetables, the apparatus comprising conveyor means including vegetable supports for advancing of vegetables from a loading station to a cutting station and a cutting head assembly comprising at least one hollow tubular cutting element in which the cutting head assembly is movable between a cutting position proximal to a vegetable support in the cutting station and a core-removal position distal to the vegetable support.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which the cutting head assembly is movable along a pathway substantially perpendicular to the direction of advancement of the conveyor means.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which the core-removal position is removed from the pass of the conveyor means.

4. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, in which the diameter of the cutting element decreases towards the vegetable supports.

5. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, in which the cutting head assembly further comprises at least one core discharge tube dimensioned so as to allow the passage of cores cut by the at least one cutting element and connected to the at least one tubular cutting element at its end remote from the vegetable supports.

6. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, in which the cutting head assembly is operatively connected to a crank mechanism of which the crank or a crank wheel is positioned below the pass of the vegetable supports within the cutting station.

7. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, further including one or more light sources positioned above the vegetable supports and arranged to project a beam or beams of light towards the loading station to provide a visible or otherwise sensible indication of the central region of the vegetable supports.

8. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, further including vegetable segmenting means positioned after the cutting station in the direction of advancement.

9. A cutting element for use in conjunction with apparatus for the automated removal of vegetable cores, the cutting element comprising a hollow tube having a cutting edge at one end, an apparatus attachment interface at the other end and a core passage between the two ends.

10. A cutting element according to claim 9, in which the tube has a substantially circular cross-section, the diameter of the tube decreasing towards the end having the cutting edge, either continuously or in discrete steps.

11. A method for the automated removal of cores from vegetables, the method comprising the steps of loading vegetables, with their cores uppermost, onto vegetable supports on a conveyor means, advancing the vegetable supports to a cutting station and removing the cores from the vegetables, the cutting step being performed by a cutting head assembly comprising at least one hollow tubular cutting element and which is movable between a cutting position proximal to a vegetable support in the cutting station and a core-removal position distal to the vegetable support, and preferably, in use, removed from the pass of vegetables placed in the supports.