AN ASSEMBLY FOR PLACING A DIFFERENT FOOD ITEM INTO THE OLIVE

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an assembly having an automatic or a semiautomatic handling feature and enabling placement of different food items into the olives and other food items. The present invention relates to an assembly enabling hands free placement of natural/pimiento into the olive and placement of the pimiento into the olive by means of a hollow form conveying element.

Prior Art

In the existing technique, the pimiento to be placed into the olive having the kernel thereof being removed is cut by the worker by eyeball estimation and then placed completely with hand skill into the olive upon little twisting and folding thereof. In such a work, a worker provides only a small amount of pimiento placement into the olives in a working day. In addition, the process is not very healthy as well as compliance with the rules of hygiene cannot be controlled. Another important problem is that the pimiento provided in said olives can come out during the packaging, storing, and transportation thereof and at the sale point over time, creating a bad appearance. For the above mentioned manual applications, a mass production, mechanization/automation operation is not impossible. It takes a long time to manually place the pimiento into the olives removed from the kernels thereof (pitted). Such techniques have a serious negative effect on the production speed and quality. However, these methods are still among the currently employed techniques.

Patent numbered US 3,962,474 and published on 08.06.1976, relates to stuffing dried pimiento slices into the olives. The technical content of said United States Patent aims to facilitate stuffing the pitted olives with the dried food by means of an aqueous solution. It comprises a receptacle in which the dried food to be stuffed (dried pimiento) is positioned by being folded after being moistened and secured, a cutter cutting the pimiento confined in said receptacle in certain amounts and sizes, and a pushing mechanism driving and/or placing the cut pimiento piece after the cutting process into the olive. Patent numbered US 3,962,474 is a structure comprising multiple numbers of parts and conveying elements associated with each other. It comprises motion transmission arms, motion transmitters, belt, pulley, reducer and motor groups for pushing the pimiento being cut by the cutter after leaving the cartridge filled with folded pimiento strips in a straight line inside a channel. It also comprises a band system for aligning cutting axis of each olive with the pushing axis and advancing thereof in a straight line. Still, pimiento should be cut in a particular size and should be manually filled into the cartridge after being cut. In addition, it comprises pushing mechanisms for pushing the cut and folded pimiento into the olive and cutting elements for cutting said pimiento in required sizes. Manufacturing, assembly and labor of the United States Patent numbered US 3,962,474 require serious processes as well as result in a high product cost. This represents a negative condition for the consumer.

In the patent application numbered US 4,290,350 and published on September 22, 1981 , a system comprised of a drum developed for filling a paste such as an anchovy paste and rotating on a fixed shaft is used. In said patent natural pimiento is not stuffed into the olive.

In the patent numbered US 5,100,681 and published on March 31 , 1992 a process to prepare pimiento paste for stuffing the pitted olives is described.

In said patents, either dried pimiento is placed into the filling machine by being folded (by hand) in advance or methods are provided for stuffing the olives with artificial (not natural) pimiento paste or gel. Artificial pimiento paste or artificial pimiento gel dissolves after a period of time or comes out of the olives. Description of the Invention

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a new configuration having different technical features bringing a new approach in this area as compared to the applications used in the current state of the art.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide stuffing of the olive with stacked pimiento being cut in desired forms (circle, square, triangle, polygon, star, etc.) without the need for work and hardship of stuffing the natural pimiento into the olives after being cut into required sizes and being folded.

A purpose of the present invention is to provide placement, into the pitted olives, of food items such as pickled or brined natural pimiento, green pepper, carrot, lemon, celery, etc. in particular forms and in the desired amounts. Another purpose of the present invention is to provide placement, into the olives, other food items (natural pimiento, green pepper, carrot, lemon, celery, etc.) in a manner that is much faster, more hygienic, healthy manner as well as that allows for maintaining thereof inside the olives for much longer. Another purpose of the present invention is to present an operation prone to mass production, mechanization, and automation in volumes higher than those provided by the manual operation of the personnel during one working day. Thus, it is to achieve for the producers a production that is greater in amount per unit time, low cost, and profitable.

Another purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the possibility of pimiento egression from the olive of the current state of the art by means of the assembly thereof, making it difficult to occur. Another purpose of the present invention is to provide a structure comprising fewer parts than the United States Patents US 3,962,474 and US 4,290,350, not having complex mechanical mechanisms, and being practical and simple. Another purpose of the present invention is to provide a structure having low manufacturing cost and being easy to manufacture as compared to the United States Patents US 3,962,474 and US 4,290,350. Figures for Better Understanding of the Invention

Figure 1 : Two dimensional front, cross sectional and detail view of the conveying element according to the present invention.

Figure 2: Representational view showing the removal of the circular form food item after the conveying element according to the present invention is pressed onto the food item (pimiento) to be filled.

Figure 3: Cross sectional perspective view of the conveying element pressed onto the food item (pimiento) to be filled together with the olive.

Figure 3.1 : View of the hollow olive.

Figure 3.2: Representational view of the olive stuffed with the food item (pimiento) to be filled there into.

Figure 4: An example view of the structure for mass production according to the present invention.

Figure 5: Another example implementation of the structure for mass production according to the present invention.

Part Numbers

10- Conveying element

11 - Lower open end

11.1 Cutting surface

12- Upper open end

13- Transfer hoses/tubes

20- Olive

21 - Olive cavity

22-Food item

23-Food piece

A-Advancing means

B-Moving element

B1 -Moving plate

B2-Fixed carrier body Detailed Description of the Invention

In Figure 1 , individual view of the conveying element (10) according to the present invention is illustrated. Conveying element (10) is a structure with the lower and upper ends (11 , 12) thereof in the form of an open tube. Said structure comprises a circular form as well as includes square, triangular, and various geometric forms.

Utilization of the conveying element (10) is as follows. In Figure 2, the representative food item (22) illustrated is a preferably pimiento piece. When the lower or upper open end (11 , 12) of the conveying element (10) is pressed on the pimiento piece, said food piece (23) is filled into the tube, i.e. into the conveying element (10) in circular form.

In Figure 3, cross sectional view of the conveying element (10) is illustrated. In this view, food pieces (23), i.e. circular form pimiento pieces are respectively filled into the conveying element (10). As a result of each pressing of the conveying element (10) onto the food item (22), pieces are filled into said conveying element (10) and also advancement in the direction of the arrow is created. The food pieces (23) trying to egress from the other end of the conveying element (10) are directed to the cavity (21) of the hollow olive (20) and stuffing of the food pieces (23) into said cavity (21) of the olive (20) is provided (see Figures 3 and 3.1).

In Figure 4, an alternative view of the structure according to the present invention for mass production is illustrated. Said alternative structure comprises, instead of a method for placing the natural pimiento (or food items) into the olive (20) by folding thereof, a method of 'placing thereof into the olive (20) without being folded in certain forms wherein the food item (22) layer is placed onto an advancing means (A). The other food items, i.e. pitted/hollowed olives (20) are positioned on the other advancing means (A). Filling of the food pieces (23) into the olives (20) by egressing from the other end is provided as a result of the pressing of the conveying element (10) onto the food item (22) provided on the advancing means (A). The conveying element (10) used herein can be a tube having a U form as well as a transfer hose (13) with the end portions thereof being made of a rigid material and the middle portion thereof having a flexible structure. The structure for mass production, representational implementation of which is shown in Figure 4, can also be constructed by using different systems. In this structure, it is possible that cylinders provided with rotational motion preferably by means of a driving center (motor) and band type advancing means connected with said cylinders can be used. It is possible that the conveying element (10) continuously and automatically applies pressure with periodic movements on the food item (22) by means of a moving element (B). The moving element (B) can preferably be a hydraulic or a pneumatic piston as well as driving elements formed by motor and eccentric devices. In another alternative, it is possible that the filler food item (22) being cut by the conveying element (10) can be filled into the olive (20) immediately after removing the kernel of the olive (20) by means of the mechanism integrated to the olive pitting machine. In Figure 5, view of another example implementation of the structure for mass production according to the present invention is illustrated. In this alternative structure, automation of the movement is provided by means of applying a vertical movement on the food items (22) that are advanced by the advancing means (A) through a moving element (B). The moving element (B) is preferably a pneumatic or a hydraulic piston. However, the moving element used in this structure can be a piston with a hydraulic system and it is possible that the vertical linear movement can be applied by means of a different driving mechanism such as an electrical piston and/or a motor (torque motor, servo motor, etc.). Moving elements (B) are positioned on a fixed carrier body (B2), wherein they provide vertical movement to in the c-c' direction to the moving plate (B1) by means of the thrust force received from the fixed body (B2). The moving plate (B1 ) is connected with the conveying elements (10), wherein vertical linear movement is provided in all of the conveying elements (10) connected therewith through the movement of said moving plate (B1).

The present invention relates to a method enabling placement of other food items into the food items, olives in particular, characterized in that it comprises the following steps in order to provide placement of the food items into the olives (20) by being cut in particular forms without the need for the placement of the food items into the olives (20) by being folded: applying pressure on the food item (22) by means of the conveying element (10);

- cutting the food item (22) by means of the lower open end (1 1) cutting surfaces (1 1.1) of the conveying element (10);

- confining the cut food items (22) inside the conveying element (10); and

- transfer of the food items (22) confined in the conveying element (10) into the olive cavity and/or a different food item through the upper open end (12) thereof.