Technical Field

The present invention relates to a device for extracting juice and pulp from a fruit or vegetable.

Background Art

Several devices are known for extracting juice and pulp from fruits and vegetables such as, e.g., the mixer and centrifugal machine.

To obtain a fruit shake the fruits have to be cleaned manually so as to remove their skin and seeds and introduce just the pulpous parts in the mixer.

The mixer therefore has the drawback of requiring the complete cleaning of the fruit and vegetable in order to prevent a low quality shake from being obtained since it also contains the solid parts without pulp. The cleaning operation of a fruit or vegetable to be mixed, which sometimes can be difficult and take a lot of time, is therefore essential but makes the use of the mixer not so quick.

Therefore to extract the juice from fruits or vegetables such as carrots, tomatoes or the like, the centrifugal machine is generally used.

The centrifugal machine comprises a centrifugation tank operated in rotation by a motor and delimited at the bottom by a tight-mesh netting for squeezing and filtering the pulp.

The fruit or vegetable from which the juice has to be extracted is inserted in the centrifugation tank and is pressed by means of a suitable pressing device.

The combined action of the tank rotation and the relative mesh netting, together with the pressure exercised through the pressing device, allow squeezing the fruit or vegetable inserted, after which, through the effect of the centrifugal force, the solid part and the liquid part separate from each other. The solid part represents therefore the processing wastes while the liquid part, which makes up the juice, is conveyed into a glass or a container.

The centrifugal machines of known type do also have several drawbacks.

It generally happens that most pulp of the processed fruit or vegetable remains attached to the skin and therefore is not squeezed, so the resulting juice is mostly composed of water making up the fruit or vegetable itself and therefore is devoid of nutritional substances.

Another drawback of the known centrifugal machines is that they cannot process all types of fruit or vegetable, thus resulting in a restricted application field.

Moreover, up to now, to obtain semi-solid preparations such as sauces or homogenized food the desired fruits or vegetables have to be boiled, after which they have to be peeled and mashed with an ordinary tomato masher.

This practice, besides being rather complex and not very practical, is also not so efficient since a part of the active principles and mineral salts of the fruit or vegetable is dispersed in boiling water.

Description of the Invention

The main aim of the present invention is to provide a device that allows extracting juice and pulp from a fruit or a vegetable in a simple and effective way and at the same time keeping unchanged the active principles and properties of the fruit or vegetable used.

Within the ambit of such aim, one object of the present invention is to provide a device for extracting juice and pulp which can be used with any type of fruit or vegetable.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device that does not require, at least in most cases, to carry out any operation on the fruit or vegetable to be used and is therefore quick and immediate to use.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for extracting juice and pulp that is simple and easy to use and that, at least for some types of fruit or vegetable, does not require the use of a pressing device for its operation. Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for extracting juice and pulp from a fruit or vegetable that allows overcoming the mentioned drawbacks of the state of the art within the ambit of a simple, rational, easy and effective to use as well as low cost solution.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more evident from the description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of a device for extracting juice and pulp from a fruit or vegetable, illustrated by way of example, but not limited to them, in the annexed drawings in which:

figure 1 is an axonometric view of the device according to the invention;

figure 2 is a section view of the device of figure 1 ;

figure 3 is an axonometric view of the exploded view of the device of figure 1. Embodiments of the Invention

With particular reference to such figures, by 1 is globally indicated a device for extracting juice and pulp from a fruit or vegetable.

The device 1 comprises at least a crushing device 2 for crushing a fruit or vegetable and at least a filtering device 3 operatively connected to the crushing device 2 so as to separate the juice and the pulp from the solid part of the crushed fruit or vegetable, i.e. from skin and seeds.

More particularly, the device 1 comprises a frame 10 for containing both the crushing device 2 and the filtering device 3.

Advantageously, the filtering device 3 is put in communication with the crushing device 2 and the device 1 comprises valve means 4 placed in between the crushing device 2 and the filtering device 3.

The valve means 4 are alternatively mobile between at least an open position and at least a closed position respectively to put in communication and to isolate the crushing device 2 with/from the filtering device 3. The valve means 4 can be of the electric or manual type.

More particularly, the crushing device 2 comprises a crushing chamber 5 and crushing means 6 arranged inside the crushing chamber 5.

Similarly, the filtering device 3 comprises a filtering chamber 7 and filtering means 8 arranged inside the filtering chamber 7. The filtering chamber 7 is in communication with the crushing chamber 5 and the valve means 4 are placed in between them.

The crushing chamber 5 is delimited laterally by a side wall 9, preferably of round shape, and by a bottom wall 11. The crushing chamber 5 also comprises an inlet mouth 12 for the fruit or vegetable to be crushed and an outlet mouth 13 for the crushed fruit or vegetable.

The crushing means 6 are made up of one or more blades 14 supported in rotation inside the crushing chamber 5 by a shaft 15 revolving around a substantially vertical axis.

The inlet mouth 12 is arranged on top of the crushing means 6 and can be closed by means of a lid 16. In an alternative embodiment, not shown in the illustrations, the inlet mouth 12 can be shaped in such a way as to house a pressing element suited to press the fruit or vegetable to be crushed against the blades 14.

In the preferred embodiment shown in the illustrations, the outlet mouth 13 is defined in correspondence to the bottom wall 11 of the crushing chamber 5. The outlet mouth 13 is put in communication with the filtering chamber 7 and can be closed by the valve means 4.

More in detail, the valve means 4 are arranged in correspondence to the outlet mouth 13 and are suited to open and close the outlet mouth itself in the open position and in the closed position respectively.

In the embodiment shown in the illustrations, the valve means 4 comprise a lever 4a which can be operated manually by an operator and which protrudes outside the frame 10 and a partition wall 4b integrally associated with the lever 4a and suited to obstruct the outlet mouth 13 in the closed position of the valve means themselves.

More particularly, in the closed position, the partition wall 4b defines at least partially the bottom wall 11, while in the open position it frees the outlet mouth 13 thus allowing the transit of the crushed fruit or vegetable.

Suitably, the bottom wall 11 is sloped in such a way as to convey the crushed fruit or vegetable towards the outlet mouth 13, i.e. towards the area defined by the partition wall 4b in the closed position.

Advantageously, the filtering chamber 7 is arranged lower than the crushing chamber 5, so that the crushed fruit or vegetable which accumulates in correspondence to the area of the bottom wall 11 defined by the partition wall 4b in its closed position falls directly inside the filtering chamber itself when the lever 4a is brought in the open position.

The filtering chamber 7 has an inlet opening 18 for the crushed fruit or vegetable, which communicates with the crushing chamber 5 when the valve means 4 are in the open position, and comprises at least an outlet opening 19 for the solid part of the filtered fruit or vegetable.

In the preferred embodiment shown in the illustrations, the inlet opening 18 substantially faces the outlet mouth 13.

More particularly, the filtering means 8 comprise at least a filtering wall 20, which delimits at least partially the filtering chamber 7, and at least a rotor element 21 moving in rotation inside the filtering chamber itself and suited to press the crushed fruit or vegetable against the filtering wall 20.

More in detail, the outlet opening 19 is arranged substantially opposite the inlet opening 18 with respect to the rotor element 21.

The filtering wall 20 substantially defines the bottom of the filtering chamber 7 and has a plurality of meshes suited to allow the transit of the juice and pulp of the crushed fruit or vegetable and not of their solid parts such as skin and seeds. Preferably, the filtering wall 20 is curved.

The rotor element 21, which can be driven in rotation around a substantially horizontal axis, has at least a bucket 22 suited to press the crushed fruit or vegetable coming from the crushing chamber 5 against the filtering wall 20, so that the juice and pulp pass through the meshes of the filtering wall itself while the solid part remains inside the filtering chamber 7.

The rotor element 21 rotates inside the filtering chamber 7 so as to drag the solid part of the filtered fruit or vegetable towards the outlet opening 19. More in detail, the rotation direction of the rotor element 21 is such that its bucket 22 moves along the filtering wall 20, pressing the crushed fruit or vegetable against the latter, from the inlet opening 18 to the outlet opening 19, in the direction shown by the arrow in figure 3.

The outlet opening 19 is suitable arranged along the trajectory of the bucket 22, preferably in correspondence to the filtering wall 20 and, more particularly, in proximity of one of its upper extremity areas.

The filtering chamber 7 and the position of the rotor element 21 inside it are such that the bucket 22, after arriving in correspondence to the outlet opening 19, reaches with its extremity the upper edge of the outlet opening itself. In this way, possible residues of solid material remained on the bucket 22 after the squeezing of the crushed fruit or vegetable against the filtering wall 20 are removed from the bucket itself and conveyed through the outlet opening 19 because of the rubbing of its extremal portion against the edge of the filtering wall 20 which delimits on top the outlet opening itself.

Advantageously, the rotor element 21 comprises elastic means 30 suited to press the bucket 22 against the filtering wall 20, so as to guarantee the squeezing of the crushed fruit or vegetable against the filtering wall itself.

More in detail, the filtering chamber 7 has an eccentric shape and the configuration of the filtering wall 20 and rotor element 21 is such that the distance between the rotation axis of the rotor element itself (and therefore its bucket 22) and the filtering wall 20 decreases when moving from the inlet opening 18 to the outlet opening 19.

During the rotation of the rotor element 21 from the inlet opening 18 towards the outlet opening 19, the bucket 22 moves in radial direction towards the rotation axis of the rotor element itself through the effect of the reduction in the space available, thus pressing the elastic means 30.

As the rotor element 21 moves towards the outlet opening 19, the pressure exercised by the bucket 22 against the filtering wall 20 therefore increases.

Advantageously, the filtering device 3 comprises at least a first container 23 for collecting the juice and pulp of the filtered fruit or vegetable and at least a second container 24 for collecting the solid part of the filtered fruit or vegetable. More particularly, the first container 23 is arranged below the filtering wall 20 while the second container 24 is arranged in communication with the outlet opening 19.

The first and second container 23 and 24 can be removed from the frame 10 independently from one another.

Advantageously, the device 1 comprises operation means 25, 26 for operating at least one between the crushing means 6 and the filtering means 8.

More in detail, the operation means 25, 26 comprise first operation means 25 for operating in rotation the crushing means 6 around their axis and comprise second operation means 26 for operating in rotation the rotor element 21.

In the embodiment shown in the illustrations, the first operation means 25 comprise a first electric motor 25a connected to the shaft 15 below the bottom wall 11 which delimits the crushing chamber 5.

Different embodiments cannot however be ruled out in which the first operation means are of the manual type.

In the embodiment shown in the illustrations, the second operation means 26 comprise in turn a second electric motor 26a connected to the rotor element 21 by means of a series of gears or equivalent system, such as a belt drive.

Different embodiments cannot however be ruled out in which the second operation means are of the manual type.

The first and second operation means 25 and 26, either of the motorised or manual type, can be connected to one another or be independent from one another.

Suitably, in the embodiment shown in the illustrations, the operation means 25 and 26 are operatively connected to a control unit having an electronic central unit and at least an external interface 28, operatively connected to the electronic central unit itself, which can be set up by an operator.

Preferably, at least one of the operation means 25 and 26 is operatively connected to a relative potentiometer suited to adjust the rotation speed of the shaft 15 and rotor element 21 respectively. In the preferred embodiment shown in the illustrations, the operator adjusts the potentiometers of the operation means 25 and 26 through the interface 28.

Different embodiments cannot however be ruled out in which the starting of the operation means 25 and 26 is by means of a relative switch and/or the adjustment of the corresponding potentiometers is done by turning a relative knob placed on the outside of the frame 10.

The operation of the present invention is as follows.

First of all the fruit or vegetable from which the juice and pulp are to be extracted is put in the crushing chamber 5 through its inlet mouth 12.

Once the fruit or vegetable has been put in the crushing chamber 5 the first operation means 25 are started, e.g. by acting on the external interface 28.

Before starting the first operation means 25 the valve means 4 should be brought in the closed position, so as to avoid that, during the crushing phase, a part of the fruit or vegetable falls in the filtering chamber 7 without being crushed.

With the valve means 4 in the closed position the dividing wall 4b partially delimits the bottom wall 11 of the crushing chamber 5.

Through the effect of the rotation commanded by the first operation means 25 to the shaft 15, the blades 14 cut the fruit or vegetable until it is reduced to crumbs, thus obtaining a creamy mix that comprises both the pulp to be squeezed and the solid parts to be rejected. The crushing of the fruit or vegetable put inside the crushing chamber 5 occurs without the need to exert any pressure on the fruit or vegetable so introduced, since it is the rotation speed of the blades 14 that allows to obtain an efficient crumbling of the same.

The operator can decide to interrupt the crushing phase at will, by acting on the interface 28, or he/she can set up, still through the interface 28, a predefined duration of such phase.

Thanks also to the inclination of the bottom wall 11, the crushed fruit or vegetable tends to collect in correspondence to the area defined by the partition wall 4b.

Once the crushing of the fruit or vegetable is finished, the operator brings the lever 4a in the open position, so that the partition wall 4b frees the outlet mouth 13 and the fruit or vegetable so crushed can pass in the filtering chamber 7. The crushed fruit or vegetable which collects on the partition wall 4b is therefore conveyed through the outlet mouth 13 inside the filtering chamber 7 once the lever 4a is brought in the open position.

The crushed fruit or vegetable enters therefore the filtering chamber 7 passing through the inlet opening 18 arranged below the outlet mouth 13.

Once the crushed fruit or vegetable has accumulated in the filtering chamber 7 the operator starts the second operation means 26, e.g. by modifying the interface 28, in such a way as to start the rotor element 21 in rotation.

The rotation of the rotor element 21 around its own axis brings its bucket 22 to press the crushed fruit or vegetable against the filtering wall 20.

The rubbing and pressure exercised by the bucket 22 causes the squeezing of the crushed fruit or vegetable and therefore the outflow of its juice and pulp.

The juice and pulp exiting during the rotation of the bucket 22 pass through the meshes of the filtering wall 20 and end up in the first container 23.

As explained above, the eccentric shape of the filtering chamber 7 causes, during the movement of the rotor element 21 towards the outlet opening 19, the progressive compression of the elastic means 30 and consequently the progressive increase in the pressure exercised by the bucket 22 against the filtering wall 20, and therefore on the crushed fruit or vegetable.

The solid part of the crushed fruit or vegetable that does not contain juice or pulp remains inside the filtering chamber 7 and is dragged by the bucket 22 towards the outlet opening 19, through which it finally ends up in the second container 24.

When the bucket 22 goes beyond the outlet opening 19, in correspondence to which the filtering wall 20 substantially ends up, the bucket 22 does not meet any resistance and the elastic means 30 stretch and move back to the idle position.

Once all juice and pulp have been extracted from the fruit or vegetable, the operator interrupts the operation of the second operation means 26, in this case also by modifying the interface 28.

It is now possible to remove the containers 23 and 24 in such a way as to take the juice and pulp collected in the first container 23 and remove the solid parts collected in the second container 24.

It is clear that the juice and pulp can be extracted from several fruits or vegetables in a consequential way by introducing them in a sequence inside the crushing chamber 5. In such a way the juice and pulp extracted from each of them will collect inside the first container 23 thus blending to the juice and pulp already present in it.

It has in point of fact been ascertained how the described invention achieves the proposed objects and in particular the fact is underlined that it allows collecting the whole part of a fruit or vegetable rich in nutritional substances by rejecting its solid parts such as the seeds and skin.

The device according to the invention allows, therefore, thanks to the combined action of the crushing device and the filtering device, obtaining a noticeably more efficient effect than the sum of the single effects of each of said devices. In actual facts, the device according to the invention allows not only extracting juice from a fruit or a vegetable but also extracting its pulp, thus obtaining a semi-solid mix rich in nutritional substances that can be used for the preparation of sauces, homogenized food and the like.

The device according to the invention allows, therefore, to speed up noticeably the preparation of homogenized food or sauces compared to the known devices while at the same time being more efficient than these devices since it allows to keep substantially unchanged the nutritional properties of the fruits or vegetables used.

Furthermore, the device according to the invention allows extracting juice and pulp from any type of fruit or vegetable, so it can be employed for several different uses.