TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to apparatus for and a method of shaping vegetables.

BACKGROUND ART

Various vegetables are often presented in particular forms or shapes for consumption, especially in european countries. One such form of vegetable is the potato which is frequently prepared in the classic "chateau" form, which is very time consuming to produce by hand and very difficult to produce accurately and evenly in a form which is pleasing to the eye.

An example of a prior art vegetable shaping machine is disclosed in UK Patent Application No. 2216828 to Keith Snelgrove. The vegetable shaping machine disclosed utilises a rotating grinding wheel fixed in position to which the vegetables are advanced into contact with and retracted from to form various desired surfaces on the vegetable. During retraction, the vegetables are rotated a predetermined amount so that a new portion of the vegetable is ground at the next advance. The machine disclosed produces a slurry of ground potato as a by-product of the shaping process which is extremely messy and of no commercial value. A further example of a vegetable shaping machine is disclosed in UK Patent

Application No 2199237 to Langwood Limited. The shaping machine disclosed is fully hand operated and the process of shaping vegetables using this machine is time consuming and laborious. In addition, vegetables must be hand loaded onto a spike, and a cutting blade must be manually operated to make a cut in the vegetable, the blade must then be retracted and the vegetable rotated manually to an indexed position, at which position the next cut is made and so on.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a method of shaping vegetables and/or apparatus therefor which will at least go some way towards overcoming the above disadvantages or which will at least provide industry with a useful choice.

Accordingly, in one aspect the invention consists in apparatus for shaping vegetable blanks comprising:

shaped gripping means operable to support a vegetable blank therebetween for rotation about an axis passing through said gripping means; cutting means mounted to reciprocate along a path which is arcuate with respect to said axis; and control means operable to relate the rotation of said gripping means to the arcuate movement of said cutting means.

In a further aspect the invention consists in a method of shaping a vegetable blank, comprising the steps of: i) gripping said vegetable blank between spaced gripping means mounted to rotate about an axis; and ii) contacting the outer surface of said blank by cutting means operable to move along an arcuate path with respect to said axis and in so doing effect cuts to the surface of said blank.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention consists in the foregoing and also envisages constructions of which the following gives examples.

One preferred form of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which; Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a first part of the present invention for forming vegetable blanks;

Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of a vegetable containing disc in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view showing hidden detail of vegetable shaping apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a pneumatic piston and cylinder and mounting therefor;

Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view of a driving means in accordance with the present invention; and Figure 6 is a perspective view of a vegetable such as a potato which has been shaped in a preferred form by the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Referring to the drawings, the invention provides apparatus for shaping vegetables such as potatoes. The invention has been devised particularly to shape potatoes, carrots, turnips and swedes into uniform oval, barrel like shapes. It will be appreciated from the following, however, that other vegetables having a suitable initial shape and degree of consistency or rigidity may be shaped as hereinafter described.

In its broadest form the invention comprises a pair of spaced rotating centres as shown in Figure 3. The centres comprise gripping means or mandrels 2 between which a vegetable blank (being a cylinder of the vegetable) is located and retained. Also provided are cutting means comprising blade 3 (shown in Figure 3 which is preferably a two sided blade) in the assembly associated therewith which is arranged to move through a cutting path which is in the form of an arcuate curve when viewed with respect to the axis of rotation of the spaced centres 2. As the vegetable blank is rotated between the spaced centres the cutting means 3 is reciprocated back and forth along the arcuate path in contact with the rotating blank so as to impart a curved outer surface to the blank. The motion of the cutting means 2 along its path is preferably linked to the rotation of the blank to ensure facets of equal dimension are provided about the blank.

Referring to Figure 1 the apparatus comprises a framework, a first part 4 of which is shown. On the underside of the frame 4 a motor 6 is provided for example an electric motor connected to an output shaft 8 which is further connected to a disc 22 having mounting apertures 24 for mounting a rotatable disc such as that shown in Figure 2. The outer diameter of mounting disc 22 being less than the outer diameter of table 30.

Referring to Figure 2 the rotating disc comprises a table having apertures 26 and mounting bolts 28 for mounting the table which is generally referenced 30 onto the mounting disc 22 for rotation by the output shaft 8 of motor 6. The rotatable table 30 has a plurality of apertures 32 therein, each aperture being sufficiently large in diameter to accommodate a vegetable such as a potato for example and each aperture 32 having retaining means comprising bristles or brushes for example referenced 34 located on inner surfaces of the apertures for retaining a vegetable within each aperture. Referring to Figure 1 again, a pneumatic cylinder 36 is provided having a piston 38 disposed therein. Piston 38 is disposed within a hole in frame 4 having a bushing 12 to guide the piston. A rotary cylinder 46 having shaft 40 is attached to frame 4 by screws 14 through holes 42 in the frame. Shaft 46 is inserted and held within a sleeve 10 of the cylinder 36. The

piston 38 is connected to a jaw mounting 16 which has jaws or a sprung clip 48 at the end thereof for gripping a vegetable blank as will be described further later. The piston is operable to extend into or out of the hole guided by bushing 12 and is rotatable by the operation of rotary cylinder 46 in the directions shown by arrows 12. Referring to Figure 3 a further part of the framework 4 is shown, comprising a further extension of the framework 4 shown in Figure 1. Located in an upper surface of the framework is a grating or die 50 which has a central aperture 52 and radially extending cutting blades 54. Located on top of the framework on either side of the aperture are frame support members 56 and these will be referred to later with reference to Figure 4. Located on the vertical surface of the framework 4 is an aperture 58 which is coaxial with bushing 12 in Figure 1. Located within the framework 4 are two end cutting blades 62 which are mounted on an inside upper surface of the framework 4 by mounting brackets 64 (only one of which is shown for clarity). A bearing 66 is also provided in the upper surface of the frame 4, the bearing 66 having a shaft 68 disposed therein, the shaft 68 having a horizontally disposed disc member 70 at one end thereof, the disc member 70 having an aperture 72 therein for connection to an end 74 of a connecting rod 76. End 74 of connecting rod 76 is connected to the member 70 by a bolt 78 and nut 80 for example. The shaft 68 extends beneath the framework 4 and the members beneath the framework which are connected to the shaft 68 are not shown in hidden detail for clarity. The portion of shaft 68 which extends beneath the frame 4 is connected to a shaft engaging member 82 which has an aperture 84 in an end thereof for connection using bolt 86 for example, to a cutting means holder or blade holder 88. The blade holder 88 has apertures 90 into which the screws 92 are disposed for attaching the cutting means or blade 3 thereto. The mandrills or gripping means 2 are supported on shafts 94. The shafts 94 each project through the frame 4 and are rotatably supported at the outer ends thereof by brackets 96 which are attached to the outer surface of framework 4. A pneumatic cylinder 101 is mounted to the outer surface of each bracket 96 by screws 103. The shaft 141 of cylinder 101 is attached to axially reciprocate shafts 94. The shafts 94 have indexing ratchets connected thereto on the outside of the framework 4. The ratchets are referenced 98 and in use index the shafts 94 in small angular increments for example approximately 36° each increment to turn the vegetable located between the gripping means 2 after each sweep of the cutting blade 3 across the outer surface of the vegetable.

Ratchet driving arms 100 are provided for each of the indexing ratchets, the driving arms being connected to a crank pin at end 102 and being slidably secured to the framework 4 by a connection through the framework and through slot 104 of the driving arm. Each driving arm has two protruding edges 106 which in use contact the teeth of the indexing ratchet 98 to turn the ratchet and therefore angularly rotate or index the vegetable.

Referring to Figure 4 a pneumatic cylinder 110 is shown which is supported above the frame 4 by mounting 112 having legs 56. The cylinder is a pneumatic cylinder having a piston 116 extending therefrom, the piston 116 having an enlarged end 118 which is moveable in an up or down direction as indicated by arrow 120 above the table 30 and cutting grate or die 50.

Referring to Figure 5 a driving motor 122 is shown which is connected to a worm drive gearbox 124 providing an output shaft 126. Connected on the output shaft 126 is a position sensing wheel 128 having a number of reflective points 131 thereon which a prox-inity or photosensor 132 can detect to supply signals indicative of the shaft position to electronic control means 140 (which may comprise a microprocessor) so that the control means can determine when a vegetable has been fully cut to shape and can provide appropriate signals to the machinery herein disclosed to load another vegetable between the gripping means 2 for shaping. The output shaft 126 provides crank pins 130, 133 and 134. Crank pin 130 is connected to end 134 of connecting rod 76 (Figure 3). Crank pins 133 and 134 are connected to ends 102 of the ratchet driving arms 100 (Figure 3). In use the motor 122 and gearbox 124 are connected to the frame 4.

In use, the operation of the machine is as follows. Referring to Figure 2 vegetables such as potatoes are placed in each of the apertures 32, being held in each of the apertures by the brushes 34. The vegetable which is in the particular aperture 32 which happens to be directly over the cutting die or grate 50 is then pushed through the die or grate by the pneumatic ram comprising piston and cylinder 116 and 110 (Figure 4). The circular portion 52 of the cutting dye creates a long cylinder from the vegetable and the remaining outer portions of the vegetables are cut into segments by blades 54 and these resulting segments are collected beneath the machine so that they are not wasted. The cylinder which is formed by the cutting die is caught beneath the die through jaws 48 of the pneumatic piston and cylinder arrangement 36 and 38 (Figure 1). A cushion or support cylinder (not shown) axially aligned with sprung clip 48 ensures the potato is positioned evenly within the clip so that the ends of the vegetable can be removed evenly.

When the vegetable is pushed within the jaws some of its momentum is imparted to the piston of the support cylinder so that the vegetable is not forced completely through the sprung clip 48. When the vegetable cylinder or blank is between the sprung clip 48, the pneumatic cylinder 36 is activated so that the piston 38 is pushed out away from the 5 cylinder and at the same time the rotary cylinder 46 is rotated through 90° (Figure 1). After rotation through 90° the jaws or sprung clips 48 push the vegetable cylinder (which is now substantially oriented with its cylindrical axis in a horizontal plane) between blades 62 which remove the ends of the cylinder so as to make them flat for placement between the gripping means 2. The pneumatic cylinder 36 extends until the jaws or sprung clips

10 48 hold the vegetable blank in a position to be gripped between the gripping means 2. Pneumatic cylinder 101 is then actuated to move the shafts 94 inwardly so that the gripping means 2 contact the sides of the vegetable blank so that the vegetable blank is firmly held in place ready to be shaped by the apparatus. The pneumatic cylinder is then retracted at which time the sprung clips are bent open around the vegetable blank

15 releasing the blank and piston 38 is rotated back through 90° to its original vertical orientation. The rotation of motor 122 rotates crank pin 130 which moves connecting rod 76 back and forth in a direction as indicated by arrows 150. This creates a reciprocating angular motion of the cutting blade which is indicated by arrows 152, causing the blade 3 to move in an arcuate movement back and forth along the outer surface of the 0 vegetable blank and so impart a curved outer surface to the blank. The vegetable material removed by the blade is collected beneath the machine so that it is not wasted.

The crank pins 132 and 134 also rotate to move the ratchet driving arms 100 in an up and down reciprocating motion so that on the downward motion, the indexing ratchets

98 are indexed and the ratchets 98 are again indexed on the upward motion of the driving 5 arm. Ratchets 98 are prevented from free-wheeling by a spring (not shown) which may be attached to bracket 96. Therefore, the motion of the gripping means 2 and the blade 3 is controlled so that after one complete movement of the blade 3 in one direction along the outer surface of the vegetable blank, the gripping means incrementally rotate to index the blank and the blade 3 moves back along the outer surface of the blank in the 0 opposite direction and this process continues until one complete revolution of the vegetable blank has taken place after which time the shape of the blank is as shown in Figure 6. The control means senses when one complete revolution has taken place by means of sensor 132. When one complete revolution has taken place, the pneumatic

cylinder 101 moves the shafts 194 apart so that the cut vegetable is released from the gripping means ready for use. At the same time, the motor 6 rotates the rotary table 30 so that another vegetable is ready to be cut into a blank for delivery to the gripping means 2 as previously described. The process described above takes place continuously and the machine described therein may produce up to 2,400 such shaped vegetables per hour.

The machine may also be operated manually by for example removing the pneumatic means so that this movement is performed by hand, and replacing the motor 122 with the hand operated crank. It will be appreciated that the present invention provides an automated or manual form of apparatus for producing a shaped vegetable product in which the by-product comprises vegetable shavings which may be further used by a commercial cooking process.