This invention relates to an for removing the stalk and the core of peppers and the like.

More specifically, the apparatus according to this invention is designed to remove the inner parts of vegetables such as peppers or other similar vegetables or fruit.

Currently, in the field of industrial preparation of foodstuffs, there is a strongly felt need for automating the cleaning and washing processes of food products and especially fruit and vegetables.

These types of products have a considerable variability in terms of shape and size, which renders the automation of the treatment processes particularly difficult.

More specifically, the cleaning of peppers requires the removal from them of the internal ribs and the seeds carried by them, without damaging the outer walls.

The problem at the basis of this invention is that of removing the inner parts of vegetables or fruits, such as peppers or the like, without damaging the outer parts.

The main aim of this invention is to provide an apparatus for removing the stalk and the core of peppers and the like which overcomes this problem. The aim of this invention is therefore to provide an apparatus for removing the stalk and the core of peppers and the like which allows the unwanted parts inside peppers and the like to be removed with a high level of efficiency.

Another aim of this invention is to provide an apparatus for removing the stalk and the core of peppers and the like which allows high levels of productivity, allowing the cleaning in parallel of numerous products.

A further aim of this invention is to provide an apparatus for removing the stalk and the core of peppers and the like which allows the product to be maintained substantially intact after the cleaning.

This task, as well as these and other aims which will emerge more fully below, are attained by an apparatus for removing the stalk and the core of peppers and the like according to the appended claim 1.

Detailed features of an apparatus for removing the stalk and the core of peppers and the like according to the invention are indicated in the dependent claims. Further features and advantages of the invention are more apparent from the non-limiting description of a preferred embodiment of an apparatus for removing the stalk and the core of peppers and the like according to the invention, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 illustrates a simplified diagram of an apparatus according to the invention;

- Figure 2 illustrates a perspective view of an enlarged detail of an apparatus according to the invention, during its operation;

- Figure 3 illustrates a front view of an enlarged detail, with some parts cut away in order to better illustrate others, of the apparatus of Figure 1.

With reference to the above-mentioned drawings, the numeral 10 denotes in its entirety an apparatus for cleaning products such as peppers and the like which, according to this invention, has a particular peculiarity in that it comprises:

- a transport device 11 designed to grip and retain, in a predetermined position, at least one product 12;

- an opening device 13 configured for forming an opening 12a in the product 12 to be cleaned;

- a cleaning device 14 configured for blowing a jet of fluid inside the product 12 in such a way that the jet removes inner parts of the product 12 without damaging the outer parts 12b.

According to this invention, the cleaning of the inside of peppers and similar products is performed by means of a jet of air or other fluid, the action of which is predetermined, for example by setting the pressure of the fluid, so as to remove the parts inside the product without damaging the outer parts.

Preferably, the fluid is compressed air having a pressure sufficient to remove the ribs inside a pepper and its seeds, expelling them from the pepper.

According to an alternative embodiment of this invention, the fluid may be, clearly, a gas or a liquid, such as, for example, water under pressure.

More specifically, the cleaning device preferably comprises at least one elongate nozzle 15 equipped with a free end 15a which has at least one hole 16 for injecting the fluid.

Moreover, the cleaning device 14 is advantageously configured for: - inserting the nozzle 15 through the opening 12a of the product 12, to remove the inner parts of the product 12 by the action of the fluid;

- extracting the nozzle 15 from the opening 12a.

The nozzle 15 is preferably cylindrical and the free end 15a has a bottom wall 15b, which is preferably flat or convex, on which is made at least one hole 16.

Preferably, on the bottom wall 15b there are 4 holes, advantageously arranged in positions mutually diametric with respect to the central axis A of the nozzle 15.

The holes are advantageously configured in such a way as to orient the jet of fluid in a direction divergent relative to the central axis A of the nozzle 15.

Advantageously, the at least one hole 16 is located in a position of the bottom wall 15b offset relative to the central axis A of the cylindrical nozzle 15 or it is located on the side wall of the nozzle 15.

The cleaning device 14 is also preferably configured in order to impart a rotation to the nozzle 15 so that the jet which, in use, is expelled through the hole 16 rotates, so as to clear the entire inner surface of the pepper or other product during cleaning, for example following a spiral trajectory, such as that shown by way of example in Figure 2.

Advantageously, the nozzle 15 rotates according to an axis of rotation parallel to or coincident with the central axis A.

Clearly, the cleaning device 14 may comprise pair of parallel nozzles designed to be inserted simultaneously inside the same product for cleaning it.

The transport device 11 is preferably configured for retaining at least one product 12 to be cleaned in a predetermined relative position with respect to the nozzle 15 for a predetermined cleaning time during which the product 12, in use, is cleaned.

The cleaning device 14 is advantageously configured to rotate at least the nozzle 15 according to an operating axis, parallel to and offset relative to the central axis A and, preferably, simultaneously also according to the central axis A, for example when it is necessary to clean large sized products.

The transport apparatus 11 advantageously comprises at east one vicelike element equipped with two jaws 17, 18 of which at least is movable to move towards and away from the other to grip and release, respectively, a product 12 positioned in use between the jaws 17, 18.

The transport device 11 is advantageously configured for moving the vicelike element according to a trajectory which moves a product 12 which, in use, is retained in it, in succession:

- in interference with the opening device 13 and, then,

- in a relative position with respect to the cleaning device 14 to allow the action of the latter on the product 12.

In more detail, the transport device 11 preferably comprises:

- a conveyor 19, with a belt or chain closed in a loop, which carries in succession a series of lower jaws 17 designed to support a series of peppers or products in general;

- a gripping device 20 which carries the upper jaws 18, preferably by means of a series of pneumatic pistons 20a, in order to vertically move the upper jaws 18 to lower onto the lower jaws 17 in order to squeeze between them a product for each pair of jaws 17, 18.

The transport device 11 in this case advantageously comprises a feed device 21 which carries a nozzle 15 or, preferably, a plurality of nozzles 15 and is configured to move them along an operating direction B which is perpendicular to a feed direction C defined by the conveyor 19 and preferably parallel to the central axis A.

The jaws 17, 18 are preferably concave, and preferably semi-cylindrical, and are dimensioned in such a way as to imprint on a product 12 which, in use, is retained between them, a deformation designed to spread open the outer walls 12b to facilitate the entrance and the exit of the nozzle 15 with respect to the product 12.

The opening device 13 advantageously comprises a blade 13a, preferably circular, designed to cut an end of a product 12 protruding, in use, from the transport device 11 so as to open the product and render the inside accessible to the nozzle 15.

Advantageously, there is a retaining element, preferably comprising a roller 22, designed to retain a product 12 to open in one of the jaws 17, 18 and preferably in the lower jaws 17.

The retaining device being preferably configured and positioned with respect to the blade for retaining the product 12 in the lower jaw 17 at least during the action of the blade on the product 12.

Operationally, in use, a series of peppers are housed by an operator in the lower jaws 17 which are fed by the conveyor 19 towards the opening device 13 in the proximity of which the roller 22, which is preferably covered by a layer of closed cell expanded plastic material, presses the peppers in the lower jaws 17 to hold them still whilst the blade of the opening device 13 removes an end with the stalk of the peppers to form the opening 12a and thereby render the inside accessible.

The conveyor carries the opened peppers to a position aligned with the nozzles 15, beneath the upper jaws 18, which lower so as to block and retain the peppers.

The nozzles 15 are fed and, preferably, simultaneously rotated and the jet of air escapes from the holes 16 so that, during the insertion and/or extraction of the nozzles 15 into/from the peppers 12, the jet removes the ribs 23 inside of it and the seeds, expelling them by blowing, from the opening 12a.

It has been seen how an apparatus for removing the stalk and the core of peppers and the like according to this invention achieves the preset aims. The invention as it is conceived is susceptible to numerous modifications and variants, all falling within the scope of protection of the appended claims.

Further, all the details can be replaced by other technically-equivalent elements.

In practice, the materials used, as well as the contingent forms and dimensions, can be varied according to the contingent requirements and the state of the art.

Where the constructional characteristics and the technical characteristics mentioned in the following claims are followed by signs or reference numbers, the signs or reference numbers have been used only with the aim of increasing the intelligibility of the claims themselves and, consequently, they do not constitute in any way a limitation to the interpretation of each element identified, purely by way of example, by the signs or reference numerals.