As its name indicates, the invention relates to a squeezing machine that is fully automatic (Feeding, Cutting, Squeezing, Filtering and Extracting Peels) that includes elements which improve the functionality, manufacture, cleaning and hygiene thereof, and greatly reduce the space required for professional squeezing machines and allow the use thereof in a household.

The machine essentially comprises a hollow body or frame on which are mounted the various elements, such as the squeezing system, casings that support the squeezing unit, the peel extraction system and the juice pulp filtering system, and an anti-drip spigot. In a part separate from the aforementioned, the same casing supports the drive part comprising the gears, motor and power and control electronics, as well as a clutch connection that transmits the movement to the squeezing group. This connection allows extracting the casings and the entire squeezing system from the casing for improved cleaning, including cleaning in a dishwasher.

The squeezing system with conical drums also provides a greater range of diameters of the fruit to be squeezed. The corresponding field of the art is that of squeezing machines.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Diverse ways of squeezing fruit have been known for years, and the use of machines for this purpose is popular, particularly in hotels, restaurants, bars, catering services and the like, and is currently being extended to food distribution and other health-related services, shops, gyms or leisure centres.

Among these machines those having a squeezing system based on two drums, a female and a male drum, with parallel rotation axles, contacting or nearly contacting each other with a minimum constant separation both longitudinally and along their corresponding side surfaces, are well known. These drums rotate but do not move, it being the fruit being squeezed that must follow a specific path in order to be subjected to the action of the drums.

The female drum contains the fruit to squeeze in one or more recesses on the side thereof, in which fit the protrusions of the sides of the male drum. The female drum rotates in a synchronous manner with the male drum but in the opposite direction to it, being synchronised one with the other, engaging in a portion of the path so that in each rotation the protuberances on the male drum coincide with the cavities in the female drum, said protuberances being inserted in the cavities of the female drum that carries the fruit, the squeezing being produced by the embedding and compression of the protuberance of the male drum against the fruit lodged in the cavities of the female drum.

In this type of machinery it is common for the fruit to have been separated beforehand, preferably into two halves.

There are many examples of said machines, both with a single female element and a single male element, more than one female element and more than one male element, and one or several cavities in the female element and one or several protuberances in the male element, there being no reason for having the same the number of cavities and protuberances.

An example of machines incorporating two male elements and two female elements are Patents ES 2008438, ES2053357, AT507768 or Utility Model ES1019589U, all of which are based on female drums with rotation axles parallel to the rotation axles of the male drums.

As examples of machines that incorporate a single male drum and a single female drum, we may cite, among others, Spanish patent ES2284294 or Spanish Utility Model ES1034325U, likewise based on two parallel axles, on one of which the female drum is mounted and on the other the male drum. The system of drums with parallel rotating axles has some drawbacks, such as for example, it is necessary for the squeezing system to have a considerable size, specifically, studies that have been conducted point to a minimum size of 8.2 times the volume of the fruit for this type of squeezing system.

Considerable space is also occupied by the subsystems related to the squeezing system itself, such as the cutting subsystem or the fruit containment and guiding system, among others, and the subsystems supplying fruit to the recesses of the female element, for transmission of the rotation to the male and female elements, recess and protrusion synchronism and fruit peel extraction subsystems.

Other drawbacks are that the subsystem for fruit supply into the recesses of the female drum generally lead to rejection and/or accumulation of fruit if the latter is soft or pieces have different sizes, a subsystem with a short guide length and containment accompanying the fruit after the cutting blade, requiring a profile with a wide accompanying section just after the cut, which tears the fruit before it is cut completely in the blade.

Another drawback is that a disjointed and laborious packaging assembly and disassembly of the entire system and subsystem is necessary for daily cleaning to avoid the growth of bacteria that is harmful to the health.

In addition, as the axles are parallel and are free on one of their ends, the squeezing force causes the rotation axles to bend, leading to play between the male and female drums and a reduced efficacy of the squeezing or even breaks due to material fatigue. Spanish patent ES3289890T3, translation of European patent EP2314174, proposes a frame that joins the two parallel rotation axles at their ends in a way that facilitates disassembly operations of the female and male elements and stiffens the assembly.

Spanish patent P201331180 relates to a squeezing system such that the rotation axles of the various drums cross in space and the drums and frustoconical, thereby greatly reducing the space required for the squeezing unit. However, said patent relates exclusively to the squeezing unit, which allows several different embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

To solve the aforementioned drawbacks, a small squeezing machine is proposed comprising a squeezing unit with at least one male drum and one female drum where the axles of the drums cross in space and are preferably coplanar and concurrent.

To allow the machine to work, the drums rotate synchronously or have a frustoconical shape, or, during the rotation thereof, occupy a frustoconical space such that the male drum has at least one protrusion on its sides and the female drum has at least one recess on one of its sides, where the protrusion of the male drum is suitable for being inserted in the recess of the female drum. In this way a squeezing unit is obtained with a small size that allows having a small squeezing machine.

In addition to the squeezing unit the machine comprises:

• A frame

• A drive element A transmission and engagement element between the drive element and the squeezing unit, comprising a clutch.

An element regulating access of the fruit to the squeezing unit.

Casings that support the squeezing unit and the subsystems associated to the squeezing, among others the fruit cutting blade, fruit guiding systems and elements for extracting the fruit peels after squeezing and elements for filtering the pulp, as well as the anti-drip spigot.

The frame supports the remaining elements and has an essentially hollow structure suitable for housing the casing with all the associated elements. The frame preferably has space for a peel container, and this space preferably is inside the same under the space meant to house the casing.

The frame is open on at least one of its sides, allowing a simple access to its interior, and preferably has a swivelling lid that protects the access to the casings that support the squeezing system. Both the casings with the squeezing system and the peel container can be easily extracted. The lid preferably incorporates a safety system that prevents the machine from working without the lid being closed and without the waste bucket.

Integral attached to the frame in an independent manner is the drive element and the various auxiliary elements, such as power and control electronics, among others. As explained above, the casings supporting the squeezing unit can be removed easily and can be handled outside the machine for a simple cleaning and hygiene.

The casings are each of the parts having a shell suitable for supporting inside the squeezing unit and the auxiliary elements thereof.

Naturally, the handling of the casings when extracting them and introducing them in the machine frame is performed with the two joined to form the aforementioned shell, although the casings can be separated to access the inside of the shell for cleaning, hygiene or maintenance operations. To facilitate the operation of introducing and positioning the casings, the frame is provided with guide elements that guide the path of the casings until they reach the correct position for the operation of the machine.

The movement of the drive element is transmitted to the squeezing unit through a gear wheel. The transmission axle comprises two engaging parts with complementary shapes which when coupled transmit the movement from one to the other, specifically from that joined to the drive element to that joined to the squeezing unit.

To favour the coupling of these parts at least one is provided with an elastic element that allows the retraction of the part if the two parts are not perfectly aligned in the coupling position. Once in motion, the part joined to the drive element will turn until it is in the coupling position to the part joined to the squeezing unit, and the aforementioned elastic element will ensure a perfect coupling of the two parts.

The squeezing unit integrates, engaged to the squeezing or drive unit and with a motion synchronous to the squeezing unit, an element for regulating fruit access to the squeezing unit. This element comprises a tab that is interposed in the path of the fruit supply duct at a certain time of the squeezing cycle, and at a different time of the cycle is retracted from said path to allow passage through the fruit supply duct.

The movement of this tab is synchronised with the movement of the squeezing unit.

The tab preferably moves due to its dependence on the movement of the squeezing unit, transmitted through a common element such as a connecting rod or cam.

A machine with such features provides a number of advantages, among which stand out:

A substantially small size, incorporating a squeezing system with concurrent axles and drums based on patents P201331180 and PTC 2013070494 that allows a greater range of fruit diameters;

Simplified cleaning, allowing the joint extraction of all the casings supporting the squeezing unit which, due to the size thereof, can be washed in a dishwasher or, for increased cleaning and hygiene, can be opened to remove the squeezing unit in order to clean the same in a dishwasher.

The machine defined in this way comprises the following elements: The frame supports the other elements, attached to which by common fastening elements are the drive unit and the control electronics.

Inside the frame is a space in which to insert in the correct position the casings which contain the squeezing unit therein, according to the shape thereof. The position of the casings is defined by a number of guides placed in the frame.

The squeezing unit and drive unit are connected by a gear wheel as explained above.

At a position above the squeezing unit is a duct through which fruit is inserted in the machine, said duct having an element synchronised with the squeezing unit that closes or opens the fruit passage depending on the stage of the squeezing cycle. At a position under the squeezing unit is a waste bucket. The waste falls into the bucket by gravity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG URE 1 is an exploded view of the main elements of the machine, showing the frame ( 1) inside which is housed the peel container (4) and the casings (2) and (3) which are shown joined to form a shell. In this representation the frame has a swivelling lid (5) in its main face, while the rear face thereof supports, among other elements, the drive element (6). The inner part of the frame contains the casing positioning guides (7). The finishing elements are the cover (8) that closes the top part of the frame, the side embellishing covers (9) and the cover (10) that covers the drive element and the power and control electronics. On the cover (8) is the fruit supply duct (11) connecting with the fruit inlet (12) of the squeezing unit. Under the casings protrudes the spigot (26) with an anti-drip device.

FIGURE 2 represents the casings (2) and (3) separated, showing the elements contained inside the same, among which stand out:

The squeezing unit (13) with the female (14) and male (15) drums engaging each other in the plate (16) where the corresponding crossed axles (17) meet;

The juice filter (22)

The fruit inlet orifice (12) and the tab (18) controlling fruit entry which, in a synchronised manner with the squeezing cycles, closes or opens this duct to prevent or allow the entry of fruit. The casing closing clasps (19). The blade (20)

The inner face (23) of the casing (2) has a shape which is the complementary shape of the female drums, such that the female drums are housed in said shapes and execute their rotating motion a short distance from the same.

Handles (24) on the front and top to help handling the casings.

Extraction elements (25) for the peels, preferably made of flexible materials joined to the filter by a clip system and preferably by material interference or welding unions.

FIGURE 3 represents and exploded view of the main elements of the squeezing unit, also showing the female (14) and male (15) drums, their crossing axles (17), the plate (16) and the conical gears (21) for kinematic connection and synchronisation of the axles.

FIGURE 4 represents the machine with the open lid, showing the frame (1), the lid (5), the peel container (4) and the casings (2) and (3) or the supply duct (11) and the spigot (26) with an anti- drip system, among other elements. FIGURE 5 represents the machine when closed.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the invention is explained below that is not unique but instead merely provided for purposes of illustration, such that any other embodiment comprising the technical features described herein will also be covered by the present invention. The squeezing machine described comprises:

1. A frame (1) that supports the various elements and has a hollow interior and an opening on one of its faces, the top face closed by a cover (8).

2. Integrally joined to the frame is the drive element (6) as well as auxiliary elements thereof, such as power and control electronics, among others.

3. Removable casings (2) and (3) that support the squeezing unit (13) and the squeezing subsystems, such as the cutting blade (20), fruit guide systems, tab (18) controlling access of fruit to the squeezing unit, filter or peel extractor, spigot (26) among others.

4. A removable container (4) for the peel of squeezed fruit. 5 A transmission that transmits the movement of the drive element (6) to the squeezing unit (13) by some of the axles, comprising a clutch system.

6, Casing guiding and positioning elements.

7 A swivelling front lid (5) that protects the casings and the squeezing system inside the same.

The frame is the main support of the machine. On it are permanently mounted the drive and control elements of the machine, such as the motor the power supply or the electronic control elements, among others.

The inside of the frame is hollow and can be reached through one of its faces, partially closed by a lid (5).

Inside the frame are a container (4) for the squeezed fruit peels and casings (2) and (3) which support and in this case completely surround the squeezing unit (13) and the auxiliary elements for the squeezing.

Both the container (4) and the casings (2) and (3) can be extracted easily. To help position the casing when introducing it in the frame, the latter has a number of guides (7) in its interior.

The casings (2) and (3) are joined by closing clasps (19) and can be separated to access the interior and, for example, remove the squeezing unit to simplify the cleaning thereof.

The squeezing unit comprises two female drums (14) and two male drums (15) with concurrent and preferably coplanar axles, engaged to each other by their closest ends.

A plate (16) increases the sturdiness of the squeezing unit (13) allowing it to be handled as a block.

The inner part (23) of the casing (2) has a shape that is the complementary shape of the female drums, such that the female drums are housed in said shapes and perform their rotational motion about their axle (17) at a short distance from the casing.

The casing (3) has an orifice (12) through which fruit is supplied to the squeezing unit.

To control the entry of fruit in the squeezing unit a tab (18) is provided with a movement synchronised with the squeezing unit, where at one stage of the squeezing cycle the tab closes the supply duct preventing fruit entry, and at another stage of the squeezing cycle the tab opens the duct allowing fruit to enter the squeezing unit.

The casings are joined using closing clasps (19) to define a shell that is housed inside the frame (1), the frame and casings being assembled due to their shape without requiring special closures or nuts and bolts, nor tools for installing or removing the same.

All of the elements contained in the casings, including the squeezing unit, are made of materials that can resist water, cleaning and disinfecting products, as well as the high temperatures reached, for example, in a dishwasher.