Fruit juice extraction press

A juice press for extracting the juice from a non-citrus fruit or vegetable uses a pair of cups into which a press plunger is cycled to the fruit to be processed to be compressed and extruded through an orifice tube wherein a significant volume of juice will be pressed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Field of the Invention 
This invention has to do with juice extractors or juice presses of the type 
known as "point-of-sale" juice extractors. Specifically this invention has 
to do with a method of extracting juice from non-citrus fruit and 
vegetables using a juice press having an orifice tube or fluted column 
"post-squeeze" secondary extraction device or secondary press zone. 
Various point-of-sale juice extractors have been developed, including a 
citrus juice extractor for point-of-sale use developed by FMC Corporation, 
that work well in the extraction of juice from citrus fruit. Undoubtedly, 
there have also been developments point-of-sale juice extractors that can 
extract juice from non-citrus fruits such as apples. Often times these 
extractors are of the press type where apples are loaded into a chamber 
and compressed between two closing surfaces. The squeezing pressure causes 
the juice to be extracted from the batch of apples in the chamber. 
Although this "apple press" technology is very old improvements to it 
appear with regularity. But the fruit juice extractor presented herein is 
different from any of the apple press type heretofore known. The applicant 
isn't aware of any non-citrus point-of-sale juice extractors that can be 
used as both a citrus juice extractor and as a non-citrus juice extractor 
using, in particular the orifice tube principle used in this extractor. 
Even more broadly, the applicant believes that there are no existing 
point-of-sale juice extractors that are marketed for the quality 
production, at a reasonably high volume rate, of both citrus and 
non-citrus fruits. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A juice extractor for extracting juice from non-citrus fruit and vegetables 
incorporates a plurality of components that can be fitted into a known 
fruit juice extractor to convert the known juice extractor to one that is 
uniquely designed for extracting juice from non-citrus fruits and 
vegetables. The components of this invention are fitted into and replace 
components in a point-of-sale juice extractor made by FMC Corporation and 
known as a Fresh N Squeeze.TM. juice extractors. Examples of these 
extractors are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,905,586 and 4,922,815 issued on 
Mar. 6, 1990 and May 8, 1990 respectively. 
The components can also be adapted to other fruit juice extractors and 
would be the core elements needed to extract juice from non-citrus fruits 
and vegetables. In these issued patents the relationship between the rive 
means and the press plunger arm is clearly seen. The drive means is also 
shown in these patents and the relationship between these elements id 
clearly shown. The instant application is directed to the cups that are 
used and the spiral tube that moves through the perforated tube 90. The 
drive means is not critical to this invention and coupled be of several 
different types with the preferred embodiment being that shown in the 
earlier recited U.S. Patents. 
The major components of the invention include a press plunger reciprocally 
mounted in solid walled interacting cups. A compressed pulp and juice 
passage allows the pulp and juice to exit the cups. The pulp is 
secondarily juiced by a strainer tube/external orifice tube assembly 
wherein the external orifice tube is mounted for reciprocal movement in 
the strainer tube.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
Turning first to FIG. 1 the usual embodiment of the invention can be seen. 
In this Figure the juice press, generally 10 is supported in a frame 12 
including a housing plate 14 with a first elongated aperture 16 and a 
second elongated aperture 18 loading guide 22 and a lower cup support 24. 
An upper cup drive arm 26 projects through the housing plate 14 second 
elongated aperture 18 and is mounted for vertical reciprocal motion 
therein. In a similar way an orifice tube drive arm 30 projects through 
the housing plate first elongated aperture 16 and is mounted for vertical 
reciprocal motion therein. 
Mounted to the upper cup drive arm referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 is an 
upper solid wall cup 32, the press plunger 34 and necessary mounting 
hardware. The press plunger 34 is carried inside the upper cup 32 normally 
in the upper zone 36 of the upper cup. A flange 40 projects inwardly from 
the interior surface of the upper zone 36 of the upper cup and is of such 
a dimension to prevent the press plunger 34 from being removed through the 
top of the upper zone as the diameter of the upper surface of the press 
plunger extends underneath the flange 40. 
The upper zone 36 of the upper cup is formed with an access slot 42 that 
aligns with the second elongated aperture 18 when the upper cup 32 is 
mounted for use as shown in FIG. 1. 
Extending upwardly from the upper cup are a pair of threaded studs such as 
44 which accommodate and locate over-travel springs such as 46. Between 
the over-travel springs 46 and fasteners such as 50 a cup hanger bracket 
52 is carried on the threaded studs 44. The cup hanger bracket 52 has 
three apertures, two that accommodate the threaded studs 44 and one 
larger, centrally located aperture 54. As described further on this upper 
cup mounting arrangement provides for lost motion operation. 
The press plunger 34 is mounted to the upper cup drive arm 26 by means of a 
vertical stub shaft 56 attached to the upper surface of the press plunger. 
The vertical stub shaft is provided with a through aperture 60 into which 
retaining pin 62 can be inserted. 
To mount the press plunger 34 and the upper cup 32 to the upper cup drive 
arm 26, the press plunger 34 inserted into the interior of the upper cup 
such that the stub shaft 56 projects through the aperture 64 in the upper 
cup drive arm 26 and then through aperture in the cup hanger bracket 52 
sufficiently for it to expose the through aperture 60 of the stub shaft 
above the top surface of the upper cup drive arm. With this aperture 60 
exposed the retaining pin 62 can be inserted in the aperture 60 and 
thereby maintain the press plunger as well as the upper cup on the upper 
cup drive arm. 
A lower cup 66, having solid sides and an apertured bottom, is supported on 
and fastened to the lower cup support 24. This cup, in a preferred 
embodiment will have an outside diameter that is smaller, but very close 
to the inside diameter of the lower portion of the upper cup 32. The 
interior diameter of the lower cup 66 will be slightly larger than the 
diameter of the press plunger 34 so that the press plunger can cycle into 
and out of the lower cup 66. 
The apertured bottom of the lower cup 66, the aperture being 70, as shown 
plainly in FIGS. 3 and 4, accommodates a juice collecting sump or juice 
manifold 72. A seal 74 may be used to stem leakage of fluid from the lower 
cup during operation of the press. 
A knife assembly 76 of any blade configuration, a preferred configuration 
shown, may be positioned at the upper inlet of the juice manifold 72. 
Downstream of this knife assembly and inside the juice manifold is a 
strainer tube 80 comprised of an outer perforated tube having large 
apertures 82 therein and an inner perforated tube 84 having small 
perforations 86 therein. 
Carried by the orifice tube drive arm 30 is an orifice tube 90 which 
extends vertically and upward from the orifice tube drive arm into the 
interior of the perforated tube 84. The orifice tube 90 is shown to have a 
spiral orifice on its exterior which will allow the passage of relatively 
dry pulp through the spiral orifices of the orifice tube. 
The operation of this juice press is rather straightforward particularly if 
the reader has some previous knowledge of the single head juice extractor 
mentioned in the above referenced patents. A fruit or vegetable, such as 
the apple for example, shown as 92, is queued in the feed chute 94 behind 
the fruit lift 96. When the fruit lift 96, which is attached to and moves 
virtually with the motion of the upper cup drive arm 26, has picked up an 
apple from the queue it will deposit the apple on the loading guide 22 
which will direct the apple to fall into the lower cup as shown in FIG. 1. 
At this point the actual pressing begins as the drive mechanism of the 
extractor drives the upper cup drive arm 26 downwardly pushing the upper 
cup 32 and the press plunger 34 along as well. First contact will be made 
between the upper cup 32 and the lower cup 66 as the upper cup telescopes 
over the lower cup. In the usual embodiment the press plunger face 100 
will contact the apple before the cups have fully closed together. The 
upper cup drive arm 26 will continue its downward stroke crushing and 
pressing the apple as the cups come together. At some point in the stroke 
the cups will be telescoped together fully (the lower edge of the upper 
cup will be pressed against and in contact with the ledge 102) however the 
press plunger 34 will continue to be driven by the drive arm 26 into the 
cavity defined by the cups and press the apple virtually completely out of 
the cup cavity. A small amount of pulp may be left in the cavity due to 
the contour of the lower cup floor and the need for clearance between the 
press plunger face 100 and the sharp edges of the knife assembly 76. 
The apple pulp, now well masticated, will have been forced into the 
perforated tube 84. In the perforated tube the pump continues to be 
pressed by the orifice tube 90 cycling (in a preferred embodiment two 
times per upper cup cycle) into the perforated tube. As the upper cup 
drive arm 26 is being driven downwardly the orifice tube drive arm is 
being driven upwardly and causing the orifice tube 90 to push against the 
pulp in the perforated tube. As this is being done juice from the apple 
pulp is extruded out the small perforations 86 and the large apertures 82 
of the strainer tube. Apple juice is collected in the juice manifold 72 
and exits via a discharge pipe to a collection tank. 
Pulp from the inside of the strainer tube works its way down the surface of 
the orifice tube and ultimately falls away from the surface cavities of 
the orifice tube. The relatively dry pulp can be collected in the 
discharge zone for further use. 
The invention herein, as stated above, can be used to extract juice from 
various types of fruits and vegetables and minor modifications of the 
equipment can be made to accommodate these different types of produce 
being juiced. Such modifications and nuances of design are contemplated as 
being within the scope of the following claims.