Citrus fruit peeling implement

An elongated, substantially flat implement is integrally formed with a tubular coring portion at one end for removing core portions of a peeled citrus fruit, one or more cutting edges extending outwardly of one side of the implement at a central position therealong for peripherally scoring the rind of citrus fruit, and a rounded tip portion at the other end for insertion under the scored rind for wedging and prying the rind halves from citrus fruit before coring.

This invention relates to fruit peeling tools or implements and is directed 
particularly to a novel and improved implement for peeling the rind from 
citrus fruit such as oranges and grapefruit. 
The principal object of this invention is to provide a unitary citrus fruit 
peeling implement which serves to cut or score the fruit about its 
equatorial periphery, separate both halves of the scored rind from the 
fruit meat or sections with a minimum of effort, and thereafter core the 
fruit to facilitate separation of the fruit sections. 
A more particular object of the invention is to provide a unitary fruit 
peeling implement of the above nature including means for making either 
shallow or deep scoring cuts, selectively, depending upon the thickness of 
the fruit rind to be removed. 
Still another object of the invention is to provide a fruit peeling 
implement of the above nature which can readily be integrally fabricated 
of a tough synthetic material by the use of injection molding techniques. 
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a citrus fruit peeling 
implement which will be simple in construction, inexpensive to 
manufacture, effective in operation and long wearing in use.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, reference numeral 10 designates, 
generally, a preferred form of citrus fruit peeling implement embodying 
the invention, the same being integrally formed of a tough synthetic 
plastic material. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 the peeling implement 10 
comprises an elongated, substantially flat body portion 11, one end of 
which is rounded as indicated at 12. The upper surface 13 of the body 
portion 11, near the rounded end, is formed with a laterally-extending, 
rounded protrusion 14, as best illustrated in FIG. 1. The other end of the 
body portion 11 is integrally formed with a substantially conical coring 
portion 15 merging with and extending outwardly of said outer end of said 
body portion from the under-surface 16 thereof. The inner end of the 
conical coring portion 15 defines an obtuse angle with the under-surface 
16 of the implement body portion 11, and the outer end is peripherally 
serrated to define shallow, peripheral teeth 17. 
The under-surface 16 also has integrally formed therewith, centrally 
disposed therealong, a pair of spaced rind cutting members 18,19, of 
substantially identical shape but different in size to provide for the 
cutting, selectively, of citrus fruit rinds of different thickness. The 
cutting member 18, as best illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 2a, has a 
slightly concave rearwardly-directed cutting edge 20 which merges with a 
blunt tip 21. From the tip 21, the cutting member 18 extends into a 
convexly-curved outer surface 22 which converges to the under-surface 16. 
As best illustrated in FIG. 2, the lateral thickness of the cutting member 
18 is about 1/4 the width of the implement body portion 11, and is rounded 
at each end. The cutting member 19 is similar in shape to that of the 
cutting member 18, differing only in that it is of smaller size and has 
its cutting edge directed to the rounded end 12 of the body portion 11. As 
best illustrated in FIG. 1, the upper surface 13 of the implement is 
integrally formed with a pair of rounded protrusion 23,24 opposite 
respective cutting members 18,19, which serve as thumb stops in the 
manipulation of the device in use, as is hereinafter described. 
Considering now the operation of the citrus fruit peeling implement, the 
first step in the peeling sequence, as illustrated in FIG. 4, is to score 
the fruit about it equatorial periphery by use of one or the other of the 
cutting members 18 or 19 as a cutting knife, depending upon the thickness 
of the rind of the fruit being cut. In this connection it is to be note 
that the blunt tip 20 of the cutting edge minimizes the possibility of 
cutting through the skin of the citrus fruit segments. After scoring or 
peripheral cutting of the rind, the rounded end 12 of the body portion 11 
will be inserted under the rind, with the protrusion 14 directed 
outwardly, as illustrated in FIG. 5, and the implement will be moved back 
and forth around the fruit, while at the same time pushing inwardly, until 
that half of the rind is separated from the fruit. This operation will be 
repeated to similarly remove the remaining half of the scored rind. In 
this connection it is to be noted that the laterally-extending rounded 
protrusion 14 aids in separating the rind from the fruit segments because 
of its wedge-like action in lifting and separating the rind from the fruit 
meat. 
Referring now to FIG. 3, it can be seen how the core ends of an orange O, 
for example, can be cut away simply by pushing and turning the tubular 
coring portion 15 of the implement into the core end of the peeled fruit. 
The core portion to be removed will be forced through the central opening 
15a of the coring portion 15 to pass through its open inner end with 
repeated use or upon cleaning the implement. In this connection it will be 
noted that the conical shape of the coring portion 15 serves to spread the 
fruit segment ends apart to facilitate manual separation of the segments. 
While I have illustrated and described herein only one form in which my 
invention can conveniently be embodied in practice, it is to be understood 
that this embodiment is presented by way of example only and not in a 
limiting sense. My invention, in brief, comprises all the embodiments and 
modifications coming within the scope and spirit of the following claims.