Peeling device

A peeling device for fruits has a housing (1) with a knife opening (16) in the surface (18) for a peeling knife (15) with a knife-edge (17) that projects above the top side (18) of the lid (4). The peeling knife (15) is connected to an oscillating arm (13) that protrudes through an opening (14) in the container (1) and connects to an electrical drive unit (8) that is located in a housing (5) that is connected to the side of the container (1). The position of the electrical drive unit (8) in the housing (5) and consequently the length by which the knife-edge (17) projects above the surface (18) of the container lid (4) is adjustable via a worm gear (11) with a thumb screw (12). A fruit shown as a circle (19) is peeled by the oscillating movements of the knife (15) while being moved along the surface (18) of the lid (4).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The invention pertains to a peeling device for fruits comprising a peeling 
knife whose knife-edge can be moved along the fruit surface for peeling. 
2. Description of the related Art 
The term "fruits" is defined as foods with surfaces that can be peeled, 
especially vegetables such as beets, carrots, horse-radish, potatoes, 
turnips, asparagus, etc., and fruits such as apples, pears, tropical 
fruits, etc. 
In the past, the fruits were peeled mostly by hand using a knife, an 
arduous process that requires much labor and time. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a peeling device with a 
drive unit and with easy handling to allow quick peeling of fruits. The 
proposed means for attaining the objective of the invention is to provide 
a preferably electrical drive unit with a drive arm that is located below 
the support surface of the fruits to be peeled and that oscillates the 
attached peeling knife, and by having the peeling knife reach through a 
knife opening in the support surface with the knife-edge projecting above 
the support surface. 
Accordingly, the peeling knife of the invented peeling device is oscillated 
by the oscillating arm. Preferably, the oscillating arm has an electrical 
drive that may be similar to an electric razor drive with an oscillating 
head, or with a rotating electric motor with an eccentric. However, it is 
also possible to use other drives such as a water turbine that is 
connected by hose to the water line, and that may for example be 
advantageous if no electricity is available. 
If the fruit is moved over the support surface by hand for peeling, the 
knife-edge that projects through the support surface cuts into the fruit 
surface and removes a portion of it which results in peeling. The fruit is 
just moved through a series of different positions over the support 
surface until it is completely peeled. 
It has been shown to be advantageous if the support surface is designed as 
a container lid that has preferably several openings to pass the peels. 
Said container provides a stable stand for the support surface and 
accommodates the oscillating arm under the support surface. The container 
can also accommodate the peels generated by the peeling knife during the 
peeling process and can be easily emptied. 
The fruits to be peeled have almost always roughly the shape of a truncated 
cone, a cylinder or sphere. The invention features a curved support 
surface and/or at least two planes at an angle in the area of the knife 
opening as well as a knife-edge that is shaped to match the shape of the 
support surface, in order for the knife-edge to peel the largest possible 
fruit surface area at a given fruit position on the support surface in one 
pass. 
The invented peeling device can be efficiently utilized with fruits of 
different size and/or shape if for example several container lids are made 
available that feature various surfaces and matching peeling knives 
attached to the oscillating arm and that are used for peeling according to 
the shape of the fruit. 
It is advantageous, if the peeling thickness is adjustable dependent on the 
fruits to be peeled and on the subsequent use of the fruits. For this 
purpose, the invention provides an adjustment for the gap between the 
knife-edge and the support surface. The peel thickness increases with the 
gap size. 
Furthermore, it is useful if the oscillating arm is detachable from the 
drive unit. It allows easier cleaning of the oscillating arm and of the 
attached peeling knife without having to expose the drive unit to water 
which would be dangerous, especially with electric drive units, and it 
makes it easy to use oscillating arms with peeling knives of various 
shapes. 
The drive unit is preferably designed with a housing that is attached on 
the side of the container, and that can preferably be pivoted on an axis 
or is detachable, and said container has a wall opening for the 
oscillating arm to reach through. This allows for a safe arrangement of 
the drive unit outside of the container and assures also the required 
positioning of the oscillating arm and peeling knife underneath of the 
support surface. The pivoting or detachable connection of the drive 
housing to the container wall does not only save space when the invented 
device is stored but allows furthermore the cleaning of the container with 
water without exposing the drive unit to water. 
The desired adjustment of the gap between the knife-edge and the support 
surface can for example be achieved using a worm gear to adjust the 
elevation of the drive unit in the housing via a thumb screw on the side 
of the housing. The elevation adjustment of the drive unit changes the 
position of the attached oscillating arm and thus also of the peeling 
knife relative to the support surface. 
Another feature of the invention comprises a container having a top part 
with the drive housing and a bottom part. The bottom part collects the 
peels that arrive through the opening in the container lid. The bottom 
part can be easily detached and for example be cleaned in a dishwasher. 
A pivoting or removable steady leg may be provided at the housing on the 
side opposite to the container to securely support the drive unit housing 
that is connected to the container side and that is subject to vibrations 
due to the oscillations passed to the oscillating arm from the drive unit. 
The pivoting or removable steady leg for the housing together with the 
pivoting or removable housing described above can keep the storage space 
requirements of the invented peeling device small.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The invented peeling device has a container 1 that comprises a bottom part 
2, a detachable top part 3 that is connected to the bottom part and is 
secured against rotation, and a detachable lid 4 that is connected to the 
top part and is secured against rotation. The housing 5 is connected to 
the top part 3 of the container either by a pivot pin 6 or in a detachable 
fashion. In addition, the housing 5 is supported by a pivoting or 
detachable steady leg 7 that is connected to the housing 5 on the side 
opposite to the top part 3 of the container. The housing 5 contains an 
electric drive unit 8 that has an oscillating head similar to an electric 
razor. The electricity to the electrical drive unit 8 is supplied by a 
cable 9. The housing 5 has also a switch 10 to switch the electric drive 
unit on and off. 
The elevation of the electric drive unit 8 in the housing 5 is adjustable 
via a worm gear 11 that is driven by a thumb screw 12 on the outside of 
the housing. 
The oscillating head has a detachable oscillating arm 13 that protrudes 
into the container through the opening 14 in the top part 3 of the 
container, and said oscillating arm carries a peeling knife at its 
90.degree. offset end that reaches through the knife opening 16 in the lid 
4, with its knife-edge 17 projecting above the surface 18 of the lid 4 
that forms the support surface for the fruit to be peeled. The projection 
of the knife-edge 17 above the lid surface 18 is adjustable via the worm 
gear 11 that is driven by the thumb screw 12. 
FIG. 1 shows that the surface 18 in the area of the knife opening 16 of the 
lid 4 consists of two planes that are connected at an obtuse angle. 
However, the surface may also be a curved design. The shape of the 
knife-edge 17 matches the shape of the surface 18. This permits peeling of 
a larger area of fruits of usually circular cross section in one pass. 
The cross section of a fruit to be peeled such as a carrot is shown in FIG. 
1 by the dashed circle 19. Peeling occurs if the fruit is moved by hand 
across the knife-edge 17 of the peeling knife 15 in the direction of the 
arrow 20 of FIG. 2. The peel thickness is determined by the size of the 
projection of the knife-edge 17 above the lid surface 18. The peels fall 
through the openings 21 into the bottom part 2 of the container that can 
be cleaned after lifting off the upper part 3. 
The design example of FIG. 3 shows a peeling machine that is completely 
contained in a housing 22 that may be made of plastic. The housing 22 has 
a compartment 23 for the drive unit 8, with the oscillating arm 13 
reaching through the partition 24. The compartment 23 is separated by 
another partition 25 from the stand 40. The partition 24 creates another 
compartment 26 in the housing 22 to accommodate the knife unit. This 
compartment has an opening 27 at the bottom to allow the peels and other 
chips to fall through. A support member 28 carrying the knife guide 29 
reaches through the partition 24. The knife guide 29 has a circular guide 
surface 30 that acts as sliding guide surface for the knife 17. The knife 
base 31 of the knife is also circular and is supported by the guide 
surface 30. Two bridges 33 and 34 hold the knife-edge 17 at a distance 
from the knife base 31 and create a gap 32 between the edge 17 and the 
knife base 31. The peel cuttings generated by the knife-edge 17 slide 
through this gap 32 and pass on the sides of the support member 28 and the 
knife guide 29 through the opening 27 out of the compartment 26. 
A driver 35 is either attached to or an integral part of the knife base 31 
and points essentially downward perpendicularly with its axis extending 
through the center 38 of the circle. The center 38 of the circle is also 
the center of the circular knife-edge segment 17, the knife base 31, and 
of the guide surface 30. The end of the driver 35 is joined to the 
oscillating arm 13 with a wrist pin 36. The oscillating arm 13 moves 
essentially along its axis in a back and forth motion and causes the knife 
to slide along the guide surface 30 in a circular oscillation. The center 
of this circle is also the center 38. This motion is made possible through 
a slot 37 in the knife guide 29. 
The oscillating arm 13 may be driven by an oscillating armature. But the 
drive unit may also be designed as a rotating electric motor where the 
oscillating arm 13 is connected to the motor 8 via an eccentric. Of 
course, the other drive options mentioned above are appropriate also. 
The housing has an opening that is accessible from the top and that holds 
the knife. The knife-edge 17 projects at least on one side above this 
opening as will be explained in more detail in conjunction with FIG. 4. 
The size of the projection is adjustable with a mechanism, e.g., a worm 
gear, that allows to vertically reposition basically the complete knife 
unit consisting of the support member 28, the knife guide 29 and the 
knife. It is advantageous to reposition the motor 8 also, as for example 
in the present example where the motor and the support member 28 are 
firmly connected. 
A base 41 with pads 42 is attached to the said stand 40 for placement on a 
table. Both compartments 23 and 26, the stand 40 and the base 41 form a 
C-shaped frame, wherein the bay formed by the C, that is the space between 
the compartment 26 and the base 41, holds a collecting dish 43 underneath 
the opening 27 to receive the cut peels. The present design example has 
fully separated compartments 23 and 26 which allows to clean the cutting 
tool without difficulty and does not allow water to penetrate into 
compartment 23. 
Last, FIG. 3 shows that the housing has a trough 39 in the knife area for 
guiding the fruits to be peeled. 
FIG. 4 shows a partial section along the line IV--IV of FIG. 3. FIG. 4 
shows specifically that the knife 17, 31 is not only guided by the guide 
surface 30 but is guided also by the knife guide 29 against displacement 
in the cutting direction. Therefore, the knife guide 29 has a L-shaped 
cross section. The driver 35 protrudes into an opening in the knife guide. 
It is joined to the oscillating arm 13 by the wrist pin 36. Also, the 
section view of FIG. 4 shows more clearly the offset between the 
knife-edge 17 and the top side of the housing. The top side of the housing 
before the knife-edge 17 in moving direction of the fruit is offset 
relative to the knife-edge, which creates a gap 32 between the top side 46 
of the housing and the knife-edge 17. The top view shows also a clearance 
50 between the knife-edge 17 and the housing wall. The knife clearance is 
adjustable through vertical positioning of the knife. On the exit side for 
the sliced peels, that is behind the knife-edge 17, the top side 47 of the 
housing is offset against the top side 46 in such a way that the top side 
47 is slightly higher than or at least level with the knife-edge 17. The 
purpose is to assure that the sliced peels fall only through the 
compartment 26 and do not remain on top of the work area 46, 47. This work 
area may be totally flat. It may also be slightly raised relative to the 
top of the housing as indicated by the slopes 48 and 49. Accordingly, the 
trough 39 that guides the fruit for peeling has a bump (46, 47) in moving 
direction of the fruit at the peeling location that tapers off afterwards. 
FIG. 5 shows another design example of the invention featuring a 
hand-operated peeling device. The device has a housing 53 for a motor 8 
and a battery 52. The housing may have a cylindric shape and be designed 
for easy hand-operation. The cutter head 51 contains the cutting unit 
including the knife-edge 17 and the oscillating arm 13 that is connected 
to the motor 8. Again, the housing has a trough 39 that reduces risk of 
injury and improves the guidance for the fruit to be peeled. The cutter 
head 51 is adjustable relative to the housing 53 as indicated by the 
dashed line. This allows to adjust the peeling depth. Beyond that, the 
knife drive and knife guide match those of the design examples shown in 
FIG. 1 through 4, and the corresponding details were omitted in FIG. 5. 
The peeling device of FIG. 5 is moved perpendicular to the longitudinal 
axis of the housing 53 for peeling, that is perpendicular to the 
projection plane of FIG. 5. 
In addition, it is pointed out that the knife 17 of the design examples 
shown in FIG. 3 to 5 can also be a lineal design working with a linear 
motion. Accordingly, this example of the invention covers also basically 
two types of movement, that is a knife oscillation parallel to the 
knife-edge 17 or a second movement where the knife oscillates 
perpendicular to the knife-edge. 
The expert realizes the potential for further design variations without 
difficulty. For example, adjustment of the peeling depth may be realized 
by lowering or raising the work areas 46 and 47 of FIG. 4 relative to the 
rest of the housing.