Abstract:
The present example provides an automated or mechanized, way of making a pepper boat from a de-stemmed pepper. In making the pepper boat, de-stemmed peppers may be split by a splitting assembly. As the pepper is split, or subsequently, a whisk assembly tends to clean a portion of the veins and seeds from the split pepper pod to form two substantially equal halves of a pepper boat, suitable for further food processing.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    This description relates generally to food harvesting and processing and more specifically to the harvesting and processing of fruits and vegetables having veins and/or seeds, such as peppers. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Processing of peppers (and many other crops) is typically labor intensive. When peppers are processed, processing is often done by hand, often after the peppers have been shipped to a place where the cost of labor is low. Likewise, pepper boat making is a labor intensive process to split the pepper and remove a portion of the seeds and veins of a de-stemmed pepper, typically made from a whole pepper pod. Boat making is typically done before the peppers are processed into food products, such as jalapeno appetizers. 
         [0003]    A trend in the agriculture industry is a decrease in the availability of seasonal laborers. This decrease in the availability of labor can create challenges to a grower&#39;s ability to harvest and process peppers. In addition, processing may be outsourced to foreign countries where labor may be available at low cost, but adding transportation costs to the total cost of processing. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    The following presents a simplified summary of the disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding to the reader. This summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure and it does not identify key/critical elements of the invention or delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts disclosed herein, in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. 
         [0005]    The present example provides a mechanized way of making a pepper boat, or longitudinally halved pepper, from a de-stemmed pepper. In making the pepper boat, de-stemmed peppers may be split longitudinally in substantially equal halves by a splitting assembly. As the pepper is split, or subsequently, a whisk assembly tends to clean a portion of the veins and seeds from the split pepper pod to form two halves of a pepper boat, suitable for further food processing. 
         [0006]    Many of the attendant features will be more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    The present description will be better understood from the following detailed description read in light of the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  shows conventional pepper boat making. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  shows two pepper boats made from a pepper. 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  shows a front view of a pepper boat maker as an integral processing module. 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  shows a side view of a pepper boat maker as an integral processing module. 
       
    
    
       [0012]    Like reference numerals are used to designate like parts in the accompanying drawings. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0013]    The detailed description provided below in connection with the appended drawings, is intended as a description of the present examples and is not intended to represent the only forms in which the present example may be constructed or utilized. The description sets forth the functions of the example and the sequence of steps for constructing and operating the example. However, the same or equivalent functions and sequences may be accomplished by different examples. 
         [0014]    The examples below describe a pepper boat maker. Although the present examples are described and illustrated herein as being implemented in a pepper de-stemming system, the system described is provided as an example and not a limitation. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the present examples are suitable for application in a variety of different types of food processing or harvesting systems. 
         [0015]      FIG. 1  shows conventional pepper boat making. Processing a pepper into a boat is typically a labor intensive process. A person typically uses a knife  101  to split a pepper  103  along a longitudinal line  1802 . The person making the boat then typically uses the knife or other device to scoop out the seeds and/or veins from the two halves the pepper left after it split. The operator typically does this one pepper at a time. Such a process is hand labor intensive and is typically slow as the operator has to handle and process each pepper individually. 
         [0016]      FIG. 2  shows two pepper boats  1900  made from a de-stemmed pepper. The pepper boat maker typically produces two pepper boats  1900  suitable for further processing into Jalapeno poppers or other food products. As shown, a pepper is split into a first half  1902  and a second half  1904 . Both halves of the pepper  1902 ,  1904  are relatively free of seeds and veins. The boats are typically made from a de-stemmed pepper that has been processed to remove the stem and cap in a previous process. However, the boat maker may also be used to make boats out of peppers that have not been de-stemmed. 
         [0017]      FIG. 3  shows a front view of a pepper boat maker  2000  installed as an integral processing module  1904 . A boat maker  2000  typically provides two functions. First, it splits the pepper longitudinally in two substantially equal halves. And second, it removes the seeds from the pepper. The pepper is typically split by forcing it through a fixed blade or splitting assembly  2010  to render it into two halves. Almost immediately thereafter, a whisk-like assembly  2004  that spins about on an axis that is in line with the longitudinal axis of the pepper may be used to remove the seeds and veins. A drive shaft assembly  2006  driver that which one end of the whisk assembly may be fixed to the trailing edge, or back end, of the splitting blade and the other end of the whisk assembly is coupled to a drive mechanism  2008  to turn it. 
         [0018]    The drive mechanism  2008  may rotate in one direction or it may rotate back and forth to remove the seeds. In one example, a pneumatically operated whisk assembly  2004  rotates back and forth in approximately 270° degrees of travel, and is air operated. The wire whisk assembly  2004  is typically flexible enough so that the pepper is not damaged (internal cell structure) as the wires conform to the interior of the pepper as it removes the seeds and veins. 
         [0019]    Block  2002  shows a previous processing module used to process a pepper. A typical processing module may be one that destems the pepper. 
         [0020]      FIG. 4  shows a side view  2100  of a pepper boat maker  2000  as an integral processing module  1904 . Prior pepper processing, such as de-stemming, typically occurs in the previously indicated processing module  2002 . Next, the boat making module  2000  splits the pepper and removes the seeds. First, a splitting assembly  2010  splits the pepper into two halves and almost simultaneously feeds it into the whisk assembly  2004 . As the pepper is being split, the whisk rotates about the inside of the pepper halves that are being divided to remove the seeds and veins. The shape of the whisk assembly, is narrower on the initial contact with the pepper and wider at the opposite end. This shape tends to aid in the removal of seeds and stems as the pepper halves diverge from each other as they immerge from the splitting assembly  2010 . A drive shaft  2006  or an equivalent drive mechanism turns the whisk assembly so that it contacts the interior of the pepper to remove the seeds and veins. The drive shaft may be any suitable length. A drive mechanism  2008  supplied by air, rotates the shaft assembly and the whisk assembly coupled to the drive shaft. The drive mechanism may rotate continuously in one direction, or it may rotate back and forth to remove seeds and veins. Seed and vein removal and their separation from boat may be accomplished by various methods including water, air gravity and density.