Improvements in Apparatus for Removing Stems from Raisins, Currants, and other similar Fruits, and Cleaning the same.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 9th May, 1893-Accepted, 24th June, 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Removing Stems from Raisins,
Currants, and other similar Fruits, and Cleaning the same.
I, ERNEST NIEHOFF of No. 605 North L. Street, Tacoma in the County of
Pierce and State of Washington, United States of America, Gentleman, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My invention relates to a portable household machine for removing stems from
raisins, currants and other similar fruits and cleaning the same, and it consists in
certain novel constructions, combinations and arrangements of parts as will be
hereinafter described and claimed, whereby stems can be rapidly and completely
removed, and the stemmed raisins and currants thoroughly cleansed.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved apparatus, showing means for
holding the stemming slats or boards in position and also for adjusting the same,
and
Figure 2 is a vertical section of the same.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of a modified form of the machine showing a sieve
in position in the same.
Figure 4 is a vertical section of Figure 3.
Figure 5 is a transverse section of the machine shown in Figure 3 with the
stemming device removed and the cleaning device in position in the same but
arranged on an inclined plane.
Figure 6 is a detail view of one form of stemming device, and
Figure 7 is a detail view of a cleaning device.
At present, bakers and others remove stems from raisins and currants by pulling
them off with their fingers, a very tedious and slow operation in large bakeries,
and, in fact, in households, and my invention is devised to overcome these
difficulties.
A, in the drawings, represents an outer enclosing and containing case or box,
preferably made of wood and of any suitable dimensions, though the following are
dimensions often adopted: 18 inches long, 5 inches high and 14 inches wide. The
box is provided on the inner surface of its walls with a groove or grooves a, a¹.
Where two grooves are employed they may be made parallel with each other, or
the lower groove may be downwardly and forwardly inclined as shown. In the top
groove a stemming device B is fitted, and in the lower groove a', a cleaning device Ċ
is inserted. The stemming device may be made of wood or metal all in one piece
as shown in Figure 6, or in several pieces suitably connected together as in
Figures 1 and 2.
In Figures 1 and 2 the stemmer is constructed of a series of boards or slats b
made of hard wood or metal and formed with sharp or square upper edges, said
slats being fitted into the side grooves a and connected together by rods D which
are secured at their upper ends in the head board of the machine, and the lower
ends of said rods are screw threaded and provided with thumb nuts d, whereby the
slats can be moved further from and nearer to each other accordingly as it is
desired to stem small or large fruit. Rubber washers d' are placed on the rods D
intermediate each slat or board, so that when the slats are adjusted to the desired
position they will be held firmly and prevented from wabbling. The lowest slat b³
is made higher than the other slats and is provided with journal ends which fit in
the side grooves a, so that raisins or currants. will be held on the steminer during

page_text: the stemming operation. To guard against any accidental movement of the slats
or boards, the same are held down by a clamping device E as shown.
In Figures 3 and 6 I have shown the stemmer, made in one piece and formed of
lateral bars and unbroken lateral passages extending nearly the entire width of the
device. These bars or slats are preferably.formed with sharp or square upper 5
edges, so that, when the raisins or currants are moved over the surface of the
stemming device B by the hand; the stems will be thoroughly, and rapidly removed
from the fruit, and, as the passages F are unbroken and extend nearly the entire
width of the machine, the stems are free to drop' through these passages into the
body of the box while the raisins or currants remain on the stemmer. "These 1
passages F are preferably outwardly and downwardly diverging as shown in
Figure 4, which are formed by bevelling the sides of the slats or boards as shown.
By this construction there will be less liability of the stems removed from the fruit
forming a wedge and clogging up the passages. The cleaning device C. is-formed
with an outer surrounding rim c of wood or metal and. a.central.sieve c'; and the 1
cleaning device may be set in the box in a horizontal or inclined. position as desired.
The utility of this cleaning device is seen from the fact that it is often desirable to
clean the raisins or currants, and this can be readily and conveniently done by
removing the stemming device and placing the stemmed fruit on the cleaning
device and pouring water over the raisins. The box may be provided with a single 2
side groove and the stemming device removably or rigidly secured therein and the
cleaning device dispensed with.
The operation in using my invention is as follows:
A baker or other person places three or four pounds of raisins or currants on the
stemming device and rubs and rolls them over the same. The stems of the raisins.2
are caught by the sharp edges of the bars or slats and are torn off from the fruit
and fall through the passages between the slats into the body of the box below.
When the raisins are freed from their stems, they may be washed, and this can be
most conveniently done by removing the stemming device and placing them-on the
cleaning device which is placed in the lower side groove after the stemming device 8
has been removed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A device for removing stems from raisins or currants. comprising an outer
frame and spaced bars having sharp edges, the spaces between the bars-extending
uninterruptedly nearly the entire width of the stemming. device, substantially+as
described.
2. In combination with an outer containing box or case, a portable household
stemming apparatus comprising an outer frame and spaced bars which are bevelled
downwardly and outwardly and formed with sharp edges, the spaces between said
bars extending uninterruptedly nearly the entire width of the stemming apparatus,
substantially as-described.
3. In combination with an outer containing box or case having internal grooves,
a removable portable household stemming-apparatus adapted to be fitted into one of 4
said grooves, the said stemming apparatus comprising an outer frame and spaced
bars provided with sharp edges, the spaces between the bars. extending nearly the
entire width of the stemming apparatus, and a removable cleaning apparatus
formed with an outer frame and central sieve portion, substantially as described.
4. In combination with an outer enclosing and containing case, a portable *5
household stemming apparatus formed of a series of slats or boards connected by a
rod or rods having screw threaded ends, said slats or boards adapted to be brought
nearer to and farther from each other. by manipulating nuts applied on the screw
threaded ends of the rods, substantially as and for the purpose described.
5. In combination with an outer enclosing.box, a portable household stemming 5

page_text: apparatus formed of a series of slate connected by rods having screw threaded ends,
nuts on said rods, washers interposed between the slats, and a clamping device,
substantially as described.
Dated this 8th day of May 1893.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.