Improvements in Fruit Seeders.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Oct., 1898-Accepted, 3rd Dec., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Fruit Seeders.
I, BENJAMIN WILLCOX, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of London,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (which has
been communicated to me from abroad by The Enterprise Manufacturing Com-
pany, of Pennsylvania, domiciled at the corner of 3rd and Danphin Streets,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Manufacturers of Hardware
Specialities) and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
This invention relates to fruit seeders in which the fruit to be seeded is passed
between two rolls, one roll of yielding material and the other roll having projections,
so that the projections force the seeds from the meat of the fruit.
The invention has reference more particularly to details in the construction of the
mechanism for adjusting the rolls and the means for removing the seeds and pulp,
and to a special form of feeding mechanism described. The invention is especially
adapted for the seeding of raisins, but by adjusting the seeding device it is ren-
dered capable of seeding other fruits.
The invention will be clearly understood from the following description with
reference to accompanying drawings of which :--
Figure 1 is a rear view of a seeding machine constructed according to this
invention.
Figure 2 is a sectional elevation.
Figure 3 is a horizontal section showing the seeding rolls in plan.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the plate for removing the seeds.
Figure 5 is a perspective view of one of the pulp removing segments.
Figure 6 is a perspective view of a portion of one of the toothed discs of the
seeding roll; and
Figure 7 is a detached side view of the revolving carrier.
A is the frame of the machine mounted on a pedestal A¹ and carrying a hopper A²
into which the fruit to be seeded is placed in quantities. This hopper at its lower
end is shaped as shewn in the drawings and has an outlet a² at one side. Within
the lower portion of the hopper is a shaft C carrying agitating arms c, this shaft is
rotated so that the arms will break up the clinging masses of fruit that are placed
in the hopper.
Beneath the discharge mouth of the hopper is a rotating drum or carrier B having
pockets b extending the full width of the carrier; these pockets are of sufficient
depth to hold a series of raisins, for instance, side by side but are not deep enough
to hold two layers one above another. The carrier is rotated in the direction indi-
cated by the arrow, Figure 2, lifting the raisins so that the surplus raisins will fall
back, and in the event of a pocket in the carrier picking up more than one layer of
raisins a brush B' removes the surplus raisins from the carrier, thus leaving a single
row of raisins in the pocket and as the carrier rotates a single row of raisins will
fall from each pocket into the space between the seeding rolls D and F.
The carrier B is mounted on the shaft b¹ directly in front of the discharge
CD

page_text: mouth of the hopper and the brush B¹ mounted on the shaft 62 rotates, in
the direction indicated by the arrow in contact with the carrier B.
The plate c¹ forms with the extended bottom plate a of the hopper, a
chute directly above the seeding rolls. This plate is made detachable and
has lugs c² adapted to pins c³ on the casing so that the plate. can be readily
removed.
The shaft d of the seeding roll D is mounted in bearings f on brackets F
projecting from the frame of the machine. The shaft d has a shoulder at one
end, and is screw-threaded at the opposite end, and on the said shaft is mounted
a series of discs d' alternating with washers 2 less in diameter than the discs
and held against the shoulder by a nut adapted to the screw thread. The
discs d¹ have notched peripheries forming pins of the shape indicated in Figure 6,
so as to penetrate the raisins, and are so spaced as to prevent the seeds of the
raisins entering between the teeth, and the washers are of such a thickness
as,
to prevent the seeds passing between the discs so that the seeds must
necessarily remain on the periphery of the roll.
Secured to the brackets F in proximity to the roll D is a bar G supporting
a series of pulp removing segments G1, Figure 5, having arms g g which are
situated between the discs d' and partially encircle the washers d², and arms g¹
which partially encircle the bar G, these segments are for the purpose of
removing the meat or pulp of the raisins from the roll after the seeds have
been removed. The pulp falls onto an inclined chute F¹ secured to a cross
bar of the brackets F.
Secured to this cross bar fi is a plate H, shewn detached in Figure 4, having
an edge which can be adjusted in close proximity to the periphery of the
roll D, so as to remove the seeds from the roll. This plate H has a series of
slots through which pass confining screws h and the plate can be adjusted
vertically by means of set screws h¹ bearing against the underside of the plate, so
that by adjusting the set screws the plate can be moved towards or from the roll
and the plate can be held in the adjusted position by the confining screws h. Access
can be had to the adjusting screws from beneath without removing any portion of
the machine.
The seeding roll E has a yielding face c of rubber or other suitable material,
and is mounted in bearings i carried by arms on a sliding frame I, adapted to
undercut ways J, in the present instance, integral with the base plate A3 of the
frame, and the frame I with the roll E is adjusted towards and from the roll D by
means of a screw shaft K having a hand wheel k. This screw shaft K is adapted
to a threaded lug j cast integral, in the present instance, with the undercut way J
and is confined to a bearing 2 of the slide I, so that on turning this screw shaft K
in one direction the slide and its roll is moved towards the roll D and by reversing
the movement of the shaft the roll and its slide are retracted. The screw shaft
locks the slide I in the adjusted position.
Thus it will be seen that the roll E can be positively adjusted while the machine
is'in operation.
In constructing the improved fruit seeder it is preferable to make the frame A
as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2; the frame has two side plates at and extending from
one side plate to the other is a cross plate a; this cross plate extends from the
upper portion of the frame diagonally to a point directly above the roll E, forming
not only the bottom of the hopper A2, but also forming the chute to direct the fruit
to the seeding rolls. The frame is open at the base so as to allow for the free
movement of the slide I and the roll E. The brackets F are cast integral in the
present instance with the base plate A³ to which the frame A is secured.
The shaft of the roll D is the driving shaft of the machine, and on one end of
this shaft are the fast and loose pulleys d³ d*; on the opposite end of the shaft is a
gear wheel 'n which gears with a wheel ¹ carried by the shaft 6 of the revolving
carrier, B. This wheel gears with a broad faced intermediate wheel n³ mounted on
a stud on the frame of the machine and this wheel n² in turn gears with a pinion n³

page_text: on the shaft 62 of the brush B. The agitator C is driven by a wheel in gear with
the intermediate wheel n².
M is a strap shifter adapted to bearings a³ in the frame A and on the end of this
shifter is a bandle m. The shifter has stops m¹ to limit its movement and carries
a shifter arm m² adjustable on the shifter bar and secured in the adjusted position
by a set screw m³. This shifter is arranged so as to shift the driving belt onto
oither the fast or loose pulley.
While the invention is for the purpose of seeding raisins in large quantities and
is illustrated as driven by power it will be understood that it may be made in small
sizes and driven by hand without departing from the invention, and also the inven-
tion can be used for seeding other fruits than raisins by simply increasing or
diminishing the distance between the teeth of the discs and increasing or diminish-
ing the space between the discs, depending altogether upon the size of the seeds of
the fruit to be seeded.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. The combination in a fruit seeder, of the two seeding rolls and feeding
mechanism, substantially as herein before described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
2. The combination in a fruit seeder, of two rolls, one made up of a series of
toothed discs and washers, the other having a yielding surface, means for driving
one or both of the rolls, a cross bar, with segments mounted between the bar and
the washers of the toothed roll for the purpose of removing the pulp of the fruit
seeded, substantially as herein before described.
3. The combination in a fruit seeder, of a toothed roll and a roll having a yielding
surface, a fixed bearing for one of said rolls, a slide having arms carrying the other
roll, a slide-way for the slide, a feed-screw controlling the movement of the slide ou
the slide-way so that one of the rolls can be adjusted towards or from the other
roll, substantially as hereinbefore described.
4. The combination in a fruit seeding machine, of a driven toothed roll adapted
to fixed bearings, a cross bar, a plate mounted on the face of said bar having its
edge in close proximity to the periphery of the toothed roll, with set screws for
adjusting the plate to the periphery of the roll, confining screws for securing the
plate in the adjusted position and a pressure roll, with means for adjusting the said
pressure roll, substantially as herein before described.
5. The combination in a fruit seeding machine, of a driven shaft having a series
of toothed discs, and a series of washers thereon, the said washers alternating with
the discs, a bar at the rear of the machine, a series of segments G¹ resting between
the bar and the washers of the toothed roll, the said segment having arms gg which
partially encircle the washers, the lower arm g of each segment acting to remove
the meat of the fruit from the roll, substantially as hereinbefore described.
6. The combination in a fruit seeding machine, of a driven shaft having a
shoulder at one end and a screw thread at the opposite end, a series of toothed discs
mounted on the shaft and a series of washers also mounted on the shaft and
alternating with the discs, a nut adapted to the thread on the shaft and confining
the washers and discs against the shoulder, fixed bearings for the said shaft, means
for driving the shaft, segments held in a fixed position and resting against the
washers of the roll, and adjustable blade mounted in close proximity to the
periphery of the roll, a yielding pressure roll and means for adjusting the pressure
roll towards and from the toothed roll, substantially as hereinbefore described.
7. The combination in a fruit seeding machine, of a frame made in a single
casting having two side plates and an inclined cross plate forming the bottom of
the hopper and one wall of the chute for the feeding rolls and open at the base, a
sliding frame adapted to the said open portion and carrying a roll, with brackets

page_text: projecting from the fixed frame and carrying another roll, with means for revolving
one of said rolls, substantially as herein before described.
8. The combination in a raisin seeder, of a hopper, a rotating carrier mounted at
the mouth of the hopper, the inclined bottom plate of the hopper extending under
the carrier and in close proximity thereto, said carrier having longitudinal grooves
of such a depth as to hold a series of raisins side by side, a brush mounted above
the carrier and in close proximity thereto, means for rotating the brush and the
carrier, with seeding mechanism directly under the carrier into which the raisins
are fed, the said brush removing the surplus raisins from the carrier, substantially
as hereinbefore described.
9. The combination of the frame, raisin seeding roll mounted in the frame, a
carrier mounted directly above the raisin seeding rolls, said carrier having longi-
tudinal grooves of such a depth as to receive only a single row of raisins, a hopper
having an inclined bottom plate extending under the carrier and above one of the
raisin seeding rolls, a brush mounted above the carrier, means for rotating the rolls,
carrier and brush so that the raisins will be fed to the rolls in single rows, the
surplus raisins being removed from the carrier by the brush, substantially as here-
inbefore described.
10. The combination of a raisin seeder, of the seeding rolls, a frame, a hopper
having an inclined bottom, an outlet in the front of the hopper at the bottom, a
longitudinal grooved carrier mounted in bearings in the frame in front of the
opening in the hopper and above the extension of the bottom plate thereof, a
detachable front plate extending from one of the seeding rolls to a point in front
of the carrier forming with the extension of the bottom plate of the hopper a chute,
a rotating brush mounted above the carrier and means for agitating the raisins
within the hopper, substantially as hereinbefore described.
Dated this 6th day of October 1898.
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.