Patent Description:
The avocado (Persea americana) is a pear-shaped drupe, <NUM> to <NUM> centimeters long and with a weight that can vary from <NUM> to <NUM>, with a central seed, commonly called pit, of <NUM>-<NUM> in diameter. Its epicarp or peel can be green or aubergine, smooth or wrinkled, depending on the varieties and their origins.

The nature of the fruit, but above all its variations in size and weight, required manual processing in the past to separate the pit from the pulp which is certainly the most used part of the fruit.

The Applicant has submitted the international patent application <CIT> which concerns an industrial treatment to reduce the use of labor in the separation of the pit from the pulp. It provides an avocado cutting process, including feeding, orienting and advancing along multiple fruit lanes, a pre-cutting stage to create an incision both in a top portion and in a bottom portion of each fruit while the fruit is held neatly oriented, and a cutting stage in which a central vertical cut of each fruit is made, lateral to the pit so that the fruit is divided into two halves. During the cutting stage, the pit is beaten to be slightly moved inside the avocado and detached from the pulp.

<CIT> also supplies a multi-lane machine comprising a shuffle feeder, a longitudinal frame, a conveyor with fruit-holding flights advancing along the longitudinal frame. The fruit-holding flights are shaped with a series of recesses sized according to the caliber of the fruits to be transported and transversely spaced, and provided with an opening at the bottom. The machine also comprises a cutting station with a pre-cutting section and a cutting section.

The pre-cutting section has a plurality of upper and lower pre-cutting blades mutually fixed facing each other on upper and lower transverse heads respectively. These heads are movable vertically with respect to the fruit-holding flights, on vertical guides perpendicular to the longitudinal frame above the conveyor. The upper heads have a plurality of hollow retaining elements, to hold the avocados in position, hollow retaining elements which are spring loaded on a pair of vertical rods movable across the upper head and are intended to rest, stressed by the springs, on respective avocados, neatly oriented in the recesses of the fruit-holding flights.

For each fruit-holding flight the cutting section has a plurality of pairs of separate cutting blades that are fixed only on the upper transverse head above the respective recess for lateral cutting of the fruits. The cutting section has a plurality of punches in the form of rods, each punch being movable between the separate cutting blades with respect to the upper head to hit the pit, to move it inside the avocado in order to detach it from the pulp.

The presence of the cutting station and the pre-cutting station in the machine described in PCT/IB2019/<NUM> determines a greater constructive complexity. Furthermore, since the blades are inserted into the fruit and pass through it from top to bottom, the cut is imprecise and irregular due to the compression action that this cutting system produces on the fibers of the fruit; moreover, the cut is very conditioned by the size of the fruit.

<CIT> describes a pit fruit pitting device comprising a pair of blades arranged abutting side by side and having cutting edges facing in the same direction and forming together an inlet wedge to penetrate simultaneously into the fruit, a pair of gripping elements of the pit on said blades for engaging with the pit in a locking grip, means for executing a closing movement of the blades and then a movement for obtaining separation of the blades.

The present invention aims to solve the problems present in the multi-lane machine described in the international patent application <CIT>.

In particular, an object of the invention is to allow a cutting operation of an avocado that obtains, without damaging the surface of the same, almost simultaneously, a precise separation of the fruit into two parts and the detachment of the surface of the pit from the pulp of the fruit adhering to it for its subsequent easy removal from the fruit cut in two halves.

A further purpose of the invention is to cause minimal deformation of the fruit pulp due to compression during cutting.

Another purpose of the invention is to perform a cutting operation that does not require its precise orientation in the vertical arrangement of the avocado.

In first aspect of the invention, the purposes are achieved by an avocado cutting and pitting process, including stages of feeding, orienting and advancing along several lines of avocado on fruit-holding flights equipped with recesses with diametrical slots, a cutting stage in which each avocado is divided into two halves by means of a pair of knives with facing blades, and a pitting stage in which the avocado pit is beaten by means of a plunger to be slightly moved inside the avocado and detached from the pulp,
wherein the cutting and pitting stages include:.

In a second aspect thereof, the present invention provides a multi-lane machine comprising:.

wherein the cutting and pitting station also includes:.

Further features and advantages of the invention will become most evident from a detailed but not limiting description of an embodiment of an avocado cutting and pitting multi-lane machine, illustrated in the attached drawings, in which:.

Reference is initially made to [<FIG>] which is a partial schematic perspective view of an avocado cutting and pitting multi-lane machine according to the present invention. The multi-lane machine comprises a longitudinal frame <NUM>, a conveyor <NUM> with fruit-holding flights, and a cutting station <NUM>. The conveyor <NUM> is constituted, according to the conventional technique, by a plurality of transverse rods <NUM>. The transverse rods <NUM> are equidistant longitudinally by a step chosen according to the movement of a stepping device <NUM>, which is known and therefore not described here. The avocados, not shown, are fed onto the conveyor <NUM> from a feeding station, also not shown, on the right side of [<FIG>], and moved towards the left, according to the arrow F, into the cutting station <NUM>. The transverse rods <NUM> are connected to each other near the opposite ends in succession by means of links, generally indicated with <NUM> and supported by rollers <NUM>, of known type. The rollers <NUM> engage with pairs of wheels <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>, <NUM>, respectively in the front and rear ends of the conveyor <NUM>, on which the belt formed by fruit-holding flights <NUM> runs, connected in succession by means of the links <NUM>.

The fruit-holding flights <NUM> are described in detail hereinafter with reference to <FIG>. The perspective view of [<FIG>] shows a fruit-holding flight of the machine in [<FIG>] according to the present invention, while [<FIG>] are a top plan view and a cross section view according to the line A-A of [<FIG>] of the fruit-holding flight. The fruit-holding flight <NUM> comprises a tray <NUM>, preferably metallic, provided with end flaps <NUM>, suitable for being fixed on the links <NUM> ([<FIG>]). The tray <NUM> has lateral edges <NUM> which extend at right angles to the tray bottom <NUM> and limit a series of recesses, generally indicated as <NUM>, sized according to the fruit to be transported and transversely spaced. According to the present invention, the recesses <NUM> are made with two half cups, <NUM>, identical to each other but arranged facing spaced apart by a diametrical gap <NUM>. A half cup <NUM> is represented in [<FIG>] in a perspective view, in [<FIG>] in top plan view, in [<FIG>] in front view and in [<FIG>] in side view.

Each half cup <NUM> has an upper side <NUM> and a lower side <NUM>, an external lateral profile <NUM> in contact with the lateral edges <NUM>, and an internal lateral profile <NUM> comprising a semi-frustoconical shape <NUM>, tapered towards the lower side <NUM>. The semi-frustoconical shape <NUM> extends beyond the lower side <NUM> of the half cup <NUM>. The lower side <NUM> also has two pins <NUM>, protruding perpendicularly from the lower side <NUM>, which are pressed into respective holes ([<FIG>]) made in the tray bottom <NUM>. The recesses <NUM> are held in this way by friction. Instead of the push pins <NUM>, bolts or other fastening means, which are not shown, can be provided. The function of the particular conformation of the fruit-holding flight <NUM> according to the present invention will be most clear in the following description. It is already understood, however, that the two facing semi-frustoconical shapes <NUM> form a frustoconical cavity intended to receive an avocado which is transported from the fruit-holding flight to the cutting station <NUM>.

Reference is made now to [<FIG>] which is a front end view of the multi-lane machine in [<FIG>]. The cutting station <NUM> is shown with fruits, indicated generically as A waiting to be cut and pitted. The cutting station <NUM> is also shown in [<FIG>] in partial perspective view and in [<FIG>] in side view.

The cutting station <NUM> is also shown in [<FIG>] in partial perspective view and in [<FIG>] in side view.

The cutting station <NUM> comprises a transversal head <NUM>, which is movable vertically above the fruit-holding flights <NUM>, on first vertical guides, generally indicated with <NUM>, perpendicular to the longitudinal frame <NUM> above the conveyor <NUM>. The vertical guides <NUM> are cylindrical pillars which support a cover element <NUM> of the cutting station <NUM>. For the sliding of the transverse head <NUM> on the vertical guides <NUM>, the transverse head <NUM> has through holes generally indicated as <NUM>, as shown in greater detail in <FIG>, which are respectively an enlarged partial schematic perspective view of a transverse head of the cutting station of [<FIG>], and a bottom plan view of the transverse head of [<FIG>]. On a lower side of the transverse head <NUM>, denoted by <NUM>, transversal sliding coupling guides are fixed in the form of recirculating ball slides <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>, which are a partial schematic perspective view of the transverse head <NUM> showing a single pair of knives and a bottom plan view of the transverse head <NUM>.

A left-knife holder slide <NUM> and a right-knife holder slide <NUM> are equipped at the top with sliding means cooperating with the transverse sliding coupling guides. The sliding means are represented as prismatic sections, generically indicated as <NUM>, engaging with the recirculating ball slides <NUM>. It should be understood that other sliding coupling means can also be provided between the transverse head <NUM> and the left and right knife holder slides <NUM>, <NUM>.

<FIG> show left knives and right knives, indicated respectively with <NUM> and <NUM>; they constitute a plurality of pairs of knives adapted to simultaneously cut a plurality of avocados A on each fruit-holding flight <NUM>.

For descriptive simplicity indicated in <FIG> is a single pair of knives <NUM>, <NUM>, according to a variant, as will be seen below. The knives <NUM>, <NUM> are fixed respectively to the left-knife holder slide <NUM> and to the right-knife holder slide <NUM>.

Actuation means are provided which are able to simultaneously move the left-knife holder slide <NUM> and the right-knife holder slide <NUM> to allow a coplanar translational movement of approaching and moving away of the left knife <NUM> or <NUM> and of the right knife <NUM> or <NUM> of each pair of knives with respect to the pit N of each avocado A.

The means for actuating the knife holder slides comprise a brushless motor <NUM> positioned on a support bracket <NUM>, integral with the transverse head <NUM>. A reducer <NUM> is connected to the brushless motor <NUM> and is equipped with a motor shaft <NUM>. A lever <NUM> is mounted centrally on the drive shaft <NUM> and, as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, has a left end <NUM> and a right end <NUM>. A left tie rod <NUM> is adapted to connect the left end <NUM> of the lever <NUM> to the left-knife holder slide <NUM>, and a right tie rod <NUM> is able to connect the right end <NUM> of the lever <NUM> to the right-knife holder slide <NUM>. The tie rods are connected to the slides by means of an articulated head <NUM>.

The pairs of left knives <NUM> or <NUM> and right knives <NUM> or <NUM> are able to move towards and away from the avocado pit N to simultaneously cut a plurality of avocados that are on the fruit-holding flight <NUM> below the pairs of knives left and right. They are moved towards and away from each other by the brushless motor <NUM>.

The pit beating device, already known from <CIT>, is now reported. As shown in the figures, a plurality of punches, generally indicated as <NUM>, in the form of rods, are fixed to a mobile crosspiece <NUM>. The mobile crosspiece <NUM> moves on second vertical guides <NUM> by means of tracks <NUM> perpendicular to a pair of perforated fixed crosspieces <NUM>, <NUM> of the longitudinal frame <NUM>. The punches pass through corresponding holes in the fixed perforated crosspieces <NUM>, <NUM> also functioning as guides. The displacement of the mobile crosspiece <NUM> occurs by means of a connecting rod-crank mechanism <NUM> operated by a brushless motor <NUM> mounted on the cover element <NUM>. Thanks to the displacement of the mobile crosspiece <NUM>, all the punches <NUM> fixed to it move simultaneously, in order to beat the pit N of the avocados A positioned in the underlying fruit-holding flight <NUM> and move it inside the avocado A in order to detach it from the pulp P.

The connecting rod-crank mechanism <NUM> has an oscillating operation with a maximum crank angle depending on the caliber of the avocados being processed. The consequent stroke of the punches <NUM> is controlled by means of a programmable logic controller or PLC which manages the brushless motor <NUM> which operates the connecting rod-crank mechanism <NUM>. The adjustment of the stroke of the punches is carried out by means of a touchscreen (not shown) and therefore can be performed quickly according to the size of the fruit, in particular their height, to which the position and size of the pit generally correspond.

Reference is made now to <FIG> which are a front view, an internal side view and an end view of the left knife <NUM> in the transverse head <NUM> shown in <FIG>, <FIG> and <FIG>. The right knife, which is mirror identical to the left one, is not shown in <FIG>.

The right and left knives <NUM>, <NUM> have an end portion <NUM>, equipped with two through holes <NUM>, <NUM> for their fastening by means of bolts to the left and right knife holder slides <NUM>, <NUM>. The right and left knives <NUM>, <NUM>, also have a blade <NUM> having a longitudinal axis y, a rear edge <NUM>, a free end provided with a cutting edge <NUM> perpendicular to the longitudinal axis y of the blade <NUM> and an internal side <NUM> equipped with a cutting edge <NUM> parallel to the axis longitudinal y of the blade <NUM>. The inner side <NUM> of the blade <NUM> has an indentation <NUM> intended to partially surround the pit N of the avocado A and a corresponding cutting edge <NUM>. The indentation <NUM> has a crescent shape. However, it generally has the shape of the profile of pit N which can be different depending on the avocado production to be treated.

A variant of a left knife, shown in <FIG>, respectively in front and internal side views, has the same reference numbers as the above described knives. Furthermore, the left knife <NUM> has a hammer <NUM> coplanar to the blade and inclined by a determined alpha angle with respect to a straight line perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the blade.

The variant of the right knife, shown in <FIG>, respectively in front and internal side views, has the same reference numbers as the above described knives. The hammer <NUM> has an alpha angle of inclination opposite to the hammer <NUM> of the left knife <NUM>. In this way, the avocado pit N is beaten in opposite diametrical points so as to give the pit N a twist and facilitate its detachment from the pulp of avocado A.

As illustrated in detail below, a first part of the cut takes place during the lowering of the blades and is performed from the free end with the cutting edge <NUM> perpendicular to the longitudinal axis y of the knife and its blade <NUM>. The width of the blades is preferably <NUM>. The second part of the cut takes place through the horizontal movement of the blades with reciprocal approach, by means of their internal side <NUM>, with the cutting edge <NUM> parallel to the longitudinal axis y of the blade <NUM>, and the cutting edge <NUM> of the recess <NUM> able to partially surround the avocado pit N. Therefore, the compression of the fruit due to the vertical lowering of the blades is limited compared to the previous technique, and the pulp of the fruit undergoes less deformation. The horizontal cut does not cause any deformation on the external surface of the fruit which is still protected by the epicarp.

The cutting and pitting operation will be more understandable from the description that follows with reference to <FIG> which are partially sectioned schematic side views of the transverse head in [<FIG>], showing successive cutting steps of avocado.

The vertical approach of the pairs of knives <NUM>, <NUM> to the avocados A positioned in the underlying fruit-holding flight (not shown) takes place starting from the position represented in [<FIG>], by lowering the head <NUM> along the first vertical guides <NUM> in virtue of the stepping device <NUM> and relative levers. In such a way, the blades <NUM> of each pair of knives fit into the diametrical spaces <NUM> of the recesses <NUM> in which the avocados A are located. The final position in the vertical approach of the blades <NUM> with respect to the avocado A is shown in [<FIG>].

[<FIG>] shows the final position of a horizontal translation step of the blades <NUM> which brings the reciprocal approach of the blades <NUM> around the same pit N up to the position shown in [<FIG>]. This occurs thanks to the actuation means that use brushless motor <NUM> and are able to simultaneously move the left-knife holder slide <NUM> and the right-knife holder slide <NUM>. In particular, the brushless motor <NUM>, through the shaft <NUM> of the reducer <NUM>, rotates the lever <NUM> in a direction of an angle of about <NUM>° and then moves the slides <NUM> and <NUM> by means of the left tie rod <NUM> and right tie rod <NUM>.

Subsequently, [<FIG>] shows the final position of a horizontal translation step of the blades <NUM> which causes the blades <NUM> to move away from each other from the pit N. This always occurs thanks to the actuation means as explained above, by means of a rotation of the lever <NUM> of the angle of about <NUM>° in the opposite direction to the previous one.

[<FIG>] shows a lowering step of the punches <NUM> for beating the pits N by the brushless motor <NUM>, as described above, while in [<FIG>] the punches <NUM> are shown in their raised position with respect to the pits N, already represented in [<FIG>].

Finally, there is the vertical distancing step of the pairs of blades <NUM> with respect to the cut and pitted avocados which ends as shown in [<FIG>].

The operation just described keeps the avocado pulp intact, still protected by its robust epicarp. However, the pulp is separated from the pit and the division into two parts of the avocado allows a subsequent easy detachment of the pit from them following its beating. It is therefore easy to separate the avocado into two halves and to separate the pit from the pulp.

It should be understood that the invention achieves the intended purposes and improves the process and the machine described in PCT/IB2019/<NUM>.

The crushing of the fruit due to the compression caused by the vertical lowering of the blades is reduced, resulting in less deformation of the pulp.

Claim 1:
<NUM>. An avocado cutting and pitting process, including:
- stages of feeding, orienting and advancing along several lines of avocado (A) on fruit-holding flights (<NUM>) equipped with recesses (<NUM>) with diametrical slots (<NUM>),
- a cutting stage in which each avocado (A) is divided into two halves by means of a pair of knives (<NUM>, <NUM>; <NUM>, <NUM>) with facing blades (<NUM>), and
- a pitting stage in which the avocado pit (N) is beaten by means of a plunger (<NUM>) to be slightly moved inside the avocado (A) and detached from the pulp (P),
characterized in that the cutting and pitting stages include:
- a vertical approach step of the pairs of knives (<NUM>, <NUM>; <NUM>, <NUM>) to the fruit-holding flights (<NUM>) so that the blades (<NUM>) of each pair are inserted in opposite sides of the avocado and in said diametrical slots (<NUM>) of the recesses (<NUM>) in which the avocados are placed (A),
- a horizontal translation step of the pairs of knives (<NUM>, <NUM>; <NUM>, <NUM>) so that the blades (<NUM>) approach each other around the same pit (N),
- a horizontal translation step of the pairs of knives (<NUM>, <NUM>; <NUM>, <NUM>) so that the blades (<NUM>) move away from each other with respect to the pit (N),
- a lowering step of the plungers (<NUM>) for beating the pits (N),
- a lifting step of the plungers (<NUM>) with respect to the pits (N), and
- a vertical removal step of the pairs of knives (<NUM>, <NUM>; <NUM>, <NUM>) with respect to the avocados (A) cut and pitted on the fruit-holding flights (<NUM>).