Patent ID: 7610850

Claim:
In an apparatus for automatically slicing apples into a plurality of wedge shaped segments, wherein said apparatus has a circular array of blades, the improvement wherein: said circular array of blades is a plurality of V-shaped blades, each of said blades having first and second legs and an apex having an apex angle formed by said first and second legs, and having first and second tips at the ends of said first and second legs, respectively, and first and second bent tabs formed at said tips of each of said legs, each of said blades and said bent tabs being a single, continuous strip of stainless steel, each of said stainless steel blades having a thickness less than 300 microns, and further comprising clinch buckle means for each of said V-shaped blades for rigidly connecting said first and second bent tabs of each blade to each other, wherein each clinch buckle means includes a clinch plate extending between said first and second bent tabs, a buckle supporting said clinch plate, and also including a rigid connection between said bent tabs and said clinch plate, an outer support ring for carrying each of said clinch buckle means wherein each of said clinch buckle means is free to move radially inwardly or outwardly, but is constrained by said outer support ring from other motion, an inner hub supporting each of said blades at the apex formed by said first and second legs, and blade tensioning means connecting each of said clinch buckle means to said outer support ring, wherein actuation of one of said blade tensioning means causes one of said clinch buckle means to move radially inwardly or outwardly.