Patent ID: 7033631

Claim:
An apparatus for declustering cherries, comprising: a plurality of cutting modules, each module comprising a power driven, rotatable shaft having a plurality of circular blades fixed along its length, said shaft being mounted to an elongated, rectangular base plate, said base plate having a leading edge and a trailing edge, a plurality of cutting ramps, having a generally triangular cross section, mounted to the surfaces of said base plates, one such cutting ramp being located immediately forward of each circular blade, a plurality of vertical guide walls mounted to the surfaces of said base plates, one such guide wall being positioned between adjacent cutting ramps, such that adjacent pairs of said vertical guide walls form a channel leading to the interjacent cutting ramp, a generally rectangular support frame comprising a leading end, a trailing end and two side rails, said support frame being pivotally mounted to a base by trunnions, a generally rectangular shaker frame adapted to movably rest upon said support frame, said shaker frame comprising a leading end, a trailing end and two sides, between which sides said cutting modules are transversely mounted, in series, such that the trailing edge of the base plate of a preceding module is generally adjacent to the leading edge of the base plate of its adjacent module, thus forming a continuous transport surface, said shaker frame further comprising a plurality of rollers affixed to said sides, said rollers being positioned to engage with said side rails of said support frame, such that said shaker frame is free to roll, in a back and forth fashion, in relation to said support frame, means for adjusting the attitude of said support frame such that its trailing, downstream end may be positioned lower than its leading, upstream end, and drive means for causing said shaker frame to oscillate back and forth in relation to said support frame, such that cherry clusters introduced into the higher, leading end of the apparatus will proceed downstream from one module to the next, the clusters being directed by said vertical guide walls onto said cutting ramps, the triangular shape of which cause the intersection point of the attached stems of the clusters to be presented to said circular blades for cutting.