US3459123A - Fruit press - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 5, 1969 R. H.BEGIEBING FRUIT PRESS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 15, 1966 INVENTOR. mm mus/Na Aug. 5, 1969 R. H. IBEGIEBING FRUIT PRESS I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 15, 1966 INVENTOR. mm mama BY FIEl- -4- Aug. 5, 1969 H. BEGIEBING FRUIT PRESS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 15. 1966 PIES-.5.

INVENTOR.

M31587 M BEG/MING BY v Arm/m s- United States Patent 3,459,123 FRUIT PRESS Robert H. Begiebing, Monterey, Califi, assignor to American Sugar Company, Salinas, Calif., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Sept. 15, 1966, Ser. No. 579,696 Int. Cl. B30b 9/24, /04

U.S. Cl. 100-118 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to improvements in fruit presses and more particularly to improvements in presses which employ serpentine permeable webs like the presses shown in U.S. Patent No. 3,130,667 issued to Robert J. Coffelt and application Ser. No. 548,961, filed May 10, 1966, by the same inventor.

The serpentine presses invented by Mr. Coffelt and described in the documents mentioned above have many advantages which are apparent from those documents. It is the principal object of this invention to provide improvements to the Coflelt structure.

In accordance with this invention, I have provided improvements in the construction of fruit presses which permit presses like Coffelt presses to be made and operated more efiiciently. Additionally, I have provided a construction for these presses by which the presses may be made in modular segments. Different members of the modules may be assembled in different machines to give machines with different members of pressing stages.

In accordance with this invention, the rollers of a fruit press like the presses invented by Mr. Coffelt, are all mounted in cantilever condition from a single frame at one side of the serpentine path, and all of the driving mechanism for the press is mounted on the back side of this single frame. Additionally, I have provided several new structural features in fruit presses of this type which permit eflicient cantilever support of the rollers and minimum manufacturing costs for the press.

I have also provided a press structure which eliminates the long return loop of the Coffelt machine and thereby substantially reduces the problem of belt stretching.

These structural improvements in fruit presses provide substantial improvements in the ease with which the press may be made and used. By way of example, the elimination of one of the two side frames of the Coffelt machine permits the permeable webs to be installed and removed from the press in a direction parallel to the axes of the rollers which support the webs. The webs may now be made in closed loop form with premade joints before the webs are placed on the press. Additionally, the problem of cleaning the press is greatly simplified because the press can be cleaned completely by directing a water stream against the open side of the press, that is the side of the single frame on which the rollers are mounted.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description read in conjunction with the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of the open side of 3,459,123 Patented Aug. 5, 1969 "ice a fruit press constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the press of FIG. 1 illustrating one of the press stages where the permeable webs pass over one of the rollers;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation view of the press of FIG. 1 taken from the right-hand side of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the plane indicated at 44 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the plane indicated at 5-5 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 5 taken along the plane indicated at 66 in FIG. 5 which is the back side of the machine as viewed in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the press of FIG. 1 taken along the plane indicated at 7-7;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view similar to FIG. 1 illustrating the manner in which the parts of the press in FIG. 1 are normally assembled for a nine stage press, and;

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view similar to FIG. 8 illustrating the manner in which the parts of the press of FIG. 1 are normally assembled into a three stage press.

Referring now in detail to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, the fruit press illustrated therein includes a plurality of rollers 1 through 13 which are mounted for rotation about generally parallel axes in a configuration somewhat similar to that illustrated in the above mentioned co-pending application of Mr. Cofielt. The rollers 1 through 9 define nine successive press stages in the serpentine path of two webs 14 and 15. The roller 10 cooperates with the rollers 1 through 9 in defining the complete path of the web 14. The rollers 11 and 12 coop erate with rollers 1 through 9 in defining the complete path for the belt 15 in most arrangements of the fruit press. The roller 13 cooperates with the rollers 1 and 2 for defining the path of one of the webs in the fruit press when the press is arranged in a three stage condition as illustrated in FIG. 9.

One final roller 16 is provided on the machine adjacent to the input area between the webs 14 and 15 to control the angle at which the webs approach each other as mentioned in the above identified Coffelt application.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the belts 14 and 15 are substantially in contact with each other throughout the serpentine path except for the area where the rollers 11 and 12 support the belt 15 in a position remote from the belt 14. In this portion of the serpentine path, a feeding mechanism is provided for delivering fruit to the space between the webs, and a discharge mechanism is provided for removing pressed fruit pulp from between the webs. The feeding mechanism comprises a tube 17 entering the space between the webs 14 and 15 in a direction generally parallel to the axes of the rollers with a screw conveyor 18 mounted in the tube and arranged to discharge fruit through an aperture not shown onto the web 14. A spreader plate 19 is mounted adjacent to the bottom of the screw conveyor to distribute fruit evenly over the surface of the web 14. The discharg mechanism mentioned above consists of a scraper plate 2 positioned adjacent to the roller 11 for scraping the pulp of pressed fruit off of the web 15.

As can be best seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, the rollers 1-13 and 16 are mounted on a single frame which is positioned on one side of the serpentine path of the webs 14 and 15, that is at similar ends of all of the rollers 1-13 and 16. This frame is formed of a plurality of modular metal castings which include: a left-hand casting 21, a central casting 22, a right-hand casting 23, a pair of lower castings 24 and 25, and a pair of bottom castings 26 and 27 mounted on a rigid base 28. The castings 24 and 26 are similar to each other, and the castings 25 and 27 are substantially identical to each other. Additionally, the frame of the press includes two auxiliary castings 29 and 30 which might be used on the press at the same time but which are normally used in alternative conditions of the press components. Various castings which form the frame are connected together by bolts 31 as illustrated in FIG. 7, and the castings are provided with integral bosses 32 on the back side of the frame, the side of the frame not visible in FIG. 1 for purposes explained below.

The rollers 1-9 and 11 are mounted in cantilever condition on the single frame of the machine by rotary support means illustrated in FIG. 4, and the rollers 10, 12, 13 and 16 are mounted on arms 33, 34, 35, and 36, respectively, by rotary support means similar to that of FIG. 4 with the arms pivotally mounted on the frame castings by rotary support means as illustrated in FIG. 5. These various rotary support means are all similar to each other except that hydraulic driving motors are mounted on the support means for roller stages 1, 2 and 3, and the remainder of the rollers in the press are not driven.

Referring to FIG. 4, the rotary support means for the roller 1 includes an axle 37 which extends through the frame casting 21 and through the boss 32 thereon with the axle 37 bolted to the hub 38 of roller 1 by means of bolts 39. A bearing 40 is mounted between the axle 37 and the frame casting 21 adjacent to the roller 1, and a second bearing 41 is mounted between the axle 37 and the boss 32 at the free end of the latter with the bearings 40 and 41 spaced apart a substantial distance along the axis of the axle 37 to provide effective cantilever support for the webs 14 and 15 when the webs are subjected to substantial tension. A pair of O-ring seals 42 are provided at opposite ends of the rotary support, and a lubricant fitting (not shown) is also provided. A flange 43 is provided on the rearward end of the rotary support holding the axle 37 in place after it is inserted from the roller side of the frame 21.

Power drive for the roller 1 is provided by a hydraulic motor 44 mounted on a bracket 45 on the free end of the boss 32. The hydraulic motor 44 has a conventional rotary drive shaft (not shown) which is connected by bolts 46 to the axle 37 coaxially of the axle 37 for imparting rotary motion of the roller 1. As illustrated in FIG. 3, additional hydraulic motors 47 and 48 are provided for rollers 2 and 3.

Referring to FIG. 5, the support arrangement for the pivot arms such as arm 33, is illustrated in greater detail. The arm 33 is attached by bolts 49 to an axle 50 which is mounted in the frame casting 23 by a rotary support mechanism similar to the rotary support of FIG. 4. Two of the bolts 49 on each of the arms 33, 34, 35 are not threaded into the axle 50 but instead theyre against the axle to permit tilting adjustment to be made for the arms 33 etc., to control belt tracking. The roller 10 is mounted on the upper end of the arm 33 by means of another rotary support means substantially the same as that shown in FIG. 4. As illustrated in FIGS. and 6, the arm 33 is provided with a lever portion 51 which is clamped to the axle 50 and provided at its free end with a slot 52. An elongated screw 53 provided with an adjusting hand wheel 54 is threadably mounted in the frame section 23. A sleeve carrying a pair of pins 55 is slidably received on the screw 53 with the pins 55 received in the slots 52 of the crank arms 51. A pair of nuts 56 are rigidly mounted on the screw 53 and provide a shoulder facing toward the arm 51. A helical compression spring 57 is mounted on the screw 53 between the arm 51 and bolts 56. The mechanism shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is provided for pivoting the roller about the axis of axle 50 to control the tension on the web 14. A similar adjusting mechanism including the screw 58 in FIG. 1 is provided for pivoting the arm 34 to control tension on the web 15, and a third similar adjusting mechanism including the hand wheel 59 in FIG. 1 is provided for rocking the arm 35 and roller 13 for controlling the tension on the short web section 60 which is entrained over the roller 13 in the three stage form of machine shown in FIG. 9. A fourth adjusting mechanism similar to the mechanism of FIGS. 5 and 6, but omitting the spring 57, is provided for pivoting the arm 36 and roller 16. The compression springs 57 are provided on the adjusting mechanisms for the rams 33, 34 and 35 where the compression spring gives resiliency to the tension control for the webs. The spring is not employed in the adjusting mechanism for the arm 36 however, because resiliency for the support of roller 16 is not desired. Instead, roller 16 is mounted in a fixed position depending upon the fruit which is being pressed by the machine and the rate at which the fruit is being fed to the machine.

As illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, the modular components of the press illustrated in FIG. 1 may be arranged in different groups to give fruit presses having ditferent numbers of pressing stages. Thus, the press is illustrated in FIG. 8 in a condition where it is assembled as a nine stage press where each stage of the press is made up of one of the rollers 1-9. The press of FIG. 8 may be converted into a seven stage press by removing the rollers 6 and 7 or 4 and 5 and replacing the belts 14 and 16 by shorter belts which are entrained directly from roller 5 to roller 8 or from roller 3 to roller 6. The press of FIG. 8 may be assembled as a five stage press by removing the rollers 4, 5, 6 and 7 and the frame castings 26 and 27 and replacing the webs 14 and 15 by shorter webs which are entrained directly from roller 3 to roller 8. In a similar manner, the press of FIG. 8 can be built with similar parts as a press having eleven to thirteen pressing stages by adding to the press additional frame castings identical to castings 26 and 27 with rollers mounted thereon identical to rollers 4-7. As mentioned above, the frame casting 29 may be used on the press at the same time that the frame casting 30 is used. However, the frame casting 29 is generally used only when the components of the machine of FIG. 1 are arranged as a three stage press as shown in FIG. 9. When the press is arranged in this manner, a short belt 14 is entrained directly from roller 3 to roller 10, and a short web section 60, used in place of the web 15, is entrained over the rollers 1, 2, 13 and 16. When the press is arranged as a three stage press as shown in FIG. 9, the same screw feeding mechanism 18 (FIG. 1) may be used for feeding fruit to the press, but the fruit may be discharged from the press at the periphery of roller 3 as indicated by arrow 61 in FIG. 9.

As mentioned in the Coffelt patent and the Coffelt application, fruit juices are pressed from the fruit in the areas where the webs 14 and 15 pass around the peripheries of the rollers 1-9 and suitable means may be provided in these areas for collecting the fruit juices. In this regard, the press is provided with shrouds 62 which collect the fruit juices and deliver the fruit juices to delivery conduits 63. The delivery conduits may be connected in any way desired by the user of the press to combine or keep separae the fruit juices collected at ditferent stages of the press. The shrouds 62 are mounted in the frame members of the press by connectors 64 which preferably are made in a form where the shrouds can be removed from the press relatively easily. In this regard, it will be noted that the press of this invention can be cleaned very easily when the shrouds 62 are removed. When it is desired to clean the press, the shrouds are removed, and the arms 33-36 are adjusted to relax the tension on belts 14 and 15, and the entire press may then be cleaned by spraying the side of the machine visible in FIG. 1 with a high pressure stream of water. Additionally, since the press has frame members on only one side of the rollers, the webs 14 and 15 can be removed from the press in a direction parallel to the axes of the rollers, that is in a direction forward from the page of FIG. 1, and new belts can be installed in the press in a reverse manner. Since the webs 14 and 15 may be formed into closed loops before they are placed in the press, the webs may be made of thermo plastic materials which are heat sealed together in effective heat sealing equipment before the webs are placed on the machine.

While one specific embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described in detail herein, it is obvious that many modifications thereof may be made without departing from the invention.

I claim:

1. In a fruit press having a plurality of rollers mounted for rotation about generally parallel spaced apart axes and a pair of permeable Webs entrained over said rollers, each web defining a closed serpentine path, said webs being positioned adjacent to each other along a portion of the periphery of at least one of said rollers, the combination comprising a frame mounted at one side of said Web-defined paths, rotary support means rotatably mounting each of said rollers on said frame, said rollers projecting in cantilevered condition from said frame, drive means for rotating at least one of said rollers, whereby access is provided to said web-defined paths in a direction parallel to said axes and from the side of said paths opposite to said frame, support means on said frame engaging said webs and supporting said webs separated and apart from each other along portions of their serpentine paths, which serpentine path portions are each trained or disposed in non-enclosing relation to the balance of said serpentine paths defined by said Webs, feeding means for introducing fruit between said Webs, where said webs are supported separated and apart from each other, in a direction generally parallel to said axes, and discharge means, where said Webs are supported separated and apart from each other, for discharging pressed fruit in a direction generally parallel to said axes.

2. In a fruit press having a plurality of rollers mounted for rotation about generally parallel spaced apart axes and a pair of permeable webs entrained over said rollers,

each Web defining a closed serpentine path, said webs being positioned adjacent to each other along a portion of the periphery of at least one of said rollers, the combination comprising a frame mounted at one side of said webdefined paths, rotary support means rotatably mounting each of said rollers on said frame, said rollers projecting in cantilevered condition from said frame, drive means for rotating at least one of said rollers, whereby access is provided to said web-defined paths in a direction parallel to said axes and from the side of said paths opposite to said frame, a boss on said frame surrounding the axis of one of said rollers on the side of said frame opposite to said rollers, an axle mounted on said roller and extending through said boss, first bearing means between said frame and said axle at the side of said frame which is adjacent to said web-defined paths, and second bearing means between said boss and said axle at the side of said boss which is remote from said web-defined paths, said drive means comprising a motor mounted on said frame on the side thereof opposite to rollers and connected to said axle for driving said roller.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 692,823 2/1902 Bremer 120 X 995,283 6/1911 Patton 100152 1,179,737 4/1916 Manly 100l72 X 1,599,376 9/1926 Smith. 1,991,760 2/1935 McEver et al. 100152 2,069,589 2/1937 Meivling et a1.

3,130,667 4/1964 Colfelt 100118 3,176,607 4/1965 Lapham 100118 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,165,986 3/1964 Germany.

PETER FELDMAN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 100152

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