Apparatus for peeling fresh fruit

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The System Generally According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, fruit, in particular citrus fruit, is first sterilized in a sterilizing bath.
The sterilized fruit is delivered to a perforator which makes a plurality of perforations through the outer surface of the peel of the fruit over its entire surface.
The perforated fruit is then delivered to a conveyor which loads and orients the fruit so that it is spinning on the core axis with the equator of the spinning fruit exposed to a plurality of slitting knives.
The knives slit an equatorial cut through the outer surface of the peel.
The slit and perforated fruit is then delivered to a carousel of canisters.
Each canister is filled with fruit and an albedo degrading solution, such as an aqueous solution of commercial pectinase or mixture of pectinase solutions.
The solution is vacuum infused into the fruit so that the albedo attaching the peel to the fruit substantially disintegrates over a predetermined time period.
The pectinase solution is drained from the canister and the treated fruit with a loosened peel is delivered to a peel removal section of the system.
The peels are removed in two hemispheres, leaving the meat intact.
The intact meat is then brushed to remove any remaining albedo or strings.
The brushed meat is then delivered to a hydrocooler which reduces the meat temperature to near freezing.
The cooled fruit meats are then packaged in trays, labelled, sealed and packed in shipping cartons.
As briefly summarized above, the invention is a system for peeling of fruit, which may be automated.
The system comprises a first mechanism for sterilizing the fruit before the fruit is delivered to a perforating mechanism.
This sterilizing mechanism comprises a bath for holding a sterilizing fluid.
A paddle wheel assembly forces fruit disposed in the bath beneath the surface of the fluid in the bath and conveys the fruit in a predetermined direction in the bath.
A finger wheel lifts the sterilized fruit from the bath and generally organizes the fruit lifted from the bath into a row of fruit for delivery to the perforating mechanism