The Procter Gamble Company

The Proctor 'gamble Company

David Albert Sabatelli

Ronald W Kock

Michael S Kolodesh

H Norman Reiboldt

Bruce A Pierson

Peter G Gosselin

Thomas Allen Desmarais

Douglas Herrin Benson

William Robert Vinnage, Jr

Thomas Michael Shiveley

Douglas Toms

Gerald M Weber

James W Richardson

Vicki L Weber

William Willhite, Jr

Robert John Steller

Walter Cash, Jr

Jerry E Davis

Charles Zell Smith, Iii

Eric Richard Wilhelm

Jeffrey T Leitner

An apparatus for forming a continuous web of material from a block of material is disclosed. The block is preferably a cylindrical block having a base and a generally vertical central axis extending generally orthogonally from the base. The apparatus comprises a rotatable platen such that the block may be rotatably supported, and a milling cutter for displacing portions of the block defining a displaced portion near the base of the block. A blade is positioned generally parallel to the central axis of the block, the blade positioned to cut into the block a predetermined distance from the central axis. The blade has a portion operatively disposed within the displaced portion of the block. The apparatus also comprises a drive mechanism for rotating the platen; as well as a linear drive mechanism for linearly decreasing the predetermined distance of the blade from the central axis. A central controller is included for controlling the blade and the platen in operative relationship such that the continuous web is produced as rotating platen is rotated while the predetermined distance of the blade from the central axis is continuously decreased. A method of forming a continuous web of material from a block of material having a base, and a generally vertical central axis extending generally orthogonally from the base is also disclosed. The method comprises the steps of providing a block supported at its base upon a rotatable platen displacing a portion of the block near the base. The method also includes providing a cutting blade disposed generally parallel to the central axis; and preferably guiding the block into the cutting blade by linearly advancing the rotatable platen while the block is rotating upon the rotatable platen such that a continuous web is produced as the cutting blade cuts in a substantially spiral path through the cylindrical block.

Method and apparatus for producing a continuous web from a block of material

The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for forming a continuous web from a block of material. The block material has a base and a central axis extending generally orthogonally from the base. The apparatus preferably comprises a bath including a fluid into which the block of material can be at least partially submersed. Further, the apparatus preferably includes means for rotating the block about the central axis, a cutting device and means for linearly decreasing the predetermined distance of the cutting blade from the central axis. The cutting device is preferably positioned so as to make a cut into the block at a predetermined distance from the central axis, the cut being generally parallel to the central axis of the block. The material cut form the block preferably forms a continuous web.

An improved method and apparatus for incrementally stretching 'zero strain' stretch laminate webs to impart elasticity thereto in the direction of initial stretching, at least up to the point of initial stretching. The 'zero strain' stretch laminate material is formed of at least two plies of material which are either intermittently or substantially continuously secured to one another along at least a portion of their coextensive surfaces while in a substantially untensioned ('zero strain') condition. One of the plies is stretchable and elastomeric, while the second ply is elongatable, but not necessarily elastomeric. The second ply will, upon stretching of the laminate, be at least to a degree permanently elongated so that, upon release of the applied tensile forces, it will not return to its original undistorted configuration. This results in z-direction bulking of the laminate web when the applied tension is released as well as subsequent elastic extensibility in the direction of initial stretching, at least up to the point of initial stretching. In a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention the opposed peripheral edge portions of the laminate web to be incrementally stretched are subjected to restraint to substantially prevent inwardly directed slippage or contraction thereof in a direction parallel to the direction of stretching. This maximizes the effectiveness of the incremental web stretching operation by forcing the 'zero strain' stretch laminate web to undergo the fullest possible degree of elongation during the incremental stretching operation.

Method for incrementally stretching a zero strain stretch laminate web

A method of and apparatus for extracting the meat section and juice from a fruit while minimizing the amount of undesirable flavor components, e.g. peel oil, released from the fruit's peel. In one embodiment of the present invention, whole fruits are fed into a single station extraction apparatus that first cuts a equatorial groove in the fruit's peel while the fruit is rotated. A semicircular coring blade is then inserted into the groove and rotated 360.degree. which severs a spherical chunk of fruit meat from the peel. The small amount of fruit meat remaining on the peel's inner surface is then preferably extracted with a reaming element or fluid jet nozzle. In other particularly preferred embodiments, the grooving, coring, and reaming component mechanisms are incorporated into an indexing turret apparatus and a high-speed continuous motion turret apparatus.

Method of and apparatus for extracting juice and meat from a fruit

A method of and apparatus for extracting the fruit meat section of a fruit, and subsequently separating and removing the sectional membranes and seeds from the fruit meat section to produce free juice and an abundance of unruptured juice sacs. In one embodiment of the present invention, whole fruits are fed into a dual turret extraction apparatus that includes a plurality of matched resilient cups for holding the fruit. After the fruit is cut in half, the halves are indexed through successive coring and reaming stations. The coring station includes a coring element that cleanly extracts a hemisperical section of fruit meat from the peel. The reaming station includes a reaming element that gently removes any fruit meat remaining within the peel. The fruit meat sections are then fed into rag separator apparatus that uses a rotating screen drum and a counterrotating shaft having striker bars projecting radially therefrom to strip the juice sacs from the sectional membranes. The resultant juice/juice sac slurry is then deposited on the upper surface of an inclined vibrating bed that causes the seeds to bounce and tumble down the bed while the juice sacs travel up the bed to a point where they are collected.

Growing community of inventors

Cleves, OH, United States of America

David Albert Sabatelli