The Procter Gamble Company

The Proctor 'gamble Company

Peter G Gosselin

Ronald W Kock

H Norman Reiboldt

Michael S Kolodesh

Bruce A Pierson

David Albert Sabatelli

Mark T Lund

Douglas Toms

William Willhite, Jr

Vicki L Weber

Walter Cash, Jr

Jerry E Davis

Arthur H LeFebvre

Jeffrey T Leitner

Paul E Sojka

William D Benge

The present invention relates to aerosol spray packages having a plurality of spray settings each having been optimized in terms of flow rate, particle size and spray pattern for a particular use. These spray characteristics are created by individual selection of the flow rate and nozzle parameters for each setting. Selecting the spray is easy and convenient to use.

Adjustable aerosol spray package

A consumer product passage incorporating a mixing chamber for mixing air and liquid. Consumer packages of the present invention are capable of providing excellent spray qualities at typical consumer product flow rates (e.g., less than about 1.0 cubic centimeters per second) while simultaneously maintaining relatively low air to liquid ratios (e.g., less than about 0.06:1 on a mass basis) and relatively low pressures (e.g., less than about 50 psi). The package of the present invention also offers significant environmental and safety advantages. For example, it does not depend upon dissolved propellants; and it permits the use of water in place of volatile solvents as thinning agents since high surface tension fluids are actually sprayed better. Several packages of the present invention are illustrated, including a standard aerosol version, pump and spray versions, and a finger pump version.

Consumer product package incorporating a spray device utilizing large

Method of and apparatus for extracting whole juice sacs from citrus fruits by fluid impinging chunks of peeled fruit meat. In one embodiment, a fruit chunk is fed into a fluid impingement chamber that includes a plurality of off-center orifices. High-pressure fluid emitted from the orifices strikes the fruit chunk and spins it such that the fruit chunk's juice sacs are stripped from the chunk's sectional membranes. In another preferred embodiment, a plurality of fluid impingement chambers are incorporated into a high-speed, continuous motion turret. In yet another preferred embodiment, fruit chunks are fed into an inclined tube that includes fluid orifices which emit high pressure fluid. Controlling the fluid pressure, nozzle orifice size, number of orifices, direction of fluid jets, impingement time, and size and shape of the fruit chunks determine how substantially the radial membranes of fruit chunks are stripped of juice sacs without shredding the membranes. By avoiding contamination by or commingling with flavor-deteriorating membranes or peel components of fruits, the resulting juice and juice sac slurry has a taste more like fresh-squeezed juice after further processing and storage than current commercially-made juice.

Fluid impingement method for fruit extracting

Method of an apparatus for extracting whole juice sacs from citrus fruits by fluid impinging chunks of peeled fruit meat. In one embodiment, a fruit chunk is fed into a fluid impingement chamber that includes a plurality of off-center orifices. High-pressure fluid emitted from the orifices strikes the fruit chunk and spins it such that the fruit chunk's juice sacs are stripped from the chunk's sectional membranes. In another preferred embodiment, a plurality of fluid impingement chambers are incorporated into a high-speed, continuous motion turret. In yet another preferred embodiment, fruit chunks are fed into an inclined tube that includes fluid orifices which emit high pressure fluid. Controlling the fluid pressure, nozzle orifice size, number of orifices, direction of fluid jets, impingement time, and size and shape of the fruit chunks determine how substantially the radial membranes of fruit chunks are stripped of juice sacs without shredding the membranes. By avoiding contamination by or commingling with flavor-deteriorating membranes or peel components of fruits, the resulting juice and juice sac slurry has a taste more like fresh-squeezed juice after further processing and storage than current commercially-made juice.

Fluid impingement method & apparatus for fruit meat extraction

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

Springfield, MA, United States of America

Peter G Gosselin