The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 27, 2001
Filed:
Jul. 09, 1999
Richard D. Heck, Hesperia, CA (US);
Henry A. Affeldt, Apple Valley, CA (US);
Sunkist Growers, Inc., Ontario, CA (US);
Abstract
An automatic food product cutting apparatus is provided that employs a continuously rotating table arranged with multiple cutter cups, each cup being aligned with a plunger that rotates with the table. The plungers are driven to force fruit through the cup and to withdraw from the cup by cam following rollers that follow a generally elliptical cam track. The cam track is concentric to but does not rotate with the table. With this arrangement, a single drive motor is used to power both the rotation of the table and the plunging force to push the food product through the cutter cups, thereby achieving smooth, continuous operation.