Did You Know...
...that the inventor of the electric motor was a blacksmith named Thomas Davenport? Described as "a brilliantly unsuccessful inventor", Davenport invented the first rotary electric motor. In 1836 he headed out -- on foot -- from his Vermont home to file a patent application at the Patent Office in Washington, D.C. By the time he got there, he had squandered away his money and couldn't afford the $30 filing fee so he turned around and went home. When he later mailed in his application with money he'd raised, the Patent office was destroyed in a fire. He did finally get credit for his invention on Feb. 5, 1837.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7472648 | Device for separating the stalks of fruit, grouped together in clusters, from one another Device for separating the stalks of fruit such as cherries, grouped together in clusters, from one another at their joining point, includes at least one hydraulic circuit including a tank (1) receiving the fruit to be treated; a centrifugal pump (2) co... | 01/06/2009 |
| 7060312 | Methods and apparatus for processing vegetables The disclosed embodiments include methods and apparatus for processing vegetables having a root crown including applying opposing forces to the vegetables to separate the roots or portions thereof at or near the root crown from the vegetable, and packaging the veget... | 06/13/2006 |
| 7048957 | Method and apparatus for processing vegetables According to certain embodiments of the invention, there is provided a method and an apparatus relating to an infeed for positioning the green onions in a generally horizontal position on a conveyor and a transition conveyor for transporting the horizontally dispose... | 05/23/2006 |
| 7007449 | Onion harvester with leaf topper An orientation system for vegetables includes a plurality of rotating rollers that both pull the vegetable into an inverted position, with leafy top down, and advance the vegetable along the length of the rollers to deliver the vegetables to a cutting system. The or... | 03/07/2006 |
| 6955031 | Mushroom packing apparatus The present invention provides a mushroom packing apparatus comprising a grading conveyor and a plurality of locations distributed under a longitudinal axis of the grading conveyor, each location being provided, in use, with a container for collecting the mushrooms ... | 10/18/2005 |
| 6550366 | Apparatus and method for removing an extraneous portion of a produce item An apparatus for the rapid removal of an extraneous portion of a produce item with minimal loss. The apparatus, rendered attachable to an agricultural processing implement by an integral attachment device, enables one-handed operation by a user. The appar... | 04/22/2003 |
| 6544572 | Method and apparatus for severing roots and leaves of bean sprouts Bean sprouts conveyed on a conveyor are caused to fall into a number of cylindrical cases moved on an upper severing table so that the bean sprouts are enclosed in the respective cases in a standing state. Air is caused to blow from over the cylindrical c... | 04/08/2003 |
| 6382426 | Apparatus and method for removing tops or roots from crops A machine for removing roots and tops from crops including a pair of counter-rotating rollers spaced apart so as to define a nip therebetween, and means for rotating the rollers characterized in that at least one roller is in the form of a polygonal twist... | 05/07/2002 |
| 6379732 | Method and apparatus for severing root of bean sprout and dewatering bean sprout A method and apparatus for severing roots of bean sprouts and dewatering the bean sprouts are disclosed. Bean sprouts are supplied onto a severing and dewatering table having a number of severing slits each of which has such a width that a root of a bean ... | 04/30/2002 |
| 6346288 | Method and apparatus for severing root of bean sprout A method and apparatus for severing roots of bean sprouts are disclosed. Bean sprouts are supplied onto a severing table having a number of severing slits each of which has such a width that a root of a bean sprout falls into each severing slit. Water is ... | 02/12/2002 |
| 6286407 | Method for the removal of an extraneous portion of a produce item Method for the rapid cleaning of produce with minimal loss, and apparatus to perform the method. The cleaning method taught in the present application enables the rapid cleaning of produce by removing an extraneous portion therefrom, by separating the ext... | 09/11/2001 |
| 6237477 | Apparatus and method for processing root vegetables An apparatus and method for processing a root vegetable, such as a radish. The apparatus includes a hopper, a track, and a cutting mechanism. The hopper includes a reciprocating chute for providing a radish from a plurality of radishes to the track. As th... | 05/29/2001 |
| 6125745 | Root remover for bean sprouts Sprouting beans roots removing apparatus cuts and removes roots of sprouting beans, as harvested, efficiently. A plurality of projections, each having at its upper face angular portion, are fitted to upper surface of base plate with predetermined space be... | 10/03/2000 |
| 5865111 | Berry dehulling machine A strawberry dehulling machine which provides for manually placing a berry or other fruit onto a retainer that will close under a controlled spring action and retain the berry or other fruit with the hull or calyx in an opening formed in the retainer. A r... | 02/02/1999 |
| 5824356 | Method and apparatus for cleaning roots, tubers, bulbs, and the like There is disclosed method and apparatus for cleaning roots, tubers, bulbs, and the like, for example, sugar beets, chicory, Jerusalem artichokes, dahlia, potato, and onions (hereinafter "articles"). In the apparatus, spaced horizontal rollers have helices... | 10/20/1998 |
| 5802965 | Bean sprout processing apparatus A bean sprouts processing apparatus includes a feeding section, a treating section and a separating section arranged in sequence substantially in a horizontal manner. The feeding section includes a receptacle for receiving un-processed bean spouts therein... | 09/08/1998 |
| 5778771 | Vegetable topper A vegetable topper is disclosed. In one embodiment, the topper includes a plurality of spaced rollers which are mounted on a pair of laterally spaced roller chain loops such that the rollers are able to freely spin relative to the roller chains. The rolle... | 07/14/1998 |
| 5750171 | Finish topping machine for bulb crops A finish topper for bulb crops having a plurality of longitudinal, parallel, generally horizontal, spaced-apart moving belts for conveying bulbs through the apparatus. Adjacent belts are driven at different linear speeds. In a preferred embodiment, altern... | 05/12/1998 |
| 5623868 | Carrot processing machines A carrot processing machine having an accumulation well, an elevating conveyor (16), and sensing means (18, 20, 22, 24). Carrots are delivered into the well by a delivery conveyor and a constant head of carrots maintained by signals derived from a height ... | 04/29/1997 |
| 5590591 | Product processing apparatus including orientation and coring of produce items A food processing apparatus particularly designed for handling produce items with a calyx and including a vacuum mechanism for grasping the produce item by the calyx for orientation and transportation of the item and a coring implement for removal of the ... | 01/07/1997 |
| 5495797 | Device for automatically processing mushrooms at an optimum processing rate A device for automatically processing mushrooms of given caliber Cal, the device including conveyor means (10, 20, 30) designed to bring said mushrooms to at least one processing station (100i) including detection means (110i) suitab... | 03/05/1996 |
| 5463858 | Mushroom harvester and method A method harvesting mushrooms comprises steps of engaging picked mushrooms with supporting pins, to place the mushrooms in a desired orientation for separation of caps from stumps, and cutting the caps from the stumps by relative movement of the supported... | 11/07/1995 |
| 5320033 | Apparatus for top and tailing vegetables Apparatus for top and tailing vegetables, for example carrots, comprises an endless flexible plastics material belt formed of inter-linked transverse links between which a drive wheel may rest. The belt is divided into compartments by interspaced modified... | 06/14/1994 |
| 5277107 | Trimmer for vegetables including broccoli Trimmer for vegetables of the broccoli type is provided with a structure supporting a rotating plate in which are mounted vegetable holding systems. Each vegetable holding system is free to rotate about its axis so as to be capable of being propelled with... | 01/11/1994 |
| 5226355 | Berry stripping machine for grapes A berry stripping machine for grapes includes a machine housing, a berry stripping cylinder rotatably mounted therein, and a fill funnel for the grapes preceding the berry stripping cylinder. A spiked roller is coaxially mounted inside the berry stripping... | 07/13/1993 |
| 5203259 | Blueberry destemmer A fruit destemmer leaving an endless conveyor belt made up of a plurality of counter-rotating metal rollers rotatably supported at each end by endless chains. The fruit destemmer has an inclined bed with a driven shaft at each end. Each driven shaft has a... | 04/20/1993 |
| 5081920 | Apparatus for transporting and trimming mushrooms Apparatus for transporting freshly harvested mushrooms from the farm to a gathering station has an endless conveyor which advances discrete receptacles for individual mushrooms or groups of mushrooms from the beds to the gathering station past a trimming ... | 01/21/1992 |
| 4936205 | Machine for destemming cherries A machine for destemming cherries has a base frame and a fruit transport frame. The fruit is moved over the transport frame on an endless belt. A stem wiper blade is rotated just above the surface of the fruit. A source of rapid horizontal motion is provi... | 06/26/1990 |
| 4928424 | Flower stem cutter A flower stem cutter unit includes a small decanter sufficient to cover the lower end of a flower stem projecting into the decanter. A guillotine blade unit is secured to a cover and projects into the decanter. A guide wall projects inwardly from a cover ... | 05/29/1990 |
| 4831925 | Automatic trimming machine, particularly for horticultural products Stemming machine, particularly for horticultural products, comprising a conveyor belt composed of a plurality of individual containers which are swivelling and guided on counterposed and sequential inclined planes. The machine furthermore comprises statio... | 05/23/1989 |
| 4658714 | Apparatus for cutting broccoli and other long stemmed vegetables An improved method and apparatus for cutting broccoli and other similar vegetables into a plurality of longitudinal sections wherein the head of the vegetable is firmly gripped with the stem thereof extending outwardly and then cut longitudinally through ... | 04/21/1987 |
| 4542687 | Green peanut destemmer and washer Apparatus for removing stems from picked green peanuts and for removing dirt and debris therefrom. Green peanuts are fed into a destemmer having a sloping plate with a plurality of slots through which rotating slotted destemmer wheels project. The stems a... | 09/24/1985 |
| 4472444 | Method for stemming tomatoes Method and apparatus for de-stemming picked tomatoes. Each tomato is introduced into the upper end of a generally vertically disposed, open-ended, resilient, open-mesh fabric tube, a substantial portion of which approximates but is larger than the diamete... | 09/18/1984 |
| 4457223 | Grape crusher A grape crusher and de-stemmer comprising a drum (5) having a spiral rotor blade (8) eccentrically mounted in the drum to have a greater clearance at the top and at the bottom. The drum is perforated with perforations (18,19) and means are provided for ro... | 07/03/1984 |
| 4455929 | Apparatus for longitudinal sectioning of stem type vegetables Apparatus for trimming and slicing stem-type vegetables such as broccoli and the like. The apparatus is specifically adapted to slice the stem-type vegetable stalk into longitudinal sections and includes a pair of mutually opposed resilient close spaced s... | 06/26/1984 |
| 4430933 | Trimmer for vegetables using fixed shear bar and unsharpened rotary members cooperative therewith A machine for accomplishing the removal of leaves and other unwanted portions from vegetables comprising an elongate shear bar having two opposed, machined edges and a pair of elongate members mounted for rotation in close proximity to the machined edges.... | 02/14/1984 |
| 4348832 | Single flower stem cutter A flower stem cutter for an individual flower includes a liquid filled jar having a cover releasably attached. The liquid includes any antibacterial agent and feed. A flower stem guide is secured to a diametrical slot in the cover and projects inwardly in... | 09/14/1982 |
| 4252056 | Automatic multiple step sequencing apparatus Apparatus for performing a plurality of successive operations simultaneously at each one of a plurality of work stations arranged in a row, each station accommodating a fruit piece, or the like, such as a citrus fruit member. The fruit pieces are sequenti... | 02/24/1981 |
| 4168642 | Broccoli quartering machine A broccoli quartering machine for quartering spears of broccoli includes a conveyor adapted to move in a lineal path and having rigid plates upon which are mounted resilient, conical, cup-shaped holding members for holding the individual spears of broccol... | 09/25/1979 |
| 4031821 | Food processing machinery A machine for cutting off the heads of carrots in which the beginning of a carrot and its direction of taper are sensed electro-optically as it is carried by a conveyor and the time of operation of a cutter associated with the conveyor is controlled accor... | 06/28/1977 |
