US236178A - peters - Google Patents

Description

'4 Sheets- Sheet 1.

Modem "A. J. 11105.- Apple Slicerl Patented Ian. 4; 1881.

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- 4 Sheets-Sheet a. A. J. RICE.

r Apple Slicer. No. 236,178. Patented Jan. 4,1881. 7

. 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

A. J1 RICE. Apple Slicer.

(Model) No. 236,178.. Patehted 'la'n. 4,18 1;

NPETEES. PHOTWLIYIIOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D. C,

a NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT J. RICE, OF SODUS, NEW YORK.

APPLE-SLICER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 236,178, dated January 4, 1881.

Application filed September 13, 1880. (Model.) I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT J. RICE, of Sodas, in the county of Wayne and State of New York, have invented an Improved Apple- Slicer, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the annexed drawings, in which- 7 Figure l is a side elevation of my improved apple-slicer. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 8 is a central longitudinal section on the line :20 m, Fig. 2, showing the parts above that line, and on the line y 3 Fig. 4, showing the parts to the right of that line. Fig. 4is a vertical section on the line 2 2, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a plan view of a modified form of my improved apple-slicer. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the same. Figs. 7 and 8 are side views of the knives.

My improved apple-slicer is represented in the'accompanying drawings, in which A is the frame of the machine; B B, 850., the knives,

and O the rotating fingers. E is a suitable supporting-table.

The frame of my improved apple-slicer consists of two side pieces, AA, connected together at each end by curved end pieces, F F. The side frames, A A, are clamped together against the end pieces by bolts 0. a, passing through suitable projecting lugs on the sides. The curved end pieces are provided with suitable ribs or lugs, 11 b I) b, Fig. 2, against which the side frames are held by the bolts a a. The side frames are provided with longitudinal ribs or projections c c c '0, for the purpose of affording support to the machine upon the table E. The longitudinal ribs 0 c are double on each side of the machine, for the purpose of making the machine reversible, so that either end of the knives B may be used. An opening is made through the table E, of sufficient size to receive those portions of the machine which project below the ribs 0 0 when the machine is used either side up. The ribs 0 care provided with one or more screw-holes, for the purpose of receiving the screws by which the machine is attached to the table.

The knives B B are made of a single piece of steel, perforated or slotted at the center to permit the shaft d of the rotating fingers to pass through them, and fastened at each end to the curved end pieces, F. The end pieces the knife taut.

are cast with suitable slots for the reception of the knives, and the knives are fastened in position by taper pins 't' i, passing through them outside the endpieces, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. At the right-hand end of Figs. 1 and 2 the knives are shown as fastened in place by a bar, 0, which passes through an opening made for it in their outer ends, and is provided with a setscrew, f, which bears against the outside of the end piece and strains may be used at both ends of the knife, if preferred. The knives B are placed at suitable distances apart, so as to dividethe apples into slices of the desired thickness.

Through the center of the side frames. A

'A, passes the shaft 61, to which the rotating fingers O are attached. The rotating fingers are secured on the shaft by making grooves or recesses in'the hole through which the shaft passes, and upsetting a portion of the shaft into the said grooves by means of 1 a suitable punch. Any other convenient means of attaching the rotating fingers to the shaft may be employed. The fingers are placed on the shaft d, between the knives B B, so that when the shaft is rotated, as indicated by the arrows in the various figures, the fingers will pass between the knives.

In the operation of the machine, the apples to be sliced are placed successively between the knives and the rotating fingers, as indicated by the dotted circles in the various drawings, and they are then forced, by the rotation of the fingers 0, through between the knives, by which they are divided into slices. In order to facilitate the cutting operation the knives are arranged as shown in the Various drawings, and particularly in Fig. 4, so that the slices are not all out simultaneously, but are cut successively from the outside of the apple. Thus, in'Fig. 4, if the apple be The bars 6 and set-screws f i large enough to fill the entire space between This diagonal or inclined arrangement of the knives also assists in holding the apple in proper position during the cutting operation, and it facilitates the cutting, both by avoiding the necessity of making all the cuts at one time and by allowing ample space for the slices to expand as they are separated by the knives.

One of the rotating fingers near the center may be provided with a sharpened projection, h, on each side thereof, which revolves with the finger, and the purpose of which is to re ceive the apple and carry it into the knives. The projection h is preferably made of thin metal, sharpened on each of its sides, and in the operation of the machine the operator places the apple upon the projection, and then, by rotating the fingers by means of the bandle D, effects the division of the apple into slices.

Instead of arranging the rotating fingers parallel with each other, they may be arranged so as to present a concave surface to the apple.

The knives B are sharpened on their opposite edges on either side of the central shaft, d, so that the cutting-edges are always presented toward the rotating fingers. The ob.- jeot of this arrangement is, that when the knives become worn on one end of the machine, the machine may be turned over and the other end of the machine used without any change of its parts.

In order to avoid friction between theshaft and the knives, the knife B is made with a slot at its center, as shown in 8. result may be accomplished by arranging the knives so that they pass immediately above or below the shaft (1.

The form of the knife shown in Fig. 7, which has an offset passing around the shaft (1, may be used for the purpose of facilitating changes.

I prefer to give the rotating fingers a more or less curved form, for the purpose of preventing the tendency of the apple to crowd away from the shaft. It will be observed that in the operation of my machine it is not necessary to make a complete rotation of the fingers G, and this is particularly the case when the machine is arranged to be operated by a treadle, in which case the downward motion of the treadle slices the apple, and a spring or weight returns the fingers to their former position, in which the apples areintroduced into the machine. Instead of their being made double or S-shaped, the fingers may project from one side of the shaft only.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I have represented a modification of my machine adapted to be driven by power. The construction and arrangement of the fingers, the knives, and the supportingframe is the same as that of one end of the machine already given. The side frames of this modification of myinvention are extended The same to the other side of the shaft from the knives, and support a shaft, G, which is driven from the fingenshaft by means of gears Zm n or belts. The shaft Gr supports a thin circular plate, H, provided on its periphery with sharpened projections 0 0. In the operation of this form of machine the apples, being placed on the projections 0, are carried by the rotation of the plate II into a position between the knives and the rotating fingers, from which they are carried by the fingers through the knives. The motion of the plate H is slow, so that no practical difficulty is found in placing the apples on the projections 0.

My improved machine possesses many advantages over any apple-slicer heretofore constructed, as by its means I am enabled to make from cored apples annular slices of uniform thickness with great rapidity, without loss from broken slices, and with a minimum amount of labor. ()wing to the peculiar construction of the machine, the knives are always under strain, and can therefore be used when worn very thin.

It is obvious that a star-wheel may be substituted for the disk H.

It is also obvious that the form of machine represented in Figs. 1 and2 may be arranged to be driven by power, either with or without the rotating disk H, which, if used, may be placed between one of the knives and one of the fingers, made narrow for the purpose of affording space.

I claim 1. In an apple-slicer, the combination, with a suitable supporting-frame, of the spirallyarrangcd knives B B B B, reinovably attached to the frame at each end and offset on one side of the finger-shaft, and the rotating fingers G,substantially as and forthe purposes set forth.

2. In combination with the knives B and the rotary fingers 0, the projection 71, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a suitable frame, of the shaft (I, rotating fingers G,and the thin knives B B B, attached to the frame at one or both ends by a suitable straining device, substantially as described.

.1. The herein -described reversible appleslicer, consisting of the supporting-frame A, rotating fingers (J, and knives extending each way from the center and sharpened on opposite edges, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the rotating fingers O and knives B, of the supporting-frame A, provided with ribs or lugs c c, for attachin g the machine to the table in reversed positions, substantially as described.

ALBERT J. RICE.

Witnesses:

W. O. BARKER, GEO. B. SELDEN.

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