Vegetable peeling apparatus

Claim 1

In a mechanical machine for peeling vegetables and the like, said machine including means for mounting a vegetable to be peeled; means connected with said mounting means, operable for rotating a mounted vegetable about an axis of rotation; a support arm; means for mounting one end of said support arm, operable to move said support arm along an axis parallel with said axis of rotation, the other end of said support arm being engageable with a mounted vegetable; and means resiliently urging said other end of said support arm toward a vegetable to be peeled, the improvement comprising: a cutting head mounted on said other end of said support arm, said cutting head including: an elongated body having, relative to the direction of rotation of a vegetable mounted in said machine for peeling, a leading end and a trailing end; means mounting said elongated body to said other end of said support arm for pivotal movement about a pivotal axis lying parallel to said axis of rotation and extending transversely of said arm, said pivotal axis being located intermediate said leading and said trailing ends of said elongated body; said elongated body including a first side surface disposed to face a vegetable mounted in said machine for peeling, said side surface extending from the region of said pivotal axis toward said leading end, and terminating at said leading end in guide means arranged to project outwardly from said side surface toward said vegetable, said guide means comprising at least one rounded ear, the tip of said rounded ear engaging the surface of said vegetable in point contact to sense the configuration thereof; and a cutting member secured to the trailing end of said elongated body, said cutting member including a hollow, generally cylindrical cutting body extending for a substantial distance in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the cylinder and arranged to project from said first side surface of said elongated body, the outer cylindrical surface of said cutting body engaging said vegetable, said first side surface being spaced from said vegetable when said tip of said rounded ear of said guide means and said cutting body are in engagement therewith, said cutting body including a cutting edge that faces toward said leading end, the portion of the cutting edge which first engages said vegatable lying in a first plane that generally includes said pivotal axis and which extends normal to said longitudinal axis of said cylinder, and said tip of said rounded ear of said guide means lying in a second plane that extends parallel to the longitudinal axis of said cylinder and which is positioned between and spaced from said pivotal axis and said outer cylindrical surface of said cutting body, whereby said rounded ear of said guide means is effective to position said cylindrical cutting body to cut generally parallel to the surface of the vegetable and to follow any change in contour of the vegetable's outer surface.