Patent 7487719 was granted and assigned to Chiquita Brands International on February, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
This application discloses a method for separating banana clusters into individual fruits. In this method, the banana cluster is hung on a carrier (such as a cable) in such a way that the hanging point is the place where the banana fruit stalks converge (at the crown). The cluster and/or the cutter are moved toward each other and the cutter is positioned such that the cutter cuts the fruit stalks at a point lower than the cluster hanging point.