US Patent Issued to Desert Valley Date on April 15 for "Pressurized steam pitting apparatus and process" (California Inventor)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 5 -- United States Patent no. 12,274,287, issued on April 15, was assigned to Desert Valley Date Inc. (Palm Desert, Calif.).

"Pressurized steam pitting apparatus and process" was invented by Gregory Paul Kirkjan (Palm Desert, Calif.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "In accordance with the teachings of the disclosure, a process is disclosed for pitting drupes. In some embodiments of a pitting process, the pitting machine uses a pitting knife that has a longitudinal passageway that extends axially through the pitting knife. The pitting machine has a steam source that provides pressurized steam to the passageway of the pitting knife. Prior to pitting the drupe, the pressurized...