# US 11,998,926 B2 · System and method for processing hemp plants and products produced thereby > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,998,926 B2 - Document ID: US11998926B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/491,912 - Filed: 2021-10-01 - Published: 2022-04-07 - Granted: 2024-06-04 - Earliest claimed: 2020-10-02 - Assignees: Mativ Holdings, Inc. - Applicants: Mativ Holdings, Inc. - Inventors: Hank Froese; Joaquin Mota - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11998926B2 ## CPC - A61K 36/3482: {Cannabis} - A61K 31/658: {o-phenolic cannabinoids, e.g. cannabidiol, cannabigerolic acid, cannabichromene or tetrahydrocannabinol} - B02C 13/04: with beaters hinged to the rotor; Hammer mills - B02C 23/08: Separating or sorting of material, associated with crushing or disintegrating (B02C23/18 takes precedence {; beater mills combined with sifting devices B02C13/13, B02C13/14; for tumbling mills B02C17/1835}) - B07B 1/28: Moving screens not otherwise provided for, e.g. swinging, reciprocating, rocking, tilting or wobbling screens - A61K: PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES (devices or methods specially adapted for bringing pharmaceutical products into particular physical or administering forms A61J3/00; chemical aspects of, or use of materials for deodorisation of air, for disinfection or sterilisation, or for bandages, dressings, absorbent pads or surgical articles A61L; soap compositions C11D) - B02C: CRUSHING, PULVERISING, OR DISINTEGRATING IN GENERAL; MILLING GRAIN ({household tools and machines for pulverising foodstuffs, e.g. coffee and spice mills A47J42/00; pharmaceutical mortars A61J3/02; mechanical processing of refuse and garbage B03B9/06; dressing mould materials by grinding B22C5/04}; obtaining metallic powder by crushing, grinding or milling B22F9/04; {recovery of plastics by disintegrating B29B17/00; crushing raw materials in starch making C08B30/02; beaters for papermaking D21D1/02; crushing devices specially for transport in mines E21F13/002; slag crushing devices F23J1/00; fuel milling devices in combustion apparatus F23K1/00; household devices for crushing coal F24B15/02; ice disintegrating devices F25C5/02}) - B07B: SEPARATING SOLIDS FROM SOLIDS BY SIEVING, SCREENING, SIFTING OR BY USING GAS CURRENTS; SEPARATING BY OTHER DRY METHODS APPLICABLE TO BULK MATERIAL, e.g. LOOSE ARTICLES FIT TO BE HANDLED LIKE BULK MATERIAL (wet separating processes, sorting by processes using fluent material in the same way as liquid B03; combinations of dry separating apparatus with wet separating apparatus B03B; using liquids B03B, B03D; sorting by magnetic or electrostatic separation of solid materials from solid materials or fluids, separation by high voltage electric fields B03C; centrifuges or vortex apparatus for carrying out physical processes B04; hand sorting, postal sorting, sorting by switching or other devices actuated in response to detection or measurement of some feature of articles or samples of material B07C) ## Abstract A system and method for processing hemp plants is disclosed. The process is capable of processing whole Cannabis plants for producing multiple useful products. A pair of hammermills are used in series in order to produce an extractable Cannabis material for obtaining cannabinoids, such as CBD and a fiber product. The hurds contained in the Cannabis plant material are controlled and fractionated during the process for allowing high throughput. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for processing cannabis plants comprising: feeding cut and dried cannabis plants to a first hammermill and decorticating the cannabis plants to form a fiber material stream and a cannabis material stream, the fiber material stream containing cannabis hurds in an amount of from about 20% to about 55% by weight, the cannabis material stream containing cannabis hurds in an amount from about 2% to about 15% by weight, the cannabis material stream further comprising a blend of shreds and fines, the shreds and fines comprising cannabis leaves, cannabis buds, and the cannabis hurds; collecting the cannabis material stream; feeding the fiber material stream to a second hammermill and screening the fiber material stream to remove cannabis hurds and fines to form a fiber tow; and baling the fiber tow, the fiber tow containing cannabis hurd in an amount less than about 10% by weight. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the method processes greater than about 5 metric tons per hour of cut and dried cannabis plants. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the dried cannabis plants are in the form of bales and the method further includes breaking the bales apart prior to feeding the cut and dried cannabis plants to the first hammermill. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the decorticated cannabis plants are fed to a screening device during or after being fed through the first hammermill for forming the fiber material stream and the cannabis material stream. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the cannabis hurds and fines removed from the fiber material stream are collected to form a shive product. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising the step of extracting one or more cannabinoids from the cannabis material stream. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the cannabis plants comprise Cannabis indica plant material. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the dried cannabis plants comprise Cannabis sativa plant material containing less than 0.3% by weight tetrahydrocannabinol. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the cannabis material stream contains cannabis hurds in an amount from about 7% to about 12% by weight and wherein the fiber material stream contains cannabis hurds in an amount from about 32% to about 49% by weight. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the fiber material stream is gravity fed to the second ham merm ill. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the fiber material stream is air conveyed to a screening device for screening the fiber material stream. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the fiber material stream is further fed to a third ham merm ill and then to a fourth hammerm ill in order to further break apart the fiber material stream and separate the fiber material stream from cannabis hurds and fines.