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US 2011/0284670 A1Published application
Nut grinder
AssigneeCountry Living Productions, Inc.
InventorsJack R. Jenkins, Joel A. Jenkins, Alex M. Smith
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A nut grinder includes a nut auger, a stationary grinding plate, and a rotatable grinding plate configured to grind nuts. The nut auger and rotatable grinding plate may be adapted to receive rotational power from a human user or a mechanical source.
Claims22
A nut grinder, comprising:
- at least one body including a wall defining an axially symmetric conveying volume having an input end, an output end, and an axis;
- a first grinding surface operatively coupled to the at least one body and located adjacent to the output end of the conveying volume;
- a second grinding surface held in at least partial sliding rotational contact with the first grinding surface and configured to at least optionally receive rotational motion from a person;
- and
- an auger disposed coaxially with and in the conveying volume, configured to at least optionally receive rotational motion from the person, configured to receive whole nuts responsive to only the force of gravity at or near the input end of the conveying volume, and configured to convey the whole nuts or nuts sliced by the auger to the output end of the conveying volume and the first and second grinding surfaces for grinding.
2 more elements
A nut grinder kit for converting a grain grinder to a nut grinder, comprising:
- a sleeve configured for attachment to a body of a grain grinder, the sleeve including an inner sleeve wall defining a cylindrical conveying volume extending from a receiving region to an output end;
- a fixed grinding plate coupled to, configured for coupling to, or integral with the output end of the sleeve;
- a nut auger configured to be mounted on a shaft of the grain grinder, and configured for rotation within the cylindrical conveying volume of the sleeve and to receive nuts from a hopper of the grain grinder, wherein the nut auger includes one or more sharp edges configured to grab or slice nuts received from the hopper;
- and
- a rotatable grinding plate configured to couple to the shaft of the grain grinder and to be rotated synchronously with the rotation of the nut auger in rotating, sliding contact with the fixed nut grinding plate.
2 more elements
20-24. (canceled)
A method for grinding nuts, comprising:
- receiving whole nuts from a hopper by gravity feed alone;
- receiving rotational motion constrained to a power and torque within a range available from one person;
- conveying the whole nuts with a screw conveyor or conveying, with the screw conveyor, nuts sliced by the screw conveyor to a pair of grinding plates, the screw conveyor being rotated by the received rotational motion;
- and
- grinding the nuts with the pair of grinding plates, at least one of the grinding plates being rotated by the received rotational motion.
2 more elements
26-30. (canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.