Pistachio huller
AssigneeCalifornia Almond Orchards
InventorsJay J. McFarland, Bertram E. Saunders
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A pistachio huller having two stages; a first stage including a pair of rollers between which the pistachios are passed to rupture the pericarps thereof to form tag ends of pericarps adherent to the shells of the pistachios and a second stage including a plurality of parallel fine rollers closely spaced to preclude the passage of pistachios therebetween with the adjacent fine rollers alternately and oppositely oscillated to strip the tag ends of pericarps from the pistachios.
Claims15
A two stage pistachio huller comprising first means for rupturing the pericarp of the pistachio and forming tag ends thereof adherent to the pistachios;
- and second means engageable with said tag ends to strip the pericarp from the pistachios, in which both of said means have coacting rollers, the first means having substantially horizontal and parallel rollers spaced for the passage of pistachios therebetween having adjacent peripheries traveled downwardly at different peripheral speeds, and the second means having substantially horizontal and parallel rollers having ends adapted to receive pistachios from the first means and opposite discharge ends, said rollers of the second means being spaced too closely for the passage of whole pistachios therebetween, and means to oscillate adjacent rollers of the second means alternately in opposite directions.
The huller of claim 2 having further means to subject the pistachios being treated with a water bath while subject to the action of the rollers of the second means.
A two stage pistachio huller comprising a first pair of substantially horizontal rollers, means mounting the rollers in adjacent spaced relation to receive pistachios to be hulled therebetween;
- means rotating the rollers at different peripheral speeds with their adjacent peripheries traveled downwardly;
- a multiplicity of elongated fine rollers of a diameter substantially less than that of the first pair of rollers;
- means mounting the fine rollers in closely adjacent paralell spaced relation so as to provide a receiving end adapted to receive preliminarily treated pistachios from the first rollers and an opposite discharge end, said fine rollers being alternately disposed in two tiers in substantially parallel upper and lower planes, the adjacent rollers in the opposite tiers being spaced too closely for the passage of pistachios therebetween and the adjacent rollers in the upper tier being spaced a distance sufficient to receive pistachios therebetween for support on the lower rollers, means connected to the fine rollers oscillating said rollers with the rollers in the same tier being rotated in a common direction and the rollers in the opposite tiers being rotated in the opposite direction;
- and means for advancing pistachios received from the first rollers longitudinally along the fine rollers to the discharge end.
A two stage pistachio huller comprising:
- A. a first pair of substantially horizontal rollers;
- B. means mounting the rollers in adjacent spaced relation having peripheries spaced to receive pistachios to be hulled in abrading engagement therebetween;
- C. means rotating the rollers to cause their adjacent peripheries to have relative travel;
- D. a plurality of elongated fine rollers of a diameter substantially less than that of the first pair of rollers;
- E. means mounting the fine rollers in closely adjacent spaced relation to receive pistachios from the first pair of rollers,
- 1. said fine rollers being alternately disposed in two tiers in substantially horizontal upper and lower planes, the adjacent rollers in the opposite tiers being spaced sufficiently closely to support pistachios therebetween and the adjacent rollers in the upper tier being spaced a distance sufficient to receive pistachios therebetween for support on the lower rollers and between the adjacent rollers in the opposite tiers;
- and
- F. means to oscillate the adjacent fine rollers in opposite directions.
The pistachio huller of claim 16 in which the rotating means rotates the first pair of rollers with their adjacent peripheries traveled downwardly and the oscillating means oscillates the fine rollers in alternate directions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.