Method and apparatus for husking and drying cereal and legume kernels

In a method for husking and drying cereal and legume kernels in a generally drum-shaped machine having co-axial truncated upper and lower plate bodies with a spacing between the plate bodies which is smaller at the edges than in the center, the improvement comprising the steps of:

• (a) feeding the kernels into a kernel receiving cylinder arranged above the peak of the upper blade body;
• (b) rotating the plate bodies at different rates of revolution;
• (c) introducing the kernels at the center of the plate bodies;
• (d) generating compressed air in the spacing between the plate bodies;
• (e) separating the husks from the kernels by rolling off the pericarp from the kernels as a result of the kernels being engaged between the plate bodies, which rotate at different rates of revolution;
• (f) blowing the mixture of husks and kernels, after they have been separated from the space between the plate bodies, into an annular chute surrounding the plate bodies;
• (g) discharging the husks, which are lighter than the kernels, upwardly through said annular chute;
• (h) polishing and classifying the kernels during passage through said annular chute;
• (i) allowing the kernels to drop into a lower annular space to be impacted by propelling vanes mounted on a drum rotating with said lower plate body, causing the kernels to follow a spiral path in said lower annular space;
• (j) detaching from the kernels loose husk particles by allowing the kernels to penetrate elastic material on the inside of said lower annular space;
• (k) and sucking in air from below said lower annular space.