Method of cracking nuts at high production rates
AssigneeMachine Design Incorporated
InventorJames B. Quantz
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A high production nutcracking method and apparatus is provided wherein the nuts are fed from a hopper on a feed conveyor, while being singularized and oriented in the hopper. The oriented nuts are thereafter advanced by the conveyor individually in succession to a cracking apparatus, which comprises a plurality of cracking units mounted on a rotatable turret. The rotating cracking units are cyclically controlled so as to clampingly engage and lift each oriented nut from the advancing conveyor, and so as to preserve its orientation. The nut is then cracked and thereafter released at separate spaced points along the circular path of travel of the cracking unit.
Claims9
A method of cracking nuts at a high production rate and comprising the steps of
- advancing a plurality of nuts in individual receptacles in succession along a first linear path of travel, with at least substantially all of the advancing nuts being disposed in a predetermined orientation,
- removing the advancing nuts in succession from the first path of travel at the terminal end thereof and advancing the removed nuts in succession along a generally curvilinear second path of travel, with the second path of travel defining a circle which is substantially tangent to and disposed above the first path of travel, and such that the nuts continue to advance in the same general direction and are lifted as they move from the first path of travel into the second path of travel, and including clampingly engaging each nut during its removal from the first path of travel and advance along the second path of travel so as to preserve the predetermined orientation of each nut, and
- imparting a cracking force to each nut while being advanced along the second path of travel.
A method of cracking nuts at a high production rate, and comprising the steps of
- advancing a plurality of nuts in individual receptacles in succession along a generally linear first path of travel, while orienting each nut so that its end to end direction is disposed horizontally and perpendicular to the direction of the path of travel,
- lifting each of the nuts in succession from the first path of travel and advancing the nuts in succession along a curvilinear second path of travel which defines a circle disposed tangent to the first path of travel, and including applying a clamping force at the opposite ends of each oriented nut during lifting from the first path of travel and advance along the second path of travel so as to preserve the orientation of each nut,
- applying a stressing force to each nut at a predetermined location along the second path of travel, with the stressing force being applied in the end to end direction of each oriented nut,
- imparting a cracking force to each nut at a predetermined location along the second path of travel and while the stressing force is being applied, and with the cracking force being applied in the end to end direction of each oriented nut, and
- continuing to advance the cracked nuts in succession along the second path of travel to a release point located downstream of the predetermined cracking location, and then removing the clamping force to release the cracked nuts.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.