# US 4,397,228 A · Self-adjusting apparatus for slitting peanuts > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 4,397,228 A - Document ID: US4397228A - Status: Granted - Kind: A - Application number: 06/411,235 - Filed: 1982-08-25 - Granted: 1983-08-09 - Earliest claimed: 1980-06-13 - Assignees: Seabrook Blanching Corporation - Inventors: Robert L. Thornton - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US4397228A ## CPC - B02B 3/08: by means of beaters or blades - A23N 5/002: {for skinning nut kernels} - A23N 5/01: for peanuts - B26D 1/03: with a plurality of cutting members - B26D 3/08: Making a superficial cut in the surface of the work without removal of material, e.g. scoring, incising - B26D 7/0625: {by endless conveyors, e.g. belts} - B26D 7/0641: {using chutes, hoppers, magazines} - B26D 2210/02: for cutting food products, e.g. food slicers - B02B: PREPARING GRAIN FOR MILLING; REFINING GRANULAR FRUIT TO COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS BY WORKING THE SURFACE (making dough from cereals directly A21C; preservation or sterilisation of cereals A23B; cleaning fruit A23N; preparation of malt C12C) - A23N: MACHINES OR APPARATUS FOR TREATING HARVESTED FRUIT, VEGETABLES OR FLOWER BULBS IN BULK, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; PEELING VEGETABLES OR FRUIT IN BULK; APPARATUS FOR PREPARING ANIMAL FEEDING- STUFFS (machines for cutting straw or fodder A01F29/00; disintegrating, e.g. shredding, B02C; severing, e.g. cutting, splitting, slicing B26B, B26D) - B26D: CUTTING; DETAILS COMMON TO MACHINES FOR PERFORATING, PUNCHING, CUTTING-OUT, STAMPING-OUT OR SEVERING (for growing crops or plants A01D, A01G; for fodder or straw A01F; for bulk butter A01J; for dough A21C; slaughtering A22B; for tobacco, cigars or cigarettes A24; marking-out, perforating or making buttonholes A41H25/00; manufacturing footwear A43D; brushmaking A46D; surgery A61B; disintegrating, mincing or shredding in general B02C; cutting wire, making pins or nails B21F, B21G; of the kind used formetal B23; cutting by abrasive fluid jets B24C5/02; hand-held cutting tools B26B; perforating, cutting-out, stamping-out or punching, or severing by means other than cutting B26F; for wood B27; for stone B28D; working of plastics or substances in a plastic state B29; making boxes, cartons, envelopes or bags, of paper or similarly worked materials, e.g. metal foil, B31B; article or web delivery apparatus incorporating cutting or line-perforating devices B65H35/00; for leather or upholstery B68, C14B; for glass C03B; making matches C06F; for peat C10F; for sugar C13B45/00; for textile materials D06H; civil engineering, building, mining, see Section E; for light guides G02B6/25; cutting processed photographic material G03D15/04) ## Abstract Apparatus is provided for slitting the skins of shelled peanuts, or the like, without splitting the nuts. Peanuts are fed in a single stream into the bite of a pair of rollers mounted one above the other for rotation about parallel horizontal axes. The rollers are driven to carry the stream of nuts into engagement with slitting elements disposed on both sides of the bite of the rollers. The upper roller is carried by a yoke pivoted to a drive shaft and is adapted to rise and fall to and away from the lower roll according to the size of the nut being fed therethrough whereby a substantially constant gripping pressure is applied to the nuts irrespective of the size of the nut. A power drive system connects between the drive shaft and the upper roll. ## Claims ### Claim 1 Apparatus for slitting the skins of nuts, including (a) a pair of rolls disposed in a vertical plane one above the other and defining a bite therebetween, (b) feed means for delivering said nuts in a single steady stream into the bite of said rolls, (c) slitting elements disposed on opposite sides of said bite in a plane generally perpendicular to the plane of said rolls for slitting the skins of nuts carried by said rolls between said elements, (d) resilient mounting means supporting the upper of said rolls for free yielding movement in a vertical plane to and away from the lower of said rolls in response to each nut entering said bite whereby the gap between said rolls will vary automatically according to the size of each nut in the bite of said rolls, the lower of said rolls being rotatable about a fixed axis, (e) power means drivingly connected to said rolls for rotating said rolls in opposite directions, (f) said mounting means including a bracket, one end of said bracket rotatably supporting said upper roll and the opposite end of said bracket mounted to said apparatus for free pivotal movement within a predetermined angle about an axis in spaced parallel relation to the axis of said upper roll to thereby permit limited movement of said one end of said bracket together with said upper roll to and away from said lower roll. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) Apparatus according to claim 1 including stop means operatively connected to said bracket for limiting the movement of said bracket in a direction towards said lower roll. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said power means includes a drive shaft mounted in spaced parallel relation to the axis of said upper roll, said bracket pivotally mounted at one end to said drive shaft, a first pulley drivingly engaging said upper roll and a belt drivingly connected to said first and second pulleys. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) Apparatus according to claim 3 including a fixed member disposed below said bracket and an adjustment screw threaded to said bracket and adapted to engage said member in the absence of a nut between said rolls. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said upper roll includes resilient cushioning means about its periphery and said lower roll is fabricated from a rigid material and having a groove formed about its periphery.