US 6,584,890 B1Granted

High production nutcracking apparatus for processing relatively small nuts

AssigneeMachine Design Incorporated

InventorsJames B. Quantz, Pascal W. Pitts, John L. Feaster

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Abstract

A high production nutcracking apparatus wherein the nuts are fed from a hopper on a feed conveyor which has an upwardly inclined segment which passes through the hopper, a horizontal segment which leads to the cracking apparatus, and an arcuate transition juncture which is between the two segments. The feed conveyor includes a plurality of nut transport elements mounted in succession on a feed chain, and each transport element includes an upwardly facing receptacle for receiving a single nut which is then advanced to the cracking apparatus. To permit the apparatus to process relatively small nuts, such as pecan seedlings, the elements each include a longitudinal notch in an upper corner, and a spacer bar is fixedly mounted so as to occupy the notches of the elements as they move through the hopper. The nuts are singularized and oriented in the receptacles of the elements while being advanced on the feed conveyor.

Claims14

Dependent claims

An apparatus for successively delivering relatively small nuts, such as pecan seedlings, in a predetermined orientation to a cracking head of a nutcracker or the like, comprising

a hopper for storing a relatively large quantity of the nuts to be cracked,
endless conveyor means having an upper run extending through said hopper to a delivery point exteriorly thereof, with said conveyor means comprising a feed chain and a plurality of nut transport elements mounted in succession on said feed chain, with each element being of generally block-like configuration and having an upper face, with the upper face of each element having a longitudinally extending notch formed in an upper corner thereof and a generally semi-cylindrical upwardly facing receptacle extending laterally across the remainder of the upper face,
power means for rotating said endless conveyor means such that said nut transport elements move in succession through said hopper and to said delivery point,
a longitudinally extending spacer bar fixed in the hopper and being sized and positioned to occupy the notches of a plurality of the elements as they move through the hopper with the feed chain, and
singularizing and orienting means mounted along said upper run of said endless conveyor means for effectively removing any nuts in excess of one from the receptacle of each nut transport element and for effectively orienting such nut with its end to end direction extending along the receptacle.

2 more elements

A high production nutcracking apparatus comprising,

means for advancing a plurality of nuts individually in succession along a first path of travel with at least substantially all of the advancing nuts being disposed in a predetermined orientation,
means for removing the advancing nuts in succession from the first path of travel and advancing the removed nuts in succession along a generally curvilinear second path of travel, and including means for 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
means for imparting a cracking force to each nut while being advanced along the second path of travel, and with the cracking force being applied in a direction corresponding to the clamping engagement of the nut,
said means for advancing nuts along the first path of travel comprising
(a) a hopper for storing a relatively large quantity of the nuts to be cracked,
(b) endless conveyor means having an upper run extending through said hopper to a delivery point exteriorly thereof, with said conveyor means comprising a feed chain and a plurality of nut transport elements mounted in succession on said feed chain, with each element being of generally block-like configuration and having an upper face, with the upper face of each element having a longitudinally extending notch formed in an upper corner thereof and a generally semi-cylindrical upwardly facing receptacle extending laterally across the remainder of the upper face,
(c) power means for rotating said endless conveyor means such that said nut transport elements move in succession through said hopper and to said delivery point, and
(d) a longitudinally extending spacer bar fixed in the hopper and being sized and positioned to occupy the notches of a plurality of the elements as they move through the hopper,
(e) singularizing and orienting means mounted along said upper run of said endless conveyor means for effectively removing any nuts in excess of one from the receptacle of each nut transport element and for effectively orienting such nut with its end to end direction extending along the receptacle.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.