Apparatus for removing hulls from nuts
OwnerMohammad Nakhei-Nejadinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for removing hulls from nuts includes a rotating drum with protrusions on its surface, a hulling plate and a separator plate. Rotation of the drum causes nuts deposited on an upper surface of the drum surface between the hulling plate and the separator plate to be impinged by the protrusions against the hulling plate, thereby removing the hulls and pushing the hulls through a hulling gap between the hulling plate and the upper surface of the drum, while the hulled nuts pass through a separator gap between the separator plate and the upper surface of the drum, thereby separating the hulled nuts.
Claims17
An apparatus for removing hulls from nuts comprising:
- (a) a support frame;
- (b) a substantially cylindrical drum having a substantially horizontal central axis and a circumferential drum surface with a plurality of spaced apart protrusions;
- wherein the drum is rotatably mounted to the support frame for rotating about the central axis;
- (c) a means for rotating the drum;
- (d) a hulling plate having a hulling edge transverse to the drum surface;
- wherein the hulling edge and an upper surface of the drum define therebetween a hulling gap that is sized to permit passage of the protrusions and hulls, but not nuts;
- (e) a separator plate having a separator edge transverse to the drum surface;
- wherein the separator edge and the upper surface of the drum define therebetween a separator gap that is sized to permit passage of the protrusions and wherein at least a portion of the separator gap is sized to permit passage of hulled nuts;
- and
- wherein the upper surface of the drum, the hulling plate and the separator plate define a hulling chamber where the drum surface rotates towards the hulling plate and away from the separator plate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.