Foods and beverages: apparatus – Means to treat food – Subdividing into plural products
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-14
2001-03-27
Simone, Timothy F. (Department: 1761)
Foods and beverages: apparatus
Means to treat food
Subdividing into plural products
C099S574000, C099S581000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06205915
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an improved apparatus for cracking nuts at high production rates.
In prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,617, there is disclosed a high production nutcracking apparatus wherein a plurality of cracking units are arranged on a rotatable turret, with each cracking unit having an opening adapted to receive an individual nut from a feed conveyor. Each cracking unit includes a mechanism for then cracking the nut as the turret continues to rotate, which is actuated by a pneumatic control system.
The feed conveyor as disclosed in the '617 patent includes a feed chain which comprises a plurality of nut transport elements which are mounted in succession, and with each nut transport element having an upwardly open receptacle for receiving an individual nut as it advances through a feed hopper. The feed chain extends in an upwardly inclined direction through the feed hopper and it is designed to feed the nuts from the hopper at a relatively high speed to the cracking units, while effectively orienting the nuts in the respective receptacles so that they may be engaged by the cracking units in an end to end orientation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,623,867 discloses an improved nutcracking apparatus wherein the feed conveyor has an upper run which includes an upwardly inclined segment extending through the lower portion of the hopper and a horizontal segment extending from the upwardly inclined segment to the delivery or pick up point. To singulate and orient the nuts in the receptacle, there is provided a deflecting plate which overlies a portion of the upwardly inclined segment, and a brush located just downstream of the transition juncture to the horizontal segment.
When a machine as described in the '867 patent is run at very high speeds, such as 800 nuts per minute, the nuts tend to fly up from the transport elements, particularly at the arcuate transition juncture between the upwardly inclined segment and the horizontal segment. Also, the nuts tend to bounce during their transport, which upsets their orientation. The plate and brush as disclosed in the '867 patent have not proven to be satisfactory in consistently avoiding these problems.
A further limiting feature associated with the prior machine disclosed in the '867 patent, is the fact that the machine is not easily adaptable to accommodate nuts of differing sizes. Pecans, for example, vary significantly in size, and they are typically run through a sizing machine prior to cracking so as to separate the nuts into different grades. The machine of the prior patent is designed so that when the transport elements reach the pick up location, the sizing piston enters one end of the receptacle and moves the nut into engagement with an anvil at the other end of the receptacle. To properly grip the nut, it is important that the elevation of the sizing piston and anvil be aligned with the centerline of the nut. However, this does not always occur, since with pecans of small size, the sizing piston and anvil may be above the nut centerline, and in the case of large pecans they may be below the centerline. The prior machine has no easy way to accommodate these differences.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a high speed nutcracking apparatus which has a nut delivery system which is able to singulate and orient the nuts as they are removed from a hopper, and which is able to maintain their orientation until they are picked up by a cracking cylinder.
It is another object of the present invention to permit the nutcracking apparatus to be readily adjusted to accommodate nuts of differing sizes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention are achieved in the embodiment illustrated herein by the provision of a nut feeding apparatus which comprises a hopper for storing a relatively large quantity of the nuts to be cracked, and an endless conveyor which has an upper run extending through the hopper to a delivery point exteriorly thereof. The conveyor includes a feed chain and a plurality of nut transport elements mounted in succession on the feed chain. Each element includes opposite sides and a generally semi-circular, laterally extending receptacle which faces upwardly during movement of the element through the hopper and to the delivery point, and each receptacle is sized to supportingly receive a single nut to be cracked and which is oriented with its end to end direction extending along the receptacle.
The upper run of the endless conveyor includes an upwardly inclined segment extending through the lower portion of the hopper and a substantially horizontal segment extending from the upwardly inclined segment to the delivery point, and the upwardly inclined segment and the horizontal segment define an arcuate transition juncture therebetween. By thus dividing the path of travel of the upper run into upwardly inclined and horizontal segments, the length of the conveyor in the hopper can be increased, which in turn permits an increased operating speed.
A drive system is provided for rotating the endless conveyor such that the nut transport elements move in succession through the hopper and to the delivery point, and a singularizing and orienting plate is positioned so as to continuously overlie the path of the nut transport elements from a point along the upwardly inclined segment, along the transition juncture, and to a point immediately upstream of the delivery point. Also, the plate is mounted by means of a horizontal pivotal connection adjacent the upstream end of the plate such that the plate may be lifted upwardly from the elements. Preferably, the forward edge of the plate extends diagonally across the path of the transport elements for orienting each nut received in the receptacles with its end to end direction extending along the associated receptacle. Also, the fact that the plate extends continuously over the transition juncture and to the delivery point has been found to maintain the orientation of the nuts as they change their direction while moving across the transition juncture. The plate also prevents bouncing of the nuts, which can also result in their misalignment.
The advancing oriented nuts are clampingly engaged in succession at the delivery point of the endless conveyor by respective cracking units mounted on a rotating turret, and so as to preserve the orientation of the nuts. The nuts are thereby withdrawn from a first path of travel which is defined by the conveyor and are thereafter conveyed along a curvilinear second path of travel, i.e., the circular path resulting from the rotation of the turret. A cracking force is applied to each nut at a point along the second path of travel downstream of the point at which the nuts are withdrawn from the first path of travel, and the cracked nuts continue to be held in the cracking units, until a predetermined release point along the second path of travel is reached.
As a further aspect of the invention, a support plate is positioned to underlie and support the nut transport elements as they advance across the delivery point, and the support plate is pivotally mounted so as to be selectively moveable toward and away from the rotating turret. Thus the elevation of the path of travel of the nut transport elements with respect to the cracking units of the turret can be adjusted, to insure that the nuts are gripped along their centerlines and thus accommodate nuts of different sizes.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3871275 (1975-03-01), Quantz
patent: 4418617 (1983-12-01), Quantz
patent: 4441414 (1984-04-01), Quantz
patent: 5623867 (1997-04-01), Quantz
Alston & Bird LLP
Machine Design Incorporated
Simone Timothy F.
LandOfFree
Apparatus for cracking nuts at high production rates does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Apparatus for cracking nuts at high production rates, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Apparatus for cracking nuts at high production rates will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2539600