Patent ID: 6578472
Filing Date: 2003-06-17
Classification: A23N

Abstract:
A machine for opening pistachios comprising a supply device, a supply device for supplying pistachios individually to an opening device;an opening device comprising a rotary disc having a periphery; a plurality of chambers around the periphery, each chamber being sized for accommodating a pistachio supplied to the chamber from the supply device, with the supply device and the disc being positioned for supplying a pistachio to a first one of the chambers at a first rotary position of the disc; a breaker piston opposed to the periphery of the disc and at a location such that the breaker piston is opposed to a chamber that has been supplied with a pistachio while another chamber is at the supply device for being supplied with a pistachio, and the breaker piston being operable into and out of the respective chamber then opposed to it for being moved into the opposed chamber to open the pistachio therein; and a device for permitting rotation and for periodically stopping the rotation of the disc, with the stopping being at positions where one of the chambers is opposed to the supply device for receiving a pistachio while another of the chambers is opposed to the breaker piston.