Abstract:
A hand-held, manually operated seed shucking appliance enables a food preparer to remove the seed coverings of black-eyed peas from their kernels. A spring and piston inside a chamber are arranged to compress a load of pre-soaked black-eyed peas against a shuttle rasp threaded between side slots. As a user manipulates the shuttle rasp, the shucks are scraped off the seeds by a scraping surface and both pass through the side slots. The piston is configured to be cocked back such that the chamber can be loaded through one end with a fresh charge of black-eyed peas.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for shucking the skins from the seeds of pre-soaked black-eyed peas. In particular, the present invention relates to hand-held, manually operated devices that compress a load of pre-soaked black-eyed peas inside a chamber against a shuttle rasp threaded between side slots. The seeds and the shucks scraped off are then small enough to pass out through the slots. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     According to the Congo Cookbook, Moyin-Moyin (also called Moin-Moin, Moi-Moi, Moimoi), prepared from black-eyed peas or other beans, is a unique and delicious savory bean pudding. (See, www.congocookbook.com/snack_recipes/moyin_moyin.html) The traditional way to cook Moyin-Moyin is to make a paste ground from the shucked seeds. The paste is wrapped in banana leaves, and then steamed until cooked. In modern Africa, Moyin-Moyin is cooked in tin cans, or muffin pans or tins. 
     To start, about two cups of whole black-eyed peas are soaked or boiled in water until the skins are soft enough to be shucked by pinching or rubbing them off. The traditional way has been for each cook to manually rub the softened beans together to remove the skins. A rinse is used to wash away the skins and any other debris. The remaining bare seeds are drained in a colander and ground into a paste for the pudding. 
     Removing the skins, or shucks, from whole black-eyed peas this way is very tedious, labor intensive, and time consuming. Many different food uses of legumes, grains, drupes, silques, achenes, and other seeds call for removing the skins or hulls. The prior art has developed a wide variety of separation and grating methods, only a few of which are affordable and practical for home use. 
     Many prior art food graters grind the food into shavings without removing any peel, as in cheese graters. Others grind off peels that cannot be removed as skins, as in raw potato peelings. The foods of interest here are, e.g., seeds, peas, or beans where the skins can be removed whole, even if soaking or boiling is needed to soften the skins or seed coverings for complete removal and separation. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Briefly, a seed shucking embodiment of the present invention for separating the seed coverings of black-eyed peas from their kernels comprises a hand-held, manually operated device with a spring and piston to compress a load of pre-soaked black-eyed peas inside a chamber up against a shuttle rasp threaded between side slots. As a cook or other user manipulates the shuttle rasp, the shucks are scraped off the seeds and both are reduced in size enough to pass out and through the side slots. The piston is configured to be cocked back such that the chamber can be loaded through one end with a fresh charge of black-eyed peas. 
     The above and still further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of specific embodiments thereof, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIGS. 1A-1D  are perspective view diagrams of a seed-shucking appliance embodiment of the present invention for separating the seed coverings of black eyed peas from their kernels.  FIG. 1A  represents the loading of some black eyed peas and the spring shown fully compressed,  FIG. 1B  represents the insertion of the shuttle rasp and the release of the piston and spring,  FIG. 1C  represents a push on the shuttle rasp and a resulting discharge of shucks and seed kernels through a lateral slot, and  FIG. 1D  represents a pull on the shuttle rasp and another consequential discharge of shucks and seed kernels through an opposite lateral slot; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view diagram of a seed-shucking appliance with a funnel, cap, shuttle rasp guides, and holding/cocking mechanism, and is otherwise similar to those of  FIGS. 1A-1D ; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view diagram of a seed-shucking appliance with an alternative holding/cocking mechanism, but is otherwise similar to those shown in  FIGS. 1A-1D , and  2 ; and 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view diagram of a shuttle rasp showing a scraping surface and lips. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       FIGS. 1A-1D  represent a seed-shucking appliance embodiment of the present invention for separating the seed coverings of black eyed peas from their kernels, and is referred to herein by the general reference numeral  100 . The seed-shucking appliance  100  is intended to be handheld, manually operated, and useful in a typical kitchen. Seed-shucking appliance  100  comprises a hollow, tubular body  102  or chamber inside of which a load of black eyed peas  104  can be introduced and pressed by a piston  106  against a shuttle rasp  108 . The tubular body  102  can be made of clear plastic and have a round or rectangular cross section with open ends. Piston  106  is configured to slide easily inside tubular body  102  and contain the load of black eyed peas  104  and any debris resulting from use. 
     In  FIG. 1B , the shuttle rasp  108  can be seen to be fully inserted through matching lateral slots  110  and  112  after the black eyed peas  104  are poured in by a user. The lateral slots  110  and  112  disposed in opposite walls of a chamber and are dimensioned to permit the expulsion of individual black-eyed pea seed kernels and their coverings only after separation. 
     A spring  114  is configured to released by a cocking or holding mechanism ( FIG. 2 ) to allow the piston to move up and bear on the load of black eyed peas  104 . At any time, the user may choose to flip seed-shucking appliance  100  over to allow a first end  116  to rest on a table for better leverage and to allow gravity to assist. 
     The end of spring  114  opposite to piston  106  is anchored to either a closed end of tubular body  102  or fastened to it with a cap. See  FIG. 2 . It is desirable for all the pieces to be easily disassembled for cleaning, and it would help in both the operation and cleaning if tubular body  102  was made of a clear glass or plastic material. 
     The side of shuttle rasp  108  that faces the load of black eyed peas  104  is roughened such that when the user moves it back and forth the shucks of the black eyed peas  104  will be torn off their kernels. The lateral slots  110  and  112  are configured and critically sized to prevent whole ones of black eyed peas  104  from escaping, but nevertheless allow shucks and kernels to escape, as illustrated in  FIGS. 1C and 1D . 
     In  FIG. 1C , the shuttle rasp  108  is pushed in toward lateral slot  112  causing shuck  120 A and seed kernels  120 B to be abraded and separated from one another. These are then small enough to be ejected out through lateral slot  110  that can fall into a bowl  121 . A typical family would prepare about two cups of black eyed peas for a single meal. 
     In  FIG. 1D , the shuttle rasp  108  is pulled out away from lateral slot  112  causing the shuck  122 A and seed kernels  122 B to be torn and separated from one another. These bits too are then small enough to be ejected out through lateral slot  112 .  FIGS. 1C and 1D  show the separated seed kernels as simple black dots, and the shucks as rounded, blank ovals. 
       FIG. 2  represents an alternative seed shucking appliance embodiment of the present invention, and is referred to herein by the general reference numeral  200 . An appliance  200  has a tubular body  202  in which two lateral slots  204  and  206  have been cut, and two longitudinal slots  208  an  210  are provided. A top end  212  is fitted with a removable funnel  214 , and a bottom end  216  has a snap or screw-on cap  218 . 
     A holding or cocking mechanism can be included to facilitate loading a quantity of black eyed peas through funnel  214  and top end  212 . For example, longitudinal slots  208  and  210  can be formed as elongated J-channels to allow a locking action to keep a spring compressed. A pair of handles  220  and  222  are threaded out through longitudinal slots  208  and  210  to allow a user to move an internal piston  224 . A hook  223  can be seen in  FIG. 2  that prides a locking mechanism with handles  220  and  222  that together can keep spring  230  compressed for loading a chamber above piston  224 . 
     A handle or knob  226  on one end of a reciprocating shuttle rasp  228  provides the user a more comfortable way for a user to manipulate and reciprocate the shuttle rasp  228 . Lateral slots  204  and  206  can be fitted with glides  232  and  234  or otherwise constructed to provide for a smooth, wobble-free action with respect to reciprocating shuttle rasp  228 . 
     A compression spring  230  attaches to piston  224  and to the inside bottom of cap  218 . A secure way needs to be incorporated to allow a typical user to remove and to fix cap  218  to end  216 . For example, by including plastic molded screw threads. In general, the majority of parts can be constructed of plastic, but parts like spring  230 , handles  220  and  222 , and shuttle rasp  228  would probably best be constructed of metal like stainless steel. 
     The roughened, abrasive surface of shuttle rasp  228  that faces piston  224  must not be allowed to snag on the adjacent edges of lateral slots  204  and  206 . A pair of guides  232  and  234  are included to control shuttle rasp  228  to provide smooth operation. The placement and configuration of guides  232  and  234  are also such that a constant, proper gap of about one half diameter of an averaged sized black eye pea is maintained between the roughened, abrasive surface of shuttle rasp  228  and the opposing edges of the respective lateral slots  204  and  206 . Lips ( FIG. 4 ) may also be provided on the shuttle rasp  228  for the same purposes. Many different types of configurations have been developed by others and marketed commercially that would be useful in alternative embodiments. 
       FIG. 3  represents a seed shucking appliance embodiment of the present invention with an alternative spring cocking mechanism, and is referred to herein by the general reference numeral  300 . An appliance  300  has a tubular body  302  in which two lateral slots  304  and  306  have been cut. A top end  312  is fitted with a removable funnel  314 , and a bottom end  316  has a snap or screw-on cap  318 . 
     An alternative holding or cocking mechanism is provided to facilitate loading a quantity of black eyed peas through top end  312 . A rod  320  is attached to piston  324  and passes out through cap  318  allow a user to pull it down. A distal end of rod  320  has a knob  325  attached. 
     A handle  326  on one end of a reciprocating shuttle rasp  328  provides the user a more comfortable way for a user to manipulate and reciprocate the shuttle rasp  328 . Lateral slots  304  and  306  can be fitted with glides or otherwise constructed to provide for a smooth, wobble-free action with respect to reciprocating shuttle rasp  328 . 
     A compression spring  330  attaches to piston  324  and to the inside bottom of cap  318 . A secure way needs to be incorporated to allow a typical user to remove and to fix cap  318  to end  316 . For example, by including plastic molded screw threads. In general, the majority of parts can be constructed of plastic, but parts like spring  330 , handles  320  and  322 , and shuttle rasp  328  would probably best be constructed of metal like stainless steel. 
       FIG. 4  represents a shuttle rasp  400  useful in seed shucking appliance embodiments of the present invention. Here, shuttle rasp  400  has a roughened, scraping surface  402  on one side that is sheltered on its outside edges between protruding longitudinal lips  404  and  406 . The roughened, scraping surface  402  is used to rub and/or tear coverings and shucks from the seed kernels of black eyed peas when the shuttle rasp  400  is reciprocated by a user. The longitudinal lips  404  and  406  keep the roughened, scraping surface  402  from snagging anything but the black eyed peas during operation and provide a smoother action. The placement and configuration of longitudinal lips  404  and  406  are such that they maintain a constant, proper gap of about one half diameter of an averaged sized black eye pea between the roughened, scraping surface  402  and the opposing edge of the respective lateral slots. A handle  408  is provided for a user to grip. 
     An earlier appliance by the present Inventor was described and published in United States Patent Application publication, 2009-0068332, on Mar. 12, 2009, now abandoned. The present Invention represents an advancement and improvement over the earlier designs in that it is simpler, less expensive, easier to clean, easier to use, and is more portable. 
     Although particular embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated, such was not intended to limit the invention. Modifications and changes will no doubt become apparent to those skilled in the art, and it was intended that the invention only be limited by the scope of the appended claims.