Abstract:
A nut de-shelling device. The device has a plurality of nut holder carried on a moving carriage member. Each nut holder has a pair of rotatable clamping members that securely hold the nut without regard to the orientation of the nut held therein, but permit rotation of the clamped nut relative to the moving carriage member. The device further includes a nut shell cutter that makes a cut line through the shell of the nut. The device also includes a releaser that moves the pair of rotatable clamping members apart from each other to release the nut with its shell cut.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The invention is related to the field of food processing equipment and method, and more particularly to a device and method for de-shelling a variety of hard shelled objects such as nuts.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Presently, nuts are de-shelling by the application of a crushing force or high impact force to the outside of the shell, or by accelerating the nut against a hard surface. With either method, this force crushes or shatters the shell, and permits the seed or meat inside to be accessed. In the case of very hard nuts, such as walnuts and macadamia nuts, a considerable amount of force is required to deflect the somewhat flexible shell walls beyond a point of breakage, after which the shell wall cracks and breaks.  
         [0003]     In the case of cashew nuts, commercial processing units use foot operated shell cutters (mechanical device) for shelling. This device consists of a pair of blades (knives) shaped in the contour of half a nut which could be operated by foot. The nuts have to be grouped into various sizes, each size matching a pair of blades of appropriate size. The blades cut through the shell all around the nut, leaving the kernel untouched.  
         [0004]     After shelling, the kernels and shell pieces are separated manually. However, some of this force used to crack the shell may end up being transferred to nut meat, which can cause it to break into pieces. These pieces must then be collected, which can often be required to be taken care of manually or with additional machinery, which raises the cost of de-shelling nuts.  
         [0005]     In the case of most nuts, whole nut meat pieces commands a higher value than broken pieces.  
         [0006]     Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a way to de-shell nuts in such a way that permit a higher percentage of whole nut meat pieces to be collected, and do so in a fast, cost-effective manner.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The invention provides a nut de-shelling device, comprising: 
        a nut holding unit; and     a nut shell cutter that makes a cut line through the shell of the nut.        
 
         [0010]     The invention further provides a nut de-shelling device, comprising: 
        a plurality of nut holder carried on a moving carriage member, with each nut holder having a pair of rotatable clamping members that securely hold the nut without regard to the orientation of the nut held therein, but permit rotation of the clamped nuts relative to the moving carriage member;     a nut shell cutter that makes a cut line through the shell of the nut; and     a releaser that moves the pair of rotatable clamping members apart from each other to release the nut with its shell cut.        
 
         [0014]     The invention yet further provides a nut de-shelling device, comprising: 
        a nut holder; and     a nut shell saw that makes a saw line through the shell of the nut.        
 
         [0017]     The invention also provides a method for de-shelling nuts, comprising the steps of: 
        holding a nut; and     sawing a saw line through the shell of the nut around a perimeter of the nut to separate the shell from the nut&#39;s meat.       
 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0020]     These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:  
         [0021]      FIG. 1  is a top front perspective view showing an exemplary embodiment of a nut de-shelling device of the invention.  
         [0022]      FIG. 2  is a top view of the nut de-shelling device of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0023]      FIG. 3  is a left side view of the nut de-shelling device of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0024]      FIG. 4A  is a top left perspective detail showing an exemplary embodiment of the nut holder.  
         [0025]      FIG. 4B  is a top right perspective detail showing an embodiment of the nut holder of  FIG. 4A .  
         [0026]      FIG. 5  is a top front perspective showing a nut being captured by the nut holder.  
         [0027]      FIG. 6  is a top left perspective view showing the nut holder.  
         [0028]      FIG. 7  is a rear bottom perspective view showing the nut rotator.  
         [0029]      FIG. 8  is a left side detail view showing an exemplary embodiment of the cutter unit.  
         [0030]      FIG. 9  is a top rear perspective view showing the nut rotator.  
         [0031]      FIG. 10  is a detail showing a nut having its shell being cut.  
         [0032]      FIG. 11  is a rear detail view of the nut de-shelling device of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0033]     FIGS.  12 A-E are details of various cutters for the shell.  
         [0034]      FIG. 13  is a diagrammatic view showing the nut holder release mechanism. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0035]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a front perspective view showing an embodiment of a nut de-shelling device  10  of the invention. It comprises a rotating carriage member  12  that carries a plurality of nut holders  14 . Nuts (not shown) are deposited at a nut loading station  16  where nuts are engaged with the nut holders  14 . A nut feeder  18  is used to deliver the nuts to the nut loading station  16 . A shell cutter (shown as  20  in  FIG. 3 ) is used to cut the nut&#39;s shell. The carriage member  12  can turn on a spindle  22  (e.g. powered by a motor.) A nut holder release unit  24  is used to permit the nut holder to hold a nut from the nut loading station  16 , during the shell cutting process, and to cause a nut to be released after the nut&#39;s shell has been cut. A nut holder rotator  26  is also shown. Turning gears  28  of the nut holders  14  are shown. For clarity of presentation, the various motors, pneumatics, hydraulics, control electronics, etc. are not shown.  
         [0036]      FIG. 2  is a top view of the exemplary nut de-shelling device  10  of  FIG. 1  being used to hold and cut the shell of nuts, and better shows the carriage member  12  carrying a number of nut holders  14 , and shows the various major portions of the exemplary nut de-shelling device  10 , including the nut loading station  16 , the nut feeder  18 , the shell cutter  20 , the spindle  22  for turning the carriage member  12 , the nut holder release unit  24 , and the nut holder rotator  26 .  
         [0037]      FIG. 3  is a rear view of the nut de-shelling device  10  of  FIG. 1 . The plurality of nut holders  14  are shown oriented around the carriage unit  12 . In operation, the carriage unit  12  can comprise a rotating disk  36  to which are attached the holders  14 . In the view of  FIG. 3 , the carriage unit rotates counterclockwise. The nut holder rotator  26  can comprise a belt  32  that is turned by a motor  34  (e.g. an electrical). However, other known motive devices can be used to turn the belt. As the carriage unit rotates, the turning gear  28  will be brought into contact with the moving belt  32 , which will cause the turning gear  28  to rotate. Any nut “N” held by the nut holder  14  whose turning gear  28  is being turned will also turn, and a cutting blade  40  of the shell cutter  20  will ride on the turning shell and cut through the shell. After the shell is cut, the nut will continue to be carried by the nut holder  14 . When it reaches a pre-determined position, the nut holder  14  will engage with the nut holder release unit  24 , which permits the nut with a cut shell “NC” to drop downwardly. A container  42  is shown as a receptacle for nuts with cut shells. The nut feeder  18  used to deliver nuts to the nut loading station  16  can be provided as gravity feed channel  38  with a slant adjuster  30 . The slant adjuster  30  can be adjusted the relative degree of slant of the gravity feed channel  38  to ensure that nuts slide down properly, and t  FIGS. 4A and 4B  top left and right perspective detail views, respectively, showing the nut holder  14  of  FIG. 1 . In  FIG. 4B , the nut feeder  18  is shown as partially removed from the nut loading station  16  for clarity. The nut holder comprises a first nut clamp  50  and a second nut clamp  52 . The first nut clamp  50  is adjacent to the rotating disk  36  of the carriage unit  12 , and is connected to the rotating gear  28 , e.g., by a shaft  54  that passes through an aperture  56  in disk  36 . The rotating gear  28  preferably has engagement, such as teeth  58 , that will engage with complementary ribs  44  on the belt  32 . Therefore, when the rotating gear  28  is turned, it turns the first nut clap  50 . The nut clamps  50  and  52  each preferably have a nut engagement surface  60  and  62 , respectively which can aid in grasping a nut. The nut engagement surface  60  and  62  can comprise, for example, rubber or plastic pieces that will help prevent the nut from turning relative to the nut clamps  50  and  52 , but rather, turn with the nut clamps  50  and  52 . The second nut clamp  52  can be carried on a clamp holder  64 , and is turnably fitted on a shaft  66  which slidably passes through the clamp holder  64 . A catch head  68  is fitted to the other end of shaft  66 . The second nut clamp  52 , shaft  66  and catch head  68  are preferably biased (e.g. by a spring  70 ) so that the second nut clamp  52  is biased towards the first nut clamp  50  to thereby capture a nut “N” between the first and second nut clamps  50  and  52 , as shown in  FIG. 5 . The nut holder release unit  24  has an exit  72  through which the catch head  68  will be released so that the biasing spring  70  will bring the second nut cup  52  closer to the first nut cut  50 .  
         [0038]      FIG. 5  is a rear perspective showing a nut “N” being captured by the nut holder  14 . The nut holder release unit  24  has a passageway  80  therethrough which follows a generally semi-circular pathway, and which functions to pull the catch head  68  and thereby pull the shaft  66  and second nut clamp  52  away from first nut clamp  50 . At the nut loading station  16 , the nut “N” will be positioned to be captured between first and second nut clamps  50  and  52 . When the catch head exits the nut holder release unit  24  at its exit  72 , the nut “N” will be biased between the first and second nut clamps  50  and  52 .  
         [0039]      FIG. 6  is a top left perspective view showing the nut holder  24 , and shows how the catch head  68  is released from the exit  72  of the nut holder release unit  24 .  
         [0040]      FIG. 7  is a rear bottom perspective view showing the nut rotator  26 , its motor  34  and its belt  32 , and  FIG. 9  is a rear top perspective view showing the nut rotator  26 , its motor  34  and its belt  32 . Nut holders  14  and the shell cutter  20  with it cutting blade  40  are also shown. A motor  46  turns the cutting blade  40 . When the rotating gear  28  impinges on the moving belt  32 , the rotating gear  28  will begin to spin and will rotate a nut (not shown) retained by the nut retainer  14 . The cutting blade  40  can have a  
         [0041]      FIG. 8  is a left side detail view showing an exemplary embodiment of the shell cutter  20 . In the embodiment shown, the shell cutter  20  has a motor  46  which turns the cutting blade  40 . The cutting blade  40  can be a circular saw blade with a cutting edge  84  (e.g. diamond edged) and can have a depth adjustment disc  86  which has a smaller diameter than the cutting edge diameter. The depth adjustment disc  86  can function to ride on the outside of the nut&#39;s shell once the cutting edge  84  cuts through the shell to prevent the cutting blade from penetrating too deeply. The motor  46  can preferably by moveably mounted so that the blade  40  will ride on the outside of the nut&#39;s shell. This can be accomplished by having the motor pivotally mounted with a biasing mechanism  88 .  
         [0042]      FIG. 10  is a detail showing the shell of a nut N being cut by the blade  40  cutting unit  20 , and how the depth adjustment disc  86  functions to ride on the outside of the nut&#39;s shell once the cutting edge  84  cuts through the shell to prevent the cutting blade from penetrating too deeply.  
         [0043]      FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional view through the curved view line  11 - 11  of  FIG. 3 , and shows the passageway  80 , which has an inclined ramp surface  90 . As the carried nut holders are rotated on the spindle, the catch head  68  moves into contact with the inclined ramp  90 , thereby causing the catch head  68  of the nut holder  14  in that position to be pulled outwardly, thereby pulling the second nut cup  52  away from the first nut cup  50 , to release a captured cut nut “CN”. Thereafter, the catch head  68  will continue to ride in passageway  80  in the nut holder release unit  24  until it reaches a release location  92  where the ramp  90  ends, for example, the exit  72 . At this point, the biasing spring  70  can return the second nut holder to closer proximity with the first nut holder  50 . In normal operations, an uncut nut will be waiting to be captured by the first and second nut holders, and the cycle will begin again.  
         [0044]     FIGS.  12 A-E are details of various cutting devices.  FIG. 12A  shows a cutting blade  40 , that has a generally circular shape with a cutting edge  84  (e.g. diamond edged) and a depth adjustment disc  86  on at least one side of the cutting blade. In fact, this same structure can function as a grinder by modifying the cutting blade to a grinding wheel. A safety guard  100  can be provided. This is the cutting device used above in describing the invention. However, other cutting devices can be used in lieu of a circular saw-type blade, some of which are described with respect to FIGS.  12 B-E.  
         [0045]      FIG. 12B  shows another exemplary embodiment of a cutting device  110  in the form of a serrated straight blade with a cutting edge  112  that can be used in a reciprocating manner to cut through the nut&#39;s shell.  
         [0046]      FIG. 12C  shows an exemplary embodiment of a cutting device  120  in the form of a band saw, which has a band saw blade  122  that moves over band guide wheels  124  and  126 . A safety guard  128  can be provided to cover areas of the blade that are not used, if desired.  
         [0047]      FIG. 12D  shows an exemplary embodiment of a cutting device  130  in the form of a high pressure air cutter that directs a high pressure air stream through a nozzle to cut through the nut&#39;s shell.  
         [0048]      FIG. 12E  shows an exemplary embodiment of a cutting device  140  in the form of a laser cutter that will direct a laser beam to cut through the nut&#39;s shell.  
         [0049]     Although the embodiment the exemplary embodiment is described as using electric motors to turn the rotating carriage member  12 , operate the nut holder rotator  26  and the shell cutter motor  46 , other types of motivating devices, such as hydraulic, pneumatic, electro-mechanical motors may be used. Also, while the carriage member  12  is shown as a vertically oriented disk  36  with the nut holders  14  being affixed thereon, the carriage member  12  could be oriented different, e.g. horizontally, etc. In this regard, rather than use a circulating motion disk-shaped carriage member, the carriage member could be some other conveying mechanism, such as linked structures that carry the nut holders from station to station (e.g. nut loading loading station  16 , cutting of shell  20 , and release the nut with the cut shell). The nut holder  14  is shown as being a basically mechanical structure actuated by springs, etc., it could be operated by electro-mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, etc. devices to obviate the nut holder release unit  24 .  
         [0050]     Having thus described exemplary embodiments of the present invention, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the above disclosures are exemplary only and that various other alternatives, adaptations and modifications may be made within the scope of the present invention. The presently disclosed embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.