Patent GB-191124356-A (GB)
Title: Apparatus for Taking the Kernel out of Nuts and other Fruits with Hard Pericarp.
Inventor: PAUL ANTON
IPC: A23N5/03
Filed: 1911-11-02
Granted: 1912-05-30
Abstract: 24,356. Paul, A., and Beck, A. Nov. 2. Cracking nuts; mills and apparatus.-In apparatus for taking the kernels out of coco-nuts, walnuts, &c., the nut is clamped between jaws and its shell is sawn at one or more places circumferentially while it revolves upon its longitudinal axis, after which it is split into two longitudinal parts by means of a vertical knife, so that the kernel comes out of the shell in two parts without being damaged. The sawing-apparatus comprises a rotary table 10, Fig. 1, which is driven by worm and belt gearing from the main shaft 4 and carries a number of holders and sawing-devices, one of which is shown in Figs. 3 and 5. The nut is held between jaws 29, 30 carried by wheels 28, 31, which are mounted on spindles 27, 32 and gear with wheels 59, 60 on a spindle 58. A central shaft 20 driven by bevel-gearing from the shaft 4 carries at its lower end a toothed wheel 23 situated above the table 10, and a wheel 55 on a shaft 54 carried by a partition 50 of the frame 24 gears with the wheel 23 and drives the spindle 58 through friction cones 56, 57. The revolving nut is sawn by a saw-blade 86 which is pressed against the nut by a spring 92. As the table 10 rotates, the sawing - device arrives at a cam-surface 94 carried by a bracket on the part 8 of the frame 1, and a roller 71 on the lower end of a spindle 69 is caused to rise, and, by means of a pivoted lever 65, to lower the spring-pressed step-bearing of the shaft 54 and disconnect the friction cones 56, 57. Simultaneously, a rod 89 bearing on the end 87 of the arm 85 of the saw 86 contacts with a cam-surface 96 carried by a bracket 95 and moves the saw away from the nut. A roller 46 on the lower end of a rod 43 connected by a lever 39 to the shaft 32 next comes against the surface 94, and the upper weighted jaw 30 is raised, so that the sawn nut can be removed. The nut may be removed by means of a spring- pressed rod 100, which is mounted in a frame 98 and has a lateral projection 101 operated by the clamping-device. Another nut having been placed on the lower jaw 29, it is gripped by jaws 81 at the ends of levers which are operated by a rod 75 coming against the surface 96, and these jaws hold the nut until the roller 46 is free of the cam 94, whereupon the upper jaw 30 descends and the rod 75 escapes from the surface 96. When the roller 71 leaves the surface 94, the rod 69 is lowered and the friction cones 56, 57 put into gear; at the same time the rod 89 leaves the segment 96 and the saw 86 is pressed against the revolving nut. The cutting-device comprises a verticallyreciprocating knife 20, Fig. 9, which is adjustably mounted in a holder 16 at the lower end of a guide-frame 7 having a roller bearing on a cam on the driving-shaft 3, and an hexagonal drum 23 which is mounted on an horizontal shaft 22 and provided on each of its faces with a nut-holder 24 and a clamping-device 78. The shaft 22 is driven by ratchet mechanism 28 operated by a rod 35 connected to an adjustable pin 36 on a disk 37 on the shaft 3, and the nut-clamping device 78 is similar to that used in the sawing-device, a roller 25 at the end of the rod which acts upon the levers bearing upon a cam-disk 26 on the frame 1. A rod 50, passing through a guide 51 and operated by a cam 54 on the shaft 3, bears at its lower end on a pivoted lever 43, which operates a spring- pressed rod 45 engaging a stop-disk 40 on the shaft 22, so as to stop the drum 23 immediately before and during the splitting of the nut.