Patent Publication Number: US-11020769-B2

Title: Nut sorter

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     A variety of different pieces of equipment are utilized in the processing of nuts, for example, pecans, that have been harvested. One of those pieces of equipment may be referred to as a nut sorter or nut sizer. One type of nut sorter may be referred to as a reel sorter or reel sizer. The reel sizer includes a rotating cage with a plurality of spaced-apart longitudinal rods. The rods are spaced to allow nuts less than the desired size to pass therethrough. Current nut sizers, however, have some obstructions within the cage that oftentimes create a buildup of nuts or a slow flow through the nut sizer. The disclosure herein is directed to a nut sizer that has no obstructions in the cage in which the nuts pass, and has an improved scraper assembly. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective showing a discharge and left side of the nut sorter. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective showing the supply end and left side of the nut sorter. 
         FIG. 3  is a view with the end shield removed. 
         FIG. 4  a cross section from lines  4 - 4  of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 5  is a cross section from lines  5 - 5  of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIGS. 6A and 6B  are cross sections from lines  6 A- 6 A and  6 B- 6 B of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 7  is a front view of a support ring with spacer rods attached thereto. 
         FIG. 8  is a close-up of a portion of a support ring. 
         FIG. 9  is a prior art version of a support ring. 
     
    
    
     SUMMARY 
     The nut sorter of the current disclosure comprises a frame with a rotatable cage supported thereby. The rotatable cage includes a plurality of support rings having an outer diameter and an inner diameter. A plurality of longitudinally extending spaced-apart rods are connected to the support rings. The support rings have an inner diameter that defines a center opening. The outermost periphery of the rods is positioned such that it extends radially inwardly into the center opening. The rods are circular rods. The circumference of the circular rods extends into the center opening defined by the inner diameter of the support rings. Thus there are no obstructions to prevent nuts from passing from an entry or supply end to the discharge end in the rotatable cage. 
     A plurality of scrapers are configured to engage the rotatable cage. The scrapers are configured to dislodge any nuts and/or debris that are stuck in the spaces between the longitudinal rods. The scrapers comprise a flat plate with flat upper and lower surfaces. The scrapers are hingeless but are pivotable. The scrapers rest on and are supported by a beam with a tilted, or slanted upper surface. The slanted upper surface is flat and slants upwardly from the discharge end to the supply end. As a result, nuts are directed from the supply end to the discharge end. The scrapers are connected to a cap that is spaced from, and parallel to the slanted upper surface. The scrapers will pivot about pins that extend through the cap and through the scrapers. The scrapers have slots therein through which the pins extend to allow pivoting and to allow an up and down or floating movement as well. 
     DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to the figures and more particularly to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , a nut sorter, or nut sizer  10  of the current disclosure is shown. Nut sorter  10  has a first or supply end  15  and a second or discharge end  20 . Nut sorter  10  includes a support frame  25  and a rotatable cage  30 . In operation, nuts are fed into supply end  15 . Rotatable cage  30  is tilted so that nuts will pass from supply end  15  to discharge end  20 . The rotatable cage  30  is configured such that nuts smaller than the desired size will pass through the rotatable cage  30  prior to reaching the discharge end  20 . Ultimately, all or most of the nuts that exit through discharge end  20  will be at or above the desired size. 
     Support frame  25  includes left side  32  and right side  34 . Left side  32  has vertical support legs  36  which may comprise a forward and rear support leg  38  and  40  respectively. Vertical support legs may be any desired height to provide for delivery through discharge end  20 . Left side  32  further includes an upper longitudinal support beam  42  extending between and connected to the forward and rear vertical support legs  38  and  40 . Likewise, a lower longitudinal support beam  44  extends between vertical support legs  38  and  40  and is connected thereto. An intermediate vertical support beam  46  spans the distance or height between the upper and lower longitudinal support beams  42  and  44  respectively. First and second panels  48  and  50  may be connected to the vertical support legs  38  and  40  and upper and lower longitudinal support beams  42  and  44  respectively. 
     Right side  34  of the support frame likewise has vertical support legs  52  which may comprise a forward vertical support leg  54  and rear vertical support leg  56 . Upper and lower longitudinal support beams  58  and  60  extend between and are connected to the forward and rear vertical support legs  54  and  56  respectively. A center vertical support beam  62  may be connected to the upper and lower longitudinal support beams  58  and  60  to provide support thereto. Right side  34  includes first and second panels  64  and  66  respectively. A shield  68  may be connected to vertical support legs  56  and  40 . Shield  68  will cover a motor as will be described herein that is utilized to rotate rotatable cage  30 . A lateral support beam  45  may extend between vertical support legs  36  and  54  at forward end  15 . A lateral support beam  69  may extend between vertical support legs  40  and  56  at rear end  20 . 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 3 and 5 , a motor  70  is utilized to rotate rotatable cage  30 . A cross brace  72  extends between the vertical support legs  40  and  56  and may be welded or otherwise connected thereto. A platform  74  is connected to cross brace  72  to provide a platform for motor  70 . A shaft  76  will extend through motor  70  and will be rotated thereby. A chain  77  will extend around a sprocket extending from motor  70  (not shown) and around a second sprocket  78  to rotate sprocket  78 . A shaft  80  is rotated with sprocket  78  and extends through a bearing  81  mounted to cross brace  72 . Shaft  80  may be connected to a rotator assembly  84  which includes a plate  82  to which shaft  80  is connected. Plate  82  is connected to cross beams  86  and  88 . As a result, cross beams  86  and  88  rotate with shaft  80 . Cross beams  86  and  88  are connected to an end ring, which may be referred to as a rear end ring  90  of rotatable cage  30 . Rotation of cross beams  86  and  88  will rotate rear end ring  90 , which will rotate cage  30 . Rotatable cage  30  likewise includes a forward end ring  92 . A forward support panel  94  is connected to and extends between vertical support legs  36  and  54  at the forward end  15 . Support panel  94  has a pair of support bearings  96  mounted thereto. A bearing ring  100  may be attached to forward end ring  92 . Bearing ring  100  will ride on and be supported by bearings  96  as forward end ring  92  rotates. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 8 , a support ring  110  is shown. Rotatable cage  30  includes a plurality of support rings  110  that are spaced apart longitudinally from forward end  15  to rear end  20  and are positioned between the forward and rear support rings  92  and  90  respectively. Each of support rings  110  has an outer diameter  112  and an inner diameter  114  which defines the central opening  116 . 
     Notches  118  will each have a longitudinal support rod  120  connected therein by welding or other means known in the art. Longitudinal support rods  120  are connected by welding or otherwise to forward and rear support rings  92  and  90  respectively. Rotatable cage  30  includes a plurality of longitudinal rods  120  having an outer diameter  122 . As is apparent from the drawings, outer diameter  122  extends radially inwardly from inner diameter  114  of support rings  110  and thus extends into central, or center opening  116 . As a result, there is no ridge or other obstruction created by the connection of rods  120  to support rings  110  as was the case with prior art nut sorters. For example, as shown in  FIG. 9 , prior art sorters include rings with spacer rods inserted through and connected to openings radially outward from an inner diameter of the rings. The resulting ridge  121  created a stop, or obstruction which would slow or stop the flow of nuts through the sorter. No such issue exists with the nut sorter  10 , since there are no ridges or other obstructions to the nut flow. Referring now to  FIG. 8 , longitudinal rods  120  have a space  124  which will be a general uniform space  124  therebetween. Space  124  is configured such that sizes below a specified size will fall through space  124  between longitudinal rods  120 . As a result, only nuts at or above the specified size will pass through discharge end  20 . 
     Nut sorter  20  also includes a scraper assembly  126 . Scraper assembly  126  is utilized to dislodge nuts and/or debris that may be caught and stuck between longitudinal rods  120 . Thus, as the cage  30  rotates, the scraper assembly  126  will engage and dislodge any stuck nuts and/or debris. 
     Scraper assembly  126  comprises a plurality of individual scrapers  128 . Scrapers may be, for example, a flat plate with a length  130 , a width  132 , a thickness  133  and upper and lower surfaces  135  and  137  respectively. Scrapers  128  define slots  134  therethrough to provide a space for a support ring  110  to rotate and pass therethrough. Scrapers  128  will float, or bounce on rods  120  as the cage  30  rotates. This will aid in dislodging any stuck debris and/or nuts. In addition, the scrapers  128  will pivot about pins  136  that pass therethrough near an outer edge  138  thereof. Scrapers  128  likewise have an inner edge  139 . 
     Scraper assembly  126  and thus individual scrapers  128  are supported by a slanted or tilted support beam  140 . Tilted support beam  140  extends from a first end at the supply end  15  of nut sorter  10  to a second end at the discharge end  20  of nut sorter  15 . Tilted beam  140  has a tilted or slanted upper surface  146 . Slanted surface  146  slants upwardly from discharge end  20  towards supply end  15 . As depicted in  FIGS. 6A and 6B , the height of tilted support beam  140  increases from the rear end  20  to forward end  15 . Tilted or slanted surface  146  is a generally flat surface. Scraper assembly  126  and thus individual scrapers  128  rest on and are supported by the slanted upper surface  146  of tilted support beam  140 . However, in the disclosure herein, the scrapers  128  are not connected to tilted support beam  140 . Instead, individual scrapers  128  are movably connected to a cap  150 . 
     Cap  150  likewise is on an upward slant from rear end  20  to forward end  15  and may generally be parallel to the slanted upper surface  146  of beam  140 . Cap  150  may be welded or otherwise connected to upper longitudinal support beam  58 . Cap  150  may essentially be one leg of a generally L-shaped beam that is connected to upper longitudinal support beam  58 . A space  152  is defined by and between the upper surface  155  of scrapers  128  and a lower surface  154  of cap  150 . Each scraper  128  is connected, or mounted to cap  150  with at least one pin  136  and preferably with a pair of pins  136 . Pins  136  will be located near the outer edge  138  of each scraper  128 . Pins  136  may comprise a pin with a head  157 , and a smooth shank  158  extending through the scraper  128 . Thus, pins  136  have a smooth shank portion  158  and a threaded portion  160 . Threaded portion  160  will extend through cap  150 . Nuts  161  will be threaded above and below cap  150 . Washers  162  may be placed underneath both of nuts  161 . Likewise, a washer may be placed on the upper surface  155  of scraper  128 . Pins  136  will pass through slots  164  defined in the scrapers  128 . 
     In operation, nuts will be provided to supply end  15 . The rotatable cage  30  is a tilted cage such that nuts will be directed toward discharge end  20 . Motor  70  will cause rotatable cage  30  to rotate so that the nuts will be moved toward discharge end  20 . Nuts of less than a desired size will fall through the spaces  124  defined between longitudinal rods  120 . Any nuts or debris caught in the space  124  that rotate upwardly will be knocked loose by scrapers  128 . Scrapers  128  pivot about pins  136  and are allowed to float as well. The size or space  124  between longitudinal rods  120  will be determined based on a desired size of nut to be delivered to discharge end  20 . For example, the pecan industry generally uses sizing reels with slot openings of various widths measured in 1/16 inch increments. Thus, a size 10 has a 10/16 inch width while a size 16 has a 16/16 or 1 inch width. The spaces are thus defined so that anything below a particular size, for example, a size 10 will fall therethrough. Thus, only nuts of the desired size, in this example a size 10 or above, will pass through discharge end  20  and will be collected for further processing. All other debris and smaller nuts will pass through the spaces  124  and be caught in a bin or other structure below rotatable cage  30  utilized for such purposes. 
     Thus, it is seen that the apparatus and methods of the present invention readily achieve the ends and advantages mentioned as well as those inherent therein. While certain preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described for purposes of the present disclosure, numerous changes in the arrangement and construction of parts and steps may be made by those skilled in the art, which changes are encompassed within the scope and spirit of the present invention.