IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARatus FOR BREAKING NUTS AND SEPARATING THE HUSKS AND SHELLS FROM THE KERNELS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Mather, of the Firm of Messieurs
Mather and Platt, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, .
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARatus
FOR BREAKING NUTS AND SEPARATING THE HUSKS AND SHELLS FROM THE
KERNELS."
Sealed the 20th December 1870, and dated the 18th October 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Mather at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th October 1870.
I, WILLIAM MATHER, of the Firm of Messieurs Mather and Platt, of
Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPA-
RATUS FOR BREAKING NUTS AND SEPARATING THE HUSKS AND SHELLS FROM THE
KERNELS," to be as follows :—
.
The object of this Invention is to break the shells of palm and other
nuts, and to separate the husks and shells from the kernels. Thei

page_text: machinery and apparatus consist of a hopper into which the nuts are
placed, this hopper delivers the nuts into a shake riddle or spout which
conveys them into a revolving perforated cylinder placed in a slanting
position from which the nuts drop into a hopper to guide them into the
casing of a revolving drum with blades or projections, the casing is pro-
vided with one or more ribs and the nuts in passing through the casing
are broken by the blades on the drum. The broken shells and kernels
of the nuts are then delivered into a perforated cylinder placed in a
slanting position from which they fall into a cistern containing water
and salt or other substance to increase the specific gravity of the
solution, the kernels float on the top of the solution and the shells sink
to the bottom of the cistern. There is a constant current in the salt
and water which causes the kernals to float towards a perforated spout,
down which they fall, the salt and water falling into a reservoir below,
and the kernels into a diagonal drum with internal blades to agitate
them, and into this drum a current of heated air is blown by a fan or
otherwise to partially dry the kernels and to remove the particles of
husks and other impurities. The shells from the cistern are carried off
by another spout placed near the bottom. A force pump is employed
to raise the salt and water from the reservoir to the cistern and to keep
up the requisite current.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Mather in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th April 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MATHER, of the Firm of Messieurs Mather and Platt, of Salford, in
the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Mather, Her special licence
that I, the said William Mather, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Mather, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no

page_text: others, from time to time and at all times thereafter. during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,. exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
5 MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR BREAKING NUTS AND SEPARATING THE HUSKS AND
SHELLS FROM THE KERNELS," upon the condition. (amongst others) that I,
the said William Mather, my executors.or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
O tion, and in what manner the same was to. be performed, and cause
the same
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Mather, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say) :-
The object of this Invention is to break the shells of palm and other
nuts, and to separate the husks and shells from the kernels, and. the
nature of the Invention consists in the arrangement and construction of
machinery and apparatus for effecting, the said objects expeditiously and
economically..
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 represents an elevation of my improved
machinery or apparatus and the mode of arranging it so that the various
operations for breaking the nuts and separating the husks and shell's
from the kernels may be performed automatically and in the requisite
succession. The palm or other nuts are raised up to the second floor of
the building by means of the hoisting apparatus a, and they are fed into
the hopper 6 which delivers them into the shake riddle or spout c
the bottom of which is perforated to allow parts of the husks and
other foreign matters to escape, the spout c delivers the nuts into
the upper end of the revolving perforated cylinder d which is placed
in a slanting position; the nuts in passing down this cylinder are
agitated to remove portions of the husks and other foreign matters
which are carried off by the shoot e.. The nuts drop from the end
of the cylinder into the hopper which delivers them to the

page_text: machinery by which they are broken; this machinery consists of a drum g
with blades or projections on its circumference, as shewn detached in
Fig. 2, this drum revolves at a high velocity in the casing g', and the
shells are broken without breaking the kernels by the rapid action of the
blades on the revolving drum striking the nuts. The broken shells and
the kernels discharged by the centrifugal force of the drum g are
delivered into the upper end of the perforated cylinder h, which is also
placed in a slanting position so that in revolving it carries the shells and
kernels to the lower end, from whence they fall into the separating
cistern j. The small particles of shell and husk drop through the
perforations of the cylinder h into the discharge shoot i. The cistern j
contains a solution of common salt and water or any other solution the
specific gravity of which is rather greater than that of water, in order
.that the kernels may float on the top of the solution while the shells
sink and drop on to the endless belt or creeper k which in travelling
along conveys the broken shells towards and into the right hand end
of the cistern from whence they are discharged continously by the
spout n. The outlet from the cistern is provided with a sliding valve m
the position of which can be regulated by the lever 7. The lower part
of the spout n consists of open rods or a perforated plate through which
the solution escaping from the cistern j with the broken shells are
discharged on to the floor or into a suitable receptacle. The reservoir o
receives the solution escaping from the cistern j, which solution is forced
back into the cistern by the pump p, and as the solution enters the
cistern j at the left-hand end, and escapes from it at the right-hand
end, it is evident that so long as the pump p is at work a current from
left to right is established in the cistern; this current carries the floating
kernels to the upper end of the spout q which is made of wirework or
otherwise perforated to allow the solution flowing off with the kernels
to escape into the reservoir o while the kernels fall on the india-rubber
or other creeper r which works in a trough, and which conveys the
kernels to the spout or hopper s by which they are delivered into the
upper end of the revolving drum t, this drum is placed diagonally and
its interior may be provided with blades to agitate the kernels as they
gradually descend. A current of heated air is forced into the drum t
to dry the kernels, and to blow off particles of husks by means of the
fan u and a series of tubes in the steam chest v, or air of any temperature
may be provided in any other convenient manner. When the kernels
drop out of the end of the drum t they fall on to the creeper or into the

page_text: discharge spout w from whence they drop ready for use on to the floor
or into a suitable receptacle.
By means of these improvements the nuts are broken and the husks
and shells separated from the kernels by a series of self-acting operations,
the various parts of the machinery or apparatus being set in motion by
shafts, straps, and pulleys, or other equivalents actuated by the steam
engine or by other motive power..
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention and described the
manner of performing the same, I wish to remark here that I make no
claim to the use of salt and water for separating the shells from the
kernels as the same is old, but what I claim is,―
-
First. The general combination and arrangement of the parts of
machinery and apparatus for breaking nuts and for separating the husks"
and shells from the kernels as shewn and described.
Secondly. The peculiar construction of the machinery for breaking
nuts as shewn and described in Fig. 2.
Thirdly. The mode of producing a current in the separating cistern
to float the kernels to the discharging spout, and the apparatus for con-
veying the kernels and the shells separately from the cistern, I also
claim the apparatus by which the solution is conveyed from the spouts
to the reservoir and from the reservoir to the cistern.
And, fourthly. The apparatus described and shewn for drying the
kernels before they are discharged from the machine..
In witness whereof, I, the said William Mather, have hereto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of January, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-one.