Patent ID: 7194950

Claim:
An apparatus for successively delivering nuts in a predetermined orientation to a cracking head of a nutcracker, and comprising a hopper for storing a relatively large quantity of the nuts to be cracked, an endless conveyor having an upper run extending through said hopper to a delivery point exteriorly thereof, with said conveyor comprising a feed chain and a plurality of nut transport elements mounted in succession on said feed chain, with each element including opposite sides and a generally semicircular, laterally extending receptacle which faces upwardly during movement of the element through said hopper and to said delivery point, and with each receptacle being sized to supportingly receive a single nut to be cracked which is oriented with its end to end direction extending along the receptacle, said upper run of said endless conveyor including an upwardly inclined segment extending through the lower portion of said hopper and a substantially horizontal segment extending from said upwardly inclined segment to said delivery point, and with the upwardly inclined segment and the horizontal segment defining an arcuate transition juncture therebetween, a drive for rotating said endless conveyor such that said nut transport elements move in succession through said hopper and to said delivery point, and a deflecting plate positioned so as to continuously overlie the path of the nut transport elements from a point along said upwardly inclined segment, along said transition juncture, and to a point immediately adjacent said delivery point, and with said deflecting plate being mounted such that the plate may be lifted upwardly from the elements, and said deflecting plate comprising a downstream end portion viewed in the direction of movement of the nut transport elements and which comprises a highly flexible and relatively soft elongate flap which is composed of an elastomeric material and which is configured to rest upon the nuts being conveyed by the transport elements along the horizontal segment of the upper run of the conveyor and toward the delivery point.