The present disclosure generally relates to the field of mechanical engineering and in particular to the field of machinery for breaking and opening nut shells.
Shelled pistachios are marketed either fully shelled in the form of kernels or with the shell partially opened. In the annual production of pistachios, a proportion of this production ranges from about 10% to 80%, depending on the weather conditions, is made up of pistachios which have not opened naturally but have remained completely closed. In any case, there is therefore a need for this large proportion of pistachios that are completely closed and have not opened naturally to be either peeled completely by artificial means or to have a small opening in the shell made by artificial means so that the consumer can open them, which should be as elegant as possible, without distorting the shell and as uniform as possible.
The problem is therefore that the pistachios that have not opened naturally and have remained closed are hulled or partially opened by artificial means. The most common way of solving the problem is to crack or open the pistachios one by one with human hands, in particular with hand tools (small pliers).
As regards solving the problem with machinery, the problem is exacerbated by the fact that each pistachio is different in length and thickness. For this reason, when processing the pistachio to crack the shell, with the intention either to remove the shell completely or to make only a small opening in the shell, the machinery of the present technique is used, to a large extent, fail to adjust the pressure applied to the pistachio shell correctly, with the result that they often fail to open the shell partially and either crush or deform the pistachio. In any case, the loss of product is high and unprofitable, due to the high price of the product. In order to break the shell of the pistachio without crushing the kernel, the correct way is to apply the opening pressure to each pistachio individually and to apply the pressure simultaneously to both ends of each pistachio to a certain depth and not to the sides.
A solution to the problem is proposed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,470, which is however technically complex and does not crack the pistachios individually (one by one).
Also another solution to the problem is proposed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,418,617 and 6,772,680 B1, which attempt to crack the shell of each pistachio individually, however they use a hydraulic system and are therefore complex to manufacture, difficult to maintain and slow to produce a hulled product.
Another solution is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,769, which attempts to crack the shells individually, but of the walnuts rather than the pistachios. The difference in the shape of the nuts, that walnuts have a round shape while pistachios have a long shape, also brings technical differences to the invention. In order to crack the shell of the walnuts, pressure can be applied at any point of the shell, so it is not technically important how each nut is placed in the cracking position. It is therefore a different problem to be solved.
There are also other unpatented inventions which have tried to solve the same technical problem, but which have the disadvantage that the adjustment of the depth of pressing of the pistachios is carried out by means of a cumbersome mechanism with ambiguous adjustment, and that the adjustment mechanism cannot be used during operation of the machine, but an interruption of production is required in order to adjust the machinery, as many times as necessary until the desired result is achieved.
None of the above solutions suggests breaking each pistachio individually by applying pressure at specific points, the two ends of the pistachio. The machine in accordance with the present disclosure solves the above technical problems.
In one embodiment, the machine includes a movable feed chain with a perforated pin carries in its holes adapted small pistachio receptacles (scoops). As the chain passes through the feed bin, it picks up one pistachio at a time, per unit at a time, on each small receptacle (scoop). The receptacles are oblong in shape and of a size similar to that of a pistachio, so that each receptacle, passing through the feed bin, receives only one pistachio placed only along the length of the receptacle, this being the desired position in order to apply pressure simultaneously to the two ends and not to the sides of each individual pistachio. The receptacles, which are mounted on the moving chain, then use the chain to guide each pistachio to the cracking head, which applies pressure to the two ends, not the sides, of each individual pistachio. The machine is capable of adjusting the depth of pressure applied to the shell of each pistachio so as to achieve complete cracking of the shell and peeling of the pistachio, or to achieve only opening of the shell. The adjustment is made during the operation of the machine without interrupting production.
An exemplary embodiment is described in detail below, with reference to the attached figures. As shown in the figures, a system comprises a feed bin (3), a round, rotating crusher head (1), a lower tensioner gear (4), an upper head gear (20) and a chain (5) with a perforated pin, with pistachio receptacles (2) mounted thereon, which chain (5) feeds the crusher head (1). The bin (3) is positioned at a height approximately halfway between the crusher head (1) and the tensioner/gear (4).
The perforated pin chain (5) for feeding pistachios (
The chain (5) with perforated pins (30), with pistachio receptacles (2) in its holes, moves upwards in the direction from the lower gear (4) to the upper gear (20) and passes through the feed bin (3) (
The chain (5) is mounted on the gear (20) of the head (1) in such a way that as the head (1) rotates with the gear (20) and the chain (5) moves, the chain (5) carries pistachio receptacles (2) per three perforated pins (30), when the pins (30) having receptacles (2) reach the head (1) they are located in those gaps between the teeth of the gear (20) which three by three are directly opposite the holes (32) of the head (1) (
As shown in
The feed bin (3) is configured with a funnel-shaped inlet (19), so that the chain (5), passing through the funnel-shaped inlet (19) with the receptacles (2) in the holes (30) of the chain (5) and entering the bin (3), entrains and lifts, moving in the direction of the crusher head (1) (
The crusher head (1) (
Within the cavity of the head (1) (
The two cams (10 and 13) on which the adaptor (7) immobilizing bearing (11) is mounted are supported on a fixed base (41) and are stationary relative to the head and serve to adjust the eccentricity position of the immobilizing bearing (11) of the adaptor (7), so that as soon as the adaptor (7) reaches, by rotation of the head, the top of the head (1) and directly opposite the depth pressure bearing (9) which is part of the pistachio pressure depth adjustment (27) mechanism, the adaptor (7) is immobilized by the bearing (11) and cannot retract (
The length adaptors (7) are mounted within through holes (32) in the head (1) into which they can reciprocate. In the embodiment illustrated in
In its intermediate part, located within the hole (32) of the head (1), the length adaptor (7) is provided with serrations (24) (
The inside of the head (1) is shaped so that the serrations (24) of the adaptors (7) are not covered and so that the serrations (24) of the adaptors (7) can engage with the serrations (25) of the immobilizing bearing (11) at the upper part of the head (1).
The gear (20), which is mounted on the head (1) and rotated by the shaft (22) by an electric motor with reducer (26) (
As soon as the receptacle (2) which raises the pistachio reaches the gear (20) and before it gets an inclination following the perimeter of the gear (20), the cam (6) releases the adaptor (7), the bearing (12) of which rolls on the cam (6) (Drawing 1), so that by the pressure of a spring (14) located behind the adaptor (7), the adaptor (7) is released and moves towards the pistachio, thus pressing it, holding it against the receptacle (2) so that the pistachio does not fall during the rotation of the chain (5) (
When the pistachio receptacle (2) reaches the top of the periphery of the gear (20) of the head (1) (
In this position, the immobilizing bearing (11) of the adaptor (7) located inside the head (1), presses the adaptor (7) by engaging the serrations (25) of the immobilizing bearing (11) with the serrations (24) of the adaptor (7) and locks the adaptor (7) in position by the serrations (24) and (25) bearing respectively on both the adaptor (7) immobilizing bearing (11) and the adaptor (7) (Drawings 4 and 6), so that the adaptor (7) is prevented from retracting by the pressure exerted on the pistachio by the receptacle (2) pressed by the pressure bearing (9).
Immediately after being pressed by the pressure bearing (9), the receptacle (2) is returned to its original position on the chain (5) by means of the spring (17) and, during the continued rotation of the head (1), the adaptor return bearing (12) located at the rear of the adaptor (7), (
If the desired result is the opening of the shells of the pistachios, the pistachios are moistened from a few minutes to a few hours before they enter the machine. This is done by first soaking the pistachios in water and then injecting hot air into the pistachios to remove most of the moisture. On the other hand, moistening is omitted if the desired result is the cracking and hulling of the pistachios.
By adapting the constructional dimensions of the hollow cantilever (scoop) (29) of the receptacle (2) and adjusting the pressure adjustment mechanism (27) accordingly, the machine can be used in a similar way for shelling hazelnuts, almonds, pine nuts and other nuts.
The machine is used in the nut hulling industry and in the nut processing industry.
All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein.
The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and “at least one” and similar referents in the context of describing the invention (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The use of the term “at least one” followed by a list of one or more items (for example, “at least one of A and B”) is to be construed to mean one item selected from the listed items (A or B) or any combination of two or more of the listed items (A and B), unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted. Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.
Preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention. Variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate, and the inventors intend for the invention to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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20200100709 | Dec 2020 | GR | national |
The instant patent application claims priority to International Patent Application No. PCT/GR2021/000074, filed on Nov. 25, 2021, and to Greek Patent Application No. 20200100709, filed on Dec. 2, 2020, each of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/GR2021/000074 | Nov 2021 | US |
Child | 18328004 | US |