Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Background of the Invention
1. Field of the Invention
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This invention relates generally to apparatus for process-
ing edible nuts and more particularly is directed towards a new
and improved apparatus for slitting the skins of edible nuts.
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; 2. Description of the Prior Art -
, Edible nuts, such as peanuts, grow with an outer hard shell
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' 25 and the nut meat itself is covered with a tight fitting dark
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skin. Many consumers find the skin to be objectionable and in
the production of many nut products it is the practice to remove
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the nut skins by various blanching procedures. One such technique
is disclosed in my U.S. patent 3,269,442 and the related equip-
; 30 ment is disclosed in my U.S. patents 3,196,914 and 3,217,764. This ~
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~ chnique involves first passing the nuts through slitting mach-
ines which form thin slits in the nut skin from end to end of
the nuts, dehydrating the nut to cause the skin to curl back slight-
ly from the nut meat and then feeding the nuts onto a conveyor
which is provided with a plurality of spaced abrasive baffles ex-
tending diagonally across the upper reach of the conveyor. The
nuts are carried diagonally across the belt and forwardly against
the baffles effectively removing all of the nut skins with a mini-
mum percentage of broken nuts.
While the foregoing techniques and relate~ apparatus have pro-
ven to be satisfactory for their intended purpose, it has
been found that adjustments that must be made to the machines when
the average size of the nuts being processed changes is a some-
what tedious and painstaking process. Furthermore, the cleaning
of the machinery has also been found to be time consuming because
of the need for partial dismantling of the equipment t50 get at the
parts to be cleaned. -
Accordingly, the present invention provides improvements in
machines for slitting the skins of edible nuts. More specifically
this invention provides a machine for slitting nut skins wherein
the machine may be quickly and easily adjusted to accommodate to
different sizes of nuts and to insure that all nut slitting machines
in a row are adjusted to the same setting corresponding to the nut
size being processed. Finally, this invention provides a nut skin
slitting machine that is quickly and easily cleaned and serviced.
Thus the present invention provides a machine for slitting the
skins of edible nuts, comprising
ta) at least a pair of rolls disposed in a vertical plane one
above the other and spaced apart from one another to define
a nut receiving gap between their peripheries,
(h) slitting means disposed adjacent said gap for engaging nuts
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passing through said gap,
(c) upper and lower parallel arbors rotatably supporting said
rolls,
(d) frame means including bearings supporting opposite ends of
said arbors,
(e) parallel guide means engaging the ends of at least one of
said arbors, and,
(f) adjusting means connected to both ends of said one arbor and
. to said frame for moving both ends of said one arbor
simultaneously along said guide means for selectively
' changing the size of said gap,
(g) said adjusting means including a crank pivoted to said
frame means at each end of said one arbor, each of said
cranks connected to the opposite ends of said one arbor,
said cranks being connected to one another for simultaneous
movement and lever means connected to said cranks for
pivoting said cranks and moving said one arbor,
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(h) said lever means including a handle extending outwardly
j from said machine whereby it may be aligned with the -
';',., 20 handles of other similar machines arranged in a row.
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: More particularly, this invention features a machine for
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-'. slitting the skins of edible nuts comprising a vibratory feeder
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.`~ tray having a hopper the discharge end of which terminates in close-
ly spaced relation above the tray and mounted for vertical height
adjustment by
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means of a lever actuated cam controlling the flow of nuts ac-
cording to their average size.Vibration of the tray causes the
nuts to be quided into the bite of a pair of co-planar rolls
mounted in closely spaced relation and adapted to grab each nut
fed from the tray and advance it between a pair of cutting ele-
ments positioned on either side of the gap between the rolls,
slitting the nut skin as it is pulled through. The rolls `are
mounted for gap adjustment according to the nut size being pro-
cessed by means of a lever and crank mechanism by which the upper
roll may be raised or lowered by manipulation of the lever. The
nvention also features a combination delivery chute and waste
collection assembly mounted for quick separation from the mach-
ine for ease of cleaning.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a-nut skin slitting machine '`
made according to the invention, ~ I-
Fig. 2 is a detailed view in side elevation, partly in section, -
of the Fig. 1 apparatus,
Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of
Fig. 2,
Fig. 4 is a detailed sectional view in side elevation showing
the feed adjustment feature,
; Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the skin slitting mechanism, and,
Fig. 6 is a detailed view similar to Fig. 4 5howing a nut be-
ing held by the rolls and simultaneously being slit by the cut-
tin~j elements.
~ Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments
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Referring now to the drawings, the machine for slitting nut
skins is generally organized about a pair of rolls 10 and 12 ar-
ranged co-planar to one another, one above the other and mounted
on ~ support 14 for rotation about horizontal parallel axes. As
- best shown in Fig. 2 , the upper roll 10--is offset slightly for-
wardly of the lower roll 12 so as to provide space on the top
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portion of the roll 12 wherein a shelled nut may be seatedO Both
rolls are geared together by loosely meshed taper sprocket gears
(not shown) with the lower gear being drivingly connected by
means of a belt enclosed by a protective housing 16. The rolls
10 and 12 are arranged for rotation in opposite directions as
indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2 so that nuts, such as peanuts,
fed into the bite of upper rolls by means of a vibratory feede~,
indicated by reference character 18, will be gripped by the peri-
pheral edges of the rolls and passed between a pair of cutting
elements 20 and 22 as best shown in Figs. 5 and 6. As the nut is
carried between the cutting elements-, the skin will be slit from
- one end to the other alo~g both sides thereof. After the nut is
passed out of engagement with the cutting elements it will be
discharged down a chute 24 and delivered to the next blanching
~ operation.
; In the illustrated embodiment, the upper roll 10 is-formed
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from a pair of annular metal plates 28 having inwardly beveled
edges 30 and sandwiching therebetween a resilient annulus 32 of
slightly greater diameter than the plates. Preferably, the annu-
lus 32 is fabricated from a sponge rubber or similar resilient
material. The lower roll 12 preferably is fabricated with a rigid
material such as metal or the like and is of generally the same
size as the upper roll 10. However, the lower roll 12 is formed
with a Vee groove 34 about its perpheral edge with a plurality of
teeth 36 or other frictional elements formed on the face of the
groove 34.
Disposed at 18~ intervals about the roll 12 are abutments 38
~ located on the perpheral edge of the roll and spanning the groove
34. The function of the abutments 38 is knock free any nuts which
may become lodged between the cutting element~ 20 and 22. - -
As best shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the nuts are normally delivered
from the vibratory feeder 18 onto the upper part of the lower roll
12 by means of a tray 40. As the nuts are delivered to the top
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of the lower roll 12, they seat in the groove 34 and are then
carried forwardly to be gripped by the upper roll 10 which is off-
set forwardly of the lower roll. It will be understood that by
offsetting the upper roll forwardly of the lower roll, the nuts
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may be properly oriented in a generally longitudal direction before
being gripped for the slitting operation. The ~ee groove together
with the peripheral teeth provide an excellent seating arrangement
for the nuts and cooperate with the resilient upper roll to hold
the nut firmly and gently in place while carrying it between the
cutters 20 and 22. It should be noted that considerable care
' should be taken not to provide excessive gripping pressure on the
nut since the nut is relatively fragile and splits or disinte-
grates quite easily.
In the processing of nuts, generally the nuts are pre-sorted
according to size so that one batch of nuts-may have a different
average size than another batch of nuts, with most nu~s i~ one
batch being substantially of the same average size. Insofar as
the size of the nuts being processed will affect the feed rate,
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means are provided for quickly adjusting the feed rate of the
nuts to make sure that a steady stream of nuts is fed between
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the rolls and to avoid blockages caused by too fast a feed rate
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~; o~ inefficiency caused by too slow A feed rate.
In Figs. 1 and 4, the nuts are delivered from a tube 42 into
a hopper 44 which temporarily stores a quantity of nuts for deli-
very onto the tray 40. The lower end of the wedge-shaped hopper
44 is open at 46 and is positioned in slightly spaced relation
above the bottom wall of the tray 40. The-clearance between the
lower end of the hopper and the bottom wall of the tray should be
slightly greater than the avera~e size o~ the nuts bein~ processed.
The hopper 44 is mounted by means of a bracket 48 above the tray
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40 which is mounted to a vibratory motor 50. The motor 50, it
` will be understood, when energized will vibrate the tray 40, caus-ing nuts fed thereon to advance into the bite of the rolls lOan~ 12
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The hopper 46 may be raised or lowered to vary the clearance
with the bottom wall of the tray and the lower end of the hopper
by means of a lever 52 extending rearwardly from the apparatus.
The lever 52 is pivoted at 54 and is provided at its pivot end
Uith a cam 56 engaging a shoulder 58 mounted to a slide plate 60
attac~ed to a vertical rear wall of the hopper 44. By moving
the lever about its pivot 54, the action of the cam and shoulder
will cause the hopper 44 to move up or down,effectively changing
the clearance between the hopper opening 46 and the bottom wall
of the tray 40. An arcuate rack 62 is mounted to the bracket
- 48 to engage a spring-loaded pawl 64 by which the lever may be
locked to any selected position.
In practice, a nut processing plant will be provided with a
large number of skin slitting machines of the sort shown in Fig.l
so that a large volume of nuts may be processed in the production
operation. Typically,the machines shown in Fig-. l-wili be ar-
; ranged in rows, with perhaps ten or twenty machines in each row.
All of the machines normally will be processi~g the same batch
; of nuts so that each machine should have the same setting accord-
ing to the size of the nuts. By providing a lever for adjusting
the flow of nuts in the manner shown, all of the machines may be
set ~ickly to accommodate the machine to the particular size of
the nuts being processed. With the machines lined up in a row
one operator may quickly ascertain the setting of all of the
machines in that row by merely looking down each row. If all lev-
ers are at the same setting, a quick inspection will verify this.~
Si~,ilarly, if one or two levers are not set properly they will
not align with other levers in the same row and this will be read-
ily obvious to the operator.
Once the feed rate of the nuts on~the tra~ 40 has been set ~~
according to the size of the nuts being processed, the gap between
the upper and lo~er rolls 10 and 12 is ~similarly adjusted. It
Will be understood that if the clearance between the rolls 10 and
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12 is too small for the nuts being processed, the pressure on
the nuts will be excessive resulting in a high percentage of
splits or crushed nuts. Likewise, if the clearance is too great,
: the nuts will not be gripped betweer~ the rolls and few nuts will be passed between the slitters 20 and 22.
,~ The lower rolls 12 are mounted in spaced coaxial relation
on a common shaft or arbor 66 with a corresponding number of
upper rolls 10 mounted on a parallel arbor 68. While the lower
- arbor 66 is mounted for rotation about a fixed axis the upper
arbor 68 may be adjusted to and away fEom the lower arbor 66 in
; order to vary the gap between the upper and lower rolls. The
arbor 68 is mounted at its ends in bearing blocks 70 and 72.
These blocks are slidably engaged as by dovetailing with a coop-
~: erating groove formed in the frame 14 along an inclined face 74.
Each of the blocks 70 and 72 is provided with a coupling membeE-
76 attached to the upper face of each bearing block. The coupl-
ing member 76 connects to the block by means of adjustment screws
78 which allo~ the coupling members to be individually adjusted
for reasons that Will presently appear. Each coupling member
connects to a crank 80, 80' by means of a pin 81 passing into a
slot formed in the coupling member 76. The crank, in turn, at
its opposite end is rigidly connected to a shipping rod 82 which
connects to cranks 80 and 80'. Also connected to the shipping
;i rod 82 is a lever 84 extending outwardly from the machine. A
.. ?5 single lever may be employed or two levers may be utilized, one
at each end of the shipping rod to insure that both cranks oper-
ate without binding. Alternately, a single lever may be provided_
;~ ~ at a central position along the shipping rod.
~ - An indexing mechanism generally indicated by reference charac-.',',;.
ter 86 is provided at the inner end of each crank 80 and, in the
illustrated embodiment, is comprised of a gear sector or indents
88 engaging a spring-loaded detent 90 mounted on a cross plate
92. The cross plate 92 is rigidly mounted at the back side of
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the frame 14 and serves to support the cutting elements 20 and
22 which are spring-loaded and attached to a pair of depending
posts 94 and 96 provided behind each pair of cooperating rolls
10 and 12, as best shown in Fig. 5. It will be understood that
the lever may be moved back and forth to any position for rais-
ing or lowering the upper rolls according to the gap size re-
quired. The indexing mechanism provided by the gear sector and
detent will lock the lever as well as the rolls in the desired
position.
As a means for determining the gap size quickly according
; to the average size of the nuts being processed, a color-coded
dial 98 may be mounted to one or both sides or the apparatus
proximate to the lever 84 and, in practice, the`dial may be
divided into perhaps three segments 100, 102 and 103 colored
green, yellow an~ red, respectively, with red indicating the
smaller size nuts and the lowest position of the rolls, yellow
indicating medium size nuts and green indicating the largest
size nuts and maximum gap position. Smaller incremental segments
104 may also be provided for intermediate settings. In a manner
similar to the lever 52 for controlling the rate of flow of nuts,
the lever 84 extends out from the machine, although forwardly
;~ yet readily visible, so that the gap size setting for all mach-
ines in a row may be quickly checked by an operator merely look-
ing down the row and making sure that all of the le~ers 84 are
lined up with one another. Any lever not in the proper position
will be out of line and will be readily visible. _ __
While the adjusting mechanism for the upper roll has been
illustrated as utilizing a crank and lever, other means may be
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employed to advantage such as, for example, a rack extending
parallel to the slide face 74 of the support with a pinion ro-
tatably mounted to the block 70 and provided with a crank handle
operating the pinion and moving the upper rolls to the desired
~ gap position. Similarly, a lever-operated cam such as utilized
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; in the hopper position mechanism as described in Fig. 4 may be
used.
In any event, once the setting has been selected, the rolls
of all the machines will be set to the same gap position. In
order to compensate for any tilting or misalignment of the upper
; rolls which may occur and to insure perfect parallelism between
the arbors 66 and 68, the screw adjust feature provided by the
- screw 78 allows individual adjustment at each end of the set of
; upper rolls. Once a parallel condition has been established,
normally no further adjustment would be required despite changes
of a gap size by lever operation.
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When the nuts have been carried between the ~itters 20 and
~ 22, the nut skins will have been slit and the nuts will be dis-
:~ charged into the chute 24 where they are then guided down to the
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blanching machines in which the nut skins are fully removed.
The chute 24 of the illustrated embodiment is adapted~for q~ick
and easy separation from the slitting machine in order to faci-
litate cleaning and servicing the machine and its components. In
practice, the discharge from the slitting machine will include
the whole nuts themselves which will be delivered down the chute
' as well as a certain amount of waste products such as small bits
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of nuts, flakes of skin and the like. These waste particles
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generally collect in a bin 106 disposed below the rolls inwardly
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thereof and somewhat below the tray 40. The chute assembly 24
, 25 is detachably connected to the bin 106 which is rigidly fastened
to the slitting machine support and is oriented at an angle~as
best shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the chute belng provided with a
`$, bottom wall 118 having a width corresponding with that of the
~^ bin width and extending upwardly to a point below the lower roll
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12 where it is formed with a right angle bend 120 which provides
, a ramp leading down into the bin 106. The function of the ramp ~
` is to direct the waste particles from the nuts into the bin while
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tne wall 118 directs the whole nuts down the chute. A stabiliz-
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ing member 122 is attached to the bottom wall 118 to bear against
the front face o~ the machine support as best shown in Fig. 2.
The chute also includes a front wall 124 in spaced parallel rela-
tion to the back wall 118 and generally is co-extensive therewith.
The front and the back walls are joined by side walls 126 and
128 which are parallel along their sides at the upper portions
and converge at their lower portions to connect with a tubular
conduit 130. A pull handle 132 is conveniently mounted on the
front wall 124 to allow the chute assembly to be separated from
the machine. The chute assembly joins with the machine by means
of a slide connection shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 and comprised
of a rib or rail 134 mounted to the side walls 126 and 128 and
slidably engaging a cooperating channel member 136 rigidly con-
nected to the bin 106 and to the supporting frame. With this
configuration the entire chute assembly 24 may be easi~ly with-
drawn by merely pulling the handle 132 to separate the chute
assembly from the machine to allow the interior of the chute
to be easily cleaned and facilitating access to the bin and other
parts for cleaning and maintenance .
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