AU745057B2 - Nut processing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

NUT PROCESSING APPARATUS This invention relates to processing apparatus.

This invention has particular but not exclusive application to processing apparatus for opening hard shelled nuts and in particular macadamia nuts and for illustrative purposes reference will be made to such application.

However, it is to be understood that this invention could be used in other applications, such as for opening coconut shells.

Nuts such as macadamia nuts have a hard shell about a relatively fragile kernel. The value of the processed nut kernel is increased if clean whole nuts result are obtained from the removal process. While part kernels are retained for sale the value of half kernels is greater than that of 15 broken kernels.

Macadamia nut shells are generally spherical but vary in shape and size and are frequently dried prior to opening so as to free the kernel from the shell with a view to recovering whole kernels. The drying process which occurs S 20 over several days is costly and causes extreme hardness of the shell.

The presently available automated cracking and separating apparatus tends to produce a high proportion of damaged kernels and results in the harvested kernels being contaminated by fragmented shell particles which may be contaminated by contact with the ground surrounding the -hi .I __rp li. :ICIIXIII _ii. l.l.i- i. 1 trees, as organic fertilizers are often used to fertilise the trees.

US Patent No 4467711 describes a method of and apparatus for cracking nuts utilising a conveyor elevating nuts at fixed spacing to a nut gripping and cracking apparatus. The conveyor comprises slats with openings to receive a nut and a support beneath the nut. The conveyed nuts pass to a cracking apparatus having respective blades which are brought together by hydraulic pressure to cause the blades to split the nut. A blade position sensing device limits blade travel after the nut is split.

Such apparatus has several disadvantages. Firstly, splitting of the nuts by compression between the blades results in brittle failure of the nut shell, resulting in a .eeo.

highly energetic shock. This tends to shatter the nut and the kernel. The shattered nut produces contamination of the S kernel and especially when the kernel is also shattered by the splitting apparatus.

The apparatus is also limited in its line speed, and is 20 therefor arranged in multiple assemblies to provide commercial throughput. One major limitation on the line speed is the stepwise nature of the method, requiring the nut to stop at the cutting station, introducing inertial delays and causing further damage to the kernels.

The present invention aims to alleviate at least one of the foregoing disadvantages and to provide nut processing apparatus which will be reliable and efficient in use.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, this invention in one aspect resides broadly in nut processing apparatus including:a loading station to which individual nuts are sequentially conveyed for processing; a nut gripper having opposed jaws between which a nut delivered to said loading station is gripped leaving a circumferential and substantially diametrical portion of the nut surface exposed therebetween; a conveyor for cyclically conveying said nut gripper from said loading station past grooving, splitting and unloading stations so as to present the conveyed nut shell exposed between said opposed jaws sequentially thereto; a groove former at said grooving station which forms a circumferential groove about an exposed surface of a nut shell; a splitter at said splitting station which cooperates S with the formed circumferential groove to split the nut shell into opposed shell portions each retained by a respective jaw; and the jaws being moved apart at said unloading station 25 to free the nut kernel.

The opposed jaws may be opposed cups which cooperate to engage a nut therebetween. Preferably the cups are provided with vacuum actuated retainers for pneumatically retaining respective nut portions therein.

30 Both cups may be rotatable and one cup may be driven **for rotation when disposed at the grooving station. The groove former in this case may be a rotary cutter which engages a rotating nut gripped between the cups to form the circumferential groove.

Preferably the other cup is capable of orbital rotation about the drive axis of the driven cup. Where rP-ui- u mx x. rcl r this is the case, the other cup can be resiliently biased to a position co-axial with the driven cup.

Alternatively, the opposed cups may be interconnected for corresponding movement to and from a set central position therebetween. In this case the nut groove former may include a grooving blade arranged to move towards the central position to form the groove. Preferably the grooving blade has a cutting edge protruding beyond a penetration limiting peripheral land adjacent one side of the cutting edge.

Alternatively, the pneumatic retention of the nut portions can be maintained when the nut gripper is conveyed to the unloading station and the opposed cups firstly separate to enable the kernel to fall from the separated nut portions whereafter the vacuum retention is released to enable the respective nut portions to fall therefrom.

In another embodiment the conveyor may be a support wheel, with a gripper including opposed cups mounted on the support wheel for corresponding radial movement to and from the central position.

The apparatus in this case may be adapted for processing macadamia nuts of between 18 mm in diameter and 35 mm in diameter. Alternatively the splitter can include a cracking member introduced to the groove to co-act with 25 the opposed faces thereof. Preferably the cracking member is a wedging member which is forced into engagement with the opposed face of the groove. The wedging member may comprise a pair of opposed wedging members between which a nut supported by the nut gripper is conveyed so as to force 30 apart the opposed faces.

In another aspect this invention resides broadly in nut processing apparatus including:a rotary conveyor supporting a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart nut grippers radiating from a central hub; loading, grooving, splitting and unloading stations spaced sequentially around said rotary conveyor in the path of said nut grippers; each said nut gripper having opposed jaws supported for rotation about a radial axis and for opposed radial movement to and from a central position whereby a nut delivered to said loading station is gripped between said jaws leaving a circumferential and substantially diametrical portion of the nut surface exposed therebetween; a groove former at said grooving station which forms a circumferential groove at said central position of said exposed nut surface; and a splitter at said splitting station which cooperates with the formed circumferential groove to split the nut shell.

Preferably both jaws are rotatable and one jaw is driven for rotation when disposed at the grooving station and the groove former is a rotary cutter which engages a rotating nut gripped between the jaws to form the circumferential groove.

The other cup may be capable of orbital rotation about the drive axis of the driven cup.

Alternatively the opposed jaws may be opposed cups provided with vacuum operated retainers adapted to pneumatically retain respective nut portions therein and wherein the nut shell portions are retained after S* separation of the opposed cups so as to free the kernel therefrom until the conveyor has advanced the cups to a 30 shell discharge station. Optimally the apparatus may include a sensor for sensing adherence of kernel parts to a shell portion whereby such split nuts may be retained for advancement to an alternative discharge station.

In a further embodiment the invention resides broadly in:- 6 a loading station to which individual nuts are sequentially conveyed for processing; a nut gripper having opposed jaws between which a nut delivered to said loading station is gripped leaving a circumferential and substantially diametrical portion of the nut surface exposed therebetween; a conveyor for conveying said nut gripper from said loading station past grooving, splitting and unloading stations so as to present the conveyed nut shell exposed between said opposed jaws sequentially thereto; a groove former at said grooving station which forms a circumferential groove about an exposed surface of a nut shell; a splitter including opposed wedging members between which the grooved nut is fed so that the wedging members progressively enter the formed circumferential groove to split the nut shell, S* and the jaws being separated at said unloading station to move the split shell portions apart to free the kernel.

Preferably the wedging members are forced into engagement with the opposed faces and impacted to effect splitting of the 20 shell above the groove.

In another aspect this invention resides broadly in a method of opening hard shelled nuts, said method including the steps of: gripping each nut individually in sequence such that a circumferential portion of the nut shell surface is exposed; grooving said exposed nut shell surface portion of respective nuts thereby forming a continuous groove in the shell of each nut, said groove including opposed faces; introducing a splitter into the formed continuous groove for co-action with said faces; and forcing the splitter towards the interior of each nut thereby splitting the nut.

Preferably the nut is secured to present a circumferential exposed portion of the nut. In this embodiment the step of grooving may comprise circumscribing the nut to form a continuous groove. The continuous groove may. be formed about the girth of the nut.

Alternatively the step of grooving may comprise rotating the nut relative to at least one fixed grooving implement.

In a further alternative the step of grooving may comprise holding the nut stationery and moving at least one grooving implement about the nut.

In a further alternative the step of grooving may comprise grooving the nut to a predetermined depth.

In a further alternative the step of grooving may comprise grooving the nut to a depth according to the size of the nut.

In a further alternative the step of grooving may comprise grooving the nut to a depth according to the type of nut.

1In yet a further alternative the step of splitting may further comprise causing the splitter to apply force towards the interior of the nut from opposing locations on the nut.

In yet another aspect this invention broadly resides in a method of opening hard shell nuts, including the steps of: i gripping each nut individually in sequence such that a 20 circumferential portion of the nut surface is exposed; grooving said exposed nut surface portion of respective nuts to form a continuous groove in the shell of each nut; introducing a splitting member into the formed continuous groove for co-action with the opposed faces thereof; twisting the splitting member to apply force against opposed faces of the formed groove thereby splitting the nut.

Preferably the method of this and the previous embodiment includes the further step of securing portions of the nut shell after the splitting and diverging the portions to allow clearance for discharge of a kernel of a nut therebetween.

The methods in this case may further include the step of determining whether the kernel or portions thereof is adhered to any of the secured portions of the nut.

Preferably the methods include the additional further step, subsequent to the splitting of disengaging a kernel or portion thereof determined to have adhered to a secured portion of the nut from the secured portion.

Alternatively the method may include, subsequent to the splitting, the step of transporting the kernel or a portion thereof determined to be adhered to any of the secured portions to a position for further processing.

In order that this invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, wherein:- FIG. 1 is an overall plan view of one form of macadamia nut processing apparatus; FIGS. 2 to 4 illustrate the loading conveyor of Fig.

1; FIG. 5 illustrates the form of the toothed conveyor .belt; *e FIG. 6 is a perspective view of gripping means of the *apparatus of Fig. 1; FIG. 7A is an exploded view showing the components of 25 the gripping means; FIG. 7B is an exploded view of one cup assembly of the gripping means; *e o So 55 This page has intentionally been left blank.

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12 FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the grooving means of the apparatus of Fig. 1; FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the splitting means of the apparatus of Fig. 1; FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate the nut loading action: FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate the grooving operation: FIGS. 12A, 12B and 12C illustrate the splitting operation: FIGS. 13A, 13B, 13C and 13D illustrate the kernel collection operation; FIG. 14 is a plan and cutaway side view of a further embodiment of the invention; FIG. 15 illustrates the splitting means utilised in the embodiment of Fig. 14, and FIG. 16 illustrates the splitting apparatus utilised in the embodiment of Fig. 14.

*The macadamia nut processing apparatus 10 illustrated in Fig. 1 has a plurality of nut gripping assemblies 11 mounted removably to and radiating from a support wheel 12 which S 20 rotates to carry the nut gripping assemblies 11 cyclically and sequentially past processing stations arranged to cooperate with the gripping assemblies in a defined circular path 14 concentric with the support wheel 12. In this embodiment there are provided corresponding process stations i at opposite sides of the wheel 12 so that each nut gripping assembly 11 is carried through two complete processes with every revolution of the wheel 12.

Each process starts at a loading station 17 at which individual nuts are conveyed by a belt conveyor assembly 13 to a position substantially coincident with the defined circular path 14. The individual nuts are carried by a respective nut gripping assembly 11 from the conveyor assembly 13 about the defined circular path 14 through a grooving station 15, a splitting station 16, a separating station 17 and an unloading station 18 at which kernels are delivered to a holding bin. Shell portions are retained for further movement about the defined circular path to a dumping station 19 for delivery of retained shell portions to a discharge bin before each gripping assembly 11 passes across the next conveyor assembly 13 for commencement of another 15 cycle of operations.

Referring to Figs. 2 to 5, it will be seen that the conveyor assembly 13 is a toothed belt conveyor in which the belt 20 is apertured at 21 to receive loading cups 21 which can only accommodate individual nuts. The lower run 22 of 20 the conveyor is inclined and extends from a hopper (not shown) in which nuts are stored, to carry individual nuts through a vertical path 23, at which the nuts are retained by a suitable preventer to retain them in the cups, and across the top driven roller of the conveyor and which roller is driven by the servo motor 24.

An outrigger bracket 25 supports a plunger assembly 26 14 in spaced relationship with the upper extremity of the conveyor belt 27 to provide a gap therebetween through which the gripping assemblies 11 may pass to collect the nut from the upper extremity of the conveyor belt The plunger assembly 26 supports a vertically reciprocable loading plunger 30 provided with a vacuum cup 31 at its lower end which may be moved downward into engagement with the uppermost nut and then elevated to lift that nut into the defined circular path 14 where the nut may is positioned for gripping by the gripping means 35 of the respective gripping assembly 11ii.

In this embodiment, the gripping means 35 comprises a pair of opposed gripping cups 36 and 37 which are mounted for equal and opposite reciprocation in a radial direction on a o¢ 41 15 slide body 38 mounted to the support wheel 12. The slide body supports a freely rotatable pinion wheel 39 engageable .00..with gear racks 40 and 41 associated with the mounting cups *e 37 and 36 respectively whereby each cup 36 and 37 is constrained for corresponding movement to and from the S: 20 defined circular path 14. Thus, different nut sizes may be gripped by the gripping means 35 and thereby be automatically positioned in the defined circular path 14 for co-operation with the various apparatus at the following processing stations.

An air cylinder assembly 42 mounted on the slide body 38 is adapted to reciprocate the outer arm 43 supporting the Xii~i~ i- ~r r-;r: gear rack 40 and the gripping cup 37 for controlling the corresponding reciprocal movement of both cups 36 and 37, movement resulting from extension or retraction of the air cylinder assembly 42 being relayed through the racks and common pinion to both cups 36 and 37.

Additionally, each cup is provided with air supply means which may be used to create a vacuum to hold the nut or nut portions in the respective gripping cups. Alternatively, positive pressure may be applied to eject retained shells therefrom. Further construction details of the gripping assemblies 11 are illustrated in the exploded view in Fig.

7A. As macadamia nuts are not necessarily spherical in shape they can not be gripped accurately by gripping cups 36 and 37 supported for co-axial rotation. In this embodiment S: 15 the outer cup 37 is supported for free rotation within a bush 0 which in turn is mounted in a spherical bearing 46 0* 0 689:6, supported in an end housing 47 supported on the arm 43 .whereby the cup 37 may deflect to an off-centre position for orbital motion about the rotational axis of the cup 36. This 20 enables the outer cup 37 to engage operatively with a nonspherical nut shell.

Further, a resilient polyurethane washer 48 is interposed between the inner race of the spherical bearing and the back face 49 of the housing 47 so as to bias the bush 45 and thus the gripping cup 37 to a central position coaxial with the gripping cup 36 which is mounted for free rotation 16 in the inner arm 50 which carries the gear rack 41.

This arrangement ensures that each gripped nut is gripped with its medial peripheral portion exposed at the defined circular path whereby it may coact with the grooving and splitting means.

A friction drive wheel 51 is supported coaxially and fixedly to the gripping cup 36 such that as each gripping means 11 moves around the defined circular path 14, the friction drive wheel 51 engages the lower run 52 of a broad driven belt 53 of a rotator assembly 55 supported at the grooving station A grooving blade 60 is carried on a radial arm 61 for movement to and from a central position beneath the rotator assembly 55 for engagement of the blade 60 with the shell of 15 the nut carried between the gripping cups 36 and 37 so as to form a peripheral V shape groove about the nut. For this purpose the nut is counter driven by the friction wheel 51 with respect to the blade 60 at a speed which ensures that gripped nut rotates one full turn while in operative contact with the blade 60 to ensure formation of a continuous groove about the periphery of the nut.

The cutting assembly illustrated in Fig. 8 and utilises a two stage step-up belt drive from a drive motor 63 so as to provide intermediate pulleys 64 coaxial with the pivot axle 65 of the arm 61. In this embodiment, an internal coil spring is mounted within the hub 66 to bias the blade 1 111 I r 1; towards its cutting position.

It will be seen that the cutting blade includes teeth 67 which project outwardly from flat peripheral lands 68 at opposite sides thereof with the projection being equal to the desired depth of cut of the groove 79. Thus the teeth will cut into the shell to the desired depth until the peripheral lands 68 engage the nut to limit the depth of cut.

After each nut has passed through the grooving station it proceeds to a splitting assembly 80 for coaction with upper and lower curved splitting blades 70 of which have inner edges 69 which converge in the direction of travel of the gripping means so as to engage in opposite sides of the formed groove 79 and capture the nut therebetween irrespective of normal size variations.

S 15 The splitting assembly 80 is illustrated in Fig. 9. As shown, each blade 70 is slidable for a short distance along a part circular mounting recess 71 and each is spring urged to the leading end of the respective mounting recess 71. The recesses 71 are formed in respective carriers 72 which engage S 20 with a threaded column 73 through respective ball screw assemblies 74 and 75. The threaded column 73 is driven by a servo motor 76.

When a nut is captured between the splitting blades the blades 70 will move with the nut around the defined 0 0.:i circular path 14 in the part circular recesses 71. This movement is sensed by suitable sensors to actuate the servo ~c IIT._~Yii~_ i I 18 motor 76 which then rotates to further close the blades about the nut to a predetermined extent, such as a few millimeters in the case of a macadamia nuts, in a sharp crushing action.

The blades 70 have their inner edges rounded so that this sudden crushing action is applied to the shell through the opposed faces of the tapered groove 79 whereby it jars the shell portions 77 and 78 apart, causing splitting of the nut about the base of the groove 79 and separation of the nut into individual portions 77 and 78. Thereafter the nut shell portions 77 and 78 are carried to the separation station at which they are moved apart retained on their respective gripping cups 36 and 37, allowing the kernel 76 to fall free for collection in a suitable storage bin.

S* 15 The action of splitting creates substantially no extraneous particles or dust so that the kernels remain substantially uncontaminated and the shell parts are carried beyond the collection station to the dumping station 19 at .*.which the vacuum applied to the gripping cups 36 and 37 is S. 20 released to allow the shell portions to fall to a suitable bin. As shown in Figs. 13C and 13D, should the kernel remain with either or both shells, it will be carried beyond the collection station to the dumping station so that only whole kernels will be collected.

The gripping assemblies 11 then pass from the dumping station 19 for commencement of another cycle of operations at 1- 19 the other side of the defined circular path 14. The motion of the support wheel 12 may be continuous ar intermittent, stopping when each gripping assembly 11 coincides with a process station. However it is preferred that continuous rotation be provided with a speed of rotation of the support wheel 12 in the order of 20 RPM, providing a throughput of eight nuts per second and a handling rate of about 200kg per hour in the above described embodiment.

Figs. 10 to 13 illustrate the sequence of operations described above. In Fig. 10A the nut 85 is elevated to the defined circular path 14 for capture between the gripping cups 36 and 37, as illustrated in Fig. 10B. At the grooving station 15, as illustrated in Fig. 11B, the blade 60 cuts into the nut shell which is counter-rotated by driving the 15 cup 36 through the friction drive As illustrated in Fig. 12, the nut 85 feeds between the blades 70 until it engages each blade. Thereafter the blades 70 are carried with the nut 85, triggering the impact drive to cause splitting by separation of the shell portions at S: 20 opposite sides of the groove 79. The gripping cups 36 and 37 are then separated while the vacuum is maintain in the cups to retain the shell portions 74 and 75 and allow the kernel to all to a collection station. Subsequently the vacuum is released and the shell portions 74 and 75 fall away, together with any retained kernel portion.

In the embodiment 100 illustrated in Figs. 13 and 14, i the sets of cups 101 and 102 which grip the nuts to be process are mounted on the respective links 103 and 104 of opposed endless chain conveyers 105 and 106 supported by sprockets 107. The sprockets rotate in timed relationship to a loading conveyor 108 which delivers individual nuts into the converging path of respective opposed pairs of cups 101, 102 such that the nuts are gripped therebetween and carried past the grooving, splitting and unloading stations 110, 111 and 112 respectively. As shown in Fig. 16, the nut grooving saw forms a rectangular-section groove 115 in the nut shell and the splitting blades 116, 117 are mounted for rotation with respective shafts 118, 119 which move blades 116, 117 into encircling engagement with the nut within the groove 115. Thereafter the blades are twisted out of alignment with one another to provide a separating force against the nut groove walls 120 thereby splitting the nut, leaving the nut portions engaged with their respective gripping assemblies.

The profile of the splitting blade 116, 117 is adapted to receive a variety of nut diameters. The splitting blades are also rebated at 121 whereby the opposed splitting blades may interengage one another such that, when engaged, they extend about the full diameter of the nut.

The apparatus in accordance with the foregoing embodiment feeds nuts from a hopper by a feed belt which positions one nut at a time at a predetermined increment of the selected pitch of the driven chain assemblies. The a aU a a i~ system is a continuous system that allows macadamia nuts of any size to be split and the kernel to be recovered mostly without damage and with the maximum amount of whole kernel.

The kernel will generally be in the form of either whole kernel of half kernel. Once it is ejected from the shell it is collected on a conveying systems that delivers it to a size grading system where the kernels are sorted into wholes and halves of various sizes.

This embodiment carries out the process of separating the kernel from the shell without involving further complex equipment. It enhances the production of whole kernel and minimises the production of kernel halves. Practically, no chip or dust is carried with the extracted kernels, with dust extraction being provided at the grooving and splitting S 15 stations. Furthermore, each gripping assembly is in a modular form to allow for fast, simple replacement in case of breakdowns, minimising down-times.

It will be realised that while the foregoing has been given by way of illustrative example of this invention, all such and other modifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of this invention as is defined in the appended claims.

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Claims (32)

1. 4. Nut processing apparatus as claimed in claim 3, *wherein both said cups are rotatable and one said cup is driven for rotation when disposed at said grooving station and said groove former is a rotary cutter which engages a rotating nut gripped between said cups to form said circumferentia-l groove.
2. 5. Nut processing apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the other said cup is capable of orbital rotation about the drive axis of the driven cup.
3. 6. Nut processing apparatus as claimed in claim wherein said other cup is resiliently biased to a position co-axial with the driven cup.
4. 7. Nut processing apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein said opposed cups are interconnected for corresponding movement to and from a set central position therebetween.
5. 8. Nut processing apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said nut groove former includes a grooving blade arranged to move towards said central position to form said groove.
6. 9. Nut processing apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein said grooving blade has a cutting edge protruding beyond a penetration limiting peripheral land adjacent one i side of the cutting edge. Nut processing apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein pneumatic retention of the nut portions is S 30 maintained when said nut gripper is conveyed to said unloading station and said opposed cups firstly separate to enable the kernel to fall from the separated nut portions whereafter the vacuum retention is released to enable the respective nut portions to fall therefrom.
7. 11. Nut processing apparatus as claimed in claim 7, g wherein said conveyor is a support wheel and said gripper o0 -o includes opposed cups mounted on said support wheel for corresponding radial movement to and from said central position.
8. 12. Nut processing apparatus as claimed in claim 11, and adapted for processing macadamia nuts of between 18 mm diameter and 35 mm diameter.
9. 13. Nut processing apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein said splitter includes a cracking member introduced to the groove to co-act with the opposed faces thereof.
10. 14. Nut processing apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein said cracking member is a wedging member which is forced into engagement with said opposed faces of the groove. Nut processing apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein said wedging member comprises one of a pair of opposed wedging members between which a nut supported by said nut gripper is conveyed so as to force apart said opposed faces.
11. 16. Nut processing apparatus including: a rotary conveyor supporting a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart nut grippers radiating from a central hub; loading, grooving, splitting and unloading stations spaced sequentially around said rotary conveyor in the path S 30 of said nut grippers; each said nut gripper having opposed jaws supported for rotation about a radial axis and for opposed radial movement to and from a central position whereby a nut delivered to said loading station is gripped between said 35 jaws leaving a circumferential and substantially diametrical portion of the nut surface exposed therebetween; a groove former at said grooving station which forms a circumferential groove at said central position of said exposed nut surface; and a splitter at said splitting station which cooperates with the formed circumferential groove to split the nut shell.
12. 17. Nut processing apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein both said jaws are rotatable and one said jaw is driven for rotation when disposed at said grooving station and said groove former is a rotary cutter which engages a rotating nut gripped between said jaws to form said circumferential groove.
13. 18. Nut processing apparatus as claimed in claim 17, wherein the other said cup is capable of orbital rotation about the drive axis of the driven cup.
14. 19. Nut processing apparatus as claimed in claim 17, wherein said opposed jaws are opposed cups provided with vacuum operated retainers adapted to pneumatically retain respective nut portions therein and wherein the nut shell portions are retained after separation of the opposed cups so as to free the kernel therefrom until the conveyor has advanced the cups to a shell discharge station.
15. 20. Nut processing apparatus as claimed in claim 19, and including a sensor for sensing adherence of kernel parts to a shell portion whereby such split nuts may be retained for advancement to an alternate discharge station.
16. 21. Nut processing apparatus including: a loading station to which individual nuts are sequentially conveyed for processing; 35 a nut gripper having opposed jaws between which a nut delivered to said loading station is gripped leaving a **o circumferential and substantially diametrical portion of the nut surface exposed therebetween; a conveyor for conveying said nut gripper from said loading station past grooving, splitting and unloading stations so as to present the conveyed nut shell exposed between said opposed jaws sequentially thereto; a groove former at said grooving station which forms a circumferential groove about an exposed surface of a nut shell; a splitter including opposed wedging members between which the grooved nut is fed so that the wedging members progressively enter the formed circumferential groove to split the nut shell, and the jaws being separated at said unloading station to move the split shell portions apart 15 to free the kernel. a
17. 22. Nut processing apparatus as claimed in claim 21, *wherein said wedging members are forced into engagement with said opposed faces and impacted to effect splitting C 20 of the shell about the groove. too.
18. 23. A method of opening hard shelled nuts, said method including the steps of: gripping each nut individually in sequence such that 25 a circumferential portion of the nut shell surface is exposed; grooving said exposed nut shell surface portion of respective nuts thereby forming a continuous groove in the shell of each nut, said groove including opposed faces; introducing a splitter into the formed continuous groove for co-action with said faces; and forcing the splitter towards the interior of each nut thereby splitting the nut.
19. 24. A method according to claim 23, wherein the nut is gripped to present the circumferential exposed portion of the nut for grooving and splitting.
20. 25. A method according to either claim 23 or claim 24, wherein said step of grooving comprises circumscribing said nut to form the continuous groove about the circumference of the nut.
21. 26. A method according to any one of claims 23 to wherein the continuous grooveis substantially v-shaped.
22. 27. A method according to claim 23, wherein said step of grooving comprises rotating the nut relative to at least oo one fixed grooving implement.
23. 28. A method according to claim 23, wherein said step of grooving comprises holding the nut stationery and moving at least one grooving implement about the nut.
24. 29. A method according to claim 23, wherein said step of grooving comprises grooving the nut to a predetermined depth. 25 30. A method according to claim 23, wherein said step of grooving comprises grooving the nut to a depth according to the size of the nut.
25. 31. A method according to claim 23, wherein said step of grooving comprises grooving the nut to a depth according to the type of the nut.
26. 32. A method according to 23, wherein said step of splitting further comprises causing the splitter to apply force towards the interior of the nut from opposing locations on the nut.
27. 33. A method of opening hard shell nuts, including the steps of: gripping each nut individually in sequence such that a circumferential portion of the nut surface is exposed; grooving said exposed nut surface portion of respective nuts to form a continuous groove in the shell of each nut; introducing a splitting member into the formed continuous groove for co-action with the opposed faces thereof; twisting the splitting member to apply force against opposed faces of the formed groove thereby splitting the nut.
28. 34. A method according to claim 23 or claim 33, further including the step of securing portions of the nut shell after said splitting and diverging said portions to allow clearance for discharge of a kernel of the nut therebetween. A method according to claim 34, further including the step of determining whether said kernel or portion thereof is adhered to any of said secured portions of the nut.
29. 36. A method according to claim 35, further including, subsequent to said splitting, the step of disengaging a kernel or portion thereof determined to have adhered to a secured portion of the nut from said secured portion.
30. 37. A method according to claim 35, further including, subsequent to said splitting, the step of transporting said kernel or a portion thereof determined to be adhered I- r l-r r -;-II 29 to any of said secured portions to a position for further processing.
31. 38. A method according to claim 33 wherein said step of grooving comprises circumscribing said nut to form a continuous groove about the circumference of the nut.
32. 39. A method according to either claim 33 or claim 38 wherein the continuous groove is substantially v-shaped. A nut processing apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one or more of the accompanying drawings. 4 15 41. A method of opening hard shelled nuts substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one or more of the accompanying drawings. DATED THIS FOURTEENTH DAY OF JANUARY 2002 20 JOHN CROSS McINTYRE BY PIZZEYS PATENT AND TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS S i *o *o