GB1116758A - Machines for shelling nuts - Google Patents

Abstract

1,116,758. Machine for shelling nuts. CASHEW CO. Ltd. 29 Nov., 1966, No. 53483/66. Heading A2Q. In a machine for shelling cashew nuts, one at a time consecutively, the rising flight 7, Fig. 3, of a vertical, endless, intermittently moving bucket elevator passes through a hopper 5 containing nuts, and collects one nut in each rising open-ended bucket 8. Reciprocating transferring and re-orientating mechanism B then locates each nut, in the position shown in Fig. 10b in a grooved trough 11, on the upper flight 9 of a horizontal, endless, intermittently moving conveyer 2, which carries the nuts to reciprocating rocking devices 123, 125 and 124, 126, Fig. 5, which carry each nut, through a channel 120, into the space between two rubber grippers 57 provided with pins 56. The grippers are then moved towards each other to grip the nut, and are then rotated. A rotating circular saw 80 is then swung into contact with the rotating nut to make a peripheral cut 131 around it, Fig. 10c. A pivoted, reciprocating splitting device 93, Fig. 8, moving in the direction d then rides over the gripped nut, and is then moved in the reverse direction c to locate the nut (now released from the grippers) between lower supporting members 92 and shell-separating members (104), Fig. 9 (not shown), having edges 103, which enter the cut 131. The pointed end of a wedge 107 is then received between the members (104), which are thus forced apart to split the shell into two parts, and release the kernel, Fig. 10d.