JP2004065138A - Nutcracker - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a nutcracker not only having a miniaturized and lightened structure but also not requiring the gathering of splinters of a shell scattered to the surrounding. <P>SOLUTION: The nutcracker has a plastic case 1 for storing a nut, a plastic screw shaft 2 installed in the case 1 for storing the nut, a plastic handle 3 installed in a position of the screw shaft 2, positioned at the outside of the case 1 for storing the nut, and a freely openable plastic lid body 4 for closing an opening 1K of the case 1 for storing the nut. A metallic pressing member 5 for crushing the shell of the nut by pressing is attached to the terminal part of the screw shaft 2 at the side of the case 1 for storing the nut, and the outer diameter of the pressing member 5 is regulated so as to be smaller than the outer diameter of the screw shaft 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a hand-operated nut sheller used to house hard-shelled nuts such as chestnuts, walnuts, almonds, pecans, macadamia nuts and the like, and to crack the shells of the stored nuts. About.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The nut shell splitter is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-7-275136. This comprises a pair of left and right guides arranged in parallel to each other and a substantially rectangular frame for forming an accommodation space for accommodating nuts, a metal plate sliding inside the guides, A wedge for splitting the shell attached to the plate, a screw shaft having one end connected and fixed to slide the plate inside the guide, and screwed to the frame, and the other end of the screw shaft. A nut shell splitter is composed of the attached rotating handle.
[0003]
The nut shell splitter of the above configuration not only requires a wide metal plate spanning the left and right guides to slide inside the pair of left and right guides, but also a wedge for the shell split attached to this plate. However, since it is made of a rectangular shape with a wide left and right width formed slightly smaller than the width of the left and right guides, the nut shell splitter becomes large and heavy, making it difficult to handle there were.
Also, when cracking the nut shell with a nut shell splitter, pieces of the shell scatter around, and it is necessary to clean after cracking the shell, leaving room for improvement.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
An object of the present invention is to provide a nut shell splitter which can reduce the size and weight but does not need to collect shell fragments scattered around, while solving the above problems. .
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problems, the nut shell splitter of the present invention includes a plastic nut storage case in which an opening for inserting a nut is formed on one side, and a screw formed in the nut storage case. A plastic screw shaft movably provided in the case through the hole, a plastic handle provided at a portion of the screw shaft located outside the nut storage case, An openable plastic lid for closing the opening, and a metal press for pressing and breaking a nut shell stored in the case at an end of the screw shaft on the nut storage case side. A member is attached, and the outer diameter of the pressing member is set smaller than the outer diameter of the screw shaft.
The members other than the pressing member on which the reaction force from the nut acts most are made of plastic, so that the weight can be reduced. In addition to the need for a metal plate that slides inside the left and right guides as in the past, not only is the wedge of a length almost spanning the left and right guides, but also the outer diameter of the screw shaft By using a pressing member that is set smaller than the outer diameter, it is possible to reduce the number of members and reduce the size of the members themselves. By the way, many nuts are almost circular, and since the portion where the pressing member contacts the circular nut is only a small part of the upper end, not only the pressing member having a large left-right width is unnecessary, The present inventor has noticed that it is easier to crack the shell when pressing a part of the upper end of the nut shell in a concentrated manner, so it is possible to reliably split the nut shell even with the pressing member having the above dimensions. You can. In addition, by closing the lid, fragments of shells that scatter when broken are prevented from jumping out of the storage case through the openings for inserting nuts. Further, if the lid is made of plastic, the weight can be reduced as compared with the case where the lid is made of metal or the like.
[0006]
The screw shaft is formed of a hollow cylindrical body, and a fitting portion for internally fitting and fixing the pressing member inside the cylindrical body is provided on the pressing member. Not only can this be achieved, but the hollow interior can be used as a fitted portion for fitting and fixing the fitting portion of the pressing member.
[0007]
A connection portion that is retained and retained by being inserted into the through hole formed in the nut storage case is provided at a specific portion of the lid, and the lid is swung with respect to the connection portion at the lid side portion of the connection portion. A pivotal structure including a fixing portion for attaching the lid to the nut storage case and a pin for pivotally connecting the lid to the fixing portion by forming a thin portion for opening and closing. Can be eliminated, and the number of members can be reduced and assembly can be facilitated.
[0008]
A pair of left and right convex portions, which are long in the nut insertion direction, are formed on the bottom portion of the nut storage case that supports the nuts at positions substantially in the radial dimension of the screw shaft in the left and right directions from the virtual center line of the screw shaft. Thereby, regardless of the size of the nut, the center portion of the nut can be positioned between the left and right convex portions for positioning. Then, by pressing with the pressing member, it is possible to reliably prevent the projection from biting into the nut and accidentally moving the nut.
[0009]
The nut storage case includes an inner case portion for storing nuts and an outer case portion located outside the inner case portion, and the inner case portion and the outer case portion are connected to each other by a plurality of reinforcing ribs. By doing so, the strength of the entire case can be increased while reducing the weight of the nut storage case.
[0010]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIGS. 1 to 3 show a manual nut splitter (hereinafter, referred to as a shell splitter) for storing nuts and splitting the nut shells. The shell splitter has a plastic nut storage case 1 having a substantially square outer shape with an opening 1K formed on one side for inserting a nut N, and a screw hole 1R formed in the nut storage case 1. A plastic screw shaft 2 movably provided in the case 1, and a portion of the screw shaft 2 located outside the nut storage case 1, that is, two portions extending in the horizontal direction from the upper circumferential portion at the upper end in the drawing. A plastic handle portion 3 which is straightened from the two rod-shaped bodies 3A, 3A, and a plastic lid having a substantially square openable and closable outer shape for closing the opening 1K of the nut storage case 1. And a metal-made pressing plate having a flat lower surface for pressing and breaking a nut shell stored in the case at an end of the screw shaft 2 on the nut storing case side. The attachment timber 5 is set to be smaller than the outer diameter of the screw shaft 2 to the outer diameter of the pressing member 5. The nut storage case 1 may have any shape such as an elliptical shape, a polygonal shape, or a rectangular shape. In addition, there is an advantage that the number of parts can be reduced by integrally forming the handle portion 3 at the upper end of the screw shaft 2, but the handle portion 3 and the screw shaft 2 are separately formed to integrate the two. It may be. Further, the specific configuration of the handle portion 3 is not limited to that shown in the drawing. The movable range is widened by forming a screw on the outer surface of substantially the entire area in the vertical direction excluding the handle portion 3 of the screw shaft 2, but the screw may be formed only on a part of the screw shaft 2. Good. The plastic material of the nut storage case 1 and the screw shaft 2 is a thermoplastic resin having excellent mechanical properties, heat resistance and cold resistance in a well-balanced manner, such as polycarbonate and ABS resin (impact thermoplastic resin). ) Is advantageous in terms of durability against impact force, and also suppresses the occurrence of a noise phenomenon with the nut storage case 1 due to rotation of the screw shaft 2 without applying silicone or the like. There are advantages that can be done. Further, when only the ABS resin is used as the plastic material, it is optimal in that the repulsive force is easily absorbed, but another resin may be used. The pressing member 5 is preferably made of stainless steel (for example, SUS303) from the viewpoint of corrosion resistance, but may be other various metals. In addition, what coated the corrosion-resistant paint etc. on the surface of the said various metals may be used.
[0011]
The nut storage case 1 includes an inner case portion 1A that stores nuts N, and an outer case portion 1B that is located outside the inner case portion 1A and has a front-rear width smaller than the inner case portion 1A in plan view. As shown in FIG. 4, the inner case portion 1A and the outer case portion 1B are connected by a plurality of reinforcing ribs 1C.
[0012]
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a pair of left and right convex portions 1 </ b> T, 1 </ b> T long in the nut insertion direction is provided on the bottom of the nut storage case 1 that supports the nut N, with the virtual center line of the screw shaft 2. By forming the screw shaft 2 at a position of approximately the radial dimension in the left-right direction from S, the center portion of the nut N can be positioned between the left and right protrusions regardless of the size of the nut N. Like that. 1D shown in the figure is a hole formed substantially at the center of the bottom of the nut storage case 1, that is, in the bottom of the nut storage case 1 directly below the pressing member 5, and can be used for positioning the nut N. In addition to the advantages, when the diameter of the hole 1D is set to 8 mm to 10 mm, when the nut N is pressed by the pressing member 5, the bottom of the nut storage case 1 is deformed so as to easily hold the nut N. This has the advantage that the shell of the nut N can be reliably broken. Incidentally, a cap (not shown) for closing the hole 1D may be attached to the lower end of the hole 1D.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 5, the screw shaft 2 is formed of a hollow cylindrical body, and a fitting portion for inserting the one end of the cylindrical body 2 into the inside 2 </ b> A and internally fitting and fixing the pressing member 5. By integrally forming 5A on the upper end of the pressing member 5, not only the weight of the screw shaft 2 can be reduced, but also the hollow interior 2A is fitted with the fitting portion 5A of the pressing member 5 for fitting and fixing. It can be used as a fitting part. Although not shown, a convex portion is formed on the surface of the fitting portion 5A of the pressing member 5 so as to be engaged with a concave portion formed inside the screw shaft 2 so that the pressing member 5 is hardly disengaged from the screw shaft 2. Alternatively, the adhesive may be applied to the surface of the fitting portion 5A of the pressing member 5 and then the fitting portion 5A of the pressing member 5 may be fitted inside the screw shaft 2.
[0014]
As shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 6, the connecting portion 6 that is retained and retained by being inserted into the through hole 1 </ b> H formed in the nut storage case 1 is a specific portion of the lid 4, that is, in FIG. 1. A thin portion 7 for integrally opening and closing the lid 4 with respect to the connecting portion 6 is provided integrally at the right end portion at a substantially central position in the vertical direction at the lid portion side of the connecting portion 6. I have. Therefore, by forcibly inserting the protruding portion 6T formed in the connecting portion 6 into the slightly smaller through hole 1H, the protruding portion 6T is prevented from coming off, and the lid 4 is fixed to the nut storage case 1. Have to be able to. The thin portion 7 allows the lid 4 to swing open and close with respect to the nut storage case 1 around the vertical axis as shown in FIG.
[0015]
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, a locking piece 4 </ b> A that locks into a concave portion 1 </ b> F formed in the nut storage case 1 at a substantially vertical center position at the left end of the lid 4 is integrated with the lid 4. The lid 4 is held in the recess 1F so that the lid 4 can be held in the closed position. At the left end of the lid 4 provided with the locking piece 4A, a protruding piece 4T protruding to the left is integrally formed, and a finger is hooked on the protruding piece 4T to quickly and easily close the lid 4T. Can be opened, but it is also possible to omit the projecting piece 4T.
[0016]
The case where the shell of the nut N is split by the shell splitter configured as described above will be described. First, as shown in FIG. Nuts N are stored. Next, after operating the lid 4 in the open position to the closed position, the handle portion 3 is rotated with the other hand while holding the nut storage case 1 with one hand, so that the shell of the nut N is removed. Press and split. By pressing the shell of the nut N, the fragments of the shell that scatter around do not jump out of the nut storage case 1 and are stored together with the nut N in the nut storage case 1. The nut N and the shell can be taken out by the opening operation.
[0017]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the member other than the pressing member on which the reaction force from the nut acts most is made of plastic, so that the weight can be reduced. Not only does not require a metal plate that slides inside the guide, but instead of a wedge that extends almost to the left and right guides, the outer diameter is set smaller than the outer diameter of the screw shaft By using the pressed member, the number of members can be reduced and the size of the member itself can be reduced, and a shell splitter advantageous in handling can be provided. In addition, by closing the lid, the pieces of the scattered shells do not jump out of the storage case when the pieces are broken, and the work of collecting the scattered pieces of the shells as in the related art can be eliminated. It can be useful.
[0018]
According to the invention of claim 2, the screw shaft is formed of a hollow cylindrical body, and the pressing member is provided with a fitting portion for internally fitting and fixing the pressing member inside the cylindrical body. By doing so, not only can the weight of the screw shaft be reduced, but also the hollow interior can be used as a fitted portion for fitting and fixing the fitting portion of the pressing member. In terms of advantages.
[0019]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, a connecting portion that is retained and retained by being inserted into the through hole formed in the nut storage case is provided at a specific location of the lid, and the lid is connected to the lid side portion of the connecting portion. A fixing portion for attaching the lid to the nut storage case by forming a thin portion for swinging opening and closing with respect to the portion, and a pin for pivotally connecting the lid to the fixing portion. This eliminates the need for a pivotal support structure, and can reduce the number of members and facilitate assembly, which is advantageous in terms of cost.
[0020]
According to the invention of claim 4, a pair of left and right convex portions that are long in the nut insertion direction are formed on the bottom portion of the nut storage case that supports the nuts, respectively, from the virtual center line of the screw shaft to the left and right directions. By simply forming the nut at the radial position, the center of the nut can be positioned between the left and right convex portions regardless of the size of the nut, and the nut shell can be reliably broken.
[0021]
According to the invention of claim 5, the nut storage case includes the inner case portion for housing the nuts and the outer case portion located outside the inner case portion. By connecting with the reinforcing ribs, the nut storage case can be reduced in weight and the strength of the whole case can be increased, and the case can be broken even more advantageously in handling. It can be highly reliable which can be used well over a long period of time.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front view of a shell splitter.
FIG. 2 is a side view of the shell splitter.
FIG. 3 is a front view of the shell splitter in a state where a lid is in an open position.
FIG. 4 is a rear view of the shell splitter.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line II in FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference Signs List 1 nut storage case 1F recess 1K opening 1B outer case 1H through hole 1R screw hole 1A inner case 1C reinforcing rib 1T convex 2 screw shaft (tubular body)
2A Internal 3 Handle 3A Rod 4 Lid 4A Locking piece 4T Projecting piece 5 Pressing member 5A Fitting part 6 Connecting part 6T Convex part 7 Thin part N Nut S Virtual center line

Claims (5)

A plastic nut storage case in which an opening for inserting nuts is formed on one side, and a plastic screw shaft movably provided in the nut storage case through a screw hole formed in the nut storage case; A plastic handle provided on a portion of the screw shaft located outside the nut storage case, and an openable and closable plastic lid for closing an opening of the nut storage case, A metal pressing member for pressing and breaking the nut shell stored in the case is attached to the nut storing case side end of the screw shaft, and the outer diameter of the pressing member is set to the outer diameter of the screw shaft. A nut shell splitter characterized by being set smaller than its dimensions. 2. The screw shaft according to claim 1, wherein the screw shaft is formed of a hollow cylindrical body, and the pressing member is provided with a fitting portion for internally fitting and fixing the pressing member inside the cylindrical body. Nut shell splitter. A connection portion that is retained and retained by being inserted into the through hole formed in the nut storage case is provided at a specific portion of the lid, and the lid is swung with respect to the connection portion at the lid side portion of the connection portion. The nut shell splitter according to claim 1, wherein a thin portion is formed so as to be openable and closable. On the bottom portion of the nut storage case supporting the nut, a pair of left and right convex portions that are long in the nut insertion direction are formed at positions substantially in the radial dimension of the screw shaft in the left and right directions from the virtual center line of the screw shaft. The nut shell splitter according to claim 1. The nut storage case includes an inner case portion for storing nuts and an outer case portion located outside the inner case portion, and the inner case portion and the outer case portion are connected to each other by a plurality of reinforcing ribs. The nut shell splitter according to claim 1, wherein

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