US2697462A - Reciprocating jaw type nutcracker - Google Patents

Description

fl 21, 1954 T. B. CONNOR RECIPROCATING JAW TYPE NUTCRACKER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 25, 1951 INVENTOR.

BY Q4 I. I Attorney:

7'00 8. Connor Dec. 21, 1954 CONNOR 2,697,462

RECIPROCATING JAW TYPE NUTCRACKER Filed April 25, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Hg 3 F g 4 /42 Tod 8. Connor JNVENTOR.

United States Patent Ofi'ice 2,697,462 Patented Dec. 21, 1954 RECIPROCATING JAW TYPE NUTCRACKER Tod B. Connor, Dallas, Tex.

Application April 25, 1951, Serial No. 222,781

3 Claims. (Cl. 146-16) This invention relates to an improved nutcracker adapted primarily for household use, the nutcracker being readily usable as an ordinary household vise.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved device of the above character which includes a standard made of two sections, one of which being provided with a clamp in order to fasten to a supporting element such as a table, the other of the sections being adjustable with relation to the clamp section so that the upper part of the vise may be adjusted to a convenient angle for operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cantilever beam at the upper end of the standard which has two jaws on it, one being screw operated for sliding movement on the beam and the other being relatively fixed on the beam after it is adjusted in selected positions in accordance with the preogative of the user of the device.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved and novel passage assembly in one of the jaws of the device to provide a means of readily discharging nut shells, the passage assembly including a longitudinal passage which opens into the orifice of one of the face plates and a transverse passage which is in communication with the longitudinal passage so that the shells may be easily emptied.

Other objects and features of importance will become apparent in following the description of the illustrated forms of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of the device showing it applied to a convenient support;

Figure 2 is a top view of the structure in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one of the jaws;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of one of the jaw face plates, and

Figure 8 is a modification of the face plate which is adapted primarily for use as a part of a standard vise, that is, when the device does not function as a nutcracker.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown a suitable support 10 which may be a table or the like. A standard 12 is connected to this support, the standard including a lower section 14 and an upper section 16, the first or lower section being provided with a clamp while the second or upper section has a laterally extending cantilever beam 18 fixed thereto either by casting or other standard means. The clamp consists of a lower arm 20 adapted to be located below the support 10 and an upper arm 22 adapted to be located above the support 10, the lower arm being provided with a standard screw 24 and operating handle 26 for it whereby the bearing plate 28 on the inner end of the screw is capable of being pressed firmly against the bottom surface of the support 10 and the inner surface of the upper plate correspondingly resting on the upper surface of the support 10.

In order to attach the second section 16 to the first section 14, there is a stud 29 rising from the center part of the arm 22 and passing through an opening 30 in the center part of a plate 32 which extends laterally from the second section 16. There is a wing nut 34 adapted to bear against a washer 36 or directly against the top surface of the plate 32 so that upon tightening the nut 34 the plate 32 may be frictionally against the upper surface of the arm 22 thereby holding the second section 16 in an adjusted position with respect to the first section 14.

There is an internally threaded bore 38 arranged parallel to the beam 18, this internally threaded bore accommodating a screw 40 which has an operating handle 42 at its outer end. The inner end of the screw is provided with a disc located in a recess 46 which is formed in one surface of the substantially rectangular jaw 48. A plate 50 has an opening in it in which the inner non-threaded end of the screw 40 is disposed in order to hold the screw axially immovable with respect to the jaw 48 but rotatable with respect to the jaw. The plate 50 is held on the jaw 48 by standard means, as screws. Accordingly, upon rotation of the screw 40, the jaw 48 is slid axially of the beam.

18 corresponding to the axial movement of the screw 40.

The beam 18 is preferably rectangular in cross section and the jaw 48 is provided with a longitudinal substantially rectangular in cross section passageway 52 in which the beam 18 is disposed. By virtue of this construction, the jaw 48 is slidably located on the beam. There is a second jaw 54 which is also provided with a longitudinal substantially rectangular in cross section passageway 56 which is inserted on the beam 18 thereby mounting the second jaw in such a way that it is capable of sliding axially of the beam. However, there is a means of fastening the second jaw 54 on the beam 18 in selected positions axially of the beam. This means comprises a headed bolt 58 adapted to pass through any one of the number of transverse openings 60 provided in a spaced relationship in the beam 18. The bolt has threads on its free end for receiving an internally threaded nut 62 which bears against the second jaw 54.

The first jaw 48 has a transverse passage 76 extending through it and a longitudinal passage 78 in communication therewith. This longitudinal passage tapers from the inner surface of the jaw outwardly to ward the transverse passage 76 (Figure l) and the two passages cooperate to form a means of discharging nut shells after nuts, as the pecans 80, are cracked. The jaw 54 is provided with a passage 82, this passage being substantially in the shape of a frustrum of a cone with the smaller diameter portion thereof being at the inner surface of the jaw 54, that is, the surface which confronts the surface of the jaw 48 through which the passage 78 opens. These confronting surfaces of the jaws 48 and 54 are provided with a means of holding releasably plates 84 or plates 86. This specific means comprises a pair of apertures 88 in each jaw confronting surface to accommodate the resilient lugs 90 of the plates 84 or the resilient lugs 92 of the plates 86. The plates 84 are illustrated as being substantially circular although other shapes will suflice, and the plates 84 are provided with central orifices 94 in order to accommodate the ends of the nut 80 or other types of nuts. The plates 84 are provided with cutting edges 96 on opposing faces of the plates and about the orifice 94. The cutting edges are produced by beveling or tapering the orifices 94 away from the cutting edges. To apply the plates 84, it is only necessary to press the resilient lugs, which may be spring steel or the like, into the apertures 88. To remove them, the plates 84 are simply pried from the jaws 48 and 54.

In order to use the device as a household vise, the plates 86 are substituted for the plates 84. The plates 86 preferably comprise angle members having substantially rectangular legs 99 and 100 joined together at right angles. Although this type of plate is preferable so that ample bearing surface for the plates 86 is provided, other shapes of plates may be used. It should also be understood that the passages behind the orifices would be made large enough to accommodate the largest nut shell ends, however, each device will be supplied with several orifice plates, similar to plates 84, each having a dilferent diameter orifice, in order to accommodate different size pecans.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new 1s:

1. A nutcracker comprising a support having a beam extending laterally therefrom, a pair of jaws adjustably mounted on said beam, means adjustably interconnecting said beam and one of said jaws adjacent an outward portion of said beam, adjusting means interconnecting the other of said jaws and said support, said jaws having opposed faces and having aligned openings, said openings merging into passages increasing in cross sectional area inwardly of said faces, one of said jaws having a passage therethrough intersecting its first mentioned passage, said jaws having on their opposed faces plates having opposed faces, one of said faces of each plate being in contact with a jaw face, said plates having openings therethrough in register with the openings in said jaws and said openings of said plates defining with said opposite faces cutting edges, whereby when a nut is placed with its ends in said openings its shell will be cut and then crushed to free its meat.

2. The combination of claim 1, wherein said jaws are slidable on said beam, said adjustably interconnecting means including said beam having a plurality of longitudinally spaced apertures therethrough, said one of said jaws having an aperture therethrough adapted to register with a selected beam aperture whereby the jaw may be locked to the beam upon the insertion of a fastener through the aligned apertures.

3. The combination of claim 1, wherein said plates have resilient lugs projecting from the jaw face contacting faces thereof, said opposed faces of said jaws having recesses opening thereinto within which said lugs frictionally seat.

References Cited in the file of this patent Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Bernard June 23, 1891 Perron et a1 Dec. 12, 1905 Harris Feb. 11, 1913 Shields Sept. 22, 1914 Morse Apr. 20, 1915 Marsh Mar. 20, 1917 Black May 29, 1917 Spencer Feb. 5, 1918 Tu'rm'es Dec. 30, 1924 Ramey Sept. 29, 1925 Haver Aug. 17, 1926 Hubby July 7, 1931 Stowell May 22, 1934 LaFerney June 29, 1937 Rhodes Apr. 11, 1939 Settle May 9, 1939 Lotspei'ch Apr. 18, 1944 Scranton Dec. 25, 1945 Mettler Aug. 30, 1949

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