WO2016122428A1

WO2016122428A1 - Pistachio cracking machine and cracking method

Info

Publication number: WO2016122428A1
Application number: PCT/TR2016/050019
Authority: WO
Inventors: Aykut ESMEK
Original assignee: Züsim Makina Ve Gida Sanayi Ticaret Anonim Sirketi
Priority date: 2015-01-29
Filing date: 2016-01-27
Publication date: 2016-08-04
Also published as: EP3282868A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a nut, in particular pistachio nut, cracking machine (1) comprising a fixed housing (110) and a movable housing (120) positioned on the main body (2) for cracking nuts, a transfer mechanism (10) which feeds the nuts coming from a feed line to a carrying apparatus (20), a carrying apparatus (20) which carries the nuts to the cracking mechanism (100) through its transfer spaces (21), a fixing cylinder (140) which adjusts the distance between the fixed housing (110) and the movable housing (120) in accordance with the size of the nuts, a pressure cylinder (130) which pushes the movable housing (120) towards the fixed housing (110), a pressing cylinder (150) which cracks the nuts, and a drive centre (3) which drives the transfer mechanism (3), the carrying apparatus (20), and the main drive shaft.

Description

PISTACHIO CRACKING MACHINE AND CRACKING METHOD

DESCRIPTION

TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to a cracking machine for cracking nut (pistachio) shells automatically without manual touch.

The invention particularly relates to preliminary and final cracking mechanisms, in which the cylinders performing the cracking operation are driven hydraulically/pneumatically, and which have two different conical angles. THE PRIOR ART

It is not a preferred method to completely crack the hard shells of pistachios, which are sold as dried nuts, and take the inner part out. The expected and shelf lives of products prepared in this manner are reduced substantially.

Instead, the more common marketing method to sell pistachio is to provide a certain opening by cracking the shell part a little. This cracking operation can be made manually with the use of various tools.

The prior art methods used for manual cracking of nuts require significant amount of workmanship.

The machines used in the known status of the art crack nuts (pistachios) via stroking method, which causes damage on the nuts. Moreover, since the structure of these machines are quite big, the production costs of these machines are also high.

On the other hand, in the known status of the art, some machines perform cracking of a very low number of nuts in a long time period, and therefore their production speed becomes very low. In the prior art machines that operate according to the method of cracking nuts between two cylinders, a nut can be cracked from the front or the rear part in accordance with the way of its entrance into the machine, which significantly reduces the quality of the nuts. The main deficiency of this system is the inability to apply an equal level of pressure on each nut taken between the two cylinders. This causes complete crushing of 30% of the nuts that are taken into the cylinder.

In the known status of the art, the operating machines apply the same impact/stroke on each nut. Since the shell thickness and strength of each nut is different, applying identical strokes on all of the nuts leads to crushing of the nuts that have low strength, and this leads to high costs.

As a result of the literature research, various embodiments are found about said nut cracking machines. One of these embodiments is the patent with Application No. TR2007/02046, entitled: "Spiral nut cracking machine". In the abstract of this invention, it is disclosed that: "The system developed with the purpose of cracking the tips of pistachios consists of spiral carriers, split support cylinders, conical cracking housings, and calibrating and cracking eccentrics. Nuts taken from a silo is carried on spiral carriers and brought to split support cylinders. The nuts that remain on top of the cylinders due to the inwards cycle of the split support cylinders, are placed into fixed and movable conical housings and calibrated via the calibration eccentric. The cracking eccentric applies pressure and thus ensures cracking the tip part of the nuts. When the cracking operation is complete, the cracking eccentric lifts the pressure. The cracked nuts that come to the gap of the split support cylinders flow downward." Another example about said embodiment is the patent with Application No. TR2013/06546, entitled: "Shelled nut-pistachio cracking machine with clamp system". In the abstract of the invention, it is disclosed that: "The invention relates to a clamp system cracking machine for separation of hazelnut or pistachio nut inner part from the shell part without damaging the nut, without manual touch, and in a simpler manner than the prior art systems."

Above said applications perform the pistachio cracking operation automatically. However, a considerable amount of the cracked nuts/pistachios are completely crushed. Therefore, these applications can be given as examples to the above said drawbacks. As a result, improvement is to be made in parallel with the developing technology in nut (pistachio) cracking machines, and therefore novel embodiments that would eliminate the above said drawbacks and bring solutions to the problems of the prior art systems are needed.

PURPOSE OF THE INVENTION

The purpose of the invention is to solve the above said problems, eliminate all the drawbacks, and provide additional advantages to the structure.

The purpose of the invention is to minimize workmanship by providing automatic cracking of nuts/pistachio nuts.

Another purpose of the invention is to obtain product output with minimum loss without damaging nuts. In order to achieve this purpose, the cracking mechanism is designed with two-stages. In addition, the conicity of the fixed housing is adjusted for the stages of the cracking mechanisms. In this way, the cracking ratio is adjusted.

Another purpose of the invention is to enable operation of the nut cracking machine that is installed with a low cost, with the help of a motor. Moreover, being able to operate more than one machines that are arranged side by side via a single motor would form a positive situation in terms of energy saving.

Another purpose of the invention is to increase production speed by means of providing automatic nut feed to the machine. In order to achieve this purpose, the slope of the transfer mechanism is adjusted in a way that the nuts would fall onto the carrying apparatus one by one. Another purpose of the invention is to prevent the nuts from getting crushed by means of applying the sufficient amount of pressure for cracking. In this way, the efficiency of the machine would increase. In order to achieve this purpose, a cracking mechanism is developed, which is formed of cylinders that can be operated hydraulically or pneumatically. In order to achieve the above said purposes; a nut (pistachio) cracking machine is developed, in which the nuts fed to the carrying apparatus via a transfer mechanism are cracked by preliminary and final cracking mechanisms and then leave the system through a product discharge clearance. The structural and characteristic features of the invention and all of its advantages shall be understood better with the figures and the detailed description given below in reference to the figures. Therefore, the assessment should be made by taking into account the said figures and detailed explanations. DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Figure 1 is a top view drawing of the cracking machine.

Figure 2 is a bottom view drawing of the cracking machine.

REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 . Cracking machine 2. Main body

3. Drive centre

10. Transfer mechanism 11 . Shaft

20. Carrying apparatus 21 . Transfer space

100. Cracking mechanism

110. Fixed housing

120. Movable housing

130 Pressure cylinder

140 Fixing cylinder

150 Pressing cylinder

160 Adjuster

170 Discharge cylinder

200. Discharge cylinder DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The cracking machine (1 ), in its main structure, consists of a main body (2), a transfer mechanism (10), a cracking mechanism (100), a drive centre (3), and a discharge cylinder (200).

The transfer mechanism (10) is a mechanism formed of two spiral shafts (11 ) positioned adjacently and rotating in opposite directions with regard to each other. Said transfer mechanism (10) is rotated by the drive centre (3). By means of rotation of this mechanism, the nuts are carried to the cracking mechanism (100). The speed of the nuts is adjusted by changing the slope of the transfer mechanism (10).

The nuts coming out of the transfer mechanism (10) fall into the transfer space (21 ) of the carrying apparatus (20). It is a part that comprises transfer spaces (21 ) on the carrying apparatus (20) in accordance with the capacity of the process and actuated with the drive centre (3) found underneath itself. The nuts pass through said transfer spaces (21 ) gradually and are ultimately discharged from the system.

The cracking mechanism (100) consists of two levels, which are the preliminary cracking and the final cracking levels. Said cracking mechanism (100) consists of a fixed housing (110), a movable housing (120), a pressure cylinder (130), a fixing cylinder (140), a pressing cylinder (150), an adjuster (160), and a discharge cylinder (170). The nuts that come to the cracking mechanism (100) that perform the preliminary cracking, reach the cracking mechanism (100) by means of one level rotation of the carrying apparatus (20). The fixed housing (110) is the part where the nut coming from the transfer mechanism (10) is positioned for the cracking process. Said fixed housing (110) is fixed and does not have a movable piece. The movable housing (120) is the part that cracks the nut. It cracks the nut that is kept in the fixed housing (110) by means of squeezing the nut. It performs this squeezing operation with the pressure cylinder (130). The fixing cylinder (140) stays stabile at a point due to the pressure formed by the pressure cylinder (130) that pushes the movable housing (120) onto the fixed housing (110). This stability is provided by the fixing cylinder (140). The pressing cylinder (150) is the part which cracks the nut that is fixed by the fixing cylinder (140). The adjuster (160) is the piece which adjusts the amount of pressure that the pressing cylinder (150) would apply on a nut. It kind of adjusts the stroke of the pressing cylinder (150). The discharge cylinder (170) prevents jamming by means of pushing the nut found in the fixed housing (110) after cracking is made. Said cylinders are driven hydraulically or pneumatically. Following final cracking of the nuts, the nuts are stored as final product with the help of the discharge cylinder.

In the cracking machine (1 ), three drive centres (3) are found, and these are the drive centre that drives the transfer mechanism (10) feeding the nuts into the system, the drive centre (3) that rotates the carrying apparatus (20) according to the state of the process, and the drive centre (3) that rotates the main drive shaft. Said drive centre (3) is an electric motor.

The cracking machine (1 ) operates with the automation of the hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders. The nuts coming from the feed line are poured onto the transfer mechanism (10) that stays at a convenient angle. By means of the drive provided by the drive centre (3) on the shaft (11 ), the shafts (11 ) start to rotate. Due to the inclined state and suitable channel depth, the nuts are carried one by one and dropped into the transfer spaces (21 ) found on the carrying apparatus (20). The electronic system controlling the cracking machine (1 ) ensures automatic operation of the machine by means of giving the right command at the right time for all the drive centres (3) and cylinders found on the machine. The nuts that fall into the transfer spaces (21 ) found on the carrying apparatus (20) are carried to the cracking mechanism (100) for preliminary cracking, with the rotation of the drive centre (3) that rotates te carrying apparatus (20). In said cracking mechanism (100) two nut cracking housings are found, wherein one is a fixed housing (110), and the other is a movable housing (120). The movable housing (120) found in the cracking mechanism (100) starts to advance towards the fixed housing (110) due to the push provided by the pressure cylinder (130). During this advancement, the movable housing (120) rigidly contacts with the nut found between the two housings. In this way, since the pressure cylinder (130) won't be able to move furthermore, it stops at the point where the housing also leans against the nut and takes the product size as a reference for the cracking operation. The fixing cylinder (140) steps in following preliminary cracking. Said fixing cylinder (140) is connected to the shaft driven by the pressing cylinder (150) and the space in which the pressing cylinder (150) would make squeezing is aligned with the movable housing (120). When the fixing cylinder (140) steps in and squeezes the movable housing (120), it fixes the shaft driven by the pressing cylinder (150) and the movable housing (120) with each other. From that moment on, the motion of the pressing cylinder (150) is directly reflected to the movable housing (120) and the pressing cylinder (150), the movement distance of which we can adjust with the adjuster (160), advances and ensures cracking of the nut by means of pushing the movable housing (120) a little further from the reference point. The nut, which we first took the size as a reference and then cracked at the desired ratio, is then ready for being transferred to the cracking mechanism for final cracking. Following these operations, the fixing cylinder (140) releases the movable housing (120) and with the retraction of the pressure cylinder (130), the movable housing (120) is also retracted and thus it enables rotation of the carrying apparatus (20). While the movable housing (120) is being retracted, the discharge cylinder (170) simultaneously prevents jamming by means of pushing the nut found in the fixed housing (110). With the drive provided by the drive centre (3) that drives the carrying apparatus (20), the carrying apparatus (20) moves and carries the nut to the cracking mechanism (100) for final cracking. This cracking mechanism (100) is identical with the mechanism of the preliminary cracking, and also comprises two nut cracking housings, wherein one is a fixed housing (120), and the other is a movable housing (110). However, the conical angles and depths of these housings are different from the first housings in order to contact the nut from different points and thus increase the cracking ratio of the nut. Discharge cylinder (170) is not used, since the depths of the fixed housings (110) of the cracking mechanism (100) found in the final cracking operation are low. With the movement of the carrying apparatus (20), the nut is pushed with the discharge cylinder (200) and thus it is ejected from the machine.

Claims

1. A cracking machine (1 ) for cracking nut (pistachio) shells, characterized in comprising:

• a fixed housing (110) and a movable housing (120) positioned on the main body (2) for cracking nuts,

• a transfer mechanism (10) which feeds the nuts coming from the feed line to the carrying apparatus (20),

• a carrying apparatus (20) which carries the nuts to the cracking mechanism (100) through its transfer spaces (21 ); · a fixing cylinder (140) which adjusts the distance between the fixed housing

(110) and the movable housing (120) in accordance with the size of the nuts,

• a pressure cylinder (130) which pushes the movable housing (120) towards the fixed housing (110),

• a pressing cylinder (150) which cracks the nuts, and · a drive centre (3) which drives the transfer mechanism (10), the carrying apparatus (20), and the main drive shaft.

2. The cracking machine (1 ) according to Claim 1 , characterized in that; said fixed housing (110) has conicity in accordance with the cracking ratio.

3. The cracking machine (1 ) according to Claim 1 , characterized in comprising; an adjuster (160) which adjusts the stroke of said pressing cylinder (150).

4. The cracking machine (1 ) according to Claim 1 , characterized in comprising; a discharge cylinder (170) which prevents jamming by means of pushing the nut found in the fixed housing (110) after cracking is made.

5. A method for cracking products having shells such as pistachio in a cracking machine (1 ), and it is characterized in that; it comprises the operation steps of:

- feeding of the nuts to the transfer mechanism (10), - rotation of the shafts (11 ) with the rotation of the drive centre (3) belonging to the transfer mechanism (10) in order to lead the nuts towards the carrying apparatus (20),

- carrying of the nuts to the cracking mechanism (100) with the rotation of circular drive centre (3) of the carrying apparatus (20) at a certain angle, after the nuts fall into the transfer space (21 ) of the carrying apparatus (20),

- moving of the movable housing (120) towards the fixed housing (110) until it contacts the nut, when the pressure cylinder (130) steps in,

- stopping of the pressure cylinder (130) when the movable housing (120) contacts and squeezes the nut,

- stabilizing of the nut between the movable housing (120) and the fixed housing (110) when the fixing cylinder (140) steps in,

- cracking of the nut when the pressing cylinder (150) applies pressure on the nut,

- releasing of the movable housing (120) by the fixing cylinder (140), - retraction of the movable housing (120) when the pressure cylinder (130) is retracted,

- releasing of the squeezed nut in the fixed housing (110) when the discharge cylinder (170) steps in simultaneously with the retraction of the movable housing (120), - rotation of the carrying apparatus (20) at a certain angle in order to come to the cracking mechanism (100) for final cracking when the drive centre (3) of the carrying apparatus (20) steps in,

- rotation of the carrying apparatus (20) at a certain angle when the drive centre (3) of the carrying apparatus (20) steps in after all the processes are repeated in the final cracking except the discharge cylinder (170), and

- discharging of the nut by the discharge cylinder (200).