ES374389A1 - Apparatus for feeding and shelling cashew nuts - Google Patents

Abstract

In a machine for shelling cashew nuts, the nuts N are first elevated from a hopper (T, Fig. 2, not shown) by brackets 84 carried by endless chains 79, each bracket having a pair of support members 85 and a retaining lug at one side to hold the nut N1 firmly while arms 87, reciprocated in synchronism with the conveyer chains, sweep any additional nut N11 from each bracket during conveyance the nuts are then discharged into shoots 60, Fig. 5, which contain fixed and moving blades 64, 61 respectively, the latter being oscillated about pivots 59 by a cam 48 and linkage 55-63, to cause the nuts to be oriented into positions in which their flat sides are arranged in the direction of feed of pushers 67 carried by horizontal feed chains 66 nuts which do not have their convex ridge portions uppermost are then turned, as illustrated by the sequential positions of the nut N in Fig. 7, by co-operation with a recess 99 in the base portion of each of three feeding channels, each base portion having sloping sides which engage the lobes G, G1 of a correctly positioned nut so that such nut does not fall into the recess, whereby all nuts arrive at a discharge ledge 101 in the position there shown the nuts from each channel are then in turn received in clamping jaws P which are reciprocated between the level of the feed channel and a lower level, where push rods 43 on a reciprocating slide 42 push the nuts horizontally into shelling blocks 37 which in turn are reciprocated horizontally between a position where they each receive a nut and a shelling position and finally the nuts are shelled, as described in Specification 1,032,594, by pairs of cutter blades 19, 26 which are moved towards each other in slots in the shelling blocks to cut through the outer nut shell and into the inner nut shell, shelling being completed, upon subsequent withdrawal of the shelling blocks, by effecting relative twisting of the cutter blades, this being effected as shown by a cam projection 9, an a sprocket wheel 7, acting through linkage 32, 30 on crank arms 29 secured to shafts 28 on which the blades 26 are mounted. The sprocket wheel 7 is driven by a motor 1 and drives the whole machine via shafts 8, 46 and 76, shaft 8 carrying cams 11, 12, for reciprocating the slide 42 and a slide carrying the shelling blocks, respectively, and cams 10, 13 for reciprocating slides 18, 25 carrying respectively the fixed and rotatable cutter blades, whilst shafts 46 and 76 carry the drive sprockets 49, 78 for the horizontal chains 66 and elevating chains 79, respectively, shaft 46 additionally carrying the cam 48 and a cam 47 for reciprocating a slide 54 carrying the clamping jaws P.