RU2111687C1 - Nut shell separating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: equipment for cracking and separating shell of nuts, particularly, walnuts. SUBSTANCE: apparatus has two disks with special profile of working surfaces. Space between disks corresponds to sizes of fruits of nuts to be cracked and shelled. Fruit is positioned between disks. In the process of cracking, fruit changes its position in space and is subjected to compression alternatively in different directions. It allows improved grinding of nut shell without damaging fruit core to be provided. Core is separated from cracked shell by means of axial fan with impeller fixed on rotating working disk. Small fraction of core is separated from shell on netted portion of bottom of shell discharge casing. EFFECT: increased efficiency, simplified construction and enhanced reliability in operation. 2 cl, 1 dwg

Description

 The invention relates to the food industry, in particular to devices for the destruction and separation of the shells of nuts, and in particular to the least developed type of devices suitable for processing walnuts. In the latter case, the device is suitable for varieties with any shell hardness and fragility of the kernel, but unsuitable for fruits whose core has grown into the labyrinths of the shell.

 Known machines and devices for cleaning fruits and destroying the shell of nuts, mainly small species (hazelnuts, hazel, almonds, pinecones), where dynamic forces are used to carry out work processes.

 For example, in a car (ed. St. N 1584892, class A 23 N 5/00), collisions of representatives of the threshed mass with the fingers of the threshing device are used.

 The purpose of this machine is different from the purpose of the proposed device, so it is mentioned here not for criticism, but with the aim of indicating a common feature - the availability of the unit for creating the air flow.

 The principle of operation of the device for breaking the shell of nuts (ed. St. N 1237160, class A 23 N 5/00) is also based on the use of kinetic energy reported by the jet of ejection gas. The conditions for shell destruction and satisfactory preservation of the integrity of the core in this process depend on many factors (different humidity of the representatives of the processed material, different natural strength of their shell, different orientation in space at the moment of collision with the deck).

 In addition, the process is inefficient due to the single supply of nuts, energy-intensive due to the need for compressed air and not final, since it does not provide for the separation of products (shell and kernel).

 A device for collapsing oilseeds (ed. St. N 908312, application N 2974802, class A 23 N 7/00) is considered because it has common design features: a vertical cylindrical body, disks with radial channels, a vertical drive shaft.

 For the same reason, as having a loading hopper mounted on the housing, the output pipe and the disk rotor, a machine is considered for breaking down mainly fruit seeds according to ed. St. N 760932 (rubric A 23 N 5/00).

 As a prototype of the selected device for the destruction of the shell of nuts (RF application N 93031370/13 from 05/28/93, CL 6 A 23 N 5/00). The device is designed to destroy the shell of small nuts (hazelnuts, hazel, almonds), contains a loading hopper with a disk mounted in its lower part with the possibility of rotation, an accelerating-directing mechanism and a deck.

 The principle of operation of the device is based on the use of kinetic energy, as in the previously mentioned analogues. The use of kinetic energy in the prototype for breaking the shell makes the quality of this process dependent on many factors, as indicated for the analogue by author. St. N 1237160.

 The prototype is not intended for processing large (for example, walnuts) nuts that have a strong shell and a weak kernel, and therefore, when processing using a prototype, the kernel is crushed even when the shell remains intact.

 In the prototype, the shell is not taken out separately from the kernel.

 Justification for the application of certain terms. Representative of the processed material. Since the processed material consists of relatively large objects (for example, walnuts), they are homogeneous only in name, but differ significantly in properties (size, shape, shell strength, humidity, degree of ingrowth of the kernel into the shell), which must be taken into account when processing the material and in the explanations to some details of the process.

 Fine fraction (and fraction in general) of the nucleus. In the process of destruction of the shell due to the different strength of the nuclei and the coincidence of adverse cases of their mechanical interaction with surrounding objects, additional crushing of the nuclei is observed to produce parts of various sizes. In the separation process, this significantly affects the working process and requires its own separation conditions, which gives reason to consider them fractions.

 Fragments of the shell. In the process of destruction of the shell, the size, shape of its parts and fragments are different and for this reason they are affected in the separation in different ways. Therefore, to consider them simply shell and characterize as a uniform product is not enough.

 Shared products - fractions of rushanki, which in this process are useful (core) or waste (shell).

 The working surfaces of the discs are surfaces that come into contact with the material being processed and which at the same time have a mechanical effect during crushing and feeding the material.

 The periphery of the disk is the part with the largest diameter.

 The basis of the invention is the task of a device for breaking the shell of nuts, having a vertical drive shaft with a disk fixed thereto, by introducing a second disk mounted on the housing and having a working surface in the form of an inner surface of a truncated cone, and an axial fan to create air flow high productivity of the process of destruction and separation (which is included in the name of the proposed device) shell nuts, including walnuts.

 The problem is solved in that in the proposed device comprising a vertical cylindrical body, a loading hopper fixed to it and a drive with a vertical shaft on which a working disk is mounted, an air flow generating unit and a cylindrical box housing mounted on the body with outlet pipes, according to According to the invention, the housing contains a series of windows for air intake and removal of separation products, uniformly spaced around the circumference, in the upper part of the housing the upper disk, the inner working surface of which has the shape of a truncated cone with gentle generators and is provided with radial grooves of a rectangular cross-sectional shape with cavities parallel to the generatrix, the end working surface of the lower disk fixed to the drive shaft is provided with grooves of a rectangular cross-sectional shape, as well as a groove with a rounded shape a profile in the form of an Archimedean spiral open at the periphery of the disk, while the number of radial grooves on the working surfaces of the upper and lower disks is different, non-multiple smaller on the lower disk, on the lower disk an impeller is mounted, located under the separation chamber having an annular shape, the bottom of the boxes for collecting separation products is inclined, and the section of the bottom of the box for removing the shell is made mesh.

 The device is fixed on the base (foundation) by means of non-rigid rods of circular cross section, the number of which is minimal.

 The drawing shows the proposed device with a designation of the main elements and parameters.

 The upper (fixed) disk 4, the lower working surface of which is a truncated cone with shallow generators, is fixed on the casing 1, shown in section and shaded, having a series of upper windows 2 for exiting shell fragments and lower windows 3 for exiting the kernel. The disk has a Central hole 5 for feeding the processed material. On said surface of the disk, radial grooves 6 of a rectangular shape in section with cavities parallel to the generatrix of the cone are made.

 A drive 7 (for example, an electric motor) is attached to the lower part of the housing 1 with a shaft on which a disk 8 is mounted, having radial grooves 9 of a rectangular cross-sectional shape on the upper (working) surface and, in addition, a groove 10 with a profile rounded in the cavity, representing an ascending (depending on the direction of rotation of the drive) Archimedes spiral, originating closer to the center of the disk and open at its periphery.

 To ensure a more uniform load on the drive, the number of radial grooves on the working surfaces of the stationary 4 and mounted on the drive shaft of the disk 8 is mutually multiple, and the number of grooves on the disk 8 is less to increase the efficiency of the spiral groove 10.

 An impeller 11 is attached to the disk 8 with blades 12 that create an air flow during operation of the drive for separate removal of the material processing products.

 A loading hopper 13 is also attached to the housing, a box housing 14 with an inclined bottom for collecting the shell with an outlet pipe 15 and a mesh section of the bottom 16 for screening a small fraction of the core, as well as a box 17 with an outlet pipe 18 for collecting and removing a large fraction, is fixed to the housing kernels. To collect the fine fraction is the pan 19.

 The device is mounted on two rods 20 of circular cross section attached to the base (foundation) 21.

 A series of windows 22 in the housing is designed for air from the atmosphere to enter the impeller blades.

 The distance A between the working surfaces of the disks 4 and 8 closer to their central axes was chosen larger than the probably largest size of the representatives of the processed material to allow them to freely enter the space between the disks, and the distance B between the working surfaces of the same disks at the periphery was chosen smaller than the probably smallest size of the representatives of the material to achieve guaranteed shell destruction. In accordance with this, for a device intended to process large, for example, walnuts, distances A and B are set large, and for smaller species - smaller, which also requires changing the angle of inclination of the conical working surface of the disk 4, changing the size of the radial grooves on the disks, pitch and depth of the spiral groove on the working surface of the disk 8.

 The separation cavity C is a ring of rectangular shape in cross section and has the same dimensions throughout.

 The device operates as follows.

 When the disk 8 is rotating, the material being processed coming from the hopper 13 is pulled into the space between the disks 4 and 8 by a spiral groove 10 on the working surface of the disk 8, and since the distance between the disks to their periphery decreases, the representatives of the material are compressed and, moreover, alternately in different directions, as they run in a spiral groove and periodically fall into the radial grooves on the disks. Therefore, the destruction of the shell occurs from static efforts and, moreover, by force (the distance between the disks is constant), without undue deformation of the fruit, which helps to preserve the integrity of the kernel and improve the quality of the process.

 The russula enters the separation cavity C of the housing, where it is exposed to the flow of air created by the blades 12 of the impeller 11.

 Since shell fragments and small fractions of the core have a relatively more developed surface than large fractions of the core, despite the almost equal specific gravity of the separated products, the air flow more effectively acts on shell fragments and small fractions of the kernel, taking them out of the separation chamber C through the upper windows 2. Larger fractions of the core are carried out through the lower windows 3.

 Separation of the russel with very close physical and mechanical properties of the components (specific gravity, streamlining) is achieved due to the dispersal of the components of the moving russula in the relatively large space of the separation cavity C. At the same time, the components move at a sufficient distance from each other without creating mutual interference with the movement.

 Small fractions of the core, as indicated, are carried out together with the shell, and to prevent their loss, they are sifted through the mesh of the bottom portion 16 in the lower part of the box 14, falling into the pan 19 or other device of a similar purpose.

 Fixing the main part of the device with two equally rigid rods 20 in different directions does not exclude vibration of the working device, which is used to prevent congestion when feeding the processed material from the hopper and to improve the conditions for removal of separation products through the box.

Claims (2)

 1. A device for separating the nutshell, comprising a vertical cylindrical body, a loading hopper fixed to it and a drive with a vertical shaft on which a working disk is mounted, an air flow generating unit and a cylindrical box housing with outlet pipes fixed to the body, characterized in that the housing contains a series of windows for air intake and removal of separation products uniformly spaced around the circumference, in the upper part of the housing the upper disk is fixedly fixed, the inner p the flank surface of which has the shape of a truncated cone with gentle generators and is provided with radial grooves of a rectangular cross-sectional shape with cavities parallel to the generatrix, the end working surface of the lower disk fixed to the drive shaft is provided with radial grooves of a rectangular cross-sectional shape, as well as a groove with a profile rounded in the cavity in in the form of an Archimedean spiral open at the periphery of the disk, while the number of radial grooves on the working surfaces of the upper and lower disks is different, multiple and smaller a lower disc, the lower fixed disc impeller located under the separation chamber of annular shape, the bottom of the collecting ducts inclined separation products, and the bottom portion of the shell formed mesh drainage duct.  2. The device according to p. 1, characterized in that it is fixed on the base (foundation) by means of non-rigid rods of circular cross section, the number of which is minimal.