Title of Invention

A NEW MECHANIZED AUTOMATIC CASHEW NUT-SHELL-CUTTER

Abstract

A mechanized automatic cashew nut shell cutter comprising a hooper assembly, conveyor system, conveyor channel, hook assembly, holder assembly and blade assembly wherein the said hooper assembly consists of perforation at the base, a bevel gear operated rotating circular plate having perforation, at the base of the said hooper assembly; the said conveyor assembly consist of a chain seed carrying pins/fingers attached to the said conveyor chain for arresting the seed received from the said hooper assembly; the said conveyor channel having a vertical slot wider than the said seed carrying pins but smaller than the seed; the said hook assembly engages the seed received from the said conveyor channel and carries it to the holder assembly, the said holder assembly being provided with a contour holds the said seed in a particular position and carries it to the said blade assembly; the said blade assembly consists of two blades, the top blade and the bottom blade, the said blade provided with a vertical to and fro motion and the said top blade is given a twisting motion by means of a cam so as to cut and separate the seed in one motion.

Full Text

FORM-2 THE PATENTS ACT. 1970 (39 of 1970) COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (Section 10) "A NEW MECHANIZED AUTOMATIC CASHEW NUT-SHELL-CUTTER" ORIGINAL 130/MUM/2000 15-02-2000 SUDHIR BHALCHANDRA APTE, Flat No.l 1, First Floor, Savitri Palace, S.No.27/2, Savitri Nagar, Hingne (Kh), Vithalwadi, PUNE-411 051. Maharashtra State, India An Indian National The following specification particularly describes the nature of the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:- Present invention relates to a new mechanized automatic cashew nut-shell-cutter. Cashew is one of the most popular edible nut in India and the world market. In nature, cashew nut is placed inside the cashew nutshell. So, cashew nut shell has to be removed or broken to obtain the cashew nut. Before proceeding further, the short-forms & terms used in the industry & trade are given herebelow: CN cashew nut (seed) CNS cashew nut shell CNSO cashew nut shell oil Since many years, the cashew industry depends basically on the manual techniques, especially for the de-shelling. There are some processes to get good quality cashew nuts. Steam-bath method is one of the most favored method which is widely used in India. In this method the yield percentage is better, quality of the cashew nut is better, and maximum number of by-products are possible. This process includes steaming or boiling the raw seeds, and thereafter cutting and de-shelling the shell with the help of manual cutters; the manual cutters are either hand operated or foot operated. Thereafter cashew nut is dried with the help of dryer, then de-skinning of the cashew nut, followed by gradation and packing. The cutting of the cashew nut shell is done manually by spring action cutters. This cutting is indeed a laborious job. It is required that only one seed is taken at a time, held by hand, apply the cutter, cut the shell, remove the cut-shell, throw the cut-shell away and put the cashew nut in proper basket as per gradation. As only one seed is cut at a time, there are obvious limitations in the productivity. Also the operator faces lots of hardships. More skill and attention is required to prevent and minimize the percentage of breakage. Most importantly cashew nut¬shell-oil (briefly called as CNSO) is very aggressive, toxic, strong-smelling, and 2 affecting the skin. Even if, some protection treatment is applied to hand, and/or gloves are put on the hands, still there are some bad effects of the CNSO on skin. Further, the seeds are of different sizes and shapes. The shell thickness is not same for all the seeds. All these differences result into higher breakage percentage, which is the basic problem, faced by the industry in using manual cutters. The objects of this invention therefore -1. To eliminate manually operated (hand operated or foot operated) cutters by mechanized automatic cutter, 2 To minimize the labor intensive nature of the process, 3 To increase manifolds, the quantity of cutting, compared to the "old manual method of cutting one at a time", 4 To minimize the personal skill and attention required from the operator, As the cutting of the CNS is done mechanically, the contact of CNSO with skin is greatly reduced. According to this invention, therefore, a mechanized automatic cashew nut shell cutter comprises a hooper assembly, conveyor system, conveyor channel, hook assembly, holder assembly and blade assembly wherein the said hooper assembly consists of pei$bration at the base, a bevel gear operated rotating circular plate having perforation at the base of the said hooper assembly; the said conveyor assembly consist of a'cftain seed carrying pins/^ihgers attached to the said conveyor chain for arresting the seed receiyed from the said hooper assembly; the said conveyor channel having a vertical slot wider than the said seed carrying pins but smaller than the seed; the said hook assembly engages the seed recerved rrom the said conveyor channel and carries ft to the holder 3 assembly, the said holder assembly being provided with a contour holds the said seed in a particular position and carries it to the said blade assembly; the said blade assembly consists of two blades, the top blade and the.bottom blade, the said blade provided! with a vertical to and fro motion and the said top blade is given a twisting motion by rrieans of a cam so as to cut and separate the seed in one motion. The invention will now be described with the help of accompanying drawings, wherein explanatory numerals are marked & are explained here. Drawings Sre' not to scale. Drawings consist of 4 figures. Figure [1] is the general arrangement of the machine, Figure [2] is the plan of the general arrangement of the machine, wherein only few parts are shown for better explanation. Figure [3] is the specific preferred position &or arrangement of the seed, prior to entering the blade-mechanism. Figure [4] is the specific arrangement & design of the assembly system of the blade/s. Referring to figures (1 & 2)), after the boiling or steaming of the raw seeds, the seeds (9) are loaded, in the hopper or hopper assembly (1). The hopper assembly (1) has, near to the bottom of the assembly, a round circular plate (2) with hole/s or perforation/s. One such hole (3) is shown in the figure. The hopper has the outer body (4) which is stationary & non-rotating. In the hopper, the circular plate (2) is kept mechanically rotating. While rotating, one of the hole/s (3) comes in line with the chute (5) provided at the bottom of the hopper (1). Then, through the perforation/s (3) & through the chute (5), a seed (9.1) gets released, one-after-another, but only one-at-a-time. And, the seed goes further onto & through conveyor system (6). The conveyor system consists of conveyor chain (7), seed carrying finger/s or pin/s (8 i.e. 8.1,8.2, 8.3,...) attached or fixed to the chain (7). As the conveyor is in motion, a pin/s gets positioned just immediately after the dropped seed (9.1). The pin (8) moves or pushes the 4 seed (9.1) in the direction of the arrow (10) through the conveyor channel/s (11). The channel/s (11) has a longitudinal slot wide enough to allow the passage of pin (8) but smaller than size of seed/s. So the seed does not fall down through the slot, and the seed is moved in between the two vertical sides or faces of the channel (11) to the discharge end of the channel. It is to be noted that when any seed is released from the hopper (1), the seed naturally falls in every possible random position on the channel (11). The machine has, after the conveyor system (6), a hook system/s (14), and, a holder assembly system/s (13). When the seed is at the discharge end of the channel (11), the hook system (14) operates, and the hook (15) gets engaged with the seed, & the hook (15) pushes the seed into the holder assembly system/s (13). The specific contour of the holder assembly (13) ensures that the seed remains in the peculiar vertical position as in fig [3]. Thus, the seed is held & supplied with the convex portion (17) at the top, and, the concave portion (18) at the bottom. In this state, into the holder assembly the seed is temporarily held, and seed is then further carried to the blade/s assembly system/s (21). [The details of the blade/s assembly is/are given in fig [4]]. The blade assembly has two separate parts & blades: top blade (22) and bottom blade (23). The blade assembly is given two separate sets of motions, & thus the blade assembly is made to perform two functions: one: blades get to-&-fro movement in vertical direction. So, the combined action of top and bottom blades cuts the shell near to totality, but not fully, &, two: then, one of the blades and typically top blade(22), is twisted by another mechanism operated by a cam. This twisting action separates the already-&-nearly-cut-shell of the seed. [optionally, both these motions: "to-&-fro" & "twisting": are given simultaneously, so that the "cutting" & "separation" take place in one go!]. 5 Referring to fig 4, the blade/s assembly is so designed that the blade/s assembly penetrates & cuts ONLY through the shell. This is possible & achieved as the top blade (22) & the bottom blade (23) have the contour/s corresponding to the convex (17) & concave (18) portion/s of the seed/s. Further, the grinding & sharpness of & at the cutting edge/tip (31) of the top blade (22), and the tip (32) of the bottom blade (23) is/are unique., so also the placement & adjustment. The sharpness & other important detail/s of the tip/s (31) & (32) correspond to the thickness of the shell & average geometrical pattern of the shell. So, the shell gets cut completely, but the inner i.e. inside seed is not cut or damaged. The setting/s of the blade/s assembly is done for the specific average size "h" i.e. height of the seed as shown in fig 3. The setting/s of the blade/s is done by the corresponding clamping mechanism/s whereby the blade/s assembly/s is adjusted to suit the average size "h" of the particular lot of the cashew nuts. As the blade/s assembly is adjustable, any other lot of any different average size "h" i.e. height of the seed can also be processed with ease. Thereafter, the separated parts of the inside seed i.e. the CN, and the CNS go further. The cashew nut is smaller in size with respect to shell. So, CN gets accordingly graded or "filtered" or "escaped" through the holes (25) and gets put in proper box. The cut and separated shell (27) gets dropped through suitable mechanism, in one 'discard-container' (28). [The further part of removing the skin (which is of reddish, brownish color) from the cashew nut, is not the subject matter of this patent application]. Functionally, the machine can have a single line operation or plurality of lines. In fig [2], is shown a schematic of a "one-line" machine. However, machines with many lines at a time, are possible. 6 I CLAIM : A mechanized automatic cashew nut shell cutter comprising a hooper assembly, conveyor system, conveyor channel, hook assembly, holder assembly and blade assembly wherein the said hooper assembly consists of perforation at the base, a bevel gear operated rotating circular plate having perforation, at the base of the said hooper assembly; the said conveyor assembly consist of a chain seed carrying pins/fingers attached to the said conveyor chain for arresting the seed received from the said hooper assembly; the said conveyor channel having a vertical slot wider than the said seed carrying pins but smaller than the seed; the said hook assembly engages the seed received from the said conveyor channel and carries it to the holder assembly, the said holder assembly being provided with a contour holds the said seed in a particular position and carries it to the said blade assembly; the said blade assembly consists of two blades, the top blade and the bottom blade, the said blade provided with a vertical to and fro motion and the said top blade is given a twisting motion by means of a cam so as to cut and separate the seed in one motion. Dated this 15th Day of February, 2001 (M.D.BHATE) AGENT FOR APPLICANT 7

Documents:

130-mum-2000-cancelled pages(20-12-2004).pdf

130-mum-2000-claim(granted)-(20-12-2004).doc

130-mum-2000-claim(granted)-(20-12-2004).pdf

130-mum-2000-correspondence(18-12-2004).pdf

130-mum-2000-correspondence(ipo)-(18-12-2003).pdf

130-mum-2000-form 1(15-02-2000).pdf

130-mum-2000-form 19(06-08-2003).pdf

130-mum-2000-form 2(granted)-(20-12-2004).doc

130-mum-2000-form 2(granted)-(20-12-2004).pdf

130-mum-2000-form 3(07-08-2001).pdf

130-mum-2000-form 4(14-02-2007).pdf

130-mum-2000-form 5(23-02-2001).pdf

130-mum-2000-other document(06-01-2005).pdf

130-mum-2000-power of authority(15-02-2000).pdf