Title of Invention

A COCOUNT HUSKING TOOL

Abstract

A coconut husking tool with a stationary wedge, a movable wedge, a lever, and a pedestal having a base is described. The stationary wedge is mounted upright on a convenient pedestal having a base. Bottom of the movable wedge is hinged below the stationary wedge facilitating its opening and closing. The lever fixed nearly perpendicular to the movable wedge at its bottom provides the necessary mechanical advantage in husking. Self-weight of the lever forces the two wedges together forming a larger wedge. Holding the coconut with both the hands it is thrust onto the wedge piercing the husk at its pedicel end and parallel to its longitudinal axis. On pulling the lever upward a sector the husk is loosened off the husk. The operation is repeated for the other two or three sectors and the nut is retrieved. PRICE: THIRTY RUPEES.

Full Text

This invention relates to coconut husking implements and is directed more particularly to a manual coconut husking tool including pedestal, hinged wedge and lever elements connected together and mounted as a unit on a base. It is generally known in the art to provide a sharp wooden crowbar or an iron wedge like an axe, chopper or crowbar to facilitate coconut husking operation. The wooden crowbar is generally 10 cm wide and 3 cm thick with an elliptical transverse cross-section. It is often 60-75 cm long with both the ends sharpened like a chisel shaped wedge. The crowbar is thrust nearly 15 cm into the soil and made to stand erect with its husking end upright. In operation, a person holds the coconut in both the hands and thrust it onto the crowbar piercing its pedicel end. The coconut is twisted to one side thus loosening one sector of the husk from the nut. The coconut is withdrawn and the operation is repeated for removing the remaining 3 or 4 sectors of the husk. The nut or kernel is thus retrieved. The twisting of the coconut, after piercing, requires considerable effort. Steel crowbars of smaller cross-section than the wooden ones are also used in the same manner for husking. As twisting of the coconut for loosening the husk requires great force, majority of the women and a large number of men are deterred from using the crowbar for husking coconut. Cutting edge of either a chopper or an axe is also used for piercing the husk. These tools are then used like a small crowbar for twisting and opening the husk. As in the case of crowbar the twisting and loosening of the husk is hard and cumbersome. Further, the crowbars are suited for outdoor use only as it has to be struck into the ground to keep it upright. The use of chopper or axe for husking of coconut indoors is also not advisable as these may miss or slip off the coconut while striking and piercing and may hit the floor damaging the cutting edge of the tool and the floor. An object of the present invention is to provide a manual coconut husking tool, generally similar to the crowbar but improved thereover for deriving added mechanical advantage and ease of operation. With the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear, a feature of the present invention is the provision of a mechanical opening device comprising of a movable wedge member hinged to a similar but stationary wedge member, a lever member fixed to the said movable wedge facilitating its movement thereon and the said wedge members mounted on a convenient pedestal with a base for facilitating the coconut husking operation, both indoors and outdoors. After piercing the coconut with the wedge members the movable wedge member is moved or opened relative to the stationary wedge member, with the hinge and lever providing the added mechanical advantage, thus, making easier the husking operation compared to the existing tools and methods. The above and other features of the invention, including various novel details of construction and combination of parts, will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims. It will be understood that the particular coconut husking tool assembly embodying the invention is shown by way of illustration only and not as a limitation of the invention. The principles and features of this invention may be employed in various and numerous embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. Reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which is shown an illustrative embodiment of the invention from which its novel features and advantages will be apparent. In the drawings Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the coconut husking tool illustrative of an embodiment of the invention: Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the coconut husking tool illustrative of an embodiment of the invention: Fig. 3 is a top plan view thereof: Fig. 4 is a front elevation view thereof: Fig. 5 is a side elevation view thereof: DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the illustrated coconut husking tool includes a base 1, upon which is directly mounted a pedestal assembly 2 which upon it carries a wedge assembly 3 and a lever 4. The pedestal assembly 2 comprises of a base plate 5, two pedestal members 6, 7 and a pedestal cross-member 8. The wedge assembly 3 comprises of a stationary wedge 9, a movable wedge 10 and a hinge-joint 11 consisting of a hinge sleeve 12, hinge bolt 13, a spring washer 14 and a nut 15. All these components are assembled in a systematic order such that together it enables a person to remove the husk of a coconut with ease and convenience. The pedestal assembly 2 is mounted on the base 1 with the help of four wood screws 16. The bottom wall portion 17 of the base 1 engages the surface on which the coconut husking tool is kept. The pedestal assembly 2 is tightly fastened upright at the centre of the upper wall portion 18 of the base 1 by inserting the four wood screws 16, through matching countersunk holes 22 on the base plate 5 and screwing onto the base 1 through its four screw holes 19 so that the bottom wall portion 20 of the base plate 5 tightly engages the upper wall portion 18 of the base 1. The two pedestal members 6, 7 of the pedestal assembly 2 are integrally inter-cormected parallel to each other through the base plate 5, the pedestal cross-member 8 and the stationary wedge 9. Lower ends of the pedestal members 6, 7 are integrally attached to the upper wall portion 21 of the base plate 5 at its centre, thus integrally interconnecting the pedestal members 6, 7. The pedestal cross-member 8 integrally intercormects the pedestal members 6, 7 with its end wall portions 31,32 extending widthwise at the centre of the inner wall portions 23, 27 of the pedestal members 6, 7. Lower part of the end wall portions 36, 37 of the stationary wedge 9 integrally interconnects the upper part of the inner wall portions 23, 27 of the pedestal members 6, 7 in such a manner that the stationary wedge 9 stands upright with its inner wall portion 33 flushing with the end wall portions 25, 29 of the pedestal members 6, 7 as distinctly shown in Fig. 2. The bottom wall portion 35 of the stationary wedge 9 stands slightly above the hinge sleeve 12 to permit unobstructed oscillatory movement of the hinge sleeve 12. The stationary wedge 9, fixed on the pedestal assembly 2, is coupled to the movable wedge 10 through the hinge-joint 11 to form the wedge assembly 3. The length of the movable wedge 10 is slightly greater than the sum of the length of stationary wedge 9 and the outer diameter of hinge sleeve 12. The shape and other dimensions of the movable wedge 10 are the same as that of the stationary wedge 9. The hinge sleeve 12 is integrally so connected to the lower portion of the inner wall portion 41 of the movable wedge 10 that the sleeve's longitudinal axis is parallel to the bottom wall portion 43 of the movable wedge 10. In this arrangement the lower portion of the outer wall portion 46 of the hinge sleeve 12 is in level with the bottom wall portion 43 of the movable wedge 10. Length of the hinge sleeve 12 is so fixed that a loose fit is maintained between its two end wall portions 47, 48 and the inner wall portions 23, 27 of the pedestal members 6, 7. The end portion 50 of the lever 4 is integrally connected to the surface of the hinge sleeve 12 in such a manner that the longitudinal axis of the lever 4 is perpendicular to both the inner wall portion 41 of the movable wedge 10 and the longitudinal axis of the hinge sleeve 12. Further the bottom wall portion 52 of the lever 4 flushes with the lower portion of the hinge sleeve 12 as clearly shown in Fig. 4 & 5. Further, the lever 4 is located midway between the end wall portions 47, 48 of the hinge sleeve 12. The end portion 51 of the lever 4 is at an arm's distance from the pedestal assembly 2. The cutting point 38 and the cutting edge 39 are built upon the stationary wedge 9 and the movable wedge 10. Bevelled portion 40 are also simultaneously formed on the outer wall portion 34 of the stationary wedge 9 and the outer wall portion 42 of the movable wedge 10. When assembled the end wall portions 44, 45 of the movable wedge 10 flush with the corresponding end wall portions 36, 37 of the stationary wedge 9. In forming the hinge-joint 11 the hinge bolt 13 is inserted through the hole 26 of the pedestal member 6 from the side of its outer wall portion 24 and through the hinge hole 49 of the hinge sleeve 12 and extended further through the hole 30 of the pedestal member 7 emerges out at the outer wall portion 28 of the pedestal member 7. The spring washer 14 is slipped onto the hinge bolt 13 and the nut 15 is screwed onto the hinge bolt 13 to complete the hinge-joint 11. In its assembled form and in its normal resting position the stationary wedge 9 and the movable wedge 10 remain together, mostly due to the self-weight of the lever 4, and these combined act like a single larger wedge which is the said wedge assembly 3. In use the coconut husking tool is kept in such a manner that the bottom wall portion 17 of the base 1 engages a nearly horizontal rigid surface, preferably a floor or ground. Taking the coconut in both the hands the operator, by placing the feet on either side of the pedestal assembly 2 and on the upper wall portion 18 of the base I and assuming a convenient and stable posture, thrusts the coconut onto the aforesaid larger wedge formed by the stationary wedge 9 and the movable wedge 10 such that the cutting point 38, the cutting edge 39 and the bevelled portion 40 of both the wedges pierce the coconut parallel to its longitudinal axis and at its pedicel end. The operator's hand, on the side of the lever 4, is released from the coconut and the end portion 51 of the lever 4 is held by that hand. The lever 4 is then pulled upward through an arc causing a corresponding movement of the movable wedge 10. This movement forces a sector of the husk to be loosened from the nut, with ease. The piercing and subsequent operations are repeated two or three times by piercing at different locations on the remaining husk and removing the husk in sectors, until the nut/kernel is retrieved. This tool is easy to use and even women find it convenient. It is to be understood that the present invention is by no means limited to the particular construction herein disclosed and/or shown in the drawings, but also comprises any modification or equivalents within the scope of the disclosures. We claim : 1. A coconut husking tool comprising a pedestal, a stationary wedge, a movable wedge, a hinge, and a lever; said tool being such that: said pedestal is the means for supporting and keeping the means comprising said wedges, said hinge, and said lever, raised from the surface on which said tool in its normal operable-position rests, to facilitate the operation of said tool by an operator normally in the standing or stooping posture; said stationary wedge, projecting longitudinally above said pedestal and comprising a broad outer wall portion and a broad inner wall portion the upper ends of which are desirably bevelled and un-bevelled respectively, is attached uprightly on the upper portion of said pedestal; said movable wedge, congruously flanking said inner wall portion of said stationary wedge and pivotally coacting with said lever, is pivotally attached to said hinge positioned in the proximity of the lower end of said stationary wedge; said hinge, common to said movable wedge and said lever, is arranged on said upper portion of said pedestal; said lever is so connected to said movable wedge and said hinge as to make their combination substantially a two-arm angular lever or bell crank lever, so as to make said lever and said movable wedge pivotally swing in union about said hinge; said combination comprising said lever, said movable wedge, and said hinge, while in the normal upright rest-position of said tool, is so positioned on said pedestal that the whole or a substantial portion of said lever remains extended outwardly beyond the plane containing a substantial portion of said outer wall of said stationary wedge, and the whole or most part of said movable wedge remains positioned on the side corresponding to said inner wall portion of said stationary wedge; and both the said wedges, in the normal upright rest-position of said tool, are desirably in contact and thereby they remain juxtaposed uprightly and congruously on said pedestal because of principally the said relative positions of said wedges, said hinge, and said lever, and the larger moment about the longitudinal axis of said hinge due to the force or forces acting on said lever, preferably the self-weight of said lever. 2. A coconut husking tool as claimed in claim 1 in which said hinge, which remains common to said movable wedge and said lever, is incorporated in such a manner to pivotally move said movable wedge away from said stationary wedge for the pivotal movement of said lever towards said stationery wedge, and vice versa. 3. A coconut husking tool as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which the position of said stationary wedge is between the free ends of said lever and said movable wedge, for most part of the normal operation of said tool and also in its normal upright rest-position.

Documents:

1096-mas-95 others.pdf

1096-mas-95 abstract.jpg

1096-mas-95 abstract.pdf

1096-mas-95 claims.pdf

1096-mas-95 correspondence others.pdf

1096-mas-95 correspondence po.pdf

1096-mas-95 description (complete).pdf

1096-mas-95 drawings.pdf

1096-mas-95 form-1.pdf

1096-mas-95 form-29.pdf

1096-mas-95 form-4.pdf