Importance

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Abstract

A high production nutcracking apparatus wherein the nuts are fed from a hopper on a feed conveyor which has an upwardly inclined segment which passes through the hopper, a horizontal segment which leads to the cracking apparatus, and an arcuate transition juncture which is between the two segments. The nuts are received in nut transport elements of the feed conveyor, and they are singularized and oriented while being advanced by means of a deflecting plate which overlies the feed conveyor from a point along the upwardly inclined segment, along the transition juncture, and to a delivery point where the nuts are lifted from the conveyor by a cracking turret. The downstream end portion of the deflecting plate comprises an elastomeric flap, which is highly flexible and relatively soft and which engages the advancing nuts with a frictional force sufficient to roll the nuts about their end to end axes and thereby properly orient the nuts in the nut transport elements. The elevation of the feed conveyor relative to the cracking turret can be adjusted to accommodate nuts of different sizes.

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First Claim