Shell breaking device

Abstract

The present invention provides a shell breaking device (100) that facilitates easy and even breaking the hard shells of the fruit / nuts (60) without any injury in less effort. The device (100) includes a rod (40) passing through a frame (10), the rod (40) moves in linear direction to apply pressure on a hard-shell fruit. A holding bush (45) is 5 attached at a bottom end of the screw (40). A blade (50) is fixed to the frame (10) in axial linear configuration with the holding bush (45). The hard-shell fruit (60) for breaking the shell in halves is placed between the holding bush (45) and the blade (50).

Description

[0001] SHELL BREAKING DEVICE

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The present invention relates to hard-shelled fruit cracking devices and more particularly, to a shell breaking device for fruits having hard shells.

[0004] BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0005] A traditional way of breaking the hard-shelled fruits like a coconut or nuts like a walnut is quite difficult and tedious task. Commonly, the household techniques used for breaking the shell of hard-shelled fruits include the use of hammer, metal tools or rock. However, these techniques are unsafe and can cause injury to the user. Moreover, the traditional technique of breaking a hard-shelled fruit such as coconut demands the user to impart a considerable amount of striking force with good precision to break the shell of the coconut without spillage of water contained therein. Further, the traditional techniques of using hammers and metal tools may cause damage to surfaces, such as for example a floor surface, on which such activities are being performed. Moreover, the technique of breaking the shell into two identical halves is always a challenging and skillful task.

[0006] The devices available in the current state of art fail to be reliable and safe especially for female users as they demands the user to impart a considerable amount of striking force. Further, such devices do not guarantee cracking of the shell into two identical halves.

[0007] Accordingly, there is a need for a shell breaking device which can be effortlessly used for breaking hard-shelled fruits evenly and with minimum efforts.

[0008] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The present invention provides a shell breaking device for breaking a hard-shell fruit. The device includes a frame, a rod having a holding bush passing through the frame; and a blade fixed to the frame in axial linear configuration with the holding bush. Said blade has at least one first projections that includes an opposed pair of first sharp-edged arm having a first gap therebetween. The first sharp-edged arms have a first pointed ends at least at inner sides thereof to hold and make a hole to the hardshell fruit by the first pointed ends and break the hard shell into two halves with the first sharp-edged arm on application of pressure by the rod on the hard-shell fruit. The first sharp-edged arms are placed between an opposed pair of second projections having second sharp-edged ar. The second sharp-edged arm has wider width than the first sharp-edged arms. Each sharp-edged arm of the first projection has a second gap with arm of the consecutive second sharp-edged arm. The ratio of the first gap and the second gap is approximately 3:1. The ratio of depth of the first projections to the total height of the blade is approximately 1 :4. The ratio of depth of the second projection to the total height of the blade is approximately 1:4.

[0010] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front view of a shell breaking device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 illustrates an perspective exploded view of the device of FIG. 1;

[0011] FIG. 3A illustrates perspective view of a blade plate of the shell breaking device of the present invention;

[0012] FIG. 3B illustrates front view of a blade plate of FIG. 3 A;

[0013] FIG. 4A and 4B illustrates perspective and side view of a holding bush respectively of the device of FIG. 1;

[0014] FIG. 5 illustrates a shell breaking device of FIG. 1 with a shell fruit placed therein; and FIG.6 illustrates placement of hard-shell fruit on the device of FIG. 1.

[0015] DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] Although specific terms are used in the following description for sake of clarity, these terms are intended to refer only to particular structure of the invention selected for illustration in the drawings, and are not intended to define or limit the scope of the invention.

[0017] In general aspect, the present invention provides a shell breaking device that facilitates easy and even breaking the hard shells of the fruit / nuts without any injury in less effort.

[0018] The present invention is illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings, throughout which reference numbers indicate corresponding parts in the various figures.

[0019] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a shell breaking device (100) in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The device (100) includes a frame (10) supported by a stand (20). In accordance with an embodiment, the frame (10) is two symmetrical halves (10A, 1 OB) are connected to each other by using connecting means (12) such as screws or rivets. However, it is understood here that the frame may have an arc shape / “C” shape in another embodiments.

[0020] In accordance with an embodiment, the frame (10) has a housing (15) formed at top portion of the frame (10). The housing (15) is configured to receive a screw (40) that passes through the housing (15) to move in linear direction within an opening defined on the frame (10). It is understood here that the rod (40) may have a threaded connection with an inner portion of the housing (15). The rod (40) may also positioned with suitable clearance with the inner portion of the housing (15) and outer profile of the rod (40). It is understood here that size of the frame (10) is suitable for placement of large size of hard-shell fruit such as coconut. In accordance with an embodiment, the diameter of the frame is approximately 140 mm. However, the size of frame (10) may be varied as per the requirement of the size of the hard-shell fruit.

[0021] Referring to FIG. 2 to 4B, the rod (40) has a top end equipped with a handle (30). The rod (40) has a bottom end provided with a holding bush (45). In this embodiment, the holding bush (45) is connected to the rod (40) by a rod bush (42) and a fastener (44). In another embodiments, the holding bush (45) may be connected with the rod (40) by any other suitable connecting means and techniques. The holding bush (45) holds the hard-shell fruit, and the rod (40) is rotated by the user to apply force of the shell (60) during operation. In accordance with an embodiment, the holding bush (45) has a circular profile having co-linear slots (46) configured therein for holding the hardshell fruit (60). In accordance with an embodiment, the ration of depth of the slot (46) to the diameter of the holding bush (45) is 1:5. The ratio of depth of the slot (46) to the total height of the holding bush (45) is approximately 1 :4.

[0022] In accordance with an embodiment, a blade (50) is fixed to the frame (10) by using suitable connecting elements (25). It is to be noted here that the blade (50) is positioned axially linear with the holding bush (45) maintaining a predefined distance between the holding bush (45) and the blade (50). In another embodiment, the blade (50) may be positioned on side portions of the frame (10) in linear configuration with the holding bush (45).

[0023] The blade (50) has at least one first projection (54) that includes an opposed pair of first sharp-edged arm (54A, 54B) having a first gap (B) therebetween. The first sharp-edged arms (54A, 54B) have a first pointed ends (54AA, 54BB) at least at inner sides thereof to hold and make a hole to the hard-shell fruit (60) by the first pointed ends (54AA, 54BB) and break the hard shell (60) into two halves with the first sharp-edged arm (54A, 54B) on application of pressure by the rod (40) on the hard-shell fruit (60).

[0024] In this embodiment, referring to FIGS. 3 A and 3B, the blade (50) has a predefined configuration of the plurality of projections (52, 54). In accordance with an embodiment, the ratio of depth of the projections (52, 54) to the total height of the blade (50) is approximately 1 :4. A first projection (54) includes an opposed pair of first sharp edge (54A, 54B). A second projection (52) includes an opposed pair of second sharp edge (52A, 52B). The second sharp edges (52A, 52B) have wider width than that of the first projection (54A, 54B). In accordance with an embodiment, the width of the second projection (D) is approximately half of the width of the first projection (C).

[0025] The first projection (54) includes first sharp-edged arms (54A, 54B) having first pointed ends (54AA, 54BB) at inner side of the edge (54A, 54B) respectively. The second projection (52) includes second sharp-edged arms (52A, 52B) having second pointed ends (52AA, 52BB) at inner side of the edge (52A, 52B) respectively. The two sharp edged arms (54A, 54B) of first projection (54) are placed between the two sharp edged arms (54A, 52B) of second projections (52).

[0026] In accordance with an embodiment, the first sharp-edged arm (54A, 54B) have a first gap (B) therebetween. The second gap (A) is the gap between each sharp-edged arm (54A, 54B) of the first projection (54) and the consecutive sharp-edged arm (52A, 52B) of the second projection (52). The first gap (B) is greater than a second gap (A). In accordance with an embodiment, the ratio of the first gap (B) to the second gap (A) is approximately 3:1. The first gap (B) facilitates holding the hard-shell fruit (60) between the holding bush (45) and the blade (50). The length of the first gap (B) is defined such as holding and breaking the hard-shell fruit of diameter + / - 20 mm of standard size of 120 mm.

[0027] In operation, referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, a hard-shell fruit / nut (60) is placed between the blade (50) and the holding bush (45). In the next step, the handle (30) is operated such that the fruit / nut is held positioned between the blade (50) and the holding bush (45). As the user further operates the handle (30) of the rod (40), the rod (40) moves in linear direction towards the blade (50) and applies pressure on the shell (60). The first pointed ends (54AA, 54BB) of sharp-edged arms (54A, 54B) of the first projection (54) apply the point pressure on the portion of the shells (60) in contact with the sharp-edged arms (54A, 54B) as shown in FIG. 6 (A) that makes hole at the point of contact and the first sharp-edged arms (54A, 54B) break the shell into two halves. Referring to FIG. 6 (B), in case the hard-shell fruit (60) is of bigger size, the portion of the shell (60) further comes in contact with second pointed ends (52AA, 52BB) configured at least on inner side of the second sharp-edged arms (52A, 52B) respectively. The second pointed ends (52AA, 52BB) apply pressure on the portion of the shells (60) in contact that makes hole at the point of contacts, and second pointed ends (52AA, 52BB) break it into two halves. The device (100) of the present invention facilitates breaking of the shell (60) in minimum efforts and in even halves.

[0028] In alternative embodiments, the pressure is applied on the rod (40) automatically by using electro-mechanical or pneumatic mechanisms to move the rod (40) in liner direction.

[0029] The embodiments of the invention shown and discussed herein are merely illustrative of modes of application of the present invention. Reference to details in this discussion is not intended to limit the scope of the claims to these details, or to the figures used to illustrate the invention.

[0030] It is understood that various omission and substitutions of equivalents are contemplated as circumstance may suggest or render expedient, but such are intended to cover the application or implementation without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

Claims :

1. A shell breaking device (100) for breaking a hard-shell fruit (60), the device (100) comprising:a frame (10);a rod (40) having a holding bush (40) passing through the frame (10); and a blade (50) fixed to the frame (10) in axial linear configuration with the holding bush (45), said blade (50) has at least one first projections (54) that includes an opposed pair of first sharp-edged arm (54A, 54B) having a first gap (B) therebetween, the first sharp-edged arms (54A, 54B) have a first pointed ends (54AA, 54BB) at least at inner sides thereof to hold and make a hole to the hard-shell fruit (60) by the first pointed ends (54AA, 54BB) and break the hard shell (60) into two halves with the first sharp-edged arm (54A, 54B) on application of pressure by the rod (40) on the hard-shell fruit (60).

2. The shell breaking device (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first sharp- edged arms (54A, 54B) are placed between an opposed pair of second projections (52) having second sharp-edged arm (52A, 52B).

3. The shell breaking device (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the second sharp-edged arm (52A, 52B) has wider width than the first sharp-edged arms (54A, 54B).

4. The shell breaking device (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein each sharp- edged arm (54A, 54B) of the first projection (54) has a second gap (A) with arm of the consecutive second sharp-edged arm (52A, 52B).

5. The shell breaking device (100) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the ratio of the first gap (B) and the second gap (A) is approximately 3:1.

6. The shell breaking device (100), as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ratio of depth of the first projections (54) to the total height of the blade (50) is approximately 1:4.

7. The shell breaking device (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the ratio of depth of the second projection (52) to the total height of the blade (50) is approximately 1:4.

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