Designing a Constant Deformation Macadamia Nut Cracker
ABSTRACT COMPRESSING nuts (in shell) to a constant deforma-tion is the most popular means of cracking nut shells for kernel extraction. The magnitude of deformation is controlled by the difference between the size of the nut and the clearance between two compression or cracking edges. A tapered clearance was found to be capable of compressing nuts of all sizes to the same deformation provided the orientation of sized nuts can be controlled. Nut moisture was also found strongly influencing the performance of the cracker. This paper discusses how sizing and cracking actions were integrated into one mechanical device to maintain desirable nut orientation for exact deformation control. The development and use of performance functions for nut cracker operation is also discussed.