Methods For Extracting Essential Oils, Terpenes, Terpenoids And Other Organic Matter From Plants; And Related Systems And Devices

Abstract

A method for extracting resins and oils from a plant includes: 1) tumbling, inside a container at a temperature of at most 50 degrees Fahrenheit with a tumbler, plant fibers having one or more portions that contain resins and/or oils; 2) colliding the tumbler with the plant fibers to release the one or more portions that contain resins and/or oils from the remainder of the plant fibers; and 3) segregating the one or more portions that contain resins and/or oils from the remainder of the plant fibers.

1 . A method for extracting resins and oils from a plant in the  Humulus  genus; the method comprising:
 tumbling together, inside a container, one or more tumblers and plant parts containing plant fibers, wherein the container has a temperature of at most 50 degrees Fahrenheit and wherein the one or more tumblers ae loose inside the container such that the tumbling motion of the one or more tumbler inside the container is random;   colliding the one or more tumblers with plant parts to separate one or more portions that contain resins and/or oils from the remainder of the plant fibers; and   segregating the one or more portions that contain resins and/or oils from the remainder of the plant fibers.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the temperature inside the container is 34 degrees Fahrenheit. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the tumbler includes CO 2  in the solid phase. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the tumbler includes fifty individual tumblers each separate from all the others. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plant fibers include lavender. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plant fibers include hops. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the portions of the hops that contain resins and oils include lupulin glands of the hops. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein colliding the tumbler with a plant fiber includes the tumbler falling onto the plant fiber. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein colliding the tumbler with the plant fibers includes the tumbler forcing a plant fiber against the container's side. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein segregating the one or more portions that contain resins and oils from the remainder of the plant fibers, includes filtering the portions from the remainder of the plant fibers with a screen that forms part of a wall of the container and has a mesh that is sized to allow material having a size that is smaller than a predetermined size to pass through the screen and into a receptacle while preventing material having a size that is larger than the predetermined size from passing through the screen. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising repeating the tumbling, colliding and segregating steps after the first segregating step is complete. 
     
     
         12 .- 17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . A method for extracting resins and oils from a plant  Humulus  genus; the method comprising:
 tumbling together, inside a container, one or more tumblers and plant parts containing plant fibers, wherein the container has an atmosphere that does not include ultraviolet light, and wherein the one or more tumblers are loose inside the container such that the tumbling motion of the one or more tumblers inside the container is random;   colliding the one or more tumblers with plant parts to separate one or more portions that contain resins and/or oils from the remainder of the plant fibers; and   segregating the one or more portions that contain resins and/or oils from the remainder of the plant fibers.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the atmosphere also includes CO 2 . 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the tumbler includes CO 2  in the solid phase and the atmosphere also includes the CO 2  gas generated as the CO 2  in the solid phase sublimates. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the plant fibers include hops. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the portions of the hops that contain resins and oils include lupulin glands of the hops. 
     
     
         23 . A device to extract resins and oils from a plant, the device comprising:
 a container having a body that defines a cavity and is operable to hold inside the cavity:
 plant fibers having one or more portions that contain resins and/or oils, and 
 a tumbler, 
   the body having:
 a first region that defines an opening through which the cavity may be accessed, and 
 a second region; 
   a chassis coupled to the container and operable to support the container while the container rotates about an axis;   a motor operable to rotate the body about the axis; and   a component operable to cool the cavity of the container's body such that:
 when the body holds the plant fibers and the tumbler inside the cavity, and 
 the motor rotates the body to tumble the plant fibers with the tumbler, 
   the plant fibers are cooled to at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit.   
     
     
         24 . The device of  claim 23  wherein the component operable to cool the cavity includes the tumbler. 
     
     
         25 . The device of  claim 23  wherein the component includes chunks of CO 2  in the solid phase disposed in the cavity of the container's body that cool the cavity as they sublimate and that collide with the plant fibers to separate the one or more portions of the fibers that contain resins and/or oils from the remainder of the plant fibers. 
     
     
         26 . The device of  claim 23  wherein the component cools the plant fibers to 34 degrees Fahrenheit. 
     
     
         27 . The device of  claim 23  wherein:
 the chassis includes a receptacle that releasably holds the container, and 
 the motor rotates the container by rotating the receptacle. 
 
     
     
         28 . The device of  claim 27  wherein the second region of the container includes a screen having a mesh sized to allow material having a size that is smaller than a predetermined size to pass through the screen and contact the receptacle while preventing material having a size that is larger than the predetermined size from passing through the screen. 
     
     
         29 . The device of  claim 27  wherein:
 the container includes a lid operable to cover the opening of the body and configured to seal the body's cavity from the ambient environment when the lid covers the opening; and 
 the receptacle includes a seal configured to seal the inside of the receptacle from the ambient environment when the receptacle holds the container.