Fluent material handling – with receiver or receiver coacting mea – Processes – With material treatment
Reexamination Certificate
2003-08-07
2004-12-07
Douglas, Steven O. (Department: 3751)
Fluent material handling, with receiver or receiver coacting mea
Processes
With material treatment
C141S071000, C425S572000, C425S574000, C425S575000, C425S556000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06827111
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to food processing machines, and more particularly to food processing machines capable of high production of individual food products for each cycle of a mold plate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of machines have been developed to form individual items of food products from a bulk supply of food material. For example, U.S. Reissue Pat. No. 30,096 describes a prior machine capable of producing individual patties from a bulk supply of ground meat. U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,241 shows a machine for making individual nuggets from whole muscle meat.
FIGS. 1 and 2
show in schematic form a typical prior machine
4
that processed bulk food material
6
into individual items
40
. The particular machine
4
was a Model F19 machine manufactured by Formax Company of Mokena, Ill. The Formax machine was highly successful in processing large quantities of bulk food material
6
into typical food items
40
such as poultry nuggets and beef patties.
The food material
6
was stored in a hopper
26
. The hopper
26
opened into a pump box
48
that had a top plate
22
. The top plate
22
had a back edge
24
and a front edge
70
. Inside the pump box
48
was a plunger
44
. The hopper, pump box, top plate, and plunger
44
were major and permanent components of the prior machine
4
. Changing any of those components was a major undertaking. Consequently, for practical purposes, the top plate back and front edges
24
and
70
, respectively, were permanently fixed on the machine.
The prior machine
4
further comprised a drive linkage
8
that included a slide plate
10
. The drive linkage
8
reciprocated the slide plate
10
in longitudinal directions
14
and
16
. The drive linkage
8
depicted in
FIGS. 1 and 2
represents a cam and follower mechanism that was standard equipment for the prior Formax machine. The cam and follower mechanism reciprocated the slide plate with a nine inch stroke. Like the machine pump box
48
and top plate
22
, it was difficult to change the stroke of the drive linkage. International Patent Publication Number WO 02/102166 A1 confirms the difficulty of changing the stroke length of the prior food processing machine.
Hinged to the slide plate
10
was a mold plate
12
. Accordingly, the mold plate
12
also reciprocated with a nine inch stroke. In the mold plate
12
were a number of cavities
38
. The cavities
38
could be of different shapes, such as round, elliptical, or irregular. The cavities were arranged in one or more rows transverse to the longitudinal directions
14
and
16
.
The mold plate
12
was located between a fill plate
20
and a breather plate
18
. The fill plate
20
was adjacent the pump box top plate
22
. The fill plate had one or more fill slots
36
through it. The fill plate
20
had a back edge
72
and a front edge
75
that were spaced approximately 12 inches apart. The breather plate
18
was spaced from the fill plate by a distance slightly greater that the thickness of the mold plate. The breather plate had back and front edges
77
and
79
, respectively, that were generally aligned with the fill plate back and front edges
72
and
75
.
The drive linkage
8
reciprocated the slide plate
10
and mold plate
12
between a fill position and an eject position. When the mold plate was in the fill position,
FIG. 1
, the cavities
38
were located so as to be in communication with the fill slot
36
in the fill plate
20
. At that point, the plunger
44
operated to pump food material
6
from the pump box
48
through an opening
76
in the top plate
22
, through the fill plate fill slot, and into the mold plate cavities. Air in the cavities was forced into small holes in the breather plate
18
and vented to the atmosphere. When the cavities were filled, the drive linkage reciprocated the mold plate to the eject position, FIG.
2
. At the eject position, the mold plate cavities were beyond the front edge
79
of the breather plate and the front edge
75
of the fill plate. A knockout mechanism
71
reciprocated in vertical directions
73
to eject the food product from the cavities in the form of individual items
40
.
In the prior machine
4
, there was a limited area of the mold plate
12
that could be used for the cavities
38
. That area, called the fill area, was determined by the maximum usable transverse width of the mold plate and by the longitudinal fill length. The fill length was the maximum longitudinal length of the mold plate that could be used for the cavities
38
and is shown as dimension X. The fill length X was limited by several factors, including the distance from the leading edges of the cavities closest to the fill plate front edge
75
when the mold plate was at the fill position, by the distance from the trailing edges of the cavities closest to the fill plate back edge
72
when the mold plate was at the fill position, and by the length of the stroke of the mold plate. In the prior machine, the fill length was approximately six inches, or 67 percent of the stroke length of nine inches. Consequently, one row of six inch diameter cavities was the maximum cavity size that could be incorporated into a prior mold plate. Another cavity pattern, as shown, was two rows of relatively small cavities having approximately two inch diameters.
Unlike the pump box
48
, top plate
22
, hopper
26
, and plunger
44
, the mold plate
12
, fill plate
20
, and breather plate
18
were rather easily installable into and removable from the machine
4
. In fact, a particular set of mold plate, fill plate, and breather plate was considered as a tooling set that was interchangeable within the machine with another tooling set of mold plate, fill plate, and breather plate to suit different items
40
and food material
6
. It was common practice to provide a machine with several tooling sets that were interchangeably installed and removed from the machine to suit the production requirements at hand.
The production of the prior machine
4
as measured by pounds of material per unit time was limited by the fill area of the mold plate
12
and by the operating speed. If the fill area was utilized to the maximum, the only way to increase the production of the prior machine was to increase its speed of operation. However, the operating speed was limited by vibrations and excessive wear.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,743 demonstrates a drive linkage for a mold plate of a food processing machine. The drive linkage of that patent included a hydraulic system that imparted a dwell time to the mold plate when the mold plate was at its fill and eject positions. The drive linkage enabled an input member to rotate continuously but allow proper filling and ejection of cavities in the mold plate. Although the drive linkage of the U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,743 patent worked quite well, it did have certain limitations. Most important, the drive linkage was limited to a mold plate stroke of about nine inches.
Thus, a need exists to upgrade the production capabilities of food processing machines.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, a food processing machine is provided that increases production without increasing machine operating speed. This is accomplished by converting a prior top fill food processing machine to increase its mold plate stroke and mold plate fill area.
The food processing machine of the invention may be conventional in several respects. A prior machine suitable for converting is a Formax F19 machine. The prior machine comprises a frame, a hopper that holds a quantity of bulk food material, a pump box, and a top plate that is part of the pump box. The hopper, pump box, and top plate are utilized without change in the present invention. Accordingly, the dimensional relationships between the foregoing components do not change.
Increasing the mold plate fill length is achieved through the cooperation of two major structural components that are changed from the prior machine: tooling and a drive mechanism. The tooling of the
Payne Richard A.
Tournour Robert
Cayen Donald
Douglas Steven O.
Tomahawk Manufacturing, Inc.
LandOfFree
Food processing machine with increased mold plate fill area... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Food processing machine with increased mold plate fill area..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Food processing machine with increased mold plate fill area... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3307683