Food product breading device

Details Food product breading device Food product breading device

2000-10-19

2001-06-12

Simone, Timothy F. (Department: 1761)

Foods and beverages: apparatus

Means to treat food

By stuffing or applying particulate material

C099S516000, C099S352000, C099S407000, C118S013000, C118S016000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06244170

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to food product breading machines and more particularly to food product breading machines that are used to coat flaccid products with particulate breading materials.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Flaccid food products, such as fish filets and chicken tenders, and delicate, frangible products, like croquettes, are typically breaded and fried for consumption by restaurant customers. These products, together with other foods that are fried, are frequently produced and consumed in volumes sufficient to justify in-restaurant use of machinery that batters and then coats the products with particulate breading material.
The prior art machinery used for breading food products functioned for both relatively rigid products, like bone-in chicken parts, onion rings, etc., and the noted flaccid products. The machines in question utilized open mesh wire conveyor belts that carried the products through the machinery. The machines often comprised a battering unit, where the products were coated with a fluent batter, and a breading unit where breading was applied to the product and adhered to the batter coating. The battering units had a conveyor belt that delivered battered products to a breading unit conveyor belt before the breading was applied.
Machines have been constructed with the battering unit supported vertically above the breading unit. The battering and breading units were oriented so that a single attendant, at one end of the machine, could load items into the battering unit and receive the items, breaded, from the breading unit. This was a particularly effective way to bread food products to order, as the attendant could load the number of items constituting an order into the machine, receive the breaded items and fry them at once. The superposed battering and breading units also provided a small “footprint” that minimized the space occupied by the machine.
These machines were not without drawbacks. The unit conveyors were spaced vertically apart and configured so that battered items dropped from one conveyor to the other. Flaccid and frangible products, like fish filets, chicken tenders, and croquettes, presented problems. Flaccid products were often folded or heaped on the breading unit conveyor when breading was applied. Consequently, some flaccid products were only partially breaded while others were unevenly coated. Frangible products were sometimes broken up when dropped from one conveyor to the other. Relatively rigid products were more effectively handled although they sometimes landed roughly on the breading unit conveyor material and the impacts sometimes created clouds of breading and spillage.
The battering and breading machine that is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,356 overcame the handling problems associated with flaccid and frangible food items, as well as rough handling of dimensionally stable items, by locating the battering unit laterally spaced from and in-line with the breading unit. The battering unit conveyor was positionable adjacent the breading unit conveyor so that flaccid and frangible items were handed-off to the breading conveyor without folding, heaping, or breaking up. The machine had a relatively large foot print and required the attendant to load items into the end of the machine that was opposite from the discharge end. This required sufficient floor space for the attendant to move around the machine from one end to the other.
Another problem with the prior art breading units was that after breading material was applied, the food products often carried breading material that was either loose, or only weakly adhered to the product. Food products carrying such breading were delivered from the breading units ans placed in fryers where the breading was dislodged. This material was sometimes later be adhered to food products during frying, creating unappealing appearance and flavor.
Unloading breading material from prior art breading machines has sometimes been difficult. Some prior art machines were constructed in such a way that the entire breading reservoir had to be physically removed from the machine in order to dump the breading material. Some reservoirs were equipped with trap doors that allowed breading material to fall from the reservoir while others utilized panels that were moved into position under conveyors so that the breading could be conveyed along and discharged from the machines at a discharge location. The prior art machines were constructed for discharging breading material from machines that had particular architectures. For example, where the machines had a distinct reservoir that was located at an elevated location trap doors enabled dumped breading to be collected under the reservoir. Where the under-conveyor panels were used, the machines had a discharge location for food products that also served as the discharge location for the breading material.
The present invention provides a new and improved food product breading machine that reliably conveys flaccid and frangible food products to a breading station without folding, heaping or breakage, handles breaded food products in such a way that loose or weakly adhered breading is removed before the products are delivered from the machine, and also unloads breading material from the machine breading reservoir at a location spaced from the bottom of the reservoir and remote from the food product discharge location.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to a disclosed embodiment of the invention a food product breading machine is provided wherein a breading unit for applying particulate breading to the food product has a breading reservoir having a base section containing unused breading, a food product breading station located above the level of the reservoir base, and a conveyor system for conveying food products and breading to the breading station and discharging breaded food products from the unit. The conveyor system comprises an upper conveyor run for conveying food products and breading through the breading station, a lower conveyor run for discharging breaded food products from the unit, and a recycling run for conveying unused breading from the reservoir base section to the upper run. The lower run is located below the level of the upper run and above the level of the reservoir base section so that breaded food products from the upper run drop onto the lower run and are discharged from the unit by the lower run.
The illustrated embodiment also features a battering unit, for applying a fluent batter to the food product that comprises a batter reservoir and a battering unit conveyor system for delivering food products from the batter reservoir. The battering unit is supported above the breading unit with the battering unit conveyor system having a discharge section that propels the food products in a first generally horizontal direction from the battering unit reservoir. Food products are delivered from the discharge section to the breading unit conveyor system. The breading unit conveyor system propels food products toward the breading station in a second direction that is generally opposite to the first direction. The breading unit conveyor system has a product receiving conveyor section that is located adjacent and below the distal end of the battering unit conveyor, vertically above the level of the breading station, and horizontally spaced from the breading station so that food products received by the breading unit conveyor system are conveyed downwardly and horizontally to the breading station.
In the disclosed embodiment of the invention the breading unit conveyor system comprises first and second food product conveyors sections, the first conveyor section located adjacent and below the distal end, and the second food product conveyor section located below the first conveyor section for delivering food products from the first conveyor to the breading station. The projecting battering conveyor system end is closely adjacent the first conveyor section so that food products transferring from the battering unit conveyor

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