Presses – Concurrent pressing and conveying – Roll type
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-08
2001-07-10
Gerrity, Stephen F. (Department: 3721)
Presses
Concurrent pressing and conveying
Roll type
C099S349000, C100S168000, C100S172000, C100S173000, C100S176000, C100S910000, C452S142000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06257132
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates to a meat preparing device, and in particular to a method and apparatus for progressively flattening meat or pressing two or more meats together to become one piece, changing or controlling the shape of the product, repairing holes in damaged product, and displacing a thick portion of meat into a thin portion making consistent thickness throughout. It also relates to making a coarse texture on a product, allowing a greater percentage of bread and batter to adhere to product, and making meat more tender by breaking down muscle fiber.
The meat includes veal, poultry, beef, pork, lamb, goat, buffalo, horse, ostrich, venison, fish fillets and various other meats. This machine has two vertical stacked rows of rollers wherein the two stacks are parallel to one another and the meats are passed through the space between the rows.
BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART
Basic techniques for preparing meat have generally required butchers and food preparers to handle the meat with their hands. Such handling has inherent sanitation problems and the like. Furthermore, such physical handling does not result in a uniform flatness which can be necessary in order to allow for the meat to have a consistent cooking time for all areas of the meat allowing the meat to be cooked evenly, and a final aesthetic plate appearance. Similar problems exist for preparing chicken, veal, beef, pork, lamb, goat, buffalo, and venison, fish fillets, horse, ostrich and various other meats.
Several patents have attempted to tenderize meat in rolling machines but still do not overcome the problems presented above. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 2,135,960 to Campbell; U.S. Pat. No. 2,243,492 to Wilson; U.S. Pat. No. 2,718,028 to Read et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,716,893 to Vogelsang; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,893 to Charron. The tenderizer type machines pierce and penetrate meat and further cause the meat to be chopped up into separate pieces. None of the prior art overcomes the problems presented above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The first objective of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for preparing meat having less contamination and sanitation problems than physical handling. The second object of this invention is to knit or weave two or more pieces of meat together, turning them into one piece of meat. The roller grooves and pressure from rollers will mesh the muscle fibers together without the appearance of being more than one piece. This method can be used for marketing miscuts of meat or small pieces of meat into cutlets. The third object of this invention is to relocate a thicker section of meat into a thinner section of meat, insuring uniform thickness throughout. This method is accomplished by feeding the thicker end of a cutlet into the machine first. The grooves on the rollers and pressure on rollers will break down a thick section of meat and displace it into the thinner section of meat without a radical thickness reduction which results in a faster cooking time and allowing all the meat to be evenly cooked resulting in a more tender and juicy piece of meat. A fourth object of this invention is to control or change the shape of the product by folding the meat over until the proper shape is desired. The grooves on the rollers and pressure on the rollers will reduce the thickness of the folded product and mesh the muscle fibers together resulting in the prepared meat having a better plate appearance. The fifth object of this invention is to repair any holes or imperfections in the product. The product may be over-lapped where the hole or imperfection is and when run through the machine the roller grooves and roller pressure gently mesh muscle fibers together without any indication of imperfection. A sixth object of the invention is to allow bread and batter to better adhere to the product and allow a greater breading percentage on the product. The bottom set of rollers closest to the second conveyor can be replaced with a more textured roller. This roller leaves more deep grooves in the product as the product exits the machine. The seventh object is to break down muscle meat fiber causing the cutlet to become flat, unlike squeezing or stretching method. This method will allow the cutlet to stay flat while cooking. The eighth object is to make meat more tender, this being achieved when muscle fiber is broken down.
A preferred embodiment includes an apparatus and method for preparing meat such as beef, pork, lamb, goat, buffalo, venison, poultry, fish, horse, ostrich and various other meats without piercing or shredding the meat which includes a first conveyor belt for feeding the meat into the apparatus which includes a scraper at the end where meat is discharged into rollers, a feeder slide plate which helps guide the meat into the rollers insuring firm or thick pieces of meat do not extend behind the rear stack of rollers, a first row of stacked stainless steel rollers, a second row of stacked stainless steel rollers spaced from the first row of stacked rollers, and a second conveyor belt for retrieving the flattened meat. The second conveyor belt has a finisher roller that is powered by the same motor as the rollers and conveyors This roller presses the meat against the second conveyor belt reducing the thickness and removing any coarse texture in the product. The finisher roller has screw shafts with numbers allowing the finisher roller to adjust up or down to apply pressure on the product. The finisher roller has a scraper making sure that meat does not stick to the finisher roller. After the meat passes under the finisher roller the scraper on the second conveyor insures accurate discharge of product. Each roller has non-sharpened outer edges and each set of rollers has numbers to enable matching the numbers on rollers with the numbers on the frame. The rollers are supported in an aluminum or stainless steel frame and have four elongated, numbered screw shafts that each attaches a corner of the first row of stacked rollers to a corresponding corner of the second row of stacked rollers. The numbered screw shafts adjust the spacing between the first row of stacked rollers and the second row of stacked rollers to form a substantially V-cross-sectional shape. Each stack of rollers includes at least two rollers and preferably six or more rollers stacked on top of one another. Each roller has rows of generally triangular shaped raised ridges parallel to each roller axis with each triangular ridge having non-sharpened edges. The diameter of the rollers varies from top to bottom with the top rollers being of generally larger diameter than the bottom rollers. Some textured meats will require rollers to be generally smaller in diameter at the top and a larger diameter at the bottom. Likewise, the depth of the grooves between the triangular ridges varies from top to bottom with the top rollers having generally greater groove depth than the bottom rollers. The groove depth ranges generally from between ¼ inch deep to {fraction (1/64)} inch deep. The last set of rollers closest to the second conveyor has smooth slots cut in them allowing finger wipers to make contact on a smooth surface. This will allow meat to discharge onto the second conveyor without sticking to the bottom set of rollers. The frame includes an external cover, an external start and stop switch for activating a removable electric motor in the frame, and a bump guard bar on the cover protecting the external switch from being accidentally activated. A safety switch can activate the start/stop switch only when the cover is on the frame and when the top conveyor is installed into position.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment which is illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: Re. 10965 (1888-10-01), Oliver
patent: 320848 (1885-06-01), Cathcart
patent: 1691361 (1928-11-01), Roberts
patent: 2135960 (1938-11-01), Campbell
patent: 2243492 (1941-05-01), Wilson
patent: 2718028 (1955-09-
Gerrity Stephen F.
Oltman Flynn & Kubler
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