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US 10,330,402 B1Granted
Rocker chiller with baffle assembly
AssigneeMorris & Associates, Inc.
InventorsTerry A. Wright, John P. Shell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A rocker chiller includes a chilling tank and a baffle assembly. The baffle assembly includes a drive shaft, a baffle blade extending along a bottom of the tank and a plurality of spaced-apart and elongate baffle members extending in a radial direction from the drive shaft towards the bottom of the tank. The elongate baffle members contact the drive shaft at spaced-apart locations along the drive shaft and define a plurality of openings therebetween. The elongate baffle members are sized and shaped to push at least a majority of the carcasses laterally through the heat exchanging liquid in a direction generally orthogonal to a lengthwise forward movement of the carcasses from the first end of the tank to the second end of the tank.
Claims11
A rocker chiller, comprising:
- a chilling tank having first and second opposing sides and first and second opposing ends spaced apart at a greater distance relative to a spacing between the first and second opposing sides, said tank including a curved bottom portion configured to hold heat-exchanging liquid at a liquid level in said tank and for receiving a product to be chilled in the heat-exchanging liquid in said tank;
- a baffle assembly comprising a drive shaft having a longitudinal axis about which said baffle assembly may be at least partially rotated, and at least one baffle blade extending at least partially along a length of and closely spaced to said curved bottom portion of said tank, said drive shaft connected to a first of the at least one baffle blade by at least two support arms distributed along the length of the first baffle blade, which extend from the drive shaft to the first baffle blade;
- and
- power means for oscillating said baffle assembly side-to-side about said longitudinal axis;
- wherein said baffle assembly further comprises at least one elongate baffle member extending between an adjacent pair of support arms and attached to the support arms between the drive shaft and the first baffle blade, said at least one elongate baffle member being sized and shaped to push a plurality of the product laterally through the heat exchanging liquid in a direction generally orthogonal to said longitudinal axis;
- and
- wherein a plurality of openings between the at least one elongate baffle member and the first baffle blade or the drive shaft or other elongated baffle members are sized and shaped to enable passage of the heat-exchanging liquid therethrough as the baffle assembly oscillates back-and-forth through the heat-exchanging liquid.
4 more elements
A rocker chiller, comprising:
- a chilling tank having first and second opposing sides and first and second opposing ends spaced apart at a greater distance relative to a spacing between the first and second opposing sides, said tank including a curved bottom portion configured to hold heat-exchanging liquid at a liquid level in said tank and for receiving carcasses in the heat-exchanging liquid in said tank;
- a baffle assembly comprising a drive shaft having a longitudinal axis about which said baffle assembly may be at least partially rotated, and at least one baffle blade extending at least partially along a length of said curved bottom portion of said tank and parallel to said drive shaft, said drive shaft connected to a first of the at least one baffle blade by a first pair of support arms, which extend adjacent first and second opposing ends of the first baffle blade;
- and
- power means for oscillating each of said at least one elongated baffle blade side-to-side in a corresponding arc along said curved bottom portion of said tank;
- wherein said baffle assembly further comprises a plurality of spaced-apart and elongate baffle members extending in parallel between the first pair of support arms and in parallel to the first baffle blade, said plurality of spaced-apart and elongate baffle members being sized and shaped to push a plurality of the carcasses laterally through the heat exchanging liquid in a direction generally orthogonal to a lengthwise forward movement of the carcasses from the first end of said tank to the second end of said tank;
- and
- wherein a plurality of openings between the plurality of spaced-apart and elongate baffle members are sized and shaped to enable passage of the heat-exchanging liquid therethrough as the plurality of spaced-apart and elongate baffle members and the first baffle blade oscillate back-and-forth in respective arcs through the heat-exchanging liquid.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.