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US 12,059,020 B1Granted
Method and apparatus for induction heated extrusion horn with conveyor
AssigneeTyson Foods, Inc.
InventorsKent Michael Bearson, Dejing Fu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for an extrusion horn including an inner compression chamber having an interior channel extending from an open infeed port to an open exit port, where a top inner surface of the interior channel progressively tapers down with an initial slope having an initial downward taper to a target thickness, then top inner surface abruptly steps to an increased thickness of the channel, and then progressively tapers down with a secondary slope where the secondary slope has a steeper downward taper than the slope of the initial downward taper. An apparatus and method for extruding extrudate through an extruding horn conducive for producing bacon bits and jerky.
Claims23
An extrusion horn comprising:
- an upper cooking plate having an upper interior cooking surface and a lower cooking plate having a lower interior cooking surface, where the upper interior cooking surface and the lower interior cooking surface face each other, and where said upper interior cooking surface is proximately spaced apart from the lower interior cooking surface with a spacing, thereby forming a lengthwise interior extrusion channel having an entry opening and an exit opening;
- a conveyor having an upper endless conveyor belt and a lower endless conveyor belt, where one of an upper run of the lower endless conveyor belt and a lower run of the upper endless conveyor belt extends lengthwise through the lengthwise interior extrusion channel and conveys through the lengthwise interior extrusion channel,
- where one of a lower run of the lower endless conveyor belt and an upper run of the upper endless conveyor belt extends between a pinch roller and a capstan roller, where the pinch roller is progressively adjustable between a first position and a second position where the first position is closer to the capstan roller, to thereby adjust the tension in the lower endless conveyor belt;
- and
- a belt drive and a belt drive regulator controller for controlling one of the upper endless conveyor and the lower endless conveyor, where the belt drive regulator controller adjusts a speed of one of the upper and lower endless conveyors and receives one or more of a pump speed signal representative of an extrudate pump speed, a belt speed signal representative of a belt velocity of one of the upper endless conveyor and the lower endless conveyor, a belt slippage signal representative of a belt slippage of one of the upper endless conveyor and the lower endless conveyor, where the belt drive regulator controller regulates the belt drive based on one or more of the pump speed signal, the belt speed signal and the belt slippage signal.
2 more elements
A method of extruding extrudate through an extrusion horn comprising:
- extruding extrudate through a lengthwise interior extrusion channel formed by an upper interior cooking surface of an upper cooking plate proximately space apart with a lengthwise spacing from a lower interior cooking surface of a lower cooking plate, where the upper interior cooking surface and the lower interior cooking surface face each other, where the lengthwise interior extrusion channel has an entry opening and an exit opening;
- extending and conveying through the lengthwise channel a conveyor having an upper endless conveyor belt and a lower endless conveyor belt, where one of an upper run of the lower endless conveyor belt and a lower run of the upper endless conveyor belt is extending lengthwise through the lengthwise interior extrusion channel and conveying through the lengthwise interior extrusion channel,
- where one of a lower run of the lower endless conveyor belt and an upper run of the upper endless conveyor belt is extending and conveying between a pinch roller and a capstan roller, and selectively progressively adjusting the pinch roller between a first position and a second position where the first position is closer to the capstan roller, thereby adjusting the tension in the lower endless conveyor belt;
- and
- controlling one of the upper endless conveyor and the lower endless conveyor with a belt drive and a belt drive regulator controller, where the belt drive regulator controller is selectively adjusting a speed of one of the upper and lower endless conveyors and receiving one or more of a pump speed signal representative of an extrudate pump speed, a belt speed signal representative of a belt velocity of one of the upper endless conveyor and the lower endless conveyor, a belt slippage signal representative of a belt slippage of one of the upper endless conveyor and the lower endless conveyor, where the belt drive regulator controller is selectively regulating the belt drive based on one or more of the pump speed signal, the belt speed signal and the belt slippage signal.
2 more elements
An extrusion horn comprising:
- an outer conical cooking plate having an inner interior conical cooking surface and an inner conical cooking plate having an outer interior conical cooking surface, where the inner interior conical cooking surface and the outer interior conical cooking surface face each other, and where said inner interior cooking surface is proximately spaced apart from the outer interior conical cooking surface with a spacing, thereby forming a lengthwise interior conical extrusion channel having an entry opening at a conical apex end and an exit opening at a conical base end;
- and
- an outer conically spiraled induction coil positioned proximate the outer conical cooking plate and on an opposing side of the outer conical cooking plate opposite the inner interior cooking surface, and an inner conically spiraled induction coil positioned proximate the inner conical cooking plate and on an opposing side of the inner conical cooking plate opposite the inner interior conical cooking surface.
A method of extruding extrudate through an extrusion horn comprising:
- extruding extrudate through a lengthwise interior conical extrusion channel having an entry opening at a conical apex end and an exit opening at a conical base end formed by an inner interior conical cooking surface of an outer conical cooking plate and an outer interior conical cooking surface of an inner conical cooking plate, where the inner interior conical cooking surface and the outer interior conical cooking surface face each other, and where said inner interior conical cooking surface is proximately spaced apart from the outer interior conical cooking surface with a spacing, thereby forming a lengthwise interior conical extrusion channel;
- and
- positioning an outer conically spiraled induction coil proximate the outer conical cooking plate and on an opposing side of the outer conical cooking plate opposite the inner interior cooking surface, and positioning an inner conically spiraled induction coil proximate the inner conical cooking plate and on an opposing side of the inner conical cooking plate.
An extrusion horn comprising:
- an upper cooking plate having an upper interior cooking surface and a lower cooking plate having a lower interior cooking surface, where the upper interior cooking surface and the lower interior cooking surface face each other, and where said upper interior cooking surface is proximately spaced apart from the lower interior cooking surface with a spacing, thereby forming a lengthwise interior extrusion channel having an entry opening and an exit opening;
- a conveyor having an upper endless conveyor belt and a lower endless conveyor belt, where one of an upper run of the lower endless conveyor belt and a lower run of the upper endless conveyor belt extends lengthwise through the lengthwise interior extrusion channel and conveys through the lengthwise interior extrusion channel,
- where one of a lower run of the lower endless conveyor belt and an upper run of the upper endless conveyor belt extends between a pinch roller and a capstan roller, where the pinch roller is progressively adjustable between a first position and a second position where the first position is closer to the capstan roller, to thereby adjust the tension in the lower endless conveyor belt;
- a belt drive and a belt drive regulator controller for controlling one of the upper endless conveyor and the lower endless conveyor, where the belt drive regulator controller adjusts a speed of one of the upper and lower endless conveyors and receives one or more of a pump speed signal representative of an extrudate pump speed, a belt speed signal representative of a belt velocity of one of the upper endless conveyor and the lower endless conveyor, a belt slippage signal representative of a belt slippage of one of the upper endless conveyor and the lower endless conveyor, where the belt drive regulator controller regulates the belt drive based on one or more of the pump speed signal, the belt speed signal and the belt slippage signal;
- an outer conical cooking plate having an inner interior conical cooking surface and an inner conical cooking plate having an outer interior conical cooking surface, where the inner interior conical cooking surface and the outer interior conical cooking surface face each other, and where said inner interior cooking surface is proximately spaced apart from the outer interior conical cooking surface with a spacing, thereby forming a lengthwise interior conical extrusion channel having an entry opening at a conical apex end and an exit opening at a conical base end;
- and
- an outer conically spiraled induction coil positioned proximate the outer conical cooking plate and on an opposing side of the outer conical cooking plate opposite the inner interior cooking surface, and an inner conically spiraled induction coil positioned proximate the inner conical cooking plate and on an opposing side of the inner conical cooking plate opposite the inner interior conical cooking surface,
- where said lengthwise interior conical extrusion channel exit opening at a conical base end is in fluid communication with the lengthwise interior extrusion channel defined by the upper interior cooking surface, and the lower interior cooking surface.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.