Formed product grill
AssigneeOmar Associates, LLC
InventorsChad W. Billman, Eric J. Wise, Christopher J. Huss
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A conveyor system includes an upper and lower synchronized conveyors that transfer a food product, such as eggs, through a heating system to cook the food product. The lower conveyor includes a belt and the upper conveyor includes rings that are moveably held within frames. The upper conveyor includes a connection system for removably connecting the frames to drive belts. The rings and belt are brought together to define receptacles in which the food product is arranged during cooking. After cooking, the rings are lifted off of the belt, leaving the food product on the belt. A transfer roller transfers the cooked food product from the belt for further processing, such as freezing of the food product.
Claims20
A conveyor system comprising:
- a drive chain including links;
- a frame driven by the drive chain, and including two spaced-apart lateral bars connected by a series of longitudinal bars, the frame including two studs extending from a first longitudinal bar of the longitudinal bars;
- and
- a connection system removably connecting the frame to the drive chain, and including an upper clamp, a lower clamp, a plate removably connected to the upper clamp, and pins extending from the plate and connecting the links together, the upper clamp and the lower clamp being secured to the frame by being clamped around the first longitudinal bar and the two studs.
A method of performing maintenance on a frame of a conveyor system, the conveyor system including:
- a drive chain including links;
- the frame driven by the drive chain, the frame including two spaced-apart lateral bars connected by a series of longitudinal bars, and two studs extending from a first longitudinal bar of the longitudinal bars;
- and
- a connection system removably connecting the frame to the drive chain, and including an upper clamp, a lower clamp, a plate removably connected to the upper clamp, and pins extending from the plate and connecting the links together, the upper clamp and the lower clamp being secured to the frame by being clamped around the first longitudinal bar and the two studs;
- the method including:
- disconnecting the plate from the upper clamp;
- removing the frame from the conveyor system;
- performing maintenance on the frame;
- and
- replacing the frame to the conveyor system by reconnecting the plate to the upper clamp.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.