Irradiation system and method
AssigneeMitec Incorporated
InventorsSteve E. Koenck, Stan V. Lyons, Brian T. Dalziel, Douglas C. White, Janette J. Kewley, Von Kennedy
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An irradiation system includes a conveying system for moving material to be irradiated through a processing area. An irradiation source applies radiation to material in the processing area. The conveying system is enclosed by a sealed conduit in at least the processing area, providing the capability to control the atmosphere inside the sealed conduit and to clean the interior of the sealed conduit according to industrial sanitation methods.
Claims32
An irradiation system comprising:
- a conveying system for moving material to be irradiated through a processing area;
- an irradiation source for applying radiation to material in the processing area;
- and
- a sealed conduit enclosing the conveying system in at least the processing area.
A food processing system comprising:
- a conveying system for moving food through a processing area;
- an irradiation source for applying radiation to food in the processing area;
- a sealed conduit enclosing the conveying system in the processing area, an interior of the sealed conduit having a first controlled atmosphere for irradiation;
- and
- a packaging system located downstream from the processing area for packaging irradiated food in a second controlled atmosphere for packaging.
A food processing system comprising:
- a grinder providing ground meat through a grinding plate located within a shroud having an interior atmosphere that excludes oxygen, wherein the ground meat exits the grinding plate in a ribbon form;
- a loading system for placing the ground meat onto trays;
- an irradiation system receiving trays of ground meat from the loading system and exposing the trays of ground meat to radiation in a first controlled atmosphere;
- and
- a packaging system receiving irradiated trays of ground meat from the irradiation system and packaging the trays of ground meat in a second controlled atmosphere.
A method of irradiation comprising:
- conveying material to be irradiated through a processing area;
- and
- controlling an atmosphere in the processing area to be different from an ambient atmosphere;
- and
- applying radiation to the material in the processing area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.