Displacing apparatus with serial chambers for use with food product roll peeler
AssigneeVanmark Equipment, LLC
InventorThomas P. Mathues
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A peeling apparatus and method using rotating rollers as a peeling bed includes a mechanism that moves food products through the peeling bed. The mechanism has multiple walls mounted to a continuous loop that is driven over the peeling bed to define cavities between each adjacent pair of walls. The walls' lower edges are spaced close to the rollers to prevent food products from exiting a cavity. One or more of the walls may have cleaners, such as spray nozzles connected to high pressure liquid, to clean particles from the rollers. The nozzles spray the particles off as the spray nozzles pass over the rollers during normal operation of the peeling apparatus.
Claims17
A food product peeling apparatus with a plurality of rotatable rollers having substantially parallel axes of rotation and forming a bed adjacent the rollers, the apparatus comprising:
- (a) multiple spaced dividers linked together in a continuous loop adjacent the food processing apparatus with at least some of the dividers disposed in the bed to define separate cavities configured to receive food product;
- and
- (b) a prime mover drivingly linked to the dividers for driving the dividers through at least the bed.
A food product peeling apparatus with a plurality of cylindrical rollers rotatably mounted to a frame, the rollers having substantially parallel axes of rotation and defining a bed above the rollers, the apparatus comprising:
- (a) a plurality of spaced dividing walls mounted to a flexible, continuous drive loop above the food processing apparatus with at least some of the dividing walls extending downwardly toward the bed and disposing edges of the dividing walls directly adjacent radially outwardly-facing surfaces of the rollers, thereby defining separate food product-containing cavities between each next adjacent pair of dividing walls;
- (b) a guide mounted to the frame above the bed for positively guiding the dividing walls in a continuous loop through and above the bed;
- and
- (c) a prime mover drivingly linked to the drive loop for driving the dividing walls through the guide.
A method of peeling food product, comprising:
- (a) rotating a plurality of rollers having substantially parallel axes of rotation and thereby forming a peeling bed adjacent the rollers;
- (b) linking a plurality of spaced dividers together in a continuous loop adjacent the food processing apparatus with at least some of the dividers disposed in the bed to define separate cavities configured to receive food product;
- and
- (c) drivingly linking a prime mover to the dividers and driving the dividers through at least the bed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.