Retort agitation system
AssigneeJohn Bean Technologies Corporation
InventorsEduard Hendrikus Johannes Damhuis, Bart Aluwé
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Abstract
A retort agitation system (100) for thermal processing of products includes product carriers 102a and 102b mounted on a low friction support system 104 for reciprocal movement of the carriers along the interior of a retort. The product carriers are driven in reciprocating motion by a drive actuator system 106 that can be positioned between the carriers 102a and 102b or endwise of the two carriers 102a and 102b. A drive actuator system 106 is linked to the carriers to cause the carriers to move along non-sinusoidal paths lengthwise of the retort. Reaction actuators 108 act on the carriers in opposition or in supplement to the drive actuator system 106 to apply forces on the carriers for accelerating the carriers along their non-sinusoidal paths of travel.
Claims17
A system for agitating products in a retort, comprising:
- (a) at least one product carrier;
- (b) a low friction support system for supporting the at least one product carrier for movement along the retort;
- (c) a drive system for applying a driving force on the at least one product carrier for non-sinusoidal movement along the retort;
- and
- (d) a reaction actuator system that applies reaction forces against the at least one product carrier in opposition to the movement of the at least one product carrier by the drive system to urge the at least one product carrier for non-sinusoidal movement.
A method of agitating product in a retort, comprising:
- (a) arranging at least one product set for movement along the retort;
- (b) applying driving forces on the at least one product set for non-sinusoidal movement of the at least one product set along the retort;
- and
- (c) applying reaction forces to the at least one product set to act against the movement of the at least one product set and capable of moving in a non-sinusoidal manner the at least one product set in a direction opposite to the current direction of movement of the at least one product set.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.