Food grade product recovery system
AssigneeEvacuPak, Inc.
InventorsTravis Nebeker, Robert Byars
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for automated, hygienic recovery of fluid, food-grade product without it ever contacting the environment outside of its packaging, the system using one or more hygienic lances that pierce the product packaging and features, including in preferable embodiments a distending compression plate to force the product out of the packaging and/or a sanitary pumping system that initiates suction to draw the product out of the packaging, through the one or more hygienic lances, and into a chamber for accumulation, the system being compliant with the hygienic and sanitary standards promulgated by 3-A Sanitary Standards Inc. and adopted by the USDA, the FDA, and state regulatory authorities.
Claims20
An automated, hygienic, food-grade product recovery system comprising:
- an evacuation chamber;
- a substantially flat surface station upon which one or more packages containing a recoverable, food-grade product are placed, the substantially flat surface station comprising one or more surface-station apertures;
- one or more hygienic lances capable of extending through the one or more surface-station apertures and into the one or more packages containing recoverable, food-grade product resting thereon, the one or more hygienic lances each comprising a sharpened penetration end, one or more lance apertures located substantially adjacent to the sharpened penetration end, and an internal extraction tube fluidly connected to both the one or more lance apertures and the evacuation chamber;
- and
- means for holding the one or more packages containing the recoverable, food-grade product stationary during extraction.
An automated, hygienic, food-grade product recovery system comprising:
- an evacuation chamber;
- a substantially flat surface station upon which one or more packages containing a recoverable, food-grade product are placed, the substantially flat surface station comprising one or more surface-station apertures;
- one or more hygienic lances capable of extending through the one or more surface-station apertures and into the one or more packages containing recoverable, food-grade product resting thereon, the one or more hygienic lances each comprising a sharpened penetration end, one or more lance apertures located substantially adjacent to the sharpened penetration end, and an internal extraction tube fluidly connected to both the one or more lance apertures and the evacuation chamber;
- a distending compression plate opposite the substantially flat surface station for holding in place and introducing pressure to the one or more packages containing the recoverable, food-grade product;
- a pumping system fluidly connected to the internal extraction tube of the one or more hygienic lances for pumping the recoverable, food-grade product from the one or more packages;
- and
- an infeed conveyor for transporting the one or more packages containing a recoverable, food-grade product onto the substantially flat surface station and an outfeed conveyor for transporting the one or more packages once the extraction process is complete.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.