Rear batter flow for batter applicator machines

A device for enhancing the complete coating of the bottom of flat food portions with batters of intermediate viscosity between about 80 and about 360 centipoises, said device being part of a standard type of batter applicator so as to provide a continuous moving layer of batter to receive food portions for coating, said standard type of batter applicator comprising a frame, an endless open mesh wire conveyor belt having support pulleys on said frame and having a food advancing run from a food-introduction end to a food-discharge end and a return run, and a batter reservoir through which said return run passes;

• said device including a rotatable drive shaft on said frame having sprocket teeth engaging said belt at said food-introduction end, means on said frame guiding said return run of said belt in a generally horizontal direction for a predetermined distance upstream of said drive shaft, a batter holding pan on said frame closely below said generally horizontal portion of said belt sufficient to hold said batter on said holding pan in driven relation to said belt, said pan having a smoothly bent arcuate portion extending partly around said drive shaft with close clearance of about one-eighth inch about said sprocket teeth from a zone immediately below said drive shaft to a zone about 55.degree. to 60.degree. above the horizontal center line of said shaft, said drive shaft having filler spools between said sprocket teeth filling the diameter of said shaft nearly to the root diameter of said sprocket teeth, a generally horizontal batter retaining plate extending from a zone tangential to said root diameter at the top of said drive shaft downstream for a predetermined distance, said food-advancing run of said belt being held by gravity in contact with said batter retaining plate while traveling for said last-named predetermined distance, and means for supplying batter substantially continuously to said batter holding pan, whereby said generally horizontal portion of said return run may continuously move said batter on said batter holding pan to said zone immediately below said drive shaft and the portion of said belt on said drive shaft may move said batter in the direction of rotation from said zone immediately below said drive shaft to said zone tangential to said root diameter at the top of said drive shaft and said batter retaining plate may continuously scrape said batter from the surface of said filler spools to form said continuous moving layer of batter on said retaining plate.