Vacuum pneumatic conveying apparatus and method for transferring food products

A method of vacuum pneumatically conveying food products such as conveying fish from a fishing boat to a fish tender or to a fish processing factory, comprising the steps of:

• (a) creating an air flow under vacuum within closable passageways and chambers by operating a rotary positive displacement blower;
• (b) directing the created air flow upwardly from a lower inlet nozzle passable over and into the fish in a hold of a boat for their collection through a depending movable inlet conduit;
• (c) directing the air flow and fish leaving the inlet conduit downwardly within the top of an in line assembly of an upper primary product separator and a lower secondary liquid separator;
• (d) allowing the initially downwardly directed air flow to expand upwardly and sideways, independently of the fish, into a chamber of the upper primary product separator utilizing a transverse conduit with a grilled exit, as fish, after flying in the inlet conduit continue on via their momentum leaving the chamber;
• (e) directing the expanding air into a depending funnel like passageway within a chamber of the secondary liquid separator;
• (f) reversing the air flow within this chamber of the secondary liquid separator;
• (g) discharging the reversed air flow from the near top of this chamber for its conduit guided entry below into the intake of a rotary positive displacement blower and its subsequent discharge from this blower via a silencer;
• (h) collecting air and fish moving via gravity in an essentially non flowing depending column of air under vacuum in a movable depending outlet conduit connected above to a fish exit of the upper primary product separator and connected below to a self sealing flexible discharge sleeve, which opens intermittently under the then combined weight of an active changing group of fish, which overcomes the barometric pressure head;
• and
• (i) collecting air in another essentially non flowing depending column of air under vacuum in a movable smaller depending outlet conduit connected above to a gurry and liquid exit of the secondary liquid separator and connected below to a self sealing flexible discharge sleeve, which opens intermittently under the then combined weight of an active changing group of particles of gurry and liquid which overcomes the barometric pressure head.

A method of vacuum pneumatically conveying food products, comprising the steps of:

• (a) creating an air flow under vacuum within closable passageways and chambers by operating a rotary positive displacement blower;
• (b) directing the created air flow upwardly from a lower inlet nozzle movable over and through food products for their collection through a depending movable inlet conduit;
• (c) directing the air flow and collected food products into an in line vertical assembly of an upper primary product separator and a lower secondary liquid separator;
• (d) allowing the incoming air flow to expand upwardly and sidewise independently of the food products, into a chamber of the upper primary product separator utilizing a transverse conduit with a grilled exit, as the food products after flying into the primary receiver continue on via their momentum leaving through an exit of this upper primary product separator;
• (e) directing the expanding air into a depending central passageway within a chamber of the secondary liquid separator;
• (f) reversing the air flow within this chamber of the secondary air separator;
• (g) discharging the reversed air flow from near the top of this chamber for its conduit guided entry below into the intake of the rotary positive displacement blower and its subsequent discharge from this blower;
• (h) collecting air and food products in an essentially non flowing depending column of air under vacuum in a movable depending outlet conduit connected above to an exit of the upper primary product separator and connected below to a food product sealable discharge assembly;
• and
• (i) intermittently opening the otherwise non flowing depending column of air under vacuum using the sealable discharge assembly to withdraw the food products from this column of air under vacuum for their entry into atmospheric air.

A vacuum pneumatic conveying apparatus utilized to convey food products, comprising:

• (a) a combined vertical in line assembly of an upper primary product separator, and a secondary liquid air separator mountable above a ground, floor, or dock level, having a chamber within the upper primary product separator, and having a transverse internal conduit within this chamber, with this transverse conduit having a food product restricting grill through which the air flow expands upwardly and sideways, and having an entry and an exit in the upper primary product separator opposite the respective ends of this transverse internal conduit, and having a chamber within this secondary liquid separator, and having a depending central passageway within this chamber of the secondary liquid separator, and having a higher located air flow exit from the chamber of the secondary liquid separator;
• (b) a rotary positive displacement blower mountable at ground, floor, or dock level, having a conduit connected from its inlet below to the air flow exit above of the secondary liqquid separator, and having exhaust air controllably directed from its exit into a silencer and then into the atmosphere;
• (c) a movable inlet depending conduit to receive and to guidably fly food products from a point of inlet over and/or in a supply source below to the entry of the above combined vertical in line assembly of the upper primary product separator, and lower secondary liquid separator, having at its bottom entry, a nozzle creating the point of inlet easily manipulated with this conduit to closely pass above and/or in food products supply source, and having at its top exit a fastening assembly to secure it to the entry of the upper primary product separator;
• (d) a movable outlet depending conduit to receive and to guide food products leaving the exit of the above combined vertical in line assembly of the upper primary product separator and the lower secondary liquid separator, having a fastening assembly to secure its top to the exit of the upper primary product separator and having an intermittently opening air lock assembly to withdraw food products from this movable outlet depending conduit;
• and
• (e) a depending conduit for receiving liquid from the lower secondary liquid separator, having a fastening assembly to secure its top to an exit of the lower secondary liquid separator, and having an intermittently opening air lock assembly to withdraw liquid from this depending conduit.

A vacuum pneumatic conveying apparatus utilized to convey food products, comprising:

• (a) an inlet vacuum air flow conduit commencing at a lower elevation and terminating at a higher elevation;
• (b) a food product conveying transition inlet positioned just beyond the commencement of the inlet vacuum air flow conduit;
• (c) an elevated product separator chamber to receive food products flying upwardly within the inlet vacuum air flow conduit;
• (d) a food product internal transfer conduit extending fully across the interior of the elevated product separator chamber and spaced below the top and spaced above the bottom of this chamber, and having a screened exit in this transfer conduit of an area very substantially larger than the cross sectional area of this transfer conduit, whereby the air flow changes direction and reduces in speed in leaving the transfer conduit, via this screened exit, and the food products via their momentum continue on within this transfer conduit;
• (e) an outlet vacuum air conduit commencing at a higher elevation to receive the food products traveling via their momentum as they leave this transfer conduit, and terminating at a lower elevation;
• (f) an air lock assembly on the outlet vacuum air conduit at the lower elevation to intermittently discharge the food products;
• (g) a vacuum air flow conduit commencing above to receive the air flow, separated from the food products, leaving the elevated product separator chamber and continuing to the entry of a blower;
• and
• (h) a rotary positive displacement blower to receive the air flow, separated from the food product, and passing through the vacuum air flow conduit, and to discharge the air flow, via a silencer, into the atmosphere.

A method of vacuum pneumatically conveying food products, comprising the steps of:

• (a) directing a vacuum air flow through a vacuum air flow conduit commencing at a lower elevation and terminating at a higher elevation;
• (b) positioning this vacuum air flow at the lower elevation below, over, and/or in food products, to thereby also direct the food products through vacuum air flow conduit;
• (c) delivering the food products and the continuing air flow to an elevated product separator chamber;
• (d) delivering the food products via their momentum across the product separator chamber using a transverse conduit;
• (e) diverting and expanding the air flow via a screened exit in the transverse conduit into the product separator chamber both above and below the transverse conduit;
• (f) directing the food products coming from the transverse conduit into an outlet vacuum air conduit and directing the food products downwardly;
• (g) collecting the food products at and near a lower exit of the outlet vacuum air conduit;
• (h) intermittently discharging the collecting food products using an air lock assembly;
• (i) directing the diverted and expanded air flow leaving the product separator chamber via a vacuum air flow conduit, to the entry of a blower;
• (j) operating a positive displacement blower to receive the air flow, separated from the food products, leaving the elevated product separator chamber, and continuing on in the vacuum air flow conduit to the entry of this blower, and to discharge this air flow, via a silencer, into the atmosphere.