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US 4,901,401 AGranted
Harvesting, shucking and eviscerating clams at sea
AssigneeBorden, Inc.
InventorWilliam E. Gallant
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sea-going vessel has mounted on its deck a clam processing plant which includes in sequence a steamer, a clam crusher, a seawater washer, a brine separator, an eviscerator and a chill tank. Special valves are constructed to feed and discharge clams from the steamer which prevents the hot high pressure steam in the steamer from being discharged when the valves are open to the steamer interior. The chill tank includes a special construction to minimize the effects of pitch and roll of the deck while the ship is at sea.
Claims6
A clam crusher including a rectangular box with a rotatable body mounted therein,
- said box being closed on four sides and open on two sides to allow clams to be delivered through one open side, crushed between one closed side and the body, and discharged through the other open side,
- said body being mounted to rotate about an axis perpendicular to the direction of flow of clams entering said box and parallel with said one closed side,
- said body including an axle projecting through slots on two closed sides of said box, said two closed sides being generally parallel to each other and perpendicular to said one closed side,
- said axle including radially extending fins which form compartments to receive clams delivered through said one open side,
- means for adjusting the spacing between said axle and said one closed side.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.