Bone collector assembly for a meat grinder

A grinder for grinding material, comprising:

• a housing having an inlet and an outlet;
• an orifice plate located at the housing outlet and defining a first surface;
• advancing means for moving material through the housing toward the orifice plate;
• a rotating knife assembly located adjacent the first surface of the orifice plate;
• a series of spaced collection passages located toward the center of the orifice plate for collecting hard material contained with the material being ground;
• and
• a series of individual entryways formed in the first surface of the orifice plate, wherein each entryway leads directly into one of the collection passages from the first surface of the orifice plate.

A grinder, comprising:

• a housing having an inlet and an outlet;
• an orifice plate located at the housing outlet and defining a first surface;
• advancing means for moving material through the housing toward the orifice plate;
• and
• a rotating knife assembly located adjacent the first surface of the orifice plate, and including a central hub, a plurality of knife holding arms extending outwardly from the hub, and a knife mounted to each knife holding arm, and wherein the arms are arranged so as to be non-radial relative to the hub and are angled forwardly in the direction of rotation of the knife assembly relative to the hub;
• wherein the orifice plate includes a plurality of relatively small outer orifices and a series of spaced apart relatively large inner collection passages for collecting hard material, and wherein the non-radial arrangement of the knife holding arms moves hard material inwardly toward the collection passages during rotation of the knife assembly, and wherein a series of ramped entryways are formed in the first surface of the orifice plate, wherein each ramped entryway opens directly into one of the collection passages from the first surface of the orifice plate and extends outwardly from the collecting passage toward the outer openings for facilitating collection of hard material within the collection passages.

A grinder, comprising:

• a housing having an inlet and an outlet;
• an orifice plate located at the housing outlet;
• advancing means for moving material through the housing toward the orifice plate;
• a rotating knife assembly located adjacent a surface of the orifice plate, and including a central hub, a plurality of knife holding arms extending outwardly from the hub, and a knife mounted to each knife holding arm, and wherein the arms are arranged so as to be non-radial relative to the hub and are angled forwardly in the direction of rotation of the knife assembly relative to the hub;
• wherein the orifice plate includes a plurality of relatively small outer orifices and a series of spaced apart relatively large inner collection passages for collecting hard material, and wherein the non-radial arrangement of the knife holding arms moves hard material inwardly toward the collection passages during rotation of the knife assembly, and wherein each collection passage includes a ramped entryway opening onto a surface of the orifice plate and extending outwardly from the passage toward the outer openings for facilitating collection of hard material within the collection passages;
• and
• a collection pocket formed on the hub forwardly of each knife holding arm and facing the orifice plate, for receiving hard material moved inwardly during rotation of the knife assembly and facilitating entry of hard material into the collection passages.

A grinder, comprising:

• a housing having an inlet and an outlet;
• an orifice plate located at the housing outlet;
• advancing means for moving meat through the housing toward the orifice plate;
• a shaft mounted to an extending from the advancing means;
• a rotating knife assembly located adjacent a surface of the orifice plate, and including a central hub, a plurality of knife holding arms extending outwardly from the hub, and a knife mounted to each knife holding arm, and wherein the arms are arranged so as to be non-radial relative to the hub;
• a series of spaced collection passages located toward the center of the orifice plate for collecting hard material, each collection passage including a ramped entryway opening onto the surface of the orifice plate facing the knife assembly;
• a substantially central passage formed in the hub for receiving the shaft therethrough;
• each knife holding arm having a forwardly opening slot formed therein, with each slot opening into the substantially central passage and being oriented such that the longitudinal axis of each slot is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the central passage;
• a knife mounting pin extending transversely through each slot toward the outer end of each knife holding arm;
• and
• a knife mounted in each slot, each knife including an outwardly opening pin-receiving slot for receiving the knife mounting pin, wherein the shaft and the knife mounting pin cooperate to maintain the knife in position within the slot.

A grinder comprising:

• a housing having an inlet and an outlet;
• an orifice plate located at the housing outlet;
• advancing means for moving material through the housing toward the orifice plate;
• a knife assembly located adjacent a surface of the orifice plate;
• a hard material collection arrangement for collecting hard material contained within the material being ground and for passing the hard material through the orifice plate;
• and
• a recovery grinding assembly into which the hard material is discharged from the orifice plate, for grinding usable soft material which passes through the hard material collection arrangement along with the hard material, the recovery grinding assembly including an outlet for discharging hard material therefrom.

A grinder for grinding material, comprising:

• a housing having an inlet and an outlet;
• an orifice plate located at the housing outlet and defining a first surface;
• advancing means for moving material through the housing toward the orifice plate;
• a series of spaced collection passages located toward the center of the orifice plate for collecting hard material contained within the material being ground;
• a series of individual entryways formed in the first surface of the orifice plate, wherein each entryway leads directly into one of the collection passages from the first surface of the orifice plate, each entryway defining a shearing surface intersecting the first surface of the orifice plate;
• and
• a rotating knife assembly located adjacent the first surface of the orifice plate, the knife assembly including at least one knife member mounted to the knife assembly such that at least a portion of the knife member passes over the spaced collection passages upon rotation of the knife assembly, to cooperate with the shearing surface defined by the entryway associated with each collection passage to shear hard material disposed within the entryway during rotation of the knife assembly.

A grinder for grinding material, comprising:

• a housing having an inlet and an outlet;
• an orifice plate located at the housing outlet;
• advancing means for moving material through the housing toward the orifice plate;
• and
• a rotatable knife assembly located adjacent the inner surface of the orifice plate within the housing, the knife assembly comprising a plurality of knife holding arms with a knife mounted to each arm, wherein a first one of the knife holding arms is constructed so as to provide a forwardly extending lead surface which assists in moving the material toward the orifice plate adjacent the knife which is mounted to the knife holding arm upon rotation of the knife assembly;
• wherein the advancing means comprises a feed screw having pressure flighting which terminates at the end thereof to which the knife assembly is mounted, and wherein the first knife holding arm is located out of alignment with the pressure flighting end such that the forwardly extending leading surface of the knife holding arm functions to apply pressure to the material toward the orifice plate;
• wherein a second one of the knife holding arms is located substantially in alignment with the pressure flighting end, and wherein the second knife holding arm so located is constructed so as to provide a rearwardly extending ramped surface for reducing pressure on the material generated by the pressure flight end.

A grinder for grinding material comprising:

• a housing having an inlet and an outlet;
• an orifice plate located at the housing outlet;
• advancing means for moving material through the housing toward the orifice plate;
• a rotating knife assembly located adjacent a surface of the orifice plate;
• a series of spaced collection passages associated with the orifice plate for collecting hard material contained within the material being ground;
• and
• a recovery grinding assembly for receiving the hard material from the collection passages and for grinding usable soft material which passes through the collection passages along with the hard material, the recovery grinding assembly including an outlet for discharging hard material therefrom.

A grinder, comprising:

• a housing having an inlet and an outlet;
• an orifice plate located at the housing outlet and defining a central opening;
• a rotatable feed screw for moving material through the housing toward the orifice plate;
• a centering pin extending from the feed screw through the central opening in the orifice plate;
• a rotating knife assembly located adjacent a surface of the orifice plate, and including a central hub, a plurality of knife holding arms extending outwardly from the hub, and a knife mounted to each knife holding arm, each knife defining an inner end and an outer end, wherein each knife holding arm includes a slot in which a knife is mounted, with the slot opening toward the orifice plate, and further comprising a knife mounting pin extending transversely through the slot toward the outer end of the knife holding arm, and a pin-receiving slot formed in the knife extending inwardly from the outer end of the knife for receiving the pin therein, to mount the knife to the knife holding arm, wherein the centering pin engages the inner end of the knife to prevent disengagement of the knife mounting pin from the pin-receiving slot to retain the knife within the slot in the knife holding arm.

A knife assembly for a grinder including a shaft, comprising:

• a knife holder including a hub and a plurality of knife holding arms extending outwardly therefrom;
• a substantially central passage formed in the hub for receiving the grinder shaft therethrough;
• each knife holding arm having a forwardly opening slot formed therein, with each slot opening into the substantially central passage and being oriented such that the longitudinal axis of each slot is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the central passage;
• a knife mounting pin extending transversely through each slot toward the outer end of each knife holding arm;
• and
• a knife mounted in each slot, each knife including an outwardly opening pin-receiving slot for receiving the knife mounting pin, wherein the shaft and the knife mounting pin cooperate to maintain the knife in position within the slot.

An orifice plate for use in a grinder for grinding material, comprising:

• a plate member defining a first surface;
• a series of relatively small outer grinding orifices extending through the plate member;
• a series of spaced collection passages formed in the plate member located inwardly of the grinding orifices toward the center of the plate member;
• and
• a series of individual entryways formed in the first surface of the plate member, wherein each entryway leads directly into one of the collection passages from the first surface of the plate member.