Hard material collecting system for a meat grinder

A hard material discharge system for use with a grinder for grinding material which comprises a mixture of hard material and soft material, the grinder including a housing having an inlet and an outlet;

• an orifice plate located at the housing outlet;
• an advancing arrangement for moving material through the housing toward the orifice plate;
• a rotating knife assembly located adjacent a surface of the orifice plate;
• and a hard material collection arrangement for collecting hard material and for discharging the hard material to the exterior of the orifice plate, the hard material discharge system comprising:
• collection structure located downstream of the orifice plate and defining an internal collection cavity for receiving hard material discharged to the exterior of the orifice plate;
• a discharge conduit mounted to the collection structure and defining an internal discharge passage in communication with the collection cavity;
• a rotatable flighted discharge auger extending through the collection cavity and disposed within the discharge passage of the discharge conduit, wherein the outermost extent of the discharge auger flighting is in close proximity to the walls of the discharge conduit defining the discharge passage, to define a rotating flow path for discharging hard material therethrough;
• and
• a recovery grinding arrangement associated with the discharge conduit for recovering usable soft material from the flighting of the discharge auger.

A hard material discharge system for use with a grinder for grinding material which comprises a mixture of hard material and soft material, the grinder including a housing having an inlet and an outlet;

• an orifice plate located at the housing outlet;
• an advancing arrangement for moving material through the housing toward the orifice plate;
• a rotating knife assembly located adjacent a surface of the orifice plate;
• and a hard material collection arrangement for collecting hard material and for discharging the hard material to the exterior of the orifice plate, the hard material discharge system comprising:
• collection structure located downstream of the orifice plate and defining an internal collection cavity and an axial passage for receiving hard material discharged to the exterior of the orifice plate;
• a discharge conduit mounted to the collection structure and including at least one internal wall defining an internal discharge passage in communication with the collection cavity and located downstream of the axial passage;
• a rotatable flighted discharge auger extending through the collection cavity and the axial passage and into the discharge passage of the discharge conduit, wherein the outermost extent of the discharge auger flighting is in close proximity to the at least one internal wall of the discharge conduit defining the discharge passage, to define a rotating flow path for discharging hard material therethrough;
• and
• a series of radially spaced longitudinally extending flutes extending throughout the length of the axial passage, through which hard material passes upon rotation of the discharge auger for supply to the discharge passage.

A hard material discharge system for use with a grinder for grinding material which comprises a mixture of hard material and soft material, the grinder including a housing having an inlet and an outlet;

• an orifice plate located at the housing outlet;
• an advancing arrangement for moving material through the housing toward the orifice plate;
• a rotating knife assembly located adjacent a surface of the orifice plate;
• and a hard material collection arrangement for collecting hard material and for discharging the hard material to the exterior of the orifice plate, the hard material discharge system comprising:
• collection structure located downstream of the orifice plate and including at least one internal wall defining an internal collection cavity having an upstream portion and a downstream portion, wherein hard material is discharged to the exterior of the orifice plate into the upstream portion of the collection cavity;
• a discharge conduit mounted to the collection structure and including at least one internal wall defining an internal discharge passage in communication with the collection cavity;
• and
• a rotatable flighted discharge auger extending through the collection cavity and into the discharge passage of the discharge conduit, wherein the hard material is discharged into the upstream portion of the collection cavity at a location spaced outwardly for the discharge auger, and wherein the hard material is directed inwardly toward the discharge auger by the at least one internal wall defining the collection cavity as the hard material is advanced toward the downstream portion of the collection cavity, and wherein the outermost extent of the discharge auger flighting is in close proximity to the at least one wall of the discharge conduit defining the discharge passage, to define a rotating flow path for discharging hard material therethrough.