Apparatus for marinating, tenderizing, strip cutting cube cutting and progressively flattening meat

An apparatus for flattening pieces of meat without piercing nor shredding the meat, comprising:

• a first roller set, each roller in said first roller set having non-sharpened outer edges;
• a second roller set, each roller in said second roller set having non-sharpened outer edges, said first roller set directly opposing and being spaced and fully separated from said second roller set, said first and second roller sets together having a product in-feed end into which meat pieces are drawn and having a product out-feed end at which flattened meat pieces are expelled from between said first and second roller sets;
• adjusting means for adjusting the spacing between said first roller set and said second roller set, wherein meat passing between said first and second roller set is substantially flattened but not pierced nor shredded;
• and an in-feed conveyor belt assembly at said in-feed end comprising an in-feed conveyor belt and rolling means for rolling said in-feed conveyor belt in a direction to advance meat pieces placed on said in-feed conveyor belt to said in-feed end;
• wherein said in-feed conveyor belt assembly comprises an in-feed conveyor frame including a pair of spaced apart and substantially parallel elongate composite frame plates including pivotally connected frame hinge segments, said frame plates being interconnected by a series of in-feed conveyor support plates over which said in-feed conveyor belt rides as it rolls and by a series of in-feed conveyor support rods, and an in-feed conveyor drive pulley extending between and rotatably mounted to said composite frame plates at the longitudinal ends of said elongate composite frame plates.

An apparatus for flattening meat without piercing nor shredding the meat, comprising:

• a first roller set, each roller in said first roller set having non-sharpened outer edges;
• a second roller set, each roller in said second roller set having non-sharpened outer edges, the first roller set directly opposing and being spaced and fully separated from the second roller set, said first and second roller sets together having a product in-feed end into which meat pieces are drawn and having a product out-feed end at which flattened meat pieces are expelled from between said first and second roller sets;
• adjusting means for adjusting the spacing between the first roller set and the second roller set, wherein meat passing between the first and second roller sets is substantially flattened but not pierced nor shredded;
• an out-feed conveyor belt assembly at said out-feed end, comprising an out-feed conveyor belt and rolling means for rolling said out-feed conveyor belt in a direction to advance meat pieces placed on said out-feed conveyor belt away from said out-feed end;
• and a finisher conveyor belt assembly at said out-feed end, said finisher conveyor belt assembly having a finisher conveyor belt generally parallel with, opposing and spaced apart from said out-feed conveyor belt and rolling means for rolling said out-feed conveyor belt in a direction to advance meat pieces placed on said out-feed conveyor belt away from said out-feed end;
• such that meat pieces expelled from between said out-feed end pass and are carried between said out-feed conveyor belt and said finisher conveyor belt by the rolling of said out-feed conveyor belt, and finisher conveyor drive pulley drive means, said finisher conveyor belt comprising smoothing means for smoothing said product.

An apparatus for flattening pieces of meat without piercing nor shredding the meat, comprising:

• a substantially horizontal first roller set, each roller in said first roller set having non-sharpened outer edges;
• a substantially horizontal second roller set, each roller in said second roller set having non-sharpened outer edges, said first roller set directly opposing and being spaced and fully separated from said second roller set, said first and second roller sets together having a product in-feed end into which meat pieces are drawn and having a product out-feed end at which flattened meat pieces are expelled from between said first and second roller sets;
• adjusting means for adjusting the spacing between said first roller set and said second roller set, wherein meat passing between said first and second roller set is substantially flattened but not pierced nor shredded;
• an in-feed conveyor belt assembly at said in-feed end comprising a substantially horizontal in-feed conveyor belt and rolling means for rolling said in-feed conveyor belt in a direction to advance meat pieces placed on said in-feed conveyor belt to said in-feed end;
• a marinator assembly mounted adjacent to one said roller set, and said marinator assembly comprising a marinate supply means and marinator nozzle oriented to spray marinate onto said rollers for delivery onto meat pieces;
• and an apparatus cover with a cover opening;
• wherein said marinator assembly comprises:
• a mounting fitting fastened to the outside of said cover and extends into and through said cover opening and has a central fitting port surrounded by a protruding and an annular flange having annular interior threads and annular flange external threaded, and a fitting fastening nut screwed onto said annular flange external threads thereby securing said mounting fitting into said cover opening and a sprayer nozzle screwed into said annular flange internal threads, said nozzle having external threads onto which a locking fitting having locking fitting internal threads is screwed, said locking fitting having a radial mounting flange protruding from its mid-section with at least one notch at its circumferential edge for receiving ends of mounting fitting fastening screws such that when said locking mount fitting is rotated said at least one notch engages and locks to said fitting fastening screws, wherein said locking fitting has locking nozzle external threads and wherein a marinate flow valve with internal threads is screwed onto said locking fitting external threads, wherein said flow valve has an operating lever for manually operated by a person, said marinator assembly further comprising a male quick release section screwed into the opposing end of said flow valve, and a marinate supply hose connector secured to said male quick release section.

An apparatus for flattening meat without piercing nor shredding the meat, comprising:

• a first roller set, each roller in said first roller set having non-sharpened outer edges;
• a second roller set, each roller in said second roller set having non-sharpened outer edges, the first roller set directly opposing and being spaced and fully separated from the second roller set, said first and second roller sets together having a product in-feed end into which meat pieces are drawn and having a product out-feed end at which flattened meat pieces are expelled from between said first and second roller sets;
• adjusting means for adjusting the spacing between the first roller set and the second roller set, wherein meat passing between the first and second roller sets is substantially flattened but not pierced nor shredded;
• and an out-feed conveyor belt assembly at said out-feed end, comprising an out-feed conveyor belt and rolling means for rolling said out-feed conveyor belt in a direction to advance meat pieces placed on said out-feed conveyor belt away from said out-feed end;
• wherein at least one roller of said first roller set and said second roller set comprises a scraper roller.

An apparatus for flattening pieces of meat without piercing nor shredding the meat, comprising:

• a substantially horizontal first roller set, each roller in said first roller set having non-sharpened outer edges;
• a substantially horizontal second roller set, each roller in said second roller set having non-sharpened outer edges, said first roller set directly opposing and being spaced and fully separated from said second roller set, said first and second roller sets together having a product in-feed end into which meat pieces are drawn and having a product out-feed end at which flattened meat pieces are expelled from between said first and second roller sets;
• adjusting means for adjusting the spacing between said first roller set and said second roller set, wherein meat passing between said first and second roller set is substantially flattened but not pierced nor shredded;
• and an in-feed conveyor belt assembly at said in-feed end comprising a substantially horizontal in-feed conveyor belt and rolling means for rolling said in-feed conveyor belt in a direction to advance meat pieces placed on said in-feed conveyor belt to said in-feed end;
• wherein at Least one roller of said first roller set and said second roller set comprises a scraper roller.