Airflow distribution systems for food processors

A food processing apparatus with forced gas distribution systems comprising:

• a housing defining an enclosure and having a food inlet and a food outlet;
• and
• a plurality of stacked tiers residing in said housing, one or more tiers defining a treatment zone within the food processing apparatus, each of said tiers comprising a moving floor that moves the food along its desired travel path over a primary surface of a respective tier;
• and
• a forced gas distribution system in fluid communication with the stacked tiers, the system comprising:
• a first plurality of inlet ports positioned on a first side portion of the food travel path proximate each tier;
• a second plurality of exhaust ports positioned on a second side portion of the food travel path across from the plurality of inlet ports proximate each tier;
• and
• an exogenous supply of gas operably associated with the inlet ports,
• wherein, in operation, the gas flows over the food in each tier as the food is substantially moving through a treatment zone.

A nested food processing apparatus, comprising:

• (a) an outer processor having spaced apart inner and outer walls defining an enclosure therebetween and a food inlet and food outlet, said outer processor comprising:
• a plurality of vertically stacked tiers held within the enclosure;
• at least one conveyor operably associated with each tier, the at least one conveyor being configured to move a food item about the tier such that the food item travels greater than one revolution in each tier;
• transfer means operably associated with the tiers for directing the food item to travel to the next selected tier;
• and
• a gas distribution system, comprising:
• an exogenous supply of gas or gas mixture;
• a first plurality of spaced apart inlet ports positioned in the processing apparatus proximate to each tier about a selected one of the inner or outer walls in fluid communication with the exogenous supply of gas or gas mixture;
• a second plurality of spaced apart exhaust ports positioned in the processing apparatus proximate to each tier about a different one of the walls selected to locate the inlet ports, wherein the second plurality is less than the first plurality;
• wherein the gad distribution system is configured to continuously distribute the gas or gas mixture while food item is moving through each tier;
• and
• (b) an inner processor defining an enclosure having associated upwardly extending sidewalls and a food inlet and a food outlet, wherein said outer processor is configured to receive and surround said inner processor, wherein each of said inner and outer processors are configured to provide separately regulated operating environments, said inner processor comprising:
• a plurality of vertically stacked tiers held within the inner processor enclosure;
• at least one conveyor operably associated with each tier, the at least one conveyor being configured to move a food item about the tier such that the food item travels greater than one revolution in each tier;
• transfer means operably associated with the at least one conveyor for directing the food item to travel to the next selected tier;
• and
• a gas distribution system, comprising:
• an exogenous supply of gas or gas mixture;
• a first plurality of spaced apart inlet portions positioned in the processing apparatus proximate to each tier about a selected one of the sidewalls in fluid communication with the exogenous supply of gas or gas mixture;
• a second plurality of spaced apart exhaust ports positioned in the processing apparatus proximate to each tier about a different one of the sidewalls selected to locate the inlet ports, wherein the second plurality is less than the first plurality;
• wherein the gas distribution system is configured to continuously distribute the exogenous gas or gas mixture while food item is moving through each tier.

A food processing system having at least one food processing chamber for treating food, comprising:

• means for moving food through a food processing chamber having a plurality of stacked tiers each providing at least one food travel lane, as the food is held on a food support surface;
• means for directing exogenously introduced air into inlet ports disposed on a first side portion of the at least one food travel lane of the respective tiers and to exit from exhaust ports located on a second opposing side portion of the at least one food travel lane of the respective tiers so as to cause the air to flow across the food held on the food support surface inside the food processing chamber, at each tier while the food is moving in the chamber so that the air has major lateral flow direction as the air travels in the chamber from inlet ports to respective exhaust ports;
• and
• means for exhausting the air from the chamber while the food is moving in the chamber.