Dec International, Inc.

Knight Manufacturing Corp

Claude L McFarlane

David E Lukens

Wendell J Holl

Daniel J Cody

Christopher Albright

Steve O Schultz

Min N Huang

Daniel R Brauer

Mark A Persson

Dennis F Conohan

Steven R Lary

George R Millard, Jr

A distributor apparatus is disclosed for spreading materials. The apparatus includes a container having a first and a second end and a first and a second side, the ends and the sides defining therebetween an opening for the reception therein of the materials. The container defines an outlet for the distributing therethrough of the materials. A distributing device is disposed in the vicinity of the outlet, the distributing device being pivotally secured to the container about a pivotal axis. The distributing device further includes a frame, a driven device rotatably secured to the frame for ejecting the materials from the container, a driving device for rotating the driven device such that the materials are moved from the container through the outlet by the driven device so that spreading of the materials from the container is permitted, a drive for driving the driving device and a guide for guiding the driving device between the driven device and the drive. The arrangement is such that an approximate sum of a distance travelled by the driving device from the drive to the driven device plus a further distance travelled by the driving device from the guide to the drive remains constant when the distributing device is pivoted between a first location adjacent to the container and a second location of the distributing device away from the container so that slack of the driving device is minimized during pivoting of the distributing device between the locations.

Distributor apparatus for spreading materials

A discharge apparatus is disclosed for discharging materials from a container onto an open area such as a field. The apparatus includes a power discharge device which is disposed adjacent to a discharge outlet defined by the container. The arrangement is such that when the apparatus is being used to spread the materials onto the open area such as the field, the materials move from the container through the outlet towards the power discharge device for discharging the materials at a location on the field. A power source is drivingly connected to the power discharge device for rotating the power discharge device. A power sensor is provided for sensing the power supplied by the power source which is approximately the power used by the power discharge device, the power sensor generating a first signal which is correlated to the spread rate of the materials discharged.

Discharge apparatus for discharging materials

A discharge apparatus for discharging materials from a container onto a field, the apparatus comprising a power discharge device disposed adjacent to a discharge outlet defined by the container, the arrangement being such that when the apparatus is being used to spread the materials onto the field, the materials move from the container through the outlet towards the discharge device. A motor is drivingly connected to the discharge device for rotating the discharge device. A power sensor senses the power used by the motor and a control controls the rate at which the materials are spread. A data storage device associated with the power sensor and the control regulates the control. The arrangement is such that the data storage device dependent on the power sensor regulates the control for controlling the rate at which the materials are discharged so that when the container is moved across the field, the materials are discharged onto the field at a varying rate in order to optimize usage of the materials.

A material supporting apparatus is disclosed for supporting and permitting delivery of the materials. The apparatus includes a chassis having a first and a second end. A container is mounted upon the chassis and a stabilizing device is interconnected between the container and the chassis. The stabilizing device is disposed between the container and the chassis for stabilizing the container relative to the chassis. A restraining mechanism extends between the chassis and the container for permitting limited vertical movement of the container relative to the chassis. Also, a weight sensing arrangement is disposed between the container and the chassis for sensing the weight of the container and the materials added thereto and for determining therefrom the weight of the materials within the container. Additionally, a coupling device is disposed between the chassis and the container and positioned remote from the stabilizing device for assisting the stabilizing of the container relative to the chassis.

Material supporting apparatus

A food product processing transport system (300) includes an overhead transport rail (302) having first and second runs (356 and 358, 390 and 392), a food product carrier (310) suspended from the rail and defining a vertical plane, a drive mechanism (326) for advancing the carrier along the rail, and a turning arrangement (354, 394) between the first and second runs and changing the relative orientation between the vertical plane defined by the carrier and the direction of advancement of the carrier. The carrier includes a slider block (312) slidable along the rail.

Food processing transport system

A food processing system (10) includes a first conveyor (12) having sprocket driven chains (14 and 16) extending along a loading run (26) and a return run (28) at a loading station (80). A support bar (52) extends transversely between the chains (14 and 16), and has a first movable hook (62) and a second stationary hook (64) mounted thereto. A food stick (74) for supporting a food product (76), such as a string of hot dogs, has a leading end (72) engageable with the movable first hook (62) for manually pushing the first hook along the support bar, and a trailing end (82) engageable with the stationary second hook. A second conveyor (102) at a transfer station (114) has spaced parallel sprocket driven chains (104 and 48) for transporting the food stick (74) and food product (76) to a processing station for cooking, smoking, chilling, etc. A transfer assembly (112) at the transfer station (114) engages the food stick (74) during advancement of the first conveyor (12) and transfers the food stick (74) to catches (108 and 110) on the chains (104 and 48) of the second conveyor (102). A return guide rail (88) along the return run (28) of the first conveyor (12) extends diagonally relative to the transverse extension of the support bar (52). During the return run of the first conveyor, the movable hook (62) engages the return guide rail (88) and is slid thereby along the support bar (52) toward the stationary hook (64) such that the movable hook (62) is returned to a loading position for the loading run (26).

Food processing system with simplified loading and transfer

A food processing system (100) includes a food processing chamber (102) for processing a food product, a serpentine conveyor (104) having a plurality of parallel flights connected at their ends by U-shaped bends, and a recirculation system for supplying a processing medium to the chamber and recirculating the processing medium along a closed-loop unidirectional recirculation path having a supply path portion (106) along and parallel to a first set of flights (108), and a return path portion (110) along and parallel to a second set of flights (112). A blower (114) has a high pressure supply side (116) supplying the processing medium to the supply path portion, and a low pressure return side (118) drawing the processing medium from the return path portion. The processing medium acts on the food product in both the supply and return path portions, and the food product on the flights travels both with and against the direction of flow of the processing medium during each of the supply and return path portions without reversing the direction of flow of the processing medium along the closed-loop recirculation path.

Serpentine food processing with closed-loop recirculation

A food product press includes a vertically disposed array of interleaved pairs of product carrying shelves and compression shelves, between each pair of which food products, such as hams, may be compressed for processing. The product shelves are fixed and the compression shelves are movable as a group with respect thereto and may be set and held at any desired spacing or with any selected compression of the products. The press is manually operable by a single operator and is readily disassembleable for cleaning or modified use.

Growing community of inventors

Madison, WI, United States of America

Claude L McFarlane