J.r. Simplot Company

David Bruce Walker

Allen J Neel

Bruce T Pittard

James W Englar

Michael L Hamann

Richard B Jensen

Charles F Dewey

Dessa Bokides

Peter Mattson

David N Gallina

Jason Boyd

Travis Deleve

David Campion

Ronald J Plaisted

John K Fukushima

Antonio Vasquez

Linda Renee Van Halder

Stephen L O'Bannon

Abigail Ann Dykas

Wayne Vogen

Heriberto Banda

Michael M Gallagher

James Englar

A system for separating cut food products includes a flow inlet, a flow outlet, and at least one drum connecting the flow inlet and the flow outlet. The flow inlet may be oriented to direct the cut food product tangentially into the at least one drum. The flow inlet may be oriented to direct the cut food product into the at least one drum at a right angle to a longitudinal axis of the at least one drum. The at least one drum may be a plurality of drums including a first drum having the flow inlet and a second drum having the flow outlet. The system may include a passageway providing fluid communication from the first drum to the second drum. The passageway may include a tapered section. The flow inlet may be aligned with the flow outlet.

Cut food denester

Formed potato product

Formed potato piece

Potato piece

A flow-propelled rotary knife system includes a housing, having an outlet end and walls defining a fluid passage, a rotatable blade holder, disposed at the outlet end and having a central aperture substantially aligned with the fluid passage, and at least one blade, extending diametrically across the central aperture of the blade holder. The blade holder is configured to rotate about a rotational axis passing through the central aperture, and the at least one blade has a twisted shape selected to rotationally propel the blade and the blade holder to rotate about the rotational axis when the blade is contacted by fluid flowing through the fluid passage and the central aperture in a flow direction, whereby objects propelled along the fluid flow path in the flow direction toward the outlet are helically cut by the rotating blade.

Flow-propelled rotary knife

Twisted potato piece

A rotary knife fixture configured for use in a water knife cutting system includes a ring, defining an internal aperture, and at least two spaced, angularly offset, parallel groups of parallel helically twisted cutting blades, extending across the aperture. The ring is configured to be placed in fluid communication with a hydraulic feed conduit of the water knife cutting system and for rotary motion about a rotational axis extending through the aperture. The groups of parallel blades are oriented generally perpendicular to the rotational axis. Each cutting blade has a sharpened cutting edge at one side thereof and is twisted generally about a center point thereof to define a pair of cutting edges oriented in opposite-facing circumferential directions. A vegetable product, fed through the aperture at a product speed, and with the rotary knife fixture rotating at a rotational speed, is substantially simultaneously cut into multiple helically twisted pieces.

System for cutting spiral shaped pieces

Conical potato piece

Growing community of inventors

Meridian, ID, United States of America

David Bruce Walker