Del Monte Corporation

Big Heart Pet Branda

Geoffrey Chase Thornhill

Davor Juravic

Oscar Ortiz

Yomayra Alvarez

Dwayne P McDowell, Ii

Mark Donatucci

Franjo Baltorinic

Apparatus, systems and methods are disclosed for manufacturing slices of sausages that appear to have been cut from a conventional round sausage log at an angle. An illustrative embodiment provides a manufacturing process for making portions to be finished into angled pet treats comprising: (a) providing a ground mix of proteinaceous material, flavor enhancers and preservatives to a forming chamber comprising: a fixed base surface, a fixed top surface, and a movable intermediate section insertable between said base and top surfaces, said intermediate section having a plurality of die cavities that each have a central axis oblique to the surface of said intermediate plate, said top surface having a plurality of feeder holes that overlap at least partially with said die cavities, (b) filling said plurality of die cavities via said feeder holes with said foodstuff, thereby forming a plurality of portions in shapes and dimensions that generally correspond to the shapes and dimensions of said die cavities, (b) moving said intermediate section containing said plurality of portions out of said chamber, (c) forcibly ejecting said portions with a plurality of longitudinal elements that reciprocate in and out of said die cavities along said central axis, thereby forming angled pet treats.

Apparatus, systems and methods for manufacturing food products

Apparatus, systems and methods are disclosed to manufacture a plurality of edible pieces in a continuous process where each piece is generally different in thickness, shape, size and/or texture from another piece, so as to create, in the aggregate product distribution, pieces of randomly varying thickness, size, shape and/or texture. More specifically, the present invention, in its various embodiments, provides a process for manufacturing pet jerky treats comprising: grinding proteinaceous material, mixing said proteinaceous material with preservatives and flavor enhancers to form a blend of foodstuff, extruding said foodstuff through at least one die opening that is at least partially irregular to form at least one strip of extrudate that is at least partly irregular in shape, transporting said strip in a first longitudinal direction to a first cutting operation, cutting said strip at a first cutting angle to form a first set of pieces, transporting said first set of pieces in a second longitudinal direction to a second cutting operation, cutting said first set of pieces in said second cutting operation at a second angle to form a second set of pieces, such that the said second set of pieces cumulatively produced during a process run generally appear to be of random sizes and shapes.

Apparatus, systems and methods are disclosed for manufacturing semi-moist meatballs. An illustrative embodiment provides a method of manufacturing generally spherical pet treats comprising: (a) providing a ground mix of proteinaceous material, flavor enhancers and preservatives to a portioning device that divides said mix into smaller portions of roughly uniform volume, (b) placing said portions on a first belt of a first conveyor moving at a first speed in a longitudinal direction, (c) periodically pressing said portions with a second belt of a second conveyor, where said second belt operates in a plane at a height above, and substantially parallel to, said first belt, said second belt moving at a second speed in substantially the same longitudinal direction as said first belt, while also oscillating back and forth in a lateral direction that is at an angle to said longitudinal direction, such that said portions are transformed into generally spherical shapes.

Growing community of inventors

San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Geoffrey Chase Thornhill