General Mills, Inc.

Stanley C Rustad

Noel B Davis

Clifton H Morrison

John T Haub

James G Krassas

John T Lyons

Craig E Zimmermann

Takuzo Tsuchiya

Loren J Gordon

Floyd Lobash

William M Dreier

Larry Huston

Glenn Rasmussen

Leo W Eiden

Gerald J Elander

Donald W Morse

The disclosed apparatus includes a magazine for containing a plurality of frozen blocks of fish therein, the lower surfaces of the blocks resting on a table that is vertically adjustable relative to a reciprocable blade. A pusher unit is provided for each of the plurality of blocks, the pusher units ejecting the cut slabs each time the blade is retracted after completing a cutting stroke. During the cutting stroke the blocks are securely clamped.

Apparatus and method for cutting slabs from a frozen fish block

Frozen slabs of fish are introduced one at a time to one end of a conveyor having a bed of laterally spaced plastic strips forming slots therebetween. Beneath each slot is an endless chain having a series of upwardly directed fingers thereon. The fingers are engageable with the various slabs so as to advance the slabs to a location beneath an assembly of water jet devices, each device including a pivotal arm having a nozzle at one end thereof. A barrel cam has a plurality of tracking grooves, the pivotal arms having cam followers depending downwardly therefrom into the tracking grooves of the barrel cam. As the slabs are successively advanced beneath the liquid jet devices, the jets cut the particular slab into individual portions. Advancement of the now severed portions cause the portions to be moved onto a plurality of tilt strips which prevent the cut edges from freezing together. The individual portions are then delivered onto a spreader conveyor assembly comprised of three angularly oriented sets of rollers, two of the sets flanking the first or central set and causing the individual portions to traverse a diverging path for subsequent processing.

Apparatus and method utilizing a water jet for cutting frozen fish slabs

Disclosed are apparatus for recovering beverages from cases of defective aseptic packages such as caused by mismarking. The apparatus comprises a plurality of hollow needle pairs which both puncture the packages. One needle of the needle pair supplies air to the package forcing the beverage to exit through the other needle. The apparatus further includes means for advancing and retracting the needle pairs. The apparatus is pneumatically controlled and powered.

Assembly for liquid recovery from aseptically packaged beverage

A selected number of troughs containing small plants therein are placed in a parallel relation with each other at one end of a soilless growth chamber. Tubular screw sections having helical grooves therein are employed for advancing the troughs from the loading end of the chamber to the unloading end thereof, the helical or screw pitch being considerably greater at the unloading or harvesting end in order to accommodate for the increased size of the plants as they reach maturity. In other words, the pitch of the helix is correlated with the rate at which the plants mature. Tubular screw sections having different pitches can be substituted when the growth rate differs from one species to another.

Method and apparatus for increasing the spacing between plants in

A number of pairs of frozen fish slabs are arranged vertically in an equal number of laterally spaced vertical tubes or chutes constituting a magazine, each tube or chute having a partition dividing it into two open-ended compartments with a slab being slidably contained in each compartment. A cutter assembly comprising a blade carrier and a vertically adjustable table move as a unit at an acute angle beneath the magazine. The carrier has fixedly mounted at another acute angle thereon a plurality of flat blades equal in number to the number of tubes or chutes, each blade having a knife edge extending along opposite sides thereof so that when the cutter assembly is advanced in one direction the lower end of one of the slabs of each pair of slabs is severed and when retracted the lower end of the other of the slabs of each pair is severed to form individual fish sticks having a thickness determined by the distance the table is spaced below the plane in which the blades move. Whereas the thickness of the fish sticks is determined by the height of the table, the length and width thereof are determined by the cross section of the frozen slabs. The table has appropriately located openings therein so that the fish sticks gravitationally drop into angled troughs after they have been severed from the slabs. The fish sticks are then pushed from the angled troughs onto a conveyor in a uniformly-oriented manner suitable for food processing operations, such as breading and battering.

Fish stick cutting method and apparatus

An apparatus for intermittently pushing a plurality of aligned carts along a predetermined path. The apparatus includes a pair of oscillating pusher bars having a plurality of aligned lugs thereon, which engage a portion of the undersurface of the carts and push them forward as the bars move in a forward direction. As the pusher bars move in the opposite direction, the lugs disengage from the cart, so as to permit the cart to remain stationary.

Cart pushing apparatus

An installation for continuously growing plants which includes one or more growth chambers wherein alternate periods of lightness and darkness are provided, and the environmental conditions are controlled. The plants are individually supported, and transported through the growth chambers in such a manner as to require a minimum amount of handling. A diverging track system is provided in one of the growth chambers for handling the plants in a prescribed manner and guiding them through the chamber. As the plants are moved through such chamber, increased space is automatically provided for plant growth. The installation is well suited for growing plants hydroponically.

Growing community of inventors

Golden Valley, MN, United States of America

Stanley C Rustad