Stein Associates, Inc.

Stein, Inc.

Fmc Technologies, Inc.

Yong Y Hwang

Donald P Smith

The invention is directed to an oil treatment apparatus and method for treatment of oil which transports oil to be treated from a source through a first conduit to a treatment station. The treatment station includes a filter system capable of extracting particulate material from the oil and removing the particulate material from the filter system as it is removed from the oil. The treated oil may then be transported for reuse, preferably in a continuous cycle with the source of the oil. A prefiltering system may be used to further enhance maintaining the quality of the oil and/or in efficiently treating the oil while accommodating throughput requirements. The prefiltering system may include a comminuter to reduce the size of larger particles in the oil, a coarse filtering system to remove larger particle, a system to introduce a treatment material to the oil or other systems to facilitate processing. The filtering system is designed to remove particles from the oil having a size of fifteen microns or smaller in the preferred embodiment.

Oil treatment system

The invention relates to a cooking oven for mass production of food products and a method for cooking food products. The oven includes an enclosure housing which forms a cooking chamber, having an endless pervious conveyor therein upon which food products are transported through the cooking chamber. The conveyor is arranged to provide a helically extending path over which food products will travel to increase dwell time within the cooking chamber while taking less floor space. A heated gaseous cooking medium is introduced into the cooking chamber and is circulated through an annulus formed by the helically extending conveyor to achieve high heat transfer to the food products being cooked. The oven can utilize steam and/or heated air to achieve varied cooking characteristics as desired and allows substantial versatility in the cooking process.

Cooking oven for slow-cooking of food products

Cooking oven for slow cooking of food products

An oven for cooking food products comprising a substantially closed enclosure except for an inlet and an outlet in the end walls of the oven. A heater means extends through the top wall of the enclosure into the cooking chamber for producing a gaseous cooking medium and suction fan means are provided on the enclosure top wall on either side of the heater means and in relatively closely spaced relation to the outlet of the heater means, and a source of moisture is disposed between the heater means outlet and the suction side of each of the fans for mixing moisture with the heated medium from the heater means. A conveyor is adapted to receive food products and move the products through the oven from the inlet to the outlet thereof, and duct fingers are provided both above and below the conveyor for directing and impinging the heated gaseous cooking medium onto the food products being moved by the conveyor through the oven. A second chamber separate from the cooking chamber is provided in communication with the pressure side of each of the fans and connected to the duct fingers for directing the mixture of heated gaseous medium and moisture withdrawn from the cooking chamber by the fans to the duct fingers to then be applied thereby to the food product. Recycling of the cooking medium is accomplished and the oven is so constructed that cleaning thereof is materially facilitated. A novel method of mass cooking of food product is also disclosed.

Food cooking oven with duct fingers and method

A combined heat shield and steam distributor for a cooking oven, adapted to be located in the oven between a flame producing combustion unit in the oven and a movable food product conveyor, to aid in protecting food product on the conveyor from generally direct exposure to flame, with such shielding and distributor means also providing for distribution of steam into the cooking chamber for intermixing with the gaseous cooking medium of the oven.

Heat shield-steam distributor for cooking oven

An oven and method for cooking food products. The oven comprises an elongated housing having an inlet for food products to be cooked in the oven and an outlet for emitting cooked food product from the oven, together with means for heating a gaseous cooking medium in the housing for cooking the food products therein, and a plurality of vertically tiered endless conveyors for passing the food product back and forth through the housing during the cooking process, whereby an oven taking less floor space for a predetermined flow path extent of cooking various food products, is provided.

Growing community of inventors

Huron, OH, United States of America

Yong Y Hwang