The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 07, 2023
Filed:
Oct. 31, 2019
Ishida Europe Limited, Birmingham, GB;
Michael Bron, Helmond, NL;
Ruud Schepens, Schijndel, NL;
ISHIDA EUROPE LIMITED, Birmingham, GB;
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for separating excess slack out from a mixture of product and slack. For example, the slack could be a food product coating. According to one aspect, there is provided a hopper for diverting excess slack away from a mixture of product and slack, the hopper comprising a gate moveable between open and closed positions, wherein the gate is configured such that: when the gate is in the open position a first path is provided for contents of the hopper, comprising a mixture of product and slack, to exit the hopper; and when the gate is in the closed position the first path is closed by the gate so that product is retained in the hopper and a second path, different from the first path, is provided for slack to exit the hopper.