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:
May. 16, 1978
Filed:
May. 06, 1976
Gretz L Hazen, Fort Atkinson, WI (US);
DEC International, Inc., Madison, WI (US);
Abstract
An apparatus for the continuous matting and milling of cheese curd. The apparatus includes a housing which houses an upper, water-permeable, endless conveyor belt and a lower endless conveyor belt which operates in the opposite direction to that of the first belt. A mixture of cheese curd and whey is deposited as a layer on the upper belt and the whey is drained through the belt and is discharged through the lower end of the housing. The matted curd is transferred from the upper belt to the lower belt and as a result is inverted, and is subsequently discharged to a curd milling unit which acts to cut the mat of curd into cube-like chunks. The curd mill includes a cylindrical drum and a blade extends the length of the drum and is spaced outwardly from the drum periphery. A series of radial knives connect the blade and the drum. The drum is rotated through an arc between a cutting position wherein the blade and knives cut the curd mat into cube-like chunks and a retracted position where the chunks fall by gravity from the drum to a collection site.