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:
Dec. 05, 1978
Filed:
Dec. 20, 1976
Wells A Webb, Orovada, NV (US);
William R Webb, Berkeley, CA (US);
Other;
Abstract
A method and apparatus for evaporating and condensing moisture from a procession of prepared fruit and vegetable particles at subatmospheric pressures, to manufacture puffed, low-moisture food products. A series of stations of decreasing pressure and increasing temperature is established within the dehydrating apparatus, and the procession of food particles is led and guided by the apparatus to pass systematically from station to station of the series for dehydration treatment. As the particles advance through the series of stations of successively lower pressure, they encounter an oil temperature in each succeeding station which is higher, and a vapor head pressure which is lower, than in the preceding station. By the time leading particles have traversed all stations of the series, they have become puffed and dehydrated. Then they are cooled by contact with cool oil to fix the puffed condition, the oil is then removed from contact with the particles in a centrifuge, and the finished food particles are then removed from the centrifuge and restored to atmospheric condition, without disturbing the regular progress of entry and dehydration of the following particles of the procession.