Automatic-feed grinder and meat grinding method

Abstract

An automatic-feed grinder for meat having a grinding head mounted on a frame and held in position thereon by clamping bars and a hopper superimposed thereon. The hopper and grinding head have generally similar front-to-rear dimensions providing a compact construction resulting from reverse flow of meat including rearward flow in the hopper provided by self-feeding counter-rotating augers which feed the meat through a bottom discharge opening adjacent the rear wall thereof into a top opening of a grinding head. The grinding head has a feed screw which advances the meat in the grinding head forwardly through grinding elements. The compact construction provided by the superimposed relation of the grinding head and hopper permits the simple drive of the counter-rotating augers and the feed screw by drive connections at the rear of the hopper and grinding head to drive means mounted on the frame. The hopper is mounted on the frame for compound movement including front-to-rear movement for either connecting or disconnecting the drive connections between the drive means and the counter-rotating augers as well as pivotal movement about an axis externally of the hopper to move the hopper to a distance away from the grinding head to permit removal of the latter from the frame. The hopper and the grinding head are held in position on the frame by clamping structure which can be operated without the use of special tools to facilitate assembly and disassembly of the grinder.