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. 30, 1997
Filed:
Mar. 20, 1996
Eugene J London, Sandusky, OH (US);
Stein, Inc., Toledo, OH (US);
Abstract
A processing apparatus, conveyor and method for processing products or materials, such as food processing equipment or methods, is configured such that the conveyor travels in a generally helical path within a processing chamber to expose products on the conveyor to a gaseous processing media such as heated or cooled air. The conveyor includes gas flow compensation including a plurality of gas flow compensation members which partially block a portion of the surface of the conveyor, preferably toward the exterior of the conveyor in the helical path, to deflect or direct more of the gaseous food processing media away from the less densely distributed products or materials at the exterior of the conveyor caused when the conveyor follows the helical path. The processing media is thus preferably forced in the direction of the more densely distributed products toward the interior of conveyor to uniformly expose product on the conveyor to the processing media. Alternatively, the flow compensation members may be configured to direct the flow of the processing media in other predetermined paths, such as counter to the travel direction of the conveyor.