Separator for a food-product grinding machine with ring adjustment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018071746-A1
Application number	US-201715689300-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 29, 2017
Priority date	Sep 12, 2016
Publication date	Mar 15, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

A grinding machine for grinding food-products, such as meat or the like, includes an orifice plate at the outlet of a grinding head. The orifice plate has collection passages that discharge a mixture of soft material and hard material through the orifice plate. A separator assembly, including a separator screw and separation chamber, is located downstream of the orifice plate for separating the soft material from the hard material. A ring adjustment assembly includes a ring valve having an internal conical portion in communication with a nose portion of the separator screw, and a ring valve carrier configured to reciprocally displace the ring valve in an axial direction relative to the separator screw so as to vary a gap between the nose portion of the separator screw and the internal conical portion of the ring valve. Adjustment of the gap distance determines an amount of the hard material that is passed toward the discharge outlet.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A ring adjustment assembly for a grinding machine having a grinding head, the ring adjustment assembly, comprising:
a cylindrical separator chamber in communication with the grinding head; the cylindrical separator chamber having a sidewall that defines a constant diameter separator passage, the sidewall including a plurality of apertures; the separator chamber having an inlet end and an outlet end, the inlet end configured to receive a mixture of soft material and hard material from an upstream portion of the grinding head; a separator screw disposed within the separator passage of the separator chamber, the separator screw having a body portion and a nose portion; a ring valve having an internal conical portion in communication with the nose portion of the separator screw, the ring valve in axial alignment with the separator screw; a ring valve carrier configured to reciprocally displace the ring valve in an axial direction relative to the separator screw so as to vary a gap between the nose portion of the separator screw and the internal conical portion of the ring valve; and wherein the size of the gap determines an amount of the hard material that is passed toward a discharge outlet of the ring adjustment assembly.

2 . The ring adjustment assembly of claim 1 , wherein the separator screw has a major diameter and a minor diameter along the body portion.

3 . The ring adjustment assembly of claim 1 , wherein rotation of the separator screw within the separator passage of the separator chamber causes separation of the soft material from the mixture of the soft material and the hard material, and forces the soft material through the apertures in the sidewall of the separator chamber.

4 . The ring adjustment assembly of claim 1 , wherein rotation of the separator screw within the separator passage of the separator chamber advances the hard material in the mixture of the soft material and the hard material, in a downstream direction toward the discharge outlet.

5 . The ring adjustment assembly of claim 1 , wherein the separator screw includes helical pressure flights that extend along a portion of the body portion.

6 . The ring adjustment assembly of claim 5 , wherein a diameter of the helical pressure flights is constant in a direction from the inlet end of the separator chamber toward the nose portion.

7 . The ring adjustment assembly of claim 1 , wherein the nose portion of the separator screw includes a plurality of angled ports that facilitate grinding down or reducing in size, the hard material that is advanced in a downstream direction within the separator passage by the rotation of the separator screw.

8 . The ring adjustment assembly of claim 1 , wherein the inlet end of the separator chamber is flared.

9 . The ring adjustment assembly of claim 1 , wherein the outlet end of the separator chamber is flared and is configured to operatively couple to the ring valve.

10 . A ring adjustment assembly for a grinding machine having a grinding head defining an opening, the ring adjustment assembly comprising:
a separator assembly in communication with the grinding head, including:
a cylindrical separator chamber having a flared inlet end, and a flared outlet end, and a sidewall that defines a constant diameter separator passage;
the inlet end configured to receive a mixture of soft material and hard material from an upstream portion of the grinding head;
a separator screw disposed within the separator passage of the separator chamber, the separator screw having a body portion and a nose portion;
a ring valve having an internal conical portion in communication with the nose portion of the separator screw, the ring valve in axial alignment with the separator screw; a ring valve carrier configured to reciprocally displace the ring valve in an axial direction relative to the separator screw so as to vary a gap between the nose portion of the separator screw and the internal conical portion of the ring valve; and wherein the size of the gap determines an amount of the hard material that is passed toward a discharge outlet of the ring adjustment assembly.

11 . The ring adjustment assembly of claim 10 , wherein the separator screw has a major diameter and a minor diameter along the body portion.

12 . The ring adjustment assembly of claim 10 , wherein the separator screw includes helical pressure flights that extend along a portion of the body portion.

13 . The ring adjustment assembly of claim 12 , wherein a diameter of the helical pressure flights is constant in a direction from the inlet end of the separator chamber toward the nose portion.

14 . The ring adjustment assembly of claim 10 , wherein the nose portion of the separator screw includes a plurality of angled ports that facilitate grinding down or reducing in size, the hard material that is advanced in the downstream direction within the separator passage by the rotation of the separator screw.

15 . A ring adjustment assembly for a grinding machine having a grinding head defining an opening,
the grinding machine further comprising:
a rotatable food-product advancement member contained within the grinding head;
an orifice plate located within the opening of the grinding head, wherein the orifice plate defines an upstream surface and a downstream surface, and includes a plurality of outer grinding openings extending between the upstream surface and the downstream surface for discharging soft material through the orifice plate upon rotation of the rotatable food-product advancement member, and one or more collection passages extending between the upstream surface and the downstream surface for discharging a mixture of soft material and hard material through the orifice plate upon rotation of the rotatable food-product advancement member;
a separator assembly located downstream of the orifice plate, wherein the separator assembly includes:
an upstream inlet that receives the mixture of soft material and hard material from the collection passages;
a cylindrical separator chamber having a sidewall that defines a constant diameter separator passage, wherein the separator passage receives the mixture of soft material and hard material from the upstream inlet, and wherein the sidewall of the separator chamber includes a plurality of apertures;
a separator screw disposed within the separator passage of the separator chamber, the separator screw having a major diameter and a minor diameter along a body portion thereof, wherein the separator screw is interconnected with the rotatable food-product advancement member and is rotatable within the separator passage in response to rotation of the rotatable food-product advancement member, wherein rotation of the separator screw causes separation of soft material from the mixture of soft material and hard material, and forces the soft material through the apertures in the sidewall of the separator chamber, and advances the hard material in a downstream direction toward a discharge outlet;

the ring adjustment assembly comprising:
a ring valve having an internal conical portion in communication with a nose portion of the separator screw, the ring valve in axial alignment with the separator screw;
a ring valve carrier configured to reciprocally displace the ring valve in an axial direction relative to the separator screw so as to vary a gap between the nose portion of the separator screw and the internal conical portion of the ring valve; and
wherein the size of the gap determines an amount of the hard material that is passed toward the discharge outlet.

Assignees

• Provisur Technologies Inc

Inventors

• Wight E William
• Hahn Timothy
• Schinkowsky Kyle
• Albrecht Christopher
• Levande Nathan

Classifications

• A22C17/0026

  Mincing and grinding meat (mincing machines B02C18/30) · CPC title

• B02C18/301

  with horizontal axis · CPC title

• B07B1/42

  Drive mechanisms, regulating or controlling devices, or balancing devices, specially adapted for screens · CPC title

• B02C18/305

  Details · CPC title

• B02C18/302 Primary

  with a knife-perforated disc unit · CPC title