Massaging press roller

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9596864-B2
Application number	US-201514827171-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 14, 2015
Priority date	Aug 14, 2015
Publication date	Mar 21, 2017
Grant date	Mar 21, 2017

Abstract

A massaging press roller for tenderizing a food product includes a shaft and at least one roller element disposed on the shaft. The at least one roller element is configured to impart a pulsating pounding action on a food product.

First claim

The embodiments of the present disclosure in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A tenderizing mechanism, comprising:
(a) a massaging press roller comprising at least one massaging press roller element disposed on a first shaft, the at least one massaging press roller element having at least one lobe extending axially along an outer surface of the at least one massaging press roller element and at least one axial groove, wherein the at least one lobe is configured to impart a pulsating pounding action on a food product for massaging the food product as the massaging press roller is rotated about a first longitudinal axis of the first shaft; and
(b) an opposing roller positioned adjacent to the massaging press roller, the opposing roller comprising at least one opposing roller element disposed on a second shaft that is substantially parallel to the first shaft, the at least one opposing roller element having an outer surface with a generally convex portion positioned opposite the at least one lobe against which the pulsating pounding action may be imparted on the food product.

2. The mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the outer surface of the at least one massaging press roller element defines a plurality of lobes and a plurality of grooves in an alternating lobe and groove pattern.

3. The mechanism of claim 2 , wherein the outer surface of the opposing roller element extends axially along at least a portion of the second shaft, wherein the outer surface of the opposing roller element defines a plurality of axial ridges having a cross-sectional width at least twice as small as a cross-sectional width of the lobe and having a cross-sectional height at least twice as small as a cross-sectional height of the lobe.

4. The mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the first shaft is substantially parallel to the second shaft, and wherein a gap is defined between an outer diameter of the massaging press roller and an outer diameter of the opposing roller, and wherein the gap adjusts depending on the thickness of the food product to ensure a pulsating pounding action may be imparted onto the food product.

5. The mechanism of claim 4 , further comprising a first air cylinder operably coupled to the massaging press roller and a second air cylinder operably coupled to the opposing roller, the first and second air cylinders configured to be varied in pressure to increase or decrease the force of the pulsating pounding action on the food product.

6. The mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the at least one lobe has a convex curvature and the at least one groove has a concave curvature.

7. A method of tenderizing a food product, comprising:
(a) passing a food product between a massaging press roller and an opposing roller, the massaging press roller comprising at least one massaging press roller element disposed on a first shaft, the at least one massaging press roller element having an outer surface with an alternating lobe and groove pattern defined by a plurality of grooves and a plurality of axial lobes defined between adjacent grooves, the opposing roller comprising at least one opposing roller element disposed on a second shaft that is substantially parallel to the first shaft, wherein the at least one opposing roller element includes an outer surface having a generally convex portion; and
(b) rotating the massaging press roller about a first longitudinal axis of the first shaft and contra-rotating the opposing roller about a second longitudinal axis of the second shaft such that the plurality of axial lobes of the massaging press roller element impart a pulsating pounding action on the food product and the generally convex portion of the outer surface of the at least one opposing roller element is positioned opposite the plurality of axial lobes to provide a surface against which the pulsating pounding action may be imparted on the food product.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising treating the food product with a solution before passing the food product between the massaging press roller and the at least one opposing roller such that the pulsating pounding action of the massaging press roller forcefully and substantially evenly distributes the solution throughout the food product.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising adjusting a gap defined between an outer diameter of the massaging press roller and an outer diameter of the opposing roller and feeding the food product into the gap defined between the massaging press roller and the opposing roller.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising automatically adjusting the gap to correspond to at least one of a specific food product and a thickness of a food product.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising adjusting at least one of a first pressure of the massaging press roller and a second pressure of the opposing roller to impart a substantially constant force of the pulsating pounding action on the food product.

12. A method of tenderizing a food product, comprising:
(a) defining an initial gap between a first longitudinal axis of a massaging press roller and a second longitudinal axis of an opposing roller to correspond to a food product;
(b) passing the food product between the massaging press roller and the opposing roller while rotating the massaging press roller about the first longitudinal axis and contra-rotating the opposing roller about the second longitudinal axis such that at least one lobe of the massaging press roller imparts a pulsating pounding action on the first food product and a generally convex portion of an outer surface of the opposing roller positioned opposite the at least one lobe provides an opposing force against which the pulsating pounding action may be imparted on the first food product; and
(c) adjusting at least one of the gap defined between the first longitudinal axis and the second longitudinal axis, a first pressure of the massaging press roller, and a second pressure of the opposing roller to impart a substantially constant force of the pulsating pounding action on the food product as it is passed between the massaging press roller and the opposing roller.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising automatically increasing the gap between the massaging press roller and the opposing press roller to correspond to an increased thickness of the food product such that a substantially constant force of the pulsating pounding action is imparted on the food product as it is passed between the massaging press roller and the opposing roller.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising automatically decreasing the gap between the massaging press roller and the opposing press roller to correspond to a decreased thickness of the food product such that a substantially constant force of the pulsating pounding action is imparted on the food product as it is passed between the massaging press roller and the opposing roller.

15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising automatically increasing at least one of the first pressure of the massaging press roller and the second pressure of the opposing roller to increase the force of the pulsating pounding action on the food product when the thickness of the food product decreases.

16. The method of claim 12 , further comprising automatically decreasing at least one of the first pressure of the massaging press roller and the second pressure of the opposing roller to decrease the force of the pulsating pounding action on the food product when the thickness of the food product increases.

17. The method of claim 12 , further c

Assignees

• John Bean Technologies Corp

Inventors

• Ludwig Ralf
• Timperio Louis O

Classifications

• A22C9/004 Primary

  by massaging · CPC title