Patent US3680994A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US3680994A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Quick clearing extruder and adjustable extruder die assembly for foodstuffs
Assignee: Ael Food Automation Inc
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Filing: 1971-01-28
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Granted: 1972-08-01
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Expires: 1991-01-28
Abstract
Abstract Foodstuff extrusion apparatus in which the extruder has a splithalf housing secured together by hand releasable clamps and a bayonet locked end plate cover removable by turning a disassembly handle so that access to the extruder interior may be rapidly obtained. The extruder screw is removably attached to the power shaft and may be axially withdrawn for cleaning. The extrusion apparatus also features an adjustable die in cooperation with a rotary cutter which defines an orifice, the size of which may be finely controlled by means of a hand operated releasably locking vernier. The vernier is released so that the adjustable die may be quickly opened widely to permit passage of clogging material and then returned to its preadjustable position. The adjustable die is rapidly detachable from the extruder outlet by hand release of a clamp permitting the die to be removed for cleaning or replacement. The extruder and its associated features are so designed and constructed that disassembly and access to the interior, fine and gross adjustment of the orifice and detachment of the die may all be accomplished by an operator without the need for special tools or training and without undue interruption of the extrusion cycle.
Inventors
- 👤 John G Longenecker
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 14:28
CPC Classifications
A; A21; A21C; A21C11/00; A21C11/16; A21C11/20
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim
322 words
Quick-clearing foodstuff blank extruder forming apparatus for forming foodstuff product blanks, such as blanks of dough for tortillas, pancakes, pie crusts and blanks of extrudable foodstuff material for making other food products, comprising: an extruder barrel defining an extrusion chamber with extruder screw means extending longitudinally in said chamber, said extruder barrel being formed by upper and lower semicylindrical housings having mating flanges, a plurality of manually releasable clamps for releasably clamping said upper housing to said lower housing for providing ready access to the extrusion chamber and to the extruder screw means for cleaning out the foodstuff material therein, power input means at the upstream end of said extruder barrel for rotating said extruder screw, manually detachable clutch means coupling said power input means to said extruder screw, a removable end plug assembly at the downstream end of said extruder barrel, said removable end plug assembly carrying an outboard bearing for said extruder screw, manually releasable fastening means holding said removable end plug assembly in position at the downstream end of said extruder barrel for providing removal of said end plug assembly together with said outboard bearing to thereby permit removal of said extruder screw means through the downstream end of said extruder barrel upon detachment of said clutch means, said extruded barrel having outlet throat means at the downstream end defining an outlet throat passage communicating with said extrusion chamber, nozzle means at the outlet end of said outlet throat passage including opposed die means defining an extruder orifice, a rotary cutter disk adjacent to said extruder orifice for shaping and cutting the foodstuff material being extruded therethrough to form food product blanks, adjustment means for adjusting the spacing between said opposed die means for varying the size of said orifice to very the thickness of said food blanks, and said adjustment means being adapted to quickly open said orifice for quickly clearing clogging lumps of foodstuff from said orifice.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
322 words
Quick-clearing foodstuff blank extruder forming apparatus for forming foodstuff product blanks, such as blanks of dough for tortillas, pancakes, pie crusts and blanks of extrudable foodstuff material for making other food products, comprising: an extruder barrel defining an extrusion chamber with extruder screw means extending longitudinally in said chamber, said extruder barrel being formed by upper and lower semicylindrical housings having mating flanges, a plurality of manually releasable clamps for releasably clamping said upper housing to said lower housing for providing ready access to the extrusion chamber and to the extruder screw means for cleaning out the foodstuff material therein, power input means at the upstream end of said extruder barrel for rotating said extruder screw, manually detachable clutch means coupling said power input means to said extruder screw, a removable end plug assembly at the downstream end of said extruder barrel, said removable end plug assembly carrying an outboard bearing for said extruder screw, manually releasable fastening means holding said removable end plug assembly in position at the downstream end of said extruder barrel for providing removal of said end plug assembly together with said outboard bearing to thereby permit removal of said extruder screw means through the downstream end of said extruder barrel upon detachment of said clutch means, said extruded barrel having outlet throat means at the downstream end defining an outlet throat passage communicating with said extrusion chamber, nozzle means at the outlet end of said outlet throat passage including opposed die means defining an extruder orifice, a rotary cutter disk adjacent to said extruder orifice for shaping and cutting the foodstuff material being extruded therethrough to form food product blanks, adjustment means for adjusting the spacing between said opposed die means for varying the size of said orifice to very the thickness of said food blanks, and said adjustment means being adapted to quickly open said orifice for quickly clearing clogging lumps of foodstuff from said orifice.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
107 words
Quick-clearing foodstuff blank extruder forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which: vernier means are provided for controlling said adjustment means, and releasable engaging means for releasably engaging said vernier means with said adjustment means for providing fine adjustment of said extruder orifice by use of said vernier means, and when said releasable engaging means is disengaged from said adjustment means, allowing quick opening of said extruder orifice by said adjustment means for quickly clearing the orifice, and said releasable engaging means being re-engagable with said adjustment means upon the return of said adjustment means to the same position as previously adjusted by said vernier means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
83 words
Quick-clearing foodstuff blank extruder forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which: said opposed die means includes a fixed die plate included in said nozzle means, a slidable die plate opposed to said fixed die plate defining an orifice slot between said two die plates, said nozzle means being manually detachable from said outlet throat means, said adjustment means including a manually adjustable lever pivotally connected with said slidable die plate, and said lever being manually disconnectable from said adjustable die plate.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
247 words
Extrusion apparatus for extruding foodstuff material and that facilitates the clearing of jammed material comprising orifice nozzle apparatus with a cooperating cut-off member for cutting off the extruded material, said nozzle assembly including an adjustable die assembly comprising: a die block having a nozzle opening therein, at least one die plate movably mounted on said die block, said die plate defiNing together with a complementary element on said die block an extrusion orifice which communicates with the nozzle opening in the die block to form an extrusion orifice located at the output end of said nozzle assembly, said die plate being adjustably movable for adjusting the size of the orifice, adjustment means connected to said adjustable die plate for adjustably positioning said plate relative to the complementary element on said die block, releasable locking means for restraining said adjustment means to fixedly position said adjustment means and die plate for a predetermined orifice size, said releasable locking means being releasable from restraining relationship to enable said adjustable die plate to be quickly moved from its adjusted position to open the orifice for removing any clogging material therefrom to quickly clear the orifice, and said releasable locking means retaining the adjusted die position for quickly returning and again restraining the adjustable die plate in the adjusted position for continued extrusion, the cooperating cut-off member being positioned downstream from said movable die plate and travelling adjacent to the die plate for cutting off predetermined portions of the extruded material.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
247 words
Extrusion apparatus for extruding foodstuff material and that facilitates the clearing of jammed material comprising orifice nozzle apparatus with a cooperating cut-off member for cutting off the extruded material, said nozzle assembly including an adjustable die assembly comprising: a die block having a nozzle opening therein, at least one die plate movably mounted on said die block, said die plate defiNing together with a complementary element on said die block an extrusion orifice which communicates with the nozzle opening in the die block to form an extrusion orifice located at the output end of said nozzle assembly, said die plate being adjustably movable for adjusting the size of the orifice, adjustment means connected to said adjustable die plate for adjustably positioning said plate relative to the complementary element on said die block, releasable locking means for restraining said adjustment means to fixedly position said adjustment means and die plate for a predetermined orifice size, said releasable locking means being releasable from restraining relationship to enable said adjustable die plate to be quickly moved from its adjusted position to open the orifice for removing any clogging material therefrom to quickly clear the orifice, and said releasable locking means retaining the adjusted die position for quickly returning and again restraining the adjustable die plate in the adjusted position for continued extrusion, the cooperating cut-off member being positioned downstream from said movable die plate and travelling adjacent to the die plate for cutting off predetermined portions of the extruded material.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
29 words
An adjustable die assembly for foodstuff material according to claim 4 wherein: said adjustment means comprises a pivoted adjustment lever, one end of which engages said movable die plate.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
71 words
An adjustable die assembly for foodstuff material according to claim 5 wherein: said releasable locking means comprises a vernier adjustment screw member held in its adjusted position, said vernier adjustment screw member being engageable with said adjustment lever by mechanical interlocking so that movement of the vernier member causes movement of the pivoted adjustment lever to provide fine adjustment of the die plate and corresponding fine adjustment of the orifice size.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
231 words
Extrusion apparatus for extruding foodstuff material comprising an orifice nozzle assembly with a cooperating cut-off member for cutting off the extruded material, said nozzle assembly including: a die mechanism removably attached to the output end of said nozzle assembly by retaining clamp means, said nozzle having a peripheral mounting plate at its output end, said mounting plate having a surface with at least one raised portion, said raised portion defining an open angle of less than 90* measured relative to the surface of said mounting plate, said die mechanism including an adaptor block, a face of which is adapted to engage said plate surface, said adaptor block having two angular sides defining a dovetail adapted to engage in said open angle so that the adaptor block is held in complementary dovetail relationship when clamped to the nozzle, said retaining clamp means having an angularly shaped portion which complementarily engages the other adaptor block side, to bear thereagainst and securely hold the die mechanism to the nozzle, said cut-off member including a rotary disk and said disk being positioned downstream from the nozzle and adjacent to the die mechanism such that the planes of said mounting plate surface and rotary disk are converging, whereby said die mechanism may be detached from the nozzle assembly by releasing said clamp means and withdrawn parallel to the plate surface without interference with the rotary disk.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
231 words
Extrusion apparatus for extruding foodstuff material comprising an orifice nozzle assembly with a cooperating cut-off member for cutting off the extruded material, said nozzle assembly including: a die mechanism removably attached to the output end of said nozzle assembly by retaining clamp means, said nozzle having a peripheral mounting plate at its output end, said mounting plate having a surface with at least one raised portion, said raised portion defining an open angle of less than 90* measured relative to the surface of said mounting plate, said die mechanism including an adaptor block, a face of which is adapted to engage said plate surface, said adaptor block having two angular sides defining a dovetail adapted to engage in said open angle so that the adaptor block is held in complementary dovetail relationship when clamped to the nozzle, said retaining clamp means having an angularly shaped portion which complementarily engages the other adaptor block side, to bear thereagainst and securely hold the die mechanism to the nozzle, said cut-off member including a rotary disk and said disk being positioned downstream from the nozzle and adjacent to the die mechanism such that the planes of said mounting plate surface and rotary disk are converging, whereby said die mechanism may be detached from the nozzle assembly by releasing said clamp means and withdrawn parallel to the plate surface without interference with the rotary disk.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
62 words
Extrusion apparatus for foodstuff material according to claim 7 wherein: said adaptor block has a notch, said plate surface has a locator stud therein adapted to engage in said notch, said notch and stud being complementary so that the two are engaged when the adaptor block face is in contact with the plate surface, thereby preventing lateral displacement of the adaptor block.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
82 words
Extrusion apparatus for foodstuff material according to claim 7 wherein: said clamp means includes a clamp member which is held in engaging position by a cLamp dog for releasing the clamp member permitting the clamp member to move away from said other adapter block side, said clamp dog being movable relative to said die mechanism so that it can either tightly engage or release the clamp member, thereby permitting the clamp member to engage and disengage the said other adapter block side.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
185 words
Extrusion apparatus for foodstuff material according to claim 9, wherein said die assembly further comprises: nozzle means having a nozzle opening therein, at least one die plate mounted on said nozzle means, said die plate defining together with an opposed element of said nozzle means an extrusion orifice which communicates with said nozzle opening to form an extrusion orifice located at the output end of said nozzle assembly, said die plate being adjustably movable for adjusting the size of theorifice, adjustment means connected to said adjustable die plate for adjustably positioning said plate relative to said complementary element, releasable locking means for restraining said adjustment means to fixedly position said adjustment means and die plate for a predetermined orifice size, said releasable locking means being releasable from restraining relationship to enable said adjustable die plate to be quickly moved from its adjusted position to open the orifice for removing any clogging foodstuff material therefrom to quickly clear the orifice, and said releasable locking means retaining the adjusted die position for quickly returning and restraining the adjustable die plate in the adjusted position for continued extrusion.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
221 words
Extrusion apparatus for extruding foodstuff material and that facilitates access to the extruder interior for quick cleaning, including a housing defining a barrel chamber, a screw within said barrel chamber for extruding foodstuff material through said barrel chamber and power shaft means for applying drive power to one end of said screw, the improvement comprising: semi-cylindrical upper and lower barrel housings, the upper housing being removably attached to the lower housing by means of a plurality of hand releasable clamps, a removable end plug assembly secured to the downstream end of the housing and having a plurality of bayonet flanges, a plurality of retaining studs on said housing adapted to be cooperatively engaged by said bayonet flanges, a disassembly handle on said end plug assembly for turning said end plug assembly to disengage said flanges from said retaining studs, said end plug assembly including a bearing block having an annular bearing recess to receive the downstream end of a shaft of said screw means, disconnectible clutch means for removably connecting the upstream end of said screw, to said power shaft, whereby the upper housing may be quickly hand removed from the lower housing to permit access to the extruder barrel chamber, and said end plug assembly may be quickly hand disassembled from said housing to permit removal of said extruder screw.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
221 words
Extrusion apparatus for extruding foodstuff material and that facilitates access to the extruder interior for quick cleaning, including a housing defining a barrel chamber, a screw within said barrel chamber for extruding foodstuff material through said barrel chamber and power shaft means for applying drive power to one end of said screw, the improvement comprising: semi-cylindrical upper and lower barrel housings, the upper housing being removably attached to the lower housing by means of a plurality of hand releasable clamps, a removable end plug assembly secured to the downstream end of the housing and having a plurality of bayonet flanges, a plurality of retaining studs on said housing adapted to be cooperatively engaged by said bayonet flanges, a disassembly handle on said end plug assembly for turning said end plug assembly to disengage said flanges from said retaining studs, said end plug assembly including a bearing block having an annular bearing recess to receive the downstream end of a shaft of said screw means, disconnectible clutch means for removably connecting the upstream end of said screw, to said power shaft, whereby the upper housing may be quickly hand removed from the lower housing to permit access to the extruder barrel chamber, and said end plug assembly may be quickly hand disassembled from said housing to permit removal of said extruder screw.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
105 words
Extrusion apparatus for extruding foodstuff material according to claim 11 wherein: said disconnectible clutch means and said power shaft means include an axial socket defined by one of said means and an axial pilot boss defined by the other adapted to engage in said socket for co-axially centering said clutch means and said power shaft means, said power shaft means having an axial bore, a retaining rod extending through said bore and being releasably secured to said clutch means for holding said clutch means engaged, and a hand knob on the outer end of said retaining rod for manually releasing it from said clutch means.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1975-08-01 | 1976-01-31 | 1976-08-01 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1979-08-01 | 1980-01-31 | 1980-08-01 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1983-08-01 | 1984-01-31 | 1984-08-01 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |