Carcass chilling facility

Claim 1

Apparatus for chilling animal carcasses, comprising in combination: a. an insulated enclosure; b. entrance and exit means to and from said enclosure; c. means to inject carbon dioxide refrigerant into said enclosure to maintain the enclosure atmosphere at a desired temperature; d. conveyor means for transporting the said carcasses through said enclosure, said conveyor including a track and means suspending the said carcasses from said track for transport, said track within said enclosure being snaked back and forth along generally horizontal lines in parallel, closely spaced interconnected flights to constitute a plurality of compactly positioned elongated loops, to effect 180* rotation of said suspended carcasses during passes to each successive flight; and e. elongated line-flow fan means positioned within said enclosure and extending along a side thereof for establishing a recirculating curtain-like flow of the carbon dioxide refrigerant across the suspended carcasses within said enclosure, the said fan means being so positioned that the refrigerant flow stream therefrom extends substantially across the enclosure whereby the suspended carcasseS transported throughout each loop receive uniform refrigeration alternately at opposite sides thereof.

Claim 9

A method of chilling animal carcasses in an enclosed insulated chamber comprising injecting predetermined quantities of liquid carbon dioxide into the chamber to maintain a desired temperature therein, continuously conveying animal carcasses through the chamber by suspending said carcasses from the track of an endless conveyor arranged in parallel closely spaced interconnected flights constituting a plurality of compactly positioned elongated loops, each loop extending substantially across said chamber, whereby a substantial portion of the chamber contains cooling carcasses, and whereby the suspended carcasses are rotated 180* during passage to each successive flight; and directing at least one line-flow of refrigerated gas across said moving flights of carcasses from a location adjacent a corner of said chamber, whereby the line-flow of gas is caused to impinge alternately from flight to flight respectively on opposite sides of thr moving carcasses.

Claim 10

A method of chilling animal carcasses in an enclosed insulated chamber comprising injecting predetermined quantities of liquid carbon dioxide into the chamber to maintain a desired temperature therein, continuously conveying animal carcasses through the chamber by suspending said carcasses from the track of an endless conveyor arranged in parallel closely spaced interconnected flights constituting a plurality of compactly positioned elongated loops, each loop extending substantially across said chamber, whereby a substantial portion of the chamber contains cooling carcasses, and whereby the suspended carcasses are rotated 180* during passage to each successive flight; and directing at least one line-flow of refrigerated gas across said moving flights of carcasses from a location adjacent a corner of said chamber, whereby the line-flow of gas is caused to impinge alternately from flight to flight respectively on opposite sides of thr moving carcasses.