Patent US3899301A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US3899301A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Continuous rendering apparatus
Assignee: French Oil Mill Machinery Co
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Filing: 1972-04-24
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Granted: 1975-08-12
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Expires: 1992-04-24
Abstract
Abstract An improved apparatus and method are provided for continuous dry rendering of animal products, together with an improved cooker for use with such apparatus and method, wherein such products are comminuted to define particles having a predetermined size range and such particles are cooked in the cooker while continuously moving the particles therethrough at a rate which is sufficient to free the fats from the solid constituents. The cooker may be maintained at subatmospheric pressure or alternatively one section of the cooker may be operated under pressure. The comminuted particles are delivered to the cooker with a minimum amount of ambient air and such particles are constantly stirred during cooking while simultaneously scraping substantially the entire inside surface of the cooker to thereby assure optimum cooking efficiency with minimum loss of animal products.
Inventors
- 👤 Dean K Bredeson
- 👤 John R Harrison
- 👤 Earl A N Johnson
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 01:14
CPC Classifications
C; C11; C11B; C11B1/00; C11B1/12
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 27
Claim 1
Independent Claim
145 words
A COOKER FOR A CONTINOUS RENDERING SYSTEM COMPRISING, A HOUSING HAVING A CYLINDRICAL HEATING SURFACE EXTENDING ALONG SUBSTANTIALLY ITS FULL LENGTH AND HAVING A PAIR OF OPPOSED ENDS, AN INLET THROUGH ONE OF SAID ENDS OF RECEIVING COMMINUTED ANIMAL PRODUCTS, AN OUTLET THROUGH THE OTHER OF SAID ENDS FOR IS CHARGING SAD PRODUCTS AFTER COOKING THEREOF, AT LEAST ONE PARTITION ARRANGED BETWEEN SAID ENDS AND IN FIXED RELATIONSHIP TO SAID HOUSING, SAID PARTITION HAVING APAIR OF OPPOSED PLANAR HEATIN SURFACES, AND DUAL-PURPOSE MEANS ROTATED WITHIN SAID HOUSING FOR STIRRING COMMINUTED PARTICLES DURING COOKING THEREOF SAID SIMULTANEOUSLY SCRAPING BOTH SAID CYLINDRICAL AND SAID PLANAR HEATING SURFACES TO PREVENT STICKING AND ACCUMULATION OF PRODUCTS AGAINST SAID CYLINDRICAL AND SAID PLANAR SURFACES TO THEREBY CAUSE EFFICIENT COOKING, SAID DUAL-PURPOSE MEANS INCLUDING SEPARATE MEANS FOR SCRAPING SAID CYLINDRICAL HEATING SURFACE AND SEPARATE MEANS FOR SCRAPING SAID PLANAR HEATING SURFACE.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
145 words
A COOKER FOR A CONTINOUS RENDERING SYSTEM COMPRISING, A HOUSING HAVING A CYLINDRICAL HEATING SURFACE EXTENDING ALONG SUBSTANTIALLY ITS FULL LENGTH AND HAVING A PAIR OF OPPOSED ENDS, AN INLET THROUGH ONE OF SAID ENDS OF RECEIVING COMMINUTED ANIMAL PRODUCTS, AN OUTLET THROUGH THE OTHER OF SAID ENDS FOR IS CHARGING SAD PRODUCTS AFTER COOKING THEREOF, AT LEAST ONE PARTITION ARRANGED BETWEEN SAID ENDS AND IN FIXED RELATIONSHIP TO SAID HOUSING, SAID PARTITION HAVING APAIR OF OPPOSED PLANAR HEATIN SURFACES, AND DUAL-PURPOSE MEANS ROTATED WITHIN SAID HOUSING FOR STIRRING COMMINUTED PARTICLES DURING COOKING THEREOF SAID SIMULTANEOUSLY SCRAPING BOTH SAID CYLINDRICAL AND SAID PLANAR HEATING SURFACES TO PREVENT STICKING AND ACCUMULATION OF PRODUCTS AGAINST SAID CYLINDRICAL AND SAID PLANAR SURFACES TO THEREBY CAUSE EFFICIENT COOKING, SAID DUAL-PURPOSE MEANS INCLUDING SEPARATE MEANS FOR SCRAPING SAID CYLINDRICAL HEATING SURFACE AND SEPARATE MEANS FOR SCRAPING SAID PLANAR HEATING SURFACE.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
37 words
A cooker as set forth in claim 1 and further comprising, a shaft extending axially through said cooker, means detachably fastening said dual-purpose means to said shaft for rotation therewith, and drive means for rotating said shaft.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
43 words
A cooker as set forth in claim 1 and further comprising, opening means in said partition, and valve means for changing the flow area of said opening means to control flow therethrough and thereby control flow of cooked animal products through said cooker.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
57 words
A cooker as set forth in claim 3 in which said valve means comprises, a shaft rotatably supported by said housing, a plate fixed to said housing for rotation therewith, said plate being adapted to be rotated into and out of position to change said flow area, and drive means for incrementally rotating said shaft and plate.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
91 words
A cooker as set forth in claim 1 and further comprising, a first shaft portion extending axially through one end portion of said cooker and being rotatably supported by one of said ends and said partition, a second shaft portion extending through the other end portion of said cooker and being rotatably supported coaxially with said first shaft portion by the other of said ends and said partition, means detachably fastening said dual-purpose means to each of said shaft portions, and drive means for rotating said first and second shaft portions.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
49 words
A cooker as set forth in claim 5 in which said drive means comprises, a first and second drive operatively connected to said first and second shaft portions respectively, said drive means being adapted to operate their associated shaft portions at the same rotational speed and at different speeds.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
210 words
A cooker for a continuous rendering system comprising, a housing having a cylindrical heating surface extending along substantially its full length and having a pair of opposed ends, at least one of said ends having a fixed inside planar heating surface, an inlet through one of said ends for receiving comminuted animal products, an outlet through the other of said ends for discharging said products after cooking thereof, a plurality of partitions arrranged between said ends, and in fixed relationship to said housing, with each of said partitions having a pair of opposed planar heating surfaces, said partitions separating said housing into a plurality of cooking compartments with each of said compartments being defined bY a portion of said cylindrical heating surface and a spaced pair of planar surfaces wherein at least one of said pair of planar surfaces is a heating surface, and dual-purpse means rotated within said housing for stirring comminuted particles during cooking thereof and simultaneously scraping substantially the total area of both said cylindrical heating surface and planar heating surfaces to prevent sticking and accumulation of products thereagainst to thereby assure efficient cooking, said dual-purpose means including first scraping elements for scraping said cylindrical heating surface and second scraping elements for scraping said planar heating surface.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
210 words
A cooker for a continuous rendering system comprising, a housing having a cylindrical heating surface extending along substantially its full length and having a pair of opposed ends, at least one of said ends having a fixed inside planar heating surface, an inlet through one of said ends for receiving comminuted animal products, an outlet through the other of said ends for discharging said products after cooking thereof, a plurality of partitions arrranged between said ends, and in fixed relationship to said housing, with each of said partitions having a pair of opposed planar heating surfaces, said partitions separating said housing into a plurality of cooking compartments with each of said compartments being defined bY a portion of said cylindrical heating surface and a spaced pair of planar surfaces wherein at least one of said pair of planar surfaces is a heating surface, and dual-purpse means rotated within said housing for stirring comminuted particles during cooking thereof and simultaneously scraping substantially the total area of both said cylindrical heating surface and planar heating surfaces to prevent sticking and accumulation of products thereagainst to thereby assure efficient cooking, said dual-purpose means including first scraping elements for scraping said cylindrical heating surface and second scraping elements for scraping said planar heating surface.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
49 words
A cooker as set forth in claim 7 in which said partitions comprise, a central partition, and at least one intermediate partition arranged betwen said central partition and each of said ends, each of said partitions having opening means therein allowing cooked animal products to flow through said cooker.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
46 words
A cooker as set forth in claim 8 and further comprising, valve means operatively associating with the opening means in said central partition for changing the flow area of its opening means to control flow of said cooked animal products therethrough and hence through said cooker.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
58 words
A cooker as set forth in claim 7 wherein said housing comprises a substantially horizontally arranged cylindrical housing and said planar surfaces are vertically arranged surfaces and further comprising, a central shaft extending horizontally through said cooker, a drive means for rotating said shaft, and means for detachably fixing said dual-purpose means to said shaft for rotation therewith.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
46 words
A cooker as set forth in claim 10 in which said dual-purpose means comprises, a pair of blades in each compartment for scraping the associated portion of said cylindrical heating surface, and a pair of scraper blades for scraping each planar heating surface of each compartment.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
49 words
A cooker as set forth in claim 11 wherein said pair of blades for scraping each planar heating surface are arranged in substantially parallel relation and said pair of scraping blades for scraping said cylindrical heating surface are transverse of and connected to said pair of parallel scraping blades.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
50 words
A cooker as set forth in claim 10 and further comprising, opening means in each of said partitions, and valve means for changing the flow area of said opening means in one of said partitions to control flow therethrough and thereby control flow of cooked animal products through said cooker.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
65 words
A cooker as set forth in claim 10 wherein said dual-purpose means comprises, a plurality of assemblies corresponding in number to the number of cooking compartments, each of said assemblies being defined by scraping blades for scraping the cylindrical surface portion and the planar surface of each compartment and associated structural members, and said scraping blades and structural members cooperating to provide a stirring action.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
266 words
An apparatus for continously rendering animal products comprising, means for comminuting said products to define particles having a predetermined size range, cooker for cooking said particles under controlled conditions while continously moving said particles therethrough at a rate which is sufficient to free the fats from the solid constituents wherein said cooker comprises, a housing having a cylindrical heating surface extending along substantially its full length and having a pair of opposed ends, each of said ends having a fixed inside planar surface with the inside surface of at least one end being a heating surface, at least one partition arranged between said ends and in fixed relationship to said housing, said partition having a pair of opposed planar heating surfaces, an inlet through one of said ends for receiving comminuted animal products, an outlet through the other of said ends for discharGing said products after cooking thereof, and dual-purpose means rotated within said housing for stirring comminuted particles during cooking thereof and simultaneously scraping substantially the total area of both said cylindrical heating surface and said planar heating surfaces to prevent sticking and accumulation of products theragainst to thereby assure efficient cooking said dual-purpose means including separate means for scraping said cylindrical heating surface and separate means for scraping said planar heating surface, means for delivering said particles to said cooker with a minmum amount of ambient air, means removing the cooked particles from said cooker, and means separating the free liquid fats from the solid constituents, said delivering means assuring said cooker operates with optimum efficiency due to said minimum amount of ambient air.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
266 words
An apparatus for continously rendering animal products comprising, means for comminuting said products to define particles having a predetermined size range, cooker for cooking said particles under controlled conditions while continously moving said particles therethrough at a rate which is sufficient to free the fats from the solid constituents wherein said cooker comprises, a housing having a cylindrical heating surface extending along substantially its full length and having a pair of opposed ends, each of said ends having a fixed inside planar surface with the inside surface of at least one end being a heating surface, at least one partition arranged between said ends and in fixed relationship to said housing, said partition having a pair of opposed planar heating surfaces, an inlet through one of said ends for receiving comminuted animal products, an outlet through the other of said ends for discharGing said products after cooking thereof, and dual-purpose means rotated within said housing for stirring comminuted particles during cooking thereof and simultaneously scraping substantially the total area of both said cylindrical heating surface and said planar heating surfaces to prevent sticking and accumulation of products theragainst to thereby assure efficient cooking said dual-purpose means including separate means for scraping said cylindrical heating surface and separate means for scraping said planar heating surface, means for delivering said particles to said cooker with a minmum amount of ambient air, means removing the cooked particles from said cooker, and means separating the free liquid fats from the solid constituents, said delivering means assuring said cooker operates with optimum efficiency due to said minimum amount of ambient air.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
41 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 15 in which said separating means comprises, a shaker screen for separating the solid constituents from the free liquid fats, and press means for pressing the solid constituents to remove liquid fats held therein.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
39 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 15 and further comprising, a conveyor for conveying pressed meal produced in the screw press by its pressing action to a meal cooler, and means conveying cooled meal to a storage bin.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
84 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 15 and further comprising, an entrainment separator operatively connected to said cooker and receiving hot vapors therefrom, said separator separating and returning solids contained in said hot vapors to said cooker and passing vapors therethrough, condenser means operatively connected to receive said vapors from said entrainment separator, said condenser means separating said vapors into water and non-condensible vapors, and a cooling tower operatively connected to said condenser means for cooling the condensed water to substantially ambient temperture.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
29 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 18 in which said condenser means comprises a sheet and tube primary condenser and a cooperating secondary condenser employing a steam ejector.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
67 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 15 in which said delivering means comprises, an enclosed conduit connected to the inlet of said cooker, a feed pump feeding said conduit, means supplying comminuted particles to the inlet of said feed pump at a substantial pressure and in a quantity greater than the requirements of said cooker, and means circulating said greater quantity away from said feed pump.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
41 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 20 in which said supplying means comprises a tank containing comminuted particles, and said circulating means comprises a recirculating conduit connected upstream of said feed pump and recirculatng said greater quantity into said tank.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
25 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 21 and further comprising, means heating said greater quantity of particles during flow thereof through said recirculating conduit.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
30 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 20 in which said supplying means comprises, a pressure group, and means introducing comminuted particles into said pressure pump at a substantial head.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
28 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 15 and further comprising, a heat exchanger in said delivering means for heating said particles during flow thereof to said cooker.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1978-08-11 | 1979-02-10 | 1979-08-12 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1982-08-11 | 1983-02-10 | 1983-08-12 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1986-08-11 | 1987-02-10 | 1987-08-12 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |