System for extruding and forming portion controlled frozen food products

Claim 1

A system for forming a plurality of discrete products having preselected volumes and weights comprising: means for receiving a quantity of semi-fluid material, a pump connected to said receiving means to receive said material from said receiving means for pumping said material at a selected rate, an extruder associated with said pump and having an inlet to receive said pumped material and having a plurality of outlets for outputting said pumped material, a sealed bladder located between said pump and said extruder to sense the flow of said pumped material, edible fluid within said bladder, means operatively associated with and responsive to said edible fluid and connected for controlling said pump, conduits connected to each of said outlets for conveying continuous lengths of said material, a chilling station located at the remote ends of said conduits for receiving said continuous lengths of said material and for chilling said continuous lengths to an extent that said lengths maintain their extruded cross-sections, and means located at the outlet of said chilling station for periodically severing the chilled continuous lengths to form a plurality of products having the preselected volume and weight.

Claim 2

A system for forming a plurality of discrete products having preselected volumes and weights comprising: means for receiving a quantity of semi-fluid material, a pump connected to said receiving means to receive said material from said receiving means for pumping said material at a selected rate, an extruder associated with said pump and having an inlet to receive said pumped material and having a plurality of outlets for outputting said pumped material, a sealed bladder located between said pump and said extruder to sense the flow of said pumped material, edible fluid within said bladder, means operatively associated with and responsive to said edible fluid and connected for controlling said pump, conduits connected to each of said outlets for conveying continuous lengths of said material, a chilling station located at the remote ends of said conduits for receiving said continuous lengths of said material and for chilling said continuous lengths to an extent that said lengths maintain their extruded cross-sections, and means located at the outlet of said chilling station for periodically severing the chilled continuous lengths to form a plurality of products having the preselected volume and weight.

Claim 5

A system for forming a plurality of discrete products having preselected weights comprising: a hopper for receiving a quantity of warm semi-fluid material, a feed line connected to the outlet of said hopper, a pump associated with said feed line for pumping said material from said hopper through said feed line at a selected rate and pressure, a cone-shaped extruder manifold housing having an inlet connected in the region of the apex of the cone to the end of said feed line and having a plurality of outlets disposed symmetrically around the periphery of the base of the cone and an inner guide member having a cone shape being disposed within said manifold housing with the apex of said member oriented toward, but spaced from, the apex of said housing, a plurality of flexible conduits extending from said manifold outlets and including end nozzles to form a plurality of continuous extruded lengths of material, metering pumps mounted in series with each of said flexible conduits to meter the flow of said material therethrough, a chilling chamber mounted adjacent said end nozzles, a conveyor associated with said chilling chamber and located adjacent said end nozzles for receiving said continuous lengths from said end nozzles and for carrying said continuous lengths through said chilling chamber to chill and firm said continuous lengths, and a cutting blade mounted at the outlet of said chilling chamber and movable in synchronism with said conveyor for severing said continuous lengths to form a plurality of discrete products having the selected weight.

Claim 6

A system for forming a plurality of discrete products having preselected weights comprising: a hopper for receiving a quantity of warm semi-fluid material, a feed line connected to the outlet of said hopper, a pump associated with said feed line for pumping said material from said hopper through said feed line at a selected rate and pressure, a cone-shaped extruder manifold housing having an inlet connected in the region of the apex of the cone to the end of said feed line and having a plurality of outlets disposed symmetrically around the periphery of the base of the cone and an inner guide member having a cone shape being disposed within said manifold housing with the apex of said member oriented toward, but spaced from, the apex of said housing, a plurality of flexible conduits extending from said manifold outlets and including end nozzles to form a plurality of continuous extruded lengths of material, metering pumps mounted in series with each of said flexible conduits to meter the flow of said material therethrough, a chilling chamber mounted adjacent said end nozzles, a conveyor associated with said chilling chamber and located adjacent said end nozzles for receiving said continuous lengths from said end nozzles and for carrying said continuous lengths through said chilling chamber to chill and firm said continuous lengths, and a cutting blade mounted at the outlet of said chilling chamber and movable in synchronism with said conveyor for severing said continuous lengths to form a plurality of discrete products having the selected weight.